When Shen Xiu was a guest at Mi's house, Wei Yan had just gotten off the carriage.
After he came to the government office today, Magistrate Qin said that he would take him to see a person. Who was this person and what his identity was? Magistrate Qin said nothing and only asked Wei Yan to relax.
They come, the security.
Wei Yan was unable to find out what Magistrate Qin was up to, so he had no choice but to take a carriage and arrive in front of a strange house.
This house was no different from other houses. The servants brought by Qin Zhifu knocked on the door, and an old servant opened the door.
Magistrate Qin stepped forward and asked with a smile: "Is the old man here?"
With his dignity as a magistrate, if he personally asked an old servant, that old servant should be frightened.
But the old servant was neither humble nor overbearing. He bent slightly and said, "Sir, my old man happens to be at home today."
Magistrate Qin waved to Wei Yan, "Come, come with me to meet the old gentleman."
The old servant led the way and soon led them to an orchid garden.
A fat old man was busy in the flower garden, loosening the soil and weeding the orchids from time to time.
Magistrate Qin did not say anything and stood by with Wei Yan for a long time.
Until the old man turned around and saw the two of them, he hurriedly scolded the old servant: "The prefect came to the door, but you didn't tell me why."
Before the old servant could answer, Qin Zhifu said with a smile: "Don't blame him, old gentleman. I didn't let him speak. It is an elegant thing for an old gentleman to serve flowers and plants, but it is a common thing for me to bring guests to visit. This common thing is naturally
It should be ranked behind elegant things."
The old man couldn't help but smile and said: "Prefect Qin is still so funny." After saying that, he glanced at Wei Yan next to Prefect Qin and said, "This young husband looks familiar, could he be the person who paid the bill for me in the restaurant that day?"
Wei Yan was also surprised. He didn't expect that the person Qin Zhifu brought him to see was the old man who ate wontons that day.
He didn't know the old man's identity, but judging from the attitude of Qin Zhifu, he knew that the old man's identity was not simple, so he answered very politely, "He is a student."
Magistrate Qin looked at the two of them, "Do you know each other?"
The old man smiled and said: "I don't know. But one day I went to eat wontons and forgot to bring money with me. If this little husband hadn't helped pay the bill, I'm afraid I would have been regarded as a freeloader."
Magistrate Qin glanced at Wei Yan with a smile, "It turns out that the old gentleman and Wei Yan have such a fate. It seems that we are not wrong today!"
Under the service of the old servant, the old man washed his hands and wiped them dry with a cotton towel. "Needless to say, I owe him money for a bowl of wontons, and I have to pay him back today. Someone just happened to bring a fresh mandarin fish."
, I asked the chef to cook a few dishes to express my gratitude."
Magistrate Qin then looked at Wei Yan, "It seems we are in good luck. You probably don't know yet, but the cook in Mr. Meng's house was the former imperial cook."
Wei Yan was already very smart. When he heard that the old man's surname was Meng, and then thinking about the attitude of Qin Zhifu, he guessed that the old man was Mr. Meng Xiche, the famous man in the city.
Mr. Meng is not only a famous Confucian scholar, but he is also said to be a descendant of Mencius.
This can also explain why Magistrate Qin didn't have the airs of a magistrate at all in front of him.
Mr. Meng waved his hand and said with a smile: "Why is the chef not the chef? I just invited him over because he was good at cooking."
As he walked, he said: "A few years ago, a student gave me a few kilograms of white tea, saying that the longer the white tea is stored, the better. I tried to open a pack a few days ago, and it tasted really good. I will ask someone later.
Make a pot and let’s talk while drinking tea.”
The original intention of the Qin magistrate was to recommend Wei Yan to Mr. Meng. Now when he heard Mr. Meng mention students, he took advantage of the situation and said: "Mr., you have only accepted three students in your life. In terms of your talent and learning,
Some are too few.”
Qin Zhifu is a member of the officialdom, and officials pay attention to implicit speech. Even if he has that intention in his heart, he will not say it directly, but will make insinuations.
Of course, Mr. Meng could understand the meaning of his words, but he just smiled and said: "I also want to recruit another closed disciple, but there are not so many people who are good at learning and have good conduct."
When Magistrate Qin heard this, he knew there was a way, but he understood Mr. Meng's temperament and didn't like others to interfere too much in this matter, so he only looked at Wei Yan with a smile.
Wei Yan had already understood the intention of Magistrate Qin in bringing him here. If it were someone else, he might have expressed his intention after understanding it. However, Wei Yan had read the Tao Te Ching and knew that doing nothing is better than doing something.
Mr. Meng has such qualifications and age. No one has seen him before. If he is eager to show off, he will inevitably give the impression of being eager for quick success.
Moreover, when he came, Magistrate Qin also mentioned it intentionally or unintentionally, asking him to relax.
Therefore, Wei Yan just followed the two of them quietly, rarely speaking.
He acted so calmly that Mr. Meng looked at him a few more times.
What he said just now was also a test, to test whether Wei Yanyan would be in a hurry to express himself like others.
When Mr. Meng was young, he offended many people due to his high self-control and flamboyant temper. The first half of his life was extremely rough. Therefore, when he later accepted disciples, he liked students who were calmer.
The three disciples he had accepted before were all people who could endure loneliness.
Of course, in addition to being able to endure loneliness, Mr. Meng also had many requirements for his disciples' conduct, but Wei Yan's performance in the restaurant made Mr. Meng have a good impression of him.
The only thing he wants to examine now is how talented Wei Yan is.
If Wei Yan is a good scholar, Mr. Meng will reluctantly accept this student for the sake of his personal recommendation from the Qin Prefect.
Mr. Meng had this idea in mind, but he didn't say much. He just asked his servants to serve tea.
After tasting tea, the three of them had a sumptuous lunch.
At this time, the Qin magistrate decided to take a step forward, and as for Wei Yan, he stayed on the grounds of serving Mr. Meng.
After Mr. Meng waited for Magistrate Qin to leave, he took Wei Yan directly to the study. He wrote a topic casually and asked him to write an article.
Wei Yan stayed at Mr. Meng's house for a day. When he left the Meng family, Mr. Meng didn't say a word about accepting apprentices. Instead, he said that cherries would be on the market in a few days and the cook would cook them.
Fried cherries.
This can be regarded as a disguised invitation.
After Wei Yan returned to the inn, he talked about the matter with Shen Xiu, "I didn't expect that a great scholar like Mr. Meng would be so keen on eating and drinking."
When Shen Xiu learned that the old man she met that day was the famous Mr. Meng, she couldn't help but stop sewing and asked: "My lord, the prefect of Qin brought you to see Mr. Meng. He probably wanted Mr. Meng to accept you as his wife."
Disciple?"
Wei Yan was taking off his outer robe at this time. Hearing this, he turned around and said, "My wife is smart, so you can guess it. But Mr. Meng's meaning is very vague. Maybe I haven't caught his eye yet."
Shen Xiu was not discouraged, "Mr. Meng, as the saying goes, everything depends on human effort. Since Mr. Meng has no intention of rejecting you, there is some hope. I think he will probably want to examine you again."
Wei Yan finished taking off his broad robe, sat next to Shen Xiu and said, "I think so too. Mr. Meng has only accepted three students in his life, which shows that he is extremely cautious in accepting disciples."
Shen Xiu rolled her eyes and suddenly had an idea, "Mr. Sir, since the old gentleman loves to eat so much, let's start here!"
"You mean to give in to others?" Wei Yan asked.
Shen Xiu nodded: "Every time you go to see the old gentleman, you can bring some food. This not only shows your innocence, but also wins the old gentleman's favor. Why not do it."
Wei Yan thought this was a good idea, "It's just that the old man has never eaten anything good. Where are we going to find something delicious?"
Shen Xiudao: "This is all on me. Tomorrow I will go to the market to buy some ingredients, and then I will borrow the inn's kitchen and make the food. You guys have a taste first. If you think it tastes good, I will
Make more for you to take with you."
Early the next morning, Shen Xiuzhen went to the market and bought some things.
Wei Yan mentioned cherry pancake to her, and Shen Xiu guessed that Mr. Meng probably liked sweets.
Shen Xiu tinkered in the inn's kitchen from morning to noon, and finally made three kinds of snacks.
The first snack is jujube cake, which is steamed with flour, eggs and red dates. It is especially pine, sweet and soft.
The second snack is walnut candy, which is made from peeled walnuts and honey. It tastes fragrant and crispy. Because not much honey is added, it doesn't taste too sweet.
The third snack is peach blossom cake, which is made of puff pastry on the outside and red bean paste filling on the inside. It looks very beautiful, just like blooming peach blossoms.
Shen Xiu brought three snacks to the table, and then asked Wei Yan and Daya to taste them.
Both Wei Yan and Da Ya think the peach blossom cake is the most beautiful, but in terms of taste, the jujube cake and walnut cake are the most delicious.
Shen Xiudao: "Then bring these three snacks. Maybe Mr. Meng likes better-looking snacks."
A few days later, when Wei Yan went to Meng's house again, he brought all three snacks made by Shen Xiu.
Mr. Meng did like sweets as Shen Xiu guessed. When he saw the snacks brought by Wei Yan, he immediately smiled and said, "How do you know I like snacks?"
Wei Yan said truthfully: "My wife guessed it."
"That little lady is really smart." Mr. Meng picked up a piece of peach blossom cake. He had eaten many snacks, but this was the first time he had seen one made so beautifully.
Mr. Meng tasted the peach blossom cake. Although the pastry was made with ordinary fillings, Mr. Meng ate several pieces because of its beautiful appearance.
As for the date cakes and walnut candies, Mr. Meng also praised them, "Your wife is a good cook. These snacks are sweet but not greasy, which is just right for us elderly people."
Wei Yan said nothing from the beginning to the end, just watching Mr. Meng eat snacks, and then tried the cherry pancake made by the Meng family cook.
"This fried cherry is very sour and sweet. If my wife were here, she would like the taste." Wei Yan said this when Mr. Meng asked.
Mr. Meng had a good impression of Shen Xiu and immediately said: "When you leave, I will ask the cook to bring you a piece. But I don't give my things to you for free. You have to give me some more when you come next time."
I'll bring something."
In this way, neither party mentioned the matter of apprenticeship. When Wei Yan went to Meng's house again, it was the same as last time, but he just brought some food.
When Wei Yan visited Meng's house, Shen Xiu had also embroidered camellias and was preparing to go to Mi's house.