Chapter 120
Making a living
() "Thank you, young man!"
After Lin Tao fooled the two city management officers away, the old man couldn't stop thanking him.
Lin Tao said: "Master, don't be so polite, you even gave me a roasted sweet potato!" He smiled, and he even threatened and deceived, and "sent" the urban management away with only two Zhonghua cigarettes.
"Ah, it's you!" The old man has a pretty good memory, and he recognized it immediately after being reminded. "Last time, you blocked the urban management for me, and this time it's yours again. How can I repay this favor!"
Lin Tao said, "Just give me two roasted sweet potatoes this time!"
The old man was not polite, he directly picked two of the largest sweet potatoes from the tin oven, handed one to him, and wrapped one up.
Lin Tao handed over a cigarette, and the old man took it and sniffed it under his nose, hehe smiled: "Zhonghua, what a smoke!" He opened the small door at the bottom of the oven, stuffed the cigarette in, and took it out instantly , The cigarette butt has been completely lit.
"Master, it's a hot day, how hard is it to sell roasted sweet potatoes?"
The old man said: "I can rely on my craftsmanship to eat, and nothing else. As long as I can sell 10 a day, I will not go hungry."
"Aren't you old and have no children? At such an advanced age, you still have to support yourself!" Lin Tao's words were a bit condescending, and he might not have said that if it was someone else.
"My child..." A look of sadness flashed in the old man's eyes, "It's gone, it's all gone!"
Lin Tao didn't ask any more questions. "Fighting" is gone. This word is quite surprising. It is generally used to describe people who have "fighting". Only war.If the old man's children died on the battlefield, he should also belong to the martyrs of the army, and the government will give corresponding subsidies, so that he will not suffer this kind of suffering at all.
"Lonely and widowed, what do you do at home? It's better to find something to do, it's better than waiting to die!" The old man sighed, obviously Lin Tao's topic aroused his memories.
"Master, I'm sorry." Lin Tao didn't expect the old man to have such a miserable life experience, and to be lonely and helpless in old age is really a great tragedy in life.
"I've been used to it for so many years, it's fine!" The old man waved his hand openly, "Young man, do me a favor and push the car over there!"
Without the help of the old man, Lin Tao pushed the car to the shadow of the wall opposite the road by himself. The sun was burning, and it was cooler here.
"It's quite strong!" The old man laughed, "I was not as strong as you when I was young. It really is a generation that supplemented nutrition since childhood. It was good to be able to eat pickles like us at that time, and it was even worse for those who survived." Easy."
"The times are different. Look at the children nowadays, all of them are fat balls, obviously they are over-nourished!" Lin Tao couldn't help but think of the little chubby people all over the street, and said with a smile.
"Extreme things will be reversed, this is the principle of nature." The old man also laughed and said, "Young man, you are very free. Last time you were working, and today is still working. I saw you wandering the streets twice."
"The last time I was just resigned, this time it was not long after I resigned, so you bumped into it."
"If you have nothing else to do, follow me and learn how to bake sweet potatoes!" The old man said suddenly.
Lin Tao was surprised that his proposal seemed a bit abrupt to the relationship between the two.
"Roasted sweet potatoes?" Lin Tao squinted at the oven.
"Don't think that roasting sweet potatoes is so simple, it requires a lot of skills!" The old man waved his hand, "I won't tell you now, I will tell you when you plan to learn from me!"
After taking a puff of cigarette, the old man said again: "I know this craft, but it's only in Junbei. I can guarantee that no one is better than my roasted sweet potatoes."
"Master, is this a bit too much?"
Lin Tao admitted that the old man's roasted sweet potatoes were delicious, but to say that it was Junbei's first serving was indeed a bit of an exaggeration.People nowadays are good at things, and they eat whatever is rare.If the old man's roasted sweet potatoes were so famous, people would have already lined up to buy them, why would he be chased away by the city management?
"Don't you believe it!" The old man lost his temper immediately, grabbed the unfinished sweet potato from him, and threw it into the trash can beside him.
"Master, what are you doing!" Lin Tao said distressedly.The old man's words were a bit exaggerated, but the roasted sweet potatoes were really delicious, at least they were the best roasted sweet potatoes he had eaten in Junbei, but he hadn't had time to say that yet.
"What's the rush?" The old man stared, and immediately became very dignified.
The old man unhurriedly opened the second-to-last floor of the oven, put on his thick black and yellow gloves that had been smoky on the surface, reached in and grabbed it twice, and took out an oval-shaped sweet potato that was only the size of a palm, and the surface was slightly roasted. Jiao, but not hard at all.
The other palm of the old man was covered with thick calluses, and he pinched and tore the skin of the sweet potato as if he was not afraid of the heat, revealing the roasted golden flesh of the sweet potato, and a strong sweetness wafted out immediately.
If it’s just like this, it’s not the best. The sweet potatoes baked by the old man are completely different from the ones Lin Tao ate before. The sap left on the old man's glove.
"How about it, haven't you seen it?" The old man showed a smug look on his face, took out a newspaper and put it under the sweet potato, "Try it, after you eat it, I'm sure you won't like other people's baked sweet potato anymore!" When he said this, he was full of confidence.
Fragrant, so fragrant!
Lin Tao ignored the burning of his mouth, took a bite, and breathed out continuously, but the sweet potato aroma still burrowed into his throat and nose.
After finally waiting for the sweet potato flesh to cool down, Lin Tao swallowed it whole.
Seeing his eating like this, the old man couldn't help laughing and said: "You can't eat sweet potatoes just out of the oven like this, it will easily burn your stomach!" He began to teach step by step how to eat sweet potatoes correctly.
"Peel off some of the skin first. Did you see that my sweet potato is baked, and there is no flesh on the thin skin, and other people's ones are connected together." The old man did not forget to introduce it while praising himself. Sweet potato, "Yes, blow it, gently scrape a layer of sweet potato pulp with your upper teeth, squeeze it in your mouth with your tongue, take two breaths, and feel that the temperature is almost ready to eat."
Lin Tao tried it according to the method. Not to mention, it is not only effortless to eat, but the aroma of the sweet potato flesh is even stronger after the flesh is squeezed in his mouth.
"Master, your sweet potatoes are so sweet, what kind do you use?" Lin Tao was very curious. He himself is also a person who loves roasted sweet potatoes. He has never seen this kind of sweet potatoes, which are as sweet as sugar.
"Don't worry about it. This is a variety I researched myself. It doesn't exist on the market. The annual output is only a few hundred catties. If I don't like it, I won't sell it!"
Lin Tao had a sudden change of heart. The inheritance he inherited from his grandmother hadn't found an investment project yet. The old man's baked sweet potatoes were almost automatically delivered to his door.
"Master, I don't want to learn your skill of roasting sweet potatoes, how about we cooperate?"
Hearing this, the old man looked him up and down for a long time before saying, "What do you want to do?"
Lin Tao smiled and said, "Master, we had a good chat just now, and now you are guarding against me?"
"If you don't learn technology from me, is it possible that you have money to invest?" The old man is not confident about this.
"Grandpa, you're still keeping pace with the times!" Hearing that he even mentioned investment, Lin Tao didn't look like a stubborn old man who stuck to the old rules. It seemed that this time there was really something going on.
"Master, I'm really rich, but you still can't believe my character?" Lin Tao laughed and said, "How about I pay the money and let's cooperate to open a store? You say that your roasted sweet potatoes are the best in all Junbei , we have to make sure of this title, don’t you think?”
The old man was obviously moved, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while.
"Master, you have six and four, I will pay, and you will pay for technology and sweet potato seeds, how about it?"
"this is not good!"
The old man was a real person, and he didn't want to take advantage of Lin Tao, so he finally agreed that the two parties would share a [-]-[-] split, and he agreed in a daze.
When he asked for the old man's phone number, Lin Tao finally knew the old man's name——Ma Zhiqiang, a very symbolic name of the times.
Back in the urban area, Lin Tao sat down on a roadside bench, basking in the sun and thinking about opening a store.
Junbei is good at this point. In order to compete for the top ten tourist cities in the country, Zheng Fu installed a lot of benches for rest on both sides of the road, and has persisted until now. Several leaders have gone over to maintain and update the benches. It has become one of the government's landmark convenience projects.
There were people coming and going on the street, some in a hurry, some in a leisurely way, but no one wanted to sit on a chair and bask in the sun. Lin Tao was obviously a different kind, and anyone who passed by would glance at him unconsciously.
Lin Tao really didn't feel very hot, he just felt very comfortable being roasted, and his mind was always thinking about things.Lin Tao is not very good at opening a store and doing business. Thinking about it makes his head hurt and he has no ideas. It seems that this is a big flaw, and he will make up for it later.
Although I can't do it myself, but Lin Tao has someone, and Guo Yiling is a master at it. She can even set up a company in the early morning. How can a small baked sweet potato shop be difficult for her?
Lin Tao nodded vigorously, and finally decided not to think about it, and let Guo Yiling handle this matter, and find time to have a good chat with her at night.
Lin Tao looked down at the time and was startled. It was almost five o'clock, and he sat on the street for several hours.
Thinking of his date with Wang Dezhi, he called quickly.
"I still have a while to go. A suspect has been caught in the office. He seems to be a fugitive. I have already contacted the branch office. I will contact you when the criminal police take over!"
Lin Tao was speechless, this sudden situation was the most unpredictable.
After making an appointment with Wang Dezhi, Lin Tao stood up from the bench and walked over on foot.
Wang Dezhi can always find some good restaurants in corner alleys, and this time is no exception. Lin Tao knows about the "tiao-zi alley" in his mouth, but he has never been in it. He really doesn't know how many of them have been operating for dozens of years years old restaurant.
After walking for more than an hour, Lin Tao stood at the entrance of Tiaozi Hutong. The alley was dark and deep. He generally didn't like to come to this kind of place, and he always had the feeling of seeing the dark side of human beings.
After waiting for a long time, Wang Dezhi finally drove over.
Parking the car on the side of the road, Wang Dezhi said, "How about it, are you in a hurry?"
After Lin Tao fooled the two city management officers away, the old man couldn't stop thanking him.
Lin Tao said: "Master, don't be so polite, you even gave me a roasted sweet potato!" He smiled, and he even threatened and deceived, and "sent" the urban management away with only two Zhonghua cigarettes.
"Ah, it's you!" The old man has a pretty good memory, and he recognized it immediately after being reminded. "Last time, you blocked the urban management for me, and this time it's yours again. How can I repay this favor!"
Lin Tao said, "Just give me two roasted sweet potatoes this time!"
The old man was not polite, he directly picked two of the largest sweet potatoes from the tin oven, handed one to him, and wrapped one up.
Lin Tao handed over a cigarette, and the old man took it and sniffed it under his nose, hehe smiled: "Zhonghua, what a smoke!" He opened the small door at the bottom of the oven, stuffed the cigarette in, and took it out instantly , The cigarette butt has been completely lit.
"Master, it's a hot day, how hard is it to sell roasted sweet potatoes?"
The old man said: "I can rely on my craftsmanship to eat, and nothing else. As long as I can sell 10 a day, I will not go hungry."
"Aren't you old and have no children? At such an advanced age, you still have to support yourself!" Lin Tao's words were a bit condescending, and he might not have said that if it was someone else.
"My child..." A look of sadness flashed in the old man's eyes, "It's gone, it's all gone!"
Lin Tao didn't ask any more questions. "Fighting" is gone. This word is quite surprising. It is generally used to describe people who have "fighting". Only war.If the old man's children died on the battlefield, he should also belong to the martyrs of the army, and the government will give corresponding subsidies, so that he will not suffer this kind of suffering at all.
"Lonely and widowed, what do you do at home? It's better to find something to do, it's better than waiting to die!" The old man sighed, obviously Lin Tao's topic aroused his memories.
"Master, I'm sorry." Lin Tao didn't expect the old man to have such a miserable life experience, and to be lonely and helpless in old age is really a great tragedy in life.
"I've been used to it for so many years, it's fine!" The old man waved his hand openly, "Young man, do me a favor and push the car over there!"
Without the help of the old man, Lin Tao pushed the car to the shadow of the wall opposite the road by himself. The sun was burning, and it was cooler here.
"It's quite strong!" The old man laughed, "I was not as strong as you when I was young. It really is a generation that supplemented nutrition since childhood. It was good to be able to eat pickles like us at that time, and it was even worse for those who survived." Easy."
"The times are different. Look at the children nowadays, all of them are fat balls, obviously they are over-nourished!" Lin Tao couldn't help but think of the little chubby people all over the street, and said with a smile.
"Extreme things will be reversed, this is the principle of nature." The old man also laughed and said, "Young man, you are very free. Last time you were working, and today is still working. I saw you wandering the streets twice."
"The last time I was just resigned, this time it was not long after I resigned, so you bumped into it."
"If you have nothing else to do, follow me and learn how to bake sweet potatoes!" The old man said suddenly.
Lin Tao was surprised that his proposal seemed a bit abrupt to the relationship between the two.
"Roasted sweet potatoes?" Lin Tao squinted at the oven.
"Don't think that roasting sweet potatoes is so simple, it requires a lot of skills!" The old man waved his hand, "I won't tell you now, I will tell you when you plan to learn from me!"
After taking a puff of cigarette, the old man said again: "I know this craft, but it's only in Junbei. I can guarantee that no one is better than my roasted sweet potatoes."
"Master, is this a bit too much?"
Lin Tao admitted that the old man's roasted sweet potatoes were delicious, but to say that it was Junbei's first serving was indeed a bit of an exaggeration.People nowadays are good at things, and they eat whatever is rare.If the old man's roasted sweet potatoes were so famous, people would have already lined up to buy them, why would he be chased away by the city management?
"Don't you believe it!" The old man lost his temper immediately, grabbed the unfinished sweet potato from him, and threw it into the trash can beside him.
"Master, what are you doing!" Lin Tao said distressedly.The old man's words were a bit exaggerated, but the roasted sweet potatoes were really delicious, at least they were the best roasted sweet potatoes he had eaten in Junbei, but he hadn't had time to say that yet.
"What's the rush?" The old man stared, and immediately became very dignified.
The old man unhurriedly opened the second-to-last floor of the oven, put on his thick black and yellow gloves that had been smoky on the surface, reached in and grabbed it twice, and took out an oval-shaped sweet potato that was only the size of a palm, and the surface was slightly roasted. Jiao, but not hard at all.
The other palm of the old man was covered with thick calluses, and he pinched and tore the skin of the sweet potato as if he was not afraid of the heat, revealing the roasted golden flesh of the sweet potato, and a strong sweetness wafted out immediately.
If it’s just like this, it’s not the best. The sweet potatoes baked by the old man are completely different from the ones Lin Tao ate before. The sap left on the old man's glove.
"How about it, haven't you seen it?" The old man showed a smug look on his face, took out a newspaper and put it under the sweet potato, "Try it, after you eat it, I'm sure you won't like other people's baked sweet potato anymore!" When he said this, he was full of confidence.
Fragrant, so fragrant!
Lin Tao ignored the burning of his mouth, took a bite, and breathed out continuously, but the sweet potato aroma still burrowed into his throat and nose.
After finally waiting for the sweet potato flesh to cool down, Lin Tao swallowed it whole.
Seeing his eating like this, the old man couldn't help laughing and said: "You can't eat sweet potatoes just out of the oven like this, it will easily burn your stomach!" He began to teach step by step how to eat sweet potatoes correctly.
"Peel off some of the skin first. Did you see that my sweet potato is baked, and there is no flesh on the thin skin, and other people's ones are connected together." The old man did not forget to introduce it while praising himself. Sweet potato, "Yes, blow it, gently scrape a layer of sweet potato pulp with your upper teeth, squeeze it in your mouth with your tongue, take two breaths, and feel that the temperature is almost ready to eat."
Lin Tao tried it according to the method. Not to mention, it is not only effortless to eat, but the aroma of the sweet potato flesh is even stronger after the flesh is squeezed in his mouth.
"Master, your sweet potatoes are so sweet, what kind do you use?" Lin Tao was very curious. He himself is also a person who loves roasted sweet potatoes. He has never seen this kind of sweet potatoes, which are as sweet as sugar.
"Don't worry about it. This is a variety I researched myself. It doesn't exist on the market. The annual output is only a few hundred catties. If I don't like it, I won't sell it!"
Lin Tao had a sudden change of heart. The inheritance he inherited from his grandmother hadn't found an investment project yet. The old man's baked sweet potatoes were almost automatically delivered to his door.
"Master, I don't want to learn your skill of roasting sweet potatoes, how about we cooperate?"
Hearing this, the old man looked him up and down for a long time before saying, "What do you want to do?"
Lin Tao smiled and said, "Master, we had a good chat just now, and now you are guarding against me?"
"If you don't learn technology from me, is it possible that you have money to invest?" The old man is not confident about this.
"Grandpa, you're still keeping pace with the times!" Hearing that he even mentioned investment, Lin Tao didn't look like a stubborn old man who stuck to the old rules. It seemed that this time there was really something going on.
"Master, I'm really rich, but you still can't believe my character?" Lin Tao laughed and said, "How about I pay the money and let's cooperate to open a store? You say that your roasted sweet potatoes are the best in all Junbei , we have to make sure of this title, don’t you think?”
The old man was obviously moved, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while.
"Master, you have six and four, I will pay, and you will pay for technology and sweet potato seeds, how about it?"
"this is not good!"
The old man was a real person, and he didn't want to take advantage of Lin Tao, so he finally agreed that the two parties would share a [-]-[-] split, and he agreed in a daze.
When he asked for the old man's phone number, Lin Tao finally knew the old man's name——Ma Zhiqiang, a very symbolic name of the times.
Back in the urban area, Lin Tao sat down on a roadside bench, basking in the sun and thinking about opening a store.
Junbei is good at this point. In order to compete for the top ten tourist cities in the country, Zheng Fu installed a lot of benches for rest on both sides of the road, and has persisted until now. Several leaders have gone over to maintain and update the benches. It has become one of the government's landmark convenience projects.
There were people coming and going on the street, some in a hurry, some in a leisurely way, but no one wanted to sit on a chair and bask in the sun. Lin Tao was obviously a different kind, and anyone who passed by would glance at him unconsciously.
Lin Tao really didn't feel very hot, he just felt very comfortable being roasted, and his mind was always thinking about things.Lin Tao is not very good at opening a store and doing business. Thinking about it makes his head hurt and he has no ideas. It seems that this is a big flaw, and he will make up for it later.
Although I can't do it myself, but Lin Tao has someone, and Guo Yiling is a master at it. She can even set up a company in the early morning. How can a small baked sweet potato shop be difficult for her?
Lin Tao nodded vigorously, and finally decided not to think about it, and let Guo Yiling handle this matter, and find time to have a good chat with her at night.
Lin Tao looked down at the time and was startled. It was almost five o'clock, and he sat on the street for several hours.
Thinking of his date with Wang Dezhi, he called quickly.
"I still have a while to go. A suspect has been caught in the office. He seems to be a fugitive. I have already contacted the branch office. I will contact you when the criminal police take over!"
Lin Tao was speechless, this sudden situation was the most unpredictable.
After making an appointment with Wang Dezhi, Lin Tao stood up from the bench and walked over on foot.
Wang Dezhi can always find some good restaurants in corner alleys, and this time is no exception. Lin Tao knows about the "tiao-zi alley" in his mouth, but he has never been in it. He really doesn't know how many of them have been operating for dozens of years years old restaurant.
After walking for more than an hour, Lin Tao stood at the entrance of Tiaozi Hutong. The alley was dark and deep. He generally didn't like to come to this kind of place, and he always had the feeling of seeing the dark side of human beings.
After waiting for a long time, Wang Dezhi finally drove over.
Parking the car on the side of the road, Wang Dezhi said, "How about it, are you in a hurry?"