White Moonlight1
Having met Shen Yiqiu, one could say she was only a tiny step away from ascending the hall and entering the room2. All that was left was for Father Su to have a moment of clarity and realize that the young Boss Sun was, in fact, Su Ruixi’s girlfriend.
That evening, Shen Yiqiu had told Father Su in advance that she wouldn’t be home for dinner and that he didn’t need to wait up for her, as she didn’t know when she would be back. An idea began to stir in Father Su’s heart. It wasn’t that he was going to do anything bad; he was just thinking about those fried skewers.
He had gone on Monday but didn’t see her. He thought to himself: Maybe the boss decided to take a day off. After all, she’s been running the stall for a week straight, so it wouldn’t be strange to take a break on Monday. That Monday evening, he had even asked around and confirmed that the fried skewer stall had been open the previous night, on Sunday.
Coincidentally, Shen Yiqiu was going to her daughter’s place for dinner again today, which gave him even more time to go out and hunt for the fried skewers. He didn’t even go home in the evening, instead working overtime at the office directly until 9 o’clock. When the time came, he had the driver take him straight to the small park.
But there was still no bustling crowd at the entrance of the small park, still no other customers to strike up a conversation with.
Father Su stood at the park entrance for a while. When he still hadn’t seen the food cart by 10 o’clock, he left in a bit of a daze. When he got home, he found that Shen Yiqiu had returned long ago. His old face flushed red, and he explained to Shen Yiqiu, “I worked a bit of overtime today.”
“I know.”
Shen Yiqiu simply asked, “Would you like something to eat? I brought it back from Xixi’s place. Her girlfriend’s cooking is delicious.”
Father Su hadn’t wanted to eat, but his stomach let out a rumbling sound. He had no choice but to sit down and wait for the auntie to bring over the reheated dishes. The table full of Guizhou cuisine was clearly a favorite of Shen Yiqiu’s.
“You had a good meal, didn’t you?”
“Yes, it was quite enjoyable.”
The two sat facing each other. Shen Yiqiu wore a pair of glasses and held a tablet, still busy with work matters. Father Su held a small bowl, eating white rice with the dishes on the table. He had to admit, the food Sun Miao made was truly delicious, especially that Wujiang Tofu Fish.
Even after being refrigerated and reheated, it didn’t have the slightest fishy smell, and the fish remained tender, smooth, and delicious. As he ate, he was reminded of his childhood, and of the young Shen Yiqiu. His father had been a sent-down youth3 with no roots in the village, so his childhood had been even more miserable than Shen Yiqiu’s. If it weren’t for Shen Yiqiu’s family helping out, he wouldn’t have even gotten a bite or two of meat during the New Year.
That was why he especially looked forward to the days when the uncle and auntie next door bought fish, so his family could have a couple of bites too. The fish back then was completely wild and had a strong texture, especially the meat from the tail, which was exceptionally delicious. Those memories surfaced in his heart, circle by circle, and filled with a thousand emotions, he finished three bowls of rice.
At first, he was holding a small bowl. After finishing that one, he switched directly to a large bowl and polished off two more.
After he finished everything, Father Su couldn’t help but ask Shen Yiqiu, “Qiu, ah, have you… like, accepted Xixi’s girlfriend?”
“Mhm, she’s a good person, and she and Xixi love each other very much.” She briefly mentioned what she and Sun Miao had talked about that day. After she finished, she could see that Father Su was still very unwilling to accept it. Shen Yiqiu didn’t try to persuade or enlighten him. In any case, once he’d gone ten days or half a month without good food, when he was thinking about it day and night, he would lower his head on his own.
To be honest, Father Su truly loved Sun Miao’s fried skewers, but it wasn’t just about the skewers themselves. For several nights afterward, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. His dreams were filled with fried skewers, but more than just eating them, his dreams were mostly of waiting in line.
The wait in line was long, and his legs would get sore from standing, but he still felt that queuing up at Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar was a very pleasant experience. The people in front of and behind him were all strangers, yet they stood there with the same goal as him.
They didn’t care about Father Su’s status; they just chatted about trivial things. That kind of atmosphere was wonderful, something Father Su hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Standing in a long line with like-minded people to finally buy the fried skewers made them seem all the more hard-won.
In his dream, the boss with the slightly blurry face handed the fried skewers to Father Su, the aroma seeming to linger at the tip of his nose. The skewers before him were coated in a golden-yellow layer, as if they were saying to him: Come on, eat up, these are the fried skewers you’ve been longing for!
Just as Father Su felt he was about to eat it in the next second, he… woke up.
Yes, he woke up.
In that instant, Father Su was somewhat with his qi hurried and spirit ruined4. He felt a pang in his heart; he was clearly just a moment away from eating the fried skewers, but he had woken up. But once he was truly awake, he had another thought: in dreams, it seems there’s no sense of taste.
In other words, from the very beginning, he was never going to be able to taste the fried skewers.
Thinking of this, Father Su wanted to cry even more.
But he also realized that he couldn’t let himself be carried away by this feeling any longer. Wasn’t it just the fried skewer boss taking a few days off? How could he let such a small matter make him so that his soul wasn’t guarding its house5? Father Su decided that today, he absolutely would not go loitering by the fried skewer spot!
Father Su’s willpower was truly impressive; he held out all the way until Saturday night. Full of confidence, he thought that since it was the weekend, no matter what kind of boss she was, she would definitely be open for business today. But in reality, he still returned home dejectedly.
Father Su was in disbelief: No, what on earth is going on? Is that fried skewer boss really this stubborn? Or did she move to a new spot?
While Father Su was utterly bewildered, in Sun Miao’s groups 1 and 2, a daily check-in campaign to urge her to open her stall had begun. Led by Hip-hop Mei, the first thing she did every day upon opening her eyes was to go into the group, directly @ Sun Miao, and ask when she would finally come out to set up her stall.
However, Sun Miao’s usual tactic was to play dead and leave the messages on read, so even though the @ messages for her had already accumulated to 99+, they couldn’t affect her. After a week, Hip-hop Mei had to admit that her plan of @-ing people was a complete failure. She turned her head, chatted with Yabi Mei for a bit, and then directly called Sun Miao.
“Here’s the thing, we went on a trip recently and brought back gifts for you and Su-jie. Tomorrow is the weekend, Su-jie is off, right? I’ll deliver the gifts to you guys.”
Under the temptation of food, Hip-hop Mei had already started lying with her face not changing color and her heart not jumping6. What trip with Yabi Mei? For the entire week, she had been cooped up at home without moving an inch.
She spoke with sincere and earnest emotion, but Sun Miao was not a person who was easily moved. She opened with: “Huh? I need to discuss it with Susu-jie.” Sun Miao was still relatively polite to Hip-hop Mei, not because she was an old customer, but because she was Su Ruixi’s friend.
After dating Su Ruixi for so long, Sun Miao had discovered one thing: Susu-jie, just like herself, didn’t have many friends. Therefore, Sun Miao placed quite a bit of importance on Hip-hop Mei, this friend of Su Ruixi’s.
Sun Miao wasn’t jealous that Su Ruixi and Hip-hop Mei had a good relationship; instead, she felt a sense of gratification.
Mm… it was like she had a kind of mother hen mentality7 towards Su Ruixi.
Sun Miao was also happy to have Hip-hop Mei come over to chat with Su Ruixi, and besides, after all this time, Sun Miao felt that Hip-hop Mei could be considered her friend as well. A mutual friend of hers and Su Ruixi’s.
With this realization, Sun Miao wasn’t the least bit opposed to Hip-hop Mei coming over to freeload a meal.
But regardless of her feelings, this was Su Ruixi’s house, after all. If someone wanted to come over as a guest, she still had to discuss it with Su Ruixi.
When Hip-hop Mei heard this response, she knew it was a problem. If Su Ruixi found out, with her personality, she would most likely refuse, and might even reply with “I don’t want to.” It wasn’t that Hip-hop Mei knew Su Ruixi that well, but rather that she had been rejected by Su Ruixi like this countless times in her life; she was used to it.
At this very moment, Hip-hop Mei could only choose to stop Sun Miao: “Little Boss Sun, I’m not trying to criticize you.” Hip-hop Mei had her phone on speaker, and Yabi Mei was sitting right next to her, furiously scribbling on a notebook and quickly showing it to her.
“You’ve been dating Su-jie for so long, why are you still so distant with her? You’re her girlfriend, and you two aren’t planning to break up, you’re going to spend your lives together, right? That means, aside from not having a marriage certificate, what’s the difference between you two and a married couple? You’re also a mistress of this house. For a small matter like this, you can just make the decision. Why do you still need to discuss it with Su-jie?”
“…Is that how it is?”
Sun Miao was genuinely a bit baffled, because she had never had the status of being a “mistress of the house.” All along, she had lived a life of living under someone else’s fence8. It went without saying when she had roommates before; if anything came up, she definitely had to discuss it with them.
Now that Hip-hop Mei had put it that way, she actually felt that it seemed to make some sense.
On the other side, where Sun Miao couldn’t see, Hip-hop Mei was nodding frantically. “Yes, if you don’t believe me, just agree to it first, and then tell Su-jie directly later and see her reaction. With her personality, she’ll definitely agree. Not only will she agree, she’ll be especially happy that you did this.”
Thanks to Yabi Mei being an expert in this area, with her help, Hip-hop Mei ultimately persuaded Sun Miao to agree.
Turning around, with a mix of excitement and nervousness, Sun Miao informed Su Ruixi directly, as if it were a notice. As expected, Su Ruixi didn’t have much of a reaction. Instead, she smiled and said, “You can make the decision on things like this.”
Although she didn’t particularly like Hip-hop Mei being so presumptuous, under her guidance, Sun Miao’s action indeed made Su Ruixi feel very pleased. Yes, they were each other’s partners. This house didn’t just belong to her, Su Ruixi, alone; it was also Sun Miao’s. This was their home, so of course Sun Miao could be the one to make decisions.
Thinking of this, Su Ruixi became quite enthusiastic. “Why don’t we go to the property bureau on a weekday? I can transfer the house to your name in the form of a ‘transfer’.” Sun Miao was, in essence, a girl who lacked a sense of security. The lonely look she had every time she came out of the system space was proof enough.
Su Ruixi never hesitated to give her a full sense of security, so she immediately thought of this method.
But Sun Miao couldn’t help but wave her hands and say, “No, this is too valuable. I can’t accept this.”
After living in Cuiting Yayuan for so long, Sun Miao already had a clear understanding of the property prices here. It was a house she would struggle to afford in her entire lifetime. If she just let Su Ruixi sign it over to her, what kind of person would that make her?
Although it might sound a bit pretentious to say it, Sun Miao liked Su Ruixi not because of her wealth, but because of who she was.
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