Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 127

How Is It Selling?

Su Ruixi was about to serve the two another Lion’s Head, but Hip-hop Mei stopped her. “Ah? There’s no need, Su-jie, we can get it ourselves. We’ve been friends for so many years, do you still need to be so formal with us? It’s fine.”

—Damn it, hasn’t this stripped me of my great power of holding the soup ladle?!

But what Hip-hop Mei said made perfect sense, and Su Ruixi couldn’t come up with a good counter for a moment. She could only watch helplessly as Hip-hop Mei took the ladle and got a Lion’s Head for herself. And right at that moment, her destined hero—Sun Miao—made her entrance. After Hip-hop Mei was done serving herself, she directly placed two Lion’s Heads into Su Ruixi’s bowl.

“We have to thank Susu-jie today. If Susu-jie hadn’t lent us the space, I wouldn’t have had anywhere to make these Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe. Susu-jie, you should have an extra one.”

Wow, at that moment, Su Ruixi truly felt: Sun Miao is so cool.

She had discreetly placed both meatballs into Su Ruixi’s bowl. The Hip-hop and Yabi Mei duo beside them stared with wide eyes. Seeing this, Su Ruixi immediately tried to think of something to say so that Sun Miao could also get a third one.

She had even already figured out what to say.

It would be nothing more than: Sun Miao worked so hard cooking today, and if it weren’t for Sun Miao, none of us would get to eat Lion’s Head.

Yabi Mei’s gaze sharpened, as she too realized Su Ruixi could totally use this excuse to snatch away the last extra meatball. Her mind started racing, trying to come up with a plan.

However, just then, Hip-hop Mei suddenly stuck her foot out, shattering both their plans. “Haha,” Hip-hop Mei laughed, her dazzling red hair looking especially conspicuous under the lights. “Looks like with this distribution, only one person can have an extra one. I won’t be polite then. After all, I helped out yesterday, and I won’t get to eat this later on, so I’ll take it~”

What are you doing! You big dummy!

Fire was practically shooting from Su Ruixi and Yabi Mei’s eyes, but Hip-hop Mei just laughed “hahaha” while ladling a Lion’s Head into her own bowl. And with that one scoop, she took two. Su Ruixi and Yabi Mei’s eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets, but they still couldn’t stop Hip-hop Mei.

Hip-hop Mei even took her sweet time, ladling a full scoop of soup and even some baby cabbage hearts.

Well, the Lion’s Heads were already in her bowl, they couldn’t exactly make her spit them back out, could they? All in all, the final result was that Hip-hop Mei and Su Ruixi each got three.

Yabi Mei was almost puffed up into a ball with anger, but since there was still one Lion’s Head left and she could still have one, she managed to calm down.

Sun Miao took it all in and found it quite amusing. It felt like a natural counter to a tsundere.

Su Ruixi was actually still a bit dissatisfied. She wanted Sun Miao to have one herself, but Sun Miao didn’t really care that much. She had eaten them in the system space until she was sick of them. Every time she finished making a batch, she had to eat a portion herself to taste if her own creation had reached the level of the template the system provided.

If there was even the slightest problem, she would have to scrap it and start over.

Right now, Sun Miao’s tongue could be called a “God’s Tongue” without exaggeration; she could taste even the most subtle differences. As the saying goes, there’s no good cook who doesn’t sneak a bite. Although Sun Miao didn’t taste much while she was cooking, she would still sample the flavor.

In any case, she had absolutely no craving for Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe right now, though eating one was fine. It was just that if she gave the three of them three each and only ate one herself, Su Ruixi would explode with anger.

Sun Miao’s understanding of her own tsundere had reached the level of perfection, even more profound than her own culinary skills.

Even now, with Sun Miao having two to eat, Su Ruixi was still a little angry, feeling it was too pitiful that she, as the chef who had worked so long, could only eat one. Sun Miao didn’t think it was pitiful at all, but she could still turn around and act pitiful in front of Su Ruixi later.

The meal finally ended amidst Yabi Mei’s lingering resentment. She found Hip-hop Mei more and more disagreeable to look at. After the meal, seeing that Hip-hop Mei still wanted to stay and chat, she simply stuck out her foot and lightly kicked her on the butt.

“What are you doing?”

“Time to go home, are you still trying to be a third wheel here!”

“How am I being a third wheel…” Hip-hop Mei didn’t even finish her sentence before her eyes went wide. She pointed a finger at Su Ruixi, then at Sun Miao. “You… you two…”

Sun Miao, on the other hand, was now a little embarrassed. She felt like she was the bad guy who had abducted Su Ruixi, but Su Ruixi was much more magnanimous. “Mhm, it’s exactly what you’re thinking. We’re together.”

“Ah…” Hip-hop Mei was quite surprised, but after a moment she returned to normal. She didn’t say much, just “I knew from the start that Little Boss Sun had impure intentions toward Su-jie!” Before she could say another two sentences, she was dragged away by Yabi Mei.

“Is that any way to talk? Be careful or Little Boss Sun will add you to her blacklist later.”

The two of them bickered as they walked further and further away, leaving just Sun Miao and Su Ruixi.

Su Ruixi told Sun Miao to go take a shower first while she stayed behind to clean up the aftermath. There was a lot of stuff today. Sun Miao wanted to help, but Su Ruixi shook her head. “The dishes don’t need to be washed by me anyway, it’s fine. Go take a shower. Making this Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe is so troublesome, you must be tired today.”

Her body wasn’t particularly tired, but her mind was exhausted, mainly because she had just come out after busying herself in the system space for a year.

Hearing Su Ruixi say this, Sun Miao didn’t insist. She nodded and went upstairs to the second floor to shower. After Su Ruixi took care of the kitchen and the dining table, she also went upstairs for a shower. When she came down, Sun Miao was already sitting on the sofa watching TV. Hearing Su Ruixi’s footsteps, she switched the channel to the financial news.

“Isn’t this pretty boring? What were you watching just now? Finish watching it before you switch over.”

“It’s fine, I was just watching whatever,” Sun Miao said, patting the spot on the sofa next to her. Su Ruixi sat down.

By now, they had both changed into light pajamas. Su Ruixi’s pajamas were rather plain, just a top-and-bottom set made of pure cotton, very simple with no patterns. Sun Miao’s, however, was much cuter; her pajamas had a small pocket with a Strawberry Bear peeking its head out.

“Yours is so cute.”

“I only bought it after seeing the apron you bought. Does it look good? Should I buy a set for you too?”

Su Ruixi leaned a little closer to Sun Miao, her eyes slightly lowered as she whispered, “Okay.”

Sun Miao also reached out an arm and hugged Su Ruixi. The two of them stayed quiet for a long time. Su Ruixi was multitasking, still watching the television. After a while, she suddenly moved, then took out a notebook and pen from the coffee table and started jotting things down.

This time, it was Sun Miao’s turn to scoot closer. Her leg pressed tightly against Su Ruixi’s, and she could feel the warmth radiating from her body. She sat on the sofa, with her other leg bent and foot resting on the sofa, a posture that made her feel relaxed and comfortable.

She reached out and subconsciously gathered a lock of Su Ruixi’s hair that had slipped down her back, twirling it around her finger. She had just finished her shower, and even her hair carried a hint of moisture. Coiled around her finger now, it felt cool and pleasant to the touch.

Su Ruixi didn’t resist her action. Without turning her head, she continued to watch the TV.

Their relationship was already very close, so close that physical contact had become commonplace.

As the show Su Ruixi was watching entered its final credits, Sun Miao stealthily leaned over. Su Ruixi turned in response and gathered Sun Miao into her arms. Su Ruixi’s embrace was very warm. To Sun Miao, who had never felt the warmth of another person’s embrace, this felt like the warmest place in the world.

She leaned her head against her and even nuzzled a little. This action, in turn, made Su Ruixi feel a bit shy.

“Still thinking about last night’s nightmare?”

Sun Miao froze for a second. She hadn’t expected Su Ruixi to see through her low spirits with just one glance. Sun Miao paused, then tilted her head. “Mhm, a very scary nightmare.”

“What did you dream about?”

“For one year, 365 days, I didn’t see you.”

Hearing Sun Miao’s words, Su Ruixi couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Her heart also became soft and tender. Su Ruixi reached out, her hand running through Sun Miao’s hair before landing on her back, patting it gently, just like she did at noon today.

“That won’t happen. We live together, we see each other every day. Even if we’re too busy with work and miss each other for a day or two, we can still meet.”

Sun Miao’s hands went under Su Ruixi’s armpits from behind to hug her back, and she quietly closed her eyes.

The atmosphere between the two of them was wonderful, but things weren’t so great over with the head chef and the manager. The two of them were now like two grasshoppers tied to the same string¹. The manager was still saying, “If that woman dares to set up a stall at the entrance of our Yuanfu Lou, I’ll have the security guards chase her away!”

The head chef, however, didn’t quite agree. “What kind of look is that? It makes it seem like I’m actually afraid of her! Let her come!” After saying this, he fell silent for a moment, then asked, “The matter of the discount on the Lion’s Head, did you post it in the customer groups and on the mini-program²?”

“I did, but the response has been lukewarm.” The manager sighed. “You know it too, our Yuanfu Lou’s customers are all people who aren’t short on money. Even a discount won’t attract too many of them.”

“Mmm…” The head chef obviously knew this as well, so he sighed and said no more. He thought for a while and still felt that Sun Miao was no threat at all. Those three women looked very rich. If he pulled off this job, it would be a full three million yuan!

Just thinking about it made the head chef happy.

He wasn’t a person short on money. As the head chef of Yuanfu Lou, his salary and bonuses were by no means small. But in this day and age, who complains about having too much money? Besides, it wasn’t 30,000 or 300,000, it was a full 3 million! Who could possibly disregard that kind of money?

Especially since a new Huaiyang cuisine chef had recently arrived at Yuanfu Lou, his status was far from what it used to be. It was conceivable that his bonuses would be reduced in the future. This 3 million was a complete windfall from heaven for him, how could it not make him happy.

That money would be in his pocket in less than a week.

Early the next morning, he arrived at Yuanfu Lou to prep ingredients, keeping the kitchen neat and orderly. When noon came, the time that woman had specified, the head chef even sent his young apprentice over to take a look. It wasn’t long before the apprentice came back to report: there was indeed a woman setting up a stall next to the main entrance.

“How is it selling?”

This was the matter the head chef cared about the most.

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