◎ He Wouldn’t Accept My Flowers, and He Even Called the Police to Arrest Me. ◎
The night market was bustling with noise and chatter. The reason Tian Miaomiao could hear the confession so clearly was that the girl was shouting through a megaphone. 🙂
Tian Miaomiao was utterly amazed by the sight. The last time she’d witnessed a scene like this was outside a girls’ dormitory.
The noisy chatter of the night market quieted down because of the commotion. Near Ling Chuang’s fried rice stall, everyone turned to look in the girl’s direction.
The girl was very young and looked as though she was still a university student. Holding a megaphone in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other, she stood in front of Ling Chuang’s fried rice stall with a faint blush on her face.
Another girl stood nearby, filming her with a phone. She looked like one of her classmates.
Under everyone’s watchful gazes, the girl raised the megaphone and shouted at Ling Chuang once again.
“Boss Ling, I like you! Will you be my boyfriend?!”
Tian Miaomiao was starting to admire her. Just how mentally strong did someone have to be to confess their feelings in public at a night market?
After she finished shouting, everyone’s attention shifted to Ling Chuang, seemingly curious about how he would react.
Without even pausing his movements as he cooked the fried rice, Ling Chuang replied, “No. This is a public place. Please don’t disturb other people.”
His rejection was straightforward and decisive, but the girl still refused to give up. She continued shouting at him through the megaphone.
“Why? Don’t you still not have a girlfriend? Can’t you at least consider me?!”
“That’s right! Give her a chance!” the girl’s companion chimed in from the side.
Ling Chuang handed the finished fried rice to the customer in front of him, then raised his eyes toward the two girls.
“I’ll say this one more time. This is a public place. If you keep causing a disturbance, I’ll call the police.”
Tian Miaomiao: “…”
That’s Boss Ling for you.
The mention of calling the police seemed to intimidate the girl somewhat. However, when her eyes met Ling Chuang’s, her heart suddenly began racing again.
When so many people had been staring at her earlier, she hadn’t felt particularly bothered. But the moment Ling Chuang looked at her, she found it almost too much to bear.
She took a deep breath and walked toward Ling Chuang with the bouquet in her arms.
“This bouquet of roses is for you.”
Ling Chuang looked at the flowers she was offering him, a hint of impatience appearing between his brows.
He was just about to speak when two young police officers in uniform approached.
“What’s going on here? What’s happening? Don’t all crowd around here. Spread out, everyone. Make some room.”
Because North Gate Night Market attracted large crowds in the evenings, the officers usually paid particular attention to the area during their patrols.
When they’d noticed so many people gathering here just now, they’d hurried over to investigate, worried that someone might be causing trouble.
After dispersing the crowd, the two officers discovered that no one was fighting. Instead… someone was confessing her feelings.
The girl was still standing there holding her flowers. When she saw the police approaching, she became agitated.
“What right do you have to arrest me?! I only came here to confess my feelings!”
The officer glanced at Ling Chuang, who was standing opposite her, and said, “We never said we were going to arrest you. You’re here to confess your feelings, right? Go ahead, then. This stall owner really is quite handsome.”
Hearing the officers say that, the girl seemed to feel even more aggrieved and burst into tears.
“I already confessed! He wouldn’t accept my flowers, and he even called the police to arrest me! Waaaaah!”
Ling Chuang: “…”
Seeing her crying her eyes out, the officers had no choice but to comfort her first.
“He didn’t call the police. We just happened to be patrolling this area.”
“H-He didn’t call the police?”
As the girl cried, she suddenly seemed to grasp a glimmer of hope.
“Then does that mean he likes me?”
“No,” Ling Chuang said from the side. “I don’t even know you.”
As soon as he said that, the girl began crying even harder.
The officers wanted to escort her out of the night market first, but she stubbornly stayed where she was and refused to leave.
“I like him so much! Why won’t he be with me? Waaaaah!”
The officer holding onto her said, “Well, I like Zheng Baozhu too, but I don’t see her getting together with me.”
“…”
The girl’s sobbing stopped for a brief moment.
“And you smell of alcohol. Have you been drinking?” the officer asked.
The girl answered between sobs, “I-I drank to give myself courage! Waaaaah!”
The officers didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was obvious that the alcohol was starting to affect her.
They turned to the girl beside her, who was still filming, and said, “You’re her friend, right? Stop filming, stop filming. Help us take her out of the night market first. Don’t let her disturb everyone here.”
“Oh, okay.”
The girl, who had been busy recording the entire time, finally put away her phone and stepped forward to help support her friend.
After the police officers led them away, order was finally restored to the night market.
Aunt Chen, who had come to eat barbecue, couldn’t resist making a special trip over to the fried rice stall to take a look.
She then hurried back to Tian Miaomiao and said excitedly, “That fried rice stall owner really is handsome! He’s even better-looking than those male celebrities on television! No wonder that young girl likes him so much.”
Tian Doudou, who was grilling skewers nearby, couldn’t help thinking about the girl he liked.
If he went to confess his feelings to her, would he also suffer such a miserable rejection?
He really envied Boss Ling. Even while selling fried rice here, girls were coming up to confess their feelings to him.
Tian Miaomiao brought over the additional dishes Aunt Chen and the others had ordered.
Aunt Chen immediately pulled her aside and gave her a knowing look, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Miaomiao, you don’t have a boyfriend yet either, do you? I think you and that fried rice stall owner would make quite a good match.”
Tian Miaomiao: “…”
There was nothing more frightening than an elder suddenly taking an interest in your love life.
“Haha, Aunt Chen, weren’t you asking about pig brains earlier?” Tian Miaomiao immediately changed the subject. “When I went to ask about them today, the supplier only had frozen pig brains left, so I didn’t buy any. You know all the meat we use here is fresh. Frozen meat doesn’t taste as good.”
“That’s true.” Aunt Chen was successfully distracted by the change of subject. “When you manage to buy some fresh pig brains, remember to let everyone know in the group chat. A lot of people like eating them.”
“I know. Once I get some, I’ll prepare them myself and give them a try first. If they taste good, I’ll grill them and sell them.”
Not long after Aunt Chen, Brother Wang, and the others finished eating and left, Ling Chuang’s fried rice stall unexpectedly began closing for the night.
Tian Miaomiao checked the time. It was only a little after nine.
“Boss Ling, you’re closing up so early?” Tian Miaomiao couldn’t help asking as she watched Ling Chuang packing up his food truck in front of her.
Could he have been frightened by the girl who confessed to him tonight?
The thought crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it herself.
With a face like Boss Ling’s, who knew how many people had confessed their feelings to him since childhood? Tonight’s incident was probably nothing out of the ordinary for him.
Ling Chuang turned his head and glanced at her as he lowered the serving panel of his food truck.
“I only sell eighty portions a day. Once they’re sold out, I close up.”
“…Oh.”
Tian Miaomiao nodded.
She figured he must have some other side business. Otherwise, why would he turn down the chance to make more money?
She went to the refrigerated cabinet, took out a can of chilled soda, and packed some barbecue into a takeaway bag. Then she walked over and handed them to Ling Chuang.
“Take these home and have something to eat. They’ll help you recover from tonight’s scare.”
Ling Chuang seemed momentarily stunned. Then the corners of his lips curved upward slightly as he accepted the drink and barbecue from Tian Miaomiao.
“Thank you, then. I’ll treat you to fried rice another day.”
“…Thank you too.”
Ling Chuang chuckled softly. After finishing packing up his things, he drove his food truck away.
Tian Doudou had been watching them the entire time. As soon as Tian Miaomiao returned, he immediately began gossiping.
“Sis, you’re actually being so generous and giving someone food? Don’t tell me you’ve really taken a liking to Boss Ling?”
Tian Miaomiao replied, “He specifically came over to greet us earlier. What’s wrong with me making a small gesture in return?”
“…”
Was that really what it meant?
After Ling Chuang’s food truck left, Sun Xuchuan had a clear view of Tian Miaomiao’s barbecue stall from his grilled squid stall.
Taking advantage of the moment when he had no customers, he moved his cart a little closer to the pink food truck.
Looking at Tian Miaomiao, who was tidying things up outside, he cleared his throat and spoke.
“Hello there! My name is Sun Xuchuan. I sell grilled squid on an iron plate here.”
Tian Miaomiao looked up and smiled at him in greeting.
“Hello, I’m Tian Miaomiao, and that’s my younger brother, Tian Doudou.”
As soon as Sun Xuchuan heard that the boy was her younger brother, his face immediately lit up with delight.
“Oh, so you’re siblings? Your younger brother has such a nice name. A sweet little bean in this world.”
“…”
Tian Doudou turned his head.
Seeing him look over, Sun Xuchuan smiled and introduced himself again.
“I’m Sun Xuchuan. If you ever want some grilled squid, just come to me.”
“For free?” Tian Doudou shot back.
Sun Xuchuan: “…”
Your sister can have it for free. You can’t.
“Hehe, my younger brother sometimes speaks without thinking.” Tian Miaomiao quickly smoothed things over.
Seeing that another customer had arrived at Sun Xuchuan’s stall, she added, “You should get back to work. We won’t disturb you.”
Sun Xuchuan wanted to chat with her a little longer, but he had no choice but to grill squid for his customer first.
At ten that night, just as the night market was about to enter its “second half,” Tian Miaomiao had already sold all the barbecue skewers she’d prepared for the day. She had no choice but to close up and head home.
Tian Miaomiao made a rough calculation.
They’d earned a little over one thousand yuan from the stall today. After deducting the costs, their profit was around six hundred yuan. If she split that with Tian Doudou, each of them would get three hundred yuan.
“Uh…”
Holding her phone, Tian Miaomiao glanced at Tian Doudou, who was sitting opposite her, and smiled.
“Little brother, look. I paid for the barbecue truck, the meat, the vegetables, and all the other things we need to sell barbecue. And now you’re eating my food and living in my apartment. So it’s perfectly reasonable for me not to pay you a salary for the first month, right?”
Tian Doudou: “…”
He remained silent for a while before curling his lips into a smile at Tian Miaomiao.
“Yes. Perfectly reasonable.”
Tian Miaomiao patted his shoulder with satisfaction.
“Then it’s settled. Tidy up and get some sleep early. We’ve been busy all day, and I still have to go to Starlight Farm first thing tomorrow morning to pick up the meat and vegetables. Good night!”
With that, Tian Miaomiao returned to her room.
After taking a shower, Ling Chuang came out of his bedroom and noticed the barbecue and drink sitting on the coffee table.
The corners of his lips unconsciously curved into a smile. He walked over to the sofa, sat down, and opened the drink on the table.
There were still droplets of condensation clinging to the chilled soda can. When he pulled open the tab, bubbles fizzed up inside.
Ling Chuang tilted his head back and took a sip before taking a beef skewer out of the takeaway bag.
Although the barbecue had gone cold, it still gave off an enticing aroma.
After finishing a beef skewer, Ling Chuang raised his eyebrows slightly.
“It tastes pretty good.”
Although he hadn’t actually been frightened by anything that evening, he rather liked these little treats meant to help him recover from the scare.