Chapter 1338: Holding a Wedding Event
With ten miles of red makeup and thousands of bright lanterns, the traditional wedding with ancient Chinese style is full of elegance and splendor.
The drums sound, the luan and the phoenix sing in harmony, the joy and auspiciousness of the Chinese wedding is the accumulation of thousands of years.
With phoenix crown and golden hairpin, hair and palace-style makeup on her temples, the bride was able to amaze everyone the moment her hijab was taken off.
Follow the ancient rituals, worship heaven and earth, pay respect to the high hall, make solemn oaths, and raise your eyebrows to the point where your temples are white.
This is the charm of Chinese weddings.
Gorgeous, solemn and full of style.
Accompanied by bursts of laughter, applause and cheers.
From the time when the old director of the Temple of Heaven Park acted as the officiant and read out the marriage certificate, to the bride and groom serving tea to the elders and relatives of both parties sitting in front of the hall, and then to the congratulatory speeches from various distinguished guests, until the ceremony was completed.
All wedding procedures were joyful, lively and proper.
Witnessed by friends from all walks of life, Chinese and foreign guests, with the admiration and fascination of countless people, and recorded by cameras, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko completed their wedding ceremony quite gracefully and smoothly.
The calligraphy work written by Huo Yanping himself, "The love between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is as good as seven, and the coincidence of fate and happiness" has become a beautiful blessing for the cross-border marriage of the Chinese and Japanese couple.
As the parties to the country’s first transnational marriage, Song Huagui and Wan Man’s live speeches, as well as the concentric knot wall hanging they jointly presented to Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, became the most appropriate moment for this moment. It is also the most meaningful wedding gift.
But to be honest, these are actually nothing.
Because what Huo Yanping said to Ning Weimin in private was a surprise that exceeded his expectations and was his biggest gain from today's wedding.
"Wei Min, the Spring Festival Gala has basically been discussed. The superiors are very grateful to you for facilitating this matter. Your contribution this time is not small. It's just a pity that this matter needs to continue to be kept secret and cannot be publicized. With me The person who came with you can't stay to drink your wedding wine, but don't be disappointed. This message was 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 issues that you don’t understand when doing business in China, you can ask him for help. He is willing to help you answer your questions. "
The profoundness of Chinese language lies precisely in speaking in a measured manner. Everything is left unsaid.
After Ning Weimin thanked him, he found an opportunity to escape under the guise of going to the toilet, and first went to a place where no one was around to secretly open the scroll.
With just one glance, he found that the message of this painting was "the clan is majestic and the toes of the lin are strong, and the clan is solid on the rock". He couldn't help but feel ecstatic and understood everything.
You know, this is a message of congratulations for the descendants and the prosperity of the clan.
How bold is it for someone to say this? What's the serving size?
And this picture has not only a signature but also a name seal on it. This is a serious promise.
To put it bluntly, the value of this calligraphy cannot be calculated in terms of money at all.
If I want to find an appropriate word to describe it, I am afraid that it is only "iron coupon elixir book".
Of course, this is just a symbolic thing.
Ning Weimin would not think that he could do whatever he wanted and walk around everywhere.
I have no intention of really licking my face and asking others to make any excessive demands.
Because he knew that uncontrollable greed was the way to disaster. Even the real iron certificate and elixir book could not save Mr. Chai.
But at the very least, with this thing, as long as he does his duty and does business legally.
Let alone in the capital, no one would deliberately make things difficult for him even if he traveled all over the country.
He no longer has to worry about the kind of unreasonable disaster that private businessmen fear most. It should be considered as a protective magic weapon that can make hundreds of ghosts panic and avoid evil spirits.
From this point of view, even if he can't get back a penny from the movie "Crazy Rich Asians" in the end, he thinks it's worth it!
Can he still be beautiful?
So when he returned to the banquet and started to toast, he couldn't restrain his smile lines.
He always grinned and seemed to want to smile for no reason, which made almost everyone mistakenly think that he was just for today's glory, and finally became the groom and the official was looking good.
But then again, this day is originally a day for everyone to have fun. Not to mention the beauty of Ning Wei and the people, how can the guests on this day not be beautiful?
Not for anything else, it’s delicious, delicious, fun to watch, and there are also gifts to receive in return. Who wouldn't be happy about this?
Let’s talk about eating first. Everyone in the capital knows that the so-called "holding" of "holding a happy event" alludes to hosting a banquet.
No matter weddings or funerals, including birthday celebrations, as long as you do not prepare food and wine to entertain relatives and friends, you are not allowed to send invitations, let alone accept cash or physical gifts from relatives and friends.
No matter how many, grand and grand the ceremonial activities are, they are also called "not doing things".
To put it bluntly, eating and drinking are the main content of all celebrations.
In the past, this was called "biting one's head". For example, as soon as the traitor returned home, people who had not been there had to ask, "How about the 'biting one's head' prepared today?"
If the person who contributes to the job replies, "Yes, the preparations are really tough. The work in the shed is done very well."
It means that the meals prepared by the host are very affordable. , enough to satisfy guests.
If you say, "Hey, don't mention it. Even the salt sellers were beaten to death. It's not for people to eat."
That is to say, my family is stingy and prepares few dishes. I am afraid that there will not be enough food, so I have to ask the cook to make the dishes extra heavy to cope with the problem.
Both of the above statements are blunt and rude, but this is the general evaluation of the host's affairs by the invited person.
The former, the "rigorous" preparation of the table, invisibly sets off other ceremonial and entertainment activities, which is a comprehensive affirmation.
In the latter case, the victim deceives the invited relatives and friends in eating and drinking. No matter how good the ceremonial and entertainment activities are, they will inevitably be written off and completely denied by the perpetrators.
Therefore, from ancient times to the present, "outsiders" in the capital always pay attention to the preparation of banquets when celebrating weddings.
Don't look at the invitation that says "respect for treatment and drink with courtesy", it's just a polite word of courtesy.
In fact, it must not be too thin, especially when it comes to birthdays and birthdays.
Why?
Just because marrying a wife, hiring a girl, or sending an old person away cannot be avoided no matter whether you are a rich or a poor family, the quality of the banquet should be done according to your ability, and relatives and friends will naturally understand.
Only celebrating birthdays and birthdays is just the icing on the cake, and it is an act of "showing off wealth". If the banquet prepared is not good and the food and drink are too much, then it is inevitable that It affects the host's character and makes people suspect that the host is deliberately "casting a net to catch fish".
And in this regard, how did today's wedding go?
Needless to say, this "four to four to the end" fruit banquet is enough to surprise the guests just from the number of dishes and the routine.
Ordinary people, let alone ordinary people, as long as they have never had an "official banquet" at Tan Gong Restaurant, who has seen such a grand pomp in their life?
Who has ever seen a banquet with dozens of fancy dishes, both hot and cold, all at low prices?
Not to mention, every dish is made by home-owners, there is no cheating, and the taste is always delicious.
If you don’t believe it, let’s just count and see.
The dried fruits are produced by the eldest son-in-law of the Luo family. They are from a well-established family. In the past, Nancheng was famous for its "Beng Douding". Now he has been hired by Tan Palace and has become a formal employee. He earns the salary of a chef every month and does nothing every day except making dried fruits.
The dim sum pastries are baked by the chefs of Tan Gong Restaurant according to the methods taught by Master Luo and Luo Guangsheng.
The Luo family also has a good reputation. They learned from the authentic Manchurian pastry shop "Zhengming Zhai".
It was the leading company in the Oven Bureau in Beijing in the past. It was founded the earliest and had the most complete categories.
At that time, Daoxiang Village didn’t have anything to do, not even a pastry shop, but you, the Nanwei Food Store, were just a junior.
The real banquet is jointly controlled by Master Pang, who was born in Kouzi, 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 raw materials are extraordinary. In addition to delicacies from mountains and seas, there are also good things like chestnut mushrooms, palace yellow, and Jingxi rice.
Think about it, if this banquet is not wonderful, then what other banquet is worthy of such a word?
Even beyond that, the most rare thing is that the famous chef "Zhang Dashao" fulfilled his promise and cooked the day's finale for Ning Weimin's wedding banquet - thirty pieces of meat. "Eight Treasure Gourd Duck".
When this dish was served, it stunned the whole audience, allowing all the guests to experience the incredible wonders of Chinese cuisine and palace delicacies.
Ganqing is an unusual dish. It is a famous dish from the south of the Yangtze River brought back by Qianlong during his southern tour.
The word "gourd" in the Eight Treasure Gourd Duck is homophonic to Fulu, which means family prosperity.
The production process is more demanding than the name, and requires a high level of chef skills.
Chefs in Suzhou and other places mostly use small sharp knives when making "Eight Treasure Gourd Duck", but Zhang Dashao is good at conquering the world with one dish, using all his strength.
He had already ordered the people in the kitchen to prepare the things according to his requirements. When making them, he only made a small opening of 4.5 inches in the duck body, and he was able to debone the whole duck without damaging the skin. The whole process was done in one go.
Eight treasures, namely eight kinds of auxiliary ingredients.
Fry aquatic products such as lotus seeds, shrimps, and scallops until half cooked, and add glutinous rice to help the filling absorb the essence of duck meat.
After the stuffing is stuffed into the duck belly, the knife edge is tied tightly with straw rope, and it is carefully made into a gourd shape.
After being steamed in a basket, the gourd-shaped duck embryo is finally deep-fried.
After several times of cooking, the duck skin is golden, translucent, tight and shiny when it comes out of the pan.
The crispy duck skin, the tender and juicy duck meat, and the soft and fragrant stuffing all present a delicious blend of salty, fresh and mellow flavor.
How to describe the effect of this dish when it is served?
It should be almost similar to the scene in the movie "Man-Han Banquet" where Zhong Zhentao finished cooking the yellow croaker and then opened it with chopsticks.
Seeing the core of this eight-treasure gourd duck, almost no one is not surprised.
Even the "VIPs" who spend every day at banquets have their eyes opened.
And what about Fu Jie and his wife who have eaten this dish in the past?
I was also quite satisfied and said straight away, "This is a delicacy that is perfect in color, flavor, and shape, without any distortion. It is a great honor to be able to taste it again now."
In short, just based on Zhang Dashao's dish, the size of today's wedding banquet can directly catch up with the state banquet.
In addition, as the saying goes, "There is no party without wine", especially weddings, you must pay attention to wine.
Since "wine" and "jiu" are homophonic, people naturally change the meaning of "wine" to "long time" for good luck.
The most commonly used drink by people in the capital in the past was "Shaohuang Erjiu", which was called "gin wine and silver wine".
Both of these are naturally not lacking in the wedding hosted by Ning Weimin.
For his wedding banquet, Maotai was used for soju and Jimo old wine was used for rice wine.
However, in order not to show off or let others talk, the wine at the wedding banquet was poured into pots and served.
The advantage of this is that not only are the utensils exquisite and paired with the tableware, but people with high levels of taste can still drink from it, making it look elegant and subtle.
Like most people in official circles, they almost always get good grades at the first glance.
He nodded naturally, smiled, and raised his glass happily.
Although ordinary people do not know the goods and only know the taste, they can still feel at ease because of this.
For example, Master Mi from Courtyard No. 2 of Shan'er Hutong is a man who only drank Erguotou and kept talking to Uncle Bian.
“Look, this Lao Kang is really shrewd. One bottle of Lao Bai is enough to make two or three pots. Don’t look at so many tables, but you can’t actually use a few bottles. This skill is so good, If I had a son, I would do the same thing. No wonder this old guy is rich, he is really a businessman, he is really economical."
Uncle Bian is quite fair. "Look what you said, they will give you a refill after you finish drinking this. Besides, this wine is so good, why do you get three yuan of good wine? Why do you want it? You should waste as little as possible. And those red ones What kind of beer and soda have you not drunk? "
Indeed, today there are not only soju and rice wine, but also white and red wines, and it is better to use artificial ice early. The Osmanthus Chen, "Five Star Beer" and "Polar Bear" soda were also placed on the oil table next to them along with the iron buckets.
It has everything you need, and its main focus is to be considerate and take care of the different needs of guests of different genders and ages.
In addition, in terms of food, there is also an unexpected and thoughtful return gift for all guests.
You must know that at Ning Weimin's wedding today, once a guest leaves, there will be a gift in return as a thank you.
Crafts such as wedding cigarettes, wedding candies, utensils, jewelry, and concentric knots will not let the guests leave empty-handed anyway.
However, among all the return gifts, there is also a gift of assorted steamed food, which is even more unique.
The steamed food in return is mainly steamed buns. This is because after the guests return home after having a full meal, most of them will be too tired to move.
With steamed buns, once they get hungry, they don’t need to open fire anymore, they can just use steamed buns to satisfy their hunger.
The special thing is that the bun fillings are not available in restaurants in the market.
For example: chicken, duck and mushroom diced stuffing, sea cucumber, scallops and magnolia slices stuffing, eel stuffing, green clam stuffing, white lotus root stuffing, milk taro stuffing, jasmine tea shrimp stuffing, they are truly unique.
Jiang Nianyun personally selects the ingredients and mixes the fillings for all the buns, and they are finally put out of the pan. Jiang Nianyun needs to see them with her own eyes before she can put them into cattail bags and cartons and send them out as gifts.
The old lady has very high requirements for the quality of the dough. The alkali used must be moderate, and it must not be slightly yellow or yellow to be considered decent.
Speaking of it, this was actually a pioneering work of the Ma family, the richest man in the capital, when they were doing business. However, Jiang Nianyun, who lives here as a guest, noticed it and learned to misappropriate it today.
This should be regarded as a kind of inheritance, and it is appropriate.
After all, with Ning Weimin's assets today, he has long been worthy of becoming the new generation's richest man in the capital.