Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 71

Like I’m Gonna Steal Yours?

But since they were already here, she couldn’t exactly kick them out. So, she had them wait a moment while she set up the small folding table. Because there were quite a few stalls nearby, Sun Miao followed the example¹ of the fried skewer stall next door and placed it behind her food cart.

This blocked the sidewalk a bit, so Sun Miao could only apologize mentally to the passersby and took special care to avoid the tactile paving for the visually impaired. When placing the chairs, she didn’t put out many, just two – one side against the flower bed, and the other side was near the tactile paving, so she decided not to put one there.

“You two sit for a bit, I need to get the stall ready.”

“Okay.”

After they sat down, the owner of the lemon tea stall next door couldn’t help but lean over and ask, “Isn’t this your first time setting up here? You already have customers coming specifically for you? Are they your friends?”

“I used to have a stall elsewhere. These are regulars I gained back then.”

The lemon tea boss was even more confused. Just how delicious must this changfen be for customers to follow it around? There were four or five stalls selling changfen on this street alone, and if worst came to worst, you could order it via food delivery. Was it really necessary to chase after one specific vendor?

Especially judging by their conversation just now – they knew in advance the boss would be setting up here, found a KTV nearby, and deliberately stayed up late just to eat changfen…

This world was too crazy, she couldn’t quite understand it anymore.

Sun Miao hadn’t even finished setting up her cart when she saw another customer arrive. This was the one from before who said she lived nearby. Her face beamed with a smile: “Little Boss Sun, you’re finally here! Quick, quick, quick, I need one changfen to go, gotta eat it on the way, I still have to squeeze onto the subway later.”

She didn’t stop talking: “This is pure bliss, right near my home! Now I can come buy your changfen the moment I open my eyes every day, wuwuwu, I never thought I’d be this lucky!”

Sun Miao had to interrupt her and pointed behind her, “Why don’t you go sit over there for a bit? I still need to organize things, and there are two people ahead of you…”

“No problem, I’m not in a hurry, take your time! I woke up extra early for this!”

Saying this, she walked towards the back, even greeting the Hip-hop Yabi duo. Seeing no empty seats, she wasn’t annoyed at all and just sat directly on the edge of the flower bed.

The lemon tea boss watched this unfold, feeling even more baffled: What is going on?! That’s three people already!

While the lemon tea boss was still in shock, Sun Miao had already started cooking. The preparation for changfen is the difficult part; once that’s done, making it is much easier for Sun Miao. Not only could she make multiple servings at once, but each batch only took three to five minutes.

Since they were all regulars from the group chat, Sun Miao remembered their preferences well, but just to be safe, she asked, “One serving each, what flavors?”

“Little Boss Sun, no limit this time, right?” This was asked by Hip-hop Mei.

“No limit.”

The one living nearby only wanted one serving, to go, same flavor as before. The Hip-hop Yabi duo each wanted two servings – one to eat here, one to go. Hip-hop Mei said, putting on an act², “Add chili to the takeaway one, none for the one here. Eating spicy stuff so early in the morning isn’t good.”

“Fake.” Yabi Mei offered a simple critique, then answered, “One to eat here, one takeaway, both spicy.”

The customer getting one takeaway paid first. Sun Miao’s small speaker announcement rang out: “Customer payment received, 30 yuan.”

The lemon tea boss next door stared wide-eyed: What? Thirty?! Did she hear that right?! Didn’t she only order one serving?!

While the lemon tea boss was reeling, Hip-hop Mei scanned the payment code. Four servings, she paid 150 yuan.

“My treat this time. Next time, you do my makeup.”

“You think your one hundred fifty yuan is worthy of my cosmetics?”

The two bantered for a while. Sun Miao was already numb to Hip-hop Mei overpaying, but it made the neighboring lemon tea boss think: This changfen seller could clearly just rob people directly, yet she actually bothers making a few servings of changfen!

Once the changfen arrived, Hip-hop Mei and Yabi girl started eating happily, while the other regular customer left with her order.

Sun Miao’s changfen certainly didn’t disappoint the pair’s expectations. After getting hers, Hip-hop Mei didn’t rush to eat but observed it first. Sun Miao’s changfen was exceptionally translucent, the layer of rice noodle shimmering like a thin sheet of crystal covering the filling, allowing the colors of the egg and minced meat inside to peek through.

The pinkish minced meat looked incredibly bright under the cover of the noodle sheet, adorably pink and plump. When the sauce was poured over it, sliding down the smooth surface, it made one’s mouth water³.

Faced with such deliciousness, Hip-hop Mei couldn’t hold back herself. She swallowed hard and picked up her chopsticks to dig in.

The disposable chopsticks pierced the changfen, and the noodle roll tore open easily. Yet, when she lifted it with her chopsticks, she found that the noodle sheet, along with the minced meat, egg, and a sprinkle of green onion inside, held together without falling apart⁴.

Hip-hop Mei didn’t know how this was achieved – easily pierced, yet able to hold the filling without scattering. She didn’t have time to investigate either; she just opened her mouth and stuffed the chopstick-full of changfen into her belly.

In that instant, the unique texture of the changfen exploded in Hip-hop Mei’s mouth. The noodle was smooth and soft, and you could still taste the rich aroma of rice as you ate it. The texture of the minced meat inside was also unmissable, yet it blended perfectly with the egg wash, lacking the usual slight gaminess of pork, instead neutralized by the noodle sheet.

Hip-hop Mei felt like she had never eaten such delicious changfen, especially the flavor of the sauce – it was exceptionally dominant. The sauce itself wasn’t overly heavy, but it was the absolute star flavor-wise, the savory-umami taste hitting immediately, perfectly unifying the flavor of the changfen.

One bite after another, she simply couldn’t stop. Initially, Hip-hop Mei was wearing sunglasses, but they were quite cumbersome, especially when lowering her head to eat, as they kept slipping down. Hip-hop Mei thought about it, then directly took off the sunglasses and placed them beside the table.

After that, she launched a full-scale attack, polishing off the changfen completely.

Compared to Hip-hop Mei, who ate like Zhu Bajie devouring ginseng fruit⁵, Yabi Mei opposite her was clearly much more refined. So, when Hip-hop Mei finished, Yabi Mei hadn’t yet. Hip-hop Mei sat opposite her, staring fixedly at her.

At this moment, Yabi Mei sensed danger and activated her food-guarding mode. She pulled the changfen closer to herself, her sleeve brushing the table, completely blocking it off from Hip-hop Mei.

“Do you have to be like that?! It’s not like I’m gonna steal yours, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

Hip-hop Mei was exasperated, but after calming down, she said something Yabi Mei found unacceptable: “Let me have a bite or two, I haven’t tried the spicy changfen yet, just give me one or two bites.”

“Heh heh.” Yabi Mei sneered. She knew it, this person was definitely trying to snatch her food!

“No.”

“Stingy! Hope you shrivel up from cheapness!”⁶

Yikes, she seemed to recall saying that to Sun Miao too.

Yabi Mei remained completely unmoved, even speeding up her eating pace. After she finished and saw Hip-hop Mei still looking at her pitifully, Yabi Mei couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation, “Can’t you just buy another serving?”

“If I buy another one, I feel like I won’t be able to finish it. I just want to taste the flavor. Wasting food is bad.”

“If you can’t finish it, you can take it back for your parents to eat.”

Hip-hop Mei’s eyes lit up: “Boss, two more servings to go, one spicy and one not spicy!” The non-spicy one was for her mom, the spicy one for her dad. She could sneak a couple of bites later, her dad definitely wouldn’t notice. Her mom was older and shouldn’t eat overly spicy things in the morning anyway. Her dad, well, whatever, let him croak for all I care.

Sun Miao didn’t know what Hip-hop Mei was thinking; she just packed the orders. Hip-hop Mei only paid 50 yuan; she liked rounding numbers. She had just paid 150, overpaying by 30, so being 10 short this time wasn’t a big deal. But if it happened again by more than a little, Sun Miao wouldn’t agree to it.

After the three left, Sun Miao had already earned 230 yuan since opening, making the lemon tea boss next door quite envious.

“Just three customers and she’s already earned this much…” A typical vendor would probably need to sell around twenty servings to make that amount.

Sun Miao responded modestly, “Just lucky.”

However, what happened next didn’t seem to have much to do with luck. Because the Little Nurse arrived, pulling a large suitcase along with her colleague! Hip-hop Mei had mentioned in the group chat last night that parking was difficult here; she had parked in a nearby lot and had to walk three minutes, reminding everyone to be aware.

The Little Nurse took the advice, so the large suitcase she brought this time had wheels. The wheels scraped against the ground, making a particularly loud noise. She opened her mouth and said, “Little Boss Sun, twenty servings!”

“Okay, we have spicy and non-spicy. How do you want them divided?”

“Huh? Changfen can be spicy too? Then ten of each, please.”

Sun Miao swiftly started making the order. Hearing the announcement of six hundred yuan received, not only was the lemon tea boss somewhat numb to it, but the fried skewer boss on the other side was also shocked: What’s going on, selling changfen, is it really that profitable?

Fortunately, Sun Miao didn’t have much business after that. Passing students glanced over, but most didn’t stop at Sun Miao’s little stall because they had their usual spots they frequented. Occasionally, a student asked the price, and upon hearing thirty yuan per serving, their eyes clearly held the question: Are you crazy asking for that much money?

It was precisely because of their lack of stopping and their questioning looks that the vendors on either side of Sun Miao breathed a sigh of relief: Thank goodness, the world is still normal, I haven’t gone crazy. But thinking carefully, in less than an hour this morning, she had already sold 830 yuan worth, almost a thousand!

Even so, that was scary enough.

The lemon tea boss hadn’t sold more than a few cups all morning. The fried skewer boss was doing slightly better, managing to sell some wraps with fried skewers.

Around 9:00 AM, some vendors in better spots up front had already sold out and packed up. The lemon tea and fried skewer bosses also started packing up to leave. Seeing Sun Miao hadn’t moved yet, the lemon tea boss kindly reminded her, “The urban management officers come around here at nine. If you don’t want your stall confiscated, you should probably leave soon.”

Sun Miao nodded and said, “Thanks,” but still didn’t make a move. Seeing her like this, the lemon tea boss didn’t say any more, finished packing, and left.

Just as she said, exactly at 9:00 AM, the urban management officers were seen driving over in their small comprehensive administrative enforcement vehicle. Spotting Sun Miao, they got out and approached. Fortunately, Sun Miao was prepared; she had already taken out all her permits and documents.

“You’re not allowed to set up a stall here” – she was used to hearing that!

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