Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 89

Is street vending this profitable nowadays?

Actually, what the lemon tea boss said made Sun Miao quite happy, because thanks to her, some of the surrounding stall vendors had the opportunity to set up their stalls for longer periods and no longer had to live in daily fear of being chased away or having their carts confiscated. This was indeed a good thing.

As for what the lemon tea boss said about some people fishing in troubled waters, that would certainly happen. It’s impossible for everyone in this world to have strong self-discipline; there were those who, like the lemon tea boss, abided by the law, and naturally, there were also those who were reluctant to pay the processing fees or feared trouble and simply didn’t bother to apply.

While Sun Miao was talking with the lemon tea boss, the fried skewers boss on the other side silently took out his own booklet. The usually serious-looking fried skewers boss also smiled and pointed to his business license.

The lemon tea boss said with a smile, “Congratulations ah, you were saying just a couple of days ago that you didn’t know if you could get it. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to.”

The fried skewers boss smiled shyly, “It might have been impossible, but thanks to the changfen boss, many people went to apply, so the authorities handled it as a special case for special matters. After they rectified the situation for our batch of applicants, we were able to get them.”

“I originally had some non-compliant modifications on my food cart, which they made me remove. A rather enthusiastic staff member also told me how I should rectify it, and then it was approved.”

Sun Miao also congratulated him. She felt genuinely happy because the previously chaotic street vending situation on her side had been adjusted and had become safer.

They hadn’t chatted for long before the student army descended. Sun Miao got busy again, and also took a moment to tell the students that she wouldn’t be setting up her stall here starting tomorrow. The students’ eyes widened one by one: “Ah? Then where will you set up your stall?”

“I don’t know either, it’s not certain yet.”

As expected, many clever students wanted to add Sun Miao as a friend. Sun Miao could only reply, “I’m not adding friends anymore, there are too many people. I don’t know if we’ll meet again. If fate allows, we might run into each other next time.”

Her words had a certain persuasiveness. Students of this era firmly believed that they were fated to meet the boss again. Holding their phones, they said loudly, “We’ll definitely meet again! Boss!” Sun Miao wanted to wipe her sweat; deceiving students like this was indeed a bit wrong of her.

Back then, she had used the same excuse with Su Ruixi, and they still managed to see each other. That wasn’t because of genuine fate, but because the system was constantly pulling strings. But it was obvious the system wouldn’t pull strings for Sun Miao and the students.

There were also many clever students who weren’t fooled by Sun Miao, but seeing that Sun Miao was impervious to persuasion¹, they eventually gave up.

But, only on the surface.

They quickly created a group chat themselves and named it “Changfen Stall Search Plan.” As soon as they found the location of the changfen stall, they would report it immediately. They just didn’t believe that with so many of them, who often went out to play on Saturdays and Sundays, they wouldn’t be able to find such a conspicuous stall.

Moreover, it had the feel of a treasure hunt game. Once this feeling arose, a competitive spirit towards Sun Miao emerged in their hearts, and they stopped asking.

In short, due to various coincidences, the old customers’ group was ultimately successfully kept hidden.

Perhaps because the students spread the word that today was Sun Miao’s last day vending, Sun Miao sold out even faster than usual. At 11 o’clock, she announced that she was “sold out” for the day. The students’ cries of misery rose and fell², interspersed with strange remarks like, “Boss, just hide, let’s see how long you can hide!”

Sun Miao sneezed and notified the group.

The old customers were trembling in the group chat:

【I knew students were too terrifying, what time is it and she’s already sold out?! Mealtime has just begun!】

【If the students get in, where would our lifeline be?!】

【Thank you, Boss, for saving our group and not letting it become the International Education Park branch.】

【Then a new question arises, what will Little Boss Sun sell next week?】

After this last question appeared, the topic in the group started to go off track again. Everyone began to discuss next week’s food and made their wishes. Many wanted returning items, such as egg fried rice, malatang, beef pancake. The calls for duck blood vermicelli soup were quieter because it hadn’t been long since it was last available. There were also many who wanted changfen—these were purely those who hadn’t managed to grab any.

There were also some migrant workers drifting in the big city, mentioning the foods from their hometowns.

Some were calling for desserts; cake, Tiramisu, anything would be good.

Sun Miao didn’t answer any of these questions. She directly clicked on Su Ruixi’s profile picture and sent a message. Not long after she sent it, Su Ruixi replied: Are you moving in today then? I’ll give you the password, you can just go straight in.

Su Ruixi was really looking forward to this day. After sending that message, she directly sent a voice message over: “No, I’ll wait for you at home this afternoon.”

Su Ruixi had been quite busy these past two days, constantly working overtime. Sun Miao knew this, so she declined Su Ruixi’s offer and simply made a voice call.

“I’ve already sold out and am preparing to go home. I’ll have lunch, then pack up this afternoon and head over. You don’t need to wait for me at home, work is more important. Besides, if you’re at home, you’ll just be watching me. I can manage on my own.”

“But…” There were other people talking on Su Ruixi’s end, the sound somewhat noisy. Sun Miao knew at once that she must be busy. Sun Miao didn’t want Su Ruixi’s work to be affected because of her, so she decided to offer Su Ruixi an empty promise by drawing a pie³.

“I’ll wait for you at home. When you come back tonight, maybe I’ll be cooking. What would you like to eat? I’ll make it for you.”

Su Ruixi was clearly moved by her words, mainly because what Sun Miao described was too similar to a scene she had dreamed of before. So, Su Ruixi’s heart softened: “Okay, then you wait for me at home. I’m fine with anything; I love whatever you make.”

“Okay.”

The two chatted for a while longer. Sun Miao said she had to go back, and only then did Su Ruixi hang up the phone. While holding the phone just now, her voice was gentle, and even her expression was warm and mild. But as soon as she put down the phone, her face turned stern, looking as cold as frost.

The assistant handed over the documents. Su Ruixi looked at the managers under her and began a new round of meetings.

The assistant lamented inwardly: People in love are really different. She doesn’t even scold people much these days. If it were before, she would definitely have given the managers a severe tongue-lashing. But this change of face is unusually fast; even a Sichuan face-changing⁴ artist might not be able to keep up.

After Sun Miao hung up the phone, she acted according to what she had told Su Ruixi. Actually, the moving service she had called was scheduled for a bit later, based on her usual time of returning home after selling out. She had guessed she would be early today, but considering the students’ class schedules were fixed, she hadn’t called them any earlier.

She even took a nap before the moving company arrived. She discussed it with the driver-shifu⁵ of the small truck and gave him 100 kuai, and he agreed to help her move. Kaixin’s parents also helped move for a while. Kaixin didn’t know what was happening at first. It was only when they finished moving and Kaixin’s mom asked Kaixin to come over and say goodbye to Sun Miao that Kaixin realized Sun Miao was leaving.

At that moment, Kaixin, who was usually exceptionally well-behaved, burst into tears. She grabbed Sun Miao’s clothes and refused to let go. Children are the most sensitive; they know very well who is good to them and who isn’t. The person who was good to Kaixin was leaving, so of course, Kaixin cried her heart out⁶.

Sun Miao squatted down, took out a candy from her pocket, and placed it in Kaixin’s hand. Usually, Kaixin would be very happy, but today her mouth was downturned, and she was sniffling. Sun Miao spoke gently to Kaixin: “Kaixin, Jiejie is just moving to a new place, just like when I moved in before. Moving to a new place doesn’t mean I’ll never see Kaixin again. When Kaixin and your mom and dad are free, how about you all come to my little stall to eat something, okay?”

“Okay!”

Kaixin was easily coaxed, but another little friend was more difficult, and that was—the landlord’s dog.

The landlord was quite easygoing. Sun Miao was moving out less than a month after moving in, which was completely different from what was stated in the contract they signed earlier. In such a situation, it would be normal for the landlord not to refund any of the deposit, but they still gave her the full deposit back.

“You fed Xiaobao⁷ a lot of good food while you were here, and you also bought a lot of vegetables from my old man⁸. I won’t deduct this bit of deposit from you.”

As the landlord spoke, the doggy was still tugging at Sun Miao’s shoelace with its teeth, clearly not wanting her to leave. The landlord saw this, raised a slipper, and tapped the dog’s head twice before it let go of Sun Miao with a wuwu’ao’ao⁹.

When Sun Miao left, she wore a smile the entire time. She sat in the passenger seat of the small truck, and the driver-shifu even said, “You have pretty good interpersonal relationships. You’ve lived here for several years, haven’t you?”

“No, I’ve only lived here for a short while.”

“Then they are all very nice people.”

“Who could say otherwise?”

Sun Miao was truly grateful to this world, both the present and the past; she had always encountered very warm people. Or rather, her eyes could only see these warm, good people. Her life was by no means smooth sailing, but because both sides of this difficult road were lined with blooming flowers, even her mood while walking on it improved a lot.

The driver-shifu was originally chatting quite enthusiastically with Sun Miao. Sun Miao was also a talkative person, and during this time, the driver-shifu had learned that Sun Miao was a street vendor selling food. He even said very happily, “Then I’ll come to your place to buy a portion and try it sometime.”

“Haolei¹⁰.”

When they arrived at the location, he took a look—this Cuiting Yayuan… why did it feel like it wasn’t an ordinary residential complex? That main gate, or rather, a side gate, was so grand. A security guard came down from the security booth and approached the passenger side. Sun Miao rolled down the window, and the security guard recognized Sun Miao at a glance.

He opened the gate barrier: “Miss Su has already told me. You can go straight in.”

“Okay, thank you.”

After communicating with the security guard, Sun Miao rolled up the window again. The driver-shifu drove all the way in, seeing only villas. He actually had opportunities to enter villa areas; there were many villa districts in the city. But the problem was, Sun Miao had just told him not long ago that she was a street vendor, selling snacks like egg fried rice and changfen.

The driver-shifu couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. After hesitating repeatedly, he finally asked, “Um, young lady, is street vending, really this profitable nowadays?”

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