Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 72

I’d Like to See

The City Management officer checked her documents, confirmed there were no issues, and just said one thing: “Make sure not to litter. Take your trash with you when you leave.”

“Okay, thank you.”

After the simple exchange, the City Management officer left.

This scene was witnessed by some innocent university students. A more outgoing one approached Sun Miao and asked, “Boss, how did you manage that? Why didn’t they shut down your stall?”

Sun Miao explained, “You’re actually allowed to set up stalls here, but it requires a lot of paperwork. If your documents are complete, you’re permitted to sell within the designated stall areas. My documents are all in order, you see.” She pulled out her Health Certificate and Business Permit from a large stack of proofs: “Look, these are the most basic and also the most important!”

These two directly addressed food safety. Seeing the “Food and Beverage” category on the Business Permit, the students were visibly relieved, and some started asking about prices. This group mainly consisted of students who didn’t have morning classes, so they got up late. Not wanting to eat at the university, knowing most stalls would be closed but still hoping against hope¹, they came out to try their luck².

If there were really no roadside stalls, they would just find a small streetside shop to grab a few bites.

But then they saw the scene of Sun Miao getting along amicably with the City Management officer and even caught Sun Miao, this lucky find³ who hadn’t closed up shop yet.

Students were frequent customers of roadside stalls, and one look at Sun Miao’s food cart layout told them what she was selling. However, when Sun Miao stated the price, the mentally prepared students were left dumbstruck⁴: “This… is a bit too expensive…”

“It’s pricier than the cafeteria and the shops…”

Sun Miao didn’t want to rip off students either. She somewhat embarrassedly scratched her cheek with a finger, then said honestly, “Actually, my cooking skills are really good, definitely worth it. You could give it a try…”

Students are the most innocent group, and also the most stubborn. Hearing the price, some inevitably thought: I’d like to see just what kind of changfen is so expensive they can sell it to me for thirty yuan a serving.

When most people try something with this mindset, the result is usually: Wow, I really got ripped off, never coming back again, wuwuwu.

But with Sun Miao, they absolutely wouldn’t be disappointed. Some students with relatively more pocket money still ordered changfen from Sun Miao.

Sun Miao’s stall table only had two seats, so most who bought it took it back to their dorms to eat. Only one person stayed behind, sitting by the roadside to eat.

After finishing, she remained silent for a long time. Her companions had already finished eating and returned. Seeing she was almost done, they couldn’t help asking, “How was it?” The subtext was: Did you get ripped off?

That person’s eyes suddenly lit up: “It’s delicious! So incredibly delicious! It’s hard for me to describe, but after eating this changfen, I realized… all the changfen I’ve eaten before was utter garbage! Totally incomparable! How come I’ve only just now eaten such delicious changfen?!”

“But it’s 30 yuan a serving, wuwuwu, my little wallet can’t support me eating this every day!”

Her roommates exchanged glances and finally decided: No way, is it really that good? I have to try it! But thirty yuan a serving really was a bit expensive, and they had already eaten breakfast. So, the few of them bought one serving, deciding to take it back and each try a bite to see what it tasted like.

If it was really good, they’d come back at noon.

Needless to say, basically, once they had that bite, they were definitely coming back at noon.

However, after nine o’clock, the crowd indeed thinned out considerably, and Sun Miao had some downtime. She sat on the chair behind the food cart and started browsing online for a fluorescent writing board. Sun Miao chose one with decent quality, high sales volume, and good reviews, and placed an order.

Express delivery is very fast nowadays; it would probably arrive in a few days.

While Sun Miao was buying the fluorescent writing board, her changfen was rapidly spreading among the student groups. It started with a female student who had bought the changfen. She had a habit of taking photos, and before eating, seeing how visually appealing Sun Miao’s changfen was, she deliberately snapped a picture.

The moment she took the first bite, she felt thirty yuan was absolutely worth it! Being someone who liked to share, she quickly gave each of her roommates a piece. In the end, her roommates shamelessly ate more, leaving her with only a few pieces herself.

She posted about this incident in their major’s group chat, and things immediately spiraled out of control:

【Is it really that good? Don’t lie to me, if you lie, I hope you fail three classes!】

【Which place is it? I’ve tried all the changfen near the school, is it really that exaggerated?】

【Is this picture Photoshopped? This changfen looks way too good, the pink minced meat and golden egg are almost showing through the skin.】

The girl confidently guaranteed: 【Not Photoshopped, unedited original photo, it’s really delicious! I hadn’t seen this place before either, probably new recently, called “Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar”. Although it’s a bit pricey, it’s worth it!】

Upon hearing the name Miao Miao’s Mobile Food Bar, the group chat exploded like thunder: 【And you say you’re not here to advertise? I asked about that place, one serving costs thirty yuan!】

【The food cart is so cute, but the price is such a rip-off!】

【Seriously, I give up, who would actually think such expensive changfen is delicious? Are your living allowances all that high?】

Now, the girl wasn’t happy, even pulling in her entire dorm to start arguing back and forth with people in the group chat. Similar scenes were also unfolding in the group chats of several nearby schools. Most people who saw it just ignored it and lurked, but because there were contrarians and people genuinely recommending it, the fire burned bigger and bigger.

But the contrarians were ultimately a minority. Sun Miao’s changfen was so delicious it instantly harvested a batch of die-hard fans. Friends they knew also stood up, saying she definitely wasn’t the type to advertise and was genuinely sharing because she thought it was delicious.

Many people were persuaded and planned to go try it after class. Thirty yuan might be expensive, but most students still held the mentality of “I’d like to see just how good a thirty-yuan changfen can be” and prepared to check it out.

Students finished classes at different times. Sun Miao had just caught her breath, feeling like not even an hour had passed, when customers started arriving again.

This time, the students were particularly proactive, seemingly already aware that Sun Miao charged thirty yuan. One after another, they came up and directly said, “Is this the changfen that sells for thirty? Give me one, let me try it.”

Nobody could stay stubborn in the face of Sun Miao’s changfen. The final result was… they were all won over, and quickly returned to their group chats to share with everyone: 【Confirmed⁵, this is indeed changfen worth 30!】

【It’s really delicious, I’ve never had changfen this good before, I can’t even describe it… Its skin is crystal clear and translucent, full of rice fragrance, the meat filling is minced so smoothly, and the sauce, needless to say, is amazing!】

【Those who said it wasn’t worth 30 earlier, come out here! Didn’t your teachers teach you ‘No investigation, no right to speak’⁶? You have to try things yourself before you can comment!】

【Wuwuwu, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it wasn’t worth 30. Forget 30, it’s worth 300!】

【Stop driving up the price!】

Because of this wave of student reviews, even more people became curious about just how delicious it had to be to win over so many people, even claiming it was worth 300. By the time the morning’s four class periods ended, more people poured into the street, forming a long queue in front of Sun Miao’s small stall.

Those who got their changfen, some couldn’t wait and tasted it on the spot, immediately exclaiming: “Delicious!”

It wasn’t summer yet, but the students were already like frogs, their cries of “Delicious” rising and falling one after another. Sun Miao was dumbfounded—no, really, there’s no need, truly no need, let’s go back to the dorm and eat properly, no need to stand by the roadside holding it!

Freshly made changfen is still quite hot!

Some well-off and leisured regular customers arrived, looking at the long queue at the small stall with some surprise: So many people? Could they even squeeze in?

But thinking that they had come all this way, turning back without buying anything felt somewhat unwilling.

However, there were simply too many students. They completely submerged Sun Miao’s small stall. Moreover, they were unusually patient about queuing. Most importantly, their etiquette was high; they even knew to make the line turn so as not to block the non-motorized vehicle lane, obediently queuing only on the sidewalk.

And—nobody cut in line.

Everyone was very orderly, either chatting with friends beside them or looking down at their phones, only moving forward when the line ahead moved.

There were really too many people. Sun Miao could see her prepared ingredients were about to bottom out. She had actually prepared a lot. Except for when she first started selling egg fried rice and malatang, when she worried about not selling out and didn’t prepare much, and later when she reduced the amount for beef pancakes during the May Day holiday, she had always prepared ample ingredients, even for the duck blood vermicelli soup at that remote location.

Even so, she still sold out in just one morning and noon.

Actually, seeing only a few servings’ worth of ingredients left, Sun Miao hesitated for a moment. The image of Su Ruixi flashed through her mind. Her heart asked itself: Should I save a portion for Su Ruixi? But very quickly, she remembered her previous painful resolution not to be a person of no value anymore, not to keep thinking about Su Ruixi like this.

Just then, the customer in front asked, “Boss-jiejie, is mine ready?”

“Right away.”

Sun Miao looked at the long queue before her and announced, “There’s only enough for four more servings. Everyone behind that, please don’t queue anymore.”

Hearing Sun Miao’s words, the queuing customers grumbled one after another: “How come there’s no more? It sold out that fast? Don’t do this!”

Especially the fifth person in line, who was about to break down: “No way?! Am I that unlucky?! How could it be my turn right when it runs out?! Ahhh, how could this happen?!”

Sun Miao couldn’t do anything about it, just saying, “I’ll be back tomorrow morning at seven. Don’t worry everyone, I won’t run away. If you want to eat, just come tomorrow morning.”

Since Sun Miao had said so, and she truly had no more ingredients and couldn’t possibly conjure more, those in line could only sigh, shake their heads, and leave the queue. The remaining four felt incredibly lucky.

As she sold the very last serving, Sun Miao looked at the young girl in front of her, her expression somewhat conflicted. The girl, however, was oblivious, paid her money, and happily walked away with her changfen. She didn’t know that this portion was originally meant to be saved by the boss for her crush.

But now, Sun Miao had given it away, because she truly realized that her concern for Su Ruixi was becoming a bit too much. So much concern that it had bred… signs of something not quite right.

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