Home / They Regretted for Accusing Me of Clout / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of They Regretted for Accusing Me of Clout: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

A phone rang the moment I drove my food truck into the alleyway behind Central Hospital. "Mr. Curtis, someone reported you to the authorities," Larry Gunther, who manned the sandwich truck opposite mine, informed me grimly while clutching his phone. "The call was from the Department of Consumer Affairs. They want to investigate you because someone reported you for driving up prices for patients at the hospital."I looked up at my pricing board. A meat dish, a side dish, and a soup for $2. Dozens of people were already lining up in front of my food truck. Two dollars could not even buy anyone a hot dog, but I was reported for profiting off sick people.I closed the lid of the soup container. "Let them come."Larry sighed. "You shouldn't be so hard-headed with them. There are a lot of people online targeting you."I said nothing as I filled the last scoop of pulled pork into the takeaway box. The young woman at the front of the line took the box from me as she went through her po

Chapter 2

The second complaint about me was about disrupting public order. The person who reported me claimed that my food truck had blocked the alley outside the hospital.Before the authorities from the Department of Consumer Affairs arrived, I moved my food truck about 70 feet away. I parked it against the wall of an abandoned area. It was remote and farther from the Inpatient Department.I posted a note on my live stream: [Please register in advance and pick up your meal on time. Limited to one meal per person to avoid long queues.]Laney watched as I cut out the numbers in advance. "You're serious about making the change?""It's better to avoid trouble as much as possible."That afternoon, my customers came in three groups, and the entrances and exits were clear the rest of the day. Larry gave me a thumbs up when he passed by my truck. "Now, no one can pick a bone with you." The moment he said this, a vehicle from the Department of Consumer Affairs parked in the alleyway. An officer

Chapter 3

The fifth complaint we received claimed that my meals were not healthy. Someone posted the complaint on a local forum, claiming that they had suffered from food poisoning after consuming my food and suspected I had used leftover food.Below the post was a blurry picture of their medical report. It did not have a name or hospital logo, only half of the word 'emergency'.When the authorities from the Health Department arrived, a crowd had already formed in the alleyway to witness the drama. An officer asked, "Has anyone given you feedback about feeling unwell after consuming your food?""Nope.""What about the hospital?""Nothing from them either."I did not prolong the conversation. I turned off the gas and said, "I'll ask around right now."After that, I spent the entire afternoon asking everyone in the Inpatient Department. I started from the first floor and asked everyone who bought meals from me until I reached the eighth floor. I even checked with the nurses on duty, but no

Chapter 4

The seventh complaint was not through a call but a trending clip from an old video. It was a video of me when I first started the food truck, and a small-time influencer asked me, "What are you trying to achieve by selling $2 takeaway meals?"In the video, my head was lowered as I was filling up a bowl of soup while telling the influencer about how my father could not bear to spend what little money he had on hot meals when he was hospitalized.However, the video had been edited into two parts. The first half showed me talking about my father, while the second half was a video of patients' families queuing up at my food truck. The headline in the middle blared brightly: [Using his dead father and patients to gain sympathy and followers.]Comments exploded below the headline overnight.[The most disgusting thing is using dead people to do business.][He made a big show about his father in the beginning and wrote the for his $2 meals.]Someone managed to find my father's medical r

Chapter 5

That night, Laney and I did not say a word to each other. We parked the food truck in the garage downstairs and cleaned all the pots and pans. Normally, we would start preparing the ingredients for the next day. Now, we realized we had no idea what to do with our free time.Laney opened up the accounting books on the table, and I leaned forward to go through them. We had made a loss of $47,000 in more than three months. The cost for the electricity, gas, ingredients, takeaway boxes, and condiments stood out like a sore thumb in my eyes.This was money we had slowly accumulated with our small business. "Do you regret any of this, Brody?" Laney suddenly asked.I shook my head. "Nope.""Then why don't you want to continue the food truck?"I was silent for a long time. It was not that I did not want to continue the food truck, but I had lost the drive to do so. I had received seven complaints, each more absurd than the last. I was accused of profiteering, causing public disorder, an

Chapter 6

The woman suddenly shouted in a trembling voice, which shocked Candy. Tears started streaming down her face while she hugged her baby."That place charges $15 for a plain omelette with toast, $15! My eldest daughter is still in the hospital, suffering from leukemia. Her chemotherapy costs a few thousand. What money do I have left to spend $15 on a meal?!"She got increasingly agitated as she sobbed hard. "When Mr. Curtis was here, he sold $2 hot meals with one meat dish, a side dish, and a soup. I would carry my youngest while bringing my eldest a meal, leaving enough money to buy some fruit for my girls…"How could you call him a liar when he is making a loss to prepare meals for us? Are you happy now that he's gone?!"Candy's smile slowly faltered, and people started crowding around her. There were patients, families of patients, nurses, security guards, and the lady who sold fruit. Someone in the crowd recognized Candy."She was the one who lodged all the reports! She lodged se

Chapter 7

Candy hung up after that.I put my phone down and looked out the window. The sky had gotten dark. This time, I did not feel angry, but felt calm instead because I now had evidence.The next day, I pulled out the plastic box filled with the proof of receipt for my vegetables, the quality certification for my meat products, the hygiene certificate of the food truck, and the health certification for Laney and me. I also prepared the receipts from the live stream backend settings, records from the live stream platform, my father's medical records, and my bills.The last thing I did was to put together a clear accounting list that I had worked on the entire night, which included all transactions from the first day I started the food truck until the last day. Every income and payment was marked clearly in red and black.I posted nine pictures on my live stream platform instead of doing a live stream and included a caption: [Anyone who accused me of not making any losses can do the math

Chapter 8

I smiled too. Not making any losses was a huge victory. We would be able to make the food truck last longer.That afternoon, I watched everyone in the alleyway with our takeaway boxes, crouching at the corner of the wall or sitting on the steps, enjoying their hot meal, and I felt the heaviness in my heart from the past few months being lifted.At the end of the year, I won an award for Top Ten Unsung Heroes.On the day of the award presentation, I wore the shirt Laney ironed for me and stood on the stage, feeling a little weak in the knees. The host pointed the microphone at me. "Brody Curtis, can you share with us what inspired your determination for the food truck?"I looked down at the audience below, suddenly not knowing what to say. After thinking for a while, I only had one answer. "It's because ten years ago, I was starving in the alley of this hospital."The audience was silent for a moment before the stage below thundered with applause. I could hear someone crying among

Chapter 9

I smiled. I was happy not because the food truck made a profit but because I was feeling good about not needing to take on this task all alone.That afternoon, an elderly lady with a head full of gray hair staggered up to me with a bowl of soup. "Young man, your meals have saved me for years."Looking at her made me want to cry because I recognized who she was. She was the lady who had been going through chemotherapy. The wristband she was wearing was now another color, but the look in her eyes was just as bright as it was before."Has your health improved, madam?""Yes, it has." She smiled. "The doctor said that I can still enjoy three years of your food."I looked away, pretending to check the fire cooking the food. Laney secretly wiped away the tears in her eyes as she stood beside me.That night, when we were closing up the food truck, I kept the last of the soup for an elderly man who came late as usual. He did not leave right away, but stood where he was to give me a bow. I

Chapter 10

After that, I looked at Candy. "You asked me what I stand to gain? What I stand to gain is knowing that no one would ever crouch there again with a soggy sandwich without any appetite to bite into it."Candy lowered her head after listening to my story, her tears falling hard onto the back of her hand. "I was wrong, Brody."She finally gave her full apology while sobbing. I did not say another word as I pushed another basket of vegetables to her. "You should continue washing them."One day in winter, a middle-aged man arrived at the alleyway. He was wearing an old cotton coat and had a head full of gray hair. He held a thermal container in his hands. I recognized the container. It was red, and some of the paint had been chipped off. There was also a crack on the cap. I saw this container ten years ago.The man stood in the alley but did not walk over. He just stood where he was, looking at me with slightly reddened eyes. I paused for several seconds before putting down my spatula

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