Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 75

Sold Out

As the student spoke, they sighed, “Thirty yuan for one serving, so two servings cost sixty. I definitely can’t afford that alone. Our dorm pooled our money to buy two servings to share back in the room. Everyone just gets a few bites.”

Last night was like this, and the next person stepped right up. From seven to eight-fifteen, Sun Miao’s hands hadn’t stopped moving. Things only eased up after a while because morning classes had started, marking the end of the first wave of customers.

Sun Miao finally stopped, sat down on her stool, and took a deep breath. The stall owners on her left and right stared in amazement. The lemon tea stall owner had chatted with Sun Miao a bit yesterday and struck up a conversation again, “Your changfen, is it really selling that well…?”

“Just lucky, just lucky.”

Sun Miao answered modestly. The lemon tea owner was genuinely curious, so she ordered a serving of changfen too.

Once she tasted it, she too was conquered by the changfen. Immediately after, her gaze towards Sun Miao couldn’t help but carry a hint of playful resentment.

Sun Miao didn’t understand why and was quite puzzled, only to hear the woman sigh deeply, “This changfen is seriously delicious! And you set up your stall right next to mine, isn’t this testing my willpower? Selling lemon tea in the morning barely makes any money as it is, and now I have to spend 30 yuan every so often in the morning? Isn’t that too cruel to my wallet?”

Hearing her say this, Sun Miao actually took it seriously. She started analyzing the pros and cons with the lemon tea owner, “Actually, lemon tea really doesn’t sell well in this weather, especially so early in the morning, nobody’s buying. Why don’t you change your strategy, sell something else? It might be easier to make money…”

Hearing Sun Miao say this, the lemon tea owner didn’t think Sun Miao was being meddlesome, because Sun Miao spoke very earnestly, and her concerned attitude was genuine.

The lemon tea owner remarked that Sun Miao was truly a good person, then waved her hand, “Don’t worry about me! I come out here to set up a stall to earn extra money and gather inspiration¹. Don’t let my appearance fool you, I’m actually a freelance artist. I mainly make money through drawing.”

Only then did Sun Miao realize her worries were unnecessary.

Seeing Sun Miao looked a bit embarrassed, the lemon tea owner continued, “But your changfen really is delicious! No wonder so many people buy it even at 30 yuan a serving, and you sell out in just one morning. If I had the money, I’d definitely eat changfen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”

Sun Miao felt a little bashful, “It’s just okay, I guess.”

Fortunately, having the lemon tea owner next to her chatting kept Sun Miao from feeling bored. Time passed quickly as the two talked and laughed, and the second wave of customers, those who woke up later, arrived as expected. Sun Miao’s small stall was instantly surrounded by a queue. Some were groups of roommates who came together, others were individuals representing their entire dorm.

Those who came in larger groups had their roommates hold their place in line while they looked around for other things to eat.

Their thinking was the same as the earlier student: thirty yuan for one serving was too expensive; eating it alone felt a bit extravagant. Better to share it with roommates and eat something else to fill their stomachs. This benefited the fried skewer stall nearby, which happened to be close to Sun Miao’s; many people ran over to buy rolled pancakes.

Someone in the back was even discussing plans like this: “Why don’t we go buy some flatbreads or plain steamed buns? I had the changfen yesterday, it was insanely delicious, especially the sauce inside. If we buy some plain buns, we can dip them in the sauce. That must be tasty too!”

Their discussion was overheard by many, who then dispatched their companions to buy flatbreads and plain steamed buns.

Of course, not everyone was a poor student. Some more well-off individuals bought one serving each, and some even bought a lemon tea from the neighboring stall to go with their changfen.

The lemon tea owner was already used to days where she sold nothing or only one or two cups in the morning. She came here in the morning partly to see if she could earn extra money, partly to experience the youthful atmosphere so she wouldn’t be cooped up at home all day, and also to gather inspiration.

Ah, the lines of those young bodies were directly imprinted in her mind; when she got back, the drawings would just flow.

Today, her luck was pretty good. Thanks to Sun Miao, during the wave from eight to nine, she actually managed to sell several cups of lemonade. As it neared nine o’clock, the lemon tea owner said goodbye to Sun Miao, then packed up her stall and quickly made her getaway.

The students here were also used to the stalls packing up and leaving on time, as urban management officers patrolled the area. But today, they were clearly reluctant to see Sun Miao go, “Boss… maybe you can come back later after the urban management officers leave?”

Sun Miao whispered, “I’m not leaving, it’s fine.”

The urban management officers drove past in their vehicle, whizzing by without even glancing at Sun Miao before leaving. Seeing this, the students finally relaxed. But they relaxed too soon, because Sun Miao—at nine-twenty—announced she only had a few servings left.

The good mood from moments ago, relieved that the urban management officers weren’t causing trouble, vanished without a trace at Sun Miao’s words. Now, the air was once again filled with complaints.

“Boss, you have to prepare more tomorrow!”

“I can’t prepare any more than this. This is all I can manage, otherwise, I won’t have enough time!” Sun Miao had no choice but to reply this way. She took out her phone and replied in the group chat: 【Sold out.】

Now the howls of despair weren’t just in front of her; the group chat erupted too.

【Life is getting harder and harder. Little Boss Sun, can’t you prepare some more in the afternoon and sell again tonight?】

【Exactly, exactly! I see lots of vendors sell for a while in the morning, then come back to sell again in the evening. You just sell out and go home, I don’t think that’s reasonable.】

【Yeah, wuwuwu, how could I possibly wake up that early? But I’m fine no matter how late it is at night.】

Sun Miao saw the messages in the group chat but acted as if she hadn’t. She was tired enough day after day, and she was earning quite a bit. Money was something you could never finish earning. She loved money, but there was no need to work herself half to death for it. Preparing ingredients for the next day in the afternoon was reasonable, but preparing for the evening too? Wouldn’t she be exhausted until midnight when she got back?

No way, absolutely not.

Sun Miao’s fingers tapped the screen, exiting the group chat. Then she saw Su Ruixi’s profile picture. She pressed her lips together, thinking about the scene when Su Ruixi had come looking for her that morning. The hesitant way Su Ruixi looked, clearly having something to say.

But Sun Miao warned herself inwardly: They were just ordinary friends; there should be some boundaries between them.

Even so, she still tapped on the profile picture and entered the chat interface. She thought for a moment before sending Su Ruixi a message: 【Susu-jie, I’m sold out for today. Just letting you know so you don’t make a wasted trip tonight.】

The indicator quickly showed “Typing…” on the other side. After a moment, Su Ruixi replied with two words: Okay.

Sun Miao sighed, stuffed her phone into her pocket, and prepared to leave. Just then, she saw the lemon tea owner. She had left before nine, so Sun Miao didn’t know what she was doing out at this time.

The woman walked straight towards Sun Miao, “Boss, closing up already?”

“Yeah, just sold out.” The lemon tea owner glanced at her phone, “It’s not even ten yet, you sell out so fast.”

Sun Miao replied briefly, but her spirits were low. Even though she had decided to draw a line with Su Ruixi, she couldn’t help feeling down because of her own actions. Usually like a little sun, this time she was listless and droopy.

The lemon tea owner, however, was quite observant, “Boss, you sold everything but you’re still not happy?”

Sun Miao paused, managing a slight smile, “No, it’s not about business, it’s my own stuff. You even noticed, how embarrassing…”

“Hey, what’s there to be embarrassed about?” She tapped her finger near the corner of her eye, pushing the skin up slightly, “Didn’t I tell you? I’m an artist, I’m pretty good at reading people’s expressions. Actually, your unhappiness wasn’t that obvious, it’s just that I have good observation skills.”

Sun Miao really couldn’t muster the energy to say much more. The lemon tea owner was tactful and didn’t keep chatting with her, “I came out to buy groceries for lunch. Gotta go, talk later, okay?”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Sun Miao rode away on her electric scooter. She was in a bad mood, not even humming songs on the way. The System also fell silent: 【I knew I shouldn’t have said your singing was bad. Now you don’t sing at all.】

“It has nothing to do with you.”

It wasn’t just Sun Miao who was in a bad mood; Su Ruixi wasn’t feeling great either. She had keenly sensed Sun Miao’s abrupt distance towards her, and the inexplicable withdrawal of that “special treatment.”

She had just sat down in her office and hadn’t been working for long when she heard her phone’s notification tone. Opening her phone, she saw Sun Miao’s message. She didn’t even need to open the chat interface; modern chat apps were terrible, displaying the message at the top and scrolling the full content. Su Ruixi read the message in one glance.

Sun Miao said she had sold out and told her not to come over, lest she make a wasted trip.

This was actually a very normal message, the most basic interaction between a vendor and a customer. But for some reason, Su Ruixi just felt unhappy. She knew very well it was because Sun Miao’s attitude towards her wasn’t like before.

She still remembered, whether it was during the beef pancake or the duck blood vermicelli soup days, as long as she had arranged it with Sun Miao beforehand, no matter how late, Sun Miao would wait for her and save her a portion.

And after that incident with Zhang Qiang, their relationship had clearly progressed. But now, it had suddenly become very distant.

At ten-ten, her assistant came in to order lunch for her. Only at that moment did Su Ruixi realize that from the time she read Sun Miao’s message until now, she hadn’t done a single bit of work. This was incredible for Su Ruixi. How could such a king of involution possibly space out inexplicably for half an hour when nothing else was wrong?

“Director Su, what would you like for lunch today? For vegetables, how about stir-fried baby cabbage or stir-fried pea shoots? Should we add minced pork steamed egg?”

As the assistant asked, Su Ruixi was still somewhat distracted. She mumbled an “Mm,” “Let’s go with that.”

But when lunchtime arrived, facing the takeout provided by Yuanfu Lou, Su Ruixi couldn’t manage more than a bite or two. The chef at Yuanfu Lou definitely had skills, but the food didn’t suit Su Ruixi’s appetite. She had only started liking stir-fried pea shoots because of Sun Miao’s duck blood vermicelli soup, but at this moment, even this stir-fried vegetable tasted like cardboard.

Her chopsticks brought the food to her mouth, she chewed mechanically a few times, then swallowed it down without really tasting. Her final verdict was just three words: “Tastes awful.”

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