Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 36

Not Eating Home-Cooked Meals

While Su Ruixi was sitting in her office, Sun Miao was downstairs playing with her phone. At 10:30 AM, Hip-Hop Mei finally arrived, fashionably late. Unlike Su Ruixi’s statement that “I just said that, don’t take it seriously, she may not actually show up”, she did eventually come. However, true to Su Ruixi’s other comment, she arrived after 10:00 AM, her self-proclaimed “morning.”

This time, she didn’t park her car at the nearby mall, instead pulling up directly to the roadside in front of Sun Miao. Today’s vehicle wasn’t her flashy sports car, but a recreational vehicle (RV). It was a fifth-wheel trailer with a pickup truck at the front.

Sun Miao couldn’t even begin to imagine how much the two vehicles cost combined.

Hip-Hop Mei sat in the pickup truck’s passenger seat and got out. Sun Miao, with her keen eyesight, noticed the driver was also a girl, dressed in a notably androgynous style [亚比 | yà bǐ | slang for “androgynous,” often related to fashion and style]. Truly, as the saying goes, “birds of a feather flock together.”

Today, Hip-Hop Mei wore long, extremely tight pants that perfectly showcased her leg curves, but her upper body attire was minimal, consisting of only a black camisole [吊带 | diàodài | Sleeveless undergarment]. Both her arms were adorned with numerous accessories.

After she hopped out of the truck, the androgynous driver started nagging: “I really don’t know what’s so great about these beef pancakes that you have to make a detour to buy them. Do you know how far this is from the highway entrance? We’re definitely going to be stuck in traffic on the highway today. If they’re not delicious, I’m going to wring your neck.”

A man and a woman were sitting in the back seat. The man also jumped out of the car: “Don’t be mean. We brought the RV so that we can be comfortable when we’re stuck in traffic. I haven’t tried this place’s beef pancakes since the owner switched from selling malatang. I’ll get one to try.”

“You’re a guy. Even if we’re stuck in traffic, you’re not allowed in the RV. You sleep in the pickup truck!” Despite his attempt to help Hip-Hop Mei, she didn’t show him any kindness, instead rolling her eyes to stop him from entering the RV.

Sun Miao recognized him as a wealthy second-generation acquaintance from her residential complex and a friend of Hip-Hop Mei. They both approached Sun Miao, with Hip-Hop Mei greeting first: “Boss, are my two woks of pancakes ready?”

Sun Miao blinked. “Not yet, only eight are done. I’ll make another wok now.”

Hip-Hop Mei got angry: “What? I told you yesterday I was coming this morning to buy two woks. Why didn’t you make them in advance?”

“When did you say you were coming yesterday?”

“This morning.”

Sun Miao flashed a bright, toothy grin. “Right, it’s already past 10:30 AM. I thought you weren’t coming, so I didn’t make them.”

“……” Hip-Hop Mei couldn’t argue with Sun Miao. In fact, Sun Miao’s reasoning was sound. Who considers 10:30 AM morning? It was almost 11:00 AM, practically noon.

Hip-Hop Mei dropped the argument and waved her hand. “Give me the eight you have first, then make two more woks for me to take away.”

Sun Miao quickly packed up the eight pancakes for Hip-Hop Mei and then started making more. Hip-Hop Mei took the pancakes and distributed them to the two girls in the RV. The androgynous driver was still complaining, so Hip-Hop Mei stuffed a pancake into her mouth: “You talk too much, just eat!”

The moment the beef pancake entered the androgynous girl’s mouth, the world became quiet.

Hip-Hop Mei’s male friend was still at Sun Miao’s stall, asking in bewilderment: “Boss, why did you stop selling malatang at the entrance of our complex? Did the security guard give you trouble? I’ll write a complaint letter and have the property management replace him. Come back and set up your stall at our complex entrance. How can I live without your malatang?”

“Even if you don’t set up your stall at our complex entrance, you can still sell malatang somewhere else. You have no idea, I dream of your malatang day and night…” Seeing Hip-Hop Mei approaching, he pulled her over: “Help me persuade her. Don’t you also love her malatang the most? How can you betray it and eat beef pancakes? What’s so good about these stupid beef pancakes? Can they compare to malatang?”

Hip-Hop Mei couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and simply stuffed a beef pancake into his mouth.

In that instant, the wealthy second-generation male also fell silent. His eyes widened, seemingly in disbelief at how delicious the beef pancake in his mouth was. He took a few more skeptical bites, then finished the entire pancake in a flash.

He was the last to start eating but finished the fastest. After he was done, he asked Hip-Hop Mei for another and quickly devoured that one too. Two pancakes down, he was still unsatisfied and wanted to ask Hip-Hop Mei for a third.

“Get lost.” That was the only reply he received.

“Weren’t you a loyal devotee of malatang? Why have you defected to beef pancakes now?” Hip-Hop Mei threw his earlier words back at him. The wealthy second-generation male grinned sheepishly: “I’m a loyal devotee of the boss. I didn’t expect these beef pancakes to be so delicious. Are there any more? Give me another one.”

“Get lost.” Hip-Hop Mei scolded again, so the wealthy second-generation male could only turn to Sun Miao: “Boss, give me one wok.”

“You’ll have to wait. These two woks are hers. I’ll make yours after I’m done with these.”

While they were talking, the other two from the RV came over and said: “Boss, one wok.”

Hip-Hop Mei’s eyes widened. “What’s going on? You too!” She grabbed the androgynous girl. “You! Weren’t you just urging me to get on the highway? Now you’re not afraid of traffic?”

The androgynous girl completely ignored Hip-Hop Mei’s words: “I haven’t even mentioned you yet. Hiding such delicious food and not telling us, just hogging it all to yourself. If we weren’t going out today, you wouldn’t have brought us here.”

“Exactly!”

Under their combined attack, even Hip-Hop Mei felt a little guilty.

The four of them stood at the stall, chatting while waiting for Sun Miao to make the pancakes. She had already sold eight, and now they wanted five woks. Sun Miao had made quite a few sales that morning. From past 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM, it took her that long to finally finish making the five woks of pancakes.

Sun Miao packed them up, and the wealthy second-generation male made repeated trips to carry them to the RV. At that moment, Sun Miao understood why three girls going on a trip would bring a guy along — specifically to carry things.

Once all five woks were done, Hip-Hop Mei scanned the code and paid 600 kuai [≈ $83 USD]. “We’re leaving. I’ll come back and buy more later.”

After Hip-Hop Mei finished speaking, her three friends followed suit: “Me too, me too! I’ll come back too!”

Sun Miao waved goodbye and watched as they drove away. In order to eat these beef pancakes, they paid an additional price — a parking ticket. A traffic officer had placed a warning notice on their vehicles right in front of them, but the wealthy youngsters didn’t bother to move their cars.

Ten minutes later, the traffic officer returned and issued a ticket.

50 kuai [≈ $7 USD] just gone like that. Sun Miao would definitely be upset if it happened to her.

Only these few, foolish with money.

Serves them right. They deserve the parking ticket, a harsh punishment.

After the four left, Sun Miao sat back down. She had been busy for a while that morning, earning a total of 700 kuai [≈ $97 USD], which she considered sufficient. At least she had earned back today’s costs. Any sales in the afternoon would be pure profit.

At noon, Sun Miao saw Su Ruixi come downstairs. She thought she might have something to do, but then she saw Su Ruixi coming straight towards her. A little surprised, Sun Miao got up from her seat.

Su Ruixi approached and, as usual, said, “Two beef pancakes.”

Sun Miao was a little puzzled: “Su-jie, wasn’t there boxed lunch this morning… Are you still buying beef pancakes? Can you eat that much?”

At this point, Sun Miao saw Su Ruixi freeze, a blush creeping onto her face. Clearly, she had forgotten about the boxed lunch and had come down out of habit to buy beef pancakes.

Having been exposed, Su Ruixi quickly found an excuse: “They’re not for me. I’m buying them for someone else.”

Sun Miao responded with an “Oh,” then told Su Ruixi, “Su-jie, I don’t have any ready-made beef pancakes right now. I have to make them fresh. Can you wait a bit?”

“Sure.”

Seeing that Sun Miao was only planning to make two, Su Ruixi thought for a moment and then asked her to make a whole wok, which she would take away.

If she was going to pretend she was buying them for someone else, she might as well commit. Buying only two would make it seem like they were for herself.

Of course, Sun Miao had no objections. More sales were always welcome. While she had a moment during the pancake-making process, Sun Miao took out the remaining soup container from the cupboard: “Su-jie, take this soup too. I also kind of forgot you could take it all together. That way, you can just reheat the beef pancakes and eat them tonight, saving you another trip.”

Su Ruixi thought this made sense. This way, she could go straight home after lunch.

So she nodded and took the soup container. After a short wait, a wok of beef pancakes was ready, and Su Ruixi took it all. After that, Sun Miao asked, “Su-jie, are you coming tomorrow?”

Su Ruixi wasn’t sure. She wanted to eat the beef pancakes but didn’t really want to go out herself. She could use a delivery service… Although she had previously wondered if the delivery person would eat her beef pancakes, they have professional ethics, surely they wouldn’t do such a thing!

Now with delivery services, it was so convenient to buy anything; there was really no need to go out herself.

However, as Su Ruixi looked up, she met Sun Miao’s eyes. They were bright, moist, and filled with a hint of anticipation. At that moment, Su Ruixi couldn’t bring herself to say “no,” “not sure,” or “I don’t know.”

The words rolled around in Su Ruixi’s throat for a moment, and what finally came out was: “I probably will.”

Having said that, Su Ruixi quickly left again, her retreating figure somewhat resembling last night’s, inexplicably looking a little flustered.

Su Ruixi returned upstairs and set the beef pancakes aside, preparing to heat up her lunch. Just then, she received a call from her mother: “Xixi, why aren’t you coming home today?”

Looking around her empty office, Su Ruixi lied: “I still have some work to finish, so I’m working overtime at the office.”

“Are you coming home for dinner tonight? Mom will make your favorite sweet and sour spare ribs [椒盐排骨 | jiāoyán páigǔ].” She didn’t particularly like sweet and sour spare ribs, but since her mother made them, she couldn’t outright say they weren’t good. After a moment of consideration, she replied, “Okay, I’ll come home for dinner.”

They exchanged a few more words before hanging up.

Su Ruixi’s gaze fell upon the beef pancakes she had bought and decided to take them home: She absolutely would not eat her home-cooked meal!

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