During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a cook named Meng Jiliang in Huayang County who specialized in making banquets for weddings and weddings.

Meng Jiliang was not originally named Meng, nor was he a native of Huayang County. His original surname was Chen, and his name was Chen Jiliang. His hometown was in Suining County, and he was the youngest child in the family.

When Chen Jiliang was six years old, there was a disaster in his hometown. He fled with his relatives to Huayang County. His family was separated, and he died of illness. Chen Jiliang became a little beggar, struggling to grow up to the age of ten with no food to eat and no clothing to cover his body.

When he was ten years old, Chen Jiliang came to a village under the jurisdiction of Huayang County to beg, and happened to see a family setting up a shed at the door to hold a banquet. The guests haven't arrived yet, so the cook and helpers are cooking in front of the open-air stove.

Chen Jiliang was hungry, and when he smelled the aroma of meat, he couldn't walk anymore, so he walked slowly towards the stove.

A woman washing vegetables saw this dirty little beggar and was afraid that he would dirty the food and pots, so she hurriedly chased him away. At this time, the middle-aged man holding a spoon next to him stopped him. The old woman said, "Hey, such a small child is so pitiful. Why not give him a bowl of rice? If the master is to blame, it will be on me." So she asked the old woman to bring a bowl of rice.

It was a bowl of vegetable rice, fried in lard, with bits of diced bamboo shoots and sliced ??meat in it. It was the cooks’ lunch meal. Chen Jiliang felt that this was the most delicious meal in the world. He took the bowl and wolfed it down. After one bowl, he still couldn't finish it.

When he finished eating, the middle-aged man asked him about his origins. Chen Jiliang cried and said that his hometown was not here. There was a disaster in his hometown and everyone in his family died. He had been homeless for several years. The middle-aged man sighed after hearing this.

Meng Jiliang filled his stomach and felt grateful, so he took the initiative to pick up his sleeves and help with the work. I squatted there to help choose vegetables, sweep the floor, and serve bowls.

The middle-aged man saw that he was smart, so when the banquet was over, he asked him: "The banquet is over, we have to leave. Do you have somewhere to go in the evening?"

Chen Jiliang's eyes were filled with tears. After holding back the tears for a while, the tears still fell down like broken beads. He wiped his eyes and said angrily: "No."

The middle-aged man wiped his tears for him and then said: "I am a cook. People call me Master Meng. Although it is not You are rich and wealthy, but you don’t have to worry about food and drink. You have no father and mother, and my wife and children have passed away long ago. How about you live with me from now on? What do you think?”

What do you think? , was overjoyed, kowtowed to Master Meng quickly, and followed Master Meng home. From then on, he changed his surname to Meng and called Master Meng as father and son.

Every time Master Meng took over a job, he would bring Meng Jiliang with him. He was not asked to do any heavy work, he just helped with the basic tasks, and he was provided with three meals a day, so he would not be left bored at home. Meng Jiliang is a bit smart. He carefully observed how Master Meng cooks. After a few years of watching, he has matured.

Later, when Master Meng saw that he was interested in cooking, he was very happy and taught him patiently. Meng Jiliang learned Master Meng's skills until he was 19 years old. It’s time to tidy up the banquet. Master Meng was happy to take a back seat. Whenever business came to his door, he would let Meng Jiliang go. People from all over the country call him Master Xiao Meng.

Meng Jiliang was educated by Master Meng since he was a child. He is a pure, kind and upright person. He makes banquets for others and never cheats or deducts ingredients. Some people made tricky and weird requests, but he tried his best to satisfy them; some people were from a poor family and were afraid that the table would be thin and ugly during big events, but Meng Jiliang always had a way to fill the table with dishes and cook them decently.

Once, the son of the rich man Zhang in the village was getting married and had a wedding banquet. When Mr. Zhang heard that Meng Jiliang was doing a good job, he called him to prepare the wedding banquet.

Meng Jiliang showed the menu to Rich Man Zhang of some of the dishes he often made. How many dishes do wealthy people usually make and what ingredients are used? How many dishes do ordinary people make and what ingredients are used... They are all the same. List one.

Zhang rich man looked at it, but did not choose any of them. He put down the pieces of paper listing the dishes, pondered for a moment, and said to Meng Jiliang: "To be honest, Master Meng, I plan to ask my son to marry him." There are twenty tables. There are four tables in the living room. These four tables are the main tables. All the important people are invited. You can serve chicken, duck and fish to me at these four tables."

"The rest. The sixteen tables in the yard are all filled with fellow villagers and poor relatives. How much can they contribute to the wedding banquet? They are raising a family, and their mouths can make our Zhang family poor. This would have been a big loss.

At their banquet, they don’t want to serve anything hard. You can do it as you see fit, but it can’t be too ugly or cause the Zhang family’s dignity to be lost. Do you understand? ”

When the servants of the Zhang family took Meng Jiliang to the kitchen, they saw that there was no hard food prepared for chicken, duck and goose. There was only a bucket of silver carp, two large pig heads, and pork bone sticks. , pig blood, pig intestines and other scraps, as well as simple and cheap vegetables such as bean sprouts, green vegetables, and tofu, how can they be used to make wedding banquet noodles?

Meng Jiliang knew that this was a tricky and stingy encounter. He had already accepted the job, so he had to do his best.

Meng Jiliang went back and thought about it all night, and he had an idea in his mind. Three helpers came. Mr. Zhang assigned him a dozen servants to help cut and wash the vegetables and serve them.

Looking at Meng Jiliang staring at the big bucket of silver carp, the servants of Mr. Zhang’s family. I was murmuring in my heart: This silver carp is cheap and has a strong smell. What will Master Meng do?

I saw Meng Jiliang pick up the big silver carp, cut off their heads first, and cut off the silver carp. Wash the head, remove the smell with green onion, ginger and wine, then heat the oil in a pan, add minced garlic, ginger and chili, stir-fry until fragrant, then add soy sauce, black beans and sugar, pour it on the fish head, put the fish head on top Steam it in a steamer, and it will be a bowl of chili fish head. Serve it in a big bowl, which is decent and beautiful.

Then slice the fish into thin slices, add more pickles, pickles and bean sprouts to make it. There is another big pot of pickled fish; then the fish bones are boiled into a thick fish soup. Finally, when the banquet is about to end, noodles are added, which is delicious and filling. This is called the three meals of silver carp.

The butchers in the town would have a lot of pig bones, offal and other offal left over from the slaughter of pigs every day, and they would dispose of them at a low price. Mr. Zhang was greedy for cheap, so he bought them all, adding chili, cooking wine, and old ginger to the pork bones. Bring to a boil, simmer over low heat, then add pig intestines, pig blood, pig lungs, etc. to make a dish that will make chickens flap their wings and dogs stick out their tongues, and the fragrance will spread for miles. The taste is wonderful < /p>

Tear the leftover chicken pieces on the main table into shredded chicken, add pork head meat, Chinese cabbage, and vermicelli to make a pot of chowder; pick the yolks from a few salted duck eggs and make it with tofu Crab roe tofu; and a large pot of crispy rice dumplings accumulated in the kitchen, fried and crispy, which can also be regarded as a snack.

In the end, all the guests were left with a fragrant taste in their mouths and gave Meng Jiliang a thumbs up. Meng Jiliang became famous in the local area due to his skillful cooking of banquets. From then on, more and more people asked him to make banquets during the New Year and holidays. He saved a lot of money.

He was a filial man and wanted to spend all the money he earned on expanding his family's house. The house where Master Meng lived should be spacious and bright. Warm in winter and cool in summer; clothes for all four seasons are asked to be prepared in advance by the women in the village for Master Meng; Master Meng loves to eat meat and drink, so there is a constant supply of wine and meat in the family; not many families hold banquets in the off-season, so Meng Jiliang When I had free time, I drove Master Meng around in a donkey cart.

Everyone in the village said: Master Meng, you are so lucky. You adopted this orphan before, and now he is more filial than your own son. You are really the best in the village. The most blessed person!

Master Meng laughed after hearing this, and he was very pleased to see Meng Jiliang grow up day by day, becoming filial and sensible.

He said to Meng Jiliang: "Son, I know you are filial. You make a lot of money now, but you can't spend it randomly. There are only two of us at home now, but in the future you will marry a wife When you have a child, you will have more places to spend money. You still have to save some money to live a long life!"

Meng Jiliang lowered his head in embarrassment when he heard Master Meng talk about getting a wife. But he said: "Don't worry, Dad, I am young and have a long life of making money. Spending some money on you is nothing!" After hearing this, Master Meng was naturally moved, but he also realized Come on, Meng Jiliang is not young now, and he really needs to find a marriage for him.

There is a young man named Zhao Qiang in the village, who is in the iceman trade. What is Iceman? The Book of Jin once recorded that Xiaolian Linghu Ce once dreamed that he was walking on the ice and found a person standing under the ice. Linghu Ce talked to the person under the ice. After waking up, I found a dream interpreter and asked about the meaning of the dream.

Dream interpreters say: Above the ice is yang, and below the ice is yin. Marriage between men and women is called a yin and yang matter. This means that you are about to marry someone else, and when the ice is broken, it will be the day the marriage is consummated.

Later, Linghu Ce actually arranged marriage for others, and when the spring blossomed and the ice melted, the marriage was finally agreed.

Therefore, later generations also called matchmakers icemen. The profession of iceman is not limited to older women, some men also work as icemen.

Most people don’t look down on the job of being a aunt or a aunt, so most people in the village don’t get close to or make friends with Zhao Qiang except asking him to be a matchmaker. Only Master Meng, who had some connection with him, had always been kind and warm to him.

Zhao Qiang said: "Uncle Meng, your Ji Liang wants to find a beautiful wife, why bother asking others, just look for me."

Master Meng happily asked: "You I feel relieved to help you find it. Now do you know if there is a woman suitable for our Ji Liang in the nearby villages?" Zhao Qiang thought for a while and then said: "I have one here now. There is nothing to say about the personal selection and character. She is very beautiful and kind-hearted. However, this woman is not from here. Her parents passed away and she came here to visit her relatives a year ago. Unexpectedly, her relatives have moved elsewhere. Fortunately, Mrs. Wang, who owns a tea shop in that town, took her in and accepted her as her goddaughter. Now she didn't plan to look for that relative anymore. She was worried that even if she found her, they wouldn't necessarily take her in, so she decided to stay there. Find a husband. I think she is a good match for your family Ji Liang, but I don’t know if you would care about her having no parents or brothers to help her?" Master Meng waved his hand after hearing this. It’s too thin, why would you dislike others? As long as the person is really nice, Ji Liang has gone out to pick up a job. One day, you can take me to Mrs. Wang’s place and I’ll help him with his eyes.”

Zhao Qiang smiled and said: "Don't worry, I will take you to see it tomorrow!"

On the next day, Zhao Qiang took Master Meng to Mrs. Wang's house in the town. Mrs. Wang opened a tea shop in the town, so Master Meng and Zhao Qiang pretended to come to drink tea. When he arrived at the store, Zhao Qiang winked at Mrs. Wang, and she called inside: "Daughter, there are guests coming, please help me greet them."

"Hey——!" A gentle and graceful voice said The sound came, and then the curtain was gently lifted, and a young woman came over carrying a teapot. Although she was wearing a cloth and hairpin skirt, her eyebrows were like willow leaves, her face was like a peach blossom, and her figure was graceful.

The woman poured tea for Master Meng and Zhao Qiang, and asked with a smile: "Do the guests want some fruits or snacks to go with the tea? Our shop has tangerines, water chestnuts, steamed horn cakes, and lotus cakes. , and some cooked meat."

Zhao Qiang said: "Here are two pounds of cooked meat and one pound of water chestnuts."

"Okay, wait a minute." After that, he left again.

Zhao Qiang looked at Master Meng with a half-smile, then quietly approached and asked, "Uncle Meng, what do you think?"

Master Meng saw that this woman was smart and capable, and he happily rubbed her hands He stroked his beard and said repeatedly: "Okay, okay."

The marriage was settled for the time being. When Meng Jiliang returned home, Master Meng told him about his visit to him. Meng Jiliang said: "It all depends on dad. You are right."

Two days later, Meng Jiliang was ready. After buying some gifts, he took off a jade pendant that he had worn since childhood as a bedding gift, and gave it to Zhao Qiang as well, and took it to Mrs. Wang's house to make a bet.

The jade pendant was made for him when he was one year old in his hometown. The Chen family’s parents found good materials and had it made for him. It is in the shape of a gourd, wishing him good fortune and happiness.

After receiving the gift, both parties decided that the auspicious day would be three months later, and the wedding would be held at that time.

Master Meng was overjoyed when Meng Jiliang's marriage was decided. He felt like he was walking on clouds, and there was nothing uncomfortable about it.

Unexpectedly, more than a month later, Zhao Qiang came to the door and said to Master Meng in embarrassment: "Uncle Meng, I'm sorry for you. The woman promised to Brother Meng, their relatives suddenly heard that she was coming. I came here and came over. It turns out that the son of a relative of that family was engaged to the woman earlier, but the woman didn't know it. Now the son of that family has been selected to marry the woman. See?"

Master Meng was angry and depressed: "Since she is engaged, why didn't she know about it?"

Zhao Qiang said. : "The marriage was decided by her parents when she was young. Unexpectedly, her parents died unexpectedly and they didn't have time to tell her, so she really didn't know about it. I think their two families had a marriage contract a long time ago, so Our son has been elected again, but we can't afford to offend him."

Master Meng sighed after hearing this: "In this case, it is not good to stop other women from having better choices.

Even if they marry each other reluctantly, they will become resentful couples. You ask her to return the wedding gift. "

Zhao Qiang said with a smile: "Of course, the Dingli must be withdrawn. It's just that she accidentally dropped Brother Meng's gourd jade pendant. She felt so sorry that she was willing to pay fifty taels of silver to Brother Meng. Uncle Meng, do you think? "

After hearing this, Master Meng felt panicked: "How can there be such a thing? We have already taken a step back. How could we be so careless and break our jade pendant?" That's the only thing my Ji Liang's biological parents left him. Money can't buy it. What's the matter! "

When Meng Jiliang came home, he quickly comforted Master Meng: "Dad, forget it if it breaks. It seems that I have no chance with her." That jade pendant was originally not worth fifty taels, so forget it if it breaks. "

Zhao Qiang also said from the side: "Uncle Meng, I was negligent this time, and I will apologize to you. Don't worry, I will definitely find another good match for Brother Meng. The last time, it was also because I was from out of town and I didn’t know her situation. This time I will definitely find someone who knows everything about her. "Zhao Qiang kept talking, and Meng Jiliang also comforted him. Master Meng finally calmed down.

A few days later, Zhao Qiang found another family, which was Liujiazhuang, thirty miles away. In that village There was a rich man named Liu, whose family had hundreds of acres of fertile land. His son was studying in the county and he had a daughter who was now twenty years old. She was pretty, well-educated and well-educated.

Master Meng was puzzled after hearing this. How could such a good family ask us, Ji Liang, to be their son-in-law? Especially if there is something wrong with their daughter, or if they want us to be their son-in-law, I won't accept it.

Zhao Qiang smiled and said: "Uncle Meng, you don't know that Rich Man Liu loves to eat and likes Brother Meng's intelligence and ability, so he took the initiative to inquire." If you are worried, I will accompany you to Liujiazhuang in a few days. ”

Master Meng was a little uneasy. Although in his eyes, Meng Jiliang was good in everything, but his family was just an ordinary family. How could he be worthy of a rich man’s daughter?

etc. A few days later, Master Meng went to Rich Master Liu's house, but he was very warm and considerate. He didn't look down on the Meng family at all. He spoke very politely and invited his daughter to meet him. She was in good health, and was ten times more beautiful than the girl in the tea shop. She was well-educated, courteous, and gentle.

Master Meng was very happy, thinking: Maybe it was my son's fate that he got such a wife. , our Ji Liang will not have to worry about his future!

The two families will soon decide to get married, just two months later.

Two months later, on the eve of the wedding, Meng Jiliang. He personally decided on the menu and took care of the ingredients for the wedding banquet. While watching the cook cutting the meat, he suddenly heard a noise. It turned out that the cook was driving away a little beggar. The beggar looked about seven or eight years old. , skinny.

Meng Jiliang suddenly thought of himself back then, and quickly called him over, cut off a large piece of braised pork, stuffed it into his mouth, and asked with a smile: "Does it smell good? "

The little beggar said while chewing: "It smells good! It smells great!

Meng Jiliang said with a smile: "I will get married the day after tomorrow, and there will be a banquet at home. I will set up a table outside the door to invite the poor and helpless people. Then you will come too." eat. "This is what we are talking about now: because I have been caught in the rain, I want to hold an umbrella for others.

The little beggar happily agreed, and Meng Jiliang stood up and continued busy with the wedding banquet.

On the wedding day, Meng Jiliang picked up the bride and bowed to heaven and earth. The bride entered the bridal chamber, and Meng Jiliang was greeting the guests outside.

Suddenly, the little beggar came through the crowd and shouted: " Master Xiao Meng! Master Xiao Meng! "

Meng Jiliang heard this, walked over and asked, "Why don't you eat at the table outside? "

The little beggar pulled him to the corner and asked quietly: "Master Xiao Meng, are you marrying the daughter of Rich Master Liu's family in Liujiazhuang? "

Meng Jiliang nodded: "Yes, what's wrong? "

The little beggar showed an anxious look on his face: "Master Xiao Meng, you must not enter the bridal chamber tonight, otherwise your life will be at risk. "

Meng Jiliang was surprised: "What are you talking about! "

Just as the little beggar was about to speak, Zhao Qiang suddenly came over and put his arm around Meng Jiliang's shoulders: "Brother Meng, why are you talking to a little beggar? Everyone is waiting for you to toast." "After saying that, he looked at the little beggar with his eyes.

The little beggar seemed to be surprised and walked out quickly. As he walked, he turned back and said, "Master Xiao Meng, remember what I said!"

Waiting for the guests to leave It was getting dark, and Meng Jiliang walked into the room, thinking about what the little beggar said, feeling a little uneasy. Suddenly, a person jumped out from the corner. Meng Jiliang was startled at first, and then he saw that it was a little beggar, so he asked: "Why are you still here?"

The little beggar said: "Little Master Meng, I don't trust you. During the day, I heard Zhao Qiang talking to himself, saying that if you marry Liu's daughter, you will definitely die. Zhao Qiang interrupted, I was afraid that you didn’t hear clearly, so I hid here and told you again.”

When Meng Jiliang heard this, he felt even more confused. But now that he has gone to the wedding hall to get married to a woman from the Liu family, it is unreasonable not to enter the new house. So, he decided to be cautious and go to the new house to have a look before talking about it.

After entering the new house, Meng Jiliang chose a red hijab and saw that Liu's daughter was indeed beautiful. But there was no joy on her face. When she saw Meng Jiliang, she shed tears.

Meng Jiliang asked her: "Why are you crying?"

Liu's daughter was silent for a while and then said: "I don't want to hide it from you. I originally promised to three families. But they all died for no reason on the wedding night. My parents insisted on me marrying again. I'm afraid Iceman deceived you into marrying me, but I couldn't bear the thought of your death."

Meng Jiliang was shocked when he heard this, turned around and went out to tell Master Meng, and the father and son slept together for the night. In the morning, I took Liu's daughter to the Liu family to seek an explanation. The Liu family refused to admit it, and Master Meng's head was even broken.

Meng Jiliang saw the mess and was unable to reconcile, so he had to go to the Yamen and sue Mr. Liu and Zhao Qiang for marriage fraud.

County Magistrate Zhang went to Liujiazhuang to inquire about it, and sure enough, the three previous husbands of Liu’s daughter all died for no reason on their wedding night. Magistrate Zhang asked Rich Man Liu: “Have you told the Meng family about this? "

But Rich Man Liu said: "Iceman Zhao Qiang said that the Meng family knew about it, but he just didn't tell the truth. I thought the Meng family was greedy for our family's wealth. My daughter has a reputation as a scumbag, so it would be difficult to marry, otherwise. How could he be promised to a cook?"

Master Meng was furious: "Zhao Qiang, why did you want to harm our family Ji Liang?"

Zhao Qiang refused to admit it, so Magistrate Zhang ordered the Yamen servant to do it. After dragging him down and beating him fifty times, something fell out of Zhao Qiang's clothes, and it turned out to be Meng Jiliang's jade pendant!

Meng Jiliang was surprised: "Didn't you say that this jade pendant has been broken by Wang Po's goddaughter?"

Zhao Qiang was speechless. Magistrate Zhang knew about the case. The focus was on Zhao Qiang, and he yelled angrily: "Zhao Qiang, if you don't recruit me from the ground, I will add thirty more!"

After eighty blows, Zhao Qiang was already a bloody mess, so he was reluctant The ground moved.

It turns out that when Zhao Qiang was a child, his father was idle, a drunkard and a gambler. When he was drunk, he would beat his wife when he lost the bet. His wife couldn't bear it and ran away with a salesman, so he started beating his son.

Once he lost a bet and wanted to give Zhao Qiang to a brothel as a slave. The brothel people came to take Zhao Qiang away, but Master Meng couldn't stand it, so he helped him pay off his gambling debt.

At that time, Zhao Qiang’s father was very grateful to Master Meng and said, “If you help me pay off my gambling debt, I will give this son to you.”

So Master Meng Just take Zhao Qiang back. It was the happiest time in Zhao Qiang's life. But a few months later, Zhao's father refused to admit his debt and came to ask for his son. Master Meng thought that they were flesh and blood relatives after all, so he returned Zhao Qiang. Later, Master Meng met Meng Jiliang and took him home, making it even less possible to adopt Zhao Qiang.

Zhao Qiang held a grudge and felt that Meng Jiliang had taken away his happiness. Especially when Meng Jiliang later learned Master Meng's craftsmanship and his life became better and better, but he ended up doing the job of a nun and a six-wives woman that others looked down upon, which made him feel even more dissatisfied.

When he learned that Meng Jiliang was going to marry a wife, he found a singer from a flower boat and pretended to be a daughter of a good family to deceive the Meng family. Meng Jiliang took out the jade pendant and made a decision, and Zhao Qiang took it as his own.

Unexpectedly, when he went to the city with the jade pendant, he met a member of staff named Chen and pulled him to ask about the origin of the jade pendant. It turns out that this member Chen is the eldest brother of Meng Jiliang who was separated back then.

Zhao Qiang pretended to be Chen Jiliang, but he couldn’t remember much of what happened when he was very young. Chen Yuanwai was very excited and asked him to live in the Chen family. He also said that he had no children and that he would inherit the family business from now on.

Zhao Qiang became greedy and worried about what would happen in the future, so he changed his mind and refused to let Meng Jiliang marry the singer. He heard that Liu's daughter had three husbands, and all the husbands died on the wedding night. , so they set up a trap to let Meng Jiliang marry Liu's daughter, hoping to kill him, so that no one would know about his false confession.

Everyone was shocked when he said these words. Meng Jiliang asked excitedly: "My eldest brother is still alive, where is he?"

In the end, Zhao Qiang was sentenced to exile, and the engagement between Meng Jiliang and Liu's daughter was cancelled.

Meng Jiliang later met Chen Yuanwai, and the two brothers hugged each other and cried. Meng Jiliang took Master Meng and Chen Yuanwai to live together, and the family got along in harmony.

A year later, Meng Jiliang married the daughter of a local tofu shop. It was really hard work. Later, the couple fell in love and had a happy family.

As for the Liu girl, it was said that she became a nun and suddenly disappeared one day.

Some people say that the Liu girl was actually a snake girl born between a human and a snake. Ordinary people would not be able to bear it and died for no reason on the day they got married. She disappeared without incident, maybe the snake clan took her away, but that's another story!

Message from Jing Yuezhai:

As the saying goes, "Life is a drama." In fact, people's experiences are often more exciting than drama. But no matter what situation we are in, as long as we are kind-hearted and do more good deeds, we will receive blessings.

Master Meng kindly saved a beggar and got a filial son. Master Xiao Meng invited the beggar to eat, so he was reminded and escaped the disaster of life and death. It's just that Ice Man Zhao Qiang really has a bad fate, but it doesn't matter if he has a bad fate, he shouldn't lie to others and harm others. It's better for him to be beaten and exiled, which is exactly what he gets for doing bad things!