Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 64

I Won’t Sell to You

At this moment, Zhang Qiang suspected she had been cursed. Was that Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup really that delicious, making her toss and turn, her mind filled with nothing but Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup?

—Eh, it really was that delicious.

Zhang Qiang was going crazy. People can be trapped by things they couldn’t get in their youth, always thinking about them. But even when old, people can still be trapped by things they can’t get. Especially when Zhang Qiang was this rich! This rich, and she still couldn’t eat a bowl of Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup that only cost thirty yuan? Was this reasonable?!

If Sun Miao and Su Ruixi knew, they would definitely say: Reasonable.

Zhang Qiang was bothered all night, and when she woke up the next morning, there were dark circles under her eyes topped with two large eye bags. She used makeup to cover her haggard face and immediately had her driver head straight for the golf course, not even bringing her assistant.

However, by the time Zhang Qiang arrived, a long queue had already formed in front of Sun Miao’s Miao Miao Mobile Food Bar. Because Zhang Qiang had gotten up and come over, it was already past eight, right during the peak queuing time. Zhang Qiang originally wanted to let her driver go queue, because she had just argued with Sun Miao yesterday, and the Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup had even been poured away. Going herself now would seem a bit like showing weakness.

But after several times, that little boss probably remembered her license plate. Letting the driver go down while she sat in the car would be a bit like covering one’s ears while stealing a bell¹.

After all, she had been through big storms and waves; there was no need to act like a shrinking turtle over such a small matter.

Zhang Qiang tidied her clothes, stepped out of the car, and joined the back of the queue.

She saw that people who had finished buying had something else besides the Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup. In a transparent plastic bag, that thing was particularly noticeable… it was duck products.

Zhang Qiang’s eyes widened slightly. She had stayed in Jinling for a long time in her youth and naturally knew that Jinling’s duck products were also exceptional. In terms of fame, Hanyang Duck Neck² was more well-known, but Zhang Qiang preferred Jinling’s duck products.

Since that little boss made Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup so delicious, she figured the duck products wouldn’t be bad either. Zhang Qiang swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Her stomach was practically flat with hunger, unable to even make a sound.

When a person is extremely hungry, their stomach won’t even growl anymore.

The people in front queued up one by one and left. A few people looked at Zhang Qiang several times. Zhang Qiang was already used to such gazes and didn’t care at all. She knew that there would definitely be busybodies who would post the scene of her queuing for Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup online, surprised that a rich person like her would queue for street food.

As a businesswoman, she even began to consider: if such a thing really happened, she could even leverage it, promoting an image of being down-to-earth and not forgetting her roots…

Finally, it was Zhang Qiang’s turn. Before she could even speak, the little boss opposite her spoke first: “Director Zhang, I told you yesterday, I won’t sell to you.”

“???”

Wasn’t that something from last night? And in front of so many people, she was being so disrespectful?

Zhang Qiang was stunned. Because of this unexpected turn of events, she didn’t even have time to react. But before Zhang Qiang could react, Sun Miao stopped paying attention to her and instead looked at the customer behind her: “What do you want? Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup is thirty-one yuan per serving, duck products are fifty-one yuan per serving, you can’t pick the contents, they’re fixed.”

“Hehe, one Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup to go, no chili, a little bit of vinegar, no cilantro, everything else. Spicy duck products, also to go.”

Sun Miao said “Mm,” put the duck blood and other ingredients into the basket to cook, and packed the duck products for the customer. She told the person “Just a moment,” and then looked at the next person. She had four baskets, so she could cook four servings at once, and serve several customers at a time.

Zhang Qiang, forgotten by Sun Miao at the side, was astonished. She wanted to argue with Sun Miao, but now was different from last night. There were people all around, especially many watching, so she definitely couldn’t bring herself to argue with Sun Miao. She couldn’t even say anything harsh, only manage a stiff smile, and then leave.

After getting into the car, Zhang Qiang slammed the door shut and shouted loudly: “This is outrageous! I’ve never suffered such a grievance!” She cursed for a while, then told the driver to first take her into the golf course. Only after she was seated in the VIP lounge did she tell the driver to come out and buy for her.

The driver also joined the queue. He queued for a long time. When it was finally his turn, before the driver could even say a word, Sun Miao looked at him and said: “I won’t sell to you.”

“Huh? Why not?” The driver was also stunned. He subconsciously asked this question.

Some people who had finished buying or were still queuing hadn’t left. They pricked up their ears, waiting to hear what was going on. They were already very curious when Sun Miao didn’t sell to Zhang Qiang just now. Now there was another person she wouldn’t sell to, and the other person even asked “Why,” so of course everyone wanted to wait for Sun Miao’s answer.

Sun Miao stirred the contents in the basket with one hand. In the waiting interval, she put her chopsticks aside, looked up at the driver, and then spoke: “If you’re buying it to eat yourself, I’ll sell it; if you’re buying it for Director Zhang, I won’t sell it. I said I wouldn’t sell to her, and I won’t.”

Now everyone understood: Oh, so this person was running an errand for Zhang Qiang!

But a new question arose: How did Sun Miao figure it out? How did she know he was Zhang Qiang’s person?

Without waiting for the driver to say anything else, she continued to call out “Next,” and continued making Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup.

The driver was helpless and could only go back to report, which almost made Zhang Qiang die of anger again. She thought about it and found someone else to go queue. She guessed it was because Sun Miao had seen the driver picking her up and dropping her off each time, which was why Sun Miao guessed he was running an errand for her.

This time she found someone else, someone who had no connection to her on a daily basis and had never appeared in front of Sun Miao. Sun Miao definitely wouldn’t be able to know, and she would still be able to eat the Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup.

But the outcome was exactly the same. The moment that person arrived in front of Sun Miao, they were seen through by Sun Miao. The person Zhang Qiang sent still tried to be stubborn: “I’m buying this to eat myself, it has nothing to do with Director Zhang. How can you not sell to me?”

“Even if it has nothing to do with her, I won’t sell to you. Because I feel like it.”

Actually, that person’s line “it has nothing to do with her” felt a bit like ‘300 taels of silver are not buried here’³. But Sun Miao didn’t need to find an excuse at all. What she sold, she could sell to whoever she wanted, and not sell to whoever she didn’t want. In this day and age, there was no such thing as forced buying and selling.

Later, two more people were sent, and they were still recognized by Sun Miao at a glance.

Some customers who weren’t in a hurry to leave watched from the side, including the Hip-Hop Yabi Duo. Hip-Hop Mei sighed emotionally: “How did Little Boss Sun figure it out? The first one was a golf course staff member, so you could say there was some connection to Director Zhang, but the two after that, we had no idea who they were. How did she spot them from the crowd at a glance?”

Yabi Mei also found it strange, but what could you do when someone just had the ability to recognize people? Her hands didn’t stop; she kept tapping on her phone. Hip-Hop Mei was a bit curious and leaned over to ask her: “What are you doing?”

“Taking pictures of all of them and sending them to the golf course manager to identify. If they’re golf course employees, they’ll get their pay docked. Running out to do errands for others during work hours, isn’t that like eating from your bowl while looking at the pot? And while I’m at it, I’ll cancel the scalper⁴ I found, so Little Boss Sun doesn’t blacklist⁵ me too.”

Hip-Hop Mei’s eyes widened. She found the key point in Yabi Mei’s sentence and started complaining: “You actually found a scalper?!”

“Yeah, yesterday I saw you let your driver go buy and Little Boss Sun didn’t say anything, so I was planning to find a scalper to queue for ten or eight servings for me. But today I saw Director Zhang get blacklisted directly, and I thought about it and decided against it. Getting blacklisted by Little Boss Sun just to eat a few more bites of duck products isn’t worth it.”

Yabi Mei had a lot of schemes. Hip-Hop Mei looked at Yabi Mei with a look of disdain, and then thought about letting her driver buy duck products for her yesterday: “Will Little Boss Sun blacklist me because of what I did yesterday?”

“Probably not. If she blacklisted you, you wouldn’t be able to buy today.”

“What exactly is her standard for blacklisting people?”

Yabi Mei glanced at Hip-Hop Mei and stated the answer in her heart: “All rights of interpretation belong to the organizer.” This one sentence left Hip-Hop Mei speechless.

But what Yabi Mei said was also the truth. The right of interpretation indeed belonged to Sun Miao. Did she need to explain to others who she wanted to blacklist? It was a seller’s market now; she had the final say in everything.

If you’re not satisfied, don’t come to her stall.

“So bossy, so likable.”

They chatted for a while longer. By now, it was past the mealtime, 9:45 [21:45]. There was no one queuing in front of Sun Miao’s stall. Zhang Qiang also didn’t send anyone else. Many of the onlookers dispersed, still chatting with relish about Director Zhang’s situation. Seeing there was nothing else happening, the duo stood up.

Before leaving, they each packed a serving of Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup: “Good thing the Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup isn’t limited, otherwise how would I live?”

“People won’t die if they don’t eat Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup.”

“…” The two of them left, bickering. Sun Miao saw that there was no one left and sat down on a chair to rest for a while. She saw someone sneaking around watching her. After a while, another person came to the front of the stall, ready to buy Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup.

But before the person could even speak, the System⁶‘s alarm blared: [This one too! This one was also sent by that bad Director Zhang! He even took Director Zhang’s money! And he was secretly badmouthing you with Director Zhang!]

Alright, this person is also OUT.

Sun Miao said directly: “Go back and tell Director Zhang, I really won’t sell to her.”

The person who came collapsed: “No, how on earth did you find out? How do I look like Director Zhang’s person?! Huh?!”

Sun Miao didn’t reply. She just looked at the other person with a profound and inscrutable expression.

These people couldn’t even dream that Sun Miao had a System, and it was the kind of System that would tell Sun Miao everything. With the System’s ‘heavenly eye’⁷ ability, these people’s actions had nowhere to hide; Sun Miao caught them accurately every single time.

This person ran off crying. Sun Miao remained seated behind the food cart, playing on her phone.

At 10:30 PM [22:30], Su Ruixi’s car drove over. She parked by the roadside and walked over with a graceful bearing. However, unlike usual, she didn’t open her mouth to ask for lunch. Instead, her eyes were full of complexity as she looked at Sun Miao. Sun Miao was taken aback, unsure what to say, and could only awkwardly scratch the back of her head.

It was Su Ruixi who spoke first. Her voice was soft, sounding very gentle: “You… you don’t have to do this for me. Doing things that offend people like this isn’t good for you.”

Oh, Su Ruixi knew about what happened this morning.

Sun Miao wasn’t surprised. After all, Hip-Hop Mei was also Su Ruixi’s good friend.

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