Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 106

Eating alone

Sun Miao was still over there wondering if it was possible: compared to her hiding well, was it more important for them to silence the potential “bombs” lurking in the group chat first?

When they heard Xiao Xiao and Man Man admit that “Miaomiao’s Mobile Food Bar” was the previously super popular Changfen stall, their curiosity was instantly piqued. However, looking left and right, they couldn’t tell that Sun Miao was a Changfen vendor: “But she’s not selling changfens.”

“That’s because the boss is quite willful. Wasn’t Man Man’s post still about selling beef pancakes? When we pulled an all-nighter before, she was selling Duck Blood and Vermicelli Soup. But don’t worry, everything she makes is exceptionally delicious!”

After hearing Xiao Xiao’s words, one of the roommates suddenly said, “That’s pretty cool, a bit like a novel I’m reading, where the protagonist has something like a random food system.”

Sun Miao, standing behind the food cart, heard this, and her smile froze for a moment: Didn’t I say this was a potential bomb! Don’t go exposing my secrets right now!

Fortunately, Xiao Xiao didn’t take it seriously: “You’ve been reading too many novels. How could there be such a system in the real world? It’s purely that the boss knows how to make a lot of things and is just rather willful.”

Finally, under Xiao Xiao and Man Man’s strong recommendation, they decided to buy Sun Miao’s Bubble Mini Wontons and Crab Shell Yellow. One serving of each came to fifty kuai.

This price wasn’t cheap for students, especially for these two food items. But in reality, it wasn’t overly expensive either. After all, university students were notoriously big spenders¹, often shelling out large sums for all sorts of unbelievable things.

Compared to the 50-kuai grilled bananas they had bought at the mall before, this really wasn’t expensive.

So, they each paid very readily and then sat around the chairs, waiting for their lunch. Sun Miao first packed the Crab Shell Yellow and delivered them, and as she returned to cook the Bubble Mini Wontons, she didn’t miss their conversation.

It seemed one of their roommates was from Huangshan². Upon hearing they were Huangshan baked sesame cakes (a common name for Crab Shell Yellow from the region), she immediately perked up.

“I’m from Huangshan, I’ll know if it’s authentic as soon as I taste it. When I was shopping with you guys before, didn’t we buy some Crab Shell Yellow? They were actually sweet inside! People in the Jiangzhehu³ region really love sweet things, they even make sweet Crab Shell Yellow, putting white sugar and red bean paste in them!”

“The most outrageous thing is, they also hang up a sign saying ‘Huangshan Crab Shell Yellow’! It almost made me die of anger!”

She started speaking a bit loudly, then lowered her voice, and even threatened Xiao Xiao and Man Man, “If the ones you brought me to eat also have sweet fillings, I’m never going out to eat with you two again!”

Actually, Xiao Xiao and Man Man were also feeling a bit uneasy in their hearts, because Sun Miao quite liked to be a bit innovative. Man Man was from Jinling, and when Sun Miao made Jinling Duck Blood and Vermicelli Soup before, she had gone to try it, only to find pea shoots in it. Although it was really delicious with pea shoots, it definitely couldn’t be considered authentic Jinling local flavor.

So, it was uncertain whether Sun Miao’s Crab Shell Yellow were also an innovative version.

Man Man said, lacking confidence, “You’ll know once you try it. It’ll definitely be delicious.”

The roommate took a bite, and her expression changed. This made Man Man very worried: “How is it? Is it good?” The roommate didn’t speak, but seeing her hands and mouth moving non-stop, Man Man and Xiao Xiao were relieved: That means it’s delicious.

This time, what the system provided wasn’t an innovative version, because Crab Shell Yellow had already undergone many rounds of innovation locally. Speaking of this international metropolis, its innovations in cuisine were truly enough to make one’s eyes go dark⁴. Take Gusu, which was very close by, for example. They have a traditional snack there called Fresh Meat Mooncakes⁵.

But when it came here, they innovated it into: Spicy Crayfish⁶ Mooncakes, Pickled Fish⁷ Mooncakes, Garlic Bullfrog⁸ Mooncakes… This was to the extent that people from Gusu would have their eyes go dark upon hearing about it.

[LP: Imagine these dishes as mooncake fillings… Also, searching for the garlic bullfrog dish gave me a bit of a shock lol]

However, Fresh Meat Mooncakes sounded delicious just thinking about them. She wondered if the system would teach her how to make them. If not, she would try making them herself later. Learning from online videos, the ones she made definitely wouldn’t be as delicious as those taught by the system, but they certainly wouldn’t be bad.

Sun Miao thought for a while, without falling behind on making the Bubble Mini Wontons. After finishing, she served them to the customers.

The Huangshan roommate immediately pulled Sun Miao over to ask, “Boss-jiejie, are you from Huangshan? What you make is so authentic and delicious! I feel like even the Crab Shell Yellow made in Huangshan itself aren’t as good as yours!”

“No, I’m not.” Sun Miao offered a slight smile and just gave this reply, without saying where she was from. She herself didn’t even know where she was from; she came from a parallel world. Although most regions corresponded, there were still some subtle differences.

Most importantly, she genuinely didn’t know. She was an orphan of unknown origin; how would she know where her hometown was?

“To be able to make them so deliciously without being from Huangshan, that’s truly amazing!” Evidently, because of the Crab Shell Yellow, the Huangshan roommate had already become a loyal fan of Sun Miao. Sun Miao put down two bowls of mini wontons: “Please wait a moment, there are two more servings, I’ll bring them over.”

After saying this, she quickly went to bring over the other two servings.

The four of them ate for a while and finished. Then they praised Sun Miao a few more times before linking arms, ready to go shopping together.

Business at noon wasn’t actually very good, but she had sold a lot in the morning, so Sun Miao calmed down. She played on her phone for a short while when another customer arrived—it was Zhou Ling’s mother. Today was Monday, and Zhou Ling was in class, so it was naturally impossible for her to come with her mother. Thus, Zhou Ling’s mother came alone.

She looked rather… furtive⁹. Sun Miao paused for a moment, then stood up, putting on her mask as she did so.

When Zhou Ling’s mother came closer, she didn’t say anything else, but first uttered, “Little Boss Sun, don’t tell Lingling, okay? I sneaked over here. If she knew I was eating alone, she’d definitely scold me.”

Hearing Zhou Ling’s mother’s words, Sun Miao couldn’t help but smile. “If Zhou Ling finds out, she’ll definitely be angry.”

Zhou Ling’s mother pleaded, “So, isn’t this why I’m asking you? Next time you see Lingling, please, please don’t tell her.”

Speaking of which, Zhou Ling’s mother was completely won over by Sun Miao’s culinary skills. At first, she thought, Sun Miao was just a roadside stall, how good could it possibly be? But after taking a bite, her worldview was completely shattered, and it even improved her relationship with her daughter.

Later, she would bring Zhou Ling, when she had days off, to occasionally visit Sun Miao’s stall for a bite to eat. And now, because she had been yearning day and night for a bowl of Chicken Broth Bubble Mini Wontons, she simply came over behind Zhou Ling’s back to eat alone.

Sun Miao nodded with a smile. “Okay, I definitely won’t snitch on you to Zhou Ling.”

Hearing this, Zhou Ling’s mother clearly breathed a sigh of relief. But she didn’t sit down directly; instead, she furtively waved towards the back. Sun Miao looked in that direction and saw their family chauffeur jumping out from the bushes.

After the person approached, Zhou Ling’s mother was still muttering, “I’m treating you, don’t tell Lingling. I know your loyalty is definitely with Lingling, but I’ve bribed you now, so you better not snitch.”

It had to be said, Zhou Ling’s mother was very meticulous, even thinking of silencing the chauffeur.

The chauffeur didn’t stand on ceremony, directly ordering three bowls of wontons and one serving of Crab Shell Yellow. He didn’t forget to remind Zhou Ling’s mother, “We have to bring some for Sir over there too. Otherwise, if he asks me later and I tell him, he’ll definitely snitch to the Young Miss.”

“I really!” Zhou Ling’s mother was fuming, but still nodded. “Fine, we’ll pack some more later.”

That chauffeur ate quite a lot; he alone could finish three bowls of Bubble Mini Wontons. Although these mini wontons were mostly broth, it wasn’t easy to drink three bowls in one go. Sun Miao, following Zhou Ling’s mother’s order, first delivered the Crab Shell Yellow to them, and then made the Bubble Mini Wontons.

The two of them sat together, not looking much like a madam and her chauffeur, but more like ordinary friends chatting casually. The atmosphere in her family is quite good, Sun Miao mused inwardly.

But Sun Miao didn’t know that it was only after her appearance that the atmosphere in Zhou Ling’s home had slowly become like this. Initially, the chauffeur and Zhou Ling’s parents had an ordinary employer-employee relationship, very distant.

However, after Sun Miao started setting up her stall at the entrance of Cuiting Yayuan, and Zhou Ling begged him, wanting to try the food and asking him not to tell her parents, their relationship began to change quietly. At first, it was just Zhou Ling’s relationship with the chauffeur that improved. But in her interactions with her mother, Zhou Ling inadvertently revealed that she had pleaded with the chauffeur.

After realizing she had let it slip, she begged her mother not to blame the chauffeur. If it had been according to Zhou Ling’s mother’s previous temperament, she would have definitely fired the driver. But she quickly realized that someone who would consider her daughter’s feelings was actually an excellent employee.

From then on, their employment relationship gradually shifted towards friendship.

That’s why they could sit down and eat together like this. Not only them, but the relationships between other employees in the household and Zhou Ling’s family also gradually improved. Becoming friends didn’t lead to the servants overriding Zhou Ling’s parents; on the contrary, they became even more conscientious in their duties.

In reality, there are indeed people who, if you treat them a bit better, will try to take a mile after being given an inch. But more people stick to their duties, work diligently, and if their employers treat them a bit better, they will only repay it with even more diligence.

Everyone is out here working to earn money; who wouldn’t want a more relaxed working environment?

After finishing their food, Zhou Ling’s mother also packed two servings of mini wontons to go. She had the chauffeur leave first to bring the car nearby, while she herself stood in front of Sun Miao, smiling as she said, “There’s something I’ve always wanted to say, Little Boss Sun, thank you, truly. I only found out later that during Lingling’s most confused period, it was you who guided her. I’m really not a wise mother, and I even neglected Lingling’s mental health…”

Sun Miao, however, shook her head. “You are a competent mother. You’ve already made significant changes for Zhou Ling.”

Zhou Ling’s mother paused, then a smile appeared. When she scanned the code to pay, she paid an extra hundred kuai. She even took the initiative to explain, “This is indeed a token of my gratitude, but it’s not to say that this hundred kuai counts as full repayment. I just hope to contribute a little something¹⁰ to Little Boss Sun’s business.”

“I will always remember your help. If you encounter any problems, feel free to come to me anytime. This is just my affirmation, as a customer, of the food you make.”

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