Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 170

Huo¹, Looking for Trouble

When she was a customer herself, she didn’t like others cutting in line. Now that she was a boss, she naturally didn’t like customers cutting in line either. When Sun Miao ran her breakfast shop, she had encountered many people who wanted to cut in line.

Some genuinely had urgent matters, and Sun Miao and everyone else would accommodate them. But in most situations, there were more people who just cut in line directly. Sun Miao didn’t indulge this kind of person; she would simply ignore them and only do business with those who queued up properly.

Sometimes they would get angry, but after Sun Miao exposed the fact that they had cut in line, they would leave in disgrace and go to another shop. Whether they queued properly or cut in line at other shops, Sun Miao didn’t know.

Under most circumstances, they wouldn’t make things difficult for Sun Miao; they would just leave once they were called out.

It was in the system space that Sun Miao had encountered many unreasonable customers. Although they were a bunch of fake people, their pestering and unreasonable manner was quite realistic.

Sun Miao actually had a question about why the system would find these fake people. The system replied: 【An outstanding stall owner must be able to handle situations perfectly at any time. Although these AI customers are unreasonable, the host will inevitably encounter extreme situations.】

Extreme situations, well, one was happening right now.

Sun Miao initially thought that after she exposed the issue, this customer would choose to leave directly. But clearly, that was not the case; he was deliberately here to cause trouble. He took a step forward, his large belly pressing against Sun Miao’s food cart, causing the entire cart to shake.

This made Sun Miao subconsciously reach out to steady it, managing to hold the food cart firm only with great effort.

This food cart was a product of the system, and its quality was guaranteed. A slight nudge wouldn’t make the cart shake, which showed that the customer had used a great deal of force. At this moment, Sun Miao understood: he was deliberately here to look for trouble.

Sun Miao steadied the cart and looked up at the customer—he couldn’t be called a customer anymore; calling him the trouble-seeking man was perhaps more fitting.

The customers who were originally in line also saw that this fellow was not a good sort and automatically moved a little farther away. At this moment, the system very cleverly ejected a knife handle from within the food cart. Sun Miao lowered her eyes for a glance and knew it was the one she used most often—the kitchen knife.

Sun Miao raised her head and looked at the trouble-seeking man: “Customer, what is the meaning of this?”

“What do I mean? Why won’t you sell to me?! I was in front of her, are you blind?”

“I said, you cut in line. Even if you were in front of her, I wouldn’t sell to you. Customer, if you really want to buy, you should go to the end of the line, not stand here.” Sun Miao was very calm because she saw that a customer in line had taken out their phone and was faithfully recording everything that was happening.

Among them were two of her regular customers.

Furthermore, the place where her line formed was next to the back gate of the research institute, just two streetlights away. The research institute had many security cameras that could capture the situation over here. Sun Miao thought about what was happening, then composed herself, remaining exceptionally calm in the face of the trouble-seeking man’s pestering.

Sun Miao could also guess one or two reasons why the trouble-seeking man had come to make trouble.

Just now when he was cutting in line, the trouble-seeking man had said he was the contractor for the research institute’s cafeteria. Yesterday, some customers had also mentioned during their chat that the research institute provided them with subsidies, allowing them to eat both breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria. However, the researchers were very dissatisfied with the cafeteria, feeling that the food was terrible.

Yesterday morning and at noon, quite a few customers had come to her little stall to buy things, so the number of people going to the cafeteria must have been even lower than usual. Today’s customer traffic was even greater, so the cafeteria would have even fewer people.

Under these circumstances, it was only human for the contractor to be unable to sit still.

But to come and make trouble for Sun Miao directly was a bit unreasonable.

If he had come over with his worries and asked Sun Miao in a pleasant manner, Sun Miao would have told him that she would only be setting up her stall here for seven days and would leave afterward, so it wouldn’t affect the cafeteria’s business. But he came looking for trouble directly; it seemed he had a domineering personality in his daily life.

Of course, his personality wasn’t strange. The cafeteria of this kind of research institute wasn’t something that could be contracted by just anyone. Either he had a family relationship with the high-level management of the research institute, or he himself was very resourceful. To be able to secure the contract while making such terrible food, perhaps he had both connections and means.

When Sun Miao came here to set up her stall yesterday morning, she had discovered that there wasn’t a single small stall around the research institute. Most likely, this contractor had used similar methods to drive all the small stalls away, so he could monopolize the research institute’s business.

Actually, Sun Miao didn’t think that her small stall alone could snatch all the business from the research institute. After all, she was only one person and only sold one item, Yangyu potato cake, and she left as soon as she sold out. Even if everyone really loved her Yangyu potato cake and hated the cafeteria’s food, how many people could actually get to eat Yangyu potato cake?

To trouble her like this over such a small matter made Sun Miao feel it was somewhat incredible.

The trouble-seeking man was here to look for trouble, so no matter how composed Sun Miao was or how flawlessly she spoke, the trouble-seeking man would not let her go. He gave a sinister laugh: “Where’s the logic in that? A customer comes to buy, and you refuse to sell? What’s the matter with you? Think you’re all high and mighty?”

After saying just a few sentences, the trouble-seeking man couldn’t be bothered to find any more high-sounding excuses and said directly: “What’s your level, that you dare to set up a stall here in my territory? Is your brain broken?! I’ll let you set up!” As he spoke, he reached out his hand, intending to flip Sun Miao’s stall.

Sun Miao took a step aside to avoid the scalding hot pot touching her. It was fine if the things on the stall were gone; she herself couldn’t get hurt.

Sun Miao thought it through very clearly, so she retreated quickly. As she moved back, she also conveniently took the kitchen knife and hid it behind her back. If this trouble-seeking man wanted to beat her after flipping the stall, she would have to defend herself.

However, the system would not let the trouble-seeking man flip the stall so easily. The trouble-seeking man first tried to flip the stall with one hand, probably wanting to look cool by flipping it upside down with a single hand. But with this attempt, he failed to lift it. Instead, due to the motion, he seemed to have strained his lower back.

Judging by his expression, it was most likely a bit painful.

Because of this action of his, the surrounding customers actually let out some laughter.

The trouble-seeking man was furious. He just thought that he hadn’t used enough force just now, which led to this scene. So, holding his breath and concentrating, he used both hands, preparing to instantly flip Sun Miao’s stall to the ground.

Except, on the first try, it still didn’t move.

At this moment, Sun Miao also knew that the system was up to its tricks. The system shouted in her mind a few times: 【Let him flip it slowly, but you can’t really let him be unable to flip it. No matter how heavy a tricycle is, with just these few things on it, it shouldn’t be impossible for a strong man to lift. First, drain some of his energy, then let him move it.】

After this was repeated several times, and after the surrounding people were all quietly discussing how weak this guy truly was, the trouble-seeking man, panting heavily, finally managed to flip Sun Miao’s food cart over onto the ground.

By this time, Sun Miao had already run several steps away. She was far too experienced with stall-flipping; the AI people the system created for her would flip her stall at a moment’s notice. Fortunately, there was a freeze function in the system space. In the beginning, when Sun Miao didn’t know the AI people would do this, she was genuinely startled. Luckily, just as the stall was flipped and the hot fire and hot oil were about to splash onto her, the system directly froze everything.

There was no freeze function in reality. For her own sake, Sun Miao had long since run far away.

The food cart was flipped onto the ground. The pot landed on the ground with a clatter, and oil, the prepared raw Yangyu potato cake, fell all over the ground. The Zhe’ergen chili sauce and sweet flour sauce² also spilled onto the ground.

The noise was so loud that it startled the surrounding people as well. At first, everyone didn’t react, until Shen Yiqiu, who was closer to the front, tightly hugged the Yangyu potato cake in her arms. Only then did everyone let out sharp cries.

“No!!! The Yangyu potato cake!!!”

“What are you doing? Why did you flip the stall? What am I going to eat now?”

“You dare to flip my rations?! Are you even human?!”

Among the onlookers, there were a few braver ones, especially the regular customers who had painstakingly come all the way to Sun Miao’s place to queue, such as Zhou Ling’s mother’s close friend. She immediately came forward and pointed at the trouble-seeking man, cursing.

“You animal³, we⁴ came from so far away to buy something to eat, and you flipped it?! If your brain is broken⁵, go see a doctor, why are you out here having a rabies fit?!” Zhou Ling’s mother’s friend’s curses were vicious and harsh. The trouble-seeking man heard her voice and looked over. The friend immediately puffed out her chest and cursed even more fiercely: “What are you looking at?! Did we say anything wrong, you see⁶? You dare to glare at people! Oh my, my, you’ve got some nerve, you see, you look again!”

The trouble-seeking man first looked at the friend’s clothes, confirming they were all brand-name goods, and the very expensive kind at that, especially the bag she was carrying, which was ridiculously expensive. He knew he couldn’t afford to provoke her, so he retracted his gaze.

Let her curse, it’s not like he’d lose a few pieces of flesh.

It was also because Shen Yiqiu was dressed too plainly. Her clothes were all privately tailored without any brand labels; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been targeted for line-cutting by this kind of person who bullies the weak and fears the strong.

The trouble-seeking man’s target was clearly Sun Miao. Especially after just being cursed out by someone, his anger grew even larger. He bullied the weak and feared the strong, so of course, he had to find trouble with the soft persimmon⁷ in plain sight—Sun Miao.

This was also quite easy to understand. The vast majority of the surrounding customers were employees of the research institute. Although the trouble-seeking man wasn’t necessarily afraid of them, he didn’t want to offend them either. Otherwise, if he truly offended these people, his own job would be in trouble.

On the other hand, there was Sun Miao, who looked like a soft and weak little girl, dressed in the simplest white T-shirt and jeans with a black apron. Plus, coming out to run a stall, it was obvious she didn’t have much money or any background. This kind of person was the easiest to bully.

Just as Sun Miao had guessed, she wasn’t the only small stall vendor the trouble-seeking man had troubled. Many small stalls that attempted to set up near the research institute had been driven away by him.

Even if he flipped their stalls, he didn’t need to be afraid, because they themselves were mobile vendors. If they encountered the Chengguan or police, they would be even more scared than him. If he flipped their stalls, they would only lose these raw materials and such. If they ended up at the police station, their food carts would be confiscated.

The trouble-seeking man wasn’t afraid of those stalls, let alone a little girl like Sun Miao.

But just as he took a few steps toward Sun Miao, he froze, because Sun Miao moved the hand she had been hiding behind her back to her front. The weather on June 18th was very good, with the bright sun high in the sky. It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet, but the sun was already very intense.

The sunlight fell, and it also fell on the tip of a blade.

Sun Miao was holding a kitchen knife, the kind commonly used at home, only it looked wider and thicker.

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