Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 156

Jiejiejiejiejie¹

The student party sensed a great crisis. In just this little bit of time, in the blink of an eye, nearly 20 were gone. Those two hundred wouldn’t be enough to withstand it either!

They typed furiously, urging in the group chat: 【You all, where are you? Aren’t you coming? If you’re any later, everything will be gone! At that point, don’t say we tricked you and that they were gone again. Hurry up!】

【We’re already on our way, we left the dorm as soon as you sent the message! But how could we possibly make it in time? It’s only been a little while, we just got on the subway!】

【Help, I have class! Can someone grab one for me?】

【The person above is thinking beautifully². We can only buy 2 each. Grab one for you? In your dreams!】

Fortunately, Sun Miao’s customers weren’t exceptionally numerous, and things had stabilized by now, leaving only Sun Miao and these two students in a state of big eyes staring at small eyes.

“Well, the weather is getting warmer. Why don’t you two go browse inside for a while? I won’t leave before I’ve sold out.”

“……” The two of them exchanged a glance and asked in a low voice, “Then, can I take a picture of your remaining zongzi? To prevent them from saying I’m lying to them again.”

This was a small matter, so Sun Miao didn’t mind. She let them come over and take a picture through the glass. After sending it to the group chat, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief. They said “thank you” and “goodbye” to Sun Miao, then walked away hand in hand.

How nice, to be able to walk around holding hands and buy milk tea to drink… Sun Miao’s mouth also felt a little greedy, but she knew Su Ruixi wouldn’t like the milk tea sold on the market. Most of the milk tea on the market is mixed from artificial flavorings and sweeteners. Sun Miao remembered being curious about what milk tea tasted like before, but because her pouch was shy³, she could only buy the cheap kind.

Five yuan a cup, filled with a lot of ice. She bought one in the middle of summer, hoping to quench her thirst. As a result, the moment she inserted the straw and took a sip, Sun Miao practically choked. It was just too sweet, sickeningly sweet, and the taste of artificial flavoring was especially obvious. In that instant, Sun Miao wanted to throw up.

In the end, Sun Miao didn’t throw up. It was five yuan, after all; she couldn’t bear to waste it.

Later, as milk tea became more and more popular, expensive milk teas also appeared on the market, claiming to be made with pure milk and real fruit, but Sun Miao later saw many news reports and community discussions. If it wasn’t expired milk or rotten fruit being used, there were various other problems. Even high-end milk teas that claimed to use real tea leaves were criticized by netizens for having too many tea polyphenols⁴. The most classic tea drink was said to exceed the standard by several times, causing sleepless nights and even heart palpitations.

With frequent problems, and the main issue being that it was too expensive, Sun Miao never really drank this milk tea.

However, Sun Miao had tried the bottled milk tea drinks sold in supermarkets. She truly felt that these “three-haves products,” made on a production line with a clear ingredient list, were better than the “three-nots” finished products⁵. Afterward, if she bought some tea drinks to add according to her own taste, wouldn’t that be real milk tea?

But now, Sun Miao wanted to make some for Su Ruixi. Whenever she saw something delicious, she wanted to replicate it for Su Ruixi. The main thing was that there was a special event tonight. Making something sweet would sweeten Su Ruixi’s mouth first.

Making pearls was a bit troublesome, and she might not have enough time, but she could whip up some coconut jelly. She had seen videos before; the method wasn’t difficult. The main ingredients were coconut and white jelly powder⁶. What she made would at least be much healthier than products made with artificial coloring and sweeteners.

The most important thing was: freshness.

She definitely didn’t want near-expiry products going into Su Ruixi’s stomach. Even if near-expiry products were still edible, they were about to expire after all, and it was better to throw such things away. Before she transmigrated, Sun Miao was quite poor, but she wouldn’t do something like buying fresh apples only to eat the ones that were about to rot, which then caused the fresh apples to be hoarded until they also started to rot.

Sun Miao had a very clear understanding: the most valuable thing she owned was her own body. A healthy body was the most important thing. She was so poor that this was all she had left, and she couldn’t let herself ruin it.

Taking advantage of the lack of customers, Sun Miao found the videos on making milk tea and coconut jelly again and studied them once more. It was her first time making it, so she couldn’t guarantee it would be delicious, but Su Ruixi would probably like it. Later, when summer comes, she would learn a few fruit tea recipes, buy a large water bottle for Su Ruixi… hmm, just like the one the backpacker had yesterday. She could make it for her to take to the office to drink, since she happened to have a mini fridge in her office.

After watching for a while, someone suddenly came running over from a distance, panting. Sun Miao didn’t know if the person was looking for her, but she put her phone away first anyway. In the next second, several more running figures appeared behind that person. Sun Miao swallowed. She had a premonition: these people were here for her.

The person in the lead was running the fastest. As she got a little closer, Sun Miao saw that it was a young woman; from her vibrant and energetic appearance, she knew it was a student. Perhaps she was too tired from running, as a few people behind her were gradually closing the distance, but she didn’t give up. Gritting her teeth, she held her breath, focused, and quickened her pace to pull away a little.

In about three minutes, this group of people arrived in front of Sun Miao one after another.

The girl running in first almost couldn’t brake in time and rushed right up to Sun Miao’s little stall, reaching out to grab the edge of Sun Miao’s food cart. Sun Miao felt her entire food cart shake, and she also reached out to steady it.

Sun Miao swallowed. Before she could speak, the people who had run in after the girl were panting for breath. One was so tired he bent over with his hands on his knees, yet he still managed to extend a hand and give a thumbs-up to the first girl. Even though his speech was disjointed, he still had to praise her: “Group… Group Leader, as expected of you. The route you planned was really good. You’re clearly not the fastest runner, but you always manage to be a step ahead of us.”

She couldn’t speak at all, merely waving her hand. After a moment, once she had caught her breath, she finally said to Sun Miao, “Boss, give me two zongzi.”

Needless to say, these people were all from the student party.

Sun Miao had a feeling of “I’ve been caught after all,” but her face wore its usual smile as she agreed and started packing the zongzi for them. Before long, more than half of Sun Miao’s remaining zongzi were gone, and there weren’t many left.

Putting other things aside, when it came to the purchase rate, Sun Miao was quite fond of the student party. She estimated there was still another batch to come. Today, she had a hope of packing up and leaving before noon, allowing her to go home early to prepare for tonight’s important matter and, while she was at it, pack a large bag of zongzi for Su Ruixi’s parents.

Maybe I should make some wontons on the side. After wrapping the mini wontons, I could sprinkle some flour on top, and also break the large chicken soup block into small pieces and pack them inside. When the time comes, I can just boil the chicken soup block and cook the mini wontons in it. After her thoughts had wandered, Sun Miao came back to her senses and realized the students hadn’t left yet.

The smile on Sun Miao’s face didn’t fade. It was only when they finished eating and approached her again that her smile stiffened slightly. I can’t let down my regular customers, wuwuwu. If I let this group of students into the chat, it would really be all over.

On this stance, she and her regular customers were on a united front.

The Group Leader stepped forward: “Boss, you’ve really made us search hard for you during this time.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

After she finished speaking, the other students behind her chimed in, like her personal responding sound insects⁷. Sun Miao could only smile and say, “Not at all, I’m quite easy to find. Wasn’t I also found back when I was selling wontons?”

“You have the nerve to say that!” This time, without waiting for the Group Leader, a boy standing behind her stepped forward: “The next day, so many of us ran over, only to find nothing! If a kind older sister hadn’t told us on the road, we’d still be waiting there like idiots!”

Sun Miao’s gaze flickered away for a moment; this was a sign of her guilty conscience.

The Group Leader, however, had the demeanor of a great general. She raised a hand, stopping them from continuing, and instead said to Sun Miao, “Let’s not mention past matters anymore. What’s important is the present.” Sun Miao heard this and knew it was bad. Having knocked about in society for so many years, what kind of subtext could she not understand.

Although the Group Leader’s words sounded nice, this was a standard tactic of retreating in order to advance⁸. In a moment, she would probably say something else. Sure enough, her next sentence was: “Boss, I know you must have a customer group. We won’t bring up the past, but shouldn’t you let us into that group?”

Logically speaking, yes.

But they had established a separate group chat just to find her location. If she really let them in, wouldn’t all hell break loose? Sun Miao’s mind spun rapidly, and she decided to continue duping this group of students.

“I really should let you into the group,” Sun Miao began. The students had just started to get happy when her next sentence left them baffled: “But are you sure you really want to join?”

“?”

Question marks popped up over the heads of the students in front of her. Immediately after, Sun Miao began her specious reasoning: “Actually, you are all very impressive. It has only been three cycles since I sold changfen at the entrance of the Education Park, and you’ve managed to find me twice.”

To be honest, it wasn’t really them who found her; it was that the two female students’ luck was simply heaven-defying, always managing to discover her inadvertently. However, this fact didn’t hinder her from spouting nonsense in the slightest.

As long as it wasn’t a matter that truly required her to comfort someone when she couldn’t empathize herself, Sun Miao could spin a tale with ease, just as simple as coaxing Zhou Ling before.

Sun Miao continued, “I thought this was a little game between you and me. Don’t you think that the food from this little stall of mine, which you found with your own hands, tastes even more delicious?”

If a cunning adult, like Yabi Mei, were here, she would definitely have seen through Sun Miao’s nonsense. What “tastes even more delicious”? Sun Miao’s cooking skills were already there. As long as you went and ate, you would find it incredibly delicious. What need was there for an arduous search experience?

But, the student party was, more or less, a bit chuuni⁹. Hearing Sun Miao’s words, they all “ignited” with passion. Even the Group Leader, who seemed very mature and steady, unconsciously clenched her fists. Sun Miao pressed on, spouting a few more lines of nonsense.

Through her efforts, the student party gave up on joining the chat. Just like back at the Education Park, they each clenched their fists, some even saying sinisterly, “Boss, just you run! Even if you run to the edge of the sky and the corner of the sea¹⁰, we will definitely hunt you down!”

“This time, with the zongzi stall, we won! You absolutely can’t escape! Jiejiejiejiejie.”

“……”

Well, students are really quite easy to fool.

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