The Ling family's mansion was very close to Xia Fei Road. As soon as Zhang Meixi's Ford approached the door, a well-dressed messenger greeted her:

"Miss Zhang has arrived."

Two more maids came out from behind, and said with a smile:

"The third lady said, Miss Zhang's car came over, and she drove in directly, she didn't come out to greet the guests in person, Miss Zhang must not mind."

The Ling Mansion is very large, and she has to drive a car for a while when she enters the gate, she has actually only been here once, but she often deals with Aunt Huang Si if she is delayed in the Ling Mansion.

Outside the flower hall where Lingguo entertained guests was full of chrysanthemums, the most tender yellow ones, piled up like a hill, and there were also many precious varieties, green, red, and ink.

Zhang Meixi didn't know any of these precious flowers, she only knew a small butterfly floating around Chrysanthemum Mountain:

"Not good!"

Ling Guo's sister immediately pounced on her, hugged her affectionately first, and then took her hand to lead her in.

Wan Xian'er, a classmate of Huiwen Girls' Middle School, was already standing at the door of the flower hall, and looked behind her:

"Why didn't Apricot come?"

"She has poor English, and I'm afraid that I'll be embarrassed to enter Huiwen, and now I'm following the English teacher at home to make up the lessons, and let me bring her crabs, how embarrassing, eat and take." Zhang Meixi took her hand and walked into the flower hall with a smile.

"It's not easy to take crabs? It's just that I have a better show here, and it's a shame she missed it. "Ling Guo is the host of the treat, because there is music, the voice is very loud.

Mingmomo leaned on a large mahogany chair, leaning over, fiddling with a radio in a wooden box.

"I came from the mountains with orchid grass"

"Planted in a small garden, I hope the flowers will bloom early"

"See ,...... three times a day"

"The garden is full of flowers, adding a lot of fragrance"

This is a new poem made by Mr. Hu Shi after returning from studying in the United States in 1920, which was later accompanied by Ding Dong piano music, and the female singer sang it with a sweet voice, which was very popular.

Qinglin waved his hand:

"When everyone arrives, we have to pick the crabs ourselves and then steam them to be fun."

"Okay, let's go, let's go to the kitchen." Wan Xian'er was a little anxious.

"I want you to go to the kitchen, put them in a big basin, and just send them over." Ling Guo smiled and grabbed Wan Xian'er, turned around and told the maid to go and get the raw crab.

The unobedient sister understood the meaning of the raw crab, and was very excited to clap her hands on the side.

Zhang Meixi remembered how she used to grab the cream flowers on the cake with her hands, and she was afraid that she would catch the crabs with her hands, but it would be miserable, so she quickly grabbed the unobedient clothes and took her into her arms.

The crabs were sent in large wooden basins, and they were divided into two pots, one male and one female. Everyone gathered around to watch curiously.

The female crabs have more than three taels, and the male crabs are nearly half a catty.

One is big and fat, with a green shell and a white belly, teeth and claws, very powerful.

The crab is a female crab in September, delicious and full of yellow. In October, the male crab is delicious, and the fat paste is like white jade. It's the end of September, and both male and female crabs are suitable for eating.

Everyone selected a dozen of them and let the kitchen steam them first.

More than 20 minutes later, the cooked crab was delivered.

At this time, everyone had already washed their hands and sat up around the table, and on the table, eight pieces of gold and silver crabs had been arranged, one set per person, and Ming Momo told a joke:

"This crab eight pieces, gold and silver, are Ling Guo and the unobedient dowry, right?"

Suzhou people have always loved to eat crabs, in the late Ming Dynasty, there were wealthy merchants who used gold to specially make eight tools to eat crabs, as a dowry for their daughters, and later the people followed suit, using eight crabs as a dowry.

Hearing Ming Momo say this, everyone laughed and began to peel the crab shell with their hands and feet.

If you eat crabs with eight pieces of crabs, the rules are a bit cumbersome, you need to cut off the crab legs first, and then move the crab shell, according to the steps. However, all of them here are teenage girls, all of whom are eight immortals who have crossed the sea, each showing their magical powers, how to come quickly.

Qinglin and Bu obediently ate one, and called happily:

"Monk, I caught the monk."

In fact, it is a crab stomach that is not eaten in the crab roe. There is a folk legend that the White Snake Lady in order to ask Fahai Fahai for her husband Xu Xian, flooded Jinshan Temple. Monk Fahai has a strong mana and suppresses the White Lady in the Leifeng Pagoda. The people in Suzhou and Hangzhou have been upset for the White Lady, and the news reached the Jade Emperor, who sent Tai Baixing to investigate.

Tai Bai Xing led all the heavenly soldiers and generals to arrest the monk Fahai. Monk Fahai hurriedly slipped away, and when he fled to Yangcheng Lake, he found that he had no way out. In desperation, he saw a crab molting between the rocks in the waterbeach, so he got into the crab shell.

Folk teach children to eat crabs, and let them pick out the inedible crab stomachs and throw them away as monks.

Everyone laughed and cooperated, threw away the monk in the crab, left a shell of crab roe, sprinkled some ginger vinegar into it, and started eating.

After eating for a while, I relieved my cravings, washed my hands, and drank ginger soup.

Wan Xian'er said again:

"Crab with ginger tea is good, it's even better with some wine."

Ling Guo immediately laughed, turned around and ordered:

"If you have yours, hurry up and bring hot wine, and don't regret it."

Ming Momo hurriedly objected:

"Don't drink, don't drink, let's play some shows."

The vulgar things of the literati and scholars such as crabs are always accompanied by some elegant programs, such as making poems, and the poet immortal Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty wrote:

"The crab is the gold liquid, and the bad hill is Penglai. And you must drink good wine and get drunk on the high platform by the moon. ”

In Dream of Red Mansions, Xue Baochai also has a masterpiece:

"Gui Ai Tongyin sits and lifts the dead, Chang'an salivates and looks forward to Chongyang"

"The road in front of me has no warp and weft, and the spring and autumn sky is black and yellow"

"The wine is not fishy, but also uses chrysanthemum, and the sexual anti-accumulation cold and ginger are fixed"

"What is the benefit of the cauldron today, and the moon is empty"

Wan Xian'er pretended to be very scared and shouted:

"What show? It can't be poetry, I don't know a word. Don't scare people to death. ”

"I definitely can't write poems, and I won't do that, let's enjoy the chrysanthemums, those chrysanthemums outside, I see that in addition to Ling Guo, the owner, Qinglin can talk about one, two, three, let's go out and let Qinglin talk about it." Ming Momo hurriedly echoed Wan Xian'er, she didn't want to write poetry.

Ling Guo clapped his hands and smiled:

"Then let's enjoy the chrysanthemums first, I originally invited two famous artists from Suzhou to play the words to cheer you up."

Qinglin's immediate interest:

"A master of playing words? Male or female? Please come out and meet you. ”

Ling Guo turned around and motioned to the maid, who responded with a smile, turned around and went out, and soon brought a couple of men and women over.

The man was dressed in a cyan robe and brought a three-stringed hand. The woman was dressed very festively, a red cheongsam, embroidered with a fiery red gold thread peony on the hem, and holding a pipa in her arms.

The two should be the female in charge, and as soon as she walked in, she made a simple curtsy:

"How many young ladies? Want to hear that? ”