Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 198

Burp

During this period of time, Shen Yiqiu truly had some trouble where food could not go down her throat¹. Especially after the mini wontons that Su Ruixi had brought were all finished, she felt even more upset. In the interim, Shen Yiqiu actually began to suspect again that Sun Miao was Su Ruixi’s little girlfriend, because the content of the chat in the group was quite similar to the things Su Ruixi occasionally brought.

There were zongzi, and beef pancakes, and mini wontons, and on top of that, both of them disappeared during the plum rain season; there shouldn’t be such a coincidental thing under heaven.

She was suspicious, but she didn’t call Su Ruixi to verify it. Because if it really was her girlfriend, she had deliberately not exposed her identity during the previous phone call, and if she called Su Ruixi again now, she still wouldn’t tell the truth.

Shen Yiqiu was very clear about what kind of personality her daughter had.

After Sun Miao sent a message in the group yesterday, Shen Yiqiu hesitated for a long time about whether or not she should come over today. She tossed and turned thinking for a long time, so long that her stomach was rumbling with hunger in the middle of the night, and only then did she make up her mind: No matter who else is wronged, she couldn’t wrong her own stomach, so she would just go find Sun Miao! She also had to ask her face-to-face if she was her own daughter Su Ruixi’s girlfriend! And she would conveniently ask why she wasn’t selling yangyu potato cakes anymore!

Carrying this determination, Shen Yiqiu got up early on this day, directly hauled her driver up, and brought him along towards the scenic area where Sun Miao had set up her stall.

However, she still didn’t have him drive to the entrance of the scenic area, having the driver park by the side of the road down below, and then she slowly walked up herself. It had to be said that even without having entered the scenic area, just being on the periphery, the scenery and air here were much better than in the city.

She strolled slowly forward, and before long, she arrived in front of Sun Miao’s small stall. There was already a customer buying something in front of Shen Yiqiu, so she stood behind and waited for a while. As a result, she heard the conversation between the two of them.

As they were both mothers, when Shen Yiqiu heard that a little girl had to run so far away to study, her heart actually twisted a little as well. Immediately after, she thought of her own child and couldn’t help but sigh with emotion: Xixi is still the obedient one, studying right here in this city, and not blindly running off somewhere outside.

But then she thought again that, actually, Xixi wasn’t that obedient either, because she had fallen in love with a girl and had even formed a couple’s relationship with her.

Shen Yiqiu was not a feudal person; she was actually able to accept homosexuality. If one of her own students was a homosexual and told her, coming to her to pour out their grievances, she would also comfort them in a soft voice, telling them that society is very tolerant of homosexuality now, and that no one would discriminate against them.

Shen Yiqiu also knew that, at the same time she was saying these words, she was already discriminating against homosexuals.

She was able to comfort and console her own students, but when it came to her own daughter, Shen Yiqiu couldn’t manage to be so calm. Because that was her own daughter, and she knew this path was too bitter, that she would face rumors and slander, and be looked at by others with a different kind of gaze.

Su Ruixi was still so young, her future had infinite possibilities. Given time, when the two of them grew old, would she regret choosing a little girl of the same sex, instead of choosing to start a family and give birth to her own child?

Reason also told Shen Yiqiu that Su Ruixi was a very proud and resolute person; she would absolutely not easily change something she had decided on, nor would she be swayed by others. Saying these things to her at this time was far less effective than just going along with her. So, Shen Yiqiu accepted this matter… but accepting it did not mean she could offer her blessings with true sincerity.

She was actually the same as Father Su, holding a natural hostility towards that girlfriend of Su Ruixi’s.

When speculating that Sun Miao was that little girlfriend, Shen Yiqiu couldn’t help but think about how she should question her, how she should earnestly persuade her with bitter words and a grandmother’s heart², and whether she should also be like the evil mother-in-law³ from a television drama and take out money to make the other party leave Su Ruixi?

But the moment she saw Sun Miao, Shen Yiqiu couldn’t bring herself to ask. She saw Sun Miao’s clean and clear smile, heard her positive and uplifting voice, and she said, “A little eagle must always grow up and fly away.” Only at this moment did Shen Yiqiu have a realization: yes, the little eagle had grown up and had its own ideas now.

Su Ruixi was almost thirty years old; she had long ceased to be a child in the eyes of others. Not only was she not a little eagle, she was a goshawk that had already spread its wings to fly high, right in the prime of its life. She had her own ideas, her own thoughts. Even Zhou Ling, who had just turned eighteen and become an adult, was already choosing her own future, so on what grounds could Shen Yiqiu still make decisions for Su Ruixi?

Besides, Sun Miao was not someone who would provoke dislike.

On the contrary, not only did Sun Miao not make people dislike her, she would even make people involuntarily come to like her. Before she had guessed that Sun Miao was Su Ruixi’s girlfriend, Shen Yiqiu had been deeply attracted by Sun Miao’s personal charm, and she also admired her, even proactively telling Su Ruixi to go and help take care of her a little.

Sun Miao was so likable, ah; the fact that her cooking was delicious was just an insignificant little merit of hers. Perhaps many people would notice her at first because of this point, but those who were truly willing to go through the trouble of coming all this way to eat in person still wanted to say a few words and chat a bit with Sun Miao.

Otherwise, people like herself, or that customer from before who was covered in famous brands, could have just called for an errand runner⁴ or had someone they hired come over to buy it and take it home, wouldn’t that have been fine?

What everyone liked was Sun Miao, and the atmosphere of being with Sun Miao.

That smile and voice of hers made everyone want to gather around her. It wasn’t strange that a girl like this would be likable; Shen Yiqiu also quite liked Sun Miao. When she couldn’t see her, she could still say a thing or two, thinking in her heart: It’s this fellow, so hateful, to actually abduct my daughter.

After seeing her in person, Shen Yiqiu instead became worried: That little girl is so young, and she seems so positive and optimistic; don’t tell me it was my own daughter who abducted her?

The questions she had originally wanted to ask Sun Miao in her heart also vanished like smoke and scattered like clouds⁵ at this moment. What was the point of questioning the little girl for no reason? So what if she asked clearly? Would they separate? If they wouldn’t, then was it important whether or not Sun Miao was Su Ruixi’s girlfriend in the end?

Shen Yiqiu sighed in her heart, but it didn’t show on her face.

Sun Miao saw Shen Yiqiu; it was the auntie who looked somewhat similar to Su Ruixi but had a gentle and refined temperament. “Do you want to eat dumplings? Mackerel dumplings, but there’s no zhe’ergen, so I can only add some chili sauce. I’ll prepare the dipping sauce for you, then put it in a small bag, so you can take it to go.”

Her smile was so big, more dazzling than the sun in the sky. Shen Yiqiu was also a little surprised; she had only come a few times, yet she had already remembered her preferences.

“You still remember me?”

“I remember, ah.” Sun Miao nodded honestly. “Back with the yangyu potato cakes, you quite liked to eat them and wanted extra zhe’ergen. You also said before that you were going to go find trouble with that troublemaking man for me. You didn’t go, right? If I caused you trouble, I would be embarrassed.”

As Sun Miao said this, she couldn’t help but give a sheepish smile; her expression indeed carried a bit of embarrassment from the fear of having troubled someone.

Hearing these words, Shen Yiqiu couldn’t help but smile. “It’s fine, I didn’t have any trouble at all, rest assured.” Facing a little girl like Sun Miao, even though she had been thinking about questioning her before leaving home, now that she was in front of her, she couldn’t help but soften her voice.

“Are the mackerel dumplings 88 for one portion? Give me one portion, please.”

“Okay.”

Sun Miao put the dumplings in to cook, and they were ready in no time. She prepared the dipping sauce according to Shen Yiqiu’s taste. “Do you want extra chili sauce?”

“Mhm, a little more, I can handle spicy.”

Although Shen Yiqiu said so, Sun Miao still didn’t give her too much. After all, Shen Yiqiu was older, and eating too much chili really hurts the stomach. She just added it according to Shen Yiqiu’s past preferences, eyeing the amount. The amount Sun Miao gave was not the same every time; if a regular customer came, the amount would be increased or decreased each day. Even if the regular customer took it home, she could still estimate their taste quite accurately.

If they ate at her stall, it wouldn’t take more than a few visits for Sun Miao to be able to precisely control the flavor.

For someone like Shen Yiqiu who never ate at the stall, after a few more tries, she could also tell from the expression on the other person’s face each time whether they were happy with what they ate before. And even if the flavor wasn’t customized, the original, universal flavor was delicious enough.

After finishing the dipping sauce and completing the packaging, Sun Miao handed it to Shen Yiqiu in front of her with both hands.

Shen Yiqiu scanned the code to pay, and before leaving, she still couldn’t resist asking, “Why did you stop making yangyu potato cakes?”

The matter of whether she was Su Ruixi’s girlfriend could be put aside for the time being; Shen Yiqiu had to ask clearly about the yangyu potato cakes first.

This question, Sun Miao had been asked quite a lot. Previously, customers were always asking her why she wasn’t selling egg fried rice/malatang/beef pancakes/duck blood and vermicelli soup… anymore, and later it turned into asking when they would make a comeback.

There was one person in particular whose name Sun Miao didn’t know; she only knew that she spoke with a kind of Lin Daiyu⁶ feeling and was a die-hard fan of the beef pancakes. Every few days, she would ask about the beef pancakes. Hip-hop Mei also dearly loved the malatang and had an obsession with the duck blood and vermicelli soup. In short… well, everyone really wanted to eat those previous food items.

But this matter depended on the system, and she estimated that they probably wouldn’t be available in the near future.

So, Sun Miao answered honestly, “Because there are many delicious things, I’ll just make them slowly, you see; there will always be something that appears that you like to eat.”

Shen Yiqiu shook her head. “It’s not the same.”

After saying this, she turned and left, carrying the dumplings. After getting into the car and sitting down, Shen Yiqiu didn’t have the driver drive off immediately, but instead sat in the car, opened the tray table on the seat, and, leaning to the side, began to eat.

Shen Yiqiu knew that with something like water dumplings, if they were left for a long time, they would definitely get sticky and stick together, and they wouldn’t be delicious after too long either. That Little Boss Sun was still not particular enough, not even getting some of those takeout boxes specifically for dumplings.

As she complained, she opened the takeout packaging, took out her chopsticks, and, dipping them in the sauce, began to eat.

The mackerel dumplings with chili added had a very different taste from when they were without. The chili sauce Sun Miao made was too fragrant. After Shen Yiqiu took a bite, she dipped it in a bit of the sauce, and that plump, white⁷ dumpling skin was also dyed red. There was also the oil and vinegar sauce dripping down, making it look especially tempting.

With one bite, the taste of the chili rushed straight to the back of her throat, and the fragrant, spicy sensation assaulted her senses. But because it was too spicy, after finishing one, Shen Yiqiu couldn’t help but drink a mouthful of the dumpling soup. The dumpling soup washed all the spiciness down, and after she finished the mouthful, she unexpectedly felt that the bit of spiciness was nothing and was completely bearable.

When the last of the ten dumplings went down her stomach, Shen Yiqiu discovered: there was truly nothing left.

Including the dumplings, the dumpling soup, and the dipping sauce, not a single bit was left.

She couldn’t hold it in and let out a full burp: “Burp.”

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