Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 52

Should I pull you into the group?

Su Ruixi was born holding the most top-tier golden spoon, and she was also the family’s only daughter. From a young age, she heard many people tell her parents they should have another child, a boy, so he could inherit the family business. Her parents, however, were quite enlightened, stating directly that having Su Ruixi was enough. Sometimes, when they got annoyed by these comments, they would simply tell the person to leave.

But these words still reached Su Ruixi’s ears. The people saying them didn’t avoid Su Ruixi; they would even egg her on, telling her to go tell her parents herself, “I want a little brother.” Among them, astonishingly, was her own paternal grandmother.

Seeing that her parents paid no mind and focused solely on raising Su Ruixi, her grandmother even began to resent her. Su Ruixi sometimes even felt: perhaps grandmother thought she was a hindrance, that it would be better if she didn’t exist.

From that moment on, Su Ruixi became exceptionally driven. Only by becoming strong could she stop hearing such gossip.

Yet, growing up, the setbacks Su Ruixi encountered amounted to little more than this. She was beautiful, willing to work hard, and intelligent. She hadn’t faced setbacks in her studies or other areas. After graduating, driven by her overly strong-willed nature, she didn’t join the family enterprise, instead vowing to carve out her own path¹.

She did very well. Although just a newborn calf charging onto the chessboard, she still managed to catch the long-entrenched tigers around her off guard.

She also never experienced the difficulties other entrepreneurs faced. Her background was too solid; even against her wishes, many people offered her help. No one dared look down on her; instead, they flocked to her side, contracts in hand.

In a novel, she would undoubtedly be heaven’s favored child². But now, she had encountered a major setback in her life—Director Zhang³.

Su Ruixi had seen her profile. The media had written extensively⁴ about the legendary first half of her life—a powerful woman who emerged from the deep mountains and rode the wave to become one of the top ten richest women in the country. Before meeting her, Su Ruixi had actually admired her greatly.

Until—she was subjected to Director Zhang’s endless difficulties/obstructions.

The project proposal was repeatedly rejected⁵, to the point where even her assistant was frequently losing hair. It was because of this matter that she had previously been so busy she developed stomach pain requiring an IV drip and hospitalization. Even when the doctor told her she needed to be admitted, she finished the drip and ran off—all for the sake of this collaboration.

Director Zhang had basically left them hanging⁶ over the May Day holiday. Two days passed after the holiday, and only yesterday did she finally relent, saying Su Ruixi should come meet Director Zhang herself. But upon meeting, this was the attitude she received.

Su Ruixi faced Director Zhang’s inexplicable malice⁷, but still took a deep breath and sat down in the lobby waiting area.

Quite a few guests came and went, but they were mostly men, with few women. Some of the women were companions brought by the men. To put it nicely, they were companions; to put it bluntly, they were escorts⁸. Such things were commonplace in so-called upper circles. The women they brought along were merely props⁹ used for showing off, no different from the watches on their wrists or the luxury cars they drove.

Su Ruixi strongly disliked this sort of thing, but all she could do was maintain her own integrity¹⁰ and stay away from those morons¹¹.

While searching for information about golf, Su Ruixi had also seen related reports. The gender ratio for golfers in the country was roughly 75% male to 25% female; among those over 35, it was 82% to 18%. This ratio was truly quite exaggerated.

But if you actually went to a golf course and looked around, you might even feel the ratio shown in the data wasn’t exaggerated enough.

Su Ruixi found it somewhat hard to understand why Director Zhang would enjoy this sport; she personally wasn’t fond of places where men congregated.

She couldn’t help but rub her forehead, feeling a bit of a headache. The good mood generated from interacting with Sun Miao earlier vanished completely in this moment. The current atmosphere was worlds apart¹² from Sun Miao’s place. Make no mistake, for Su Ruixi, Sun Miao’s place was paradise.

Sun Miao’s figure surfaced again in Su Ruixi’s mind—she recalled the way Sun Miao looked preparing food for her, thought of her clear and beautiful eyes, and the exceptionally mystical aura of worldly warmth¹³ about her.

It had to be said, Su Ruixi preferred being around Sun Miao. Sun Miao radiated a vibrant vitality; her whole being was oriented upwards, like a small blade of grass facing the wind and rain. Compared to her, the golf course just a wall away seemed shrouded in an air of decay.

It looked splendid and dazzling¹⁴, with crowds milling about in fragrant clothes and elegant attire¹⁵, but in reality, it was rotten to the core¹⁶.

Well, excluding herself and the people around her.

Su Ruixi mentally trampled on this group without a care. She was inherently sharp-tongued¹⁷. If Director Zhang weren’t an elder and someone Su Ruixi currently needed something from, she really wanted to just start cursing¹⁸ and then quit in a huff¹⁹.

For the sake of her project and her precious money, she’d better endure it.

Thinking of money, Su Ruixi wanted to laugh again. She’d previously remarked on Sun Miao loving money, but thinking carefully, she herself seemed quite similar—wasn’t she also running herself ragged, even humbling herself here, all for money? For some reason, just thinking of Sun Miao seemed to dispel Su Ruixi’s bad mood.

She picked up her phone. The waiting time was too boring; even Su Ruixi wanted to look at her phone for a while to kill time. Unconsciously, she tapped on Sun Miao’s profile picture and opened Sun Miao’s Moments. There wasn’t much content on her Moments feed; upon entering, she saw a cartoon Shiba Inu smiling at her.

That adorable smile warmed Su Ruixi’s heart.

If Sun Miao smiled, would she also have that mix of cleverness and slight silliness? Su Ruixi thought again, Sun Miao also had a food group. At this moment, she didn’t hesitate, immediately Didi-ed²⁰ Hip-hop Mei to ask if such a thing existed. Su Ruixi’s subtext²¹ was: I want to join the group.

Actually, directly asking Sun Miao would have been more convenient, but Su Ruixi’s awkwardness surfaced again.

Hip-hop Mei replied quickly. She seemed to have nothing to do 24 hours a day; after graduating, she wandered around everywhere daily, spending a lot of time on her phone, so she basically replied instantly.

【Yeah, Su-jie, want me to pull you into the group?】

Seeing this message, Su Ruixi suddenly sensed something wasn’t quite right. Not that there was anything wrong with Hip-hop Mei, but rather the words “Su-jie.” Previously, Sun Miao had also called her this, but today, she had changed it to “Susu”. She didn’t actually mind what Sun Miao called her; it was just a designation.

But now, seeing the words “Su-jie,” she realized that “Susu” sounded much more intimate. A term like Su-jie was too formal, so formal it seemed like they were merely strangers who had met only a few times.

The name “Susu”… wasn’t bad, actually.

Su Ruixi pressed her lips together slightly, thinking about Sun Miao’s expression when she called her “Susu.” Thinking back now, she guessed Sun Miao must have been somewhat apprehensive, perhaps afraid Su Ruixi would reject the name when she used it. But at that time, Su Ruixi hadn’t paid any attention to what Sun Miao called her; her mind was completely focused on her lunch, which was truly delicious.

Su Ruixi hadn’t replied for a while, and the other side asked again: 【Su-jie?】

Su Ruixi felt her phone vibrate, glanced at the message, and then said: 【Pull my alternate account in.】

【Since when do you have an alt account²²?】

【Since now.】

Su Ruixi was fast, registering an alt account right away. When choosing a name, the first thing that popped into her head was Sun Miao’s smile, followed immediately by that smiling Shiba Inu. As if driven by spirits²³, Su Ruixi named herself “smile.” After being pulled into the group chat by Hip-hop Mei, Su Ruixi began her journey of lurking²⁴.

Her arrival didn’t attract anyone’s attention because several people joined the group every day—some asked the boss for contact info and were pulled in, others were recommended²⁵ by others and then added, like her. Following the usual custom where a few people²⁶ said “Welcome,” no one paid any more attention to Su Ruixi.

They continued chatting about their own topic. Today’s topic, undoubtedly²⁷, was Sun Miao’s Jinling Duck Blood and Vermicelli Soup and her braised duck parts.

People who arrived late had no idea there were even braised duck parts, and they were all wailing over there:

【How could this happen? I love braised duck parts! When I went to eat the vermicelli soup, she didn’t say anything about duck parts!】

【That’s because they sold out early. Little Boss Sun even specifically limited purchases today so more people could get some—one portion per person—but they still sold out by noon. If my friend hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known about the braised duck parts either.】

Man Man and Xiao Xiao also surfaced²⁸: 【What?! There were braised duck parts?! Ahhh, damn it²⁹, why are we only hearing about this now?】

【Didn’t you all see Little Boss Sun’s message? She clearly said there were braised duck parts.】

【Everyone was discussing the duck blood vermicelli soup, so maybe they forgot about it.】

【Hahaha, people who came late really missed out. I bought a spicy portion of the braised duck parts. Just the aroma alone… imagine how delicious it would be with alcohol. [Image][Image]】

The photos this person took were quite good—the tempting color, the sprinkled chili flakes, the star anise beside it—just looking at them made you imagine how delicious these spicy duck parts must be. Even someone like Su Ruixi, who couldn’t handle spice at all, felt that these duck parts must be incredibly tasty; she just couldn’t handle them herself.

However, although she couldn’t eat the spicy ones, Sun Miao had given her five-spice ones! She could eat those!

【Can’t stand it! Kick³⁰ this show-off out!】

【Tomorrow! I’ll definitely go early tomorrow to buy duck parts!】

【Forget the duck parts for now, I invite everyone to come try the world’s best duck blood vermicelli soup. No joke, as a Nanjing native, I’ve never eaten such delicious duck blood vermicelli soup. What have I been eating for the past twenty-plus years? Can the duck blood they make even compare to Little Boss Sun’s?】

【But doesn’t Jinling Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup usually not include pea shoots?】

【Doesn’t matter, I’ve already defected from the Jinling Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup church³¹. Starting today, I am a loyal follower of Miao Miao Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup.】

【But the pea shoots really work well, they have the savory flavor of the duck broth, plus their own natural sweetness and crisp tenderness…】

【Now is indeed the season for pea shoots. I’ll make myself a plate of stir-fried pea shoots tonight.】

It was only at this moment that Hip-hop Mei learned that the emerald green vegetable was called pea shoots: 【So delicious, I want to eat them tonight too!】

The topics in the group chat changed rapidly, but because the group owner was Sun Miao, who made food, the topics, despite their variety, never strayed far from the main theme³²—they revolved solely around eating. Yet, everyone chatted away enthusiastically³³.

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