Let’s not talk about this.
Goudan thought he was a very trustworthy child. He had to work after receiving the candy. Three days later, he wrapped the dead mouse in a leaf and knocked on the door of his mother's house.
Boom boom boom.
At this time, only my mother was at home, and she had just woken up from a nap and was busy preparing dinner.
"Who is this? What's the matter at this hour?" She yawned and opened the door.
He looked around but didn't see anyone. He muttered, "Who has nothing to do? He opened the door and ran away."
"Ma, I'm here!" a voice came from below.
The old lady looked down and saw Goudan. "What are you doing here?"
"Have you forgotten? Three days ago we agreed that I would catch a dead mouse for you and you would give me five candies. Now I have brought the things, but where are the candies?" Goudan, a smart little boy, said while jumping and skipping.
The mother almost forgot about it and quickly slapped her face to wake herself up. "Let me see the things first."
"That won't work. I'm a child and you're an adult. What if you take the things and don't give me the candy? I have to give you the candy and the goods at the same time." Goudan insisted.
Just like Goudan said, he was the adult and he couldn't run away anyway, so the aunt went back to the room and got five candies and passed them over.
"Here, take it." Goudan finally handed the leaf over.
When inspecting the goods on site, a lady lifted up the leaves and took a look. She saw a small mouse as long as a finger lying dead on the leaves with its claws stretched out and its eyes wide open. It seemed that it had no breath.
Ugh, how disgusting.
The mother, who was most annoyed by mice, could not help but burp.
But no matter how evil he felt, he had to do it, all for the purpose of getting rid of Lin Minjun and making money for his family!
Goudan took the candy but didn't leave. He stood on tiptoe and asked curiously, "Auntie, I want to ask you, what does epilepsy mean?"
After returning home that night, Goudan asked his parents this question: What exactly is epilepsy? It sounds so weird.
But parents are very cautious about this, saying, "Pfft, ptff, ptff, kids are not allowed to ask questions. Shut up and don't mention these three words."
So Goudan asked his mother about it.
For a child like Goudan who had no conflict of interest, the mother was quite kind and explained, "It's just foaming at the mouth, eyes rolling up, mouth crooked, eyes slanting, hands and feet shaking constantly. Child, this is not a good disease, don't go out and tell others about it, or people will think it's epilepsy, it will be difficult for you to find a wife in the future. This disease cannot be cured, and you will have it for the rest of your life, understand?"
"Oh." Goudan nodded thoughtfully, turned around and ran out.
The old lady carried the dead mouse to her kitchen, peeled the prepared potatoes, put a lot of oil in the pot, put the potato pieces in to fry, and soon, a portion of fried potatoes came out of the pot.
Although the taste is not as good as the one sold by Lin Minjun, it looks almost the same. After all, fried potatoes are made in one simple way, and what determines the taste is the seasoning. More or less seasoning can make a huge difference.
After making the fried potatoes, the mother endured her nausea and hid the dead mouse in the bowl of fried potatoes. She hid it deliberately so that others could not see what was inside.
After finishing all this, the mother picked up the bowl of fried potatoes with "ingredients" and found her son Cao Bin, "How do you think, son? Mommy's cooking is not bad, right? Does it look like it?"
Cao Bin looked at it carefully for a long time, "Resemble it! Mom, you are really good, not only does it look like it, it smells similar, and it doesn't seem to require any skills. Then I feel relieved, I will go find her now."
Of course she was talking about Lin Minjun. The props were ready, so Cao Bin was of course ready to act.
Before leaving, he reminded the aunt, "Remember what I said before? Move quickly and don't let anyone see you. I'll go first, and you'll be out in a bit."
Apparently, the mother and son had been planning for a while to bring down Lin Minjun.
The eldest mother nodded immediately and said, "Don't worry, I've remembered everything."
Cao Bin felt that everything was safe, so he strolled out of the door with ease, and strolled to Xiushui East Street like a gangster.
He didn't go anywhere else, but went straight to Lin Minjun's stall and said, "Give me a portion of fried potatoes."
"Okay, wait a moment, I'll do yours after I finish these." Lin Minjun was busy and asked casually.
After asking, I suddenly felt that the voice sounded familiar. I looked up and saw that it was Cao Bin.
As soon as Lin Minjun saw the sly look of this guy, she knew he was here to do something bad today.
She knew that Cao Bin had come with bad intentions today, but she didn't know how he was going to attack her.
At this moment, I took a deep breath and decided to go along with him to see what he was going to do.
Lin Minjun pretended not to notice and asked calmly, "Comrade, do you want the scallion and coriander flavor, or the watercress flavor?"
"Whatever, I'll eat here." Cao Bin said with a frivolous smile.
There were people queuing in front of him. Lin Minjun fried the potatoes expertly and adjusted the flavors, striving to do every step to the best of his ability so that no one could find fault with it.
She glanced at Cao Bin and said, "Go line up at the back."
At the same time, a big mom also started to take action.
She took the bowl of fried potatoes and went out, all the way to the alley.
The warm afternoon sun in winter is never enough, so everyone in the alley who is not working today comes out to bask in the sun. When they see an old lady going out with a bowl in her hand, everyone is of course curious.
"Xiuhua, it's already this late. Why are you going out with a bowl in your hand instead of at home to cook dinner?" an old lady asked.
The mother left in a blatant manner to attract attention. She was not afraid of you asking, but was afraid that you would not ask.
At this time, she found that someone noticed her. The first mother was not in a hurry to leave. She walked over and said, "I was confused last time and wrongly accused Erwa of stealing my bacon. I was upset with Xiaolin and Erwa because of this matter."
She pretended to be sympathetic and wiped away her non-existent tears. "Ah, now that I think about it, I was really blinded by greed. Xiaolin is such a good person. He brought me food on the first day I came."
One of the ladies nodded and said, "I'm glad you figured it out. We've lived together for such a long time, and we all know that Xiaolin is not a bad person, and neither are you. We'll see each other sooner or later, so it's better not to create conflicts."
"Well, she gave me some fried potatoes, so I learned to make some and gave them to her as a gift to apologize to her. What do you think?" The lady showed off her fried potatoes.
It was rare for an elder to apologize to a younger person. When the others heard this, they thought that the eldest lady was very polite and knew she was wrong. They gave her a thumbs up and said, "Great, that's great, Xiuhua. We used to think you were a bad-mouthed person, but now it seems that you have a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Go and give it to Xiaolin. She has already gone to do business."
When others asked her to go, the mother stopped and said, "But I still have something to remind Xiaolin. I don't know if I should remind her. This matter concerns her and us. Alas!"
Her sigh really whetted our appetite.
"What's the matter? Tell us what's the matter first, and we can all come up with some ideas together."
"Isn't Xiaolin selling fried potatoes at the street corner? I've heard a lot of people say these past two days that her stall isn't very clean. You have to be careful with what you eat. If you eat something unclean, you'll get diarrhea. It's okay for adults, but for children, diarrhea is a serious problem. They can also cause fever." The mother looked worried. "I'm just a neighbor, and I don't know if I should remind her. This is not a small matter. She may have just arrived in the capital and is used to doing things in the countryside, so she doesn't care much about hygiene issues."
As soon as she finished speaking, one of the ladies stood up and her expression changed immediately. "That's impossible. Did you really hear people say that her things are not clean?"
"Really? She is a country girl. Have you ever seen a family in the country that keeps things clean?" the aunt asked back, sounding very serious.
Most of the people living in the hutongs are city dwellers. They seldom go to the countryside, and their impression of the countryside is that the ground is full of chicken shit and cow feces, and flies and feces that can never be driven away. It is this stereotype that, when combined with the fried potatoes sold by Lin Minjun, everyone suddenly becomes uneasy.
"That won't do. My granddaughter loves the fried potatoes she makes. Every time she comes home, she asks me to buy some. If they're not clean, what if the child gets an upset stomach?" The eldest mother stood up and walked out with the second eldest mother. "You must tell her about this. I'll go with you. Let's go now."
Anyway, I have nothing to do this afternoon and everyone is bored, so I might as well go and see if there is anything lively.
So, half of them were there to watch the fun, and half of them were there to give a sincere reminder, and everyone followed the lady and went to Lin Minjun's stall.
Goudan was playing tunnel warfare with a group of kids in the alley, but tunnel warfare was not as exciting as this one, so he took his brother to join them.
…
There was a long line of people waiting to buy fried potatoes in front of Lin Minjun's stall.
Ever since the last time that No-brained and Unhappy came, the business at her stall has become especially hot. Many people like the original flavor, which has been selling very well. The Zhe Er Gen flavor has attracted a large number of people, and many people don’t want to throw it away after trying it. Anyway, it’s not expensive, and people come to buy it from time to time with their lunch boxes.
That's how it is. When it gets busy, the line can even stretch across the street.
Fortunately, Lin Minjun was quick with her hands. She picked up the fried potatoes and put them aside to drain the oil. She then put the next batch of potatoes into the pan. While the potatoes were frying in the pan, she started to season, stir, and pack them.
She performed this set of movements smoothly and fluidly, without wasting a single second.
The customers left one by one with their fried potatoes, satisfied. Finally, it was Cao Bin's turn. He took a sniff of the aroma but did not buy anything. He held the handlebar of the tricycle with one hand, posing in a manner that he thought was very handsome but was actually very greasy.
He seemed to be waiting for someone and didn't ask for anything.
Lin Minjun didn't waste time talking to him. She skipped him and asked the next person, "Comrade, what do you want?"
He fried the potatoes skillfully and mixed the seasonings. During this time, he was observing Cao Bin to see when he was going to attack.
But no, Cao Bin waited for a long time, but he didn't say a word.
Lin Minjun was a little suspicious whether she was wrong. Was Cao Bin just here to eat? Otherwise, when was he going to do something bad?
While frying potatoes for the remaining customers, Lin Minjun was still thinking.
But at this moment, there was a commotion not far away, and someone could be heard saying, "Xiao Lin, Xiao Lin, I'm here to give you a gift and apologize."
This voice sounds like that of an old lady. Why is she apologizing for no reason?
Lin Minjun looked in the direction of the sound and saw an old lady walking steadily with a bowl in her hand. Four or five old ladies and aunts from the alley followed her. Upon closer inspection, she saw two sneaky children as well.
"I slandered Erwa the other day and accused you of meddling in other people's business. I was wrong. I have to apologize to you." The first lady said as she stuffed a bowl into Lin Minjun's hand. Seeing that she didn't take it, she put it on the table and said, "I don't have any other intentions today. I just came here to apologize to you. I'm sorry."
Lin Minjun subconsciously looked at the bowl, which also contained a bowl of fried potatoes, not much different from what she made.
She raised an eyebrow.
What is this mother and son up to?
Lin Minjun was wondering when she suddenly heard someone slamming the table next to her stall and starting to make a commotion.
She turned around and saw that it was Cao Bin.
Cao Bin was standing quietly just now, but suddenly he walked up to a customer, slammed the table and shouted: "I saw a dead mouse in the bowl!"
This sound was like a bolt from the blue, just like pouring a bowl of water into a frying pan, completely catching everyone off guard.
There were two other guests sitting behind Cao Bin, also eating here. They were enjoying their meal when they suddenly heard that there was a dead rat in their bowls. One of the guests vomited the fried potatoes in his mouth and squatted on the ground, vomiting hard.
The other chopstick hadn't even moved yet, but he also stood up suddenly with a look of disgust on his face.
Cao Bin added fuel to the fire, saying in a strange voice: "It's a dark rat with a very long tail, as if it had been fried. Ah, how disgusting."
When he said this, the guest next to him vomited again. He had already swallowed it and couldn't spit it out. He vomited weakly for a long time, and when he climbed up by holding the table, his first words were, "Fuck you, give me back my money!"
"That's right, give your money back. Can you eat a dead rat? Isn't this harming people?" Cao Bin continued to exaggerate, fearing that the matter would not get out of hand.
The customer was clamoring for a refund, but Cao Bin was still stirring up trouble.
From selecting potatoes to frying them, to mixing the seasonings and then serving them in bowls, Lin Minjun does all the steps herself. She is confident that her food is cleaner than what others eat.
Regardless of the era, food safety is of paramount importance and cannot be ignored, so today he lightly splashed a basin of dirty water, and Lin Minjun had to find a way to wash it off.
Lin Minjun immediately walked over, found a plate, poured the bowl of fried potatoes Cao Bin mentioned onto the plate, and searched around for all the potatoes and seasonings. Not to mention a dead mouse, she didn't even see a shadow. She raised her head and asked, "Where's the mouse? You saw it, where is it? Find it for me now."
The people nearby also looked over and said, "No, there is no mouse hair at all. How can there be a dead mouse?"
Lin Minjun had already turned the bowl over and looked for it, but couldn't see the dead mouse in his mouth. Logically, Cao Bin should have been very embarrassed, because this meant that he was deliberately looking for trouble and lying.
But Cao Bin shrugged his shoulders and said shamelessly, "Then I was wrong. It's in your pot."
Lin Minjun took a deep breath. At this time, she already knew that Cao Bin was looking for trouble. He was just looking at a rat.
"In the pot? Oh my god, that's even more outrageous. Aren't the fried potatoes we eat made from fried rat oil?" someone shouted in surprise.
"That won't do. This thing is so dirty. Ouch, I hope there is really a mouse. My stomach hurts a little." Someone else followed suit and covered his stomach because of his own psychological suggestion.
The group of old ladies and grandmas in the alley had followed Lin Minjun's stall because they heard from the grandma that it was not clean. When they heard this, they also responded, "If there really is a dead mouse, Xiao Lin, you can't set up the stall anymore. Isn't this harming people? This stall is not only for adults, but also for children. How are you going to explain to their parents if they get sick from eating?"
Everyone came over to talk about the rat. Some covered their stomachs and said they had stomachaches, while others vomited as if they had really seen a rat.
Lin Minjun walked to the front of the stall, and in front of everyone, she scooped out the food from the pot inch by inch with a colander, put the fried potatoes on a basin, and searched around the stall.
The mouse was not found, but she saw the mother retract her hand very quickly.
It seemed like a particularly casual action, but Lin Minjun didn't say anything. She looked carefully at her stall and immediately realized something was wrong.
A lady just sent me a bowl of fried potatoes that was almost identical to hers, even the bowl it came in was exactly the same.
Now Lin Minjun found that there was one less bowl where she put the clean bowls, and there was an extra dirty bowl next to it.
Thinking of what the aunt had just done, she boldly guessed that the aunt might have taken advantage of everyone else's booing while she was busy dealing with that thing and poured the fried potatoes she had made at home into her own bowl, pretending that she had made them herself?
A mother only needs to take a clean bowl and pour the things into it. This is called making up the numbers.
Cao Bin was still making a fuss about seeing a dead rat. Could it be that the mother and son had made a bowl of fried potatoes with a dead rat in it at home and came to put the blame on her?
At this moment, Lin Minjun understood everything.
Cao Bin came to buy things first, but halfway through her shopping she started to complain that her things were not clean and contained dead rats.
In fact, the aunt took advantage of everyone's noise and poured a bowl of fried potatoes with a dead mouse in it into her bowl and falsely blamed it on her.
In this way, the mother and son could work together to completely put an end to her business.
Fortunately, Lin Minjun was careful and had the habit of counting things at all times. Fortunately, she had discovered that the mother and son were going to do something bad and took precautions in advance, so they did not really fall into their trap.
The more dangerous the situation was, the more Lin Minjun calmed herself down. While the mother wasn't paying attention, she quietly poured the bowl with the dead mouse in it back and put it in a conspicuous place. At the same time, she had a plan in her mind.
You eat a dead mouse in one bite. It seems you really want to eat it.
Lin Minjun glanced at Cao Bin and thought to herself, there is a saying that goes "give someone a taste of their own medicine". Today I will also let you taste the feeling of being slandered.
Over there, after Cao Bin's exaggeration, everyone was already particularly suspicious that Lin Minjun's food was not clean, and the people who had just bought fried potatoes were clamoring for a refund. Cao Bin shouted especially loudly, "Refund! Refund! What if you get diarrhea after eating something this dirty? Return your money now!"
Lin Minjun was not in a hurry. She placed the bowl of fried potatoes that the first lady brought in front of the table, in a particularly conspicuous place, and said loudly, "These are the fried potatoes that the first lady in our yard brought. I didn't make them. You all saw her bring them in just now. I'll put this in front first."
Then she added, "If the food I made was really not clean and made you sick, I am willing to refund you, or even pay for it. But now there is no dead mouse and no evidence. I can't refund you based on a few words, and you can't accuse me like this."
"You can only prove that there was no dead mouse in the bowl just now. I saw one jump into the frying pan just now. Let me search it." Cao Bin immediately attacked.
Lin Minjun had just scooped out all the potatoes from the pan, and now she reached in again to scoop them out twice. "Are there any?" she asked.
"Whether there is or not, I'll find out after searching." Cao Bin put his hands in his pockets, his eyes were particularly rude.
Lin Minjun laughed, with a look of contempt in her eyes, "You search, you filthy rascal, you want to search my things based on a word, based on what? What qualifications do you have, what identity do you use to search, based on your identity as a vagrant?"
Cao Bin was choked by these words, and for a moment he couldn't think of any rebuttal.
"No, you're not a homeless person, you're the leader of the gangsters around here." She said to the others, "Do you remember two gangsters came to my stall two days ago and said the food was not tasty. Later I asked them about it and they said it was Cao Bin who sent them to mess up my business and make it difficult for me to continue working here."
Someone took a deep breath and asked, "Is this true?"
"It's true!" The vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes slapped his thigh, "I remember now, it's true. But Xiaolin, did those two thugs really say that Cao Bin was the gang leader?"
"Yes, he told me personally. I think he is just looking for trouble to collect protection fees from us." Lin Minjun nodded and asked Cao Bin, "You repeatedly asked hooligans to mess up the place, and when it didn't work once, you did it yourself. If not to collect protection fees, what else could it be? Do you still have the law? Cao Bin, this is a new society, not the old one. It's not your turn to run wild."
These words made Cao Bin almost jump up. He poured a basin of dirty water on Lin Minjun, but who could have expected that Lin Minjun would scoop up the dirty water and pour it over him the next second, making him feel cold all over.
Bandit and hooligan is a big label. It's okay in recent years, but he would have been shot in the past. God knows, he did some bad things in the past few years and was a small boss, but with the reform and opening up and the removal of labels, those little brothers no longer paid attention to him. Now he is alone, so how come he has become the big gangster leader as Lin Minjun said?
"When did I say I would charge protection fees?" Cao Bin no longer looked like the gangster he had just been. It was as if he had eight mouths and couldn't explain himself.
Lin Minjun was very clear and asked, "What else do you want to do? You haven't even eaten yet and you come to slander me, saying that my things are not clean. You even want to search, but what basis do you have to search? You have been a gangster for a long time, so you think the whole world belongs to you, right?"
Staring at Cao Bin, Lin Minjun thought to himself, little gangster, our war horn has just been sounded, you'd better not be afraid to fight.