Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 115

Someone is speaking ill of her

Su Ruixi probably knew that Sun Miao had a habit of sharing candy with others, but she didn’t know that besides her, only little children received this special treatment.

Kaixin tilted her little face up, her eyes filled with longing. The candy Sun Miao gave her was truly delicious, far better than any candy bought from a store. However, she was a well-mannered little girl. Though she clearly wanted it badly, she still turned her head to look at her mother.

Only after her mother nodded did Kaixin extend her hand, a wide smile blooming on her face as she said, “Thank you, Jiejie!”

So well-behaved.

Sun Miao sighed with emotion. Placing the candy in Kaixin’s palm, she tilted her head slightly and said, “You’re welcome.”

She returned behind the food cart, where the family of three was sitting and happily drinking soup. The soup Sun Miao made was genuinely delicious. Kaixin’s mother felt it was expensive because their family didn’t have much money, but she would still buy it because she trusted that Sun Miao’s cooking would definitely be excellent.

Their impression of Sun Miao’s cooking was deeply ingrained. As former neighbors, they had occasionally gotten to eat things Sun Miao made, with the most unforgettable being the braised duck dishes. Those dishes were incredibly tasty, so good they couldn’t figure out how they were made, and they were far more delicious than the braised foods bought outside.

When she saw the price, Kaixin’s mother hesitated but never questioned it, because she felt Sun Miao’s skill was worth that much.

The family of three looked genuinely happy as they ate. Sun Miao sat behind the food cart, not scrolling through her phone, but just propping up her head and listening to their voices. In the past, whenever she encountered such a scene, she would feel a slight pang of sourness in her heart while watching Kaixin.

Sun Miao didn’t know why she had become an orphan. She had always been healthy, so she definitely wasn’t abandoned because of illness. She couldn’t figure out the reason and could only guess: Maybe it’s just because I’m a girl? In her orphanage, quite a few girls had been abandoned for this very reason.

Seeing other girls so doted on by their parents, it was inevitable to feel a bit envious.

If only I also had parents who loved me like that.

But now, that sour feeling in Sun Miao’s heart was gone. Because she too had a home now, a home that belonged to her and Su Ruixi.

Just thinking of this point, seeing the happiness of others no longer brought Sun Miao that bit of sourness, but rather a heartfelt blessing.

Kaixin’s family was a good one. The parents were happy and in love, and although they were poor, they both worked very hard. Their family would get better and better in the future, and Kaixin would also grow up to be better and better.

After the family of three finished eating, Kaixin’s mom paid via QR code, and Kaixin’s dad picked her up. They said goodbye to Sun Miao. Sun Miao waved back, packed up her stall, and drove her three-wheeled vehicle straight home. By the time she arrived, Su Ruixi had already washed all the vegetables.

Su Ruixi didn’t really know how to wash vegetables, and Sun Miao hadn’t had the time to teach her step-by-step, but nowadays, the internet taught everything. There were tutorials on how to pick vegetables and how to wash them—everything one could need.

Coincidentally, Su Ruixi was a very fast learner, so despite her lack of experience, she had managed to wash the vegetables in a very presentable way.

Today, their roles were reversed. The person poking her head out of the kitchen at home and saying, “You’re back?” had become Su Ruixi. Sun Miao placed the tricycle key on the lucky cat¹ shelf by the side door and replied, “En, I’m back.”

She walked towards the kitchen and saw Su Ruixi also wearing an apron. Unlike the black one Sun Miao had found in the kitchen, Su Ruixi’s was newly bought from the supermarket today. It was a Strawberry Bear² apron, looking absolutely adorable.

Noticing Sun Miao’s gaze had fallen on her, Su Ruixi asked, “Does the apron look good?”

“It looks good.”

“I bought it for you. I’m just trying it on today.”

A smile touched Sun Miao’s lips as well. She entered the kitchen, put on her own apron, washed her hands, and began to cook. “You wear it. I’ll wear this one tomorrow.”

Who knew that Su Ruixi would shake her head. “No, don’t wear it tomorrow.” It was a rare day off, and Su Ruixi didn’t want Sun Miao to spend all her time cooking. Besides, cooking every day would become tiresome. She said, “Let’s go out to eat tomorrow.”

Sun Miao nodded in agreement. “Okay.”

She glanced at the washed vegetables and prepared to start making dinner.

The vegetables Su Ruixi bought were all based on video tutorials. The first was tomatoes; they were simple to wash and came pre-packaged at the supermarket, so there was no need to pick them. They were also simple to prepare. Sun Miao took one look and said, “Let’s make some cold-dressed tomatoes.”

“Okay.” Su Ruixi’s eyes lit up. This was something she had never eaten before.

It was called cold-dressed tomatoes, but it was really just tomatoes marinated in white sugar. Sun Miao even added a little creative touch. She picked up a kitchen knife and began to peel the tomato. Normally, the easiest way to remove tomato skin is to scald it with hot water or roast it over a flame; after that, the skin just peels right off.

But Sun Miao thought that the tomato skin was actually tasty, so there was no need to throw it all away. Her knife skills were excellent; she could handle major tasks like deboning, let alone peeling a tomato. A tomato, with its soft and mushy core, was as easy for her to peel as an apple.

Most people can’t even peel an apple in one continuous strip, yet Sun Miao could peel the tomato’s skin off completely while keeping the inside intact.

Sun Miao quite liked her system. Because after the system taught her, it had her genuinely practice her knife skills. She also read novels—all sorts of miscellaneous things. Of course, she read Baihe novels the most, followed by no-CP female protagonist novels³.

Among them, there were plenty of novels featuring things like a “God of Cookery System.” However, in many of these novels, the system directly infused the skills into the host. Whenever she read that, Sun Miao would feel a little uneasy. What is given directly can also be taken away at any time.

She disliked such plot points. Perhaps the feeling of having a cheat where you get rewards without any effort was great, but she still felt it was better to learn and master things herself.

Therefore, she quite liked her system.

Just like now, because she had truly mastered the skill, even switching to a different item didn’t affect her performance.

Su Ruixi stood to the side, and seeing her peel so perfectly, couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. “Sun Miao, your peeling technique is definitely better than many master chefs.” Praised by her girlfriend, Sun Miao’s lips couldn’t help but curl upwards. “En.”

She wasn’t shy at all and accepted the compliment directly.

The system’s tail also curled up to the heavens: 【Of course. Just look at who taught her.】

Yes, yes, it’s all you. You’re the proudest one.

Sun Miao responded to the system in her heart, then continued to slice the tomato. Each piece she cut was of uniform size, arranged on the white porcelain plate like petals. Then, she rolled up the peeled tomato skin. The red skin was rolled by her into what looked like little roses, which she placed charmingly in the center of the plate.

The surrounding tomato wedges looked like extending rose blossoms.

Next came the white sugar. Sprinkled from above, the sugar fell gracefully onto the tomato skin and wedges, like snow falling on roses.

Simple but not simplistic, delicious and beautiful.

Su Ruixi clearly loved it, which was evident at the dinner table. Then again, it was hard to say, since there was nothing Sun Miao made that she didn’t love to eat. But judging by Su Ruixi’s expression, she was very satisfied. Especially the tomato skin; logically, you wouldn’t think that stuff would be tasty, but after being marinated in sugar, it became soft and a little slippery. The taste in the mouth was a bit strange, but not unpleasant.

Not to mention the sugar-marinated tomato wedges, which were cool and sweet. After a few chews, the tomato’s natural acidity emerged, making it an absolutely wonderful appetizer.

Thanks to this dish, Su Ruixi ate half a bowl more rice than usual.

Their evening was nothing special, still watching the finance channel together, followed by a goodnight kiss before bed. It was just that since that day, their goodnight kisses had started to stray from a puppy love romance⁴ and were heading towards the R-rated category. Every time they finished kissing, Su Ruixi’s eyes would be moist and her cheeks flushed red, looking just like the sugared tomatoes from tonight.

Seeing Su Ruixi like this, Sun Miao’s heart would pound wildly, almost wanting to eat this “tomato” right then and there. But Sun Miao still suppressed the wavering in her heart and decided to keep waiting. Their way of getting along… was, in fact, still a bit awkward.

Perhaps due to their personalities, after entering a romantic relationship, it had quickly turned into a state like plain boiled water⁵, making them seem more like two roommates just getting by together. Sun Miao was actually quite dissatisfied with this state, but since it had already started, there was no way to abruptly break it.

If she rashly told Su Ruixi right now that she wanted to do that kind of thing, and Su Ruixi just went with the flow and agreed, wouldn’t that just fast-forward the process and kill off⁶ the honeymoon phase entirely? She absolutely did not want that to happen!

So she held herself back, stopping at just kissing and not going any further. After saying goodnight, they returned to their respective rooms. The next day, both Sun Miao and Su Ruixi rarely slept in. Sun Miao only became somewhat conscious after nine o’clock, but she still leaned against her pillow, not wanting to get up.

Just then, she heard some movement from outside her door. Sun Miao yawned, knowing it was Su Ruixi who had woken up. Sun Miao grumbled for a moment before finally climbing out of bed to wash up. As she was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, washing her face, and applying baby cream, she thought that if Su Ruixi had no plans in the afternoon, she would drag her along to go shopping.

Sun Miao was quick with her morning routine. A little while later, she left her room and went downstairs. She was planning to whip up something simple to eat, but when she got downstairs, she saw breakfast already laid out on the table. Su Ruixi was sitting at the small bar not far from the dining table, with her laptop open, seemingly handling some work.

Seeing Sun Miao approach, Su Ruixi closed her laptop.

It’s probably not very urgent work, Sun Miao understood. She walked over, and Su Ruixi took her hand, leading her towards the dining table. “I can’t really make breakfast. I ordered takeout, have a taste.”

Sun Miao glanced at the table. The food on it was actually much more exquisite than what she usually made. There were King Prawn Dumplings⁷ and seafood congee, and it all looked quite delicious. Sun Miao remarked, “As expected of a master chef.”

“But I don’t think it’s as good as yours,” Su Ruixi said truthfully. “Let’s just make do for a day and take a rest today.”

Her words brought a smile to Sun Miao’s face. “Okay.”

But at that very moment, she felt like she had forgotten something. Halfway through her meal, she even sneezed.

—Someone is definitely talking bad about me behind my back.⁸

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