Interviewed
On the 5th, Sun Miao encountered a small hiccup while running her stall.
She was set up as usual. Since it wasn’t quitting time for the Su Group yet, her customers these past few days had been mainly regulars, with few new faces. Father Su had also shown up the last couple of days. He always had a sneaky, furtive air about him, but Sun Miao pretended not to notice, simply treating him like any other customer.
It was a day like any other. When Father Su arrived at Sun Miao’s stall, he saw several very familiar people. This time, they weren’t acquaintances from the business world, but from his own company. This even included——the Director of Administration.
Father Su’s eyes widened, and he couldn’t help but ask, “You took a day off today just to come line up for this?”
The Director of Administration guiltily averted his gaze, but then remembered this was his own boss and he had to reply, so he could only nod. “Haha, Director Su, what a coincidence.”
What coincidence! Look where you are! Right at our own company’s entrance. Do you really need to say “what a coincidence” after running into me?!
What angered Father Su even more was that the Director of Administration was actually ahead of him in line!
Just as it was almost Father Su’s turn, his sharp ears picked up some commotion from behind. He paid it no mind; right now, nothing was more important than the bowl of huaihua fen that was about to be in his hands. But just as he was about to make his purchase, a voice suddenly cut in.
“Hello, I’m Li Yue, the host of the show Gourmet God Among the People. I see this line has been going for a long time and it’s gotten quite long, so I can imagine the snacks made here must be delicious. May I interview you for a moment?”
This was the first time Sun Miao had ever encountered something like this, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.
Father Su took a deep breath and, stepping over the sacrificial vessels to answer for her1, replied to the host, Li Yue, “Hello, comrade2. But we can’t let the line affect the customers, right? I’m in line right now, and the owner is in the middle of doing business. You yourself said there are still many people waiting behind me. If you interview her for one minute, you delay all of us by one minute.”
“Look, the line is so long, the owner will be able to sell out soon. Isn’t it better to come back and interview her after she’s finished with her business?”
Hearing Father Su’s words, the host Li Yue was taken aback for a second. She thought about it and realized that what the gentleman said was quite right. She smiled and replied, “Alright.” She even followed up with, “Then let me interview some of the customers first. Is that convenient for you, sir?”
Because he had just stepped over the sacrificial vessels to answer for her, Father Su accepted it, even though he had no desire to be interviewed. He had asked for takeout before the host interrupted, so when Sun Miao handed it to Father Su, it wasn’t packed up, but served directly in a small bowl.
Lately, Father Su had become able to shed his dignity and, like everyone else, stand on the side of the road and eat. He just couldn’t quite go all the way and squat on the curb. At this moment, he was in the awkward position of holding his bowl of huaihua fen while following the host to the side.
The host even asked him, “Hello, may I film the bowl of huaihua fen in your hands?”
Father Su couldn’t very well refuse, so he nodded. At the host’s signal, the cameraman came over with his equipment, aimed it at the huaihua fen in Father Su’s hands, and began a grand, sweeping shot. At this very moment, Father Su, dressed in a sharp suit, had become a huaihua fen stand.
During the filming, the other customers in line, especially Father Su’s acquaintances, couldn’t stop laughing. One even went so far as to snap a picture and send it to Shen Yiqiu.
After the lengthy filming segment was finally over, they moved on to the torturous interview segment.
“Are you a regular at this food stall?”
The host’s first question brought them to the toughest stage for a aojiao (tsundere) man: the part where he has to be stubborn. The expression on “regular customer” Father Su’s face shifted. He replied, “No, I come occasionally.”
“Then do you feel the taste of this food stall suits your palate?”
“It’s…” Father Su actually wanted to say “average,” but this was a television program. If this was broadcast and he stubbornly insisted it was “average,” ruining the young owner’s reputation, what kind of person would that make him? But to say out loud that it was delicious… he was a bit unwilling.
He was the famous Director Su of the Su Group, after all!
Proud he may be, but he would still do the right thing when it mattered. No matter how reluctant he was to say “average,” when the words reached his lips, he still answered honestly, “In terms of flavor, it does suit my tastes. But objectively speaking, the flavor is suited to the general public’s palate. Most people would find it very delicious.”
He still managed to work the character for “one/general” from “average” into his final sentence. But Father Su had to admit, he truly did like the food Sun Miao made, so after he spoke, his expression changed slightly.
If Shen Yiqiu had been there, he would have seen that Father Su had a bit of a “smashing a cracked pot”3 air about him.
It was the same expression he wore when Su Ruixi brought his girlfriend’s cooking home, and Father Su was caught with a satisfied look on his face after eating it, only to be met with genuine ridicule.
The host didn’t notice his expression and continued to smile. “In that case, sir, may I be so bold as to ask your name?”
Father Su pursed his lips and, in the end, said nothing, simply shaking his head while holding the microphone. It was the host’s bad luck, running into Father Su. Seeing that he wasn’t very cooperative, she quickly cut the interview short and moved on to ask a few other people.
The people after him were much more cooperative. Most of them very happily told the host how delicious the snacks from “Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar” were, how much they liked the stall, and how much they liked the owner.
There were, however, a few jokesters. “It’s not good, really, it’s terrible. I urge everyone not to come. See the line behind me? They’re all like me, paid actors hired by the stall, so don’t come! I’m begging you, please don’t come!”
Once most of the customers had been interviewed, Sun Miao had also sold out of that day’s supply of huaihua fen. When she announced, “Sold out,” those in line who hadn’t gotten any began to wail. But there was nothing they could do but leave, dejected.
Some customers, however, remembered that the host Li Yue had arranged to interview Sun Miao. True to the mentality that one who is watching the excitement doesn’t mind if the matter gets bigger4, they all lingered at a distance, not leaving.
Li Yue walked up and was about to raise her microphone to ask a question, but Sun Miao said, “Sorry, could you please wait a moment? I need to clean up here.”
“Of course.” Li Yue was surprised but agreed. She then watched as Sun Miao began a major cleanup of the surrounding area. Li Yue truly felt that this stall owner was quite special. Most other stall owners, when faced with an interview from her, would be flattered, and might even give her special treatment.
But Sun Miao wasn’t like that. Not only was there no special treatment, she hadn’t even saved a bowl of huaihua fen for her. And now that she had finally finished for the day, she was making her wait while she cleaned up before she would accept the interview.
Well, what could she do? She could only wait.
Sun Miao packed up her stall, wiped down the table and chairs again, and first invited the host to sit. Then, she reached up to smooth her hair, and only after confirming everything was in place did she sit down opposite the host. Sun Miao, what a reserved show-off.
The two sat face to face, but the cameraman beside them didn’t get to sit. He shouldered his camera and began filming the pair.
Li Yue smiled. “I’ve seen many posts about your stall online, and they’re all very popular. For example, the beef pancakes, the changfen, the zongzi, and so on. Your previous fried skewers, after being recommended by an internet celebrity streamer, even briefly shot to the top of our local hot topics list. I was very curious back then, just what kind of stall owner would do such headstrong things.”
“How should I address you?”
Sun Miao gave a slightly shy smile. “My name is Sun Miao. The ‘Miao’ is the same as in ‘Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar’ at the end.”
“Miss Sun, you look so young. Did you just graduate from college not long ago? What made you think of starting a small stall?”
Li Yue posed this question likely because she had drafted something like “college student changes careers to start a business” while preparing for the interview. But the reality might disappoint her. Sun Miao didn’t give the answer she was looking for, instead saying directly:
“Ah, I’m twenty-six. Not that young anymore.” As for starting the stall, the real reason was “the system made me do it,” but she couldn’t tell people that answer. So, Sun Miao simply shared the reason she started her breakfast stall in the very beginning: “Because I didn’t have any money.”
She was exceptionally frank when she said this. “The main purpose of doing this kind of food stall business is to make money, of course. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, but I was abandoned by my parents when I was very young and grew up in an orphanage. The orphanage cut off support after I turned eighteen. I was really poor back then, and I didn’t have any skills. My cooking was decent, so I thought: I might as well just go into the food business.”
“I’m not a college student, either. My grades were always pretty bad. After middle school, I went to a vocational school5, and after that I came out and looked for all sorts of jobs. It took a lot of work to save up a little money to start a small business.”
Sun Miao was very candid as she said all this, a faint smile still on her face. But no matter who heard it, their first reaction would surely be, “Oh, I’m sorry.” When Li Yue heard Sun Miao’s story, she was stunned for a moment before continuing:
“I didn’t realize Miss Sun had such a difficult past.”
Sun Miao waved her hand, her face still beaming with a sun-like smile. She had no desire to sell her hardships; to her, it was just an ordinary part of her past, the same as someone else saying, “I skipped so many classes during my four years of college.”
Most importantly: “It’s nothing, really. I’m doing very well now, you see. My little stall’s business isn’t bad. Although I sell things for a bit expensive, everyone is happy to pay, so I’ve saved up a nice little pile of money6. And because of the stall, I’ve met the most important person in my life, the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
The more she spoke, the more brilliant her smile became. Just the thought of Su Ruixi made her smile uncontrollably.
Sun Miao’s smile was so dazzling that even the cameraman behind her was stunned for a second before finding the right angle to perfectly capture the moment.
The author has something to say:
Countdown to Sun Miao’s horse-fall7.
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