Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 114

Let’s Have One Bowl

“You have no idea how hard we’ve been looking for you! Everyone was searching for a needle in a haystack, and it turns out you stopped selling Changfen! Wuwuwu!”

The female student’s accusation made Sun Miao feel even more guilty. But on second thought, it wasn’t entirely her fault. For one, those old customers in her group chat had been egging her on every day. Still, this wasn’t the time to sell out her teammates.

So, Sun Miao started spouting nonsense, primarily to shift the blame. “Well, you can’t completely blame me for this. I told everyone at the time that it was my last day running the stall. A lot of people back then thought they’d definitely be able to find me, right? If I had just vanished without a word, then I’d truly be in the wrong.”

She was actually quite particular about this. Every time she was about to disappear, she would announce it on the final day, never launching a surprise attack.

The two girls thought about it and realized she was probably right.

University students are a genuinely guileless bunch, and they were actually fooled by Sun Miao. Especially when her next sentence came out, they completely dropped the matter. “Besides, it didn’t stop you, did it? Look, you two still managed to find me. Out of so many students, only you two found me. That’s really impressive.”

The two of them were placated and no longer fussed over it. Seeing new items they hadn’t tried before, they decided to buy them, even though they felt a bit pricey. The Bubble Mini Wontons were especially expensive in their eyes. The school cafeteria was subsidized. While the subsidy wasn’t as large as some other universities, it still existed. Under this policy, the food prices in their school cafeteria had always been stable and were definitely cheaper than outside.

A bowl of Bubble Mini Wontons might sell for fifteen yuan in a shopping mall, but at their school, the same portion cost only five. After all, it was mostly just soup with very few ingredients.

Compared to Sun Miao’s, the school’s was a bargain of epic proportions.

However, having eaten Sun Miao’s Changfen, they knew just how delicious her cooking was. So, after a moment of hesitation, they quickly chose to get both. They had intended to order them anyway, but had been debating whether to get the wontons or the Crab Shell Yellow after considering their living expenses.

The result of their deliberation was to get both.

Each of them paid fifty yuan, their faces inevitably showing a pained expression, but it quickly transformed into anticipation. This was also why Sun Miao was reluctant to give her contact information to students or do business with them—mainly because students don’t have much money.

She didn’t want to see students, unable to control their cravings for her food, end up spending so much that they had to subsist on instant noodles and plain steamed buns at the end of the month.

Sun Miao had attended a vocational high school, where the students had even less self-control. The proportion of students who ran out of money by the middle of the month and had to eat instant noodles daily was slightly higher than at other schools. As someone who makes food, she actually preferred to see everyone eat well and be full.

More expensive, higher-grade delicacies should be enjoyed when one has ample funds.

Students, after all, had not yet entered society. Some lacked resolve, and their self-control was lower than that of the working folk who, having earned money themselves, understood the hardships of life better. Therefore, Sun Miao tried her best not to become a major part of their expenses.

Of course, those with poor self-control would spend their money on other things even without Sun Miao’s stall, but she didn’t want them to be muttering, “If only I hadn’t spent that money at that little stall, wuwuwu,” while they were eating instant noodles and gnawing on steamed buns.

But since they had already shown up right in front of her, ready to spend money, Sun Miao couldn’t just push them away. “Go away, I don’t want you to buy my food.”

Sun Miao made the Bubble Mini Wontons for them and delivered them along with the Crab Shell Yellow. The two girls ate happily, and then asked, “Boss, what time do you close up?”

“I’m open from six in the morning to six in the evening. If I sell out, I’ll close early. I expect a wave of people to come later, so I should be able to head home around four-thirty.”

The two looked at the time and realized there wasn’t much left. The students from the Education Park campus definitely wouldn’t make it over to eat today. So, they first took pictures of the Bubble Mini Wontons and Crab Shell Yellow, then a picture of her menu board, and finally, they didn’t forget to snap a shot of the “Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar” sign.

“I knew we couldn’t find it! We remembered the name wrong! ‘Meow Meow’s Mobile Dinner—I told you that name was too weird!”

Actually, even if they had remembered it correctly, given the students’ habit of running off without listening to the full directions, it would have been difficult to find Sun Miao. Discovering her little food cart now was purely a matter of luck.

As they ate, they were chirping away, complaining about their useless classmates and, in the same breath, praising their useful selves.

After they finished eating and paid, they said goodbye to Sun Miao and left her with a bold declaration: “Just you wait, you’ll be closing up and going home by noon tomorrow!”

Sun Miao froze for a moment, only snapping back to her senses after their figures had receded into the distance. It looked like she was in for a tough battle tomorrow.

Today happened to be Saturday. Su Ruixi had worked overtime in the morning, and once she was done, she slipped away in the afternoon. Not long after the two students left, Su Ruixi arrived at Sun Miao’s stall. Sun Miao immediately started complaining to her, saying she’d been found by the students and that she was definitely going to be incredibly busy tomorrow.

Su Ruixi was a bit confused, her brow furrowing. “Isn’t today your last day at this spot?”

“Oh, right.”

She had been completely sidetracked by those two students. She was so focused on feeling guilty that she had forgotten to tell them it was her last day. Now she wanted to contact them, but she hadn’t gotten their contact information, so there was no way to reach them.

Seeing Sun Miao’s expression, Su Ruixi knew she was blaming herself. It would be awful if they made a wasted trip tomorrow.

Su Ruixi then asked, “So, are you still going to set up your stall here tomorrow?”

Sun Miao thought for a moment. Today was Saturday, tomorrow Sunday. It was a rare weekend they could have off together, and she wanted to spend some quality time with Su Ruixi. She glanced at Su Ruixi and saw that her girlfriend’s eyes were also on her, most likely thinking the same thing about wanting some private time together.

Beauty befuddles the mind¹; this was no mere saying.

So Sun Miao quickly shook her head and answered directly, “No, I want to be with you.”

The corners of Su Ruixi’s lips curled up, and she said something that would have driven the students mad if they heard it: “Well, this is a park anyway. If they don’t find you, they can just have some fun here. Besides, it’s Sunday, so it’s not like they’re skipping class. It’s their day off. Think of it as giving them a chance to get out and not just be cooped up in their dorms. And anyway, they never get up early. Who knows what time they’ll even wake up? You’d be waiting here for them until who knows when.”

If the students had heard that, they would have surely grabbed Sun Miao by the ear and exclaimed, “Your Majesty, beauty has led the nation astray²!”

But Sun Miao, in a way, was completely wrapped around Su Ruixi’s finger. She nodded immediately. “Mhm, you’re right.”

And so, the matter was settled. Just as Su Ruixi said, it could be considered Sun Miao giving those students who were holed up in their dorms a reason to come out and play. Plus, the park was right there, and the weather was perfect. If not now, when was the time for fun?

The two of them chatted affectionately for a while. Sun Miao told Su Ruixi to go home and buy groceries first, and she would start cooking as soon as she closed up. Then, she told each of her subsequent customers that today was her last day at this location and she would be moving tomorrow, so they shouldn’t make a wasted trip.

Most customers chose to ask for Sun Miao’s contact information and were promptly pulled into her group chat. After more than a month of running her stall, the number of people in Sun Miao’s group had surpassed three hundred. Even though she hadn’t attracted too many students that time with the Changfen, she had still added a good number of scattered customers.

Right now, the group chat was as noisy as a flock of quacking ducks. Sun Miao found it a headache to look at and immediately turned on do-not-disturb mode.

She had planned to close up soon and head home, figuring she would just cook and eat the remaining wontons herself. But then, Kaixin’s mom sent her a message, saying their family of three was out and about and wanted to stop by her place for a bite to eat. Sun Miao, of course, welcomed them with open arms. She sent Kaixin’s mom her location and was no longer in a hurry to go home.

Sun Miao also sent a message to Su Ruixi, telling her she would be a little late.

Su Ruixi replied that she understood and even sent a picture of the vegetables in her shopping cart. Sun Miao smiled knowingly at the sight and typed a few more words to her. After some time, Kaixin’s family of three finally walked over. Sun Miao spotted Kaixin from a long way off.

Although her family was poor, the happiness they radiated was the kind that made anyone who saw them smile. Kaixin walked in the middle, her hands raised to hold her father’s hand on one side and her mother’s on the other, skipping and hopping from time to time. Today she was wearing a cute princess dress and a pair of small, pink leather shoes.

The moment Sun Miao saw Kaixin, Kaixin saw her too. She broke free from her parents’ hands and ran towards Sun Miao. Her father quickly followed behind her, while her mother trailed after them with a smile.

“Kaixin is here?”

In response to Sun Miao’s question, Kaixin beamed a huge smile. “Kaixin is here!”

Kaixin’s father picked her up as she stood in front of Sun Miao’s stall. Shortly after, Kaixin’s mother arrived. When she saw the prices written on the stall’s sign, she was visibly stunned. Sun Miao chimed in at the right moment, “I only have Bubble Mini Wontons left. They won’t fill you up, so just buy one bowl to try the flavor. You’ll probably need to eat something else for your main meal.”

Sun Miao’s words did much to alleviate the mother’s awkwardness. She smiled and nodded. “Then we’ll just have one bowl.”

Kaixin piped up too, “We’ll eat one bowl~”

“Alright, one bowl for Kaixin’s family. Why don’t you go find a seat over there for a bit.”

After the family of three was seated, Sun Miao took out three bowls. She truly didn’t have many wontons left—just a single portion’s worth—which she divided evenly among the three bowls, just adding a little extra soup. As she brought them over, Kaixin’s father stood up to take them, and her mother looked a bit surprised. “Xiao Sun, we only ordered one bowl.”

“It is one bowl. The wontons are just one portion’s worth. I split it into three bowls for you to share. The amount is the same.”

Hearing Sun Miao’s explanation, Kaixin’s mom finally breathed a sigh of relief. Before heading back to her cart, Sun Miao pulled a candy from the small pocket on the front of her apron. “Does Kaixin want some candy?” All this candy was bought by Su Ruixi. She was very generous when it comes to buying candy for Sun Miao; the trays on the shelves in the living room and entryway at home were always filled with it.

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