Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 17

Sun Miao’s Nonsense Ability

“Mm.” Su Ruixi received the candy, satisfied, she reached out…

“Mm.”

Su Ruixi received the candy and was satisfied, placing it into her pocket. Then she took out her phone to pay, scanning fifty yuan, and walked away with a click-clack of her high heels. Sun Miao wondered if it was her illusion, but she felt Su Ruixi’s steps seemed lighter.

Was it because she was full? Or because she liked the strawberry-flavored candy?

Sun Miao didn’t know, but she swiftly cleaned up the disposable container used by Su Ruixi, put the high stool back in its original place, and finally plopped down onto it.

Sitting on the stool, Sun Miao finally let out a sigh of relief.

——Standing had exhausted her to death.

She had stood for at least half an hour, and without a break, how could she endure it? You see, the Zhou Bapi [周扒皮 | zhōu bā pí | an exploitative employer that demands excessive work from people without regard for their well-being]  system required her to set up the stall for twelve hours every day, plus preparation time, leaving her no time to rest except when there were no customers.

But she had very little time without customers.

Since ten in the morning when she came to set up the stall, customers had been coming continuously, as ten o’clock was almost mealtime.

Like the hip-hop mei who came from far away, driving specifically to buy, there were quite a few even at noon. Sun Miao didn’t know where they got the information, but from the second afternoon onwards, there were many such customers.

Around one or two in the afternoon, after finishing their work, some hourly workers would also come to her for a bowl of malatang. Her malatang was expensive, but it was truly delicious, and anyway, her malatang wasn’t excessively priced; nowadays, eating malatang outside costs around twenty yuan.

She charged thirty, but the taste spoke for itself, everyone knew which one to choose.

Moreover, the villa district owners here are quite willing to spend money, and the hourly workers earn high wages, so buying a delicious bowl of malatang isn’t a problem. While they can’t eat it every day, having it every couple of days is fine.

For instance, the hourly worker meimei, who particularly enjoys it, basically has it once a day.

Zhou Ling also came to eat the second night, but unlike others who seemed to have come based on recommendations, she simply lived in this community and, tempted by Sun Miao’s malatang, got off the car to buy it.

To be precise, she was enticed by the spicy aroma when the hourly worker meimei was eating malatang.

The first thing she said to Sun Miao was, “I want to try and see what malatang tastes like.”

Sun Miao’s first reaction was: Isn’t this little girl too pitiful to have grown up without ever having malatang?

After clarifying the young girl’s taste preferences, Sun Miao still recommended her to try the clear broth. The young girl hesitated for a moment but followed Sun Miao’s advice and chose the non-spicy clear broth. Since then, the young girl came every day to Sun Miao’s place to eat malatang, for several consecutive days now.

These past few days, Sun Miao has been talking to the young girl. However, during meals, she doesn’t chat with her. While the girl is eating properly, Sun Miao wouldn’t go over to chat.

They didn’t talk much, but Sun Miao learned a lot. Some things were inferred, while some were told by the young girl herself.

The young girl’s name was Xiaoling, now known to be Zhou Ling. She was a senior high school student, about to take the Gaokao, and under immense pressure. Her grades were actually very good, and given the city’s preferential policies for local students, getting into a top-tier university wasn’t an issue.

However, her parents had high hopes for her, wanting her to achieve even more, insisting she must excel and make them proud.

This left Sun Miao a bit puzzled—wasn’t getting into a top-tier university good enough, no matter the rank?

But her parents didn’t think this way. The young girl was stably in the top ten in her grade, but her parents hoped she would move up one rank with every exam. With the second mock exam approaching, the young girl was so anxious she was on the verge of depression. Everyone was in the top ten, and their ranks were mostly stable, so why did they think she could move up a rank in the second mock exam?

The difficult situation and her parents’ high expectations made the young girl particularly distressed.

Yesterday, while eating, the young girl started crying. Sun Miao couldn’t do much, so she simply said some amusing things while the girl waited for her meal, making her laugh a little and comforting her, hoping to ease her discomfort.

After finishing her meal, the young girl unwrapped a piece of candy and sat obediently on the small stool, eating it. She wouldn’t take food to go, because her family didn’t allow her to eat malatang; she also wouldn’t take the candy home, because like Su Ruixi, she could tell it was inexpensive candy at a glance.

She didn’t mind the candy being cheap, because it was a gift from the boss, and she was only too happy about it. But she couldn’t take it home, because her mom would definitely scold her.

Seeing her finish eating, Sun Miao came over, ostensibly to tidy up the table but actually to chat with the young girl.

Sun Miao was a person with a good sense of propriety; she would usually wait for customers to leave before cleaning the table, rather than starting to clean while the young girl was still sitting there. She casually picked a topic and started chatting with Zhou Ling. As the conversation deepened, Sun Miao took the opportunity to praise Zhou Ling.

“Wow, Xiaoling, you’re amazing. You really know a lot, much more than I did back then, and your grades are excellent.”

“Not really…” Xiaoling was a bit shy, pursing her lips and smiling lightly before asking Sun Miao, “Boss jiejie, how many points did you score on the Gaokao?” After asking, her expression turned somewhat downcast, clearly unhappy at the thought of the Gaokao.

Sun Miao had never taken the Gaokao; she wasn’t a golden phoenix flying out of a chicken coop [野雞窩裏飛出來的金鳳凰 | yě jī wō lǐ fēi chū lái de jīn fèng huáng | metaphor for someone rising from humble beginnings], having gone to vocational high school after junior high, and started working after leaving the welfare home at eighteen. But not having taken it didn’t mean she couldn’t make something up.

“Oh, don’t mention it, my score was so low I could only go to a junior college.” In reality, she didn’t even have a junior college diploma, making up stories about only being able to attend a junior college was flattering herself.

She laughed and said, “My parents gave me a good beating, broke two belts, but it didn’t change the reality—I just went to junior college.” She had no parents and no such experiences; it was all things she had read online.

The young girl was a bit surprised to hear this: “Then…”

Sun Miao interrupted her and continued: “When I was young, I thought my parents were amazing, they could do anything. They were always hoping I’d get into university and bring glory to the family. We were from a small place, and being a college student was really something. In our big family, there were only two college students.”

“But my grades just weren’t good, I couldn’t pass, there was nothing I could do. Before the Gaokao, I was so anxious my hair was falling out in handfuls, it never stopped.”

Zhou Ling’s eyes moved slightly; Sun Miao guessed she might be feeling the same way. Sun Miao continued: “After the Gaokao results came out, I felt like the sky was falling, I was terrified. At the time, I didn’t know how my parents would treat me, my mind was completely blank.”

Zhou Ling pursed her lips; she couldn’t imagine how her parents would treat her if she failed the Gaokao. She could only imagine their disappointed eyes, angry questioning, and scolding.

But then she thought, they probably wouldn’t go as far as Boss jiejie’s parents who broke two belts… In her family, her parents didn’t hit her.

“But later, after getting a beating, I thought, maybe that’s the extent of what could happen. At the time, my butt was red from the beating, and I hid in my bed crying for a long while. But that was it, the pain passed.”

Sun Miao said a lot with a smile, and finally had Zhou Ling guess: “By the way, do you know what I studied in junior college?”

Zhou Ling guessed: “Was it culinary arts?” Sun Miao’s malatang was so delicious, it must have been the result of diligent practice.

But Sun Miao laughed and said: “Not at all, it was real estate operation and management!”

“Ah?”

Zhou Ling was taken aback; you couldn’t say it had no relation to being a chef, it was completely unrelated. Perhaps seeing Zhou Ling’s surprise, Sun Miao continued: “With real estate operation and management, you can only become a real estate sales agent, I really couldn’t do that job, so I just started learning to cook.”

She laughed heartily: “Who knew I’d have a talent for cooking, and that my food would taste so good!”

Zhou Ling nodded: “Your malatang is truly delicious, it’s the best I’ve ever had!”

“Hey, didn’t you say I’m the first malatang you’ve ever tried? There’s no comparison then.”

“Even if not compared to other malatang, it’s still the best I’ve ever had!”

It mainly came down to the seasoning that matched Zhou Ling’s taste, suiting her palate. She always felt that Sun Miao’s malatang tasted better each time.

In fact, regardless of who comes, they all feel it suits their taste, especially the regular customers. If someone eats at Sun Miao’s place, after they finish, Sun Miao will check if there’s anything left or anything they didn’t like, and she’ll adjust accordingly the next time they come.

Even for first-time visitors, it seems to fit their palate well. This is because Sun Miao was severely trained by the system in the system space regarding this aspect. After each session, a hundred new customers would appear, each with different tastes, and Sun Miao had to create food that everyone found delicious.

This meant she had to use different seasonings for each person.

Even by just observing, guessing, and inferring, she had to figure out what flavors the customers leaned towards, then create a generalized seasoning based on those preferences. After six months of this grueling process, she finally honed her skill in tailoring flavors to individuals.

However, during the first meeting, she would only adjust to general tastes, which could still be somewhat biased. Only after multiple purchases would Sun Miao accurately grasp the customer’s preferences and make precise adjustments. This was the case for the hourly worker meimei, the little nurse, Zhou Ling, the hip-hop mei, and others.

Of course, the most precisely tailored taste was for Su Ruixi; it was always spot on.

Facing Zhou Ling’s praise, Sun Miao didn’t feign modesty, but continued: “So you see, the Gaokao can’t entirely determine a person’s destiny. During the Gaokao, I definitely couldn’t have imagined that one day, I would be selling malatang under the second streetlight south of the west gate of the residential area.”

“Moreover, that it would taste particularly good.”

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