Took Leave
The assistant praised for a while, but she wasn’t saying anything against her conscience, because the zongzi Sun Miao made were truly delicious. She could be considered to have followed Su Ruixi in and out of many high-end places, and also had to purchase zongzi gift boxes to give to business partners. She had tasted all of those zongzi herself—if they weren’t delicious, would sending them over be making friends or making enemies? So, she had eaten quite a few delicious zongzi.
But compared to the ones Su Ruixi’s girlfriend made, these zongzi were demoted to who knows where. Especially in the case where they were all Jiaxing meat zongzi, the gap was even bigger.
Just as she finished her praise, Su Ruixi revealed a satisfied expression, but it wasn’t one of complete satisfaction, as if the assistant still had one thing she hadn’t done well. The assistant racked her brains, only to add at the end: “I must also thank President Su’s girlfriend, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to eat such delicious zongzi.” She thought of the extremely popular zongzi she had scrolled past on social media a couple of days ago and immediately connected it to continue her praise: “That little stall that recently went viral online is President Su’s girlfriend, right? They’re made so deliciously, no wonder so many people are willing to queue up to buy them!”
Su Ruixi was clearly extremely satisfied, yet she still put on a particularly proud and reserved appearance, nodding her head lightly: “En, it’s alright.”
The assistant thought her business was done this time and prepared to leave. But she was called to a stop by Su Ruixi. Just as she turned her head, she heard Su Ruixi say: “I’m taking leave this Friday. Don’t look for me for any reason.”
In that instant, the assistant truly felt that Su Ruixi was different. This was Su Ruixi, the king of involution among kings of involution, a woman among women. She was previously the kind of woman who would absolutely not turn back unless she worked herself to death at her post, someone who, even when her stomach illness was so severe that she needed an IV drip1, refused to be hospitalized and would run off immediately after finishing the drip.
Such a workaholic would actually one day utter words like “take leave” and “don’t look for her” from her own mouth?
But as an assistant, she only had one choice, and that was to answer: “Okay, I will coordinate the work and will not disturb you.”
“En.”
Su Ruixi’s reason for taking leave was very clear: it was for Sun Miao. She had discovered previously that every time on the day after Sun Miao’s day off, Sun Miao would seem to miss her particularly much, and her sense of security would also be particularly low. At that time, she had thought to herself that this time, she must take leave to accompany Sun Miao, to let Sun Miao know that she was there and wasn’t going anywhere.
Su Ruixi also felt a little bit of pride: It’s only me who would be so concerned about Sun Miao.
It couldn’t be helped, who made her Sun Miao’s only family member?
Carrying such little thoughts, Su Ruixi returned home. She hadn’t told Sun Miao yet, just waiting for the 16th to give Sun Miao a surprise.
The 15th was a Thursday, and they spent it just like every previous time when Sun Miao was resting and Su Ruixi was at work. At noon, Sun Miao brought Su Ruixi a meal. In the evening, the two of them ate dinner together, and then they went to sleep.
On the morning of the 16th, before Sun Miao had woken up, she was pulled into the space by the system to begin a new round of learning. The item to be made this time was very simple, it was Guizhou’s Zhijin potato cake2.
The two characters Zhijin3 here were actually referring to a place name.
But also because the potato cake was a stretch of golden yellow, it really looked like woven gold when it was made, so this name also described the snack itself. Yangyu4, which is also tudou5 or malingshu6, is potato, and baba7 is a general term in the Guizhou dialect for pancake-like food made from ingredients like flour, rice flour, etc.
This learning period was very short, only 45 days.
After many learning sessions, Sun Miao discovered that snacks, in terms of production techniques, were indeed not as sophisticated as major dishes8. She was actually a bit curious: “System, why are most of the things you teach me snacks, and not traditional dishes?” Sun Miao felt that the reason couldn’t possibly be for the inheritance of skills; the system and their Chinese cuisine9 had not the slightest relationship, so how could it be because of inheritance.
The system hesitated for a moment before answering Sun Miao: 【Because, this is an emotion that is unique to you humans.】
Hearing this answer, Sun Miao couldn’t help but be stunned. After a while, she laughed: “That’s true.”
Traditional snacks are different from dishes; they carry some things that dishes do not.
Not confined by time, place, or form, as long as one is still on this piece of land, a small stall might appear. You don’t know what it sells, but you know there is definitely a bite to eat or a sip to drink. When buying, you can also exchange a word or two with the stall owner, not restricted to any topic—anything from the south of the sky to the north of the earth10 is fine.
It is just a simple meeting; the next time, who knows where or when you might meet again.
This is an emotion that belongs exclusively to stall-setting and the patrons.
Compared to a formal meal, setting up a stall adds a portion of smoke and fire11, of ordinariness, and also a bit more casualness and leisureliness.
The system asked Sun Miao: 【Do you like setting up a stall?】
“I like it.” Sun Miao answered the system directly without any hesitation: “Because setting up a stall can make money, it also let me and Su Ruixi meet, and meeting all sorts of people while setting up the stall also makes me happy.”
【The most important thing is still making money.】
“It is in the first place!”
After chatting a few sentences with the system, Sun Miao began to learn the method of making Guizhou’s Zhijin potato cake.
Peel and cut potatoes into chunks and place them in a steamer to cook. Chop green onions into scallions for later use. After the potatoes are steamed, directly mash them into a paste in a container, adding glutinous rice flour in small amounts multiple times to form the dough; in the middle, add scallions, white pepper, salt, etc., for seasoning.
The secret to forming it lies in being able to shape it into a ball without it sticking to your hands.
Afterwards, place it in a flat-bottomed pan, spread with oil, and when the oil is hot, put the patty in the pan. Press the patty down, and wait until both sides are golden yellow with a slight brown color before it can be taken out of the pan. This seems simple, but it still requires a certain technique. For example: how to pan-fry it to this just-right color.
But compared to the Crab Roe Lion’s Head she made before, the Zhijin potato cake indeed didn’t have much technical difficulty. However, it was a snack that was made in front of the customers after preparing the ingredients, which she hadn’t done for a long time.
In addition, she also learned three types of sauces: sweet bean sauce12, chili sauce, and a chili sauce with zhe’ergen13. Over in the Yungui14 region, zhe’ergen is a beloved favorite, but to cater to the tastes of most customers, a chili sauce without zhe’ergen was also prepared separately.
The sweet bean sauce was not bad; later on, she could even make a crispy roast duck herself to dip and eat. Besides, it was sweet, so Su Ruixi would definitely like it.
45 days passed in a flash. Compared to before, when it was easily a year or six months, this was indeed a lot less. It’s just that after not seeing Su Ruixi for such a long time, Sun Miao still couldn’t help but have dense feelings of missing her rise in her heart.
Before she opened her eyes, she was thinking: Su Ruixi must have already gone to work. At noon, if I go deliver a meal to Su Ruixi, I can hug her. If there is no one around, I also want to secretly kiss Su Ruixi.
Sun Miao thought a lot. She felt she was already able to endure the pain of separation, at least to the point of not feeling upset every time she woke up and looked at the empty other half of the bed. She also felt that sometimes the system was too cruel. Why not put her own rest days together with Su Ruixi’s? That way, when she woke up, she could still see Su Ruixi’s face and have some comfort.
But when she opened her eyes and turned her head to the side, what met her eyes was not an empty bed, but the other half that her heart yearned for.
Su Ruixi was lying on her side, her arm bent so that her hand rested beside the pillow. She was facing her, a pair of bright and limpid eyes looking at her, the bottom of her eyes holding a smile that could not be melted away.
Sun Miao was stunned for a moment and subconsciously asked her: “Susu-jie, why are you here?”
“Because I took leave.”
Su Ruixi answered frankly, then extended her hand towards Sun Miao. “Did you have a nightmare? Come here.” The tone she used to say “come here” was exactly the same as when the two of them said “come on” during pleasure in bed, but the feeling it gave Sun Miao was completely different.
After this sentence fell, Sun Miao, like a baby swallow returning to its nest15, shot directly into Su Ruixi’s embrace. Her body was full of the scent familiar to Sun Miao, that captivating scent that one yearns for enveloped Sun Miao, leaving her with no leisure to think about other things.
Sun Miao’s feigned indifference could not deceive Su Ruixi at all. She embraced Sun Miao in return, her palm patting Sun Miao’s back lightly and intermittently.
“Why do you always have nightmares? It’s okay, I’m right by your side. I’m not going anywhere.”
She wasn’t having a nightmare, but at this moment Sun Miao couldn’t say it out loud. She just rubbed her head, nuzzling against Su Ruixi’s body. “En.”
Su Ruixi saw Sun Miao’s vulnerability and soothed it, allowing Sun Miao’s heart, which had been parched from many days of separation, to be irrigated anew with a gentle, continuous rain. Perhaps it was because Su Ruixi was by her side right after she woke up, and the two of them had been lazing together, giving Sun Miao no time at all to be sad or upset.
At nine-thirty, the two finally climbed out of bed. Sun Miao was still a little embarrassed and said in a small voice, “Susu-jie, you don’t have to specially take leave to accompany me.”
Su Ruixi said directly: “Taking leave was my own decision. It has nothing to do with you.”
She’s so domineering, I love it so much.
Sun Miao couldn’t help the little deer ramming around in her heart16. Then she led Su Ruixi downstairs and first made breakfast to eat. After they finished, Su Ruixi asked her: “What do you plan to sell tomorrow?”
“Guizhou’s Zhijin potato cake.”
Sun Miao thought Su Ruixi had never eaten it before, but Su Ruixi revealed an “oh, it’s this” expression. Sun Miao was a bit curious and couldn’t help but ask her: “Susu-jie, have you eaten it before?”
“I’ve eaten it. My maternal grandmother made it.” She explained a bit: “My paternal grandfather was a zhiqing who went down to the countryside17 back then, right over in Guizhou province. After uniting with my paternal grandmother, they gave birth to my father. My mother is a native Guizhou person, and after marrying my father, they returned here together after the down-to-the-countryside movement ended.”
“My maternal grandmother came to see my mom a few times and made potato cake for me.”
“So it’s like that. Then Susu-jie, have a taste and see, is the one I make more delicious or the one grandmother made more delicious.”
Regarding this question, Su Ruixi didn’t hesitate at all: “The one you make is definitely more delicious.” She isn’t love-brained, although there are love-brained factors, but it’s also because her mother’s cooking skills originated from her maternal grandmother; the level of their terrible cooking was exactly the same.
What’s shocking is, even their belief that their own cooking is delicious is exactly the same. One can only say they are truly mother and daughter.
Su Ruixi didn’t have that kind of delusion to think her own cooking was delicious. She always felt that if she were to cook, she would definitely blow up the kitchen. Previously when using an electric rice cooker to make rice, she could make it, but she always felt it wasn’t as delicious as Sun Miao’s.
Besides, with Sun Miao around, she wouldn’t bother to spend extra effort on cooking.
After finishing breakfast, Sun Miao casually asked: “Susu-jie, do you want to go to the wet market with me?”
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