National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1338 Wedding

Ten miles of red makeup, thousands of bright lanterns, the traditional wedding with ancient Chinese style is full of elegance and luxury.

Drums and music sound, the couple sing in harmony, and the joy and auspiciousness of a Chinese wedding is the result of thousands of years of accumulation.

The bride is wearing a phoenix coronet, a bridal veil, golden hairpins, and her hair is done up in the style of palace makeup. The moment the veil is taken off, the bride is stunning enough to stun everyone.

Following ancient rituals, we worship heaven and earth, respect our parents, make solemn vows, and keep the ceremony until our hair turns white.

This is the charm of a Chinese wedding.

Gorgeous, solemn and stylish.

Accompanied by bursts of laughter, applause and cheers.

The ceremony started with the old director of the Temple of Heaven Park acting as the master of ceremonies and reading out the marriage certificate. Then the bride and groom offered tea to the elders and relatives of both sides sitting in the front of the hall. Then, various distinguished guests gave congratulatory speeches until the ceremony was over.

The entire wedding process was joyous, lively and perfect.

Witnessed by friends from all walks of life, Chinese and foreign guests, and with the envy and admiration of countless people, and recorded by cameras, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko completed their wedding ceremony magnificently and smoothly.

The calligraphy work written by Huo Yanping himself, "The love between the two sides of the strait is as good as the sound of magpies, and the coincidence of fate brings us happiness and contentment", became the best blessing of everyone present for this Sino-Japanese couple and their transnational marriage.

The on-site speeches by Song Huagui and Wan Man, the parties involved in the country's first transnational marriage, and the heart-shaped wall hanging they jointly presented to Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko became the most appropriate and meaningful wedding gifts at this time and place.

But to be honest, these are actually nothing.

Because the few words that Huo Yanping told Ning Weimin in private gave him a surprise far beyond his expectations and was his biggest gain in today's wedding.

"Wei Min, the Spring Festival Gala has been basically discussed. The higher-ups are very grateful to you for making this happen. You have made a great contribution this time. It's just a pity that this matter needs to remain confidential and cannot be publicized. The person who came with me can't stay to drink your wedding wine. But don't be disappointed. This calligraphy is given to you by him, and it can be regarded as a congratulatory gift. In addition, he asked me to bring you a message. If you encounter any policy problems you don't understand when doing business in China, you can go and ask him. He is willing to help you solve your doubts."

The profundity of the Chinese language lies precisely in the fact that one is measured in speaking, and many things are implied without being said.

After Ning Weimin thanked him, he found an opportunity to escape by pretending to go to the toilet, and went to a deserted place to secretly open the scroll.

With just one glance, he discovered that the inscription on the calligraphy was "The clan is prosperous and the family is solid", and he could not help but feel overjoyed, as he understood everything.

You know, this is a congratulatory phrase for having many children and grandchildren and a prosperous clan.

How much confidence and weight does one have to have to say such a thing?

Moreover, there is not only a signature but also a famous seal on this calligraphy, which means it is a serious promise.

To put it bluntly, the value of this calligraphy is not something that can be calculated in terms of money.

If we have to find an appropriate word to describe it, I'm afraid it would only be "iron certificate and red seal".

Of course, this is just a symbolic thing.

Ning Weimin doesn't think that he can do whatever he wants and walk around with his head held high.

I have no intention of going to them and making excessive demands.

Because he knew that uncontrollable greed would lead to disaster. Even if it was a real iron certificate, it could not save Mr. Chai.

But at the very least, with this thing, as long as he does business honestly and legally.

Not to mention in the capital, even if he traveled all over the country, no one would deliberately make things difficult for him.

He doesn't have to worry about the kind of unexpected disaster that private businessmen fear the most happening to him. This should be considered a magical weapon that can scare away all ghosts and monsters and is specifically designed to protect him from evil spirits.

  From this point of view, even if he can't make a penny from making the movie "Crazy Rich Asians", he thinks it's worth it!

How could he not be beautiful?

So when he returned to the table and started toasting, he couldn't help but smile.

He grinned all the time and seemed to want to laugh for no reason, which made almost everyone mistakenly believe that he was just trying to show off today's glory and finally becoming a groom.

But then again, this day is supposed to be a day for everyone to be happy. Don’t just look at the beauty of Ning Weimin, the guests on this day are just as beautiful.

For no other reason than to enjoy the food and drinks, watch the fun, and receive gifts in return. Who wouldn’t be happy?

Let’s talk about food first. People in Beijing all know that the word “ban” in “banxishi” is a metaphor for holding a banquet.

Whether it is a wedding, a funeral, or a birthday celebration, as long as you do not prepare food and wine to entertain relatives and friends, you cannot send out invitations, and you cannot accept cash or physical gifts from relatives and friends.

No matter how many ceremonial activities there are, no matter how big or grand they are, it is still called "not doing anything".

To put it bluntly, eating and drinking are the main content of all celebrations.

In the past, this was called "Yiaotouer". For example, when the person who contributed money returned home, the people who did not go would ask, "How was the 'Yiaotouer' prepared today?"

If the contributor replies, "Yes, this is a very solid preparation. This project is done very well."

This means that the meals prepared by the host are very affordable and sufficient to satisfy the guests.

If you say, "Oh, don't mention it. Even the salt seller was beaten to death. It's not meant for people to eat."

That is to say, the family was stingy and prepared few dishes, fearing that there would not be enough to eat, so they had to ask the chef to make the dishes extra spicy to deal with the situation.

Both of the above statements are very straightforward and rude, but this is the overall evaluation of the victim's incident by the invited person.

For the former, the "hard preparation" of the table virtually sets off other ceremonial and entertaining activities, which are all good and give a comprehensive affirmation.

In the latter case, the victim deceives the invited relatives and friends in terms of food and drink. No matter how good the ceremonial and entertaining activities are, they will inevitably be wiped out and completely denied by those who contributed to the event.

Therefore, from ancient times to the present, the "outsiders" in the capital have always paid attention to the banquet when holding a wedding.

Don’t be fooled by the words “a small gift for you” on the invitation; that is just a humble and polite expression.

In fact, it absolutely cannot be too thin, especially when it comes to birthdays.

  why?

Because marrying a daughter-in-law, hiring a daughter, and sending off the elderly are inevitable for all families, rich or poor, so everyone should do their best to hold the banquet according to their means, and relatives and friends will naturally understand.

The only exception is when it comes to birthday celebrations, which are originally just icing on the cake and are a way of "showing off wealth". If the banquet is not well prepared and the food and drinks are of poor quality, it will inevitably affect the character of the host and make people suspect that the host is intentionally "casting a wide net to catch fish".

  In this regard, how did today's wedding go?

Needless to say, this "four-four to the end" fruit banquet is enough to surprise the guests just from the number and style of the dishes.

  Ordinary people, hey, let alone ordinary people, as long as they have never eaten the "official banquet" in Tan Gong Restaurant, who has ever seen such a grand occasion in his life?

Who has ever seen a banquet with dozens of dishes, from hot to cold, with prices rising in a variable manner?

Not to mention, every dish is prepared by an expert, there is nothing shabby about it, and the taste is amazing.

If you don’t believe me, just count and see.

The dried fruits were provided by the eldest son-in-law of the Luo family. They were a family of nobles, and they were famous for making dried fruits in the past. Now they have been hired by the Altar Palace and have become formal employees. They receive the salary of the head chef every month, and they do nothing but make dried fruits every day.

The dim sum buns are baked by the chefs of Tan Gong Restaurant according to the methods taught by Master Luo and Luo Guangsheng.

The Luo father and son are also from a family with a background, and their master is the authentic Manchurian pastry shop "Zhengmingzhai".

It was the leading enterprise among the Beijing's furnace baking bureaus in the past, with the earliest establishment time and the most comprehensive product categories.

At that time, Daoxiangcun was not a big deal, not even a steamed bun shop. It was just a southern-style food store, a junior one.

The real big banquet is jointly controlled by Master Pang who came from Kouzishang and Master Li who retired from Fengzeyuan.

This not only ensures the efficiency of serving dishes, but also ensures the quality and taste of the dishes.

Even the ingredients are extraordinary. In addition to delicacies from land and sea, there are also good things like chestnut mushrooms, palace yellow, and Jingxi rice.

Well think about it, if this banquet is not considered splendid, then what other banquet is worthy of such a word?

Even more than that, the most rare thing was that the famous chef "Zhang Dashao" fulfilled his promise and cooked personally on the day, making the finale dish of the day for Ning Weimin's wedding banquet - thirty "Eight Treasure Gourd Ducks".

As soon as this dish was served, it astounded the entire audience, allowing all the guests to experience the incredible beauty of Chinese cuisine and royal delicacies.

It turns out that this dish is extraordinary. It is a famous dish originating from the south of the Yangtze River that Emperor Qianlong brought back from his southern tour.

The word "gourd" in Eight Treasure Gourd Duck sounds like "fortune and luck", which means prosperity for the family.

The production process is more sophisticated than its name suggests, and requires a very high level of chef skills.

Chefs in Suzhou and other places mostly use small sharp knives to prepare "Eight Treasure Gourd Duck", but Zhang Dashao is good at using just one dish to conquer the world, and he uses great force.

He had long ago instructed the kitchen staff to prepare the ingredients according to his requirements. When making it, he only made a small incision of 4.5 inches long on the duck, so that he could debone the whole duck without damaging the skin. The whole process was done in one go.

Eight treasures refer to eight kinds of auxiliary ingredients.

Use lotus seeds, shrimps, scallops and other aquatic products, stir-fry until half-done, and add glutinous rice to help the filling absorb the essence of duck meat.

After stuffing the duck's belly with stuffing, tie the cut edge tightly with straw rope and carefully make it into a gourd shape.

After being steamed, the gourd-shaped duck embryo is finally fried in oil.

After several rounds of cooking, the duck skin is golden, transparent, tight and shiny when it comes out of the pot.

The shiny and crispy duck skin, the tender and juicy duck meat, and the soft, glutinous and fragrant fillings taste like a fusion of salty, fresh and mellow flavors.

  How can you describe the effect of this dish when it is served?

It should be similar to the scene in the movie "A Feast" where Kenny Bee cooks the yellow croaker in soup and then opens it with chopsticks.

Almost no one is not surprised when seeing the core of this eight-treasure gourd duck.

Even those "VIPs" who spend every day at banquets have had their eyes opened.

  And what about Mr. and Mrs. Fu Jie who had eaten this dish in the past?

He was also quite satisfied and said, "This is a delicacy with perfect color, aroma, taste, meaning and shape. It is a great honor to be able to taste it again now."

In short, just based on this dish from Zhang Dashao, the standard of today's wedding banquet can rival that of a state banquet.

In addition, as the saying goes, "No wine, no feast", especially at weddings, wine is even more important.

Since "wine" and "long" have the same pronunciation, people naturally change the meaning of "wine" to "long" for good luck.

In the past, the most commonly used liquor in the capital was "Shaohuang Liquor", which was also called "Gold Liquor and Silver Liquor".

These two things were naturally not lacking at the wedding organized by Ning Weimin.

At his wedding banquet, Maotai was used as liquor and Jimo old wine was used as rice wine.

However, in order to avoid ostentation and gossip, the wine at the wedding banquet was served in jugs.

The advantage of this is that not only are the utensils exquisite and come in pairs with the tableware, but people of high social status can still drink it out, appearing elegant and reserved.

Like most people in official circles, they were all ranked at the first rank.

He naturally nodded and smiled, and raised his glass happily.

Although ordinary people do not know the value of the product, they only know that it tastes good, and they can still feel at ease because of it.

For example, Master Mi from No. 2 Shaner Hutong has only ever drunk Erguotou, and he kept talking about it to Uncle Bian.

"Look, this old Kang is really smart. One bottle of Laobai is enough to divide into two or three pots. Don't look at the many tables, in fact, only a few bottles are needed. This is a smart move. If I had a son, I would do the same. No wonder this old guy is rich, he is really a businessman and knows how to save money."

Uncle Bian was quite fair. "Look at what you said. They gave you a refill after you finished drinking. Besides, the wine is so good. It's at least three yuan for a good bottle. How can they be stingy? It's only right to try to waste less. And what about the red wine, beer and soda? Which of them didn't you drink? These are cheap?"

Indeed, today there is not only shochu and rice wine, but also white and red wine, as well as sweet-scented osmanthus wine, "Five Star Beer" and "Polar Bear" soda that had been artificially iced early, which were also placed on the oil table next to them along with tin buckets.

It has everything you need, and the main feature is to be thoughtful and take care of the various needs of guests of different genders and ages.

In addition, there is also a thoughtful gift in terms of food that all guests will not expect.

You know, at Ning Weimin's wedding today, once a guest leaves, there must be a return gift as a thank you.

Crafts such as wedding cigarettes, wedding candies, utensils, jewelry, and love knots will ensure that the guests will not leave empty-handed.

However, among all the return gifts, a portion of assorted steamed food was also included, which was even more unique.

The steamed food given as return gifts is mainly buns, because the guests will be tired and unwilling to move after returning home after a full meal.

With the buns, once they are hungry, they don’t need to start a fire, they can just eat the buns to fill their stomach.

What’s special is that the filling of the buns is not available in restaurants on the market.

For example: chicken and duck with diced enoki mushroom filling, sea cucumber, scallop and magnolia slice filling, eel filling, clam filling, white lotus root filling, milky taro filling, jasmine tea and shrimp filling, which are truly unique.

Jiang Nianyun personally selects the ingredients and mixes the fillings for all the buns, and she has to personally watch over them before they are put into cattail bags and paper boxes and given away as gifts.

The old lady has very high requirements for the quality of the dough. The alkali must be used in moderation, and it must not be slightly yellow or yellowish to be considered decent.

To be honest, this was actually an innovation of the Ma family, the richest family in Beijing, when they were doing business. As a result, Jiang Nianyun, who was living here as a guest, saw it and learned to embezzle it today.

This should also be considered a kind of inheritance, and it is appropriate.

After all, with Ning Weimin's assets today, he is already worthy of being called the new generation richest man in Beijing.