From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 1049 We Only Do Lunch and Dinner Business (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

Feng Zhengming returned to his room, took out his phone, dialed his wife's number, and said a few words to her.

Then he handed the phone to his daughter and let her sit on the bed and chat with her mother.

He sat down with his third senior brother and Sun Hai and talked about their stories.

"Third Brother, Sun Hai, do you know why I'm opening branches in the north and south again this time?"

Sun Hai shook his head; he didn't quite understand his junior uncle's intentions.

After some thought, the third senior brother came up with some guesses.

"Do you want to use your branch stores to help improve the catering industry in other regions?"

Feng Zhengming: "That's part of the reason, but the main reason is that we currently have too many people in Luxing. Every year, vocational schools and culinary schools send a lot of students to our stores."

Of course, we certainly won't be able to keep most of them, but we will still keep some of them.

We also need to arrange suitable jobs for those who stay behind.

In addition, I have been quite high-profile in the past two years, which has attracted many people from other places to come to the store to become my apprentices.

It has indeed given us many more young chefs and apprentices from other places.

They all need to be given some work opportunities so that they can all have a path to advancement.

After hearing his junior brother's words, Yang Bin quickly understood.

"So if you want to open new stores, start with a branch of a dry rice shop and gradually expand to open restaurants in various places? This will create more jobs for young people and give them room to grow."

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, that's right. In the future, they will broaden their horizons, obtain higher professional titles, and have more choices. We can allow them to choose freely."

However, allowing a group of high-achieving individuals to leave freely means that their vacant positions will need to be filled.

Yang Bin understood that his junior apprentice was trying to advance step by step, so that the apprentice could be promoted to a young chef smoothly.

“Your idea is excellent. This will indeed train a group of chefs and keep them employed.”

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, if we get too old to continue supervising them, we can simply hand over the branches in various places to the local chefs' associations."

These words surprised Yang Bin and Sun Hai to some extent.

Yang Bin asked in surprise, "Why should it be handed over to the local chefs' association?"

Feng Zhengming: "Because by then, I think the chefs we are training to head the branches now should be able to join local chef associations, or at least become vice presidents, right?"

Yang Bin finally understood: Feng Zhengming's approach was to gain a voice in chefs' associations across the country.

It's not necessary to control chefs' associations in different regions; each region has its own unique culinary characteristics.

Feng Zhengming had no intention of completely controlling all regions and allowing them to develop according to his own ideas.

He simply wanted to give his staff a certain degree of influence.

This way, local chef associations won't easily shut down his branches in various regions.

This will also make it easier for Feng Zhengming to promote his recommendation guide in various places in the future.

This allows various regions to accept the standards of his recommended guidelines.

When he and his fellow apprentices got older, they handed over the management of their local rice shops to the local chefs' associations.

With disciples who have inherited their own lineage serving as leaders in the culinary association.

At least it can still ensure the continuity and inheritance of the taste in the branches.

The third senior brother thought for a moment and asked, "So in the future, will you only open stores in the provincial capitals of other provinces? You won't open stores in other cities in other provinces?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, the branches in each province will remain in the provincial capital and will no longer expand to other cities."

Sun Hai couldn't help but ask, "Why? I think there must be a market in other cities in other provinces as well."

Feng Zhengming: "Because it's not easy to control quality when you go outside the provincial capitals of each province."

Yang Bin: "Can't you see the intention behind your junior uncle opening branches in Henan and Hebei provinces and Hangzhou, Zhejiang province this time?"

Sun Hai thought for a moment, then shook his head, indicating that he didn't quite understand.

Yang Bin could only explain to his apprentice: "Henan and Hebei provinces are close to Shandong and Beijing, which makes it convenient for us to supervise. Hangzhou is close to Shanghai, which also makes it convenient for your junior uncle to go and check on the situation."

After hearing what his master said, Sun Hai suddenly understood.

Then Sun Hai thought of the shop in Hongcheng.

"Then wouldn't that shop in Hongcheng be considered isolated and out of reach?"

Feng Zhengming chuckled: "You can still think of that shop in Hongcheng?"

Sun Hai scratched his head sheepishly.

Feng Zhengming: "The restaurant in Hongcheng has the help of Chef Yu. Chef Yu has a very high reputation in the Jiangxi cuisine scene. You can rest assured that the restaurant can be handed over to him. In the future, some young chefs and apprentices from Jiangxi Province can come and learn from him."

"Learn the basics thoroughly, then go back to Hongcheng and follow Master Yu."

Sun Hai thought for a moment and said, "So that's how it is. No wonder you only found a master of the Jianghu style like Master Yu in Hongcheng, and you didn't find a similar master to take charge in Zhengcheng and Hangzhou this time."

Feng Zhengming laughed again: "It's not that I don't want to find one, it's just that master chefs aren't easy to find."

Yang Bin: "If we can't find them, we can train them ourselves."

He then looked at his apprentice, Sun Hai, and said, "Work hard, and you will be one of the first master masters we train."

Sun Hai was startled again: "Huh? Me?"

Seeing his apprentice's surprised expression, Yang Bin asked, "What? You've lost even this much confidence?"

Sun Hai: "Master, I have it, and I will try my best."

Feng Zhengming sat to the side watching the master and apprentice and couldn't help but laugh.

The conversation between the master and apprentice was really hilarious.

“Take it one step at a time. Sun Hai, you already have the foundation of a master chef, but you can’t be arrogant. This trip with your master is to broaden your horizons.”

You must remember that being a master chef isn't just about technical skill; it also requires considering other factors, including management ability.

Yang Bin also emphasized to his apprentice: "Did you hear that? In the kitchen, you often have to put away your nice-natured nature and discipline them when necessary."

Sun Hai quickly nodded earnestly in agreement.

"I understand, Master, Junior Uncle."

Feng Zhengming smiled and patted Sun Hai on the shoulder.

I believe you can improve.

Next, the two brothers discussed some details about the opening of the new store in Zhengzhou.

Feng Zhengming even set fixed business hours.

"We won't stay open too late at night. We won't be serving late-night snacks or breakfast. We'll start serving lunch and close at 9 p.m.

The third senior brother frowned slightly upon hearing this: "Is it really nine o'clock? Isn't that a bit too early?"

Feng Zhengming: "It's not early. After nine o'clock, the night market usually starts. We don't need to compete with others for that business. We mainly focus on lunch and dinner."

Upon hearing this, Sun Hai couldn't help but ask, "Junior Uncle, are you planning to give up your night market business as well?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, on the one hand, our dry rice shop is now positioned as a Chinese fast food restaurant, focusing on convenience and affordable prices. It can be said that it provides everyone with a place to eat well, be full, and have a cheap meal during working hours."

I know that if you can stay up until the early hours of the morning while running a night market, you might get better business.

But that would make things very hard for our staff. If they don't get a good rest at night, how can they do a good job during the day?

Hearing Feng Zhengming's words, Yang Bin agreed with his idea.

“That’s right. We don’t need to compete for the late-night snack market. We should leave some of the business to others and just focus on doing a good job with lunch and dinner.”

Yang Bin paused slightly at this point, looking at his junior brother Feng Zhengming.

After a slight hesitation, Yang Bin still said the rest.

"With the help of your junior uncle's reputation, we have already put some pressure on other shops, so it's not good to compete with them for their hard-earned money."

Feng Zhengming smiled when his third senior brother said that.

"Third Brother, you still understand me."

Yang Bin laughed along with him.

Sun Hai recalled the business practices of his junior uncle's shops when he was in Shanghai.

It seems that, apart from the shop near the train station, the other shops in Shanghai also closed down relatively early.

The shop near the train station has now started operating in three shifts: lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks.

There is a dedicated team that operates from 10 p.m. until the early hours of the morning.

That arrangement was made primarily to ensure the safety of passengers at the train station.

After a long and tiring journey, they arrived in Shanghai and were able to find an affordable restaurant to eat and rest before facing everything they needed to do in Shanghai.

In Zhengcheng, Feng Zhengming did not intend to make that arrangement.

He hopes that his store in Zhengcheng, like other dry rice shops, will be a Chinese fast food restaurant.

It's fine to operate for lunch and dinner.

After all, they can't compete with other stores in Shanghai, so it's impossible for them to actually come and cause trouble.

However, in Zhengzhou, if Feng Zhengming's shop competes for too much business, the locals might actually gang up on it and smash it up.

Therefore, Feng Zhengming does not plan to compete too much, as long as he can ensure that he has his own store.

Moreover, he was confident enough that he could make the business of his Zhengcheng store good enough by only serving lunch and dinner.

When business is good enough and profits can be made easily.

It can make things easier for the store staff without making the locals too envious.

Feng Zhengming felt that this was enough and there was no need to pursue excessive profits.

The third senior brother understood Feng Zhengming's thoughts.

"So when we go to Hebei Province later, we'll do the same thing as Zhengzhou?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, it's the same model. After the store opens in Hebei Province, it can connect Shandong, Henan, Hebei, and then all the way to Beijing, forming a whole area."

Sun Hai: "They really do form a whole area, and they are all influenced by our Shandong cuisine."

Feng Zhengming: "District cuisines have their own characteristics and cannot be said to be completely influenced by our Shandong cuisine."

Besides, even our Zhengzhou branch needs to adjust its menu to suit local tastes, right? So we should be adapting to our customers, not the other way around.

Yang Bin nodded in agreement: "Your junior uncle is right. When we go to a place, we shouldn't stick to the traditions of Shandong cuisine. We should make some adjustments according to the local people's taste preferences."

In particular, we must learn to respect other people's eating habits and not force them to eat exactly the same things as us.

After listening to his master and junior uncle's words, Sun Hai nodded seriously to show that he understood.

Yang Bin stood up: "Alright, you should get some rest. We'll go get some rest too. Aren't we going to visit Senior Brother Hao tomorrow?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Okay, then you senior brothers should get some rest."

After seeing off his third senior brother and Sun Hai and his apprentice, he left.

Feng Zhengming returned to his room and heard his daughter talking on the phone.

"Mom, Uncle and the others have left, Dad is back. Do you want to talk to Dad?"

Then, holding her phone, the daughter got out of bed and ran to Feng Zhengming.

"Dad, you should tell Mom."

Feng Zhengming smiled as he took the phone and picked up his daughter.

"Hey? Are you free today?"

"It's okay. When you sleep in the hotel room tonight, remember to turn off the air conditioner and make sure Youyou is covered with a blanket so she doesn't catch a cold."

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but laugh; he hadn't expected his wife's first words to him to be these.

"Okay, I'll be careful tonight and make sure my little one doesn't catch a cold."

Then Luo Qing continued talking about things in Hangzhou over the phone.

She was quite frank with Feng Zhengming, and even told him that her second aunt had told her to rest more.

Feng Zhengming: "Auntie is right. You should rest more. Just leave the preparation work for the store in Hangzhou to them. Tell Auntie not to keep an eye on things every day. I believe they can handle it well."

Besides, although Du Chenyu and Liu Fanping are young, there's still Lao Gao, right? Lao Gao is still very steady and mature.

Luo Qing: "Brother Gao is really good, and so is my sister-in-law. She even came to see me today."

Feng Zhengming: "Right? Brother Gao and his wife are both very good people, which is why I feel comfortable entrusting the Hangzhou branch to them."

Luo Qing: "My aunt said today that perhaps it's because you are capable and charming that you can always attract and gather some equally capable good people around you to help you."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, maybe this is my luck. Although I am an orphan, since I met my master, it seems that everyone around me is a good person, and everyone is willing to help me."

Luo Qing: "It's because you have the ability that they help you, and they can also make money with you."

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, I'm helping everyone make money so that more people can enjoy cheap and delicious meals."

Luo Qing sounded happy on the phone: "Perhaps it's because you think this way that even God wants you to succeed."

Feng Zhengming: "Okay, we've been married for so long, and you're still praising me like this. I'm getting embarrassed."

Luo Qingle spoke up: "You're actually embarrassed?"

Feng Zhengming: Yes, I am now very low-key and rarely show my face in public.

Luo Qing: "What? You want to be a star?"

Feng Zhengming: "Being a celebrity is out of the question. I'm much happier being a chef."

Luo Qing: "But you're already a star. So many people admire you. Everyone thinks you're a grassroots success story from a small chef."

Feng Zhengming: "There's no such thing as a legend. As you know, I built it up step by step. I also owe a lot to you and my senior brothers for helping me. Otherwise, how could I have built such a big business?"

Luo Qing: "I know, we all know, so we trust you more and support you more."

(End of this chapter)