It's often said that brothels are some sorts of big source jars, good things never happen over there. Surely, it can be considered as outraged words by common people to uglify a good-for-nothing from a wealthy family or a lounge lizard. Although "drinking accompanied by prostitutes" and cohabitating with them as well, famous Childe Mao Pijiang with "Fushe" (a literary association at the end of Ming Dynasty), seems to be a significant exception. Coming across him among a sea of faces, Dong Xiaowan's miserable life had finally come to an end.
Since the collapse of Ming Dynasty, Xiaowan had been seeking a refuge in flight with the Family Mao, and thereafter, she experienced weal and woe together with Mao Pijiang till her death. Mao Pijiang, also Mao Xiang, came from Rugao County, Taizhou region, Yangzhou directly-affiliated to Nanjiang, and was born in March of the 39th year of Ming Emperor Wanli. His family was a distinguished cultural family in the Rugao County. This young man has a fine-looking appearance with casual and elegant bearing. He was well-educated, wealthy and ambitious, while as libidinous as general men, otherwise, how could it be possible for him to encounter the "most popular courtesan" in the upscale "Red-light District" along the Qinhuaihe River? Mao Pijiang was 13 years older than Dong Xiaowan and already 28 years old when they met. Close to thirty years old, it is rather easy for him to win the heart of a 15-16 year-old girl. Both of them fitted in readily, swore never to separate from each other, and would live together for their whole lifetime whatever adversities happened.
Thereafter, Dong Xiaowan suddenly transformed herself from a "prostitute" to "Mrs. Mao". Although just as a concubine, her future is somehow no longer helpless. Dong Xiaowan has just one magic weapon to win over his husband, i.e. serving him best drink and best food by means of "emotional appeal", to catch on the man's mouth, manipulate the man's stomach and dominate the man's heart.
That a woman could cook well means her possession of capability of holding the man's heart. Dong Xiaowan was born into a "master of excellent cook". It's said that she had an "unsalted-food flavor", and was not fond of fat and sweet food; therefore, she employed one tiny pot of mint schizonepeta tea to rinse the rice, then chewed carefully and swallow slowly food with two saucers of potherb mustards. However, Mao Pijiang preferred "salty food flavor", and take a shine to sweet food, marine food products, preserved pork and smoked sausages. How to weather this through? The smart Xiaowan changed her favor immediately and managed to cudgel her brains to satisfy her husband's craving for delicious food. She devised many more ingenious cuisines - meticulously prepared the fragrant liquid distilled from honeysuckle flowers or lotus leaves, delicately gathered fresh stamens, and smartly made flower pus'paja penetrated throughout the fragrant liquids. By means of these fine procedures, the epurated fragrant liquids were endowed with fascinating redolence, which were extremely difficult to trail on the earth. One gets drunk, and just takes dozens of fragrant liquids with a white porcelain cup for quenching his thirsts. Besides, with her fair hands, she made prickled vegetables, of which the yellow seemed gold, and the green looked like emerald. The hams cooked by her gave off the smelling of pines and cypresses, the acciughe prepared by her abounded in the smelling of muntjacs, the drunk oysters portrayed peach blossom, the soft shrimps resembled dragon beards; the oil-steamed pomfret took after sturgeons, as well as baked rabbit& crispy chicken looked alike cakes pastry and etc...
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