"Rattle?"
Zheng De casually picked up a rattle, looked down at it and murmured: "What's there to thank you for?"
"But having said that, I still have to thank you sir."
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to collect money for this rattle."
"Thank you for what you did. Didn't you also attract business for me?" Gu Ning stood up with a smile, casually dusted the clothes underneath him, and continued: "We should help each other, as it should be."
"Yeah!"
"My mother often told me in the past that when someone is in trouble, it is always helpful to help them."
"If you help others, they will help you."
As he spoke, Zheng De realized that Gu Ning'an was leaving, so he changed his tone and said, "Sir, let's leave now. We've made such a good start, so we should pursue the victory."
Gu Ning'an waved her hand and said, "It's enough for now. If you don't have enough, come back another time."
"That's...ok."
Zheng De originally planned to talk about his "business experience", but when he thought that Gu Ning'an had made more money than he had been able to earn for several months with one order, he swallowed the words as soon as he said it.
"Sure, then I'll save a seat for you sir." Zheng De scratched his head and smiled.
Gu Ningan thanked her and left.
Zheng De watched Gu Ning'an disappear at the end of the market, then slowly looked away and continued to shout and sell.
…
It was early spring, and the day was still a bit cool, but the soft sun shone down on my body, which was quite warm.
Gu Ning'an walked through the streets and alleys, looking for Granny Sun who sold "yokan".
It should be noted here that this "yokan" is not the kind of "dessert" of later generations. It is actually mutton steamed bun, but nowadays, it is called "yokan".
After passing through another long and narrow street, Gu Ning'an finally found the slightly rickety figure at the entrance of the alley.
Calculating the past twenty years, Granny Sun is probably over seventy years old.
At such an age, he can still push a cart around, which means his body is strong enough.
Quickly walking to the stall, Gu Ningan found a seat and sat down, then said: "A bowl of yokan, and the pancakes should be crispy." Grandma Sun, who was cutting vegetables, did not raise her head when she heard this. He responded: "Okay, the pancake has just come out of the oven. It needs to be crispy, but you have to wait a little longer."
"Okay." Gu Ning'an responded with a smile and continued to look at Granny Sun.
A pair of plain and well-fitting clothes, paired with sleeves that were always white due to being stained with flour.
Ever since he met Granny Sun, she had been dressed like this, and it was still the same even twenty years later.
There have been changes. Grandma Sun has some wrinkles on her face and her eye sockets are slightly sunken, but those dark brown eyes are still as full of kindness as they were twenty years ago...
"Come here!" Grandma Sun brought a tray and delivered the "yokan" to Gu Ning'an.
A bowl of steaming mutton soup, with green scallions floating on the milky white soup surface.
Two crispy pancakes.
Even though he had just eaten two big meat buns not long ago, Gu Ning'an's index finger moved when he saw this fragrant "yokan".
On the side, Granny Sun asked with a kind face: "Sir, have you ever eaten my yokan?"
"Would you like me to tell you how to eat this yokan, old lady?"
Hearing this, Gu Ning'an couldn't help but be stunned. He looked at Granny Sun intently and smiled: "Grandma Sun, don't you recognize me?"
"Uh..." Granny Sun paused, stared at Gu Ning'an for a long time, then shook her head and said with a bitter smile: "Sir, I've never seen you, old lady."
"But if you don't mind, I'll tell you how to eat this yokan, old lady?"
Gu Ning'an had doubts in her eyes, but she nodded and said, "That's fine, then I'll bother my mother-in-law to explain it."
Hearing this, Grandma Sun raised her lips, showed a satisfied smile, and then motioned to Gu Ning'an to pick up the pancakes, while she casually gestured to hold the pancakes.
After spending about a cup of tea, Granny Sun passed on the "craft" of eating yokan to Gu Ning'an after a lot of gestures.
The core point is to break the cake into four pieces from small to large.
Eat them in order from smallest to largest.
Eat it dry, dip it in the soup, soak it in the soup base, and pack the meat.
By eating like this, you can not only taste the original flavor of the burnt scones first, but also gradually taste the freshness of the scones that have absorbed different levels of mutton soup...
It should be mentioned that this yokan is very similar to the mutton steamed bun of later generations, but there are some differences.
Among them, there is a big difference in the taste between pancakes and steamed buns.
The former is thin, crispy and fragrant. After being soaked in the mutton soup, it only absorbs a small amount of soup, but still maintains a crispy texture...
The latter's steamed buns are softer, and the eating methods are more diverse, including "dry steamed buns", "mouth soup", "water besieged city", "single walk", etc...
If Gu Ning'an had to choose the more delicious one between the two, he could only say that each has its own merits...
I saw that Gu Ningan knew how to do it as soon as he was taught, and his movements were so skillful.
Grandma Sun also believed that Gu Ning'an must have come to her house to eat in the past, but she didn't remember it.
"Sir, I'm afraid you've really eaten my yokan, otherwise you wouldn't know how big the cake is just by talking about it."
"I wonder what your last name is, sir. I'll think about it again, old lady, and see if I can remember it."
Hearing this, Gu Ning'an responded with a smile: "Forgive me your surname is Gu."
"Gu...the surname is Gu..." Grandma Sun lowered her head and murmured, falling into deep thought again.
After a long time, Granny Sun raised her head and said with a wry smile: "Mr. Gu, I'm sorry...I can't remember, old lady, I really can't remember."
Gu Ning'an smiled and waved her hand: "It doesn't matter, it happened many years ago. If you can't remember it, just forget it."
Many years ago?
The gentleman in front of me is only in his twenties. Could it be that he ate my yokan when he was a child?
The guests were still eating, so Grandma Sun couldn't keep asking them questions.
Therefore, she just said "use it slowly" and returned to the front of the stall.
In front of the stall, Grandma Sun looked at the stall where she had worked all her life.
Rolling pin, iron pot, chopping board, pancake oven... Grandma Sun touched the rolling pin covered with flour, with a sigh on her face: "These old items are quite durable, but it's me, an old woman, who doesn't care about them." Use it."
"I don't know when. I have to forget the art of making yokan."
Gu Ningan lowered his head, took a sip of mutton soup, and took a bite of pancake. From time to time, he would pick up a piece and put it into his mouth, mixing it with the pancake.
He naturally heard Grandma Sun talking to herself.
From the moment Granny Sun wanted to tell him how to eat yokan, he observed Granny Sun's three souls of heaven, earth, and human, and found that both her heavenly soul and earthly soul were turbid.
That’s why the symptom of not being able to remember things appears…
In just a moment, after Gu Ning'an finished the yokan, he took out a piece of white paper folded into a square from his sleeve and placed it next to the bowl: "Grandma Sun, is yokan always worth twenty cents per bowl? ?”
Grandma Sun was in a daze when she heard someone calling her. She couldn't think of what to say for a moment, so she just responded with "Hey" twice.
Gu Ning'an clicked on the folded white paper and responded, "Put the money here."
"Okay." Grandma Sun responded, looked at Gu Ning'an who turned to leave, and asked with a smile: "Mr. Gu, does the yokan still taste the same as the one you ate back then?"
Gu Ning'an stopped and turned around, smiling: "Same as before."
