Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 43

Not that delicious

The moment Sun Miao saw Su Ruixi, a smile blossomed on her face. This had nothing to do with liking or not liking; seeing someone who matched her aesthetic, someone she admired, would naturally bring forth such a genuine smile from the heart. Besides, Sun Miao loved to smile anyway; how could she possibly keep a straight face when seeing her crush?

Su Ruixi noticed it too—the moment Sun Miao saw her, she really did smile so happily.

She walked over, no longer planning to buy pancakes. Sun Miao had just been shouting at the top of her lungs outside, and Su Ruixi had heard it clearly inside. She came over solely to give the gift to Sun Miao. And then to secretly take a look, to see if there was any hope of asking Sun Miao to bring her a bento.

At first, Sun Miao didn’t notice the exquisite shopping bag she was carrying. It wasn’t until Su Ruixi lifted her hand slightly that Sun Miao’s gaze fell upon the shopping bag. The bag was paper but very thick, looking extremely sturdy. Just this shopping bag alone, Sun Miao felt, must cost anywhere from a few to over ten yuan, a world of difference¹ compared to her one-mao²-apiece plastic bags.

“?” But she didn’t understand what Su Ruixi meant by showing her the shopping bag.

While Sun Miao was puzzled, Su Ruixi spoke directly: “Inside here, is candy.”

“Ah…”

Su Ruixi held it out, loosening her grip towards Sun Miao. Sun Miao subconsciously took it, then began to space out, only reacting after a moment: “This is for me?”

Su Ruixi nodded: “Mhm.” But she was still a bit awkward, unable to tell the truth, instead finding an excuse for herself: “You gave me candy before too.” And more than once.

Sun Miao subconsciously explained: “That candy was also given to me by someone else, it’s not worth this much.” This shopping bag was already expensive, let alone the contents inside. Of course, it wasn’t impossible that Su Ruixi had just bought some candy and randomly found a shopping bag to put it in.

But a glance down revealed a packaged gift box inside the shopping bag.

If this wasn’t a set, it would be completely unconvincing.

The little nurse was young, probably still an intern or just started working, likely didn’t have much money in her pocket; the candy she gave Sun Miao would definitely be in line with her salary. But this candy from Su Ruixi, both plentiful and seemingly expensive, was certainly beyond compare to the little nurse’s. Sun Miao wasn’t the type to despise the poor and curry favor with the rich; she liked money, but preferred to earn it herself.

So Sun Miao didn’t feel that the little nurse’s sentiment was inferior to Su Ruixi’s.

But then again, Su Ruixi, that was her crush after all. Receiving candy from Su Ruixi felt completely different to Sun Miao than receiving snacks from the little nurse.

“Aren’t you going to open it and take a look?”

As Sun Miao’s thoughts wandered, Su Ruixi suddenly said this. Sun Miao subconsciously replied: “I will.” After saying this, she thought: Shoot, I forgot to refuse.

The words were already out; retracting them was not an option.

Especially upon hearing Sun Miao say these three words, Su Ruixi’s mood clearly improved somewhat. Sun Miao definitely didn’t want Su Ruixi to be unhappy, so right in front of her, she took the gift box out of the shopping bag.

She placed the shopping bag on the counter of her food cart, then put the gift box on top, preparing to unwrap the paper. At this moment, Su Ruixi also took a step forward, moving closer, clearly wanting to watch Sun Miao unwrap it.

Sun Miao’s movements were nimble, and her unwrapping speed wasn’t slow. Especially sensing Su Ruixi right beside her, her presence so close, made Sun Miao even more nervous, and her speed increased. She finished unwrapping the paper, set it aside, and saw the gift box. The box was primarily black, with red and black patterns, and some hand-drawn illustrations of candies, appearing both exquisite and cute.

Sun Miao opened the box and saw neatly arranged candies inside. Some were individually wrapped pieces, dotted within the black box, looking expensive. Some candies were placed in a star-shaped glass jar, colorful, looking like a childhood treasure.

“Want to try one?”

“Okay.”

Sun Miao’s smile softened further. She reached out, took a wrapped candy, tore open the wrapper, and placed the candy in her mouth. The candy was very sweet, but not cloying, with a strong strawberry flavor.

She had to admit, this strawberry-flavored candy was much tastier than the one the little nurse had given her.

“The wrapped ones are hard candies, the ones in the glass jar are soft candies, all fruit candies,” Su Ruixi explained, feeling a bit happier herself seeing Sun Miao slightly squint her eyes as she ate the candy.

After Sun Miao finished one candy, she heard Su Ruixi ask her: “Is it tasty?”

Sun Miao nodded. Seeing Su Ruixi constantly watching her, she asked: “Su-jie, would you like to try one too?”

Every time Su Ruixi asked her that, it always gave Sun Miao the feeling that Su Ruixi wanted to eat too. Right now, Su Ruixi did want to eat, but not candy—she wanted a boxed meal, the kind Sun Miao made.

Of course, Su Ruixi wouldn’t refuse Sun Miao’s suggestion. She nodded, and Sun Miao took another candy from the gift box, placing it directly into Su Ruixi’s palm. Su Ruixi unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth. She sucked on it for a while, but suddenly felt—it didn’t seem as tasty as the one Sun Miao had given her before.

The two of them stood there quietly, eating candy for a while, before Sun Miao abruptly asked Su Ruixi: “Su-jie, have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet.”

Su Ruixi quickly realized she was asking about lunch. Su Ruixi answered straightforwardly; she had spent her lunch break running around buying candy for Sun Miao, how could she have had time for lunch. She was still brooding over it; that candy store was clearly quite expensive, this box of candy cost a good several thousand yuan, definitely not some affordable candy.

But tasting it now, it wasn’t as good as the strawberry candy Sun Miao had given her.

And that salesperson had solemnly assured her that the candy had great palatability, everyone loved it, buying it was definitely the right choice. But tasting it now, the flavor was just average.

Not as tasty as Sun Miao’s candy.

Su Ruixi muttered this again in her heart. She just felt it wasn’t as good as the candy Sun Miao gave her, otherwise she wouldn’t keep repeating it in her mind several times. It made her feel like a particularly big sucker³… Although Su Ruixi came from a wealthy family and was a CEO herself, never lacking money growing up and generous with spending, it didn’t mean she was someone detached from worldly affairs⁴, unaware of everyday prices and purchasing power.

On the contrary, after getting to know Sun Miao, she understood even better the purchasing power of money.

Think about it, several thousand yuan worth of candy, how many beef pancakes could that buy?

Just doing this conversion made Su Ruixi feel a pang in her heart.

Consequently, Su Ruixi answered instinctively, without thinking further. After she replied, she heard Sun Miao say to her: “Then… I still have two beef pancakes here, Su-jie, would you like to buy them?”

Hearing this, Su Ruixi’s heart suddenly trembled slightly. Her eyelashes lifted slightly as Su Ruixi looked at Sun Miao. In that instant, Su Ruixi didn’t know what she was thinking, her voice just came out softly, saying to Sun Miao: “I want them.”

She ended up buying the two beef pancakes, then said goodbye to Sun Miao, and carried the beef pancakes back up to her office upstairs. She sat down in her seat but didn’t immediately start her lunch, instead thinking about other things.

For example… she discovered that she seemed to be special to Sun Miao.

From their very first encounter, Sun Miao had actually already treated her very specially, giving her soup to drink. Now, the two of them were even closer, and she herself had started giving Sun Miao things. The boundaries of their relationship were slowly blurring, becoming more like friends.

She knew very well that Sun Miao’s beef pancakes had sold so well just now, they must have all sold out, but now, like pulling magic, she had produced two pancakes for her. Su Ruixi wouldn’t believe it if they weren’t specially saved for her.

Thinking back, she had done similar things before. At that time, Su Ruixi hadn’t thought much of it, truly believing Sun Miao was saving them for dinner. Now, thinking about it, they were actually saved specifically for her. Knowing she was special in Sun Miao’s heart made Su Ruixi subconsciously feel a little happy.

But she couldn’t articulate why she felt happy, nor did she know why Sun Miao would consider her a special existence?

Perhaps, it was because she had helped Sun Miao before? She had given the lawyer’s phone number and asked the lawyer to help Sun Miao solve her problem. If inferred this way, Sun Miao indeed had a reason to treat her specially… But inexplicably, Su Ruixi felt it definitely wasn’t just because of such a small matter that Sun Miao would be nice to her.

Su Ruixi paused again, because she suddenly remembered she also had Sun Miao’s phone number. She had Sun Miao’s WeChat contact information, and Sun Miao’s mobile number; how could this not mean she was a step closer than Hip-hop Mei?

Her mood improved again, but then immediately became somewhat frustrated. Because there was no one else in the office, she even rested her face directly on the desk, sighing: “Forgot again… about the bento matter…” Saying she forgot wasn’t entirely accurate; although she had made up her mind, actually opening her mouth was very difficult for Su Ruixi.

“Couldn’t she just inexplicably decide to bring me a boxed meal herself…”

Su Ruixi voiced the hope in her heart.

By this time, Sun Miao had already finished packing up her food cart and was riding her electric scooter home. Before leaving, she popped another candy Su Ruixi had given her into her mouth: “Mm, so sweet!”

It was just tough luck for Hip-hop Mei’s friend. Hip-hop Mei had called her, telling her about the beef pancake stall situation. Afraid she’d arrive late and the stall would be gone just as Hip-hop Mei said, having sold out, she came early to the outside of Jinsha Building at five o’clock. But no matter how she looked, she couldn’t find the “Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar”.

Unwilling to give up, she called Hip-hop Mei: “Where’s that super delicious beef pancake stall you told me about? I haven’t even seen a shadow of it! I only came to buy it because you said it was super delicious, and I even promised to bring some back for you. Are you daring to mess with me?!”

“No! I’m not messing with you! Wait, let me make a call and ask.”

She hung up and sent Sun Miao a voice call, but who knew what Sun Miao was doing, stubbornly no one answered. Hip-hop Mei was stunned for a moment, then, as if driven by ghosts and gods⁵, she called Su Ruixi. She just had a premonition that maybe Su-jie knew.

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