Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 29

How Are There Still Two Left?

The last two batches of beef pancakes were sold out as soon as they came out of the pan. The last customer saw that she still had three pancakes left and actually wanted to buy them all at once. Three pancakes were nothing to him. But the intense gazes of the people in line behind him were too much, so he could only take two, leaving one behind.

After the last one was sold, Sun Miao announced that she was closing for the day.

The customers sighed for a while but eventually dispersed, preparing to go home. Many of them reminded her, “Make sure to prepare more tomorrow!”

—Got it, you greedy little gluttons.

Of course, Sun Miao didn’t say what she was thinking out loud. She just waved her hand to indicate that she understood. Sun Miao had been busy for nearly two hours and was ready to sit down and rest for a bit, but people kept coming.

The people in front already knew that Sun Miao’s beef pancakes were sold out, but the ones behind didn’t. They kept coming, ready to buy two pancakes. When they saw Sun Miao sitting inside, they immediately said, “Boss, give me two…”

“Sorry, customers, the pancakes are sold out for today. I’m taking a break and will be heading home soon.”

Sun Miao repeated this from 6:20 PM to 6:50 PM. Some customers waiting for the bus were puzzled as to why she hadn’t packed up and gone home yet. Sun Miao was also a bit hesitant. She opened her phone and looked at Su Ruixi’s profile picture, wondering if she should message her.

But on second thought, it didn’t seem appropriate. Sending a message asking Su Ruixi if she wanted to come buy pancakes might come across as pushy. Maybe she had some business dinner tonight and wasn’t planning to eat Sun Miao’s beef pancakes at all.

Besides, she remembered that Su Ruixi usually arrived at the neighborhood gate around 7:30 PM, meaning she probably left the company around 6:30 PM. Based on what she said at noon, maybe Su Ruixi was already on her way home from the underground parking lot.

Sun Miao scratched her head and waited a bit longer, but when she still didn’t see Su Ruixi, she put her phone down and prepared to pack up and go home.

She could have gone home a bit earlier today, but because of Su Ruixi, she stayed an extra half hour.

Just as Sun Miao was putting down the small awning in front of her food cart, Su Ruixi arrived in her high heels. Sun Miao was momentarily stunned, but the next moment, a smile spread across her face. In May, it gets dark quite early, and by 6:50 PM, it was already night.

Su Ruixi, walking briskly in her high heels, paused for a moment when she saw that Sun Miao was still there.

The system had placed Sun Miao’s stall under a streetlight, and just as it turned 7:00 PM, the streetlight flickered twice and then turned on. The pale light fell on Sun Miao, gradually becoming brighter.

Standing in the center of the light, Sun Miao seemed to glow at that moment.

Her bright smile also froze in Su Ruixi’s eyes.

Su Ruixi paused for a moment, brushed her bangs, and then pretended nothing had happened as she slowed her pace and walked over. She stood on the other side of the streetlight, with the lit office building behind her. Her silhouette was outlined in the light, but her expression was hidden in the shadows.

Sun Miao instinctively focused her gaze, and as Su Ruixi took a few steps forward into the circle of light, Sun Miao could finally see her face clearly.

It was still the face Sun Miao liked, with a calm expression, eyebrows like distant mountains, eyes like stars, and her chin slightly raised. With each step, she sounded like a proud cat.

I really must have some masochistic tendencies…

Sun Miao silently mocked herself in her heart, then greeted Su Ruixi, “Su Ruixi, you’re here.” Calling her by her full name felt a bit strange.

Su Ruixi nodded and, seeing her actions, asked, “Are you packing up?”

Sun Miao replied, “Yeah, you haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

When Sun Miao confirmed, Su Ruixi was already prepared to leave, since she was packing up. The pancakes were probably sold out, or the stove was already turned off. There was no need to force someone to fire up the stove again just for her.

So she didn’t answer Sun Miao’s next question, just said, “Then I’ll head back too.”

Sun Miao stopped her, “Wait, didn’t you come to buy beef pancakes? I saved two for myself to eat later. If you don’t mind, you can take these two.”

Su Ruixi certainly didn’t mind. She could even take soup home to reheat, let alone two freshly made beef pancakes. But those were Sun Miao’s dinner, so she felt a bit awkward and didn’t want to take them.

“That doesn’t seem right. If I take your dinner, what will you eat?”

“I’ll make something at home, maybe fried rice.”

“…” Su Ruixi found that she couldn’t hear Sun Miao say “fried rice” without craving it. She really wanted some. It had been almost two weeks since she last had fried rice, and she missed it terribly.

But since Sun Miao had plans for dinner, she stopped being polite.

After all, if she didn’t buy the beef pancakes, she wouldn’t have anything to eat for dinner. So Su Ruixi replied directly, “Then give me two.” She had thought about leaving one for Sun Miao, but then she remembered that Sun Miao had fried rice! Why leave her any? Take them all!

“Okay.” Sun Miao’s eyes were full of smiles as she went around to the back, packed the two beef pancakes she had hidden, and then came back out to hand them to Su Ruixi. Su Ruixi wanted to scan the QR code to pay, but Sun Miao’s cart awning was folded up, blocking the code. She could only say, “I’ll transfer the money to you later.”

“Okay.”

Sun Miao also reminded Su Ruixi, “If you have an air fryer at home, you can use it to reheat the beef pancakes for a bit. If you use a microwave, the crust might get soggy and won’t taste as good.”

Su Ruixi agreed, but she would still use the microwave when she got home. It was more convenient, and she liked her food softer.

At this point, the two should have gone their separate ways, but Su Ruixi hesitated and didn’t leave. Her eyes lingered on Sun Miao, as if she had something to say but couldn’t get it out. Sun Miao was momentarily confused, but after thinking for a while, she realized why Su Ruixi was looking at her like that.

But she wasn’t entirely sure, so her tone was questioning, “I’ll remember to bring your soup tomorrow at noon…?”

Su Ruixi’s expression relaxed, and her eyes curved slightly, “Mm.”

So that’s what it was—she was worried that Sun Miao would forget to bring her soup. Sun Miao sighed inwardly, feeling like she understood Su Ruixi a little better. A tsundere, seemingly aloof but actually a bit of a foodie, and a wealthy woman at that.

Now there really wasn’t anything left to say. Sun Miao bid her farewell, “Then we’ll see each other tomorrow?” She added Su Ruixi’s name, “Su Ruixi.” When Sun Miao called her name, it sounded a bit stiff, making Su Ruixi’s eyebrows furrow again.

She wasn’t in a hurry to say goodbye. The beef pancakes were already cold, and she’d have to reheat them when she got home anyway, so a little more time didn’t matter. She felt like she had to settle the issue of how Sun Miao addressed her today, or else she’d die of embarrassment every time Sun Miao called her by her full name.

“Sun Miao, how old are you?”

Sun Miao told her age, “25, almost 26.”

Hearing this, Su Ruixi realized that Sun Miao’s birthday was coming up. But given their almost-stranger relationship, saying “Happy Birthday” would probably be the extent of it. After confirming Sun Miao’s age, Su Ruixi became more assertive.

“I’m a bit older than you, I’m 27. Call me Su-jie.”

Isn’t that what Hip-Hop Mei calls her?

When Sun Miao heard this, she felt like her way of addressing Su Ruixi had regressed, going from “Miss Su” to just “Su-jie.” But hearing that Su Ruixi was two years older than her made Sun Miao quite happy.

It’s normal for lesbians to like older women.

Besides, they were practically the same age, only two years apart.

“Okay, Su-jie.”

Now they really had to say goodbye. Su Ruixi picked up the beef pancakes and started walking back, heading to the underground parking lot to drive home. Sun Miao stayed behind to finish packing up her cart before heading home herself.

Just then, a customer who had been waiting for the bus came over and confronted Sun Miao, “Boss, didn’t you say you were sold out? How did you magically produce two more?” At that moment, Sun Miao felt a bit guilty. She instinctively explained, “Well, she’s my friend. Those were actually for my dinner, but she wanted them, so I sold them to her.”

The customer’s eyes were even more accusatory now, and she blurted out, “I can be your friend too. Sell them to me next time.”

“…” This wasn’t about being friends or not—it was about Su Ruixi being her crush. If it were anyone else, Sun Miao might have just kindly reminded them to “make sure to eat properly,” but with Su Ruixi, she worried that if there were no beef pancakes, she might skip dinner altogether.

Facing the customer’s request, Sun Miao straightforwardly refused, “No.”

“…Is it really okay for you to be this biased?”

“Let’s not talk about this anymore. I’m off work now, so you should head home too~” Sun Miao pushed her electric cart off the curb, hopped on, twisted the throttle, and rode off.

Today, Sun Miao was in a particularly good mood because she had gotten Su Ruixi’s WeChat.

On her way home, she hummed a little tune. Sun Miao often hummed, but today she was especially cheerful. Sun Miao was always optimistic about life. Even though fate had never been particularly kind to her, as long as she got a little taste of sweetness, she’d be happy all day.

While waiting at a traffic light, Sun Miao glanced at her phone. On the chat screen with Su Ruixi, after the system-generated greeting when they added each other as friends, there was now the first real message.

It looked like a cold transaction notification, but it was for 50 yuan. Even though Sun Miao knew that 50 yuan was nothing to Su Ruixi, she still replied with a smile: 【Su-jie, you overpaid.】

After a while, Sun Miao saw that Su Ruixi was typing, but she didn’t have time to check. The light turned green, and Sun Miao rode her scooter forward. When she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, she pulled over to the side of the road to check it.

Sun Miao took out her phone and saw Su Ruixi’s reply: 【Consider it compensation for stealing your dinner.】

—Hehe.

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