Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 80

Dual Attack

Strangely, Su Ruixi felt she wasn’t so unwell anymore; she felt much better overall. Su Ruixi nodded at Sun Miao, “I’m much better now.”

Sun Miao breathed a sigh of relief, “Susu-jie, you eat first, I’ll go get busy.”

“Okay.”

After speaking, Sun Miao turned back and resumed making changfen. From Su Ruixi’s angle, she could just see the sight of her back as she worked diligently, in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, the apron strings extending from the front and tied at her back. Because of the ties, her waist appeared even more slender.

She was constantly busy, with no time for anything else; her hands hardly ever stopped. Her movements were deft—making the changfen, packing it, and handing it to customers without any pause. From Su Ruixi’s perspective, it was exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

Before she knew it, the scene overlapped with the one from her previous dream. The setting was no longer Sun Miao’s small stall, but her home.

Su Ruixi shook her head, quickly banishing the image from her mind. She sat properly in her seat and began to eat the changfen. Even though she had just eaten it yesterday morning, the taste now struck Su Ruixi as even more different than before.

Of course, it was even more delicious.

She wasn’t in a hurry. Although her stomach was completely empty and uncomfortably hungry, she still had the leisurely inclination to pick up a piece with her chopsticks and examine it carefully first. Different from her previous mindset, this serving of changfen seemed all the more precious.

The changfen was a thin layer, yet it had a pleasant chewiness. Resting on her chopsticks, it looked crystal clear and translucent. A light brown sauce clung to it, dripping like pearls. The sun was bright today, and its light fell upon the changfen, reflecting a crystalline glow, making it seem as if it had a natural pearly filter.

The most amazing part was that the liquid egg and minced meat inside were faintly visible. The golden egg yolk was particularly distinct, a small speck yet impossible to ignore. The minced meat, wrapped by the rice noodle sheet, had turned a delicate pink.

This mouthful of changfen felt soft and cute.

Only after examining it did Su Ruixi slowly bring it to her mouth. It had to be said, Sun Miao really had a knack for cooking. The first thing to enter her mouth was the sauce coating the rice noodle sheet; a savory aroma wafted over her. Then, as Su Ruixi took a bite, the full flavor of the changfen burst forth.

The minced meat was soft and tender yet had a slight graininess that was noticeable, and after being fully coated in sauce, it carried its own inherent savory taste. Complemented by the egg, the flavor was indescribably delicious. The most important, and also the most amazing part, was still the outer rice noodle sheet.

The rice noodle sheets Sun Miao made, after steaming, appeared soft and smooth but also possessed a certain resilience; they didn’t just melt in the mouth but required chewing. During this chewing process, the rice fragrance became more pronounced.

This bite of changfen, the more she ate, the more fragrant it became.

From the initial burst of flavor upon entering her mouth to the slow permeation of the rice fragrance; after swallowing, she only felt it left her wanting more. Su Ruixi quickly picked up another piece. This one was from the outer edge, with more rice noodle sheet and less filling.

Eating it brought a different sensation. The edges of the noodle sheet had little filling; the sheet, soaked in sauce, was like a piece of satin dropped into water. When picked up, that part would tremble slightly. Because of this, it had absorbed the sauce thoroughly.

The pure rice noodle sheet combined with the sauce was, surprisingly, what Su Ruixi preferred even more. Occasionally encountering bits of minced meat and egg, that sudden burst of flavor made it impossible to stop eating.

Su Ruixi had originally wanted to savor this changfen slowly, but the reality was that she quickly ate it all. In the disposable container before her, only a thin layer of sauce remained.

Su Ruixi looked at the sauce and felt it was a bit of a waste.

If she used this sauce to mix with rice, it would probably taste very good too. It was just that there wasn’t much sauce, only enough to mix with a little rice… Su Ruixi never thought she would one day have such a frugal idea.

She forced her gaze away from the sauce, picked up the drink in front of her, and continued to sip it. She chewed on the straw, watching Sun Miao’s back.

Sun Miao still hadn’t stopped; she was working diligently. Su Ruixi noticed that Sun Miao seemed to have sweated a little on the back of her neck. Just moments ago, she couldn’t even hear their voices clearly, but now she could distinctly see Sun Miao’s sweat… One could only say that the human body is truly influenced by one’s mood and comfort level.

Sun Miao always used a hairpin to hold her hair up, only letting it down when riding her electric scooter. Her hair would be released, a neat ponytail swinging behind her, even the tip of the ponytail swaying with its owner’s joyful mood.

Su Ruixi didn’t know that Sun Miao didn’t use a hairpin when riding her little electric donkey purely for reasons of inconvenience and safety. If she were to clip all her back hair up with a hairpin, her helmet wouldn’t fit well; moreover, there were too many gruesome examples in real life.

Many women, while riding, wore hairpins, and after accidentally bumping into someone and falling, that hairpin could be incredibly dangerous.

She usually used a hairpin to hold her hair because long hair was really inconvenient when working. She had also considered cutting her hair but still felt she looked better with long hair.

However long Sun Miao made changfen, that was how long Su Ruixi watched. By twelve noon, her changfen was sold out. Su Ruixi also heard the students behind her wailing in anguish.

“How does it sell out so fast every day! On the first day, it at least lasted until one o’clock!”

“Boss, I’m begging you, make a little more! Just a little! It’s almost my turn!”

“Wuwuwu, who on earth said 30 yuan per serving of changfen is expensive? I haven’t seen you guys buy any less to leave some for me!”

“Damn it! That person who bought four servings for one dorm, come out here! If you had bought one less, I could have eaten!”

Facing the voices rising and falling one after another, Sun Miao was already used to it; anyway, these students were just talking, they wouldn’t actually do anything. Sure enough, after wailing for a while, they dispersed to buy other things to eat.

Perhaps because Sun Miao had recently been setting up her stall until noon, some other vendors felt there was an opportunity to seize at midday, and starting today, they also set up stalls at noon, including the lemon tea stall owner next to her. Sun Miao was surprised and had even managed to find a moment to ask earlier, “You’re not going back at noon?”

“Nope.”

When on earth does this person find time to draw?

Sun Miao complained inwardly, but the other person had her own plans, so she didn’t say anything. Besides, the lemon tea business was clearly better at noon; many students would see it and come over to buy a cup. This made the lemon tea stall owner overjoyed: this was much easier than earning money by drawing.

After all the customers had left, Sun Miao took out another steamer basketful she had prepared, packed it up, and handed it to the lemon tea stall owner next to her. This was something the owner had bought and paid for earlier; she just didn’t want it at the time, intending to save it for lunch.

Sun Miao agreed, because the lemon tea stall owner’s action wasn’t exactly a pre-order; at most, it was like when Su Ruixi had previously bought braised duck snacks and hadn’t taken them, instead borrowing Sun Miao’s fridge to store them. After this, she busied herself for a moment, then carried the last serving of changfen to the back, placed it on the table, and asked Su Ruixi, “Susu-jie, do you want this serving of changfen? I saved one.”

Su Ruixi blinked and said on the spot, “Yes.”

Actually, the moment Sun Miao gave that serving to the lemon tea stall owner, Su Ruixi’s eyes went wide. She didn’t know what was between them and had thought the lemon tea stall owner received the same treatment as her, something Sun Miao had specially saved. At that moment, Su Ruixi only felt her eyes sting and her heart ache with a sour feeling.

See, Sun Miao didn’t like her. If she liked her, how could she treat her like this? She didn’t even save one for her but saved one for someone else.

Most importantly, Su Ruixi realized she wasn’t Sun Miao’s only special person. The specialness she had wasn’t unique; others had it too. At this thought, Su Ruixi, who had just stopped feeling dizzy, whose stomach no longer hurt, and who had felt her spirits lift, wilted again.

Only when Sun Miao arrived in front of her carrying this serving did Su Ruixi perk up again. Faced with Sun Miao’s question, Su Ruixi answered immediately. She couldn’t afford to act coy now, or she wouldn’t even get to eat.

That lyric echoed in her mind again: “On what basis does the latecomer get to be on top?”¹

Sun Miao sighed. Her action wasn’t very obvious, but Su Ruixi still noticed it. Su Ruixi was about to ask something—she didn’t know what she wanted to ask, just subconsciously felt she should say something to change the subject.

But before Su Ruixi could figure it out, Sun Miao spoke, “Susu-jie, how could you let yourself get into this state? Not eating properly on time, just recklessly mistreating yourself. You already have a weak constitution; when I saw you before, your stomach problems were quite severe. Now that it’s finally gotten a bit better, you’ve tormented yourself like this again.”

“When I saw you just now, your face was deathly pale, almost like a sheet of white paper. You’re already like this, yet you still came over, still stood in the crowd queuing. Aren’t you just not taking yourself seriously?”

Sun Miao’s words left Su Ruixi with no room for rebuttal; she just lowered her head in shame.

But actually, Sun Miao’s sigh was for her own lack of resolve. She had clearly told herself not to be like this again, but the moment she saw Su Ruixi’s pale face and distressed appearance, her heart ached for her, and all resolve immediately crumbled.

Not only did she thoughtfully give her a cup of water first, but she also held back a serving of changfen for Su Ruixi. She hadn’t actually done much, but in these small things, her heart was already swaying.

Carrying a bit of indignation at her own weakness, the words she spoke were somewhat blunt. After she finished speaking, she felt she had spoken too harshly. Seeing Su Ruixi’s lowered head, she didn’t know what to do.

It was at this moment that Su Ruixi looked up. Unconsciously, the image of a cotton doll surfaced in Sun Miao’s mind, floating right beside Su Ruixi, maintaining the exact same posture as Su Ruixi, slowly raising its head to look directly at Sun Miao.

Su Ruixi’s voice was soft, tinged with a hint of grievance. Her expression was also quite aggrieved, pretty much on par with the cotton doll beside her.

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The author has something to say:

Su Ruixi said softly:

“Because… if it’s not something you made, I can’t really eat it.”

She had said it like that; what could Sun Miao do?

Sun Miao was grievously wounded, down and unable to rise, incapable of resisting.

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