In the early summer of May, Shen Mo took his wife and quietly went out of the city in a small boat when the sky was bright. From Fengqiao Town, cross Dushu Lake, enter the Baixian River, and plug in all the way to the southeast. Out of the big lake and river, gradually to a small town in the southwest corner of Kunshan County, the houses on both sides of the bank are getting denser and denser, and the river channel is getting narrower and narrower, but it seems to be closer to the water...... "Water town, the river network is vertical and horizontal; Close to each other, all must be boated. Silently wearing a cool lake blue silk shirt, his hair was simply tied with a hairband of the same color, holding a folding fan in one hand and holding the railing in the other, standing on the bow of the boat with a leisurely attitude, and said with a faint smile: "The pink wall is tiled, and the bluestone is the step; It is connected by the river into alleys, bridges and streets; Langfang, riverport, arcade across the street; Wearing the bamboo and stone fence, the water pavilion is near the river, and entering this realm is like entering the ancient painting of Wu Daozi, which makes me, a layman, become elegant. ”

Ruohan is wearing an elegant sprinkling gauze skirt, with a fine gauze belt of the same color standing at the waist, clouds and green buns, lightly applying powder, breezy together, fairy robe fluttering, lotus clothes want to move, slender waist Chuchu, if flying Ruoyang, Ruobi Xizi, she stood on the side of Shen Mo, holding an oil-paper umbrella, and smiled when she heard the words: "Our Shaoxing is not bad." ”

"Whether it's Shaoxing or Suzhou." Shen Mo shook his head and smiled: "It's too big, it's too lively, there is a lot of trouble, and there is noise and chaos when there is a trouble, which makes people can't calm down, and no matter how beautiful the scenery is, it's in vain." ”

"It seems that the husband's intention is not in the beautiful scenery of the landscape," Ruohan said with a smile: "It is this half-time leisure without hustle and bustle, no case and hard work, and the silence of the world." ”

He smiled silently and said, "Mrs. who knows me!" As he spoke, he laughed and said, "Sour, so sour!" The laughter was refreshing, startling a cormorant, and causing the fisherman to look angry.

Silently bowed his hand across the boat, smiled apologetically, and the fisherman who had never known him also laughed, and his smile was full of pride. A silver-white fish came up from the fish basket, and threw it over in a graceful arc, and the iron pillar took it, and it turned out to be a double-gills perch with five catties.

Coming and not being rude, he smiled silently and threw a small silver ingot, the fisherman took it, his face couldn't help but tighten, and he shook the oar and said, "Give the boy a fish to eat, but I don't ask for money." And he returned the little silver ingot, which was one or two heavy, with both hands.

How could Shen Mo answer, and said with a smile: "This old brother, you give me fish, I will give you money, it is fair and reasonable, if you don't want money, I don't want the fish." ”

The fisherman smiled honestly: "A basket of fish is not worth a dime of silver, how can it be considered fair?" ”

Shen Mo laughed and said: "Don't push it, it's better to do this, you take us around this town, and wait until noon to find a flavor restaurant, so that we can clear up, how about it?" ”

"Then take advantage of the son." The fisherman happily put the little silver ingot close to him, and rowed the boat to open the way in front of his head, and said in a loud voice while rowing: "The prince is here to play?" ”

"Yes, Suzhou has been in Suzhou for a long time, which makes people angry, so I came out and walked around, and I came here." Silent laughter.

"Then you can come, although our Zhouzhuang is small, it is a good place with beautiful water and outstanding people." The fisherman smiled proudly: "You don't know, Shen Wansan is our Zhouzhuang people." ”

"Huh," Shen Mo was not surprised, but Ruohan sighed lightly, although he didn't speak again, his interest in the God of Wealth was no different.

"Let's go to his house." Shen Mo smiled: "Is there anyone living in the house?" ”

"Yes, but it's not surnamed Shen anymore," said the boatman, "but it's still okay to go over and take a look." ”

The boat sailed to a private dock, tied the boat cables, and climbed the stairs ashore, facing a simple, slightly cramped mansion with a gatehouse. The fisherman told Shen Mo that it was Shen Wansan's former residence, which had never been filled in for more than a hundred years.

The low-key mansion is extremely low-key, and it is difficult to remind people of the rich Shen Da God of Wealth, but Shen Mo knows that the mansion in the south pays attention to the exquisite luxury on the inside, and the outside is often implicit but not revealed.

So he was still full of curiosity about what he looked like inside, but after entering, he was lost...... The fisherman explained his intention to the host, who was very hospitable, took the initiative to act as a tour guide, and led the silent couple to walk in layer by layer, which was shown many years ago at home. The foyer, the living room, the inner house, and the dining hall are all in a line, extending a long line.

Although it can be reminiscent of the people who were prosperous in the past, and there are enough rooms, it is more frugal and shrunken than any garden that Shen Mo has ever seen. Thinking that this huge rich man who could easily finance one-third of the walls of the imperial capital and reward the three armies at the same time without any effort could not have less wealth than those Zhishi officials, right?

For example, the Wang Xianchen who built the Humble Administrator's Garden, I'm afraid that a hundred of them add up, and they are not as rich as Shen Wansan, right? But he can build Zhongcui Tiandi, which can be called a fairyland, in a luxurious garden, and live in it with peace of mind. And Shen Wansan, who is rich and rivals the country, can only be grieved in this cramped and helpless house, so that Shen Mo is unhappy for him.

Ruohan understood the meaning of a merchant better, and said softly: "The wealth of a merchant lies in circulation, in the prosperity of goods in the market, and not in whether the family is luxurious. ”

Shen Mo sighed when he heard this: "Besides, no matter how rich you are, you are just a businessman, without the protection of soldiers and the shelter of the government, who dares to publicize it unscrupulously?" ”

Ruohan shook his head and smiled: "The environment in which Shen Wansan was located at the beginning was much more difficult than now, in fact, our family of the wealthy people in Jiangnan is already comparable to the princely mansion, from this point of view, the change in the environment is still gratifying." Saying that, he sighed faintly: "But a real merchant like Shen Wansan no longer exists." ”

Coming out of Shen Wansan's old residence, he felt that the atmosphere was a little heavy, and said with a silent smile: "It's noon, and I'm hungry, Lao Qian will take us to find a place to eat, right?" During the conversation, I already knew that the fisherman's surname was Qian.

Lao Qian took everyone to a nearby cross-river Xuan arcade, and on the guise in front of the eaves, the words 'Shen Family Restaurant' made Shen Mo feel more cordial, and smiled at Ruohan: "Do you feel home?" ”

"People are obviously commemorating Shen Wansan," Ruohan said with a smile: "What does it have to do with our family." ”

"That's not necessarily," Shen Mo smiled: "I didn't hear that person just say that Shen Wansan's ancestral home is from our Zhejiang, maybe he was the same family with you two hundred years ago." ”

"It's okay to joke about that." Ruohan's face changed, and he lowered his voice and said, "But if others hear it, they will laugh at each other." "Climbing with a businessman will always be laughed at.

"It's like they think Qin Huai's name is very elegant and noble." Shen Mo pouted and said, "I think Shen Wansan is very powerful!" ”

"Good! This boy said it well! These words resonated with the store, and the chubby shopkeeper walked out of the counter and greeted him personally: "Please come to the guest officer, just say this to you, and the little old man also has to give you a bowl of 'grandma tea'." ”

He invited Shen Moyan to the most spacious seat near the window, wiped the table with a white rag, and then invited him to sit down.

Shen Mo smiled: "I just heard Lao Qian say, 'If you haven't eaten grandma tea, you won't go to Zhouzhuang', I've been very curious, what is the unique thing about the tea made by this old grandma, so that he always hangs on his lips?" ”

Xiao Er served a few plates of pickled vegetables, pickles, crisp beans and other snacks, and the shopkeeper brought a set of exquisite tea sets, including blue and white porcelain tea bowls, delicate and exquisite tea cups, elegant and simple teapots and glazed tea trays. While resting on the table, he said with a smile: "It's not the tea made by Grandma, it's the tea that Grandma ate." Saying that, he looked at the pair of beautiful people and said with a smile: "Of course, young people can also eat." ”

"What's so special about this tea?" Shen Mo asked.

"That's a lot." The shopkeeper scooped a clay pot of water from the big dragon water tank in the patio, put it on the stove, lit it with a branch, and said, "For example, this water is water falling from the sky, and it is a little more spiritual than the water on the ground." ”

Shen Medeng thought of Sun Monkey's rootless water, and couldn't help laughing: "You have to burn it for a while." ”

The shopkeeper said with a smile: "Dried vegetables and firewood stew tea, the fire is burning fiercely, and it will be opened in a blink of an eye." Sure enough, after a while, the terracotta pot was steaming hot, and he said, "While eating, stewing at the same time, so that the tea can be called a syrup and a fragrant." ”

Taste the fragrant, sweet and refreshing grandma tea, and the sumptuous banquet is up. The shop is very sincere, and the famous three treasures of the Clam River, sea bass, white clams and whitebait are not pulled. Among them, the most famous is 'Ulva sea bass soup', known as one of the three famous dishes in the south of the Yangtze River, and the idea of a visit to Zhouzhuang was mostly seduced by it.

In fact, the real sea bass should have four gills, but the one produced in Zhouzhuang is two gills, compared to the one eaten in Hangzhou, there is no halberd on the back, but there are spots. Because of the yearning for a beautiful allusion, Shen Mo once specially researched, in fact, this fish is a wild pond snakehead fish in the Xianjiang River, of course, it can also be called sea bass.

But this 'Ulva perch soup' is recognized as the most authentic in the world, because Zhang Han of the 'thoughts of Ulva perch' is a native of Zhouzhuang. This great genius of a thousand years ago, 'homesickness suddenly rose from the autumn wind', so he abandoned his official position and returned to his hometown to enjoy the 'white clam and sea bass' that haunted him, which made this tender and unparalleled famous dish famous for thousands of years, and was sought after by literati and customers.

But when you really want to taste it, it seems that it is not as delicious as the 'Ulva Sea Bass Soup' eaten in West Lake, after all, it is a famous chef, and compared with this country shop, at least it is much more exquisite with fewer ingredients. But when it came to the evaluation, he was still willing to regard it as the first in the world, and praised: "Sure enough, it is still the most authentic place in Zhouzhuang!" "It seems that because of that Zhang Dacai, what they eat is not just sea bass soup, but a literati's taste, which is probably also the feeling of most people.

In fact, the dish itself is still very exciting, the melt-in-the-mouth sea bass, paired with the same melt-in-the-mouth lettuce, has been skillfully prepared by the chef, which makes people really feel like **, but the expectations are too high in advance, and there is always a little disappointment.

Fortunately, there is not only sea bass in the Xianjiang River, but the rest of the dishes are also wonderful, such as the white clam named after the river, which is a beautiful shellfish, and is boiled in soup with salted meat, which is as white as milk, and the taste is mellow and delicious. There is also a dish of fried clam shreds with leeks, which is to pick out the clam meat, cut it into shreds and stir-fry with leeks, so that people can't stop chopsticks when they taste it.

Ruohan's favorite dish is the 'Braised Whitebait', which is a small fish as small as a needle, boneless and spinless, but it is indeed very tender. Gathering with the two treasures of Ulva and cabbage, one is thick and verdant, the other is soft and white, such as silk and satin, charming but not demonic, indifferent and elegant, and the whole is the epitome of Jiangnan.

Eating the fish and shrimp of the White Clam River, even the wine drunk is also made with the river water 'October White', although it is a local wine, but it still has the style of this small town in the south of the Yangtze River, the color is clear and delicious, and the aftertaste is long, especially with the fish and shrimp born in the same water, it can be regarded as the original soup and original food.

It's just that whether it's sea bass, white clams, not to mention whitebait, these delicate things swimming in the water, although delicious, seem to be too ethereal, and if the Han eats just right, it makes some hungry silence not very satisfied, because it is too hungry.

But immediately a whole pig's trotter was served with a steaming, tempting red sauce. The shopkeeper said: "According to legend, the Shen family 'has a feast, there must be crispy hooves', this dish of ten thousand three hooves, is the delicacies that Shen Wansan entertained back then, the son may wish to try it." ”

After eating a fine stomach, seeing the meaty pig's trotters, not only was he silent, but even Ruohan also moved his index fingers, but both of them were Sven people, and it was impossible to learn from that Fan Xu, and hold the whole pig's trotters and bite them.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper just showed off, and did not want to embarrass them, seeing that the two of them showed worried expressions, they stepped forward like a treasure, and took a thin bone from the two long bones that ran through the whole pig's trotters. The shopkeeper used the bone as a knife, skillfully slashed through the hoof, and neatly divided it into pieces suitable for feeding.

While serving a small piece of Wansan hooves to the two of them, the shopkeeper told the story: "It is said that when Emperor Taizu came to Shen's house to sit as a guest, Shen Wansan entertained him, and Taizu asked him how to eat this, because it was like this at that time, the whole uncut hoof." If Shen Wansan used a knife, then Emperor Taizu could justifiably punish him. "Zhu Naiben is the surname of the dynasty, if you use a knife to kill a pig, you will lose your head.

"Shen Wansan is such a smart person, as soon as he had an idea, he used this method to solve the emperor's problem." The shopkeeper continued: "The emperor thought it was delicious when he ate it, so he asked him, 'Wansan, what is the name of this?' Shen Wansan thought about it, he couldn't tell the truth and say that it was a 'pig's trotter', otherwise he would be guilty again, so he patted his thigh and said: "This is Wansan's hoof!" Hence the name of the dish. ”

Usually, when it comes to this, the guests will laugh, even if they are reserved, they will praise 'Hurry'! But the strange thing is that these two guest officers showed a sad look on their faces, which made the shopkeeper consciously say the wrong thing, and quickly stopped the conversation and said: "Don't bother the two, let's listen to a song." ”

The silent couple realized that the father and daughter had been waiting on the side for a long time, so they did not object.

Seeing that the two of them acquiesced, the daughter of Fang Twenty-eight and dressed in gauze came to the table and said four blessings deeply. Then the father played the beautiful flute, and when it was time for the prelude, the daughter sang it with a guttural voice.

Just listening to it, Shen Mo frowned, although he was not very proficient in music, but he could also hear that this singing tone was sad and sad, as if he was full of depression and could not confide, and it made people cry when they heard it.

"Stop singing!" The shopkeeper also heard it, came over angrily, snatched the old man's Su Di and said, "Pity you for letting you sing here, but singing these mourning songs?" Yaxing, who disturbed the son-in-law, why are you so ignorant? ”

Seeing that the father and daughter kept kowtowing and asking for sin, Shen was silent and compassionate, and said, "Alas, shopkeeper, don't be harsh. There is a saying that 'music is the voice of the heart', if you are depressed and angry in your heart, no matter how cheerful the song is, you will unconsciously sing sadly. He beckoned and said, "My husband is sitting here, let's talk." But he said this to the old man.

Seeing that the prince had spoken, the shopkeeper naturally wouldn't scold anymore, patted the father's shoulder and said, "Why don't you go over quickly?" ”

"Oh, the villain obeys." The old man got up in fear, and stepped forward with his head down. Ruohan also got up and beckoned to the little girl, "Come, little sister, let's sit at another table and talk." The little girl was trembling, but when she saw a fairy-like figure like Ruohan, she forgot about her fear and obediently followed.

Shen Mo asked the shopkeeper to add a pair of dishes and chopsticks for the old man, and personally poured a cup of 'October White' for him, and said with a smile: "Drink this cup to suppress the shock, and then eat something, let's talk slowly." ”

The old man was flattered, holding the wine glass in both hands, in a silent and gentle smile, he raised his head and drank it all, then wiped the corners of his eyes, and said with some emotion: "The son is a good person, the old man's little, I won't take it out to spare you Yaxing." ”

Shen Mo smiled and said: "You don't know, my nickname is 'Nothing to do', my favorite thing is official affairs, and the last thing I am afraid of is looking for trouble." ”

(To be continued)