Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 43

Fengjiu is even busier. In addition to preparing for the exam, he also needs to deal with the affairs of the Ende Hall on weekdays. Fortunately, Mrs. Shou is very concerned about this, and her daily work is on track, so in addition to weekly meetings with a few people in charge of the hall The daily management staff gathered for a meeting, and she stipulated that she must go there twice a week, and each time taught the children half a day of extracurricular Chinese and English. Finally, there was no such chaos as when they first started.

And the millstone of time has finally turned to the twelfth lunar month of the first lunar year that Feng Jiu spent at her husband's house after she got married.

"Children, don't be greedy, after Laba is the New Year", in fact, starting from Laba every year, the meaning of the New Year becomes stronger.

"Three sacrifices to the stove, fourth house sweeping, fifth steaming of steamed buns, sixth killing of pigs..."

Feng Jiu knew that the four kitchens in the Shuai Mansion, not counting the small kitchens of Mama Wu in the Little Red Mansion, have been steaming steamed buns, bean buns, sticky bean buns, rice cakes, dumplings one after another since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month... In short, the whole first month needs All pasta must be prepared.

There are more than [-] chefs working here in the Shuai Mansion on weekdays. Each of the four kitchens has a main stove, and one of them is a western chef, which is specially used to entertain foreign guests.

However, if the number of kitchens and chefs determines that the old handsome lives a luxurious life, then it is not true: according to Fengjiu's observation, in terms of the old handsome's social status, his daily life is not extravagant. There are four more dishes and one soup, and the staple food is mainly sorghum rice water.

On weekdays, each room of the Ning family eats their own food, except for the New Year's Eve of course.

There is a certain amount of food and clothing for each room every month, and the big girl under Mrs. Shou will distribute it according to the account book on the second day of each month; each kitchen is responsible for the meals of a certain room or several owners, and will also keep accounts.

If the meal expenses exceed the prescribed limit, you need to make up for it yourself; if the guests from your hometown need to add food, you have to pay for it yourself.

This is the truth that Qiao Xin worryingly said last time when Feng Jiu took his two sister-in-laws to watch a movie and came back late to have a supper.

In addition to daily cooking for the masters, these main stoves are actually more important for entertaining distinguished guests.

The old man has a famous saying: What is the world?The rivers and lakes are just that - the way of the world.

Different from eating the most expensive meals in the most luxurious hotels, inviting distinguished guests to a house banquet can use the unique warm atmosphere of the family to subtly shorten the relationship between people and add a touch of warmth to the guest of honor. A sense of intimacy, so that the serious business that is difficult to speak while sitting in the conference room can also be discussed in a harmonious and relaxed atmosphere.

And such a huge team of cooks is because there are more than [-] servants and guards in the Ning Mansion, plus other soldiers who come and go frequently, there are only so many mouths to eat, and there are not enough cooks. of.

Although the little red building where Fengjiu lives is less than 40 meters behind the old man's big brothel, she feels as if she is living in a peach blossom garden, and she doesn't know many things about Ning's mansion, because Ning Zheng has always protected her. Well done, so that she doesn't have to get involved in the trivial and complicated daily affairs of the handsome mansion.

In fact, it is normal for people to come and go in front of the big brothel, especially those guard officers who go out to do errands for their masters, often need to come back to report work, called "sending military information", or sending emergency messages, although in the past six months, the old man and Ning Zheng is often not in the mansion, and most of the time they should go directly to the military headquarters, but they still habitually go to the commander's mansion to eat and drink before going.

Feng Jiu was quite shocked when he saw it for the first time: Does the dignified old man still need to take care of the bellies of these low-ranking officers and their entourage?Slowly she discovered that the reason why the old man stood out from the gangsters who started with beards was not without reason: his subordinates were kind and lenient, and tried their best to take good care of them and their families, just like handsome The pattern of bats engraved everywhere in the mansion is the same, which not only represents "blessing everywhere", but also "blessings shared".

Extending to the government affairs of the three eastern provinces, the old marshal also upholds such a simple concept-"Do not scrape land for the people under his jurisdiction, and do not drink blood for his own soldiers."

Therefore, the soldiers of the Ning army reciprocated: "Eat Ning's food, fight Ning's battle."

Feng Jiu felt that the closer he was to the old man, the more he would find that he had many facets: for example, he had his own way of managing the family, politics, and the army.

Feng Jiu is no longer a little girl, and the "dualism" of black and white views on people that she originally held has long since disappeared, replaced by a more comprehensive and three-dimensional "multi-faceted theory"-no matter how bad people are, there are also good people. No matter how good a person is, he also has a dark side.

"People are not sages and sages can do nothing wrong", not to mention that the old man still has some merits.

On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, which is commonly known as "Xiao Nian'er", it is time for every household to worship the Stove Lord.

Marshal Ning in Northeast China is notoriously superstitious, and his spirit of flattering the lottery is no less than that of the Cantonese who are famous for it. Row.

Although he is not in Fengtian, when it comes to the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, it will not delay him. He called from Beiping early in the morning and asked Ning Zheng, who had just returned to Fengtian, to go to the kitchen in the brothel in person, that is, the old handsome himself. In the open kitchen, go through all the steps related to the worship of the Stove Lord: first, clean the inside and outside of the kitchen; then sprinkle black beans and cake residues on the aisle at the main entrance of the kitchen; Horses are tied with sorghum stalks, the old man likes red, and he has to paint red after the tie is finished. In fact, there should be two horses, one male and one female, one black and one red.

In the past, the old man even made the horses himself. This year, Ning Zheng, who doesn't take these old customs seriously, is good enough to fool him. Naturally, I don't know who made these horses. Who dyed it.

In the middle of the night, Ning Zheng yawned and was woken up by the good alarm clock. Feng Jiu also jumped up and sat up, and followed to watch the excitement.

Accompanied by Feng Jiu, Ning Zheng's originally unhappy mood became better. He gently pinched the tip of her nose. Asking her if she was cold or sleepy, the two watchmen who had been waiting outside accompanied them attentively, and they went all the way to the kitchen with a flashlight in front of them.

In the kitchen of Daqinglou, a long incense table was placed on the floor early on, and a tripod incense burner stood on it. Ning Zheng lit a stick of incense, and then brought a plate of Kanto sugar and placed it next to the incense burner. Keep safe", the sticky Kanto sugar is to stick the mouth of the kitchen king who likes to make small reports.

After burning incense, Ning Zheng "invited" the old portrait of Stove King Stove King Grandma Stove King down from the wall, and burned it together with two sorghum straw horses, which meant that the two gods had already rode heavenly horses to heaven, I went to report to the Jade Emperor the living conditions of every household on the ground for the past year.

Feng Jiu just watched, but didn't do anything, because she knew that only the man in the family was qualified to do this.

But what kind of errand is this?Men rush to do it, she respects tradition.

After the routine was finished, Ning Zheng waved his hands to tell the two watchmen to continue to be on duty at night. He picked up Feng Jiu and walked briskly back to Xiaohonglou without asking his wife if he would like it, stopping every now and then. Come down and steal some incense.

Early in the morning of the third day, after Ning Zheng's morning exercise, he asked Feng Jiu to have breakfast together, and then he had to enter the customs again, and he could not come back until the day of New Year's Eve.

At this time, Feng Jiu should have woken up, and she must be preparing to paint the "Nine Nine Cold Dispelling Picture" she drew before the winter solstice in the study.

This "cold dispelling picture" in the north has also existed since ancient times: draw a picture in advance with nine plum blossoms with nine petals, nine nine and 81 petals; 81 strokes; or a piece of rice paper is divided into nine grids, and each grid draws nine circles. From the winter solstice, one petal, one stroke, or one circle is painted every day, and a plum blossom, one character, or one grid is painted every nine days. , "Seventy-nine rivers open, eighty-nine swallows come; ninety-nine plus one-nine, plow cattle go everywhere." Ninety-nine 81 days later, winter goes away, and spring comes.

Knowing Fengjiu's guess, she must have chosen the most beautiful plum tree to draw these three kinds of pictures of dispelling cold.

He went over to hold Feng Jiu's hand holding the pen, reached out to the inkstone and dipped it in cinnabar-colored ink, and together he painted a plum blossom in red, and put down the pen. The couple looked at each other for a long time without knowing it. Kissed her lips.

On the evening of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the old man came back with his seventh wife.

He deliberately came in from the main entrance of the first courtyard of the three-entry courtyard of the Shuai Mansion, and saw two door gods standing in the middle of the red screen frame outlined on the solemn black lacquered gate, with majestic expressions and righteous faces. As for the decorations, I can't help being very proud: other people's door gods are posted during the Chinese New Year, but his house is different. They were painted directly on the gate by a painter when building the house. This is also a unique feature of the Shuai Mansion.

These two door gods are the two most recognized since the Qing Dynasty——Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde, the founding fathers of the Tang Dynasty, protect the family and house all year round.Since he invited two all-weather door gods, he felt much more at ease.

After entering a door, he looked back at the four characters "govern the country and protect the people" on the inner plaque - he can usually recognize ordinary characters, and felt a burst of emotion in his heart.

Continuing to walk in, the main entrance of the second entrance courtyard is an arched door with hanging flowers. Usually, it will only be opened when the real distinguished guests come. Looking at the New Year, the old man simply regards himself as a distinguished guest and asks the servants to open the door. Holding a civilized stick, he walked in with his head held high; but he didn't let Seventh Aunt take the second door - the aunt naturally had to go the other way, and Seventh Aunt curled her lips and obediently walked the other way.

The old man stopped again under the sill wall of the main room of the Erdao Gate, looking at the inscription carved on the stone above, which read: "Four seasons are auspicious, Fu Ren Ren and the fifth generation live together in the same house", with four lions on the left and five on the right.

People born in poverty, because they have never owned anything, have a particularly strong pursuit of "rich families".

When the family came back, the old lady was overjoyed, Mrs. Shou was overjoyed, the whole family came to say hello, beaming with joy, needless to say.

On the afternoon of the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month, Feng Jiu was sitting in front of the vanity mirror, preparing to attend the first Ningfu New Year's Eve dinner.

She was wearing a silk-spun agate-colored cloud gauze quilted jacket, with Ruyi Fu patterns hidden on it, and a circle of smooth black mink fur trim around the cuffs and neckline, and a black pleated quilted skirt with an agate I wiped my lips with the red "Shanghai" brand lipstick, and the lips that were not painted in the original color became even more radiant.

During this period of time, Ning Zheng, who frequently shuttled back and forth inside and outside the customs, also rushed back. He was wearing a stone blue robe, walked over Shi Shiran, and opened a large brocade box on the dressing table with great interest. I found out that Feng Jiu hadn't opened it since I got it back last month. There were various kinds of jade and gold pendants inside.

He looked at Feng Jiu, compared her clothes, and then picked out a pair of dark green safety buttons, jade ruyis of the same color, a small gold lock, and a golden peanut, all strung together in a gold collar Go up, and go behind her, brush away her thick hair, and carefully button it.

Finally, she picked up a South Pearl Su embroidered placket with long tassels, and fastened it to the button of the right lapel of her jacket.

Feng Jiu silently asked him to dress up for her. As soon as she got married, Feng Jiu discovered Ning Zheng's big hobby.

Qiu Sheng hurried over, braided Feng Jiu a centipede braid, and tied her hair in a bun. The bun was low, making Feng Jiu look slightly mature, but it matched the married woman's style of clothing on her very well.

Ning Zheng and Feng Jiu put on warm clothes, followed by Qiu Sheng, Wu Ma, and Bao Ping, and went to Rongshou Hall together.

Feng Jiu was carrying a cloth bag in his hand, and there was a "ding dong" sound when he walked, Ning Zheng glanced at her, Feng Jiu smiled, and didn't intend to explain to him.

Arriving at the three-story banqueting room in Daqinglou, there is already a joyful and beautiful atmosphere inside.

The old and the young are all here. The old man has worked hard for many years, and the results are gratifying. Although he does not have a wife, but under the leadership of the fifth lady who is young and has strong management skills, the backyard can be called a peaceful and peaceful place.

Most of the men and women of the Ning family are dressed in festive colors, while the younger children are all dressed in bright red, as cute as little fireballs rolling all over the ground.

Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng greeted the elders together, Feng Jiu then shook the cloth bag in his hand with a "crash", and the children were all attracted to him, including the two children of Ning Zheng's second sister-in-law's family, the old handsome and Children born to aunts and wives.

Feng Jiu untied the cloth bag, and handed out a string of "five emperors' money" to each person according to the counted number-the bottom of the money string was a safety knot tied with red velvet rope, and five large polished copper coins were tied to the top in turn. The outer circle and the inner square represent the roundness of the sky and the earth. To be a person, you need to be smooth on the outside and upright on the inside.

Ning Zheng's younger brother from a concubine, the son of the old commander and his sixth concubine named Longwei, raised his head and asked, "Sister-in-law three, what is 'Five Emperors' money'?"

Fengjiu patiently educated the children: "Five emperors means five emperors; five emperors' money means the coins issued by five emperors during their reign; there are two types of 'big five emperors' and 'little five emperors'. "

"Today I send you the 'Little Five Emperors' money', referring to the five emperors of the Qing Dynasty, starting from Shunzhi, passing through Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong to Jiaqing, all made of brass, handed down by thousands of people , Gathering the yang energy of hundreds of schools can ward off evil spirits, get rid of evil spirits, and exorcise evil spirits. Giving you children Chinese New Year hair can keep you safe and happy for a year." Feng Jiu always thinks that it is best to give children "Five Emperors Money" during Chinese New Year It was the occasion, the money was received during the Chinese New Year when she was a child, and now she is giving it to the Ning family's children, with her heart in it.

"What about the 'big five emperors' money'?" Hong Yun is the son of the second brother and the second sister-in-law. He has been an elementary school researcher since he was a child. He likes archaeology and discussing the present most. ——I didn’t even care to eat the candied pear paste with red bean paste, and I didn’t feel the syrup melted and flowed onto my hands, so I asked with all my heart.

"'Big five emperors' money' refers to Qin Shihuang's 'half two coins', Han Wudi's 'five baht coins', Tang Taizong's 'Kaiyuan Tongbao', Song Taizong's 'Song Yuan Tongbao', and Emperor Yongle's 'Yongle "Tongbao" are all made of bronze, because of the age, so it's hard to get together. My aunt has never seen the real "Big Five Emperors" until now." Fengjiu felt melancholy when thinking about it, and couldn't help but sigh slightly .

"Well, it seems that the third aunt is also poor." Hong Yun felt that since it was money, if there was no money, it could only be explained by being poor, so he also imitated and sighed in a decent manner.

Seeing his wrinkled nose, Feng Jiuai couldn't help laughing.

Old Marshal Ning is in a good mood. After all, it's the Chinese New Year, and all kinds of unhappiness can only be vented after the New Year.

He beckoned Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng to take their seats quickly. At their table sat Mrs. Ning, the handsome man, sister-in-law, the second elder brother and his wife, Ning Zheng, Feng Jiu, and Qiao Zhi, and at the other table sat Qiao Xin and his concubine. Ladies and gentlemen, although Hong Si is one year older than Feng Jiu, he belongs to the junior generation after all, so he can only sit at the same table with Hong Yun and the others.

The servants and the guards actually opened a lot of tables, but they were outside through the screen.

This year’s New Year’s Eve dinner for the masters of the Ning family still consists of ten big dishes and a hot soup, which is prepared by Ming Huchun chef Wang Qingtang: big dishes include crab roe and shark’s fin, boiled pigeon eggs and silver fruit, ham and dragon’s whiskers, first-class lotus seeds, Tai Chi bear’s paw, roasted Stuffed duck, boiled clams and toad oil, abalone cauliflower, pine nuts and deer tendon, cinnamon pigeon, and the soup is first-class jelly soup, which is served in a first-class pot.

But there is a dish on the Marshal's table that is not on the other tables. It is said that the Marshal likes it very much-dry fried silkworm chrysalis. For this dish, I didn't expect to meet my husband, a kindred spirit, after getting married.Of course, in order to comply with the custom of not being able to place an order for the New Year's Eve dinner, this table has an additional dish of "Hydrangea Prawns".

Everyone stood up, waited for the old man to speak, and waited for the old man to toast to wish everyone "the whole family is healthy, good luck, wealth, success, and further progress" before sitting down and moving chopsticks.

Feng Jiuzao found out that the old man was not as illiterate as the legend said. He heard that his biggest hobby was practicing calligraphy, which shows how deep-rooted people's prejudices are.

She ate all the cocoons that the old man gave Feng Jiu. On the contrary, Ning Zheng resisted to the end, and put the brown and black flat cocoons into Feng Jiu's plate expressionlessly: "Come on, I'll give you all, eat enough."

When Ning Zheng was a child, he suffered a lot from his father always pinching his favorite cocoons and pupae. Every time he expressed his dissatisfaction, he would be hit on the head with chopsticks. Just don't eat.

Now that everyone is so old, the old man can't beat his son on the head, but he still insists on pinching Ning Zheng's cocoons, Ning Zheng looks helpless.

The old handsome watched it very happily, and he didn't forget to bury his son: "Chen Zhong'er, you still can't catch up with your wife, and you don't even know how to eat such a good thing. Chen Zhong's wife, do you like to eat rotten duck eggs? ?”

Feng Jiu's eyes lit up, and when he was about to speak, Ning Zheng picked up a shrimp ball and stuffed his mouth, "Stop singing along with father, ah——"

Ning Zheng still had a fresh memory of his wife's foul-mouthed tricks when they first got married last year, but he was also surprised. Why does this girl love to eat these strange flavors so much?

Seeing the closeness between Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng, the old man smiled happily, and couldn't help but say to Ning Zheng: "No wonder I feel that I have the same temperament as Jiu Yatou. Look, they like to eat the same things."

Ning Zheng didn't say anything, but thought in his heart: You don't know, she can eat with anyone, I don't think there is anything she doesn't eat in this world.

The others probably thought the same way, but they just held back their laughter and didn't say anything.

Although Feng Jiu was dissatisfied that the old man and Ning Zheng used their chopsticks to pick up food for him, but after thinking about it... once in a while, let's bear with it.

It suddenly occurred to him that things must be reversed when they are extreme, and that Ning Zheng's picky eaters must not be tortured by the old man since he was a child, right?
After eating almost, dumplings were served again: the "New Year's Dumplings" that were originally eaten at midnight on New Year's Eve, because the whole family was old and young, so these dumplings were changed to be eaten together now.

When it comes to dumplings, Feng Jiu is also amazed.

Fengjiu once saw that several bungalows attached to the kitchen of the small brothel in the mansion were filled with several shelves of frozen dumplings, and there were sticky notes on each shelf stating when they were made, What kind of stuffing is it for the officers and soldiers who come back in winter to "report military intelligence" to fill their stomachs.

The closer you get to Niangen, the more people there are.In order to deal with these situations, the dumplings are usually wrapped in every kitchen after the meal, so when the handsome mansion kitchen buys flour, pork, and eggs, they buy thousands of catties; , Put it outside overnight, the low temperature in Fengtian winter nights frequently dropped to minus [-] degrees, and the fresh dumplings were quickly frozen, and then they were sent to several empty rooms, and they were arranged one by one.

In this way, even if people come from outside in the middle of the night, the kitchen is not in a hurry: turn on the fire and boil the dumplings under the water. Braised vegetables are enough to entertain soldiers.

A few days ago, because there were too many people rushing to do things a year ago, the dumplings could not be provided, so the female family members of the Shuai Mansion had to dispatch all of them. The eldest sister-in-law, the second sister-in-law, the wives of each room, Feng Jiu and the two sister-in-laws all made dumplings for a day, It was so easy to not stop.

Hong Fu pleaded guilty again and again, saying that he would definitely plan well in the future, but he didn't dare to bother the masters so much anymore.In fact, everyone was making dumplings and chatting while making dumplings, and all the little tricks were jumping around at the feet, holding the dough as a name to learn but actually making trouble, and it was quite interesting to do it occasionally.

Later, those twenty or so dough balls that had been shattered by the children were also reluctantly wrapped into dumplings and served in the pot: the old man who has been hungry is very expensive for food, and anyone who has leftovers or lost food will be punished. Training, not to mention wasting good flour.

The old handsome has a hobby in his spare time, which is to inspect the errands in various places in the mansion, especially the kitchens. Once he finds that there is a waste of food, he will definitely be anxious.

The old man looked at Feng Jiu eating dumplings without being picky, unlike the other female relatives on the table: this one thinks the stuffing is not suitable for the taste, and the other thinks the skin is thick and thin, so he can't help but say to Ning Zheng with satisfaction, you This daughter-in-law is really good, I have never seen a woman who eats more deliciously than her, she looks like a child, and so on.

The old man thought he didn't speak very loudly, but in fact he had always been quite loud. Feng Jiu was taken aback when he heard it, and immediately choked, almost hiccupped, and quickly held back; Ning Zheng noticed it and handed over a glass of fruit wine in time , softly asked her to drink it in one gulp, disrupting the pattern of hiccups, and naturally the hiccups would stop.

The old handsome looked at Fengjiu with a smile, thinking in his heart that no wonder this child hits me so well. Look, I have never seen someone who likes to eat cocoon pupae and rotten duck eggs at the same time in so many years; Put rotten duck eggs on the plate and share with Jiuyatou...

After the meal, the kitchen did not forget to take out the super-large mooncakes preserved after the Mid-Autumn Festival and worship the moon. Each person shared a small piece and ate it, which meant reunion and auspiciousness.

There are several plates of frozen autumn pears and frozen persimmons on each table, which are authentic Northeast characteristics-burning ground dragons, eating big fish and meat, it is inevitable to get angry, so eating some cool and sweet ice products can relieve the fire It's best to get rid of greasy.

The New Year's Eve dinner is ready, and the lobby party is about to begin: all the large and small dining tables just now have been taken down, and the venue has been vacated, just to place the audience's tables, chairs and benches; the front screen is taken down, revealing the stage that has been set up inside .

Needless to say, the salary level of the hundreds of servants in Ning Mansion is so high that outsiders are envious, but the servants in Fengtian City are not treated well by the Shuai Mansion. If a good thing can make people in Fengtian and even the three eastern provinces covet it, it must be the lobby meeting.

Because only the Ningfu can invite the most famous drama masters in the country to perform at home on New Year's Eve. With such courage, power and financial resources, even a big tea garden as powerful as Daguanyuan would be ashamed of itself.

Last year, due to the unclear situation in the capital, the old man was not able to celebrate the New Year in Fengtian, and the lobby meeting was naturally unmanned. Of course, several major theaters in Fengtian were also fulfilled. Will do.

(End of this chapter)