Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 238

Haven’t Even Tasted the Flavor

In the afternoon, Sun Miao was at home making hulatang¹ and youmotou². After she finished, she patiently found a good angle, took some nice photos, and then posted them in the group chat to announce the time and place for her stall the next day.

This time, the hulatang was priced at 30 a bowl, and the youmotou were 5 yuan each, with a limit of four per person.

Group 1 was full of old customers who had been following Sun Miao for a long time, and they were all fine with her prices. Group 2, however, had a mix of new and old customers. In this situation, when they saw that a bowl of Sun Miao’s hulatang was selling for 30 yuan, some questioning comments were inevitable, even if it looked great and the photos were especially tempting.

【30 for a bowl? That’s way too expensive. The little stall I pass on my way to breakfast only sells it for 5 yuan.】

【Yeah, that’s way too expensive. It’s super cheap at breakfast shops, 30 is too much.】

Of course, where there were doubters, there were bound to be defenders.

【Wow, 5 yuan? Go find me one. Have you any idea how expensive things are now?】

【Exactly. And how could Boss Sun’s hulatang possibly be the same as the stuff they sell outside?】

【I won’t say anything else, but you can actually see slices of meat in Boss Sun’s version. Whether it’s pork or beef, it’s real, genuine meat. Where can you find meat slices in the stuff sold outside these days? You’d be lucky to even get ground meat.】

【Right? And a lot of the hulatang outside is just made from an instant mix. You can order that online and just add hot water yourself, what’s the point of buying it from them?】

So many people came to Sun Miao’s defense that the initial naysayers immediately shrank back, pretending they hadn’t heard anything. Although there were often memes online saying that today’s youth couldn’t tell good food from bad, and certainly couldn’t tell good tea from bad, the truth was that young people were still quite discerning.

Even if they couldn’t tell whether a dish was a pre-made meal or cooked on-site, the moment they could distinguish even a slight difference, they wouldn’t hesitate to walk away. Besides, even if they couldn’t tell if it was pre-made, wouldn’t their own taste buds and stomachs know?

The digestive systems of today’s youth were, for the most part, exceptionally delicate. Even if they didn’t have any stomach ailments, their intestinal tracts weren’t exactly robust. If there was the slightest problem with the food, they could spend half the next day squatting on the toilet, practically serving as human food quality detectors.

But no one had ever heard of anyone getting diarrhea from eating Sun Miao’s food. In fact, based on everyone’s discussions, they found that eating it often actually had a conditioning effect on the body. It was truly a case of having eaten too much bad stuff on a daily basis; getting to eat something good for a change was finally a chance to nourish their stomachs.

Not to mention those diners who were already very picky, like the Hip-hop Yabi Duo. What delicacies of the mountains and treasures of the sea³ hadn’t the two of them eaten? The fact that they lingered at a small food stall day after day, forgetting to return⁴, already said a lot.

Young people might not be able to distinguish the quality of food, but they weren’t idiots. That group of rich second-generation kids and wealthy people, clutching their designer bags while lining up in the queue every day—they couldn’t possibly be doing it just because they were bored to death, right?

So, everyone was quite accepting of Sun Miao’s 30-yuan bowl of hulatang. Even if a few dissenting voices popped up, they were collectively pushed down.

That evening, while the members were holding a debate in the group chat, Su Ruixi got to eat the hulatang a step ahead of everyone. She hadn’t liked things like hulatang before; she disliked anything with such a strong flavor. And as the name suggested, it was spicy, which made Su Ruixi want to retreat three day’s marches⁵.

When Sun Miao brought out the hulatang, Su Ruixi was a bit hesitant, saying softly, “Miaomiao, I don’t eat spicy food.” After two experiences of being brought to tears by spiciness, Su Ruixi had learned her lesson and wouldn’t touch anything spicy so easily.

How could Sun Miao not know what she was talking about? Sun Miao smiled and explained to Su Ruixi, “Susu-jie, don’t worry, this isn’t spicy. The heat mainly comes from white pepper powder, and how spicy can that really be?”

Only then did Su Ruixi nod and sit down at the dining table, preparing to have a few bites.

People in Yu Province could actually handle spicy food, but they weren’t famous for it. Besides, the hulatang was just as Sun Miao had said: the most authentic version didn’t use chili peppers. That little bit of stimulating flavor came entirely from white pepper powder. While Su Ruixi couldn’t handle the heat of chili powder, white pepper was perfectly fine for her.

Since they were eating at home, they didn’t use disposable bowls but rather the white porcelain ones Su Ruixi had bought for a high price. Sun Miao was still mindful that the hulatang had a tiny bit of heat, so she didn’t give Su Ruixi too much, using only a small bowl.

The small white porcelain bowl was filled to the brim with the brown hulatang, which gave off an indescribable aroma. It wasn’t like other foods with a distinct fragrance; its scent was something Su Ruixi found hard to describe. It was a mix of meat, vegetables, and medicinal herbs. Strictly speaking, it couldn’t be called fragrant, but it captivated Su Ruixi all the same.

Then there was the color. In truth, Su Ruixi had always found the color of hulatang rather unappetizing, given its earthy yellow base. But as she stirred the soup with a spoon, the colors and aroma intensified, and to her surprise, Su Ruixi’s mouth began to water as a craving for the hulatang grew.

Su Ruixi picked up her spoon and scooped up some hulatang. Because her craving wasn’t that intense, she wasn’t in a rush. Instead, she was able to maintain her dining etiquette, blowing on the soup twice before putting it in her mouth.

But in that moment, Su Ruixi almost lost her composure, because—it was just too delicious. The first thing she felt was the unique texture of the hulatang, that thick and smooth consistency. It was different from drinking rice soup or plain congee; this was a viscous, sticky feeling.

Next, she experienced the flavor of the hulatang. The first taste was definitely that slightly stimulating spiciness, but just as Sun Miao had said, it was from white pepper. This mild stimulation was just right for Su Ruixi. Any stronger and she might have found it too spicy, but as it was, she felt it was completely OK.

And it was precisely this spiciness from the white pepper that became the main theme of the soup, suppressing all the other complex flavors.

Yes, the other complex flavors.

The flavors were jumbled and varied, but that didn’t mean it tasted bad. On the contrary, it was incredibly delicious. It was hard to imagine that you could taste so many things in just one bite. Su Ruixi scooped up another spoonful, this one containing a slice of beef.

The beef slice was exceptionally tender in the hulatang. When she ate it, it almost felt like it had merged with the soup itself and was easily swallowed. But if she caught the beef slice and bit down, she would experience an ultimate tenderness coated in the viscous hulatang broth.

Su Ruixi truly loved this beef.

Then she ate the mianjin⁶ inside, which gave her a different sensation. The fresh and simple mianjin also neutralized some of the soup’s kaleidoscopic flavors. In no time, just two minutes, Su Ruixi had eaten the entire bowl clean.

Because of the mianjin, Su Ruixi didn’t feel that her mouth was sticky or that she needed a drink of water to freshen it up after she finished. She just felt that her palate was now clean and refreshed.

After finishing the bowl of hulatang, Su Ruixi set her bowl down. At first, she had been able to dutifully maintain her dining etiquette, eating one spoonful at a time. But toward the end, she became so eager that she even gave up using the spoon, choosing instead to lift the bowl and drink the hulatang directly.

It was a soup, after all. No matter how thick, it was still possible to perform the action of “drinking.” After she finished, there was nothing left sticking to the white porcelain bowl.

This was a skill Sun Miao had spent a long time learning.

She even had an idea that if she had the chance in the future, she would learn to make that famous dish widely circulated online—Sanbuzhan⁷.

After finishing one bowl, Su Ruixi found her interest was not yet exhausted⁸ and held her bowl out to Sun Miao. “Another bowl.”

“Susu-jie, you can’t eat too much at night.”

“It’s just soup, it’s fine. I haven’t even tasted the flavor and it’s already gone. Come on, give me another bowl.”

Sun Miao never expected that when she went to set up her stall the next day, this would become the phrase she heard most often from her customers.

She drove her electric scooter to the location arranged by the system early in the morning. This time, it was under a streetlight at the entrance of a subway station. Before she even arrived, a crowd was already there. It was Sunday, so there were even more people than usual.

The moment Sun Miao saw the scene, she knew the two large vats of hulatang she had prepared wouldn’t be enough.

She pushed her cart to the designated spot, calling out for everyone to make some room, and then set up the stall. The youmotou were fried on the spot; there was a special fryer on the cart. Sun Miao turned on the heat and warmed up the oil. But Hip-hop Mei in the front of the line couldn’t wait any longer. “Little Boss Sun, your hulatang doesn’t need to be made now, right? Why don’t you give me a serving first, and I’ll just hold it and eat.”

Hip-hop Mei made it clear she would stand right there and eat, lest the other customers eyeing it like a tiger⁹ behind her think she should hurry up and leave to make space for them.

Sun Miao was taken aback for a second. “Huh? Why don’t you take it and eat over there? What if you spill your saliva into my oil pot while you’re eating?”

Hearing Sun Miao say this, Hip-hop Mei got a little annoyed. “How could that happen! My mouth isn’t that big.”

But Yabi Mei tugged at her, and Hip-hop Mei lowered her flag and silenced her drum¹⁰. So the group just stood there, waiting for the oil to heat up. Although Hip-hop Mei had just been teased by Sun Miao, she couldn’t help but start chatting again. “I got here early today, right? Hmph, this time I’m even earlier than that old man. No one can shake my number one position!”

As she spoke, she held her chin high, as proud as a swan. Seeing her like this, Yabi Mei next to her glanced away, as if trying to make everyone think she didn’t know her. Sun Miao, however, found the interaction between the two very amusing.

In that short time, the oil was already hot. Sun Miao took out the pre-made youmotou dough balls and dropped them into the pot.

In an instant, the oil pot began to boil, making a “tss-tss-tss” sound. Sun Miao said to the Hip-hop Yabi Duo, “Step back a little, don’t get splattered.” But Hip-hop Mei stood there like a wooden post, her eyes fixed on the oil pot with a greenish glint.

“Step back for what? I’m standing right here. I refuse to believe it can splatter on me!”

In reality, it really couldn’t splatter on Hip-hop Mei. If Sun Miao couldn’t even control a little oil spatter, she might as well go back and relearn her craft. It was just that seeing Hip-hop Mei like this made Sun Miao’s hands itch.

She was so asking for it.

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