Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 23

How Was the Beef Pancake You Bought?

Su Ruixi truly couldn’t handle spicy food. While her assistant felt that even a tiny bit of chili wasn’t enough to whet her appetite, Su Ruixi’s eyes would turn red from just that little bit of spice. Given this situation, she really shouldn’t be eating that chili sauce.

But Su Ruixi wouldn’t listen. She actually quite enjoyed eating that chili sauce, and these past few days during lunch, the assistant would always spot that small bottle.

However, in the past couple of days, the assistant noticed that the boss wasn’t in a good mood, as she would come in the morning with a somewhat gloomy aura. Upon asking, she learned it was because the boss hadn’t eaten a proper breakfast.

Thinking about how the boss hadn’t eaten well in the morning, the assistant thought of the beef pancake she bought this morning – it was truly delicious. She planned to go back to that small stall tomorrow morning to buy another beef pancake.

After a busy morning, when the assistant went to order takeout at noon, she overheard the young women in the assistant’s office discussing: “That beef pancake stall is still there, it’s been there all morning, hasn’t been chased away by the urban management officers yet?”

Another assistant joined in: “I heard about it. The urban management officers came to chase them away first thing in the morning. But guess what? They couldn’t drive them away because even though it’s a small stall, they had all the proper permits. They even explained that the area downstairs is actually designated for vendors. The urban management officers couldn’t do anything about it, and naturally, the property management was helpless too, that’s why they’ve been able to stay for so long.”

“You’re well-informed.”

“Of course, I have a good relationship with the property management. I heard from the front desk xiaojiejie that she chatted with the young vendor, who said they’ll stay until seven in the evening.”

“Really? Then I’ll go buy another beef pancake for lunch.”

“Is it that good? Didn’t you already buy one this morning?”

“It’s delicious, I’m not lying, it’s truly delicious – the best beef pancake I’ve ever eaten!”

What followed was nothing but praise for the beef pancake. The assistant didn’t mind; she only cared about what they said in their chat about the stall staying until seven in the evening. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to only order takeout for her boss Su Ruixi, while she would go get a beef pancake.

And that’s exactly what she did. When the takeout arrived, she had the delivery brother leave it at the company’s front desk. Then she went downstairs to queue up for beef pancakes. By the time she came back up, the takeout had arrived, and this time she bought two portions – one spicy and one non-spicy. After setting down the beef pancakes, the assistant carried the takeout box to the president’s office.

Su Ruixi was still working at her desk. As usual, the assistant advised her to take a break and eat something. Normally, she would have refused, insisting on finishing work first and eating later. But today was different – or more accurately, this whole period had been different. Su Ruixi took out her small bottle, nodded, and prepared to eat at the sofa area in front.

After the assistant had set out all the dishes, Su Ruixi realized that the assistant hadn’t ordered anything for herself. She casually asked why she hadn’t ordered.

The assistant replied to Su Ruixi: “President Su, I bought a beef pancake from the street vendor this morning, and it was quite delicious. I saw they’re still set up downstairs at lunch, so I bought two more to eat later.” The assistant wasn’t usually someone who liked to share much, but she mentioned the beef pancakes because she genuinely found them delicious.

At first, Su Ruixi hadn’t really paid attention to what her assistant said, only registering that she was eating something else. She just responded with an “oh” and was about to turn to her own lunch. But after a moment, as her mind processed this seemingly useless information, she began to sense something wasn’t quite right.

Her assistant was actually quite picky about food. Having traveled extensively with her, she’d tasted all sorts of delicacies – how could she be so fond of a street vendor’s beef pancake? And this stall was right below their company? And it had been open for so long, staying until seven in the evening?

All these details reminded her of Sun Miao’s “Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar”.

Su Ruixi took a deep breath and put down her lunch box: “The beef pancake you bought, is it good?”

“Huh?” The assistant was caught off guard, and only after processing Su Ruixi’s question did she answer: “Yes, it’s delicious.” If it weren’t good, she wouldn’t have finished one in the morning and want to eat more in the evening.

“Have you eaten it yet?”

“Not yet.”

The conversation suddenly stalled there. Su Ruixi neither spoke nor ate, making the assistant feel uncomfortable. But as Su Ruixi’s confidante, she quickly realized that Su Ruixi… was probably curious about the taste of the beef pancake. Thinking about her two different flavored pancakes, she hesitantly suggested: “Would you like to try some, President Su?”

“Hmm…” Su Ruixi nodded with restraint, as if she was doing the assistant a favor by agreeing to eat: “Alright, bring it over, let me try it.”

The assistant turned around, went to her workstation, and brought out both beef pancakes, placing the non-spicy one in front of Su Ruixi. Su Ruixi glanced at the one still in her assistant’s hand, to which the assistant explained: “This one is spicy.” Only then did Su Ruixi let it be.

She truly couldn’t handle spicy food; otherwise, she would have at least taken a bite to taste it.

From her assistant’s description, Su Ruixi couldn’t help but think this was something Sun Miao would do. However, when she got the beef pancake in her hands, doubt crept in. Because this beef pancake had such a distinct beef aroma just from smelling it.

She wasn’t someone who liked strongly flavored foods; even the beef chili sauce that Sun Miao gave her was one of the few strong flavors she could tolerate.

She didn’t rush to eat the beef pancake, instead bringing it close to her nose, wrinkling it as she took a few sniffs. The beef pancake’s aroma wasn’t actually too strong, but Su Ruixi’s nose was particularly sensitive, able to detect the beef fragrance. Besides that, she could also smell the fresh scent of Chinese cabbage and a hint of scallion.

All three aromas were distinct, yet they didn’t try to overpower each other. Instead, they merged together to create a particularly appealing smell. This sensation felt somewhat familiar… Su Ruixi still felt this style had Sun Miao’s touch.

So after a moment’s hesitation, she opened her mouth and took a small bite.

With this bite, she consumed both the pancake skin and filling.

Well… it was all quite delicious.

Especially the pancake skin – Su Ruixi wasn’t particularly fond of meat dishes, so her first impression was of the delicious wrapper. The skin was crispy, crumbling delicately in her mouth, but the crumbs weren’t bothersome. She instinctively put her hand under her chin, worried about falling crumbs, yet caught nothing.

Because while the pancake skin was crispy in the mouth, it didn’t scatter crumbs on the outside.

Though crispy, it didn’t feel dry and brittle – the softness and crispiness coexisted, making Su Ruixi very curious about how this was achieved. But right after that, the delicious filling made it hard for her to think straight.

She didn’t like meat dishes, except for those made by Sun Miao. Because Sun Miao’s meat dishes weren’t heavily seasoned and had no strange flavors; instead, they enhanced the meat’s natural deliciousness. The beef in her mouth was exactly like this. The Chinese cabbage had its natural sweetness, and when wrapped with the beef filling, it created a filling that wasn’t overly seasoned but had a slight sweetness. That sweetness wasn’t the dominant flavor though – after the subtle sweetness came the saltiness from the seasonings, both flavors intermingling in a way that made one want to keep eating.

The scallions inside were particularly exceptional. While they enhanced the umami and aroma, together with the chopped cabbage they added layers of texture. Though notably present, they blended perfectly with the cabbage and beef.

Su Ruixi’s remarkable self-control prevented her from eagerly taking a second bite after the first. Instead, she put down the beef pancake and began examining its cross-section. Though “cross-section” might be an overstatement, as she had only taken a small bite rather than cutting straight through.

The original pancake was light yellow, with a layer of oil on the outside, but this oil hadn’t seeped into the wrapping paper to make it wet and greasy. Instead, it remained crisp and fresh, leaving Su Ruixi even more puzzled.

“Was this baked in an oven?”

When Su Ruixi asked her assistant this, she saw that the assistant had already nearly finished hers in no time. The pancake had been sitting for a while and wasn’t as hot anymore – if it had been fresh off the pan, the assistant probably would have eaten more slowly. Hearing Su Ruixi’s question, the assistant put down her pancake and looked up: “Huh? No, I saw them pan-frying it in oil.”

Su Ruixi was even more confused – why wasn’t it greasy despite being pan-fried, showing only a sheen of oil on its surface? She looked down at her beef pancake again, at the small bite she’d taken, and saw that the skin wasn’t just a single thin layer but several layers. The outer two or three layers were crispy, while the inside remained soft.

This explained why the pancake skin alone provided two distinctly different textures in the mouth.

Su Ruixi thought to herself: Sun Miao really loved creating two different textures from a single ingredient.

At this moment, she was almost certain this was Sun Miao’s beef pancake. Inevitably, she remembered what she’d said to Sun Miao last week: “Until we meet again by fate.”

In a way, weren’t they… perhaps a bit too fated to meet?

Su Ruixi finished the beef pancake in small bites. By the time she’d eaten a quarter of it, the assistant across from her had already finished her spicy pancake, looking somewhat unsatisfied. Naturally, the assistant’s gaze fell on the beef pancake in Su Ruixi’s hands.

She had bought the non-spicy beef pancake in the morning, so she naturally knew its taste. Both the spicy and non-spicy versions had their own merits, and the assistant loved them both. Just thinking about it made her mouth water, craving another bite of that non-spicy beef pancake.

Perhaps because the assistant’s gaze was too intense, Su Ruixi unconsciously shifted to the side, slightly blocking the assistant’s view.

But realizing how this motion might appear, she felt awkward about turning back, so she could only continue eating her beef pancake as is. In the assistant’s eyes, for some reason, her boss’s movements… had an inexplicable sense of sneakiness.

Even after finishing the beef pancake, Su Ruixi still felt unsatisfied. Though she had a small appetite, she was still an adult, and Sun Miao’s beef pancakes were only palm-sized and not particularly thick – it was surprising that she could feel full from it.

She looked at the boxed lunch in front of her, then at the assistant across from her, and after hesitating several times said: “How about this – you eat this boxed lunch, and I’ll go buy something else to eat.”

“……”

Help, the boss’s sneakiness had intensified.

What the assistant really wanted to say was: Are you secretly planning to go buy more beef pancakes?

---

LP: This will resume on March 11

---

---