Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 222

Parental Interrogation Time

After a few bites of tofu, Shen Yiqiu finally grew accustomed to the spiciness and started on the fish.

Silver carp¹ wasn’t actually that delicious. They were too large, and if not cooked properly, the meat could easily become tough. While it was fresh, its texture wasn’t as tender as the tofu. However, since Sun Miao had made it, Shen Yiqiu couldn’t help but feel a little expectant. She reached out with her chopsticks and picked up a piece of fish.

The piece of fish, skin and all, landed in Shen Yiqiu’s bowl. With a gentle poke, the skin separated perfectly from the meat. Shen Yiqiu didn’t really like fish skin, a trait she shared exactly with Su Ruixi. Normally when Sun Miao made silver carp for Su Ruixi, it was skinless and usually ground into fish balls, served either in soup or with other dishes.

Sun Miao had even made a fish-based version of Lion’s Head meatballs before, which Su Ruixi also loved.

This couldn’t be revealed to Shen Yiqiu, or she would start craving it too.

Now that the skin was removed, the pristine white fish was dotted with red chili, looking incredibly appetizing. She gently lifted a snow-white piece with her chopsticks. The fish wasn’t like the tofu, which jiggled and wobbled on the chopsticks; the fish simply sat there quietly.

Already satisfied by the delicious tofu, Shen Yiqiu’s expectations for the fish had naturally relaxed. She opened her mouth and placed the morsel from the tip of her chopsticks inside. In that instant, her eyes widened slightly. It was too delicious!

The seemingly plain and unassuming fish burst forth in her mouth with a texture that defied its appearance. Tender. It was so tender, even more so than the tofu. Fish meat typically has a flaky feel, strand by strand, but this piece melted the moment it entered her mouth, as smooth and delicate as a soft-scrambled egg. Shen Yiqiu had only ever encountered such a texture in one type of fish: the Taihu silverfish².

The Taihu silverfish is an exceptionally small fish. Even the largest ones are no bigger than a pinky finger, and they are typically the length of a toothpick and the thickness of a disposable chopstick. They have a naturally slippery quality. When made into silverfish soup³, the experience in one’s mouth is one of ultimate tenderness and smoothness.

Its smoothness comes from its inherent nature. But Sun Miao’s fish was different. Silver carp is not naturally so tender, yet she had cooked it to a point of ultimate softness, able to compete for high and low⁴ with the tofu. The sensation was utterly marvelous to Shen Yiqiu.

Needless to say, the flavor of the fish was truly first-rate. The fresh, fragrant, numbing⁵, and spicy Ciba chili⁶ had thoroughly infused the fish with its taste. At the same time, the multi-layered flavor of the doubanjiang⁷ surged forward, stimulating her taste buds and allowing her to experience the fish’s freshness to the fullest.

This was the taste, the very taste she had missed for so many years. With just one bite, Shen Yiqiu felt she had returned to her childhood. Her parents would buy a fish, set aside a bowlful, and have her deliver it to the Su family next door. Back then, her mind wasn’t on Father Su at all; she only thought of delivering it quickly so she could rush back home to eat this tofu fish dish.

When she was little, she would think: One day, I’m going to eat tofu fish until I’m completely stuffed! I’ll eat tofu every day and never, ever get tired of it!

Later, after she grew up and moved here, Father Su also made his fortune. But alas, the tofu fish never again had the taste of her childhood. It wasn’t just the tofu fish; none of the snacks or dishes seemed as wonderful as they did back then. Perhaps it was because the chefs were different, or perhaps because she herself had changed. Shen Yiqiu was filled with an immense nostalgia for the past.

This bowl of tofu fish brought all those childhood memories flooding back.

Shen Yiqiu finished every last bit of the fish she had picked out for her bowl.

For the next while, Shen Yiqiu’s world was reduced to: “This is delicious, and that’s delicious too.” She had been reminiscing about her childhood, but once the joy of eating took over, all those thoughts vanished from her mind, replaced by a single one: Heh, just one more bite.

After eating until her stomach was round, Shen Yiqiu could finally take a break and, composed and at leisure, observe the interactions between the young couple.

Shen Yiqiu had seen Sun Miao many times recently, more often than she saw her own daughter. She had indeed found Sun Miao more and more agreeable, but she had never seen the two of them interact as a couple. Seeing it suddenly now, she felt that they truly, deeply liked each other.

Because she was eating something she loved, Shen Yiqiu had buried her head in her food and eaten very quickly, even having Sun Miao get her two more bowls of rice. Compared to her, the two of them ate much more slowly. There was a dish of scalded prawns⁸ on the table, still in their shells. Many doting young couples would peel the shells for their loved one, placing the prawn in their bowl to show how much they cherished them.

But these two didn’t do that.

Their cherish for each other was more reflected in daily life, not in gestures like this. When eating scalded prawns, you might as well peel your own, why involve the other person? If Sun Miao were to peel them for Su Ruixi, could Su Ruixi then just eat them with straight reason and bold qi⁹ and ignore Sun Miao?

Then Su Ruixi would have to peel them for Sun Miao in return. You peel for me, I peel for you—what was the difference from just peeling your own from the start?

So the two of them just peeled their own, and as they did, they couldn’t help but lean in close and chat. They had started off sitting quite far apart, but gradually, without anyone noticing, they had drifted closer and closer until they were sitting right next to each other. When the orange juice in Su Ruixi’s cup was gone, Sun Miao would help pour more; when Sun Miao’s bowl was out of rice, Su Ruixi would help serve her.

This sense of mutual support was what made Shen Yiqiu feel that the two of them could go the distance.

A relationship can’t be all one-sided giving; it needs mutual support to thrive.

And the atmosphere between them was truly wonderful.

Unconsciously, Shen Yiqiu’s opinion had shifted from her initial pickiness and disapproval, to compromising and accepting because she genuinely liked the young girl’s personality, to now, truly believing the two of them could walk this path together.

The meal ended before they knew it. Afterward, Sun Miao and Su Ruixi cleared the table together. Sun Miao even said, “Auntie, I actually have some more dishes. I made extra and set them aside. Would you like to take them home and have them for a simple meal tomorrow?”

It had been a long time since she, Shen Yiqiu, had eaten leftovers. Let alone overnight food. Her mind quickly ran through the dangers of overnight dishes, but the words that came out of her mouth were, “Oh? Is it Gui Province cuisine? Then I’ll take it. Xixi can’t eat spicy food anyway. This child lived in Gui Province for a while when she was little, yet now she can’t handle the slightest bit of spice.”

When people are embarrassed, they tend to do something to make themselves look busy. Shen Yiqiu did this by talking a lot, trying to cover up the fact that she was actually a little flustered.

Fortunately, Sun Miao didn’t mind. She tidied up the table, and Su Ruixi carried the plates into the kitchen, ready to scrape the leftover food and sauce into the trash before rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher. Sun Miao followed her in, preparing to get the food she had set aside for Zhou Ling’s family to give to Shen Yiqiu.

It was a good thing she hadn’t told Zhou Ling and the others beforehand, otherwise there would be three more heartbroken people right now.

Shen Yiqiu stood at the kitchen doorway, watching Su Ruixi wash the dishes, her face a mix of five flavors¹⁰. Since coming to this city, Father Su’s fortune had grown rapidly, and Su Ruixi hadn’t experienced many hard days. For as long as she could remember, she had been a young lady whose ten fingers did not touch the spring water¹¹.

At home, when had she ever done something like washing dishes?

Sun Miao noticed Shen Yiqiu’s complicated feelings and fell silent. When Su Ruixi had loaded the dishwasher and was washing her hands to come over, she asked, “What are you two doing here? Go sit in the living room. I’ll get the fruit platter.”

Only then did the two people blocking the doorway move aside. They exchanged a look and walked towards the living room. The dishes, pre-packed in disposable containers, were placed on the dining table, and the two of them sat down on the sofa. Sun Miao rubbed her hands on her pants and took the initiative to pour a glass of water for Shen Yiqiu.

Shen Yiqiu didn’t drink the water. Instead, after a moment of silence, she asked directly, “How did you and Xixi meet?”

Su Ruixi hadn’t said much about her and Sun Miao. Before meeting Sun Miao, all Shen Yiqiu knew was that she was a street vendor who sold snacks. It was because she knew so little that she didn’t realize this girl was Su Ruixi’s girlfriend the moment they met.

So, Shen Yiqiu still wanted to understand the specific details of how they got to know each other.

She had always thought she would never be the type to grill Su Ruixi’s partner with questions left and right, but now that she had met the person, she couldn’t help but ask.

At this moment, the alarm bells rang loudly¹² in Sun Miao’s mind. She thought to herself: It’s here, it’s here, the legendary parental interrogation time!

Sun Miao gripped the fabric of her pants, her mouth suddenly dry—not from craving food, but from nervousness. She ran through her story in her head before slowly beginning, “Auntie, it was like this…” She explained how she had been selling egg-fried rice at a stall and how Su Ruixi had been her very first customer.

When she got to the part about the malatang, she started to get flustered; the script she had rehearsed in her head didn’t cover this part. Sun Miao couldn’t help but think: Where is Susu-jie? Why isn’t Susu-jie here yet? Save me, Susu-jie!

Her eyes darted around and caught sight of the hem of a skirt next to the kitchen. Sun Miao immediately realized: Susu-jie is eavesdropping!

Alright, Susu-jie! You’re not coming to my rescue, you’re just eavesdropping!

That’s right, Su Ruixi was eavesdropping. How long does it take to get a fruit platter? There was no way she could be taking this long. She stood just out of sight behind the kitchen entrance, quietly listening to their conversation. When she heard that she was Sun Miao’s first customer, Su Ruixi couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle.

Sun Miao had told her the whole plate¹³ before, but she had been so serious and proper about it, never mentioning that she was the very first customer.

Su Ruixi genuinely felt that the two of them were truly fated to be together.

As Sun Miao continued her story, Shen Yiqiu suddenly interrupted and asked, “Were you the one who confessed to Xixi first?”

On this topic, Sun Miao had plenty to say. It certainly wasn’t her who confessed first. It was Su Ruixi, who not only confessed but also directly forced a kiss on her. The forced kiss was a bit difficult to bring up, but the story of how Su Ruixi worked herself into a stomachache and then confessed to her was something she could definitely talk about at great length.

But before a single word could escape her lips, Su Ruixi, who had been hiding behind the kitchen entrance, emerged. She placed the fruit platter on the coffee table, sat down next to Sun Miao, and said directly, “Mom, that’s enough. Are you interrogating a criminal here?”

—You didn’t come out earlier, but the moment we get to your confession, you show up immediately!

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