Chapter 44 Changing pastries
The moment the old beggar suddenly appeared, Zhang Yunniang immediately pulled Niu Niu behind her.
She looked at the old beggar warily and said, "I don't need any secret recipe, old man, you can find someone else."
The old beggar was not surprised by her reaction. He even turned around and planned to leave.
Things like deceit and abduction have always been done by looking at the food, or in other words, bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
Zhang Yunniang and others came together, and the old beggar would never cheat such people.
His target has always been single women like Xiao Cai. He doesn't want much, just enough to feed the children.
Xiao Cai gave him twenty coppers, hoping that he would cheat Zhang Yunniang. Who would fight for such a small amount of money? Just fool around and that's it.
But Niu Niu, who was protected by Zhang Yunniang, suddenly stuck out half of her head and asked timidly: "Grandpa, do you really have a secret recipe?"
Seeing how cute the little girl looked, the old beggar stopped, squatted down, and said with a smile: "Old beggar, I have been traveling around for many years, and I have obtained countless secret recipes. If it weren't for my old age, I would have made it myself. It’s bought and sold.”
Zhang Yuniang frowned slightly when she heard this obvious bragging and asked, "Didn't you just talk about the secret recipe passed down from the family? What does it have to do with traveling around?"
The old beggar paused after hearing this, and quickly changed his words: "There are secret recipes passed down from family, and there are also recipes given by others. Three years ago, I rescued a young man who fell into the river, and he gave me a secret recipe. He had several heads, and he cried and begged me to take it, saying that this secret recipe was worth ten thousand yuan, old man, I have a lot of old things.”
I don’t know whether this is true or not, but Niu Niu listened very seriously and asked: "Grandpa, can you show me your secret recipe?"
The old beggar immediately said: "If the secret recipe is shown to others, will it still be valuable? Little girl, if you don't plan to buy it, don't amuse me."
Niu Niu hesitated for a moment and said, "Three taels of silver is too expensive. Niu Niu doesn't have it."
When the old beggar saw that he could open a second order today, his eyes lit up. Who would refuse if he had money to earn? He immediately hinted with his eyes that Niu Niu should beg Zhang Yunniang.
After Niuniu glanced at Zhang Yunniang, she didn't speak.
Zhang Yunniang felt that the old man was a liar, but she couldn't help but feel a little distressed when she saw her daughter like this, so she said softly: "If you really want to buy it, it's not impossible."
Zhang Yunniang was already ready for a big bargain, and she would give at most five cents to this old liar.
The old beggar beamed with joy on the spot and said: "Little girl, you still have a good vision. Having a secret recipe in hand is equivalent to learning a craft..."
Listening to his endless words, Niu Niu shook her head and said, "I don't want to waste my mother's money."
The old beggar got stuck on the spot and was stunned for a while before he said, "Little girl, are you kidding me?"
Niu Niu asked with some embarrassment: "Grandpa, can I use Huahua cake in exchange for your secret recipe?"
She said, taking out the bag of pastries that she had just bought.
The old beggar had been on the street for so long and had a pair of vicious eyes. Naturally, he could recognize that the price of this bag of cakes was about fifty cents.
Although he felt that buying a few cakes for fifty cents was really not worth it, it would be a pity if he didn't kill a fat sheep after finally meeting him.
Pastries are just pastries. Anyway, it’s a business without capital. If you can fill your stomach, you can still make money.
"Okay, give me this bag of pastries, and I'll give you a secret recipe to make sure you're satisfied." The old beggar stretched out his dirty hands. He didn't think it was shameful to trick the little girl at all.
But before Zhang Yuniang could stop her, Niuniu put the bag of cakes into her arms and said very seriously: "Grandpa, my parents and two brothers haven't tasted this cake yet, so I want to leave a piece for them all."
Filial children are always popular. Although the old beggar was unhappy, he still said: "Then you keep four yuan, how many more are left?"
"Three yuan." Niu Niu whispered. The old beggar nodded and said, "Three yuan is three yuan."
But Niuniu still shook her head and said, "I still want to send Aunt Liu and Granny Qian away."
The old beggar asked in disbelief: "Little girl, you are not big and you are quite capable. This is a secret recipe, a secret recipe worth tens of thousands of gold. You want to exchange it for a piece of pastry? How dare you?"
Niu Niu looked ashamed when he asked.
However, Zhang Yuniang understood an old man like him quite well and asked directly: "Do you want to change? If not, leave immediately. If you don't leave, I'll call someone to drive you away."
The old beggar said quickly: "No, no, no, no, I'll change!"
Zhang Yunniang had an expression of "Sure enough".
The old beggar was not embarrassed at all, but asked Niu Niu with a smile: "What formula do you want, pills, plasters, or a secret recipe for food? Even the recipe for making ink sticks, the old man has it."
Seeing his arrogant appearance, Zhang Yuniang didn't even bother to expose him. There was just a piece of pastry on the left and right. This whole package was originally bought for Niuniu to eat, and she threw it to the old beggar as a way to make the child happy.
Niu Niu didn't think it was a joke. Instead, she frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "I want the secret recipe for eating."
The old beggar stretched out his hand to ask for pastry, and Niu Niu handed the pink petal-shaped pastry to the old beggar with reluctance.
After the old beggar put away the cakes, he randomly took out a paper ball from his body and handed it over without looking at it.
Both parties are actually quite satisfied and feel that they got a bargain.
"The little girl has a good eye. Next time I have something good, the old man will sell it to you!"
After the old beggar said this, he turned around and got into the crowd, and disappeared in a few breaths.
Although Zhang Yunniang felt that she had suffered a loss, she still acted as if this had not happened. She had no intention of blaming Niu Niu and turned around to continue picking vegetables.
Niu Niu tried her best to smooth out the piece of paper balled up by the old beggar, and then eagerly held it to Zhang Yunniang: "Mom, the secret recipe! The secret recipe for food! You and Aunt Liu can use it to do business!"
Zhang Yunniang, who was picking vegetables, was stunned when she heard this and asked: "Niuniu, are you buying the secret recipe for me?"
Niu Niu nodded vigorously and said softly: "Mom, if you want to do business, someone will come with the secret recipe immediately. This is because God is blessing you!"
Before Zhang Yunniang said anything, the vegetable seller spoke up first: "Little girl, that old beggar stops people on this street every day to sell secret recipes. From time to time, people who have been deceived come to him to settle accounts. Are you the one who was tricked by him?" Cheated!"
When Niuniu heard this, her face suddenly darkened, and tears began to well up in her **** eyes.
"What a sin! This **** old beggar deceived even a little girl. Why didn't he let lightning strike him to death?" said the vegetable seller.
At this time, the old beggar who returned to the ruined temple touched his body, slapped his forehead, and said: "It seems that the wrong secret recipe was given. How could the most important thing be given away?"
But then I thought: "I can't understand the prescription even if I keep it, so just give it to me!"
After saying this, he sneezed several times in succession and couldn't help but muttered: "Who is scolding me?"
After a while, he shook his head again and said, "Forget it, never mind. I cheat and deceive every day. It's fair for someone to scold me."
The old beggar took out the flower-shaped pastry from his arms, went to the dirty child lying in the corner of the ruined temple, and said, "My son, wake up and eat the cake. If you are sick, That’ll be fine, old man, I picked you up and expected you to take care of me in your old age.”
(End of chapter)