Volume 1: Storm in the Western Region Chapter 128: Old Mr.
Zhao Rang's heart shrank when he heard the child's words.
Children who grow up in such an environment have a primitive characteristic in them. This characteristic is closer to the most essential desire, which is survival. In order to survive or live a better life, they are willing to pay any price.
A question can be exchanged for an omelette. Even though the oil used in the omelette is disgusting and the taste is strange, it is still rare and delicious.
But good and bad come from comparison. Children who have never eaten omelettes from other places will naturally think that omelettes all over the world look and taste like this.
He could eat fried eggs just by moving his mouth. This was pie in the sky, and he had no right to refuse.
"first question."
Zhao started to talk, but then stopped. The child stared at him eagerly, and even more at the fried egg in his hand.
When asked suddenly, Zhao Rang had to think about it carefully. Once many things are stipulated, people will be at a loss.
"Is the person who made this omelette deaf?"
Zhang San also didn't expect that Zhao Rang would ask this as his first question.
He obviously already knew the answer, why did he have to ask again? It was simply a waste of time for him...
The child never expected that Zhao Rang's first question would be so easy to answer.
Who in Lotus Lane doesn't know that the shop owner is deaf?
He could earn an omelette for knowing something without having to pay anything at all. The child felt that Zhao Rang was simply a fool...
But he still nodded seriously and answered.
"Second question, what does your family do in Lotus Lane?"
This question is somewhat interesting.
If you want to understand the entire Lotus Lane, you have to start from a point, then form a line from the point, and finally spread it out.
"Don't think about it, just say it! Otherwise there will be no fried eggs!"
Zhao Rang shook the fried egg in his hand and said threateningly.
The child suddenly became anxious and said quickly:
"I didn't think about it, I didn't think about it, my family sells rat poison!"
"Rat poison?"
"Yes, it's the medicine that kills mice."
There are also small vendors like this in Dawei who sell rat medicine in the streets. Most of them carry a cage with several rats in it. When the crowds of people gather around, they catch a mouse and feed the medicine into it.
After a while, the mouse kicked off his legs and let out a sigh of relief, and died, thereby proving that his medicine was not only effective, but also very effective. The onlookers were very excited, and a pack of medicine cost only a dollar. Many people bought it for fun.
I took a pack and went back to play. Little did I know that the vendor selling the rat medicine fed the rats doing the demonstration real medicine, and what he sold was adulterated. Even if it worked, it wasn't that effective!
In a few days, if people come to look for him again and say that his medicine is not working, he will say that the person bought less and make another profit. Going back and forth like this is equivalent to dividing a medicine several times.
If you sell it, you will make several times more money.
So anyone who sells rat medicine must know how to raise rats. Otherwise, when he goes out to set up a stall, what will he use to demonstrate?
"How many rats do you have in your house?"
The child was a little surprised, but he still answered accurately:
"My family doesn't raise them because there are too many in the alleys. Just catch them when needed. My dad said raising rats is very troublesome and wastes food."
Zhao Rang was very satisfied with this answer and nodded before starting the next question.
"What do the vendors in this alley do?"
The child began to think deeply and kept clapping his fingers. Zhao Rang did not rush him, because it does take time for a child to figure out this problem.
"Pake sellers, medicine sellers, wine sellers, laborers, masons, blacksmiths...and..."
"Oh! There is also an old gentleman!"
"Old sir? What do you do?"
When Zhao Rang saw the children, he singled out the old man. This man must be somewhat special.
Unexpectedly, the child did not answer this time. He looked at Zhao Rang with a smile and pointed at the fried egg in his hand.
"Who is the old gentleman?" This is another question. As usual, you have to give the omelette from the previous question. Zhao Rang just asked repeatedly and forgot to give it, but the child remembered it clearly.
Another egg was given to the child. After putting it in his pocket, he replied:
"Old Mr. is the honorific title given to him by the people in Lotus Lane, because he has read books."
"The old gentleman is a scholar?"
Zhao Rang asked rhetorically.
The child obviously didn't quite understand the difference between a scholar and a scholar. He answered rashly and was afraid of being regarded as a lie by Zhao Rang, so he pretended to talk to him vaguely.
"Okay, okay, just keep talking and I'll ask again after you finish."
The child breathed a sigh of relief and continued:
"During the day, he writes letters for people in the market, and at night he goes to the lively places in the city to sell gadgets."
"He makes all his stuff by himself, how interesting it is! Just wait, I'll show it to you. The old gentleman gave me one!"
The child said and ran away.
His home is not a house on the ground, but a semi-underground shack. Not to mention living in such a place, even rats would probably dislike it.
Drilling in and out again only took a few breaths in total.
When it emerged again, the child was holding a small clay figurine in his hand.
Zhao Rang's expression and clothing look exactly like this child's!
"Is this made by the old gentleman and given to you?"
The child nodded.
This is his only treasure, so it is well preserved. Even in such a nest, it is clean and refreshing.
"So the old gentleman writes letters for people during the day and makes clay figurines and sells them for money at night?"
The child replied:
"That's right, the old gentleman can pinch it very well! Just sit down in front of him, and within a quarter of an hour, he will pinch it."
Zhao Rang shook the remaining fried eggs in his hand in front of the child and said:
"The last question is answered, these are all yours."
"Where does the old gentleman live?"
The child got all the fried eggs as he wished, and Zhao Rang also learned the old gentleman's specific address.
He felt that if there was any vendor who could provide clues, it would undoubtedly be this old gentleman.
First of all, it's because he can read and write.
People who have read books will treat people differently. When they meet strange people and strange things, they will often use their brains more. In addition, he has clay sculpture skills and can make children look so lifelike, which shows that he has good eyesight.
Very observant.
And he would also go to lively places in the city to set up stalls at night.
There are probably not many people who meet these three conditions at the same time in the entire city. If you can find one in Lotus Alley, you are lucky.
Regardless of whether the old gentleman went to Qingshan Inn last night or not, Zhao Rang was ready to try his luck.
The address the child gave him was correct.
The place where the old gentleman lives is different from other people.
The plaster on the exterior walls of his house was neatly plastered, with no rough edges. There was also a layer of tiles on the top, which was somewhat incompatible with the dilapidated surroundings.
Looking left and right, you can see that the old gentleman's house is the best in this alley! It seems that the two jobs of writing letters and making clay figures are indeed much more profitable than others, so let him live in Lotus Alley.
Lived a life of being superior to others.
But the child forgot to tell Zhao Rang that the old man was not at home at this time, so Zhao Rang missed it.
The stall where the old gentleman wrote letters was set up every afternoon. After waking up in the morning, he would go to the teahouse in Lotus Lane to drink a pot of milk tea and eat two baked buns, and then go to the east end of the alley.
Head, play for half a day.
The easternmost end is close to the palace of Shanye Kingdom, and there is a long-abandoned side door that leads directly to the palace. Many people in the palace will sneak out through the side door when they are not on duty, and walk in Lotus Lane.
Have fun. One of their favorite games is called Hidden Hook.
Hidden hook is very simple to play. One person holds a jade hook and lets people guess whether it is hidden in the left hand or right hand. If you want to increase the difficulty, you can pass it around among several people. This way of playing, even if the hidden hook is hidden
People who don't have a lot of money, the chance of guessing right is pitifully low. What's more, hiding the hook is a kind of fun that the dealers use to make money, and the only thing they get is the pockets of those old gamblers who don't have much money but are stubborn.
The old gentleman has a skill and is making money every day. Although he is not an old gambler, he is an old bachelor.
A man without a home is not willing to go home at all. The home is deserted and there is only one person sitting there. It is better to be outside. Even if you listen to people you don't know bragging, it is still lively.
So the old gentleman would go and play hide hook with them every day.
It goes without saying that he loses more than he wins, but the old man only brings a fixed amount of money every time. After losing, he smiles and leaves, going to the market to set up a stall. Therefore, although he loses not much every time, he still
The advantage is that the water flows slowly, and those people are naturally happy to have fun with him. After all, it is extremely rare for a gambler to come to give money every day and never lose his temper.
Zhao Rang regretted that he didn't ask the child two more questions... At least he should have confirmed whether the old gentleman was at home at this moment.
Finally, after a lot of twists and turns, we finally found our way to the eastern end of Lotus Lane.
This is simply a paradise for gamblers!
Mahjong, Pai Gow, dice are all available, and there are even people fighting against insects!
It's just that the insects they fight are not crickets, but scorpions caught from the Gobi Desert.
Gobi scorpions raise their tails high. Driven by Splendens splendens, they catch each other and fight, desperately inserting their poisonous hooks into the opponent's carapace. The killing is back and forth, but it is much more exciting than fighting a cricket.
More than twice as much!
Zhao Rang only watched it for a short while before he became fascinated and secretly had someone to support in his heart.
"Look, one coin. The minimum bet is two coins, just look at it!"
A skinny middle-aged man stretched out his skinny palm towards Zhao Rang.
Zhao Rang wanted to give it, but he didn't have any money on him, only silver ingots marked with Tongbao Bank's fire paint.
Such a silver ingot was too shocking to take out in Lotus Alley, so Zhao Rang could only turn his head and look at Zhang San.
Zhang San was also very embarrassed and whispered to Zhao Rang:
"Master... I have used up all the loose money I had on me to buy omelettes just now, and now I have the big ingot you gave me in my arms!"