The little star from the Gobi Desert, handed over to the state, is hailed as a national treasure.

Liang Zhe came out of the kitchen with a broom in his hand. When he looked up, his daughter's little figure was no longer on the empty stool where Tian Tian had been sitting.

"Sweetie?" His heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously looked around the shed.

Before he could speak, a miner who was queuing for food heard the commotion and pointed outside the shed: "Expert Liang, look, isn't that your daughter? She said she saw Sister Xiaoyu and wants to chase after her to play!"

Liang Zhe looked in the direction he pointed, and in the twilight, the little girl with pigtails was running forward, her little rubber shoes making a "pat-pat" sound as she stepped on the muddy ground.

"Sweetie! It's getting dark, come back quickly!"

He called out from behind. But Tian Tian was running happily and didn't hear her father's call at all. She just kept running forward and disappeared into the increasingly dark night.

Without a second thought, Liang Zhe dropped the broom and ran after him.

The daughter wasn't running very fast. Although she had gained some distance, he should be able to catch up with a toddler if he ran a few more steps.

However, just as he ran out of the kitchen shed, preparing to give chase—

A muffled groan suddenly came from behind.

Liang Zhe stopped abruptly and turned around. He saw a miner clutching his stomach, bent over, his face contorted in pain.

Before he could react, another person on his left slid off the stool and fell to the ground with a thud, vomiting all over the floor.

With that sudden sound of vomiting, the entire cafeteria seemed to have had a plague switch flipped, instantly infecting everyone.

Xu Qiang had just picked up his rice bowl and taken a couple of bites when his face suddenly changed drastically, turning a terrifying bluish-gray. The enamel mug in his hand crashed to the ground with a loud bang, scattering the food all over the floor.

"Dean Xu! What's wrong with you..." The guard Mao Zhan hurriedly reached out to help him, but before he could finish speaking, he himself suddenly bent over, a violent spasm coming from his throat. He then collapsed to the ground and began to vomit violently, his face turning ashen white.

Like a chain reaction, the miners collapsed one after another, first clutching their stomachs and howling in pain, then vomiting uncontrollably. Some were limp and collapsed on the ground, while others had blue lips and their foreheads were covered in cold sweat.

The once harmonious and quiet cooking shed was instantly turned into chaos.

"Ouch... my stomach hurts so much..."

"Is this food... poisoned?!"

"What's going on? Help...help me..."

Liang Zhe stood frozen in place, watching helplessly as the cafeteria erupted into chaos, filled with the sounds of vomiting, screams, and the crashing of overturned benches. A sour, rotten smell instantly filled the air, making everyone feel nauseous.

Some people were slumped over the table, their shoulders twitching, with a puddle of filth beneath them; some staggered out, collapsing to the ground and curling up in a ball before even reaching the door; some tried to stand up to help others, only to vomit themselves first.

"Mushrooms..." someone cried out, struggling to speak. "It must be mushrooms, something's wrong..."

Liang Zhe's mind went blank, as if he had been struck by lightning.

The various fungi that grow in the mountains are incredibly diverse. There's a folk rhyme that goes, "Red umbrella, white stem, after eating, you'll all lie on a flat board," which describes the terrible consequences of accidentally picking and eating poisonous fungi.

However, the conditions in the mines are harsh and vegetables are scarce. On weekdays, everyone relies on going into the mountains to collect some fungi to improve their diet. Qin Yan from the logistics department is a local Dong ethnic minority. She grew up in the mountains and is familiar with all kinds of wild fungi. She usually leads people to pick them and has never made a mistake.

Today, to reward everyone who went up the mountain to explore this afternoon, the cooks specially took out their precious eggs and stir-fried a large bowl of eggs with mushrooms. This dish was golden and shiny, with a fragrant aroma that made everyone want to take a few more bites.

According to the mine's rules, the exploration team that went out to work was considered a hero, and everyone tacitly agreed to let them get their food first. Xu Qiang, Mao Zhan, Zhou Xiaobing, and other core members had all eaten that bowl of fragrant and tempting scrambled eggs with mushrooms, and now, without exception, they all collapsed to the ground one after another.

The only one who escaped unscathed was himself. He was busy taking care of Tian Tian the whole time. First, he waited to get food for his daughter, and then Tian Tian accidentally broke a fried egg. After all that, he didn't have time to eat a single bite of food. Therefore, he was not poisoned at all and became one of the few people in the mine who was conscious and able to move.

wrong!

Liang Zhe's expression hardened, and he turned sharply to look at the kitchen. He saw that the fat chef, Lao Ge, with his round belly, was lying motionless by the stove. Not only him, but the entire cooking team was lying haphazardly on the floor.

Although they didn't eat the stir-fried eggs with mushrooms, they used the remaining mushrooms to make a soup, and each person had a bowl.

When he turned around again, Fu Dashi and several members of the drilling team were huddled together, their bodies and mouths covered in filth, and they were so vomiting that they couldn't lift their heads.

Liang Zhe stood there, his gaze sweeping over the pained and contorted faces, his mind a jumbled mess.

In the twilight behind them, their daughter's small figure had long since disappeared without a trace.

On one side was his four-year-old daughter who had disappeared into the night, and on the other side were dozens of coworkers who were critically poisoned and needed constant care. As a soldier, he could not stand by and watch so many people get hurt; but as a father, every second he delayed meant that his daughter was at greater risk.

The agonizing choice gnawed at his heart; looking at the people struggling on the ground, he knew he had no choice at all—

Save them! We must save them first!

Just then, Feng Dapao and Qin Yan rushed in with several logistics personnel. As soon as they reached the entrance of the kitchen shed, they were shocked by the terrible scene before them.

They had just been discussing the mining plans for tomorrow; the telegram had already been sent and they were awaiting approval from their superiors. The logistics department was also making a series of preparations in advance. Because of this, they had missed their mealtime, and they never expected such a terrible turn of events to occur.

Qin Yan, who dealt with wild mushrooms year-round, immediately recognized it as mushroom poisoning. She shouted sharply, "Food poisoning! Quickly find Dr. Chen at the clinic! Tell her to bring some antidote herbs! Someone could die if we're too late!"

"Wow!"

Liang Zhe blurted it out almost without thinking. He gritted his teeth, took one last look at the direction of the back mountain, silently recited his daughter's name in his heart, then turned around and ran towards the clinic without hesitation.

There were very few people who could move around in the mine, and he was the fastest runner. Time was life!

Sweet!

He prayed repeatedly in his heart, "You must wait until Dad comes to find you! Please, please don't let anything happen!"

At the eastern end of the mining area, in a simple wooden shack, Dr. Chen was drying herbs outside the clinic.

She is a local Zhuang ethnic minority woman whose ancestors have been collecting medicinal herbs in the mountains for generations. She is most skilled at treating various types of food poisoning from wild plants.