After the divorce, he took care of his child and sold fried rice; his ex-wife was filled with regret

The whirlwind of events on the round table lasted for less than a quarter of an hour.

The large black clay pot, which was originally full of golden sour soup, wide rice noodles, and black fish slices, was scooped out until not a single peppercorn was left.

The wooden bucket that had been holding Wuchang Xiangshui tribute rice was empty; even the few grains of rice clinging to the edge of the bucket had been scraped clean with a wooden spoon.

The young man wearing a woolen hat put the large porcelain bowl back on the table; the bowl's surface was even smoother than if it had been washed.

He gripped the fabric of his trousers tightly with both hands, drenched in sweat, his nose covered in fine, hot beads of sweat, his face flushed red, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, and the corners of his eyes reddened from the heat and tears.

His companion, sitting next to him, also held an empty bowl, exhaled a long breath of hot white steam, wiped the tears and oil from his face, and slumped in his chair, looking completely dazed, as if all his bones had been removed.

The two sanitation workers sitting opposite me had their old vests soaked with sweat.

The gray-haired uncle put down the bowl of noodles, rubbed his chilblain-covered hands repeatedly on his knees, looked at Lin Fan with red-rimmed eyes, his lips trembling, and even his voice was trembling:

"Boss Lin... I've never eaten such delicious and heartwarming food in my life... We two old men have been sweeping the streets all morning, and half of our bodies are numb from the cold. Eating this hot soup and rice has brought all the blood in our veins back to life..."

The sanitation worker, Lao Zhou, bowed repeatedly, tears welling in his eyes: "Yes...you truly have a heart of gold, thank you so much, Boss Lin..."

At this moment, Lao Wang, a middle-aged patrolman, also put down his large soup bowl, took a tissue to wipe the hot sweat from his forehead and neck, and felt his pores open up, exuding a feeling of relaxed comfort.

Old Wang glanced at the two young streamers sitting opposite him, heads bowed and faces full of shame, then tapped the table with a serious expression:

"Finished eating? Are you full?"

The young man wearing the woolen hat shuddered and quickly lifted his hands from his knees, hurriedly standing up.

He had gotten up so quickly that his knees slammed against the table leg, causing a sharp pain, but he didn't dare utter a sound. He frantically pulled his phone from the inside pocket of his down jacket, his fingers trembling as he opened WeChat Wallet.

"Mr. Lin... Mr. Lin, how much is this meal? We'll pay! We'll pay double, triple!"

The young man's eyes were red, and he turned his phone screen towards Lin Fan, his voice trembling with sobs:

"We may be poor, but we can't go back on our word and eat this 'heavenly meal' for nothing... The items in your shop are really not expensive at all, 188 yuan is just something we made up online... You have to accept this money, otherwise we'll really feel guilty going home tonight!"

The companion next to him quickly pulled out his phone, his voice trembling with tears, and chimed in, "Yes! Boss Lin, we'll scan the code! Please show us your payment code, we really know we were wrong!"

Lin Fan stood behind the counter, wiping the tea tray with a dry towel.

Hearing the two young men's words, Lin Fan remained calm, not even raising his eyelids, and said indifferently:

"I said this meal would be on my treat, so it is. Put your phone away."

The young man wearing a woolen hat stood frozen in place.

He originally thought Lin Fan would take the opportunity to berate them, or force them to kneel down and apologize or make a video to clarify, but Lin Fan's expression remained unchanged from beginning to end, and he didn't even ask a single question.

The young man's lips trembled, and he couldn't help but sniffle as he asked:

"Boss Lin...you...you didn't even ask what we were trying to film outside this morning? You didn't even scold us? We...we almost got you into trouble this morning because of someone else..."

Lin Fan picked up a clean teacup from the side, poured half a cup of water, pushed it to the edge of the table, and looked at two frozen sparrows who had come to beg for a meal by the roadside with a calm expression:

"What's there to ask?"

Lin Fan said in a calm tone, "Now that you've eaten and warmed up, go back. Just leave the bowl there, and remember to close the door when you go out."

The two young men blushed with shame upon hearing this.

For that meager amount of traffic, they were out scheming and plotting like mad dogs early in the morning, thinking they could make a big splash.

But in Boss Lin's eyes, their shady, underhanded schemes weren't even worthy of a frown.

They simply offered them a hot meal, saving their nearly frozen bodies; that was all.

"I'm sorry... Mr. Lin, I'm so sorry..."

The young man in the woolen hat clutched his phone tightly back in his pocket, unable to bear the torment of self-loathing any longer, and bowed deeply to the bar counter.

"Boss Lin! When we get back, we'll give you a detailed account of everything we saw and tasted at the shop today!"

"Anyone who dares to spew nonsense in the comments section, I'll curse them all back!"

"Thank you for the meal... We'll be going now, we'll be going now..."

Their companions bowed repeatedly, their heads almost touching the ground. The two of them didn't even dare to wipe the empty bowls on the table anymore. They hunched their shoulders and quietly retreated to the door.

Patrolman Lao Wang, observing Lin Fan's calm and composed demeanor, felt a deep sense of admiration in his eyes. He stood up and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Lin Fan.

"Boss Lin, you're a true gentleman! Our patrol team will take note of what happened today. We'll head back to our posts now, and let you know if anything comes up."

"Take care, Captain Wang." Lin Fan nodded slightly.

Old Wang straightened his reflective vest and waved to Xiao Chen beside him.

The two elderly sanitation workers, their hands tucked into the sleeves of their cotton-padded jackets, were radiant with the glow of a full stomach. The young man in the woolen hat and his companion followed at the back, heads bowed. The group walked briskly to the shop's entrance.

Su Xiaoxiao stepped forward, grasped the door bolt with both hands, pulled upwards, and forcefully opened the door.

"Click, creak—"

The heavy solid wood door had just been opened halfway, and before the draft from outside could even get in, Old Wang and Little Chen, who were standing at the front, suddenly stopped in their tracks.

The group of people inside the door were all stunned.

At the foot of the three cement steps outside the shop, on the old bluestone street, stood more than thirty people!

The group of people were all huddled up in thick cotton-padded coats, their faces red from the cold, and their ears shivering. They stood there blankly, staring at the exhaust pipe on the second floor of the Lin family's shop that was spewing out hot steam, their nostrils twitching wildly at an exaggerated frequency.

The door was so cold, but when it was opened from the inside out, the aroma of lard, the sour smell of pickled mustard greens, and the domineering fragrance of hot fish bone broth that had been accumulating inside for a while rushed out like a scalding warm current through the wide-open doorway!

"call--"

The dozens of people standing in the center of the door were suddenly enveloped by the heat wave, and in an instant, a spectacular and uniform sound of swallowing saliva echoed throughout the alley!

"Glug! Glug! Glug!"

The heavy swallowing sounds rose and fell, and even the northwest wind outside the door couldn't drown them out.