Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 25

Won’t You Drink?

Hip-hop mei gave Su Ruixi a strange look, clearly thinking: How dare you meddle when you haven’t even tried it, asking if I can finish ten of them – I bet you’re just trying to steal my beef pancakes!

“Little Boss, don’t mind her, I want ten.”

Sun Miao looked at Su Ruixi, and although her face was expressionless, Sun Miao sensed she was somewhat angry: “Miss Su, please wait a moment, it won’t take long. I’ll make yours right after this batch.” After reassuring Su Ruixi, she asked Hip-hop mei: “There are two flavors – spicy and non-spicy, though the spicy is only mildly hot. If you want it spicier, I can add more chili.”

Given Hip-hop mei and the hourly worker’s preference for extra numbing and spicy flavors, she definitely wanted extra chili. She immediately said: “Then give me two non-spicy and eight spicy ones, with extra chili on four of them.”

Sun Miao nodded and began preparing them. While cooking, Sun Miao didn’t like to chat, so Hip-hop mei turned back to continue talking with Su Ruixi.

“Su Jie, want to join the group chat? I see you really like Little Boss’s food. Come on, Su Jie, just beg me a little, and I’ll add you to the group.”

Impossible, thought Sun Miao. Though she wasn’t engaging in conversation, her ears were still alert. From Hip-hop mei’s voice, she knew Su Ruixi would never do such a thing. Let alone begging someone, she wouldn’t even join a group chat voluntarily.

Sure enough, just as Sun Miao predicted, Su Ruixi replied in a cold, detached voice: “No need.”

“Come on, Su Jie, let me add you. What if Little Boss changes locations later? You won’t be able to find these beef pancakes then.”

Su Ruixi first explained that she wasn’t that fond of beef pancakes: “The beef pancakes don’t matter much, everything happens as it should. If it’s meant to be, I’ll surely find them again.” More importantly, she actually didn’t particularly like most of the foods Sun Miao sold.

It was just 100 yuan worth of beef pancakes – why would she care about a discount?

Su Ruixi, standing behind, thought the same thing. But unexpectedly, Sun Miao had quite a strong reaction – her hands stopped moving, and her eyes shifted from intensely watching the beef pancakes to staring directly at Hip-hop mei. She responded with two decisive words: “Not possible.”

“…I was just joking.”

Sun Miao scrutinized Hip-hop mei seriously for a moment, then replied with the same gravity: “That’s still not possible.”

Her serious attitude left Hip-hop mei speechless. She could only purse her lips and scan the payment of one hundred yuan to Sun Miao: “Fine, you miser.”

Su Ruixi, waiting in line, found Sun Miao incredibly interesting at this moment. Like Hip-hop mei, she never expected Sun Miao to be such a stingy person. Because she felt… Sun Miao seemed quite generous, often giving her candy and frequently offering her soup.

How could such a person be called stingy?

Yet when Hip-hop mei, who clearly wouldn’t actually want a discount, made a joking request, Sun Miao acted as if every penny mattered.

Only after hearing the 100-yuan payment notification did Sun Miao continue seriously making the pancakes. Su Ruixi watched her technique and realized there must be a reason why the pancakes turned out so well.

Sun Miao held an exceptionally long pair of chopsticks. Normally when making pancakes, especially when they first touch the oiled pan and haven’t set, they’re floppy and difficult to flip. But the chopsticks in Sun Miao’s hands worked like magic – the pancakes seemed especially obedient, easily flipped just moments after being placed in the pan.

The edges stayed intact, the center remained firm, and the chopsticks moved like butterflies flitting through flowers. Moreover, besides a thin layer of oil on the surface, no additional oil was added to the pan. After a while, Sun Miao picked up the large wooden lid and placed it directly on the pan.

She rested her chopsticks on the pan’s edge, tapping them lightly in what seemed to be a rhythmic pattern.

Hip-hop mei couldn’t help but ask: “Little Boss, are you tapping the pan like that to keep the beef pancakes from sticking and make them tastier?”

Su Ruixi wanted to ask the same question, because she had actually eaten them before and knew how delicious they were. She thought this little gesture might be one of the secrets.

After hearing Hip-hop mei’s question and seeing Su Ruixi’s expression, Sun Miao answered: “No, it just helps me keep track of time.”

“……”

Really now, did these two actually think she could move such a large pan by tapping it with just chopsticks? How strong did they think her arms were? Sun Miao was left speechless looking at their expressions. When the time was right, she lifted the lid, and the fragrant aroma of beef pancakes wafted out. Hip-hop mei beside her could hardly wait.

“Little Boss, are they ready?”

Sun Miao didn’t answer, but right before their eyes, she flipped the pancakes and covered them again. Without needing Sun Miao to explain, both Hip-hop mei and Su Ruixi knew they weren’t done yet.

After another good while, Hip-hop mei’s ten beef pancakes were finally ready. Sun Miao packed the ten pancakes separately, then put them all in one bag for Hip-hop mei to carry. After a quick goodbye to Su Ruixi, Hip-hop mei hurried away.

When it was Su Ruixi’s turn, Sun Miao felt somewhat awkward. She specifically reminded Su Ruixi: “These are filled with beef. If you haven’t tried them before, maybe buy one first to taste. If you like it, you can buy two more tonight.”

Su Ruixi found herself in a difficult position – she couldn’t tell Sun Miao that she had actually tried them before and came back because she liked them. She could only stubbornly insist, appearing somewhat unreasonable: “It’s fine, I’ll take two.”

Seeing Su Ruixi’s determination and knowing she wasn’t easily persuaded, Sun Miao could only nod: “Alright, please wait, two will be ready soon.” She first cleaned the pan thoroughly, wiped it dry, washed and dried her hands, then took out a rectangular stainless steel tray from under the cabinet and removed two pancakes from it.

The uncooked pancakes looked sticky and Q soft [chewy and soft], with an endearing appearance. Sun Miao first poured oil into the pan, waited for it to heat up, then placed the two pancakes in. After a moment’s thought, she took out one more pancake and added it to the pan.

Watching this, Su Ruixi thought Sun Miao was planning to give her an extra portion. Though she couldn’t eat that much, she wouldn’t refuse Sun Miao’s kindness. After all, she had snatched one pancake from her assistant at lunch, so having an extra one now would make up for it.

Having been present when Sun Miao made Hip-hop mei’s order, Su Ruixi knew how long it would take, so she waited patiently without rushing. However, while Sun Miao was making the beef pancakes, she couldn’t help thinking: with beef pancakes, there was no way to ask Sun Miao for anything extra – at the very least, she couldn’t ask for soup.

Because beef pancakes simply don’t come with soup.

While waiting, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her upper abdomen, and her face instantly changed color. This sensation was all too familiar – her stomach pain was acting up again.

Thinking about it carefully, she had barely eaten anything for breakfast, and lunch was just one pancake. It had been quite a while since lunch, and she was uncomfortably hungry, so her stomach was tormenting her again. It made sense – what made sense? Her stomach pain was really hurting, okay!

Su Ruixi endured it, though her expression betrayed her slightly. Otherwise, she showed no signs of discomfort, not letting even a single sound escape.

If it were anyone else, Sun Miao probably wouldn’t have noticed. But this was her crush, and when she occasionally looked up after covering the pan, she saw Su Ruixi’s deathly pale face. Sun Miao understood almost instantly – it was either stomach pain or auntie had arrived [euphemism for menstruation].

Today Su Ruixi was wearing light gray pants – if her period was coming, she wouldn’t wear this color. After a moment’s thought, Sun Miao realized it must be stomach pain.

Sun Miao hesitated, but she couldn’t bear to see someone suffering. Never mind that this was her crush – she would feel concerned seeing any girl with such an expression. She was only set up to sell beef pancakes today and didn’t have any customer tables, so she propped up the table board beside her electric scooter and placed a chair on the other side, saying to Su Ruixi: “Miss Su, are you feeling unwell? If you don’t mind, please sit down for a while.”

After Sun Miao spoke, Su Ruixi’s brows furrowed slightly, but she didn’t refuse. She just nodded gracefully and said: “Thank you for the trouble.”

After speaking, she slowly walked to the high stool and sat down. Once she was seated, Sun Miao thought for a moment, then took out a thermal lunch box from the cabinet below. She opened it and took out the small bowl from the top, placing it in front of Su Ruixi.

Before it even reached her, Su Ruixi recognized the smell – it was the malatang soup base she had eaten several times last week. When Sun Miao set it before her, she saw she was right.

Only this time, the soup looked more like a proper soup dish. The clear white broth had two pieces of corn and a piece of pork rib floating in it, looking crystalline and appetizing. Sun Miao said: “Miss Su, would you like some? When your stomach hurts, some warm soup would help.”

“I was planning to have this for dinner, but you drink it. Take it slowly – it’ll go well with the beef pancakes when they’re ready.”

At this point, Su Ruixi didn’t say anything about minding or not minding. How could she mind? This was the malatang soup base she had enjoyed several times before.

It’s just… it must have been sitting for quite a while, since Sun Miao had started selling at seven in the morning, and several hours had passed… though when she had malatang before, that soup had probably been sitting for a long time too.

“Won’t you drink it?” Sun Miao asked her.

“……”

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