Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 261

A Chance Encounter

They watched the stars for a long time and held each other for just as long, only getting up from their chairs when the campfire had nearly died out.

The two of them went into the tent, took out their sleeping bags, climbed in, and had a good night’s sleep.

The next morning, Su Ruixi woke up relatively late, but then again, she was never an early riser. As she groggily came to, she could already hear the sounds of Sun Miao bustling about outside. Su Ruixi glanced at the time and was startled to realize she hadn’t slept for very long at all—it was only six o’clock.

Su Ruixi yawned, stretching a hand out of her sleeping bag, only to abruptly snatch it back from the cold air. At six o’clock, the sky in Xin Province¹ was already bright, but the desert, having lost its heat overnight, had yet to be baked by the sun and return to its usual temperature. As a result, the air was still quite cold.

Su Ruixi braced herself, lingered in her sleeping bag for a little while longer, then finally grabbed her clothes and emerged. Her hair a bit of a mess, she stepped out of the tent to see that Sun Miao had already used the portable stove to make breakfast and had even boiled hot water for them to wash up.

Even the campfire they had used to grill the lamb chops last night had been tidied up by Sun Miao. Aside from a patch of scorched earth, there was no sign a fire had ever been there—not a single piece of charcoal was left behind.

“You should have waited for me to get up so we could do it together.”

Su Ruixi didn’t quite approve of Sun Miao doing everything herself, but Sun Miao just laughed it off.

She wasn’t foolish²; why would she wait for Su Ruixi to get up? Besides, Su Ruixi’s housekeeping skills were truly lacking. Having her help clean up without making more of a mess was already a win.

Of course, she couldn’t say that to Su Ruixi’s face, or she’d definitely be unhappy.

With that topic dropped, the conversation turned to breakfast. Since their conditions weren’t ideal, Sun Miao had only made something simple. Even so, it was a meal that looked, smelled, and tasted wonderful.

The bread was pan-fried in butter, its edges crispy and milky while the inside remained soft and fluffy. The carefully washed vegetables were tossed with cherry tomatoes to make a small salad. There were also two perfectly round fried eggs. Su Ruixi had once called Sun Miao a master of frying eggs; now it seemed she could be promoted to “the goddess of fried eggs.”

Next to it all sat a small jar of Sun Miao’s homemade strawberry jam.

There was also a pot of milk tea, warming on the portable stove, its fragrance wafting through the air.

Su Ruixi was shooed off by Sun Miao to wash up, and only after she returned did she sit down and begin to eat her breakfast. Once they were full and satisfied, the two sat and chatted for a while before packing up, ready to head back to the hotel.

Back to the hotel to sleep, of course. They had barely slept at all that night; they definitely needed to catch up on their rest.

However, on the way back to the hotel, while driving along the highway that cut through the desert, Sun Miao’s sharp eyes spotted a person holding a sign and squatting by the side of the road. Prompted by Sun Miao, Su Ruixi immediately hit the brakes.

As they stopped, the person actually recognized Sun Miao: “Hey, it’s the owner of that stall with the delicious zongzi³!”

Sun Miao studied the person and recognized her too. Her hair was short, her face weathered and aged by the wind and sun, and her skin was rough. She carried a massive backpack that looked like it was about to crush her.

She was covered in sand from head to toe, as if she had just been rolling around in the desert. But what Sun Miao remembered most vividly was the oversized, blue-and-pink gradient water bottle clipped to her waist.

——Oh, it’s that backpacker.

Sun Miao was stunned. At most, four months had passed since she last sold zongzi, and this backpacker had somehow traveled from the east to the west, crossing the entire country. This execution ability was truly excellent⁴. Sun Miao guessed she probably had moments like this, standing on the roadside looking to hitch a ride.

It’s easier to talk to an acquaintance. Su Ruixi let her into the camper van. She sat down behind them, pulling out one of the folded seats and buckling herself in.

“You two sisters⁵, you got any water? I’m about to die of thirst.”

Sun Miao grabbed a small bottle of mineral water from under the passenger seat. She was just about to remind her not to drink too quickly—gulping down water after being dehydrated for too long is bad for you—when she saw the backpacker first hold a mouthful to wet her mouth for a moment before swallowing.

Well, she clearly knew more about this than Sun Miao did.

Sun Miao and the backpacker exchanged a few words. Both were quite talkative, especially the backpacker, who looked like she could talk for half an hour by herself even if Sun Miao didn’t respond, let alone now when Sun Miao was engaging with her.

She started by expressing her gratitude, explaining that she had been hiking for the past few days. She’d completely run out of supplies last night and had only just made it back to the road to hitchhike. Otherwise, she’d still be walking in the desert right now.

She then mentioned that ever since she had those zongzi, she had missed them, but she never had the chance to eat them again, which was a shame.

As they talked, Su Ruixi would occasionally glance at the backpacker in the rearview mirror.

Su Ruixi also had a deep impression of the backpacker, mainly because when Sun Miao had spoken of her before, her words were filled with deep admiration and appreciation. Sun Miao seemed to really like her—this backpacking girl with her oversized, blue-and-pink gradient water bottle.

Su Ruixi had actually eaten a small wave of flying vinegar⁶ back then.

But seeing the backpacker in person, Su Ruixi’s jealousy subsided to a minimum. While a tiny trace remained, it was barely detectable.

Because she also quite admired this woman.

Her beauty was of a completely different kind. Any woman who witnessed such a display of vigorous and wild vitality⁷ would find her beautiful. And Sun Miao, being a natural-born lesbian, was even more attuned to a woman’s beauty.

But, like Su Ruixi, Sun Miao’s feeling was one of pure appreciation, unmixed with anything else. It was simple, genuine admiration.

The backpacker’s face was coarse. From prolonged sun exposure, her skin was slightly peeling and red, and it was flecked with sand. One look and you knew it would be rough to the touch. Her short hair was like tufts of wild grass, also dotted with sand, and it looked like it hadn’t been washed in days.

Her clothes were dusty and gray, the complete opposite of the meticulously put-together Su Ruixi.

But her eyes were so bright, exceptionally brilliant, that they reminded you of a clear spring in the desert, or the stars in last night’s sky. In the face of such a gaze, all adornments and appearances paled in comparison.

Or perhaps it was precisely this face, set against her eyes, that made her soul so outstandingly beautiful.

Su Ruixi’s feelings, however, were purely admiration. She deeply respected a girl with such courage. Yesterday, when Sun Miao went to help someone, Su Ruixi had to wonder if it was a human trafficker trying to abduct her girlfriend. There was no way Su Ruixi herself could live such a life.

So, all she could feel was respect and admiration.

Halfway through the conversation, the backpacker’s stomach started to rumble. Sun Miao thought for a moment and asked Su Ruixi to pull over. She retrieved some food from the back of the camper van, including the leftover butter-fried bread from the morning, the remaining grilled vegetables from last night, and… their lamb chops.

Su Ruixi’s eyes instantly widened. Those were the grilled lamb chops she’d been dreaming about!

Sure, she’d eaten her fill last night, but she was still thinking about those lamb chops. She had planned to heat them up at the hotel for lunch and keep eating them.

But at this very moment, Sun Miao had already taken them out, and the backpacker’s eyes went green with hunger. Truly green. Even greener than the auntie who had designs on the lamb chops last night! Just from that look, Su Ruixi knew there was no way the lamb chops would be spared.

Su Ruixi was annoyed, but her admiration for the backpacker still lingered in her heart, so she didn’t say anything for the time being. She just took a small chair and went to sit outside on her own.

Sun Miao quickly followed, pulling out the camper van’s side awning to give Su Ruixi some shade before returning to the vehicle.

Su Ruixi had rented a camper van, and although they hadn’t slept in it last night, choosing instead to experience what real camping felt like, the van was still well-equipped. It had an induction cooktop and a microwave.

Sun Miao re-fried the bread, carved the meat off two of the lamb ribs, and heated it in the microwave for two minutes. She placed the vegetables next to the lamb to warm them up as well.

Once that was done, she carried the food out of the van.

The backpacker was a proactive person. Knowing that Sun Miao was heating up food for her and seeing Su Ruixi sitting outside, she took the initiative to carry a small table and chair outside as well. She even started chatting cheerfully with Su Ruixi.

Su Ruixi wasn’t much of a talker, but she was polite. Although she had little interest in the backpacker’s topics, she would still respond with a few words. The backpacker, on the other hand, was genuinely chatty. By the time Sun Miao came out with the food, she saw the two of them engaged in a sporadic conversation.

For the most part, the backpacker was talking, and Su Ruixi would occasionally ask a few questions.

Her questions were very targeted, mostly along the lines of “where are the fun places to go,” which she would then silently memorize, planning to take Sun Miao there later.

The backpacker had truly traveled far and wide, and she shared many little-known gems with Su Ruixi, which cheered her up a bit. By the time Sun Miao emerged and the aroma of the food wafted over, the backpacker’s stomach was rumbling loudly enough to shake the heavens, and she had lost all strength to even speak.

That smelled so, so good. Even though Sun Miao’s grilled lamb chops had lost some of their fragrance after being microwaved and were no longer as aromatic as when they were freshly grilled last night, their scent was still a top-tier seduction to others.

The aroma was like a little feather, tickling and teasing the backpacker’s heart.

From the moment she smelled it, the backpacker could hear her stomach singing a symphony, its rumbles rising and falling without a pause. Her mouth began to water profusely, and she had to swallow repeatedly to keep from drooling.

——Have I been hungry for so long that even the slightest scent is unbearable?

——Or is it that the zongzi stall owner can also make lamb this good?!

The two thoughts battled in the backpacker’s mind until she saw Su Ruixi next to her. Su Ruixi’s reaction wasn’t much better; she had to tear her eyes away from the meat to avoid looking embarrassingly desperate.

She had eaten the lamb last night, so just smelling it was enough to conjure the taste of it in her mouth.

She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing. Giving lamb chops to a stranger she’d only met once! What an extravagance!

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The author has something to say:

Su Ruixi: Still couldn’t save the lamb chops.

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