Chapter 1174: 18.12 First Grey Star - Police Officer, I want to report a marriage scam.
Chapter 1174: 18.12 First Grey Star - Police Officer, I want to report a marriage scam.
Lu Ming nearly swallowed his tongue as he ate, finishing the enormous serving of golden fried rice by himself. The rice was soft as if he were munching on clouds. The White Vermillion Pheasant egg added a surge of flavors, and the rice had the vitality of green onion strings, blue carrot, and moody plum.
The old doctor was astounded to see that Lu Ming was eating like a starving pig and was even burying his head in the big bowl. This was the first time he had ever eaten so madly, and the old doctor could not help but feel glad for him.
"Lu Ming, this is great. It seems that Xiao Jin's cooking fits you well. How about trying my egg porridge as well?" the old doctor offered.
But unexpectedly Lu Ming shook his head after smelling the porridge. He said, "I can't eat it. It has roasted peanuts. I'm allergic to peanuts."
"Ah, right. You can smell even that. The peanuts in this porridge had been grounded, though," said the old doctor. "But you actually have allergies to many things, adding to the fact that you can barely stomach anything. Being allergic to peanuts, seaweed, mushrooms, pumpkin, shrimp, and crabs. Hah~ poor you."
"Old man... give me that small bowl of fried rice," Lu Ming said.
"You can go to the cafe and ask those two children to cook you more things. Try to eat as much as your body needs. Your body needs to heal naturally."
Since this was the first time he had witnessed the child consume so much fried rice, the old guy passed it without hesitation, reasoning that as long as the child ended up throwing up afterward, it was okay to overindulge.
At the cafe across from it, Su Jin is happy to see Lu Ming enjoying his fried rice. Su Jin knew that Lu Ming had already woken up and was just pretending to sleep like in his memories, so he shared a bowl of his fried rice, which was cooked to Lu Ming's preference. Su Jin felt as though heaven was guiding him as he finished such a large bowl.
Seeing what Su Jin had done, Ji Yoonjun remained silent. In the original story, Ji Yoonjun was the one who had prepared and sent that golden fried rice bowl; now that Su Jin had taken over, the protagonist's storyline had been given to him, and he was reduced to a mere bystander. He patted Su Jin's shoulder and said,
"What are you looking at? Don't tell me you fell in love with sight with that trespasser from before?"
Su Jin was shocked to learn that Ji Yoonjun had referred to Lu Ming as a trespasser; after all, Ji Yoonjun was the one who had previously fallen in love; yet, Su Jin was perplexed by the impression that Ji Yoonjun was uninterested in Lu Ming's company.
Su Jin asked, "A'Jin what do you think of that man?"
"Isn't he a drunkard? No, he is covered in blood. Don't tell me you're a gangster?! Fudge! I need to call the police." Ji Yoonjun said as his face turned pale in fright and immediately ran towards the telephone.
Who would have expected to hear such an interesting conversation between the two chefs of the cafe? Like Su Jin, they were left dumbfounded when Lu Ming and the old man came over to buy another big bowl of fried rice for Lu Ming and returned the empty bowls.
"Xiao Jun calm down. This boy is not a bad person."
What a shame it would be to send Lu Ming to jail for being mistaken for a gangster who trespassed the cafe covered in blood—it was the old man who stopped Ji Yoonjun from calling the police. But who would have thought that as soon as he finished speaking, Lu Ming, who recognized Su Jin, suddenly approached the man and grabbed his hand while looking at him with glowing eyes.
"Xiao Jin! Marry me!"
This time, all three of them were stunned, with the exception of Lu Ming, and whether by coincidence or not, the police call connected this time.
[Hello! This is Somatic Police Station. What is your report?]
Ji Yoonjun moved in accordance with his instincts and replied, "I would like to report a marriage fraud."
The other three men were astounded, and within minutes Lu Ming was being led by men in uniform to the police station. The elderly doctor was left feeling helpless and humiliated, especially since Lu Ming had even begged for Su Jin's fried rice before being taken away. To make matters worse, Lu Ming was being led away by the police while they were carrying a large bowl of fried rice.
---
At Somatic Police Station...
Lu Ming is eating a huge bowl of fried rice in the interrogation room, with the station police captain of this police branch standing in front of him. Almost everyone in the station wanted to kneel when Lu Ming turned in his personal gourmet hunter ID. This is Gourmet Hunter Lu Ming, one of the best hunters on the planet.
Ji Yoonjun placed the cafe surveillance tape on the tabletop laptop, and when they saw Lu Ming pressuring Su Jin, a young man, into an impulsive marriage, they would have assumed—if not for his noble status as a Gourmet Hunter—that he was a marriage scammer.
The Police Leader reluctantly calls, "Sir Lu Ming should we..."
Munch. munches. Chews~
Lu Ming glanced at the police leader and said, "Wait for me to finish eating."
"Yes, sir!" The police leader saluted as he was crying inside as he felt how unreasonable this little lord is.
The police leader had to watch Lu Ming devour a massive bowl of fried rice in front of him. The middle-aged uncle police leader was assaulted by the aroma of elite golden rice grains, white vermilion pheasant eggs, and many other elite and rare Ingredients. He recognized the panda crest on the bowl and knew that it was a cafe dish.
"This panda crest. Sir Lu Ming, is that fried rice from the Panda Cafe? No wonder it smells delicious. Did Xiao Jun make it?"
"Xiao Jun? No. Su Jin made it. There are two chefs in the cafe. Why do you only mention Xiao Jun?" Lu Ming asked.
The police leader said, "Of course, between Xiao Jun and Xiao Jin, the former is more talented. I'm not saying that he is better than Xiao Jin, it's just that what they are good at cooking is different. Xiao Jun is good with all kinds of meals except sweets. Xiao Jin is good at making pastries and sweets."
"Hm~ is that so? I would like you to do something. It's about the Tornado Mountain Ranges. Sent your people at the gates to watch all changes on it. I can't tell you what is happening in detail, but just in case a beast wave happens get people to prepare. Something unexpected was born in the mountain range.
It might be a new ingredient or something else," Lu Ming explained.
The chief of police appeared shocked and then serious. Their town is too tiny, so if word spreads about the new ingredient, a large number of Gourmet Hunters would assemble. There are good and bad hunters, and both the police and residents are wary of the former. The majority of hunters are rather formidable.
Lu Ming said, "Don't worry. I will be staying in this town for a while. If there are bad hunters coming over tell me I will handle them."
"I will leave it to you then. Sir may leave as you fit. I will return to my duties now," said the police leader before he took his leave.
Lu Ming enjoyed his huge bowl of fried rice in the police station. Meanwhile, Ji Yoonjun had his head lowered as the old doctor and his friend reprimanded him.
"Child, I know you are afraid of strangers but that boy is truly not a bad person. He is a good one among the Gourmet Hunters. He must have mistaken the cafe for the clinic." The old doctor said.
Su Jin said, "I also don't think he is bad... person," his face turned pinkish as he saw the teasing smile of the old man and his friend before him.
Ji Yoonjun whispered through intentionally letting Su Jin hear, "That man is indeed handsome though not my type but to think he would steal Xiao Jin's heart like this. What should we do?"
"Hoho~ Xiao Jun, for situations like this it is better to give them more time together," whispered back the old man.
Ji Yoonjun, as if he had made a decision, said, "Xiao Jin, I will handle the cafe today. How about you fetch that scum, I mean that good hunter and show him around. You can't go back until you learn his name."
"No. I can't let you work alone," Su Jin said.
Ji Yoonjun said, "It's fine. If I get tired I will just close it after half a day."
"This lazy kid..."
"..."
The old man and Ji Yoonjun silently observed him, behaving like a good melon eater, and Su Jin decided to go back to his room and make some preparations for when he fetched Lu Ming in the police station. The two felt helpless at his words. No one can stop this guy if he truly wants to close the cafe when he is tired. It is not like it has not happened before.
Ji Yoonjun said, "Don't tell me he truly fell in love with that fraud."
"Maybe... Boy, that kid might be useless most of the time, a picky eater but he is a good child," said the old doctor.
At this, Ji Yoonjun shrugged his eyes, clearly uninterested in the way the elderly doctor had presented Lu Ming, treating him like a blind date.
"Yea. Yea. Whatever, I'm going to make coffee and tea. Do you want a cup?" Ji Yoonjun said.
The old doctor said, "Give me a cup of that Puer Tea leaves you gave this old man before."
"Gramps, those aren't cheap. You're going to pay for it this time." Ji Yoonjun said.
The old man said, "Pay. Pay. Let Lu Ming pay for this old man's tab."
"Okay. I will make him pay all your tabs. Wait here a bit." He left for the kitchen to make the drinks.
---
On the other hand, at the police station...
Su Jin arrived for Lu Ming as well, having just finished a cup of coffee and a cream pan that the station cops had ordered. The police were already accustomed to Su Jing making deliveries on his bike because they knew how indolent the café owner was.
"Jinjin, you are finally here. Jiejie is about to fall asleep. Give me a cup of black coffee~"
"Sister Kea, you should at least take a nap," Su Jin said.
"Can't. Too much work," said the police officer, Lady Kea, who drank her coffee as if it was soup. That's an espresso made from an elite ranked komodo coffee bean.
"Xiao Jin, throw brother a piece of bread. I'm so starving I can't move."
"Me too."
"..."
The police leader who had ordered the snack emerged at that very time to pay, and beside him stood Lu Ming, carrying the large dish that was now empty because he had finished eating everything.
The police leader uncle smiled at Su Jin as he paid for the delivery, "It's Xiao Jin. Are you here to fetch this brother back?"
"Yes. No. I ... came to deliver..." Su Jin said as he felt even more embarrassed seeing the knowing gaze of the big sisters, big brothers, and even uncles in the police station.
After working as police officers for so long, it is impossible that they could have missed the way Su Jin's eyes lit up when they saw Lu Ming. The latter appears to be intriguing to Su Jin as well; the former is simply too naive.
Even the Police Leader smiled at this scene, "Oh~ so it's like that. Youth~ ah!"
Lu Ming can only drag the bashful little one away as he sees him blushing. Su Jin lowered his head to cover his redding face, but his ears exposed him. He looked like he wanted to bury his head in his chest.
"You're here to pick me up, right? Let's go back." Lu Ming said.
Whistles and taunting voices can be heard from behind them as they are leaving. Su Jin's steps quickened in response to the sounds, hoping to get away, but Lu Ming grabbed his hand and pulled it back to where the man was standing, blushing again and entertaining Lu Ming.