Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 98

Here to poach from me!

After eating several mouthfuls in a row, it wasn’t until Yabi Mei went to add more chili that Hip-hop Mei remembered: Oh right, there’s chili too! She followed suit without hesitation, also adding chili sauce and pouring a little vinegar before returning.

This first bite brought a completely new sensation.

Little Boss Sun’s homemade chili sauce was still as delicious as ever; even when paired with the cheap kind of vinegar commonly found in stores, it blended the flavors perfectly. The numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant¹ sensation emerged all at once. And the wrappers of the bubble mini wontons were the best blending agent in the mix.

In the pure chicken broth, they were like clouds, like gauze, like an ethereal yet distinctly present mist.

After adding the chili sauce and vinegar, the wrappers picked up some of the sauce, and their presence became even more explosive. They carried the sauce, entering the mouth, and with a little chewing, went down into the stomach. The spiciness rushed straight to her head, making Hip-hop Mei involuntarily go “Ssss-haaa.” She even put down her spoon and took a deep breath to relieve the sudden wave of heat.

Quickly, the ten crab shell yellow and one bowl of bubble mini wontons were finished off by each of them. Hip-hop Mei felt like she hadn’t had enough, and she and Yabi Mei each ordered another portion of mini wontons to go. She even said, “Boss, can you put some chili sauce in a small bag separately? No need for the vinegar, your vinegar isn’t good.”

She was already imagining how delicious it would be when she got home and added some of her mom’s treasured cellar-aged old mature vinegar²).

Hip-hop Mei casually transferred 200 yuan. Sun Miao subconsciously said, “Those two portions of crab shell yellow were on the house.”

“Hey, it’s not like we’re short on this little bit. It’s already great that you could give us an extra portion. For this taste, 200 for one portion is nothing.” She thought for a moment, then added, “Little Boss Sun, May is almost over. In June, there’s the Plum Rain season³, and then it’ll get hot. Will you still be setting up your stall then?”

Sun Miao paused for a moment, then nodded. “I guess so.”

Hip-hop Mei’s often-offline little brain suddenly thought of something, and she said with a grin, “With your skills, setting up a stall is such a waste. My family has a few restaurants, if you…” Before she could finish, Yabi Mei pinched her waist. Yabi Mei didn’t hold back, and Hip-hop Mei almost jumped up. “What are you doing?! I’m finding a job for Little Boss Sun, don’t get in the way.”

Yabi Mei almost fainted from anger. “Like she needs you to find one?!” She has a legitimate girlfriend. Let alone finding a job in your family’s restaurant, Su-jie is so rich and generous, what would it be for her to directly open a restaurant for Sun Miao? It would surely be the kind of really easy private kitchen restaurant that wouldn’t tire Little Boss Sun out at all.

“That’s true.”

Hip-hop Mei didn’t know that during the few sentences she exchanged with Yabi Mei, the System was frantically yelling in Sun Miao’s head.

【?】

【！！！】

【Block her! Block her immediately?! What does she mean?! Is she here to poach from me?! I am a legitimate “Random Stall System,” how can I go work in a human restaurant?! This person has bad intentions, block her right now!】 In short, the word “block” just kept repeating in Sun Miao’s mind.

【Besides, I’m not some Grandet⁴ or Zhou Bapi⁵! I won’t make the Host set up a stall in heavy rain! In the summer, I’ll also prepare food that’s convenient, easy to store, and suitable for the season! She’s not allowed to eat! Right now, immediately, block her!】

Sun Miao soothed the System, “She’s just saying.”

Almost, just a tiny bit more, and Hip-hop Mei would have been blocked. However, Sun Miao was still very polite. She first expressed her gratitude: “Thank you for your kind offer, but I don’t have any plans in that regard for now. If I need help later on, I’ll ask you.”

“Sure thing~!” Hip-hop Mei patted her chest and agreed.

Hip-hop Mei and Yabi Mei walked away. As they walked, Hip-hop Mei was still saying, “Little Boss Sun’s chicken broth bubble mini wontons are so delicious! Even someone like me who doesn’t like spicy food loves them. The last time you had chicken broth you couldn’t stop praising was probably the Da Zhu Gansi⁶ made by that Huaiyang cuisine⁷ master chef.”

“That couldn’t really be considered pure chicken broth, right? It had a lot of other things in it, and the main flavor was still umami. Little Boss Sun’s chicken broth is lighter, complements the bubble mini wontons beautifully, and is more suitable for them. I feel like drinking the broth alone would also be good, but not as delicious as when it’s with the mini wontons. She consciously skimmed off all the oil so it wouldn’t steal the show from the mini wontons.”

“So which one do you like more?”

Facing Hip-hop Mei’s question, Yabi Mei answered without hesitation, “Little Boss Sun’s. It’s light and elegant without overshadowing anything, and it’s more palatable. Everyone would like it.”

“Me too.”

The two of them chattered on for a long time, while Sun Miao spent just as long soothing her system. There was nothing she could do. Although her system was usually sharp-tongued, sometimes it was still a big baby that needed coaxing.

Sun Miao could be considered an expert at coaxing people and systems. She coaxed it for a long time before finally calming the system down, which then said: 【Then I won’t block her for now.】

Alright, it was still angry inside, probably holding a grudge against Hip-hop Mei.

While Sun Miao was thinking about this, she saw a customer arrive in front of her little stall. But the first thing she saw wasn’t the customer, but the cat in the basket on the front of her electric scooter. It was a tabby cat, but very fat, leaning sideways in the basket, with one front paw resting on the edge of the basket and hanging outside, looking like a boss.

As the customer braked and stopped in front of her stall, the electric scooter lurched forward a bit, and the tabby cat boss inside trembled along with it. Taking another look, its thick body was wearing a leash, not the kind tied around the neck, but a harness style.

The person who came was a young girl who looked about Sun Miao’s age. The electric vehicle was an electric bicycle type, which is why it had a basket in the front.

She had originally planned to just order something, but the moment her eyes fell on the small sign, her mouth closed. The reason was none other than—it was too expensive! Although as an international metropolis, local prices were also ridiculously expensive, this was a street stall!

How could a street stall be this expensive! It wasn’t like it was in the mall downstairs from an office building!

She wanted to back away and go home. Sun Miao didn’t say anything. Her prices were indeed expensive, so it was understandable if people didn’t want to buy, and besides, she wasn’t short of customers. The only reason there weren’t that many customers at this time today was that it was Sunday.

People need to sleep in, you know?

However, just then, the little kitty in front of her became unhappy—though, to be precise, it wasn’t exactly “little.”

That tabby cat boss suddenly started making a fuss in the basket. Given its tonnage, thrashing about in the basket, the customer couldn’t control her scooter at all. If she tried to ride like this, she would most likely fall. The customer, seeing Sun Miao’s gaze, felt a bit embarrassed and scolded her cat.

“Niuniu⁸, what are you doing? Sit properly! We’re going home!”

But cats, as creatures, being disobedient is fundamental; they just don’t like to listen to their owners and insist on jumping down on their own terms. Sun Miao couldn’t understand what the cat was being difficult about, but the owner’s next scolding made her understand: “No! You can’t eat this, really can’t eat it! You’re a little kitty, you can’t eat bubble mini wontons and crab shell yellow! Besides, it’s too expensive, Mommy can’t afford it, we should go home!”

—Oh~

Sun Miao’s internal roasts all ended with a tilde. She genuinely found it quite interesting: a cat wanted to eat her food, but the owner was unwilling because it was too expensive.

This scene was quite amusing.

In the end, the owner couldn’t win against the cat. If she could have easily taken the cat away, it wouldn’t have been spoiled by her to this extent, becoming so fat. Holding the cat, she sat down at Sun Miao’s small table, ordered only one portion of chicken broth bubble mini wontons, and asked Sun Miao if she could give her an extra small bowl.

Sun Miao didn’t have small bowls. The chicken broth wasn’t a big deal for her, so she simply took another container and filled it with a small half-bowl of chicken broth for her. Sun Miao was quite stingy; her goodwill only extended to giving the cat a small half-bowl of chicken broth, not even a full half-bowl.

“This chicken broth is quite light, but it has some salt in it. Will it be okay for it to eat?”

“I brought water with me. I’ll add some water to dilute it. It’s okay to ingest a little salt, as long as the amount is controlled.” The cat owner explained, and then Sun Miao saw her open the small backpack she was carrying, take out a water bottle, open it, and pour water into that small half-bowl.

Quickly, the small half-bowl became a half-bowl. The cat owner still wasn’t reassured, so she took a small taste herself. After confirming it was okay, she laid down a few rules⁹ with Niuniu the cat: “You did burn some calories running just now, but that’s not enough. And since Mommy bought you such expensive chicken broth, you absolutely must run a few extra laps on the cat treadmill this afternoon.”

Sun Miao didn’t know if the cat could understand what its owner was saying, but Niuniu did indeed “meow” in response.

Immediately after, the cat buried its head and started licking the chicken broth in the bowl. The cat owner knew the table was for people, so the cat definitely couldn’t stay on it. She placed Niuniu’s bowl on the ground and watched the cat, planning to start eating herself after it had drunk most of its share.

Sun Miao, having nothing else to do, simply searched online for “can cats eat salty food.” She previously knew that cats and dogs couldn’t eat food with high salt content, and that it was best if their food had no salt at all. She had always thought they couldn’t eat even a tiny bit.

Now that the cat owner said it could eat a little, she was a bit confused, so she just looked it up.

The answer she got was: Actually, they can eat it, but they need very little salt, and their daily pet food is enough to supplement their daily salt requirements, so no extra intake is needed. Dogs are a bit better; they can ingest more than cats, but eating too much can cause hair loss and, in severe cases, affect their kidneys.

Sun Miao watched for a while longer. Over there, however, the owner was now holding the cat and wholeheartedly starting to eat her own portion of bubble mini wontons.

Facts proved that no one could successfully escape from the delicious food made by Sun Miao. Whether human or cat. That cat had actually drunk quite a bit of its own share and couldn’t drink any more, but seeing its owner eating so happily, it still couldn’t resist reaching out its paw to make a fuss.

As a result, the cat owner grabbed its paw and held it directly in her arms. “Don’t fuss, you’ve finished yours, I still have to eat.”

She slurped down two bubble mini wontons in one go, making Niuniu even angrier.

“Meow meow meow!”

“Be good, I’ll feed you cat treats when we get home.”

“Meow!”

Who wants cat treats! It wants bubble mini wontons!

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