Folktale Old Ginger

There is a restaurant in Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province, called "Chengfulou". It hired a master chef named Jiang. Speaking of Master Jiang, he was considered a figure at that time. He can cook Manchu and Han banquets, is familiar with northern and southern dishes, and has excellent cooking skills. Mr. Fu, the shopkeeper, was lucky enough to be distantly related to Master Jiang and was willing to pay a high salary, so Master Jiang came to Chengfu Tower to take charge.

Master Jiang is in his fifties. He doesn’t talk much, but he is very easy-going and always smiles every day. Mr. Fu was very satisfied with Master Jiang and asked his son Fushicai to learn from Master Jiang. He thought that by doing so, his son would learn a skill and let him know that money is not so easy to earn.

He was born with cleverness as soon as he met the talent. Within a few years of working with the master on the hot pot table, he had learned the master's craft indistinguishably.

Due to Master Jiang's superb craftsmanship, Chengfulou's business is booming day by day, with customers filling the door every day, and the old shopkeeper Fu has made a lot of money. But time is not forgiving, and the old shopkeeper passed away at the age of seventy-three.

After the old gentleman died, the young shopkeeper Fu Shicai took charge of the entire family business. Gradually, he felt that his craftsmanship was no better than that of Master Jiang. When he saw that Master Jiang was almost seventy and his hands and feet were not so flexible, he felt disgusted and even called him Lao Jiang.

One day, the young shopkeeper called Master Jiang over, took out 20 yuan, and said: "Old Jiang, you have done a lot for my old man over the years. But you are getting older. , take these 20 yuan and go back to retire." Master Jiang didn't say anything, still smiling, took the 20 yuan and walked out of the back door of the store without looking back.

One day after Master Jiang left, at almost noon, a person walked in outside Chengfu Building. This man has a bald head, a pimpled face, and livid cheeks. He wears a black silk double-breasted coat and black silk bloomers. His ankles are wrapped in white linen and his legs are wrapped in a pair of "kicking cows". The waiter took a look and said to himself: "No need to ask, he must be a local gangster." He quickly ran over, wiped the table and made tea, and said: "Sir, please sit down and drink some water."

The man sat down without raising his eyes. The waiter watched him drink two bowls of tea, and then he asked cautiously, "Sir, it's almost noon, what do you want to eat?" The visitor snorted and said, "Sir, I heard that it's almost noon. Chef Cheng Fulou here can cook Manchu and Han banquets, and he is good at cooking Northern and Southern dishes. I’m not sure if I can make it happen.”

The waiter said hurriedly: “Sir, please tell me.” "Okay, I'll give you a dragon lying on the beach, two dragons fighting to get out of the sea, three ounces of wine in your belly, and four playing a bunch of steamed buns." After saying that, he took out a handkerchief bag from his clothes and threw it out. Forty yuan, and then said: "Your shopkeeper can do it, but this is food money. If you can't make it, boy, you can't do it today."

The waiter is Jian. A person who lives in the world will know that something bad is coming at the first sight, so he hurriedly ran into the kitchen to find the young shopkeeper. Fuzhicai was holding a hookah and gesticulating and instructing his two apprentices to cook. When he heard this, he was stunned and said to his heart: "What kind of food is this? I have never heard of it. A meal costs forty yuan." , It seems that he is deliberately looking for trouble.”

In those days, customers were the God of Wealth, and how to coax people to make money was the businessman’s goal. Today’s person is looking for trouble. As a bachelor, how do you get down to this level? I was so anxious that I just met and wandered around the kitchen. The shopkeeper and waiter looked at the young shopkeeper with big eyes and small eyes.

After a while, the shopkeeper came up to Fu Shicai, pointed at the back door with his hand, and said "Old Jiang". With these words, the young shopkeeper threw down his hookah and ran out of the back door as if he had found a savior. It turned out that Master Jiang's family lived on the street not far from the back door of Chengfu Building.

On the way, Fushicai muttered in his heart: "I sent Old Jiangtou away, and now I'm here to invite him with all my face. I wonder if this old man is willing to save him?" As soon as Master Jiang came in When he opened the door, he put on a smile on his embarrassed face, nodded and bowed, called "Master", and then explained his purpose. Master Jiang smiled and said slowly: "I am old and no longer useful. You have been clever since you were a child, but now your wings have become stiff. You can't do anything. What can I do?"

After hearing this, Fu Shicai was so anxious that he almost cried, and said quickly: "Master, my dear father, please don't be as knowledgeable as me as a child. Don't look at the monk's face to look at the Buddha's face, for the sake of my old man's "Sir, please save this apprentice."

Master Jiang was moved when he heard about his old man. I thought to myself: The old shopkeeper treated me well during his lifetime. Then he followed Fushicai to the kitchen. Good guy, all the guys from Chengfulou came and ran around Master Jiang. Firstly, they were afraid that they would not be able to serve the veteran of Chengfulou well, and secondly, they wanted to broaden their horizons and see how Master Jiang did the "one dragon lying on the beach, two dragons fighting for the sea, and three liang in the belly" Wine, four flutes and steamed buns."

Master Jiang took a fish bed, sprinkled a handful of sugar on it, washed a green cucumber, dried it, put it on the bed, and said to Fu Shicai: "This is called 'Yilong'" Lying on the beach.

"I washed two more long cowpeas, stirred them together on a plate at one end, put a small half-head chopstick under the knot, put them into the bowl, poured the soup on them, the two exposed cowpea heads just poked out of the soup surface, and I saw them. Seeing this, he repeatedly said: "Is this the case of two dragons fighting to get out of the sea? ”

Master Jiang nodded, took another dish, poured out the ingredients, washed them, poured in three ounces of white wine, and the shopkeeper suddenly said with enlightenment: “This is what’s in the stomach.” The wine. Master Jiang then ordered a young apprentice: "Go to the steamed bun shop and buy four steamed buns that have been left out for a few days and are dry and cracked." ”

After a while, the young apprentice ran back in a hurry. Master Jiang put four cracked steamed buns into the stove and burned them all over. The four steamed buns were burnt black and cracked. It was covered with stove ashes. Master Jiang smiled and said to himself: "Let's see how you can eat without blowing the ashes. "He shouted: "Serve the food. ”

In fact, it didn’t take much time from the time the fat black man entered the door to the time when the food, rice, and wine were all served. What’s more, he didn’t come here to eat, but to cause trouble. He was leisurely sipping tea with his legs crossed.

But when he saw that the dishes, rice, and wine were all served, this guy was stunned for a moment, and then shouted: "Good food." ! Great dish! Then he wolfed down everything. When he stood up and was about to go out, he turned around and glanced heartbrokenly at the forty-yuan bright ocean, and shouted heroically: "Not expensive, not expensive, haha..." ..." He waved his sleeves and walked out of Chengfu Tower.

When the young shopkeeper first saw the forty yuan, he knelt down in front of Master Jiang with a plop, grinned and cried: "Master, I can't see Mount Tai, Jiang is still It’s so old!”