The sun reached the southeast, and more than half an hour had passed.
During this period, the rattle vendor’s stall was constantly visited by parents with their children in tow.
Gu Ning'an also kept his promise. Whenever someone came, he would tell them the price of the rattle.
In most of an hour, a total of five rattles were sold for a total of fifty cents.
The hawker also told Gu Ning'an that he would not negotiate the price while he was away. It was only ten cents each.
Therefore, Gu Ning'an also told the mothers with their children in advance: "This stall is not mine. I will look after the stall owner for a while. The stall owner has promised not to negotiate the price."
But to his surprise, the mothers who came to buy rattles were extremely cheerful. They bought a rattle for ten cents without even frowning, and they didn't forget to thank him before leaving.
At the end of the morning market, a well-fed and drunk rattle vendor held a package wrapped in butter paper and walked slowly towards his stall.
As he approached the stall, he glanced at his own stall, and then his tightly slit eyes opened a little, and his eyes were full of smiles: "Scholar, you can do this. With such little effort, you can sell five yuan." A rattle?"
While talking, the vendor handed the package in his hand to Gu Ning'an and said with a smile: "Come, try the thin-skinned buns made by my wife."
Seeing this, Gu Ning'an thanked him, and while taking the bun, he put the fifty cents earned from selling the rattle into the other person's hand.
Wow! Wow!
The vendor weighed the coins in his hand and made a pleasant sound. After skillfully counting out fifteen copper coins, he handed them back to Gu Ning'an.
Gu Ning'an, who was untying the hemp rope wrapped in butter paper, waved his hand: "Take it back, I only said I would take care of the stall for you, I didn't say I would collect your commission."
Hearing this, the vendor continued to push the copper coins in his hand: "Hey, hey, hey! It's agreed, it was agreed before!"
"Don't look at it. I haven't read any books, but I still understand benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom and trust!"
"We agreed to give you three cents for each sale, but why don't you pay for it?"
"Don't worry, I'm really not that stingy and talkative."
At this moment, Gu Ning'an opened the butter paper, and two meat buns as big as fists floated in front of him.
The rich aroma of meat sauce stimulated Gu Ning'an's nostrils and made his index finger twitch.
"good!"
"As soon as you smell it, you will know that the buns are made in-house."
With that said, Gu Ning'an couldn't wait to take a bite of the bun. The delicious meat sauce was wrapped in soft white noodles, not to mention how fragrant it was.
"Hey, you eat what you want, and you have to pay for it!" The hawker also looked confused. He had never seen anyone who gave money without asking for it!
After swallowing the bun in his mouth, Gu Ningan pointed to the bun in his hand and said with a smile: "Your wife's cooking is really good. I haven't had buns made in this house for a long time."
"That's not the case!"
"My wife is a virtuous woman. How else could she keep a smart man like me tied up at home..."
The hawker was scratched when the topic was changed again: "Don't change the subject, just take the money!"
Seeing that this hawker was also a stubborn person, Gu Ning'an stretched out his hand to take the copper coins, and before the hawker came to his senses, he stuffed the money into his hand again: "You are a very good bun. You will not be rewarded for your merits. I Pay fifteen cents to buy these buns."
"This..." The vendor paused for a long time and then said, "What is going on?"
Gu Ning'an smiled and pointed at the children in the distance and said, "Okay, if you can't figure it out, stop thinking about it and just get on with business."
As soon as he heard about business, the hawker's eyes lit up, he picked up a rattle and started shouting again.
On the side, Gu Ningan chewed the two buns carefully. After eating, he continued to wait for his first customer.
The vendor shouted while looking at Gu Ning'an.
Suppose that before, he had the attitude towards Gu Ning'an that he was so pitiful and he would be happy to help her.
Now, he had a crush on this scholar for no reason.
Let me ask, isn't that scholar "at the end of his rope", so he comes out to write for others and read faces?
Even Gu Ning'an didn't even have his own pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
It shows how poor he is.
As a result, he took good care of the stall for me and didn't ask for any money.
Could this be the character of a "scholar"?
"Scholar, my name is Zheng De, the virtue of virtue...what is your name?" The vendor turned around and asked.
"Gu Ning'an, peaceful Ning, peaceful An." Gu Ning'an responded with a smile.
Zheng De nodded thoughtfully: "What a good name. Once you hear it, you will be a scholar."
"Your name is also very good. It only contains the word "virtue". Your parents must hope that you will become a virtuous person." Gu Ning'an said.
Zheng De said "Hi" and stopped shaking the rattle in his hand: "That's not the case..."
"When I was a child, I was very naughty, so my mother would scold me. You have the same virtue as your father, so you scolded me, so you named me Zheng De."
"But it's better than my previous name. Before I was called Zheng De, I was called Donkey Shi Danzi..."
Hearing this, Gu Ning'an smiled: "The lower your nickname, the better your livelihood. Your famous name is virtue, not virtue. This proves that your mother wants you to become a virtuous person."
"Your mother loves you very much."
Hearing this, Zheng De couldn't help but be stunned. He looked down at the rattle in his hand with a look of reminiscence in his eyes: "Yes, my mother loves me very much. I only understood it after she passed away..."
"My condolences." Gu Ningan whispered.
Zheng De turned around, wiped his face vigorously with his sleeve, turned around again and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, Mr. Gu's interpretation is very accurate and thorough!"
Previously, Gu Ning'an was called scholar because of his dress and because he was similar in age to the hawker.
Now he calls Gu Ning'an sir because Zheng De feels from the bottom of his heart that this scholar deserves the word "sir"!
At this moment, there was a commotion at the end of the morning set, and the crowd began to disperse to both sides.
After the pedestrians dispersed, a man of medium height, wearing a long linen gown and trousers, with a hemp rope tied around the cuffs and trousers legs, came into view. On the left waist of this man is an instrument that looks like iron pliers but also like iron scissors. On the right waist is a basket made of thin bamboo strips. The basket is as long as an adult man's arm.
This iconic costume is exactly that of the snake catcher who makes a living by catching snakes.
"Ouch!"
"Why is there a snake catcher here!"
"Mr. Gu, please don't sit on the ground. Who knows if there are poisonous snakes in the snake catcher's basket."
"If one of these escapes, it will really kill people."
While Zheng De spoke, he also took a few steps back.
On the side, Gu Ning'an smiled and waved his hand: "Don't be so afraid, there are no poisonous snakes on him, and the basket is empty."
Zheng De asked with a puzzled look on his face: "How do you know, sir?"
"If you don't hear snakes chirping, then there are no snakes." Gu Ning'an said with a smile.
