Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 268

What a Coincidence

“Hi, Little Boss Sun, Su-jie, I really didn’t expect to see you here. What a coincidence!” Hip-hop Mei stuck her head out from the crowd, with Yabi Mei standing right next to her. Compared to Hip-hop Mei, Yabi Mei was much more reserved; she simply gave a slight nod to Sun Miao and Su Ruixi.

Next came another boss-and-employee pair, Yuan Xiangyi and Jiang Ping. As the older ones in the group, they were much more composed. “Little Boss Sun, really didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Beside them was another boss-and-employee pair. Cat Owner and Lemon Tea Boss clearly had a very good relationship. They were walking arm in arm, smiles on their faces. “Aiya, it really is such a coincidence.”

“Aiya, Ge Yang is truly coincidental, nuo, we can even bump into each other here.” The accented Putonghua came from Zhou Ling’s mom’s good Little Sisters¹. Zhou Ling and her mother had also come and were standing off to the side. In addition, there were about ten more people, all Old Customers² of Little Boss Sun’s small stall.

Sun Miao’s expression went a bit blank; she truly had not expected to run into so many acquaintances here. Everyone looked at each other, pushing and shoving until they finally pushed Hip-hop Mei to the very front of the crowd. She scratched the back of her head, her hair a vivid, bright red, while her face carried a clearly guilty, ingratiating smile.

“Here’s the thing, we just happened to sign up for the same tour group back in Hai City. We’ve been traveling for several days already, and today we just happened to be arranged to stay at this hotel. We were just checking in right now; we really didn’t expect to run into Little Boss Sun here too.”

Hearing this explanation, Sun Miao nodded. She did indeed feel it was awfully coincidental. But thinking about it carefully, this group of people, well… except for Cat Owner, they should all be quite wealthy. This hotel was the best one in the area, so it was relatively reasonable for a tour group to book them in here.

“Yeah, such a coincidence. I didn’t expect to see you all even in New Province³.”

Sun Miao showed an especially radiant smile. She was genuinely very happy about this kind of “surprise moment” in life. It wasn’t that she was simple-minded; she truly hadn’t thought about it from any other angle.

But standing right beside her was still Su Ruixi.

Su Ruixi stood next to Sun Miao with a cold, expressionless face. Surrounded by the diners, Sun Miao was the absolute focal point. However, Su Ruixi’s aura was far too strong, making it impossible for anyone to ignore her. On top of that, her imposing gaze swept back and forth over them, like several thousand watts of high-voltage electricity, making them all shiver.

Watching how happy Sun Miao looked, Su Ruixi said, “Yeah, really coincidental.”

The word “coincidental” was something she deliberately stressed.

Hip-hop Mei already found Su Ruixi very scary. As soon as that sentence left Su Ruixi’s lips, she shuddered outright. “Hahaha, it’s too late today, let’s not chat anymore. Tomorrow, tomorrow we’ll have a good long chat!” Once she finished speaking, everyone scattered like birds bursting from a flock⁴, each getting ready to return to their own rooms.

As soon as they got back to their room, Hip-hop Mei immediately pulled a bitter face. “With this many people, how are we supposed to rub a meal⁵? This is way too ridiculous, how could so many people have come?!”

Back at Hai City Airport, Hip-hop Mei had not yet noticed anything wrong. But after they landed at the nearest airport to this area, even Hip-hop Mei realized something was off: why were there so many familiar faces?! The closer they got to this place, the more Hip-hop Mei felt there was a big problem, because by that point, she had already recognized that these were all people from their group chat!

By the time they reached the hotel entrance, this bunch had recognized one another first, then fallen into a strange silence.

Yabi Mei also felt a bit of a headache. She had guessed that many people would have the same idea as they did, but she hadn’t expected that all the so-called “smart people” would end up thinking exactly the same way, all showing up at the same time and literally running into each other at the door. Fortunately, they hadn’t run straight into Sun Miao and Su Ruixi at the start, which at least gave them time to coordinate their story.

Otherwise, just now, everything would already have been blown.

But the problem was exactly as Hip-hop Mei had said: every single one of them had come to rub a meal. This idea had been circling in their heads for a long time. That day, when Hip-hop Mei suddenly changed the subject in the group chat, they all quickly got what Hip-hop Mei meant and, following her lead, rapidly shifted the topic.

So much so that when Sun Miao got up the next day, she didn’t notice at all that her itinerary had already been exposed.

The crux of the issue was that there were now so many people that, even if they wanted to rub a meal, they couldn’t bring themselves to ask. They couldn’t possibly have Little Boss Sun treat this many people to a meal, right? That would basically be holding a group banquet. She was out traveling; she definitely wouldn’t be happy about that.

“Sigh.” The matter was difficult, so difficult that even Yabi Mei couldn’t help letting out a sigh.

“There’s no helping it. You’ll just have to sincerely pray that Little Boss Sun has a burst of kindness and voluntarily treats us to a meal.” This was the only method. At that very moment, the other Old Customers who had come intending to rub food and rub drink⁶ were all thinking the same thing. If one went into their rooms, one would surely hear a chorus of sighs.

In Su Ruixi and Sun Miao’s room, however, Su Ruixi was sparing no effort in talking about them.

“They definitely did it on purpose. It absolutely isn’t as coincidental as they said. Most likely, they somehow found out our itinerary and deliberately came over to block us.”

Hearing what Su Ruixi said, Sun Miao tilted her head and leaned close to her. “Aiya, I know.”

Sun Miao was no little dummy; how could she not see through something like this? None of them were short on money, especially people like Yuan Xiangyi, Zhou Ling’s family, and Zhou Ling’s mom’s Little Sisters. At a glance, they all looked like the very wealthy type. When people like that go traveling, there’s no way they’d join an ordinary tour group. Most likely, just like Su Ruixi, they’d go on a self-driving trip or hire a local one-on-one travel service.

And speaking of the Hip-hop Mei and Yabi Mei duo, they also did not look like the type to join a tour group.

So the story they had told earlier did not hold water in Sun Miao’s eyes.

“You knew, yet you still put on that ‘so that’s how it is’ expression. I thought you really got fooled by them.” As she spoke, Su Ruixi did not forget to drag that bunch of Old Customers. “In my opinion, their motives are not pure⁷. They just want to eat the food Miao-miao makes!”

Looking all huffy, Su Ruixi made Sun Miao reach out, pull her over to her side, and wrap her arms around Su Ruixi’s waist, acting coquettishly. “Susu-jie, don’t be angry. It is rare to be muddled⁸, right? They just want to come rub a mouthful of rice.”

“You’re really going to let them rub a meal? That is encouraging their freeloading tendencies!”

“It’s a once-in-a-while thing, and I don’t plan to make that much. I’ll just do some things that are suitable for everyone to eat together, for example… having some barbecue or something. Susu-jie, do you still want to eat roast lamb chops? I’ll roast three racks of lamb chops, make a bit of barbecue, then do two platters of Dapanji⁹. That should be enough.”

Hearing Sun Miao say this, Su Ruixi really did start to feel a bit tempted. Mainly because roast lamb chops were truly delicious. She swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Before she could say anything, Sun Miao continued to persuade her. “Besides, we already booked our flight for the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is also Mid-Autumn Festival. If we make some mooncakes¹⁰, it would be just right. What kind of mooncakes do you want to eat, Susu-jie?”

In the end, Su Ruixi still nodded, albeit reluctantly. “Alright…” Then, changing the subject, she quietly said which mooncakes she wanted. “I want to eat ice skin¹¹ ones, with ice cream inside, or jam.”

“That’s easy.”

Making ice skin mooncakes was actually somewhat similar to making Daifuku¹² and Xuemeiniang¹³. In fact, they were all variations of the same thing. Unlike ordinary mooncakes, ice skin mooncakes used more glutinous rice flour and had to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer, which was why they were called “ice skin mooncakes.” They were easy to make, and Sun Miao had already brought along a few jars of fruit jam so she could have something sweet to eat while traveling, which could now be put to good use.

Early the next morning, Sun Miao called their tour guide and went to a nearby market to first buy mooncake molds. Then she pulled all the Old Customers who were on this trip into a new group chat and told them about her plan to treat everyone to a meal. However, they couldn’t just eat for free. Counting Sun Miao and Su Ruixi, they were close to twenty people. If she had to do everything by herself, she’d have to devote the entire day to cooking.

So she had to mobilize everyone to help her, without demanding that every dish reach absolute peak flavor.

In response to what Sun Miao said, the group chat quickly filled with replies:

【Sure, absolutely, how could we let Little Boss Sun work alone!】

【Yeah, yeah, we’re already very happy that Little Boss Sun is treating us to a meal.】

【1111, really didn’t expect to meet Little Boss Sun in New Province, and even get to rub a meal from Little Boss Sun.】

Only the Hip-hop Mei and Yabi Mei duo hadn’t responded yet. Sun Miao thought about it and guessed the reason. These two were night owls; who knew what time they had gone to sleep last night, they probably hadn’t woken up yet. Just as she was thinking that, she saw both of them send a line in the group chat. Sun Miao paused for a moment, then immediately understood.

——The other Old Customers had gone to knock on their door and dragged the two of them straight out of bed.

After buying everything she needed, Sun Miao returned to the hotel and discovered that the Old Customers had all already gathered in their room. Su Ruixi sat on the single sofa wrapped in a wool square scarf, her face ice-cold. Everyone else either stood or sat, their expressions carrying a trace of awkwardness.

The moment they saw Sun Miao, it was as if they had seen a savior. Especially after hearing the tour guide say that there were still quite a few things in the car downstairs, they immediately chimed in, “We’ll go get them. Where are they? Hurry and take us there. We’ve got plenty of people; we can bring everything up in one trip.”

Once they finished speaking, they swarmed around the tour guide and all rushed out, leaving only Hip-hop Mei and Yabi Mei sitting on the double sofa next to Su Ruixi. Hip-hop Mei kept her head lowered, looking as if she had just been scolded by Su Ruixi, while Yabi Mei calmly raised her hand and greeted Sun Miao.

Only after Yabi Mei finished speaking did the listless Hip-hop Mei finally lift her head. She didn’t say anything either, just quietly looked at Sun Miao, but her face had the words Save me written all over it.

At that moment, Sun Miao felt as if they were acting out some family drama, with Hip-hop Mei playing the disappointing child of herself and Su Ruixi. Even the words that came out of Sun Miao’s mouth sounded like those of Hip-hop Mei’s tolerant mother. “Susu-jie, alright, you’ve said your piece. The child is grown; give her some face in front of outsiders.”

Su Ruixi shot a glare at Hip-hop Mei before finally saying, “Fine.”

Only then did Hip-hop Mei break into a wide grin, secretly giving Sun Miao a thumbs-up. Seeing that bright, carefree, heartless look, Sun Miao figured she was definitely the type who forgets the pain once the scar heals¹⁴. If a similar opportunity came up again in the future, she would definitely rush over to rub a meal all over again.

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