Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 74

Su Ruixi is Here

Early the next morning, Sun Miao rode her food cart over to the spot under the streetlight. To her left and right were still the lemon tea stall and the fried skewers stall, with a gap still empty in the middle. Sun Miao pushed her cart up, and the lemon tea boss next to her greeted her.

“You didn’t set up your stall last night? I came over at 4:30 PM, and later quite a few students asked me if there was someone here selling changfen for thirty yuan a serving. If you’d set up last night, you probably could have sold quite a bit.”

Sun Miao smiled at her and was just about to say, “Right, I didn’t come last night,” when she noticed someone approaching. Sun Miao looked over and saw Su Ruixi. She froze for a moment. She rarely ran into Su Ruixi this early, and besides, she hadn’t saved a portion for Su Ruixi last night. She already felt a bit guilty¹, and now seeing her so suddenly, she almost lost control of her expression².

“Susu-jie…”

“Mm, I…”

Su Ruixi didn’t get her words out either, because she was interrupted. Perhaps sensing the power of the student crowd³, the hip-hop yabi duo, the little nurse, the customer who lived nearby, and the beef pancake true love party member Tong Yuwei, had all been waiting here early.

Especially Tong Yuwei, who directly urged, “Jiejie, hurry up! We’ve been waiting for ages. Quick, make mine, or I’ll be late for work. I want two servings, both to go, no chili. Jiejie, how could you be so cruel? How could you invent such a heresy⁴ as putting chili in changfen?!”

Her words made Hip-hop Mei unhappy. “What are you talking about? What’s wrong with adding chili? I bet you don’t know how delicious Little Boss Sun’s chili is! And who are you anyway, calling Little Boss Sun ‘Jiejie’? Even I haven’t called her that!”

Their bickering made it impossible for Su Ruixi to join the conversation. Sun Miao shot Su Ruixi an apologetic look, signaling that now wasn’t a good time to talk, but actually turned away quickly as if fleeing a disaster and started setting up her little stall.

While Sun Miao was busy, Hip-hop Mei started chatting with Su Ruixi. “Yo, Su-jie, you’re here too? Didn’t expect you’d actually detour on a workday just to buy changfen.”

Yabi Mei also greeted her politely and nodded in agreement with Hip-hop Mei’s statement.

“It really is rare.”

Su Ruixi didn’t look pleased. “Just get in line.” She knew it would be hard to say much in this situation today, and besides, she had arrived first, so she should buy first. Flustered⁵, Su Ruixi ordered one serving, no chili, to go.

If the hip-hop yabi duo hadn’t been there, she probably would have chosen to stay and eat before getting another portion to go. But with the two of them present now, plus all the people and prying eyes, Su Ruixi felt there was no need to chat. So, carrying the takeaway portion, Su Ruixi said to Sun Miao, “I’m leaving now.”

Sun Miao just grunted “Mm” without any other reaction. Su Ruixi felt something wasn’t quite right, but didn’t say anything. However, Tong Yuwei, who was next in line, found it strange. She was the second person.

Watching Su Ruixi walk away while the boss was still making her own order, Tong Yuwei remarked, “How come that sister got the same treatment as us today? Jiejie, have you finally stopped playing favorites?”

As soon as she said this, Hip-hop Mei behind her suddenly got excited⁶. “What’s going on? What do you mean ‘same treatment’? What do you mean ‘stopped playing favorites’?”

Sun Miao didn’t want Tong Yuwei to reveal what she’d done, so she quickly packed Tong’s order, silently urging her to leave quickly. Tong Yuwei, who had just been anxious about getting to work, wasn’t in a hurry anymore. She just stepped aside slightly, not disturbing Sun Miao’s stall, but her mouth didn’t stop.

“You guys don’t know! When I was buying beef pancakes before, I twice saw the boss deliberately keep a few beef pancakes aside, not selling them. I wondered what was up, and then I saw her specifically saving them for that sister who was just here.”

Her words made Hip-hop Mei and Yabi Mei fix their gazes on Sun Miao’s face. Sun Miao lowered her head and asked, “What do you two want?”

Heh, that guilty look tells you Tong Yuwei wasn’t lying.

The two of them still ordered what they wanted, chatted a bit more with Tong Yuwei, and only after Sun Miao finished making their food did they take their portions from her and walk away. As mentioned before, the parking lot here was actually a three-minute walk.

As the two walked, they spoke softly, “Hey, do you think Little Boss Sun might… like Su-jie?”

“Probably not.” Yabi Mei analyzed calmly.

But Hip-hop Mei thought it was very likely she did. “If she didn’t like her, would she act like that?”

“Little Boss Sun told us before that she’s gay, so it wouldn’t be strange if she developed feelings for Su-jie. Su-jie has such a good personality, she’s pretty, ambitious, and even though she’s a bit cold and proud, she’s definitely not a bad person. If I were gay, I’d definitely develop a good impression of Su-jie too.”

“Developing a good impression doesn’t mean it’s love. Turning attraction⁷ into love is very difficult.”

“But look, Little Boss Sun even saves things for Su-jie privately. What kind of special treatment is that? Treatment even I don’t get! Doesn’t that prove that Little Boss Sun really likes Su-jie a lot?”

“Who do you think you are⁸, talking about treatment you don’t get?”

“Ah! I’ll fight you!”

Amidst their playful scuffle, the topic passed. Because both Hip-hop Mei and Yabi Mei knew that if Sun Miao really did fall for Su Ruixi, it would lead nowhere. Because Su Ruixi… she was straight.

Su Ruixi hadn’t actually dated before, never been with a guy, but they were close in age and had definitely chatted and shared their ideal types when they were younger. Back then, Su Ruixi had revealed she was sapiosexual⁹.

Mm, a partner preference that fit her image perfectly. The vague type she mentioned was always someone who looked refined and courteous, wore glasses, and seemed very intelligent. Based on this, Hip-hop Mei didn’t think Su Ruixi was gay.

But Yabi Mei clearly saw more than she did.

She hadn’t known Su Ruixi for just a year or two; even if not as long as Hip-hop Mei, she understood Su Ruixi quite well. Anyway, she probably understood Su Ruixi better than Hip-hop Mei did.

She hadn’t seen much of Su Ruixi lately, but just from those few short minutes this morning, she realized this matter wasn’t simple. What kind of person was Su Ruixi? Famous in their circle for being a hyper-competitive ‘involution king’¹⁰. You could barely see her face day to day because of work; showing up at various entertainment venues was even more impossible.

Unfortunately, she classified roadside stalls in the ‘useless’ category.

How could such a person actually detour on a precious workday morning at seven AM just for a serving of changfen? Plus, Yabi Mei had firsthand information from the golf course and knew the reason Su Ruixi had frequently appeared there last week…

Combining that with the locations of the previous malatang stall at Cuiting Yayuan and the beef pancake stall at Jinsha Building, she vaguely sensed she was onto something.

Seeing Su Ruixi again today made her even more certain that there was definitely something going on that they didn’t know about. It seemed Su Ruixi’s ‘straight girl’ status wasn’t so solid anymore.

Yabi Mei’s observational skills were astonishing; Su Ruixi’s hesitation to speak, Sun Miao’s eagerness to avoid her, and the strange atmosphere between the two—she saw it all. Yabi Mei glanced at Hip-hop Mei again. Her previous saying, ‘The pavilion closest to the water gets the moon first¹¹,’ really wasn’t wrong. Look, wasn’t the person about to ‘get the moon first’ appearing now?

If Su Ruixi and Sun Miao really got together, wouldn’t she still be able to occupy the advantageous position of ‘friend of Sun Miao’s lover’? Sweet.

As for Hip-hop Mei… better not tell her. Let her go play wherever she wants¹².

Su Ruixi really wasn’t herself today. Holding the changfen, she went to the company. She drove away from the Education Park at 7:10 AM and arrived downstairs at her company building just before 8:30 AM. Carrying the changfen, she went upstairs. At this time, quite a few employees were already arriving one after another.

Su Ruixi’s company was on an upper floor of Jinsha Building. After entering the elevator, she pressed the button and stood towards the back. But when the elevator doors opened [at her floor], she started walking out [the wrong way]. Just then, she ran into her assistant who was getting in from the first floor. The assistant called out to her, “Boss Su, are you going out again?”

“…No.” She responded and stepped back into the elevator.

The assistant kept staring at the thing dangling from her hand. Cheong fun was a common food; the assistant had eaten it many times, so they recognized what Su Ruixi was carrying at a glance. Not only had Su Ruixi bought changfen, but the crucial point was—she was carrying it directly in her hand without any attempt to conceal it!

This was somewhat unbelievable for Su Ruixi, because she was someone who cared a lot about face and was also a bit contrary/awkward. According to Su Ruixi’s personality, she would definitely have stuffed it into the lunch bag she’d previously asked the assistant to buy, rather than carrying it so openly in her hand.

The assistant looked several times to confirm they weren’t mistaken.

But Su Ruixi, usually very alert, didn’t notice this at all. The assistant realized this and was stunned… Seriously, why was Boss Su acting so strangely today? Yesterday afternoon, she was inexplicably in a bad mood, and today, arriving at work carrying changfen, she seemed completely crestfallen¹³.

Su Ruixi entered her office and started eating the changfen. It tasted just as good as it had the evening before last. Although it had gotten a bit softer due to being steamed up in the container for a while, the flavor was still impeccable. Yet, as Su Ruixi ate, she found it tasteless. She pressed her lips together, unsure what to do, and could only sigh.

She had actually noticed it too—Sun Miao seemed to be avoiding her somewhat.

She didn’t understand. Everything had been fine the night before last; Sun Miao had even brought her dinner, and she had given Sun Miao a helmet. Why were things like this now?

While Su Ruixi puzzled over it in her office¹⁴, Sun Miao was too busy to spare a thought for Su Ruixi.

Indeed, work could make a ‘love brain’ subside.

Not long after the regulars left, just past 7:10 AM, a large group of students surrounded Sun Miao’s food cart. The one at the front was the person who had recommended it in the group chat yesterday. She had classes during the third and fourth periods in the morning, making her much later than others at lunchtime. By the time she came to buy, Sun Miao had already announced she was sold out.

Having learned her lesson from the painful experience¹⁵, she came extra early today.

“Boss, quick, quick, give me two servings! Two servings! My whole dorm is waiting for me to bring them back.” Seeing Sun Miao start making her order, she continued effusively¹⁶, “Boss, the changfen you make is too delicious, it conquered our entire dorm… It’s just a pity it’s so expensive.”

---

---