Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 292

Arranging a Meal

Sun Miao hadn’t been home long. She was just about to decorate for Christmas, trying to create a bit of a festive atmosphere, when she received a message from Yabi Mei. Her friend had sent a link. Sun Miao tapped it open—and sure enough, it was exactly what you’d expect from a rich second generation.¹ Even a single pair of pantyhose was brand-name goods,² priced at 3k.

It was the first time Sun Miao realized that such major brands even made pantyhose.

I guess if there’s a market, someone will fill it, she thought. Even a big brand would jump at the chance to produce something if they knew it would turn a profit.

3k wasn’t an amount Sun Miao couldn’t afford now, but it still made her flesh hurt.³ The pain lessened when she remembered she was buying them for Su Ruixi. That was her Susu-jie; she deserved only the best. Anything cheap would be unworthy of her.

She replied with a simple “Thanks,” and saw the typing indicator pop up. Sun Miao knew it was time for her friend to ask for payment. But “payment” really just meant an invitation to sponge a meal,⁴ and they always brought gifts when they came over anyway.

As expected, Yabi Mei wrote: Is the 2nd convenient? Can Xu Zian (Hip-hop Mei) and I come visit you and Su-jie? It’s nothing, really, I just haven’t seen Su-jie in a long time and wanted to catch up.

She phrased it so cautiously, but Sun Miao felt there was no need for such care. In a way, they were mutual friends of both her and Su Ruixi. Sun Miao didn’t have many friends, and she treated each one with sincerity.

When they were at her stall, they were customers, a role separate from being friends. But in their private lives, they should be as casual as real friends are.

So Sun Miao thought for a moment and replied: 【There shouldn’t be a problem, but I’ll let you know if anything comes up.】

【OK.】

Yabi Mei sent an expression pack,⁵ and the conversation ended. With that settled, Sun Miao immediately messaged Hip-hop Mei. No matter what a little idiot⁶ Hip-hop Mei could be, she was still her own good bestie.⁷ She couldn’t possibly forget her.

Sun Miao put her phone down and went out for ingredients, noticing the snow had started falling a little heavier. When she returned, she was humming “Jingle Bells.” Not long after she got home, she received a call from Su Ruixi’s mother, Shen Yiqiu.

Shen Yiqiu also wanted to come over for a meal on New Year’s Day, adding that she might bring Father Su along. Sun Miao, of course, had no objections. But when they confirmed the date, it turned out the only day Shen Yiqiu and her husband were free was the 2nd.

Sun Miao paused, then explained that the Hip-hop Yabi Duo was already scheduled for dinner on the 2nd, and she might have to let them know.

But upon hearing the name Xu Zian, Shen Yiqiu didn’t want to make things difficult. Instead, she said directly, “Since everyone is coming to sponge a meal, there’s no need to split it into two occasions. We’ll just come with them on the 2nd. We all know each other anyway.”

“Besides,” she added, “making you cook twice would be too much trouble. I just don’t know if making so many dishes at once will be a hassle. I can also help you strike a lower hand,⁸ so don’t be polite—just put me to work.”

Sun Miao still didn’t agree to let Shen Yiqiu help. It wasn’t politeness; it was mainly because Shen Yiqiu’s cooking skills… she had witnessed them firsthand, and they were truly terrible. It was better for Shen Yiqiu and Su Ruixi to just sit obediently at the table.

Besides, Sun Miao wasn’t used to having people trail after her in the kitchen. Su Ruixi was a special exception, and even she only prepped vegetables and didn’t do anything else. Chef Jiang had helped before, but she was a professional. Working with her was incredibly smooth; Sun Miao barely had to say a word before the next ingredient she needed was in her hand.

Other than those two situations, Sun Miao had no intention of letting anyone else help her.

Nope, not necessary, really not necessary. A crowd in the kitchen would just make the large space feel cramped and impossible to move in, creating more trouble than it was worth. It was better to just say from the start that she could handle it alone.

So Sun Miao politely but firmly refused Shen Yiqiu, telling her to just relax and come enjoy the meal.

After hanging up, Sun Miao got back to work. It was Peaceful Night,⁹ after all, and they had to eat something. She’d done a little research and learned that in many foreign countries, the big feast was on Christmas Eve, so she wanted to make a little something for Su Ruixi first.

She’d bought a turkey leg from the nearby supermarket. She hadn’t bought a whole fire chicken,¹⁰ just the leg. But that turkey leg was much larger than the chicken legs she usually bought. After buying it, she realized one leg was probably enough for the two of them.

So, she stuck the other one in the fridge, planning to cook it some other time.

As she prepared the turkey, Sun Miao was mentally prepared. She couldn’t roast it for too long, because turkey meat was naturally quite dry. If she overcooked it, the texture would be even more ridiculous. She decided on a New Orleans flavor, which was a little sweet—Su Ruixi would definitely like it.

In addition, she was making a dish she had never attempted before: Apple Pie, a famously widespread dish from the nation of dark cuisine.¹¹ That country always seemed to enjoy putting all sorts of strange things in their pies; Look Up at the Stars¹² was another one of their famous dishes.

To be honest, after watching many videos on how to make a traditional Apple Pie, Sun Miao decided to make some improvements. The traditional recipe included an ingredient that Su Ruixi absolutely could not stand: Cinnamon Powder.

Cinnamon Powder was actually a very nice spice, with aromatic, appetite-stimulating, and even some health benefits; it was even used as medicine in their country. But its flavor was really not what one would call pleasant. It was spicy and a little bitter—Su Ruixi would definitely hate it.

Besides, Apple Pie was a sweet dish. Is it even appropriate to put Cinnamon Powder in a sweet dessert? Foreigners really loved to add strange things, and always in large quantities. Watching them make Apple Pie, Sun Miao always felt like they were adding a lethal dose of it.

Without a second thought, she crossed Cinnamon Powder off the ingredient list.

When Su Ruixi returned home, she was greeted by the grand Peaceful Night dinner Sun Miao had prepared. Su Ruixi’s eyes lit up. She set down her coat and walked over, leaning in to observe the spread before smiling. “What made you decide to cook all this?”

Sun Miao rarely cooked Western food. At most, she might pan-fry a steak with butter or make a Sandwich in the morning. She had a natural Chinese Food Brain¹³ and preferred Chinese food over Western cuisine. After getting together with Sun Miao, the number of times Su Ruixi ate Western food had plummeted. She might have it or Japanese Cuisine at a business dinner, but that was about it.

So, seeing a full table of Western dishes—a proper meal—she was genuinely surprised.

Sun Miao chuckled happily and pulled out a chair for Su Ruixi. As she sat down, Su Ruixi noticed a hot towel placed beside her, a clear sign that Sun Miao had prepared everything as if it were a serious matter.¹⁴ Su Ruixi picked up the towel and wiped her hands.

It had to be said, having a hot towel to clean and warm your hands after a long drive was incredibly comfortable.

Especially since the snow had, without her noticing, started to fall heavily. It rarely snowed in this city, so residents weren’t in the habit of using anti-slip tires. The snowflakes melted on the ground, then froze into a sheet of ice, making the roads even more slippery. On her way back, she had even seen a few car accidents caused by skidding.

The traffic was worse than usual, and Su Ruixi had driven with extreme caution, arriving home later than normal. Thankfully, she had let Sun Miao know in advance.

Now, sitting at the table before a dazzling array of dishes, Su Ruixi’s entire heart felt warm.

I have to admit, she thought, my old self who thought being single was better was just being pretentious.

Sun Miao had truly made a lot of things, so much that Su Ruixi didn’t know where to start. Her eyes landed on the Apple Pie first. Sun Miao had already pre-sliced it and even provided a pizza server. Su Ruixi reached out, took the server, and lifted a slice onto the bowl in front of her.

Even though it was a Western meal, Sun Miao hadn’t prepared a full set of knives and forks. In front of Su Ruixi were the familiar bowl and chopsticks. But one had to admit, chopsticks were just more convenient.

After putting the server back, Su Ruixi used her chopsticks to lift the pointed end of the Apple Pie to her mouth. The pie looked a lot like a small cake, with a crust on the bottom topped with fruit jam and sliced apples.

The moment she took a bite, Su Ruixi realized Sun Miao’s Apple Pie was very different from others she had eaten. The crust was soft and sweet, likely made with cream. The apple jam on top was, needless to say, homemade by Sun Miao—they still had a few jars in the house. It was sweet and sour, both appetizing and delicious.

After a few more bites, Su Ruixi tasted the apples on top of the pie. The texture was a bit strange. When one saw an apple, the first thought was of something crisp, sweet, and slightly cool. But the apples in the pie had been baked soft, a texture completely different from what one would imagine.

But Sun Miao had managed to make this texture perfect. When Su Ruixi first tasted it, it felt a little off, but after a few bites, she found that the soft, mealy texture of the apple was surprisingly to her liking.

She finished the entire slice in just a few moments. She glanced at the rest of the Apple Pie on the table and hesitated, but decided not to have another piece just yet.

Across from her, Sun Miao picked up the turkey leg and began to carve it with a knife, separating the meat from the bone.

The meat of a turkey leg is quite stubborn. Sun Miao had roasted it until it was tender, but the meat still clung to the bone, refusing to separate. Besides the main leg bone, a turkey leg also has smaller bones. But because the leg is so large, even these sinew-like little bones were bigger than a chicken’s, and a lot of meat was stuck to them.

None of this, however, was a problem for Sun Miao. A small knife flew in her hands, and the meat was deftly carved away, falling obediently onto the plate. Once it was all separated, Sun Miao moved the plate to the center of the table for Su Ruixi to eat.

Su Ruixi didn’t hold back. Her chopsticks shot out and snagged a piece of turkey. The moment she tasted it, her eyes widened. “Miao Miao, how did you do this? This is the most tender turkey leg I’ve ever had! It still can’t beat chicken, but the texture is so close!”

Sun Miao smiled at Su Ruixi and whispered, “Commercial secret.”¹⁵

She would never tell Su Ruixi that she had spent nearly a full day in the System Space just to get the texture right.

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