Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 228

You Can’t Eat Too Much

The moment the spoonful entered her mouth, the very first thing Su Ruixi felt was, without a doubt, cold. The Huaihua Fen had been set using ice water, the brown sugar topping was a slush, and it had been chilling in the fridge for a long time. Of course it was going to be icy when she put it in her mouth.

But it wasn’t a bracing, bone-chilling cold. Instead, it was like a cool breeze that soothed away all her worries. It washed over her gently, lifting her spirits. Then, Su Ruixi chewed lightly and felt the texture of the Huaihua Fen.

The Huaihua Fen was cool and slippery, but as she ate it, it was soft and glutinous with a bit of a Q-bouncy¹ feel. Su Ruixi had happened to bite right into the center, and there was none of the “dry and hard” sensation the old woman had mentioned earlier.

Next came the flavor.

At first, she could taste a hint of sweetness, but it wasn’t overpowering—just a light touch. But after a few more bites, the rich aroma of rice emerged, and the grain’s natural sweetness surged forward, mingling with the brown sugar and gradually intensifying in her mouth. Yet, because of the ice water she was swallowing, that rich sweetness would fade at the end, returning to a fresh and elegant feeling.

Besides, the highest compliment the Chinese have for a dessert is: it’s not sweet.

This “not sweet” doesn’t mean it has no sweetness at all. It means that it is sweet, sweet enough to touch your heart, but it can’t be cloying. After you’ve finished, all that’s left is a clean sweetness that gives you an endless aftertaste², not a cloying sweetness³ that makes you feel like your teeth are stuck together.

That cloying sweetness was something people sought after in the early years when their families couldn’t even afford sugar.

Su Ruixi actually felt that what the old woman had eaten in the past must have been different from Sun Miao’s version. If she were to go back and eat that subpar Huaihua Fen now, she definitely wouldn’t like it either.

Beyond these flavors, Su Ruixi also detected a slightly strange note. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was harmonious. Not only did it not disrupt the flavors in her mouth, but it added a somewhat wondrous feeling.

After she finished, Su Ruixi asked Sun Miao directly, and Sun Miao answered, “It’s limewater.”⁴

“Oh, so that’s what it was.”

Sun Miao smiled. “Susu-jie, you probably haven’t experienced this, but in some parts of the countryside, back in the day when they were building houses, some kids would run over with eggs to cook them in the limewater.”

Su Ruixi had never experienced that, but she quickly thought of something else. “But I’ve cooked eggs in hot spring water before! Hot springs have sulfur, so it should be pretty similar to eggs boiled in limewater, right?”

“Yeah, it’s quite similar.”

After finishing one bowl, Su Ruixi was still craving more. “Miaomiao,” she said to Sun Miao, “can I have another bowl?”

Sun Miao thought for a moment, then gave Su Ruixi her own half-eaten bowl of rice noodles. Su Ruixi didn’t mind Sun Miao’s saliva in the slightest. She picked up her chopsticks and started slurping away.

Unlike the chilled Huaihua Fen, Sun Miao had added some seasonings to this—a bit of soy sauce and vinegar, plus a sprinkle of chopped scallions. Eaten this way, it was indeed quite similar to Liangfen⁵. With each slurp, that Q-bouncy, soft, and glutinous texture was even more pronounced. And it still had a pleasant coolness, making it perfect for summer.

After finishing the half bowl, Su Ruixi was still hungry. “Miaomiao…” She licked her lips lightly, trying to act cute with Sun Miao. But this time, Sun Miao didn’t give in.

“No, Susu-jie, you can’t eat too much of it.”

No matter what Su Ruixi said, she remained unmoved. “You really can’t eat too much of this stuff. After all, it’s made with limewater. I even put a limit on it when I sell it. Eating a little is fine, but you really can’t be greedy.”

Faced with a Sun Miao who was coldly cruel, unfeelingly merciless, and without regard for sentiment⁶, Su Ruixi could only sigh. “Fine.”

The next day, September 2nd, was a Saturday. That night, the two of them did some things adults do, and after getting up the next day, Sun Miao and Su Ruixi had brunch before Sun Miao started making the Huaihua Fen for her afternoon stall. This time, the system had given her very friendly stall hours: from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning.

But with Sun Miao’s speed, she’d probably be back in an hour or two.

This was largely thanks to the Huaihua Fen being prepared in advance. If it were like the fried skewers, which had to be fried on the spot, she would probably have to stay at the stall longer.

When Sun Miao arrived, she found that there were even more people than yesterday. Yesterday was a Friday, and Sun Miao had left so quickly that many people who were at work couldn’t make it. The crowd had mostly been that group of “idle members of society” and the rich and leisured. This time, everyone had come, making the area in front of the Su Group’s property so packed that it felt like not even a drop of water could leak through⁷.

The person at the front of the line had changed, too. It was no longer the Hip-hop Yabi duo, but the food streamer, Lizi.

She was holding a selfie stick pointed at herself. Seeing Sun Miao arrive, she broke into a huge smile. “Little Boss Sun, I’ve been waiting for you for so long! I can’t believe you took such a long break. I’ve been craving your food for ages. But why is there a limit this time? One serving is really not enough for me.”

Lizi naturally had a big appetite, and for a dessert like Huaihua Fen, forget one serving—she could probably eat half a bucket by herself.

Sun Miao laughed and greeted her, then told her the truth. “Because the Huaihua Fen uses limewater. Eating a little is fine, but eating too much is bad for you, so I set a limit.”

At first, Sun Miao thought that by mentioning the limewater, some customers would express doubt or even leave the line. But after she said it, the line didn’t change one bit. So, Sun Miao looked toward the Hip-hop girl.

It was common knowledge that the Hip-hop girl didn’t have much of a brain, so Sun Miao figured she would definitely give her an answer. Sure enough, the Hip-hop girl did not disappoint.

She even lifted her head triumphantly. “Little Boss Sun, did you think I wouldn’t buy it just because you said that? You already said eating a little is fine. You only sell one bowl a day, and only for a week. I could eat a whole bucket every day and be fine, I’m super healthy! Besides, I trust you. You’d never give us anything with problems.”

Most importantly, without Sun Miao, who else would make them such delicious food!

In short, it was impossible to get the people in line to leave.

What the Hip-hop girl said was what everyone was thinking. In the past, because Sun Miao’s food was so delicious, some people had even sent it to professional labs for testing, afraid it might contain something like poppy husks⁸. But every single time, the test results showed that the ingredients were clean and there were no issues. This was countless times better than some chain restaurants that were found to have bacterial counts that exceeded the standard⁹.

Everyone thought Sun Miao’s food was delicious, and more than that, they felt that with her integrity, she would never do anything to harm them.

Sun Miao smiled. “Okay, I get it.”

Just like yesterday, she asked the girls in line if they were on their period or pregnant, and only sold to them after confirming they weren’t.

But while the people in line had no such thoughts, Lizi’s bullet comments had people who did:

【Huh? Using limewater in cooking? Did I hear that right? Real limewater? Isn’t that harmful?】

【Why hasn’t this been reported? Limewater, can you even eat that?】

【OMG, someone is actually using limewater to make food.】

Lizi, waiting for her order at Sun Miao’s stall, saw the bullet comments but didn’t say anything, pretending not to see for the moment. Once she got her Huaihua Fen and sat down to the side, she glanced over at Sun Miao and saw she wasn’t paying attention to her. Only then did she speak to her stream. “Mods¹⁰ here? Ban those last few people.”

After the commenters were sent to the little black room¹¹, Lizi put her smile back on. She first held up the Huaihua Fen, carefully bringing it closer to her camera. “Everyone, look! This Huaihua Fen is so beautiful. It’s like a flourishing Jinhua chrysanthemum¹² floating in water. It’s so pretty I almost don’t want to eat it.”

She showed off the Huaihua Fen from all directions and without a single dead angle¹³, drawing exclamations like 【OMG! So pretty!】 from her bullet comments. Only then did she lower her head and start to stir it, taking the opportunity to explain to her viewers.

“Actually, limewater is used quite a lot in food preparation. It’s a pretty common coagulant and pH regulator. It has its uses in things like tofu, jelly, rice noodles, and steamed eggs.”

“Also, as a pH regulator, limewater can extend the shelf life of food and prevent clumping, so it has to be used when making Huaihua Fen,” Lizi said, adding with particular pride, “I knew Little Boss Sun was selling Huaihua Fen this time, so I did some research beforehand.”

At this point, the Hip-hop Yabi duo also sat down at the table. Hearing that Lizi had done her homework, they listened quietly.

Lizi nodded at them and continued speaking, “Also, remember how Little Boss Sun just asked if I was on my period or pregnant? A lot of people probably think it’s because the Huaihua Fen is cold, so she has to ask…” At this point, she picked up her spoon and started eating.

Lizi had one major problem: whenever she ate food made by Sun Miao, she would start to—forget her script and just bury her head and eat hard¹⁴. It was the same this time. She was halfway through her sentence and hadn’t finished when she suddenly went silent.

This didn’t just infuriate the people in her stream:

【What are you doing? Finish your sentence! Huh? Lizi, how could you do this!】

【Does eating affect your ability to talk? Did you forget about us again?!】

【Forgetting before was one thing, but you stopped mid-sentence this time! Lizi! Are you even human?!】

These bullet comments comments also represented the feelings of the Hip-hop girl sitting across from her. She shot Lizi a mournful look, her ears perked, waiting for her to continue.

Lizi had truly forgotten her audience. She was holding the bowl of Huaihua Fen and just gorging on it. Fortunately, the bowl wasn’t very big, and she finished it in no time. At that moment, her empty bowl came into the viewers’ sight.

【Good grief, she licked it cleaner than my dog’s bowl.】

【Little Boss Sun, come collect this. You could probably use it again.】

She licked her lips, not quite satisfied, savoring every last bit of flavor.

After doing all that, she glanced at the bullet comments again and said, a little embarrassed, “Sorry, sorry, it was just too delicious. And Lizi has been waiting for so long, you know? I was a little sweaty, and this Huaihua Fen is so cool, refreshing, and sweet. It’s really great for beating the summer heat. After one bowl, Lizi feels like my whole being is at peace.”

She chuckled twice, then continued the topic from before. “You can’t eat too much limewater, after all. People with weaker spleens and stomachs, or those who are on their period or pregnant, can’t eat it. It’s not just because it’s cold, you know.”

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