Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 284

Potato Head

Su Ruixi had such high standards; she rarely found anything that caught her eye.

When Sun Miao heard their discussion, she grew curious and sidled up behind them to listen in. The assistant glanced over as she approached, but seeing that Su Ruixi didn’t react or try to stop Sun Miao from listening, she decided to ignore it and just kept talking about the office building.

After listening for a bit, Sun Miao understood the problem they were facing and Su Ruixi’s requirements. She pondered for a moment before suddenly speaking up. “Susu-jie, you don’t necessarily have to find an office building. You could also look for a factory building.”

That single sentence was enough to make both Su Ruixi and her assistant fall silent. The two exchanged a look. Feels like… this could actually work. Wasn’t Father Su’s industrial park also made up of factory buildings? Yet it still housed high-tech R&D and sales departments. As long as the facade looked good, there was nothing to worry about. Of course, a factory building certainly didn’t sound as impressive as an office building, but as long as your company was competent, partners wouldn’t care whether you were in an industrial factory or a high-rise office.

The key was that factory buildings were cheaper. A four or five-story factory with its own private courtyard had to be cheaper than a thirty-story office building, right?

Su Ruixi blinked, a mischievous idea suddenly popping into her head. “My dad’s… no, is there a standalone factory building with a private courtyard for sale near the Su Group’s industrial park?”

The assistant’s professional skills were truly top-notch; in just a short while, she had provided several candidates. When she heard Su Ruixi wanted to find a place near the Su Group’s industrial park, she couldn’t have been more delighted. Who didn’t know the saying, “leaning against a big tree is good for enjoying the shade”¹? Her boss, Su Ruixi, was the precious eldest miss² of the Su Group to begin with. If they moved a little closer to the Su Group now, then—wouldn’t the Su Group have to toss them a few mouthfuls of soup to drink?

Just the thought of it made the assistant ecstatic.

A future of eating fragrant and drinking spicy³ seemed to be right before her eyes.

Around noon, Su Ruixi took a rare break from work and brought Sun Miao to a nearby mall for lunch. At the table, the two chatted for a while, and on the topic of food, Su Ruixi delivered an important speech. “Right now, our company’s employees get a meal subsidy of 500 a month, but I don’t think eating out is very cost-effective. If you order delivery, it’s easily thirty yuan to start, and eating out is even more expensive.”

“Mhm, if it’s a factory building, we could even set up an employee cafeteria.”

Su Ruixi was thinking the same thing. She nodded. “Yeah, if we buy a factory building, I plan on setting up an employee cafeteria.” She then recalled what had happened at Shen Yiqiu’s research institute cafeteria and immediately added, “I won’t outsource it to anyone. I’ll hire my own staff and require a transparent kitchen, the kind where employees can go in and inspect it at any time.”

“For an employee cafeteria, it doesn’t have to be incredibly delicious or anything, but at the very least, it has to be clean and hygienic.”

Sun Miao nodded in agreement. “Actually, there are so many seasonings available now. A little bit can make things taste pretty good. As long as it’s clean and hygienic, there’s no way it’ll taste bad.”

“…” Su Ruixi fell silent for a moment. She was the kind of person who felt that everything tasted bad except for what Sun Miao made; she was incredibly picky. Even now, they were in a relatively high-end fast-food restaurant, and a simple meal for the two of them cost over a hundred yuan. The food stall had an open kitchen and looked clean, but she still thought it didn’t taste good.

It couldn’t be helped. She’d been spoiled by Sun Miao’s cooking.

While chatting with Sun Miao, Su Ruixi discovered that factory buildings really did have quite a few advantages. Other than not having an underground parking garage, meaning they’d have to park outdoors and use an umbrella to get inside on rainy days, everything else was practically perfect. The city’s subway system was very developed, and since it was near the Su Group’s industrial park, a subway entrance was right nearby, at most a three-to-five-minute walk.

However, because they’d be moving, some employees might have to find new apartments or face a longer commute. So, in the afternoon, Su Ruixi also discussed specific plans for a transportation subsidy and meal subsidy reform with her assistant.

A little later in the day, Su Ruixi took Sun Miao and the assistant to go scout the location in person.

As usual, Su Ruixi drove with Sun Miao in the passenger seat, while the assistant sat in the back.

As they neared the location, Su Ruixi deliberately drove past the Su Group’s industrial park and the subway entrance to see just how far they were from their favored factory building. After confirming that neither was far, they arrived at the factory’s main gate and met with the person in charge.

To Su Ruixi’s surprise, the factory building was excellent in every respect, and the price was acceptable too. In reality, Su Ruixi knew the initial asking price was definitely inflated, but after looking at so many office buildings, the factory’s price seemed incredibly cheap.

Su Ruixi basically felt this was the one. Today had been unexpectedly smooth, but she still needed to go through a few rounds of haggling over the price with the other party. All of that would be handled by the assistant; there was no need for Su Ruixi to step in again. Only when it was time to pay would Su Ruixi need to make the final call.

Because everything went so smoothly, it was still very early when they got back to the office. Su Ruixi thought for a minute and made a decision: she was going to skip work. She grabbed Sun Miao and left the company directly.

The two went to the supermarket near their apartment complex, bought some groceries, and went home to make dinner. While they were eating, Su Ruixi casually asked, “Miaomiao, aren’t you setting up your stall the day after tomorrow? Have you decided what snack you’re going to make?”

Hearing this, Sun Miao froze for a second. A hint of hesitation appeared on her face, but she still shook her head. “Honestly, I really haven’t figured out what to make.” When the System was around, she never had to worry about these things; she just had to passively wait for the System to give her a mission. But now that the System was gone and she had to make her own decisions, she felt a little lost.

Su Ruixi noticed this. Sun Miao was usually a very decisive person, but the System’s sudden departure had indeed caught her off guard, which was why she didn’t know what to do. At this moment, it was Su Ruixi’s turn to offer some advice, just like how Sun Miao had given her advice at the company today.

“Miaomiao, I’m craving potatoes. The fried potato slices you made last time with the fried skewers were pretty good. Maybe you could try a different direction, something with fried potatoes?”

Su Ruixi’s suggestion was actually quite specific, so the name of the snack appeared in Sun Miao’s mind almost instantly. Her eyes lit up, and her voice carried a trace of excitement. “Langya Potato⁴! Susu-jie, do you eat Langya Potato?”

“I do. If Miaomiao makes it, I’ll eat it.”

The next day, Sun Miao woke up first and made breakfast for Su Ruixi. After she left, Sun Miao entered the System Space. The System Space had everything; she didn’t need to worry about a thing. Crate after crate of potatoes sat there, waiting for her to choose. Even though the System was gone, the process of learning a new dish was still the same.

First, selection.

She was already very familiar with potatoes, so she could easily pick out the ones she wanted. She washed them, peeled the skin, and then used a special tool to cut them into the “wolf fang” shape. Next, they had to be soaked. Potatoes have too much starch, so whether you’re stir-frying them or doing something else, they need to be soaked for a bit, unless you specifically need that starchy texture, like for mashed potatoes.

After soaking, they could go straight into the hot oil. Sun Miao’s control over the heat had reached a god-like state of perfection⁵. A small Langya Potato was nothing to her, and very quickly, they were fried and out of the pot. The next step was the most crucial: the seasoning.

Sun Miao struggled with the seasoning. In the past, she always prepared a spicy and a non-spicy version, but now that the System was gone, no one was telling her what to do. So, she wanted to create something more customizable. Zhe’ergen⁶, peanuts, minced garlic, vinegar—she prepared all of these and then slowly added other spices, tasting as she went.

Thankfully, in the System Space, you could never get full no matter how much you ate. So Sun Miao really did eat many portions of Langya Potato. Yes, she ate them one full portion at a time.

Just taking a few bites wasn’t enough to grasp the overall flavor. Some foods are amazing at first bite, but the flavors build up as you eat, sometimes to the point where you can’t finish it. Sun Miao couldn’t tolerate that. So she ate one full portion after another to ensure that the Langya Potato was delicious from the first bite to the very last.

She even wanted her customers to feel that the aftertaste is endless⁷, making them want to order another portion.

In the past, the System had always placed the correct answer right in front of her. Now that the correct answer was gone, she had to figure everything out herself, and only now did she realize how difficult it was. To perfect a dish to its absolute limit, Sun Miao’s talent alone might not be enough. But she could still work hard to make something that everyone would find delicious.

The price was that after she came out of the System Space, the mere sight of a potato made her want to vomit. Even though she didn’t feel full in the System Space, she still had to eat everything bite by bite. Her jaw had a kind of phantom ache from all the chewing, and the taste was very real. It was a feeling no human could endure.

She made one final portion, posted about it in her friends’ group chat, but didn’t eat it herself. Instead, she knocked on the door of her next-door neighbor, Zhou Ling, and gave it to Zhou Ling’s mother. Zhou Ling’s mother was a bit flattered and surprised. She blinked at the potatoes, and only after confirming they were really for her did she take the Langya Potato inside.

Sun Miao would occasionally give their family some food out of consideration for Zhou Ling, like when she gave them Zongzi⁸ during the Dragon Boat Festival⁹ festival. But with Zhou Ling not at home, her interactions with them had naturally become a bit more stiff, so she hadn’t given them anything recently. This time, she brought over Langya Potato even when Zhou Ling wasn’t home, which made Zhou Ling’s mother so happy she went to show it off to her friends.

She wasn’t one to take things for free, either. After she finished eating, she wrote a long review for Sun Miao.

Sun Miao glanced at it and couldn’t help but smile. In that instant, the feeling of disgust she had developed for potatoes was relieved. She loved cooking, but she loved seeing the satisfied and happy expressions on people’s faces when they ate her food even more. If someone told her it was delicious to her face, she’d be even happier.

When Su Ruixi came home, she was greeted by an invigorated Sun Miao. The uncertainty from the previous night had completely vanished. She had even set a price for the Langya Potato: 20 yuan a portion. It was more expensive than what others sold it for, but not by much, and in Su Ruixi’s opinion, it was completely worth it.

Not only was it worth it, she was giving the customers a bargain!

Su Ruixi washed her hands and sat down, eager to eat the Langya Potato. She was a total potato head¹⁰

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