Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 109

One piece for you, one piece for me

Su Ruixi’s reasons for making money were actually quite simple. In the beginning, she just wanted to prove herself, to challenge herself, and to show those in her social circle—who thought she would just obediently inherit the family business—that she, Su Ruixi, was powerful in her own right. Even without relying on her parents’ influence, she could reach heights others couldn’t.

Later, her thinking became: Since I’ve already put in the effort, I should definitely make good money. If I fail, how embarrassing would that be?

By now, she could face her own failures. Not only could she face the failure of her collaboration with Zhang Qiang, but she could also face the failure of “realizing her ability to snag an elevator was just no match for others, so she might as well give up.”

So now, Su Ruixi’s goal for making money had changed: to buy a building, all so she could go home earlier and have dinner with Sun Miao.

Su Ruixi drove all the way home. Opening the garage, she saw Sun Miao’s little food cart already there, neatly parked against the wall. Her electric scooter was also parked beside it. Her three parking spots were now completely full. Although this meant she had to park carefully every time she came home, unlike before when she could just park haphazardly however she wanted, she just liked it this way.

Getting out of the car and closing the door, Su Ruixi went up a couple of steps and pulled open the side door.

As if hearing her movements, Sun Miao also walked over from the living room sofa. Just as Su Ruixi had imagined, Sun Miao had showered, changed her clothes, and was watching TV.

This discovery made her very satisfied. The moment she saw Sun Miao, the corners of her lips curled up unconsciously.

“You’re back?”

“Mhm, I’m back.”

A brief two-line exchange, yet both of them felt very content. Sun Miao beckoned Su Ruixi over, “Quick, come here. I made something delicious.” Su Ruixi put down her bag, took out only her phone, and walked towards the dining table.

As she got closer to the dining table, Su Ruixi saw the lotus root patties¹ that Sun Miao had spent a great deal of effort making.

“This meat filling is from the Bubble Mini Wontons; it should be delicious with the lotus root slices. Have a taste.” Before they even sat down, Sun Miao used her chopsticks to pick up a lotus root patty and brought it towards Su Ruixi. Su Ruixi paused for a moment, then supported herself on the table, leaned towards her, and opened her mouth.

She took it into her mouth, gently holding it with her fingertips. After taking a bite, she held it with her fingers again. It was undeniable that the lotus root patties Sun Miao made were indeed delicious and perfectly suited her taste. The outside of the lotus root patty had a layer of batter, fried to a crisp, and some crumbs even fell off when she bit into it. The lotus root slices inside, however, were very crisp and tender, still retaining a hint of their raw freshness, though they were definitely cooked through.

After that, she could taste the filling inside.

The filling from the mini wontons was spread directly on, its flavor more of an accent; you could tell what it tasted like, but that was all. But now, inside the lotus root patty, it was the absolute star. Savory and fragrant with a hint of sweetness, accompanied by the taste of pork.

As she chewed, the lotus root slices broke apart and mixed with the filling, surprisingly remaining crisp.

“Is it good?”

—Delicious.

Su Ruixi really wanted to answer that way, but she was a bit of a neat freak², so her first reaction was, “I haven’t washed my hands yet.”

Hearing this, Sun Miao almost wanted to laugh. “Then go wash your hands quickly. After you wash them, we’ll eat.”

“Okay.”

Su Ruixi was a little awkward, but this kind of minor awkwardness wasn’t annoying; on the contrary, it was endearing. And most of the time, although her words might be contrary, her actions were obedient.

She had already obediently gone to wash her hands and sat down at her seat. Sun Miao had already taken out the rice cooker, and they each served themselves a bowl of rice and started eating. As usual, Sun Miao chatted about amusing things, especially making a big deal about how Zhou Ling’s mother came to eat alone today and made her promise to keep it a secret.

In the past, Su Ruixi would usually just listen to Sun Miao talk, because she genuinely felt her own life was rather uninteresting. Work matters were hardly amusing, and her interactions with people were the same old routine—unchanging, dull, and tedious.

But tonight, the incident while waiting for the elevator had become something special, giving Su Ruixi some capital to chat with Sun Miao.

“Today—” Su Ruixi began excitedly. Sun Miao happened to be mid-sentence, so she simply took a sip of soup and listened to Su Ruixi. Su Ruixi’s table manners when speaking were also a bit better than Sun Miao’s; she swallowed everything in her mouth completely, so her voice was clear. “I left as soon as work ended today, but I was delayed in the elevator lobby for a long time.”

Actually, after hearing this, Sun Miao had a vague idea of what was going to happen. Because before Sun Miao opened her own breakfast shop, she had also worked in an office building for a period of time. Although she was young, she had entered the workforce early and had done all sorts of jobs.

She had naturally worked in an office building before and knew very well³ what it was like when it was time to get off work. But Sun Miao wasn’t a killjoy. Her expression even changed. “What happened? Were you delayed by something?”

“No,” Su Ruixi shook her head and continued, “There were just so many people, I couldn’t squeeze in no matter what.”

“That’s not the main point,” Su Ruixi raised her chopsticks, her eyes sparkling with the eagerness to share. “By 6:10, most people had already left, but there were still many people on other floors. I estimated that if I waited normally, I’d have to wait for a long time.”

“At that moment, what you mentioned to me before…” Su Ruixi’s storytelling wasn’t particularly interesting; she spoke in a very methodical⁴ way that could make people feel a bit sleepy. But Sun Miao was an excellent supportive listener⁵. Even if she had guessed what had happened and knew about the tactic of taking the elevator up to go down, she would absolutely not spoil the mood.

She even exclaimed, “Wow! There’s such a tactic?!”

“Mhm.” Su Ruixi pursed her lips and smiled. “It was my first time knowing about it too. I had seen many elevators going up before, with lots of people inside, and I didn’t know why. When I saw some employees pressing the ‘up’ button, I even thought they had pressed it by mistake.”

It was only because Sun Miao was so accommodating⁶ that Su Ruixi could share such uninteresting little things. Sun Miao didn’t find it boring, not because she was willing to be a supportive listener, but because she genuinely loved it when Su Ruixi shared these trivial daily details with her.

It was also because of these small things that the distance between them could close even further.

However, because of this, their dinner time stretched on considerably. After finishing dinner, Su Ruixi volunteered, “I’ll clean up. Sun Miao, you cooked, so leave the rest to me. Go watch TV for a while.”

“Okay.”

Although Su Ruixi said to leave everything to her and let Sun Miao rest, Sun Miao still followed her to the kitchen. She had also bought some fruit. She took out a honeydew melon, cut it into small pieces, placed them on a fruit platter, and carried it out. “Susu-jie, I’ll wait for you to come out and eat together.”

“Okay, don’t worry about cleaning up over there. I’ll do it.”

Sun Miao really did stop bustling about and carried the platter out.

There really wasn’t much for Su Ruixi to do, because Sun Miao had tidied up a bit after cooking. She had cleaned the cutting board, knives, and the area around the stove, leaving very little work for Su Ruixi. Sun Miao also felt for Su Ruixi; the other woman had worked all day and must be tired too.

So Su Ruixi pressed the automatic function on the dishwasher and came out. She didn’t even need to open the dishwasher to take things out; they could just stay inside quietly, waiting for Sun Miao to attend to them tomorrow.

Su Ruixi wiped her hands before coming over to Sun Miao. The TV had already been switched to the finance channel, and they sat together and started watching. Su Ruixi was indeed watching very seriously, but Sun Miao found it truly boring. After watching for a while, she started watching Su Ruixi instead.

She watched the finance channel so intently. Although her habits were a bit mature, the light from the TV screen falling on her face and reflecting in her eyes couldn’t compare to the earnest glow emanating from within her eyes. Sun Miao even speared a piece of honeydew melon with a fork and first offered it to Su Ruixi.

Something suddenly appeared from the side, startling Su Ruixi a little. When she realized what it was, she directly opened her mouth and ate the honeydew melon. The honeydew melon was really delicious, but what delighted Su Ruixi even more was having someone with her.

Su Ruixi’s life wasn’t actually lonely. She had loving parents and many friends. Logically, she shouldn’t feel lonely at all. But in reality, she was a person who got lonely very easily.

Perhaps it was because her parents were too deeply in love. Unlike many children who are their mother’s top priority, she knew she was important in her parents’ hearts, but definitely not the most important person. Because to each other, they were the most important person in this life.

They were too much in love, so much so that even Su Ruixi couldn’t fit in between them.

This was actually not bad. She yearned for that kind of love but felt she might not be able to achieve it. She was too rational, so rational that she could quickly realize she wasn’t the top priority in her parents’ hearts and accept it readily.

She didn’t leave home because she was throwing a tantrum, but purely to challenge herself. Yet, on the continuous path of climbing, it was inevitable to feel lonely. At this time, Sun Miao appeared by her side. Initially, Sun Miao was just a stranger, perhaps someone whose food was good, but nothing more. But gradually, Sun Miao’s presence grew larger and larger in her heart.

Sun Miao transformed from a small, perhaps insignificant, presence like a dim lightbulb⁷ into a little sun. It wasn’t until her assistant and mother pointed it out that she realized: Sun Miao had already become so important in her heart.

Now, with Sun Miao by her side, even if she did nothing, just being together with her, Su Ruixi felt incredibly warm.

Su Ruixi ate two pieces of honeydew melon, then noticed no more was forthcoming. She tilted her head to look and saw Sun Miao eating by herself. Perhaps noticing Su Ruixi’s gaze, Sun Miao, holding the fork, speared another piece for her.

Su Ruixi had also noticed that Sun Miao only had one fork in her hand, which meant they had been using the same one. Su Ruixi had a slight aversion to sharing utensils, but now she didn’t care. She opened her mouth and ate that piece too.

After a while, without even turning her head, she just let out an “Mm,” and Sun Miao seemed to understand her thoughts. Sun Miao, who was lounging on the sofa, straightened up a bit, stretched out her hand, and offered the honeydew melon. Su Ruixi could eat it just by opening her mouth.

A large platter of honeydew melon, with the two of them sharing, one piece for you, one piece for me, was completely finished before the finance program ended.

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