Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 78

How has Susu-jie been these past two days?

This realization made Sun Miao inevitably overthink: Why hadn’t Su Ruixi come? Was it because she was angry? After all, given how Sun Miao had suddenly treated her, it stood to reason that she might find it baffling and then get angry. Or perhaps work was busy, making it inconvenient to take a detour over here.

She had just recently terminated her collaboration with Zhang Qiang, and now she had to negotiate with new partners; being busy with work was understandable.

Or… had her stomach condition flared up? Was she feeling so awful that she couldn’t even get out of bed?

Various thoughts converged in Sun Miao’s mind. She thought about many possibilities, and the complexity of these thoughts made the corners of her mouth turn down slightly. Especially the last thought—just imagining Su Ruixi unable to even crawl out of bed because of stomach pain, lying there pitifully, frowning and clutching her stomach, made her heart ache a little.

Just then, the Hip-hop and Yabi duo finished eating, paid, and were preparing to leave. After hesitating repeatedly, Sun Miao finally called out to them, “Wait a moment.”

Hip-hop Mei turned her head, “Little Boss Sun, what’s up?”

“It’s just… um…” Sun Miao hesitated, considering her words. In the end, she realized that no matter how she phrased it, her concern would still be obvious. So she gave up and simply asked frankly, “How has Susu-jie been these past two days? Has she been eating on time? Her stomach condition is quite serious, has it flared up recently?”

Sun Miao knew Hip-hop Mei was unreliable, but she hadn’t expected her to be this unreliable. Hearing Sun Miao’s words, her mouth dropped open, and the first thing she said was, “Huh? She has stomach problems?”

At that moment, Sun Miao also closed her mouth, took a deep breath, and thought inwardly: Fine, fine, fine, you useless thing!

Yabi Mei was calmer. She first shared what she knew: “We actually don’t know about her stomach problems. Although Su-jie and we are friends, we don’t see each other often usually. Recently, we only met yesterday. If you’re worried, we can help ask her later. But she’s quite strong-willed; even if her stomach condition did flare up, she wouldn’t necessarily tell us.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Sun Miao knew Su Ruixi’s personality, but the fact that they were willing to ask for her was already very good, so she thanked them straightforwardly.

Hip-hop Mei nodded and asked with a grin, “So, Little Boss Sun, since we helped you out, can we get a discount?”

Faced with this request, Sun Miao still replied, “No.”

“You stingy miser!”

After exchanging a few more words, the Hip-hop and Yabi duo left together. On the way to the parking lot, Hip-hop Mei asked Yabi Mei, “Do you think Little Boss Sun is so concerned about Su-jie because she actually likes her?”

“Don’t worry about things like that. First, ask Su-jie what her situation is. You promised Little Boss Sun, so you have to follow through.”

“You’re right.”

After they got into the car, Hip-hop Mei didn’t start the engine but took out her phone, found Su Ruixi’s number, and prepared to call. Yabi Mei asked, “Isn’t it a bit too early?”

Rarely, Yabi Mei was a bit slow, and Hip-hop Mei was clever for a moment. She said smugly, “You just don’t understand Su-jie. How could that queen of involution possibly not be up at this hour? She definitely arrived at the company bright and early. Even if she hasn’t, she’s probably stuck in traffic right now, perfect timing to take my call on speakerphone!”

But after dialing, Su Ruixi took a while to answer, and her voice sounded somewhat weak and listless, “Hello?”

“Su-jie, you really weren’t up yet?”

“Mm.”

Hip-hop Mei was stunned. Her Su-jie, the queen of queen of involutions, woman among women, was actually still in bed at this hour? Hip-hop Mei swallowed hard, remembering what Sun Miao had said earlier. She hesitated for a moment and asked, “Su-jie, did your stomach condition flare up? Little Boss Sun was just asking about you, really worried about your health.”

Hearing Hip-hop Mei’s words, the other side fell silent for a moment, then asked, “She’s worried about me?”

“Yeah.”

Hip-hop Mei chattered on for a while, then suddenly switched to another topic, asking how things were with the Zhang Qiang matter. Although Hip-hop Mei didn’t handle business affairs, Yabi Mei beside her had a good head for business and knew quite a bit, occasionally feeding her information about the business dealings of people around them.

The main purpose was actually to make Hip-hop Mei stay alert, so she wouldn’t be clueless about situations and offend people without realizing it.

Su Ruixi replied that it was already resolved.

Afterward, the topic changed too quickly. Su Ruixi was genuinely uncomfortable, and having just been woken up, her mind was very muddled. As if her brain had short-circuited, she also started speaking without thinking, just like Hip-hop Mei, and suddenly blurted out nonsensically, “Is it possible for a person to become gay later in life?”

Hip-hop Mei’s cluelessness always manifested itself inadvertently. She knew she should keep Sun Miao’s secret and that gossiping behind someone’s back was wrong, but in that instant, she thought Su Ruixi must have already known about Sun Miao’s situation to be asking her this.

So, Hip-hop Mei answered without even thinking, “Huh? Su-jie, you know Sun Miao is gay—”

“Shut up, you!” Yabi Mei had just realized something was wrong and reached out to cover Hip-hop Mei’s mouth, but in the time it took her to turn from the passenger seat, Hip-hop Mei had already blurted almost everything out. In the instant Yabi Mei covered her mouth and the line went silent, Hip-hop Mei realized: Oh, so… Su-jie didn’t know?!

“Um, Su-jie, you didn’t hear what I just said, right?”

“No.”

—Which meant she heard everything!

“I’m hanging up.”

Before Hip-hop Mei could even try to evade, Su Ruixi hung up first. The call disconnected. Hip-hop Mei looked at Yabi Mei, completely at a loss, “What do I do? I think I messed up.”

Yabi Mei was utterly exasperated. “You blockhead! Can’t you think before you speak sometimes? Su-jie just asked a random question, and you spilled all of Little Boss Sun’s secrets!” But what could be done? As her friend, she had to help clean up the mess.

Yabi Mei sighed, “Get out of the car. Let’s go back. Tell Little Boss Sun about Su-jie’s situation—she probably really is feeling awful from her stomach condition and is resting at home. And apologize properly to Little Boss Sun.”

Hip-hop Mei nodded, knowing she had done something wrong, and followed behind Yabi Mei back the way they came. On the way, she kept thinking, then suddenly asked, “How did you know Su-jie’s stomach condition flared up?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Her voice sounded weak, and unless she was really uncomfortable, she wouldn’t possibly still be at home at this hour.”

“Then why did you guess earlier that she wasn’t sleeping…”

Yabi Mei shot her a look; talking to idiots was exhausting. Little Boss Sun had already said as much, plus the atmosphere between the two seemed a bit awkward since yesterday. With Su Ruixi in a bad mood, busy with work lately, and not eating properly on time, the probability of her stomach condition flaring up increased significantly.

“Walk faster. I must have had terrible luck for eight lifetimes to be best friends with you. Next time, think before you speak.”

The two arrived back at Sun Miao’s stall. Coincidentally, a wave of customers had just left, and Sun Miao’s stall was empty. The Hip-hop and Yabi duo approached. Yabi Mei nudged Hip-hop Mei, who then lowered her head and went up to Sun Miao.

Not daring to look up, Hip-hop Mei opened her mouth with an apology, “Little Boss Sun, I’m sorry.”

Sun Miao found it a bit strange. The current Hip-hop Mei looked like a scolded puppy. She was wearing a bright red jacket today, but under this gloomy atmosphere, even the clothes didn’t seem so vibrant.

“What’s wrong?”

Hip-hop Mei explained everything exactly as it happened, almost without any embellishment. After finishing, she started bowing and apologizing profusely, repeating endlessly, “I’m sorry, Little Boss Sun, I really didn’t mean it. I wasn’t thinking straight back then, I just spoke without thinking. I’m sorry, really sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose!”

She was so anxious, on the verge of tears, completely different from her usual carefree and flamboyant self. Sun Miao fell silent for a moment. She actually didn’t like people casually telling others about her sexual orientation behind her back, let alone telling her crush.

But at this moment, Sun Miao also felt a sense of relief, roughly the feeling that something she didn’t have the courage to say herself had been revealed by someone else, making things somewhat easier for her.

She also felt a bit terrified, like a deer stretching its neck, waiting for the axe to fall, unsure of how Su Ruixi would react. Maybe she would never come to her stall again, and the two would become strangers from then on.

Hip-hop Mei apologized for quite a while. Sun Miao sighed and finally said, “Forget it. Let it go this time. Just don’t do it again.”

Hearing Sun Miao’s words, Hip-hop Mei finally caught her breath. She nodded seriously, “I definitely won’t say it again. This time I just didn’t think clearly. Thank you, Little Boss Sun, for forgiving me. I truly feel very sorry.”

Sun Miao waved her hand, indicating they should drop the subject. Just then, customers arrived, so Sun Miao stopped paying attention to Hip-hop Mei.

After a moment, Hip-hop Mei asked tentatively, “Little Boss Sun, I haven’t been blacklisted by you, right?” Sun Miao almost laughed out of exasperation. Yabi Mei acted decisively, giving Hip-hop Mei a light smack on the head, then apologized to Sun Miao again before pulling Hip-hop Mei away.

As they walked away, Yabi Mei could still be heard scolding Hip-hop Mei, “You really are brainless, always bringing up a sore subject! I think you really want to be blacklisted! If you get blacklisted, I definitely won’t buy anything for you. I don’t want to get blacklisted along with you because of the stupid things you do!”

They walked further away and got back into the car. Only then did Hip-hop Mei remember the detail she had forgotten, “What did Su-jie mean earlier by ‘becoming gay later in life’? Who was she talking about? Do I know them?”

“You don’t know them.” Yabi Mei sat with her arms crossed, rolling her eyes irritably. In reality, Yabi Mei had a guess: Su-jie asking that question, nine times out of ten, was because of herself. In that case, perhaps Little Boss Sun would even have to thank this idiot later, because she was the one who pierced the veil.

The idiot was still muttering over there, “Oh… right, why didn’t you make the call earlier instead of letting me do it? Don’t you have Su-jie’s contact info too?”

“Because I’m not that close to her.” Yabi Mei didn’t tell the whole truth. Of course, not being close was one aspect; if she had known Hip-hop Mei would mess up like this, she definitely would have called herself. But ultimately, it was because: Su-jie wasn’t feeling well and was in low spirits; calling at such a time could easily get one scolded!

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