Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 24

I Haven’t Tried It

Su Ruixi only went downstairs after lunch break ended. Her assistant, with “good intentions,” offered to help Su Ruixi go downstairs to buy beef pancakes, but Su Ruixi insisted: “I’m just going to buy something casual to eat, I’m not planning to buy beef pancakes.”

Her obvious denial made the assistant’s eyes fill with reproach. It also caused the words “President Su, if you’re buying beef pancakes, please bring one back for me” to die in her throat, unable to be spoken.

Seeing Su Ruixi’s slightly furtive movements, the assistant still thought: Su Ruixi is definitely going downstairs to buy beef pancakes!

Su Ruixi took the elevator down, and after looking left and right upon exiting, she spotted Sun Miao. Her food cart was quite eye-catching, with the six characters “Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar” specially designed, simple yet cute, making for a pretty little food cart. Plus, with it being the only cart around, how could it not stand out?

Sometimes Su Ruixi would think that Sun Miao really had skills – in places where others couldn’t set up stalls, she could somehow establish her presence for a whole week.

Before walking to Sun Miao’s stall, Su Ruixi deliberately looked around again, and only after confirming there was no one she knew did she gracefully walk towards Sun Miao.

Before she even reached the front, Sun Miao heard the familiar sound of high heels and looked up to find, sure enough, it was her heart-moving guest. At that moment, Sun Miao felt it was quite fateful and immediately broke into a big smile.

When Su Ruixi approached, she first surveyed the food cart and noticed that the interior layout had changed significantly. She realized – Sun Miao had specially modified the cart to sell beef pancakes.

Feeling she absolutely couldn’t show that she had already tried Sun Miao’s beef pancakes and came down specifically to buy them, she put on an act and asked: “Not selling malatang anymore? What are you selling?”

Actually, before Su Ruixi approached, Sun Miao had been kneading dough and making portions. Hearing Su Ruixi’s question, Sun Miao smiled and answered: “Selling beef pancakes.” She actually wanted to sell one to Su Ruixi right away, but the reality was – she had sold out of beef pancakes.

Sun Miao honestly said: “However, if you want to buy one, you might have to wait a while. The lunch rush is over, and the beef pancakes are sold out. I still need to knead dough and make portions, and haven’t even prepared the filling yet.”

“……”

Su Ruixi really wanted to ask Sun Miao: Why don’t you know to make more? It was the same when selling fried rice before. She had heard from the nurse that Sun Miao’s stall would frequently sell out and close early, never thinking to prepare extra portions.

But in reality, no matter how much Sun Miao prepared, it would still sell out.

Moreover, today was her first day selling beef pancakes, and despite preparing plenty, they were still quickly snatched up by enthusiastic customers. One pan could only cook ten beef pancakes at a time, and each batch taking five to six minutes wasn’t particularly slow. Throughout the long lunch period, there had never been a moment without customers at her stall, which led to everything being sold out.

Besides, she had already prepared backup ingredients and was working on them right now.

What Su Ruixi asked instead was: “How long until they’re ready?” Regardless of what she was thinking inside, she maintained the composed demeanor expected of a cool beauty. Su Ruixi didn’t cook, couldn’t cook at all, and knew nothing about beef pancakes.

In her mind, a beef pancake should take no more than ten minutes or so to make, at most.

But Sun Miao told her: “About an hour.”

Su Ruixi couldn’t maintain her composure anymore, her brows slightly furrowing: “Why does it take so long?”

She had deliberately skipped lunch, only eating one beef pancake she’d snatched from her assistant, and now her stomach was growling – wasn’t an hour too long? Previously, the fried rice and malatang were both quick, with fried rice taking only three minutes from wok to table, and even the slower-cooking items in the hot pot taking no more than seven or eight minutes. Why would one beef pancake take about an hour?

Sun Miao explained: “I’ve just started making the dough portions, and these need to rest for at least forty minutes. After the dough has rested, I still need to wrap the meat filling, then let it rest for another ten minutes. Only then can I fry them in the oil pan. This whole process takes about an hour.”

Sun Miao’s explanation was so logical that Su Ruixi, with her lack of cooking knowledge, couldn’t argue against it. She pressed her lips together: “Then I’ll come back in an hour?”

Only then did Sun Miao realize that Su Ruixi’s company was really close by. She said “wait,” and after Su Ruixi stopped, somewhat bashfully asked: “Will you be eating them for dinner? If you’re planning to eat them tonight, I can set aside two for you in advance, so they won’t be sold out by then.”

Hearing this, Su Ruixi remembered to ask: “By the way, what are your hours this time?”

“Seven in the morning to seven in the evening.”

Su Ruixi nodded, then answered Sun Miao’s previous question: “No need, I get off work at six, I should make it in time.”

Sun Miao hesitated, but didn’t call after Su Ruixi, only saying in her heart: Make it in time for what? Some of the office buildings around here have people getting off at six, but some might leave at five, and when they all come, they’ll snatch everything up. Young Miss Su, you won’t have any beef pancakes to eat!

But since Su Ruixi had refused, she couldn’t be like a plaster [牛皮膏藥 | niú pí gāo yao | idiom: to be clingy/persistent], so she just nodded.

After this, neither spoke, as Su Ruixi had stopped and, instead of hurrying away, stood watching for a while. It was almost May now, and the daytime temperature was gradually rising. The sun was quite strong, and even with the food cart’s awning blocking some sunlight, standing and working for long periods inevitably led to sweating.

Sun Miao wore her hair in a ponytail coiled at the back of her head, with her forehead hair pinned up with clips, leaving only a few stubborn wisps that fell down without blocking her eyes. Her forehead was dewy with sweat. She wore a transparent food service mask, and her eyes, brighter than stars, were intently focused on the prep board before her.

Kneading dough is a demanding task. Though Su Ruixi didn’t cook herself, her housekeeper did, and she knew that without proper force, the dough wouldn’t develop proper texture [chewy/elastic texture]. The sweat on Sun Miao’s forehead was surely from this effort.

She was now making dough portions, her hands ungloved, directly touching the dough. In the past, if Su Ruixi had seen such a scene, she wouldn’t have bought from such a place, finding it unsanitary. But she knew Sun Miao was an exceptionally clean person who always thoroughly cleaned her hands before working with dough.

Moreover, she’d known many master chefs who said that working with dough through gloves could never match the quality of direct hand contact. That subtle feeling could only be sensed through the skin of fingers and palms.

A small difference at the start becomes a huge difference in the end [差之毫厘謬以千裏 | chà zhī háo lí miù yǐ qiān lǐ | idiom: a small error can lead to a large deviation].

If an ordinary person making noodles said such things, they’d surely be mocked for being pretentious, laughed at for having more words than skill. But Sun Miao was different – her food was genuinely delicious, truly showing master chef-level skills, so whatever she said was right.

Su Ruixi also noticed that once Sun Miao entered her cooking mode, she seemed to have forgotten about her presence. She had only briefly paused to talk earlier before becoming completely absorbed in her cooking. Su Ruixi hesitated: Could she think I’ve already left?

But now, Su Ruixi couldn’t bring herself to disturb Sun Miao’s work. Because Sun Miao was truly super focused, her sparkling eyes couldn’t take in anything besides the movements of her hands, completely absorbed in the small dough portions before her.

Su Ruixi actually admired people like this, thinking that only with such focus could food turn out so delicious.

After watching for a while and checking the time, Su Ruixi decided she couldn’t wait there any longer and returned to the company. The assistant, seeing her return after being gone for a while, assumed she had eaten, but less than an hour later, the boss was planning to go downstairs again.

The assistant was stunned for a moment and asked: “President Su, where are you going?”

“I’m going to buy something.”

As if afraid the assistant would ask for specifics, Su Ruixi moved like the wind, her high heels clicking rapidly until she disappeared. When Su Ruixi reached downstairs, Sun Miao had indeed finished her preparations. The uncooked beef pancakes were laid aside, covered with plastic wrap.

However, Su Ruixi wasn’t the first to arrive. Someone was ahead of her, and it was someone she knew. Hip-hop Mei was wearing taro-colored sunglasses today and ordered ten beef pancakes at once. At ten yuan each, making it one hundred yuan total, Hip-hop Mei was a great customer in Sun Miao’s eyes.

But for Su Ruixi, this wasn’t the case.

She directly asked: “How many can you make in one pan?”

Sun Miao’s pan was quite large, but even so, it could only cook—ten at a time. After Sun Miao answered, Su Ruixi turned to Hip-hop Mei in front of her: “Can you even eat ten?” Such a question could only be asked because they were familiar with each other.

“I can’t.”

Just as Su Ruixi was about to ask her to spare two, Hip-hop Mei continued: “But I’m buying them for my friends, two each, they’ll finish them quickly. I wanted to come at noon, but the boss said they were sold out and I’d have to wait a long time, so I came now.”

“Hehe, I timed it perfectly. I was just shopping at the mall nearby, and coming over now, I’m first in line, aren’t I?”

Su Ruixi sensed something was off: “She told you they were sold out? You came at noon?”

Hip-hop Mei shook her head: “No, it was announced in the group chat. Quite a few people are planning to come buy some this afternoon.”

At this moment, Su Ruixi was confused, extremely confused, and unconsciously asked: “What group chat?”

Hip-hop Mei’s interest was piqued, and a teasing expression appeared on her face: “Oh my, Su-jie, you don’t know? We regular customers of the malatang specially created a group chat, just to follow the little boss for food. Last week when she said she was moving to sell something else, I was so heartbroken. But the little boss’s beef pancakes must be delicious too, so I’m taking some back for everyone to try.”

For some unknown reason, Su Ruixi blurted out: “They’re not even good.”

“?” This question mark appeared on Hip-hop Mei’s face.

“?” This question mark appeared on Sun Miao’s face.

Even Sun Miao’s smile faltered for a moment, and she felt a bit hurt. After all, her crush hadn’t even tried her beef pancakes, how could she say they weren’t good?

Hip-hop Mei directly asked: “What? You’ve tried them? Not as good as the malatang?”

“…I haven’t tried them,” Su Ruixi continued to stubbornly insist.

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