No Can Do
“I made it myself. I save where I should and spend where I must1.”
Sun Miao nodded. The lemon tea shop owner scanned the QR code and went to sit next to the cat owner. The two of them were chatting, though it sounded a bit like they were bickering. The lemon tea boss felt a little heartache over the 588 yuan: “If it weren’t for you two, would I have bought something this expensive?”
The cat owner’s voice was soft, but she was still retorting, “You yourself said you wanted to eat it yesterday. You definitely can’t blame the two of us.”
Niuniu let out a loud “Meow,” supporting her owner. But her voice was too loud, she couldn’t keep it soft and delicate, which made even Sun Miao glance over in their direction. The two women made eye contact and burst out laughing. Niuniu grew even more annoyed, meowing incessantly, only this time she remembered to keep her voice dainty.
Seeing the two of them, Sun Miao grabbed an extra pair of chopsticks and two empty boxes and brought them over. “I made this at home and brought it directly here, so there’s no extra broth. You two can just split this. The broth is quite light; if you dilute it with some water, Niuniu can definitely drink it.”
“Okay.”
Sun Miao left and sat back down on her stool, listening to them talk. “What kind of owner are you, letting Niuniu drink 588-yuan broth.”
The cat owner waited for the lemon tea boss to portion out the soup for her, then took out a water bottle from her bag and diluted it once more before giving it to Niuniu. Every time Niuniu drank the soups and broths made by Sun Miao, she was exceptionally happy, making little guruguru sounds as she drank.
Hearing the lemon tea boss’s teasing, the cat owner wasn’t angry. “Aiya, don’t I have you, her godmother2? It’s all on your tab!”
The two of them seemed to be getting along quite well, which put Sun Miao at ease. After all, she was the one who had, in a way, brought them together. Sun Miao certainly didn’t want them to end up in a situation where they couldn’t get along3.
Shifting her attention away from them, Sun Miao thought to herself: Three left. These three shouldn’t be too hard to sell, right? Just as she was thinking this, she saw another group of people arrive. They got out of their cars and walked towards Yuanfu Lou, surrounding a middle-aged man.
Their presence was quite imposing, so Sun Miao took a few extra glances. As she looked, she found the man somewhat familiar. Looking closer, he even resembled Su Ruixi a little. Perhaps Sun Miao’s stare was too direct, as it caught the man’s attention. Although his expression was blank, he still nodded at Sun Miao in acknowledgment.
Sun Miao froze for a moment, then nodded back.
As they passed by not far from her, Sun Miao overheard a bit of their conversation: “Do you know that young lady?”
“Do I need to know someone to greet them? It never hurts to be friendly to people.”
Sun Miao thought about it; that man seemed quite nice. He might even be a relative of Su Ruixi. After all, they looked quite similar, and both were very wealthy. There shouldn’t be such a coincidence in the world; they most likely had some blood relationship.
Inevitably, Sun Miao thought: Could he be Su Ruixi’s father?
The moment this thought occurred, Sun Miao’s back went ramrod straight. She swallowed hard and patted her chest. Don’t scare yourself, how could it be such a coincidence? Maybe there’s no relation at all.
At 12:45, the lemon tea boss and the cat owner finished eating. The two stood in front of Sun Miao’s stall, still wanting more. “It’s seriously so delicious, but it’s a pity it’s too expensive. We’ll probably only eat this once for a while. Next time Little Boss Sun has a discount, you have to tell me.”
The response she received was: “I won’t. I don’t do discounts.”
The lemon tea boss was left speechless. The cat owner, holding Niuniu, laughed at her own boss. Annoyed, the lemon tea boss shot back: “What are you laughing at? Your portion was scraped from mine! You should be on my side, praying to the stars and the moon for Little Boss Sun to give a discount!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll go pray to the gods and buddhas too.”
The two of them said goodbye to Sun Miao and left with a wave.
Sun Miao looked at the three remaining portions and sighed. Was she really going to lose to that head chef and that stinky manager?
Sun Miao sat on her stool, propping her head up with her hands, not even in the mood to play on her phone. But after a short while, two people came over and actually bought two portions. Sun Miao was stunned: Are there really this many rich people nowadays?
But after selling those two, she hit a stalemate. At 13:32, there was still one last portion left.
Sun Miao’s brow furrowed tightly. Just then, two women walked towards Yuanfu Lou. At first, they only gave Sun Miao a few extra glances, but after realizing she wasn’t an official take-out stall for Yuanfu Lou, they bypassed her and headed inside.
A moment later, however, one of the women turned back and stood before Sun Miao’s stall.
Her brow was knitted, and she looked at Sun Miao’s sign with some disapproval. “Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe, 588 a portion? Young lady, you’re selling it for the same price as inside Yuanfu Lou, and you’ve set up your stall right at their entrance. You’ll offend the owner of Yuanfu Lou this way4.”
Sun Miao knew that, of course. She nodded. “I know.” She began to enthusiastically promote her Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe: “But what I make is truly delicious, better than even the head chef inside. Ma’am, you must have come to Yuanfu Lou for the taste, so why not buy one of mine and give it a try?”
Ever since the egg fried rice, she rarely had to hawk her own wares like this. After all, her customers were so numerous she couldn’t keep up, so where was the need to shout?
Sun Miao’s sales pitch was a bit rusty, and the customer in front of her also found the scene unusual. She smiled.
The customer looked to be in her early forties, but perhaps she was much older, just very well-maintained. The crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes were faint, but they were visible when she smiled. She wasn’t strikingly beautiful, but she possessed a confident aura that made her shine.
“I’ll take one, then.”
Sun Miao breathed a sigh of relief. Today’s last portion of Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe was finally sold.
“For here or to go?”
The woman thought for a moment, seemingly reluctant to take it inside, so she said softly, “I’ll eat it here.” She scanned the code to pay and took a seat behind the stall. Sun Miao’s table and chairs were wiped very clean, so the customer didn’t wipe them again and just sat down.
Sun Miao quickly brought it over. When the customer saw it, she was left speechless.
“588 a portion, and you use this kind of box?”
As the woman spoke, Sun Miao was also observing her. She quickly noticed: Perhaps, she’s a fellow professional.
The area between the thumb and index finger on her right hand5, as well as her palm, had obvious calluses, and her hand was very steady; it looked like she had been holding a knife for many years. She could be a chef, or maybe a doctor, but a faint, smoky aroma of cooking clung to her, so Sun Miao believed she was in the same trade.
Faced with this question, Sun Miao smiled. “The box is just a vessel. The most important thing is the taste.”
The customer, however, didn’t quite agree. “They always say color, aroma, and taste. Your presentation is already a problem.”
Sun Miao didn’t mind. “Open the lid, and then see if it has presentation.”
The customer did as Sun Miao said, popping the lid open with a click. She took a closer look and saw the Lion’s Head Meatball with Crab Roe resting quietly inside, with a white layer underneath. The transparent container wasn’t a flaw; because it was completely clear, the dish could be admired from 360 degrees.
Just as Sun Miao had said, open the lid, and then see if it has presentation. The answer was naturally—yes.
The customer smiled, then sniffed the broth, and her expression turned serious.
As the saying goes, an amateur sees the fun, but a professional sees the skill6. Just from the aroma, the customer already knew this portion of Lion’s Head Meatball with Crab Roe would be delicious. This fragrance was different from the kind produced by seasonings and soup concentrates; it was a more primal, purer scent.
This aroma alone was enough to tell that the creator of this dish possessed superb culinary skills.
Looking closer, the Lion’s Head Meatball with Crab Roe itself was exceptional. The customer could tell at a glance that this was definitely not made from a pre-made product, but was handcrafted by her.
During their brief exchange, while Sun Miao was observing the customer, the customer was also observing her. The customer was certain that the owner of this small stall was the chef herself. After examining the meatball, the customer took a spoonful to taste it.
That one bite left her unable to react for a long time, and she simply fell silent.
She was lost in a daze for a long while. When she came back to her senses, she saw Sun Miao packing up her food cart. The customer was a bit baffled, then remembered the sign she had seen earlier and finally realized: she had bought the very last portion from this stall owner today.
Thinking about it, she was rather lucky. If she had come any later, she probably wouldn’t have been able to buy even this one portion.
The customer finished her meal. She ate every spoonful with extreme concentration. Only after she had eaten everything, without leaving even a drop of soup, did she stand up. She walked over to Sun Miao and asked her, “Who is your master?”
At the same time, she was mentally running through the list of grandmasters in Huaiyang cuisine. But Sun Miao’s answer was completely unexpected: “I take Heaven as my teacher7.” The statement was a bit pretentious, and it stunned the customer, but the system was very happy: 【Correct, that’s it, take Heaven as your teacher!】
After she processed it, the customer just assumed Sun Miao didn’t want to say and let out a low laugh. “What you make is indeed delicious. A price of 588 doesn’t do your culinary skills justice.”
Before eating, she had felt that Sun Miao’s Lion’s Head Meatball with Crab Roe wasn’t worth 588. Projecting her own standards, she figured that if she herself were to make one, it would be priced at around 388 at most. She had actually thought 588 was too expensive. Especially that Huaiyang cuisine head chef inside Yuanfu Lou—he charged 588 for one, and it really wasn’t worth it.
But after eating it, she felt: a price of 588 was an insult to Sun Miao’s skill. She even felt that this Lion’s Head Meatball with Crab Roe was even more delicious than the ones her own master made…
The technique was different, but all roads lead to Rome8, and both were Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe. In terms of flavor, the one made by the young lady before her was simply more outstanding. Her tongue and nose were very sharp; she knew Sun Miao had used black pork and added lemon juice to remove any gaminess, unlike Su Ruixi, who only knew there was a fresh fragrance but not where it came from.
But despite clearly smelling the aroma, she couldn’t taste even a hint of sourness. This proved that the young lady’s skill with seasonings was high, and her hand was very steady.
At this moment, the customer’s eyes held nothing but pure admiration for Sun Miao.
Sun Miao, however, shook her head. “588 is already very expensive.”
Yes, 588 was already very expensive. But there were countless pricey dishes these days. Take her own master, for example; you couldn’t even get him to come out of retirement for a 588-yuan Lion’s Head Meatball.
Thinking of this, the customer smiled. “Will you be here tomorrow?”
“I will.”
“Then can I pre-order a portion of Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe?”
The answer she received, however, was a rejection: “No can do.”
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