Consolation
While Su Ruixi was eating her duck blood vermicelli soup, Sun Miao sat beside her watching, occasionally saying things to distract Su Ruixi. This was about all she could do; Sun Miao couldn’t help Su Ruixi much beyond that.
Sun Miao analyzed the situation. Su Ruixi had come to meet a client today, but the expression she had when she came out indicated that neither the outcome nor the process of the meeting had gone well. At noon, she had already mentioned that the client wanted to give her an initial show of strength1, and now it seemed this tactic had indeed been effective.
Sun Miao couldn’t possibly help Su Ruixi close the deal either, so she could only try to cheer Su Ruixi up by talking about interesting things.
Su Ruixi finished her bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup just as it was almost five o’clock. She stood up, scanned the QR code to pay, and thanked Sun Miao sincerely: “Thank you.”
Sun Miao quickly waved her hands. “It’s nothing, I didn’t really help you with anything.” She thought for a moment, then called out to Su Ruixi as she was leaving, “Things at work are never always smooth sailing2. I had a really unlucky day today too…” She briefly recounted what had happened that morning.
Su Ruixi was a bit surprised. “I didn’t expect something like that could happen.”
Regarding the fact that Yabi Mei, who had come with Hip-hop Mei, had helped Sun Miao, Su Ruixi wasn’t surprised at all. This golf course was part of Yabi Mei’s family’s businesses—and an insignificant one at that. If she couldn’t sort things out with a single phone call, she wouldn’t be able to navigate their social circle.
However, since Yabi Mei hadn’t revealed her identity, Su Ruixi wouldn’t spill the beans either.
Sun Miao nodded and continued, “Even a small stall like mine runs into trouble often, let alone Susu-jie with such a big company. Besides, when you encounter setbacks, you just have to work hard to overcome them.”
When she said this, there wasn’t a trace of negativity in her tone. Even when talking about the security guard chasing her away that morning, she used a very humorous tone, her voice rising and falling rhythmically, as if telling a story unrelated to herself. At the end, her tone became exceptionally sincere, truly wanting to comfort Su Ruixi.
At this moment, Su Ruixi had a slightly mischievous thought3. She pressed her lips together and suddenly asked, “What if you can’t overcome it?”
“Hmm…” Sun Miao choked for a second. Just as she was about to rack her brains4 for an answer, she saw the smile at the corner of Su Ruixi’s mouth and immediately understood that Su Ruixi was teasing her5. Sun Miao couldn’t help but laugh too. “Then what? Just have to make do6, I guess. The worst that can happen is giving up on it. For example, let’s take today’s incident again—if I really couldn’t set up my stall here, I definitely wouldn’t just stubbornly stay here.”
“Worst comes to worst, I’ll set up my stall at their back gate.”
“If even that doesn’t work, I’ll just go somewhere else. The world is vast; if I’m not welcome here, I’ll find somewhere else that is.7“
Sun Miao had a really good attitude. Thanks to her words, Su Ruixi indeed didn’t feel the initial sense of frustration anymore. She laughed a few times. “You’re right. It’s just one collaboration. Even if it fails, it’s not a big deal.” She tilted her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Who doesn’t fail in life? Failure is just an experience, that’s all.”
The way she said it, it really sounded like she had never failed before. Yeah.8
Sun Miao sighed inwardly with admiration, thinking this version of Su Ruixi was incredibly cool9.
After exchanging a few more words, Su Ruixi waved her hand as a goodbye to Sun Miao. Sun Miao asked again, “Coming tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
Su Ruixi didn’t turn around completely, just turned sideways, revealing a smile—a smile full of determination10. “I’ll definitely come.”
This sentence actually had two meanings: she would definitely come tomorrow—the contract wasn’t signed, the deal wasn’t done, so of course she had to come; she would definitely come tomorrow—to her little stall to eat duck blood vermicelli soup.
That’s great.
Sun Miao genuinely felt this way.
Half an hour later, at half-past five, Sun Miao’s customers started increasing. Some had rushed over straight after work. They had heard in the group chat that the duck products were gone. While eating their duck blood vermicelli soup, they complained to her: “Little Boss Sun, prepare more duck products tomorrow! It’s not even evening yet, and you’re already sold out!”
“Yeah, yeah! You don’t know how much I was drooling11 over the pictures in the group chat this afternoon. You can’t even imagine how much I love duck products!”
“I can’t imagine how delicious your duck products must be either, wuwuwu… They describe it so extravagantly12, but nothing beats tasting it myself.”
Of course, there were also more philosophical customers: “You should count your blessings13. At least the duck blood vermicelli soup isn’t bought up twenty or thirty bowls at a time, otherwise, we might not even get to drink that. This duck blood vermicelli soup is really delicious. I declare my love for beef pancakes is over.”
“You traitor! Malatang is the best! Malatang!”
Eating duck blood vermicelli soup amidst the noisy chatter, Sun Miao also felt the customers’ atmosphere was quite good. However, she still had to explain: “I really can’t make too many duck products. I make them fresh. Later when I go back, I still need to buy ducks and ingredients. Freeze them tonight, and they’ll be just right for tomorrow.”
“Then Little Boss Sun, save a portion for me, I’ll definitely come tomorrow!”
Sun Miao replied, “No, that won’t work. It has to be first come, first served. If I take reservations, it’s unfair to others. Besides, I’ve already implemented the one-portion-per-person rule; there really isn’t a better solution. If everything relied on a reservation system, then people who aren’t in the group chat would never get to buy any.”
“I definitely want to meet more people and have more customers.”
Sun Miao’s words left the customers speechless. They could only sigh and plan to come back on the weekend to buy again. While talking, one customer couldn’t help but shiver. “This place is too remote, and it’s halfway up a mountain. Although the mountains here aren’t high, more like small hillocks14, it’s still in the mountains. The sun’s about to set now, and this little breeze feels quite cold when it blows.”
“It’ll probably get colder in a couple of days. I saw the weather forecast; there’s a high wind warning.”
“Don’t say that… feeling the wind blow, then taking a sip of vermicelli soup, warms the heart right up.”
By half-past six, Sun Miao’s stock was completely gone. Fortunately, most customers had left too. Afraid that some regulars might still come at the last minute15, Sun Miao announced in the group chat that everything was sold out and prepared to close up shop and go home. As she was getting ready, a car drove out from the golf course and stopped by the roadside.
There were still a couple of customers who hadn’t left, sitting nearby eating something that, with a quick glance, was clearly duck blood vermicelli soup. Sun Miao wiped the counter of her food cart, planning to fold up the tables and head home once the customers finished eating.
Someone got out of the car, first looked at what the two customers were eating, then went back to the car to talk for a few moments before coming over to Sun Miao. “Are you selling duck blood vermicelli soup? One portion, to go.”
“I’m already sold out for today. I’ll be back tomorrow, from 7 AM to 7 PM. If things sell out quickly, I’ll go home early.”
Sun Miao explained with a smile. The person nodded and left.
After the customers finished eating, Sun Miao packed everything into the designated spaces in her food cart. She started up her small electric scooter but didn’t go straight home; instead, she went to the wet market. Then followed the familiar routine: picking out ducks, having their throats slit16, buying the necessary duck parts.
Back home, Sun Miao didn’t rest either. She cleaned the food cart, prepared the ingredients for the next day, and put the braised duck products into the refrigerator to chill.
While she was working hard, Su Ruixi wasn’t idle either. She had spent too much time at the golf course today. Although she had used her tablet for remote work during that time, the amount of work she could handle was limited. Back home, Su Ruixi opened her laptop and continued processing unfinished tasks.
She kept busy until half-past eleven at night. Su Ruixi reached back to gently knead her neck before finally standing up. Before going to the bathroom for a shower, she heard her stomach growling. Su Ruixi paused for a moment; she realized it was probably because she had eaten dinner too early, and she had been busy until so late, which was why she was hungry.
Su Ruixi wasn’t used to eating before bed, but it was hard to sleep on an empty stomach. She decided to make herself a cereal bowl.
Su Ruixi’s cooking skills were practically zero17. The most she could probably manage was making a cereal bowl or instant noodles, maybe at best chop up a tomato for a cold salad—using scissors, not a knife [LP: Hey! What’s wrong with using scissors?!]. When Su Ruixi went to the fridge to get milk, she paused again. She saw the plastic bag sitting in the fridge.
Inside were the duck products she had brought back from the car—Sun Miao’s creations18.
Her first instinct was to reject the idea of eating the duck products. Because, well, braised duck things—the flavor must be strong. She didn’t really like strong-flavored food to begin with, let alone at night. Eating such meaty, oily things so late at night, was that really good for her?
But… Sun Miao made them…
This thought completely invalidated her previous rejection. In the end, her hand didn’t reach for the milk but picked up the duck products instead.
Su Ruixi mentally scolded herself for being such a person with weak willpower. Drinking milk appropriately was good for her stomach problems, but eating duck products not only offered no benefits but would actually increase the burden on her system.
Sometimes, Su Ruixi was quite good at following doctor’s advice. It’s just that she hadn’t realized her stomach problems were purely caused by skipping meals; eating regularly was more important than anything.
Holding the duck products, Su Ruixi found a plate and poured them onto it. Lying on the plate, the duck pieces looked quite tempting.
Unlike the spicy (mala) duck products shared in the group chat earlier, Su Ruixi’s were five-spice19 flavored. They were brown overall, without any messy chili flakes. Sun Miao had cut all the pieces up; it wasn’t a whole duck neck or a whole duck gizzard. Each piece was cut into small, uniformly sized chunks, scattered across the plate in twos and threes.
Although it felt inappropriate, Su Ruixi thought of a line of poetry—”Large pearls, small pearls cascade onto a jade plate.”20 Even without arrangement, this plate of duck products made one’s mouth water21.
After spending some time in the refrigerator, the intense aroma had dissipated somewhat, but leaning closer, one could still smell the savory braised fragrance.
Su Ruixi’s stomach growled even more insistently. She hesitated for a moment, then used chopsticks to pick up a piece of duck neck. If Hip-hop Mei had been there, she would definitely have called her pretentious, because Hip-hop Mei… would have just used her hands.
Su Ruixi hesitantly took a bite of the duck neck, and then discovered: Sun Miao hadn’t lied. There was no gamey taste, and it was exceptionally delicious.
LP: I have this feeling that that last person was that Zhang woman
And yes, I use scissors lmao. Got a bit of trauma when I almost chopped off my thumb trying to peel mango with a large knife! I was a stupid kid
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That zhang woman must not meddle in these two’s relationship! I’m getting hungry again..
My mom uses scissors all the time in cooking. Even to cut bits of chicken sometimes. It is normal.