◎ You Really Do Put Your Heart Into Whatever You Do. ◎
Sun Xuchuan looked at Tian Doudou, who had suddenly jumped out in front of him, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
What the heck was he barking about?
Tian Miaomiao poked her head out from behind Tian Doudou and smiled apologetically at Sun Xuchuan.
“My younger brother’s in a bad mood today. Please don’t take his words to heart.”
When Sun Xuchuan saw her, the corners of his mouth curved upward again.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m a very generous person.”
Tian Doudou was about to say something else, but Tian Miaomiao stuffed the plate of fried rice she was holding into his hands.
“Here’s your eighteen-yuan fried rice. Eat it while it’s hot.”
The freshly cooked fried rice smelled incredibly fragrant, and its colorful appearance was enough to whet anyone’s appetite.
Faced with the choice between arguing with Sun Xuchuan and eating fried rice, Tian Doudou decided to eat first.
He carried his fried rice over to the table and sat down. After picking up his spoon and taking a bite, his eyes lit up even more than before.
“Brother Chuang, your cooking skills are really good! Who taught you?”
Ling Chuang was frying the kimchi fried rice Tian Miaomiao had ordered and replied, “I just figured it out myself through trial and error.”
“You figured it out yourself, and it turned out this delicious?”
Tian Doudou’s admiration for him grew even stronger.
“You made this sausage yourself, didn’t you? The ones sold outside don’t taste like this.”
Ling Chuang nodded.
“I learned how to make it by watching my mom. Then I made a few improvements of my own.”
“No wonder! This sausage paired with the refreshing cucumber tastes absolutely amazing.”
Apart from Ling Chuang’s specially made sausage, the fried rice also contained eggs, cucumber, green peas, and diced carrots.
The textures of the vegetables and sausage complemented each other perfectly, and the colors were bright and vibrant. It was a delight for both the eyes and the taste buds.
“You can get fried rice this good for just eighteen yuan, and it’s even cooked by a handsome guy like you. Who wouldn’t be tempted?”
Hearing Tian Doudou shower Ling Chuang with praise, Sun Xuchuan gave a couple of snorts and said, “That’s why Brother Chuang is known as the God of North Gate Night Market!”
Ling Chuang: “…”
“You even have a title like that?”
Tian Miaomiao looked at Ling Chuang with great interest.
“My apologies for not showing you the proper respect.”
“…They’re just being ridiculously childish.”
Ling Chuang scooped the freshly cooked kimchi fried rice into a bowl and handed it to Tian Miaomiao.
“Yours is ready too.”
“Thank you.”
Tian Miaomiao took her fried rice and sat down at the table.
The fried rice she’d brought home last time had already gone cold, so she’d deliberately ordered the same dish again today to see what it tasted like fresh from the wok.
She picked up her spoon and took a bite.
The freshly cooked version was indeed more delicious than the cold one. Besides, the accompanying ingredients seemed more plentiful today than when she’d bought it last time.
Was it because she’d arrived too late last time, and those were the only ingredients left?
Tian Miaomiao thought this explanation made perfect sense, so she didn’t give it any further thought.
There weren’t many people in front of Ling Chuang’s food truck at the moment.
The owner of the freshly squeezed juice stall near the entrance to the street approached him, carrying two cups of freshly squeezed juice.
“Boss Ling, the two cups of fresh juice you ordered are ready.”
“Thank you. Just leave them here for now.”
Ling Chuang was busy making fried rice for a customer and didn’t have a free hand to take them.
The juice stall owner placed the drinks on his food truck before returning to his own stall to continue doing business.
Ling Chuang finished frying the rice in the wok and handed it to the customer waiting in front of him.
The customer thanked him but didn’t stay to eat. Instead, the customer took the fried rice and left.
Ling Chuang stepped down from his food truck and placed the two cups of freshly squeezed juice on the table where Tian Miaomiao was sitting.
Tian Miaomiao froze for a moment and raised her head to look at him.
“What’s this?”
Ling Chuang replied, “Just a little something to cheer up Tian Doudou after his heartbreak.”
Tian Doudou, who was sitting opposite Tian Miaomiao and enthusiastically devouring his food, was immediately moved.
“Thank you, Brother Chuang! You’re so good to me!”
Tian Miaomiao: “…”
You’re being a little dramatic, little brother.
Although she complained inwardly, Tian Miaomiao still felt a little embarrassed as she looked at Ling Chuang.
“You helped me serve customers before, and I still haven’t properly thanked you. How can I let you spend money on us again?”
Ling Chuang replied casually, “It’s fine. They’re just two cups of juice. Besides, didn’t you give me barbecue and drinks before too?”
Just as he finished speaking, another customer arrived to buy fried rice, so he turned around and returned to his food truck.
Tian Miaomiao looked at the cup of freshly squeezed juice in front of her, silently inserted the straw, and began drinking.
She had to admit, this lime and watermelon juice was actually pretty good.
After drinking half the juice, she picked up her phone to take a look.
There were still people in the barbecue group she’d created asking whether she would be opening her stall today, so she replied to them one by one again.
AAA Miaomiao Barbecue: Sorry, everyone! I’ll be opening my stall tomorrow! I see that our group already has 78 members. Once we reach 100, I’ll send out red packets in the group. Whoever gets the luckiest red packet will receive free barbecue. Thank you all for your support! [Cute]
As soon as she said this, the group immediately became lively.
For the sake of getting free barbecue, everyone enthusiastically started inviting people into the group. Before long, the number of members had surpassed ninety.
Auntie Chen: Quick, quick! We only need one more person! If anyone has friends who like barbecue, hurry up and invite them in!
Feifei: I’ve even invited my friend who lives in the northern part of the city. [Facepalm]
The Moon Isn’t Bright: I’ve even added my alternate account. [Facepalm]
AAA Miaomiao Barbecue: Hahaha, it’s fine! I’ll invite the last person myself. Everyone, just get ready to grab the red packets!
After sending the message, Tian Miaomiao glanced at Ling Chuang, who happened to be free at the moment.
She opened the group’s QR code and walked over to him.
“Boss Ling, my group only needs one more person to reach the number required for me to send out red packets. Help me out!”
Ling Chuang lowered his eyes to look at the QR code on her phone and asked, “You’ve created a barbecue group?”
“Mm. Most of the members are neighbors who live nearby.”
Tian Miaomiao smiled at him.
“There are ninety-nine people in the group now. With you, it’ll be exactly one hundred. I’m planning to give everyone a little reward for reaching one hundred members.”
Ling Chuang nodded slightly and took out his phone.
“Alright.”
He scanned the group’s QR code and successfully joined Tian Miaomiao’s barbecue group.
Feifei: Yay! One hundred members!
Brother Wang: When are you sending out the red packets?
AAA Miaomiao Barbecue: Right now! Whoever gets the luckiest red packet will receive five beef skewers!
After saying that, Tian Miaomiao sent a red packet into the group, and it was completely claimed within two seconds.
She took a screenshot of the person who received the luckiest red packet and told the winner to bring the screenshot to her stall to redeem the prize.
AAA Miaomiao Barbecue: There’ll be ten rounds in total, so you still have nine chances left. Good luck, everyone!
Tian Miaomiao sent a total of ten red packets in the group, with a different dish offered as the prize each time.
After all ten rounds were completed, the evening’s celebration of reaching one hundred members came to a successful conclusion.
Tian Miaomiao saved the screenshots and took the opportunity to see who the lucky winners were.
One profile picture, which showed a plate of egg fried rice made from building blocks, was particularly eye-catching.
“Boss Ling, don’t tell me this is you?”
Ling Chuang lowered his head to take a look, then nodded.
“It’s me.”
“These are Meile building blocks, right? I didn’t know they even released a fried rice series.”
Tian Miaomiao didn’t play with building blocks herself, but she’d seen them before. She hadn’t expected there to be an egg fried rice set.
Ling Chuang replied, “You can use these building blocks to create whatever you want. I put together the egg fried rice in my profile picture myself.”
“…I see. Looks like you really do put your heart into whatever line of work you’re in.”
A faint smile appeared at the corners of Ling Chuang’s mouth as he looked at her.
“Isn’t your WeChat name still AAA Miaomiao Barbecue? You’re even more devoted to your work.”
Tian Miaomiao: “…”
That’s right. She was just that dedicated to her job.
She put away her phone and was about to return to finish her meal when she saw the little girl from the hot and sour rice noodle stall across the street again.
Just as usual, the girl was helping her mother run the stall.
Curious, Tian Miaomiao asked, “That little girl you helped with her homework last time, does she come here to help her mother every day?”
“Mm.”
Ling Chuang looked in Liang Xingxing’s direction and said, “Sometimes her mother can’t manage everything on her own.”
Tian Miaomiao asked, “What about her father? I’ve been coming to North Gate Night Market for quite a while now, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him.”
Ling Chuang was silent for a moment before answering.
“Her father ran away.”
“Huh?”
Tian Miaomiao froze, then looked at him with a slight frown.
“Ran away? Was he in debt?”
“No.”
Ling Chuang spoke in a slightly subdued voice.
“Xingxing has a younger brother who has leukemia. His treatment costs a lot of money. When their father found out, he ran away because he didn’t want to pay the medical expenses.”
Tian Miaomiao was utterly shocked.
It took her quite a while to recover before she said, “Wait, isn’t that incredibly irresponsible? What are the children supposed to do?”
“Sister Zhang is working two jobs on her own now. She delivers packages during the day and runs her stall at North Gate Night Market at night. Xingxing knows how hard her mother works, so she comes here to help after school.”
Tian Miaomiao had seen situations like this on television before, but she’d never expected something like this to happen to someone around her.
“Even a child is more responsible than that father. Can’t they report him to the police and have him brought back?”
Ling Chuang nodded.
“Sister Zhang reported it to the police a long time ago. The police even found him, but it was no use. He simply refuses to take responsibility, and there’s nothing the police can do about it.”
Tian Miaomiao was so angry that her fists clenched.
“Then can she sue him? He’s the children’s father. He definitely has a legal obligation to support them.”
“I asked a lawyer about it. She can sue him, but the children’s paternal grandparents are also helping take care of them right now, and they’ve contributed some money too. If Sister Zhang really takes their son to court, she’s afraid they might stop helping as well.”
Tian Miaomiao fell silent.
Previously, she’d only seen Liang Xingxing as a lively and adorable little girl. She hadn’t expected her family circumstances to be like this.
“Aren’t there online fundraising platforms these days? Has Sister Zhang tried those?”
“Mm. They managed to raise some donations, and we contributed some money too.”
However, treating an illness was a bottomless pit when it came to expenses, and there was also the possibility that the disease could relapse.
Tian Miaomiao looked at the small figure bustling around the night market, then turned her head and asked Tian Doudou, “Doudou, do you still want some hot and sour rice noodles? I’ll go buy some.”
“Huh? You can still eat more?”
Tian Doudou looked at her in surprise.
They’d already eaten scallops, oysters, fried rice, and a cup of freshly squeezed juice. His sister actually still had room for hot and sour rice noodles?
Tian Miaomiao replied, “If you don’t want any, I’ll just buy a bowl for myself.”
“Of course I want some!”
It was rare for his sister to treat him to a meal. If he missed this opportunity, who knew when he’d get another one?
Tian Miaomiao took her phone and walked across the street.
“Hello, I’d like two bowls of hot and sour rice noodles.”
Liang Xingxing heard her voice and raised her head.
When she saw that it really was Tian Miaomiao, she immediately smiled at her.
“Sister Miaomiao, it’s you! You look so pretty today!”
Tian Miaomiao smiled and patted her little head.
“Xingxing, you’re especially sweet-talking today too.”
Liang Xingxing grinned foolishly at her.
Sister Zhang, who was busy working, recognized Tian Miaomiao and smiled at her as well.
“You’re Miaomiao, the one who sells barbecue, right? You’re not opening your stall today?”
“No, I’m taking the day off.”
“Then wait a moment. I’ll cook your noodles right away.”
As Sister Zhang worked, she continued chatting with her.
“Our Xingxing really likes your barbecue truck. She tells me every day how cute the pink one is.”
Tian Miaomiao laughed a couple of times.
Liang Xingxing looked up at her again.
“Sister Miaomiao, if I come across questions I don’t understand in the future, can I come ask you too? Brother Ling Chuang is sometimes really busy and doesn’t have time to explain the problems to me.”
Sister Zhang said, “Sister Miaomiao’s barbecue stall is very busy too. She doesn’t have any more free time than your Brother Ling Chuang.”
Liang Xingxing pouted.
Tian Miaomiao patted her head and said, “Xingxing, you can come find me. But English is what I’m best at. You can ask me about English or Chinese, but as for math…”
Sorry, she wasn’t all that confident about elementary school math either!
Math problems for elementary school students these days were far too tricky!
However, Liang Xingxing blinked when she heard this.
“Sister Miaomiao, English is what you’re best at too? Brother Ling Chuang is also really good at English!”
“Really?”
This time, it was Sister Zhang who answered her.
“Boss Ling seems to have studied abroad before. His English is excellent, and he’s even taught us some.”
Liang Xingxing nodded vigorously.
“My mom can even do business with foreigners now!”
There were tourists from all sorts of countries visiting Starlight Park, and quite a few of them were interested in the food at North Gate Night Market.
Tian Miaomiao had also encountered several foreigners who came to eat barbecue before.
However, she hadn’t expected that Ling Chuang had actually given everyone English lessons.
No wonder Sun Xuchuan called him the God of North Gate Night Market.
But according to Sister Zhang, he’d studied abroad before…
Could he really be the Wolf of Wall Street??
“Your hot and sour rice noodles are ready. Are there any ingredients you don’t want?”
Sister Zhang’s question brought Tian Miaomiao back to her senses.
Tian Miaomiao shook her head and scanned the payment QR code displayed at the stall.