They began to chastise the chubby man, forcing him to retreat step by step, too intimidated to approach Tang Xueba again.
"Waaahhh!!" Dou Dou began to cry pitifully.
"Dou Dou, it's okay, don't cry," Rong Xuelan said softly and holding her baby close to her chest.
While soothing him, she glanced at Tang Xueba, who handed her a phone.
On the phone screen was a video.
The person filming had initially focused on Rong Xuelan's face.
The camera shook slightly and revealing the two troublemakers standing near her stall.
The video captured the entire process of Rong Xuelan making the tofu pudding, including a close-up of two freshly made bowls at the end.
A young boy's voice off-camera narrated excitedly, "She's so beautiful! And her tofu pudding also tastes good! Everyone, I'm telling you, you need to come here right now!"
The video continued.
The boy behind the camera seemed to be chatting with someone nearby and his lens now aimed at the crowd surrounding the stall.
Tang Xueba zoomed in on the video, and Rong Xuelan saw the two greasy-haired men whispering to each other.
Moments later, they pulled something from their pockets and dropped it into their bowls.
Then came their loud shouting.
The video shook chaotically before abruptly ending.
"The police are here!" someone in the crowd called out.
Rong Xuelan looked up, and the crowd instinctively parted, giving a path for a male and a female officer.
The two police officers approached her stall, their faces turned serious.
"Someone reported finding a fly in their tofu pudding?" the male officer asked.
The chubby man quickly stepped forward before Rong Xuelan could respond.
He held out the bowl of tofu pudding to the officer. "Look, here it is."
The officer glanced at the bowl and frowned. "Just because there's a fly doesn't necessarily mean it's the vendor's fault. It could have flown in by accident."
The chubby man's expression shifted. "Officer, are you implying that I'm framing her?"
"I didn't say that," the officer replied calmly. "But this is a society ruled by law. Everything needs evidence."
He looked around the area and noticed the surveillance camera mounted on a pole.
"Let's go. You two can come with me to review the footage."
Although the officer didn't outright believe the chubby man's accusations, going to the police station would still be inconvenient for Rong Xuelan.
Regardless of what the investigation found, rumors could spread.
Even if just one person believed the allegations, word of mouth could escalate and harm her reputation.
"Officer, I have video proof that the fly was planted. There's no need to go to the station," Rong Xuelan said quickly.
The chubby man's face turned pale and he opened his mouth to argue.
However, the officer cut him off. "Hold your horses. Let me see the video."
Tang Xueba immediately handed over his phone and earbuds.
After a few minutes, the officer removed the earbuds, his face turned dark with anger.
He turned to the chubby man and asked, "You claimed you found a fly in the tofu pudding you were eating?"
The chubby man hadn't seen what was on the phone but was confident his actions had been discreet enough to avoid detection.
Still, his voice faltered as he stammered, "Y-Yeah… I noticed it as soon as I got the tofu pudding…"
"Lie! Keep lying!" the officer roared. "The video captured everything! How dare you blatantly lie?"
The officer shoved the phone in front of the chubby man, skipping to the part of the video where the fly was planted.
The chubby man's face drained of color as he looked away, forcing a sheepish smile. "Officer, it… it was just a prank! I was just joking with her!"
"A prank? Who plants a fly as a joke? And who pulls a stunt like this in front of law enforcement?" the officer snapped.
The crowd quickly pieced together what had happened.
So these two people had been framing the tofu pudding vendor all along!
"What scumbags!"
"They were acting so smug just now. If it weren't for that video, the poor vendor would've been ruined!"
"Exactly! They were trying to sabotage her business. Officer, isn't that illegal?"
"Arrest them! They need to be arrested!"
The chubby man's eyes widened, his body flinching as if to make a run for it.
Before he could lift his foot, the quick-thinking officer had already pinned his arms behind his back.
"The skinny one!" Rong Xuelan shouted as she held Dou Dou in her arms, unable to act.
She noticed the other man trying to sneak away.
As soon as she spoke, the female officer stepped in.
With a swift grab and a yank, she had the skinny man on the ground in no time.
Both troublemakers were handcuffed, and the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.
"You are now suspected of causing a public disturbance. We're taking you back to the station for further investigation," the male officer informed the two men before turning to Rong Xuelan. "You'll need to come to the station as well, to provide a statement and submit the video as evidence."
Rong Xuelan adjusted Dou Dou onto her back and prepared to pack up her stall.
However, a group of young men stepped forward and quickly loaded her tables and chairs onto her tricycle for her.
Rong Xuelan felt a wave of gratitude.
Without Tang Xueba and everyone else's help, she might not have resolved today's trouble so smoothly.
Facing the dispersing crowd, Rong Xuelan raised her voice and said, "Thank you all for your help! All the tofu pudding today is free. If you're willing, please come back later to enjoy!"
Since the phone with the video belonged to Tang Xueba, Rong Xuelan accompanied him to the police station.
At the station, the officers copied the video and quickly recorded Rong Xuelan's statement.
Half an hour later, Rong Xuelan returned to the night market.
When she got back to her stall, sure enough, a crowd was still waiting.