Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 155

Danger!

Suddenly, Su Ruixi fell completely silent. The lights in their room weren’t completely off; an atmosphere lamp had been left on. Under the dim yellow light, Su Ruixi’s cheeks quickly turned red. She fidgeted, still sulking, “So it arrived.”

Her subtext was: What’s the big deal about that?

Of course, it was a very big deal. Sun Miao moved a little closer, and Su Ruixi felt she had already reached the edge of the bed. If she retreated any further, she might fall off. However, her mind had no time to focus on whether she would fall off the bed, because Sun Miao’s voice was echoing right in front of her.

“Susu-jie, the day after tomorrow is the 10th, you’re resting and not working, right? Then tomorrow night, can we?”

Su Ruixi was still being difficult. “Didn’t you say you needed to study a bit? Are you done studying?”

“Mm… inside today’s delivery box, there was a small booklet. I’ve already read it. I put it in the drawer of the side cabinet by the door, the one against the wall. Susu-jie, you can take it and have a look tomorrow.”

At this moment, even the roots of Su Ruixi’s ears were red.

——What is Sun Miao talking about? Take it and look at it tomorrow?! I have to work tomorrow! Where would I find the time to look? Surely she doesn’t expect me to look at it at the office?

If Sun Miao knew what Su Ruixi was thinking, she would definitely feel she had been greatly wronged. She had actually meant for Su Ruixi to look at it after she got home. However, one hadn’t explained clearly, and the other’s mind had wandered, which led to Su Ruixi actually putting the small booklet into her bag on her way to work the next day.

She brought it with her to the office. Initially, she hadn’t planned on looking at it, but the workload for the day was surprisingly light.

The speed at which Su Ruixi’s company transitioned from an atmosphere of ‘involution kings’¹ to one of ‘salted fish’² was incredibly fast. This was probably what the common saying ‘it is easy to go from frugal to extravagant’³ meant. Because of this, everyone, conscious that they had the next day off, automatically reduced their workload for the day.

However, Su Ruixi didn’t mind, because after hiring more employees, the work could still be completed.

Not only could it be completed, but everyone was also extremely proactive. The work attitude of “This old mother⁴ is taking a day off the day after tomorrow, and no one is going to stop me today” was even more intense than the previous atmosphere. Su Ruixi truly felt that expanding the staff had been an excellent idea.

Those employees didn’t cost Su Ruixi that much more per month. One employee was fifteen thousand a month, ten was only one hundred and fifty thousand, and a hundred was just one and a half million. But the work benefits the employees brought her were worth far more than that. Faster work speed, more efficient processing methods, and more strategic proposals were results that could never be achieved by cutting staff.

In fact, many bosses understand that they can only achieve higher profits with more employees and a larger company scale. But more often than not, many bosses choose to cut costs and increase efficiency by firing employees. While it’s true that there are some who ‘fish in muddy waters’⁵ and don’t do their jobs, most people who come to this city to make a life for themselves definitely still want to work hard and earn money.

Su Ruixi was willing to give them a chance, and she had indeed been rewarded.

The good news: her employees were too competent. The bad news: her employees were so competent that there was nothing left to do on the day before the holiday. This left Su Ruixi’s mind momentarily blank, and she unconsciously found herself thinking about what Sun Miao had said.

She had said that tonight, they were going to do that, and that even the little props were ready. All that was left was for the two of them to ‘exercise’ together.

Su Ruixi coughed softly, confirming that everyone was unoccupied. Only the assistant and the HR department were a bit busy. They were occupied with distributing the Dragon Boat Festival gifts, which included shopping cards and zongzi gift boxes. In other words, her assistant wouldn’t be coming to disturb her right now.

Su Ruixi swallowed, and like a thief, she reached into her bag. From an inner compartment, she used two fingers to pinch out the small booklet she had taken from the drawer that morning.

The booklet was very small, only the size of her palm. It was entirely white, with the words “User Manual” written on the front in black. It had just very slyly omitted what “item” the user manual was for.

Her fingers trembled slightly, but she still opened the small booklet. The first two pages were the table of contents. Turning the page again, she found a tutorial on how to wear the finger cots, which recommended placing them on the index and middle fingers.

An image of Sun Miao’s fingers inevitably flashed through Su Ruixi’s mind. Her fingers were beautiful, slender and strong. Although they had many calluses, they were especially eye-catching when she kneaded dough. Fingers like that, if they were covered in finger cots…

For a moment, Su Ruixi couldn’t look anymore. She paused for a while before continuing to read, hypnotizing herself in her mind: Su Ruixi, you’re an adult. It’s no big deal.

While Su Ruixi was uneasily conducting her ‘studies’, Sun Miao ran into big trouble. It was one day before the Dragon Boat Festival, but she had been discovered by the student party.

It wasn’t the student party’s fault; she had been too brazen, daring to set up a stall in a place like a pedestrian street.

With only one day left until the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, logically, many students should have been heading home for the three-day break. But since it was already June and not long before final exams, rather than spending the three days rushing back and forth, it was better to just wait for the summer vacation to go home.

They might arrange to hang out with friends in the surrounding areas during the three-day holiday, or just wander around the city. There were even some who, having no classes the day before, had come out to have fun. The group that caught Sun Miao was one of these, with no classes on June 9th. They stood before Sun Miao’s stall, and she and they stared at each other, big eyes meeting small eyes.

Sun Miao also realized that the two girls in front of her looked a bit familiar; they seemed to be the same two who had found her at the park entrance before. As the saying goes, ‘enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road’⁶. The ancients truly did not deceive me⁷.

Sun Miao’s face was about to crack from smiling so hard, but the two students in front of her seemed to have fallen into a silent scream. Sun Miao felt it looked a bit like that world-famous painting, The Scream⁸. After three minutes of silence, one of the students finally spoke. “Boss, you’ve really made us look for you.” Her voice was faint and eerie, with an inexplicable hint of mournful resentment.

It was just… very much in the style of a female ghost⁹.

Sun Miao rarely used such a term to describe people, but she truly couldn’t find a more fitting adjective at that moment. Even if she said it to their faces, the students probably wouldn’t care. After all, students, apart from a hint of youthful vitality, are full of a ghostly aura. Since they were girls, being female ghosts was perfectly logical.

The other student spoke up, “After selling out of changfen, you sold small wontons and crab shell yellow, and now you’re selling zongzi. Boss, you really know how to give us a new surprise every time.”

Sun Miao let out a few dry “ha ha ha”s, trying to move past the topic, but it was no use. Students have one special trait: they’re stubborn, famously so. Sun Miao wanted to tell them to just hurry up, buy their zongzi, and leave, but they refused. Instead, they gave her a “you just wait” look and lowered their heads to start furiously typing.

Her phone swayed left and right under the force of her tapping, looking as if it was about to topple over. One could only imagine how hard she was pressing.

After doing all this, each of them bought two zongzi and walked to the side. They ate while keeping a close eye on Sun Miao’s little stall, as if afraid she would push her food cart away and run off. Sun Miao could hear them talking as they ate. “Sigh, this thirty yuan was originally meant for milk tea. That milk tea place is so hard to get, that’s why I came out with you so early.”

“Tell me about it! Who knew we’d run into this Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar? It’s completely ruined my grand plan!”

They said that, but they were very earnest when it came to eating the zongzi, their mouths not stopping for a second. To Sun Miao, their expressions and movements looked a bit like that viral video of a kitten trying watermelon for the first time. They would take a bite, pause for a moment with an “Oh?” expression, and then continue eating.

The two greedy cats quickly finished their zongzi, but they didn’t hurry off. Instead, they continued to watch Sun Miao intently.

In that moment, Sun Miao understood: they had already sent a message to their student group chat. The main force was probably on its way.

She guessed right. Within minutes, the two of them had sold her out to the group chat. The moment the message was posted, the group fell silent. Then, someone started asking them:

【For real? You two reported fake news last time.】

【What fake news?! It was obviously real! Who knew the boss just wouldn’t show up the next day! That doesn’t count as fake news!】

【Exactly! We’re both here staring at her, she’s still here, hurry up and come!】

The more reliable group leader stepped up and @’d the two of them: 【Anyway, since you two are free right now, go get some info from the boss. Ask her if she just started her stall here yesterday.】 The group leader hadn’t given up on their seven-day-stall theory, nor the second-lamppost conjecture.

At the group leader’s instruction, the two ran over to confirm with Sun Miao and received an affirmative reply. The group leader’s two theories were confirmed in that instant.

【Awesome, you even guessed this! This boss really does ‘commit her crime’ in a new place every seven days!】

【…using the word ‘commit her crime’ seems a little over the top.】

The curious students now wanted to know what Sun Miao had been selling during her last cycle, so they all urged the two messengers to go ask. Sun Miao glanced at them before answering, “Something quite expensive. Lion’s Head Meatball with Crab Roe, 588 each.”

The two girls’ eyes widened. “588 each? Did they actually sell?”

“Ah, yes, they were limited to 20, and they sold out.”

Sun Miao was being too modest. They didn’t just sell out; they were snatched up.

The two looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good thing she was selling 200 this time. If it had been only 20, there would have been no point in notifying the group; they would have likely been sold out before anyone could even get there. Just as they were feeling relieved, a group of people suddenly arrived in front of Sun Miao, intending to buy zongzi. It was Zhou Ling and her friends.

“The food this boss-jiejie makes is really delicious. I especially love it. I even had her zongzi last night, and they were absolutely perfect.”

“Lingling, if you’re recommending it, we definitely trust you.”

Zhou Ling bounced up to Sun Miao with a smile. She had brought eight people with her, making a group of nine including herself. As she was buying, she didn’t forget to thank Sun Miao. “Boss-jiejie, thank you for the zongzi you gave me yesterday! I ate two more when I got home, and they were so delicious!”

Sun Miao smiled back. “Out having fun with your friends?”

“Yep, my mom happened to mention you had a stall here, so we came over.”

The two of them were chatting away like a fire burning up to the heavens’¹⁰, but the students to the side were craning their necks to look at the zongzi in Sun Miao’s cart.

Danger!

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