Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 34

This Damn Love Brain

Sun Miao found this moment a bit strange because Su Ruixi’s actions seemed somewhat flustered.

Sun Miao was unaware as she returned to her car and looked at the lunchbox on her passenger seat, letting out an involuntary sigh.

Actually, Su Ruixi had a rather sneaky little plan: she intended to sneak this lunchbox into the lunch bag, so Sun Miao would unknowingly take it back.

When Sun Miao returned home to find an extra lunchbox, she would come looking for Su Ruixi, who would then casually explain that she accidentally left it there and forgot to take it out. She would then smoothly ask Sun Miao to bring her another meal.

Given Sun Miao’s personality, once the lunchbox was in her hands, it would be a simple matter to prepare an extra meal. Plus, since Su Ruixi always paid an additional twenty yuan, Sun Miao likely wouldn’t refuse.

Su Ruixi thought it was a good plan, but when it came time to carry it out, she hesitated and instead tossed the lunchbox onto the passenger seat, only taking the three lunchboxes to meet Sun Miao.

Leaning on her steering wheel, Su Ruixi felt somewhat defeated.

Su Ruixi asked herself if she was really a good person. In the business world, kind-hearted people are often left with nothing. Besides, she hadn’t done anything wrong; she just played a small trick. She always paid a little extra money, so what was wrong with Sun Miao preparing an extra portion for her?

But in the end, Su Ruixi couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She thought of Sun Miao’s excessively clean, bright smile—such a good, kind, down-to-earth person—why should she be manipulated? Besides, Sun Miao was willing to bring her soup and ensure she ate on time. If Su Ruixi schemed against her, it felt rather despicable.

With that thought, Su Ruixi sighed and prepared to start the car and head home.

Just as the engine turned over, Su Ruixi felt her phone vibrate. The phone was placed in the compartment of the car’s central armrest, making the vibration quite noticeable. Without hurrying to shift gears or press the accelerator, Su Ruixi opened her phone to check the message.

Even before picking up the phone, Su Ruixi suspected it was from Sun Miao, and upon opening it, she found she was right.

Sun Miao said: 【Su-jie, I forgot to ask you earlier, are you coming to the office tomorrow for Labor Day? Should we call an errand runner to deliver to your home? If needed, you can give me an address, or I can have someone leave it at the back gate security booth.】

Su Ruixi thought for a moment and then replied: 【I’ll come in tomorrow, see you then.】

Su Ruixi wasn’t sure why she responded this way, as she actually wasn’t supposed to work tomorrow. All the regular employees were off for Labor Day. As the big boss, she couldn’t possibly be the only one working overtime at the company, right? But upon further reflection, those beef pancakes were so delicious—what if the errand runner stole a bite?

Having found an excuse for herself, she was at ease with the decision to go directly tomorrow.

Sun Miao was still upstairs and hadn’t left yet. Seeing Su Ruixi’s message, a smile appeared on her lips: 【Alright, see you tomorrow.】

Sun Miao sent a message at this moment because she felt that Su Ruixi’s hurried departure seemed suspicious, almost like she wanted to do something sneaky but failed. This piqued Sun Miao’s interest, prompting her to take out her phone and message Su Ruixi before starting her electric scooter.

Sun Miao knew she shouldn’t entertain any thoughts, but Su Ruixi always replied so quickly and even said “see you tomorrow,” which made Sun Miao quite happy.

Since meeting Su Ruixi, Sun Miao’s days had been happier than before. On her way home at night, she hummed songs more cheerfully. The tunes she hummed were usually improvised, with lyrics she came up with on the spot.

Things like “You are my strength,” “Tomorrow will be even better,” and “Little money keeps flowing in.”

The system joked that her singing was terrible, but Sun Miao swayed her head and said, “I think it sounds great!”

【It’s not great at all, not in the slightest.】

“Well, if it’s that bad, just mute me. Besides teaching me to cook and assigning tasks, you’re not of much use anyway.”

At that moment, the system was quite frustrated, but it still didn’t mute Sun Miao. Because after hearing it repeatedly, even a system that didn’t understand human emotions felt as if tomorrow might indeed be better.

Sun Miao returned home and counted her earnings: today, she sold thirty-two pots, totaling three thousand two hundred yuan. After subtracting the cost of disposable bags, oil paper, and today’s ingredients, she made just over one thousand seven hundred yuan. There was no way around it—beef was expensive.

She bought high-quality beef, which was relatively pricey. Even though the butcher had offered an honest price, thirty jin [5 kg ≈ 33 lbs] still cost about one thousand two to three hundred yuan. The cabbage and green onions were negligible, adding up to only a couple of hundred.

Sun Miao considered herself quite fortunate. Her vehicle didn’t require charging, and the gas was supplied infinitely by the system. Otherwise, with these costs, her expenses would have been higher. Moreover, she didn’t have to pay rent for her stall. If she couldn’t make a profit with these advantages, then who could?

Comparing her options, it seemed like egg fried rice was actually more profitable.

Because eggs and rice really didn’t cost much at all.

In contrast, beef was just too expensive. After calculating her expenses, Sun Miao took a bath and lay down in bed. She glanced at Su Ruixi’s account, smiled, and told herself, “Quickly, sleep quickly, you need to get up early tomorrow.” She promptly put down her phone, hugged her blanket, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Sun Miao went to the butcher shop and indeed bought much less than usual. The butcher was a bit surprised: “Little Boss Sun, why are you buying so little today?”

“Well, it’s Labor Day, everyone’s gone back home, and if I buy too much, I won’t be able to sell it.”

The butcher was even more puzzled: “Most people buy more during Labor Day because there are more customers. I even stocked up on more beef than usual because of the increased demand.”

Sun Miao just smiled without explaining and bought fifteen jin [7.5 kg ≈ 16.5 lbs] of beef.

She always purchased a mix of beef, which had its own special considerations. The beef tenderloin was primarily lean meat. It came from a strip along the backbone and had no fat, almost no muscle fibers, and was particularly tender. It’s very suitable for stir-frying, and Sun Miao used this cut the most.

In addition, she would pair it with beef brisket [a cut of beef from the chest area, known for its fattiness and muscle fibers]. Compared to tenderloin, brisket had more fat, though not excessively so. Generally, the fat-to-lean ratio was 2:8, but a fattier cow could reach 3:8. Brisket also typically contained muscle fibers, giving it a crunchy texture and dense meat quality.

Combining these two types of meat and then seasoning them resulted in a richly juicy and wonderfully textured beef pancake.

Only amateurs would choose just one cut of meat when making beef pancakes. Sun Miao’s method of chopping meat was also particular; she wouldn’t destroy the beef’s natural texture and chewiness. Using a machine would make it all fall apart.

The butcher knew Sun Miao was an expert. Although she found it odd that Sun Miao was doing the opposite of others during the Labor Day holiday, she understood she had her rhythm. So, she prepared the two different cuts according to her request, removed the bones, chopped them into pieces, and packed them in plastic bags.

Sun Miao then went to buy some additional ingredients, as this Labor Day was her first holiday since coming to this world, and she planned to treat herself. While shopping, she couldn’t help but think of Su Ruixi and recalled how Su Ruixi asked what she was eating yesterday.

Sun Miao wasn’t a fool; she could easily guess that Su Ruixi actually wanted to taste the food she cooked.

She hesitated, wondering whether or not to bring a portion for Su Ruixi. What if she just happened to ask, but didn’t really want to eat it? Even if she did want it, making and bringing a portion the next day might make her seem too much like a love brain [恋爱脑 | liàn’ài nǎo | someone whose thoughts are consumed by romance].

Such a woman would be sent to dig wild vegetables [挖野菜 | wā yěcài | metaphor for being taken advantage of].

But Su Ruixi was much better than some jerk; she often paid extra. Sun Miao ignored the fact that her other customer, Hip-Hop Mei, also paid extra because their relationship was purely business between a boss and a customer. However, Su Ruixi was different; she was Sun Miao’s crush!

People inevitably fall into the hopelessness of being love-brained for their crushes.

Sun Miao mumbled softly, “I’m only making an extra portion because of your stomach problems. It’s not right to have a stomach ailment and not eat well.”

Her voice was so faint that no one but herself could hear it—oh, and the system.

【Didn’t you say before that you wouldn’t pursue her because it’s impossible for the two of you?】

Sun Miao retorted to the system, calling it “nagging.”

Of course, she knew it was impossible and hadn’t planned on pursuing her. That’s what she said, but given Sun Miao’s personality, she couldn’t help but wonder: what if? However, she would only wonder and never actively pursue a straight woman.

What if, one day, she met another crush who might match her materially and also happened to be a lesbian… Sun Miao still wouldn’t pursue her.

At this stage, earning money was more important for Sun Miao. Otherwise, what would she do, ask someone to live with her in a rental apartment after starting a relationship?

【But if you win over Su Ruixi, you could move into her grand villa.】

Sun Miao put on a pained expression: “Shut up! I’m a dominant! I’m a tie-T! How am I different from a kept man [吃软饭的小白脸 | chī ruǎnfàn de xiǎobáilǐan | a derogatory term for a man who lives off a woman]?”

【The difference is that you’re not fair-skinned.】

Sun Miao was so annoyed, she decided to ignore the system and just focus on selecting vegetables seriously. After looking around, she bought some snow peas. She also picked up some fresh prawns, weighing one jin [0.5 kg ≈ 1.1 lbs]. She bought these in small quantities, but this place was the largest local market, essentially a wholesale center for vegetables, so it was cheaper than elsewhere.

The prawns were only 18 yuan per jin, and they were quite large.

Sun Miao was the type who insisted on selecting each one herself, ensuring they were lively and energetic before placing them in her basket. She still remembered her former roommate who, on her first trip to the market, said that the vendor scooped a net full of prawns for 39 yuan, but when she got home, she found many were already dead.

And that was an understatement. Sun Miao had checked at the time, and the prawns were not just dead; the meat was falling apart, indicating they had been dead for at least a day or two.

Sun Miao also bought some light vegetables, along with radishes and chicken legs, intending to make soup later.

Snow peas are delicious, with simple seasoning, and key to their appeal is their light flavor, which Su Ruixi would like.

As she rode her food cart home, Sun Miao couldn’t help but scold herself: This damn love brain! The most crucial part is that they’re not even in a relationship yet, and she’s already going out of her way! But what could she do? There’s just no helping it.

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LP: I remember doing errands for my high school crush, and I was content enough just to be a close friend, because she’s straight!

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