From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming and his third senior brother led their team directly from Shicheng to the capital.

First, Feng Zhengming had everyone settle into the hotel, and then he led everyone to the shop that Lü Chongshan was in charge of.

Upon arriving at the store, a scene unfolded that surprised everyone, including the third senior brother, Yang Bin.

The store was packed, and from the way people were talking, you could tell that almost all of them were locals.

This is something that surprised everyone.

In the eyes of the third senior brother and his friends, even if Feng Zhengming's restaurant in Beijing had some Beijing characteristics, Beijing, as the capital, was a place where a large number of skilled chefs from all over the country gathered.

People in Beijing must eat better, so their tastes are probably more discerning.

Therefore, they might not pay much attention to Feng Zhengming's rice shop branch.

The scene before them clearly shattered everyone's expectations.

It turns out that Feng Zhengming's rice stall is popular with locals no matter where it is located.

Judging from the casual conversation, it's clear that the shop is frequented by locals from Kyoto.

Looking at what they ordered, it was basically all kinds of noodles.

The menu includes Beijing-style zha jiang mian (noodles with minced meat sauce), Shandong-style da liu mian (noodles with large willow branches), noodles with braised pork belly, and a bowl of da lu mian (noodles with braised meat) served with braised pork hock, pig's trotters, or four-happiness meatballs.

Not long after Feng Zhengming and his group entered, some of the gourmets from Beijing who were chatting recognized him.

"Oh my, isn't this our top scholar Feng? Are you here to inspect the store's work?"

Such a shout from a seasoned gourmet from Beijing naturally attracted the attention of everyone in the shop.

Feng Zhengming's desire to keep a low profile has been completely shattered.

"Haha, everyone, I'm eating."

Everyone took the initiative to greet Feng Zhengming.

"Greetings, Scholar Feng! It's been a long time since I've seen you. Are you not in the capital?"

"It's definitely not in Beijing. I heard that Feng Zhuangyuan has been opening branches in various places recently."

"Haha, our national culinary champion should open branches all over the country, shouldn't that be the case?"

"Absolutely! The food at Feng Zhuangyuan's shop tastes great and isn't expensive. It's a really pleasant place to eat."

"The key is cleanliness and hygiene. You can see the kitchen directly when ordering, which makes me feel very safe."

Faced with everyone's praise, Feng Zhengming smiled and expressed his gratitude.

"Thank you for your support. As long as you like it, then I haven't made a mistake in opening this store."

Then a gourmet from Beijing asked, "Scholar Feng, I heard you've acquired all the old shops near those tourist attractions? My wife and I went there last time, and those little shops really do have authentic flavors."

Feng Zhengming: "Grandpas and grandmas, if you think the taste is right, that's fine. If there's anything wrong with the store, you can point it out."

An elderly person who hadn't been there before asked curiously, "Are those little shops owned by Feng Zhuangyuan now?"

Feng Zhengming: "I can't say it's mine. I just reorganized them to preserve some of the old Beijing flavors."

These words resonated with the elderly people in Beijing present.

"That's right, we should preserve those old flavors."

"Absolutely! Now that Beijing has won the bid to host the Olympics, we definitely need to make sure all those small shops are doing well."

"Of course, those small shops are the real specialties of Beijing. They were ruined by some ignorant people in the past."

“Feng Zhuangyuan’s acquisition of them is a really good thing to do.”

"That's right. If Scholar Feng can make this braised noodles so authentically, he can definitely make those small shops successful."

Feng Zhengming explained with a smile, "Thank you for your trust, grandpa and grandma, but these things of mine are not made by me, they are all made by the people in my shop."

I believe that professionals should do what they're good at. We should find people who are capable of doing it and let them do it better.

This statement was agreed upon by everyone present, who all felt that professionals should indeed do professional things.

The reason why those small shops in Beijing went out of business before was because they weren't run by professionals.

Feng Zhengming chatted with everyone for a while longer, then told them to start eating before leading them into the kitchen.

Upon seeing Feng Zhengming arrive with his men, Lü Chongshan immediately came out from the kitchen to greet them.

"Master, you, what brings you here?"

Upon hearing Lü Chongshan address her as "Master," Xia Hui immediately smiled and said, "Old Lü, since you're calling me Master, shouldn't you call me Senior Sister?"

When Lü Chongshan saw Xia Hui, he smiled and called out, "Senior Sister."

Xia Hui was immediately incredulous: "No, you really screamed?"

Lü Chongshan: "Of course, you really are the senior sister, so of course I'm calling you that."

Xia Hui looked at Feng Zhengming.

The latter smiled and said, "Alright, Senior Sister it is. As for Chongshan, he also needs to formally become a disciple. It's fine to change his address now."

Yang Bin laughed and said, "Well done, Chongshan, you can finally formally become an apprentice. After all these years, do you feel like you've finally made it?"

Lü Chongshan looked at Yang Bin: "Third Uncle-Master, I feel like I need to work even harder in the future."

That made everyone laugh.

Yang Bin nodded: "We definitely need to work harder."

Feng Zhengming: "It seems that you've run this shop very well, Chongshan. By the way, your apprentice Lin Bo has also learned your skills quite well; he makes noodles exceptionally well."

Lü Chongshan: "Oh, Lin Bo was the most diligent student when he was learning from me."

Feng Zhengming: That's great. You can formally take him on as your apprentice later.

Lu Chongshan was taken aback: "Master, I, I haven't become your disciple yet."

Feng Zhengming: "There is no contradiction between you becoming an apprentice and you taking on apprentices. You are becoming an apprentice while already having the skills. You should also find apprentices to learn from you and pass on your skills in the art of pastry making."

The third senior brother chimed in, "That's right, Chongshan, your pastry-making skills must be passed down."

Lü Chongshan nodded in agreement.

Next, Feng Zhengming had everyone change their clothes, put on clean chef's hats, and go into the kitchen of the restaurant to take a look.

The five young chefs and apprentices went into the kitchen and conducted a careful observation.

Everyone quickly discovered that the kitchens of each store seemed to have some differences.

For example, Lü Chongshan is in charge of the kitchen. Because they make a lot of noodles, the kitchen has a large soup pot specifically for cooking noodles, while the stove for stir-frying vegetables only has two burners.

However, all of Feng Zhengming's restaurants have a similar characteristic in their kitchens: they are all relatively large.

Compared to the kitchens of ordinary restaurants, Feng Zhengming's kitchen was almost a size larger.

It's even possible that the kitchens of some small restaurants are not as large as the kitchens of Feng Zhengming's establishments.

The primary advantage of a large kitchen is that it's easier to clean.

Secondly, the kitchen is large enough to accommodate more people. This ensures faster food preparation when there are many customers.

It must be said that Feng Zhengming's design truly takes into full consideration the comfort of the kitchen staff.

At Lü Chongshan's shop, everyone can see his skill in making hand-pulled noodles.

His busy schedule makes it easy to understand why gourmets from Beijing love to eat at this restaurant.

Watching Lü Chongshan bustling about and smelling the aroma of various toppings wafting from the kitchen, one really can't help but want to eat a few more bowls of noodles.

Feng Zhengming also led everyone to eat the braised noodles that Lü Chongshan had made for them.

As Yang Bin ate, he couldn't help but mutter, "It's delicious! Chongshan's cooking is really good."

Feng Zhengming: "It seems that Chongshan has also learned the essence of their braised noodles in the capital."

Lü Chongshan: "The key to braised noodles is the final thickening with cornstarch. If the thickening isn't done well, then those gourmets in Beijing will really criticize us."

Feng Zhengming: "That's true. The gourmets in Beijing are really picky eaters."

"Yes, they are really picky eaters. I talked to my fifth uncle many times, and he gave me a lot of advice. I was able to gradually figure out their tastes."

It's clear that Lü Chongshan has indeed put in the effort to study the tastes of Beijing's gourmets.

Therefore, he can now make the food in the store to perfectly suit the tastes of Beijing's gourmets.

Yang Bin exclaimed, "Chongshan, you really are a good candidate to be Zhengming's apprentice. He likes apprentices like you who are willing to put in the hard work."

Feng Zhengming: "Hahaha, Third Brother, don't you like this kind of disciple?"

Yang Bin: "Yes, I like him. Don't I have a Sun Hai now? He's my pride."

Hearing her third uncle say that Sun Hai was his pride made Xia Hui secretly happy.

Yang Bin saw it.

“Look at Xia Hui, she’s secretly pleased when she heard me praising Sun Hai.”

Xia Hui, caught off guard, immediately lost her composure: "Third Martial Uncle, how can you do this? I am a woman, after all. How can you, as my Martial Uncle, stare at your female niece like this?"

Yang Bin: "Alright, alright, it's still my fault."

Everyone in the kitchen burst into laughter.

After eating noodles, Feng Zhengming and his group said goodbye to Lü Chongshan and then went to visit some tourist attractions in Beijing.

Feng Zhengming didn't take everyone directly to Fifth Brother's shop because he wanted everyone to relax.

After all, the main purpose of this trip is for everyone to take the opportunity to relax.

At the famous tourist attractions in Beijing, everyone truly let loose and had a great time.

Watching everyone having fun, Yang Bin couldn't help but sigh, "I should have invited your sister-in-law and your nephew to come and play too."

Feng Zhengming: "Third brother, after you go back this time, you can bring your wife and children here again, just before the children's summer vacation ends, so they can come and have a visit."

Yang Bin: "Don't I have a lot of things to do when I get back?"

Feng Zhengming: "Third brother, you have things to do, but you also need to rest. Because of what happened before, you've been a bit harsh on your sister-in-law. Since you've brought the kids to Beijing this time, I'll tell Fifth brother, and he'll host you."

You and your sister-in-law should try to mend your relationship. Also, you should make time to spend more time with your child; it's not good if your own son isn't close to you.

After listening to his junior brother's words, Yang Bin thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

After the group toured the scenic spot, Feng Zhengming also took them to visit the shops within the scenic area.

The shops are all doing very well, especially popular with tourists visiting Beijing's tourist attractions.

There were long queues in front of many small shops.

For example, the restaurant serving boiled mutton head is popular with both local gourmets and tourists.

After looking around, Yang Bin looked at his junior brother with some surprise.

"Zhengming, did you really acquire all these small shops?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, these small shops may look small, but they are all very unique. I think it would be a good deal to acquire them."

Yang Bin: "It's definitely not a loss. This small shop probably makes more money every day than some big restaurants."

Feng Zhengming: "It's mainly because it's near tourist attractions. There are just so many tourists in Beijing right now."

Yang Bin: "We should also build a food street like this in Jinan in the future, and we can set up some small shops there."

Feng Zhengming: "Isn't it already there? Isn't your sister-in-law's shop right on the street?"

Yang Bin: "That place is a bit too old. I feel that a new food street should be built in Jinan."

Feng Zhengming: "I don't think we need to build anything new. Since there was one before and people are used to going there, it should be preserved and its original appearance should be maintained as much as possible."

"Keep it the same as before? Wouldn't that look too old? And it wouldn't look good either?" The third senior brother clearly didn't understand.

Feng Zhengming offered some explanations based on his own understanding.

"Third Brother, look at these places in the capital. Many old things have been preserved because these old streets are a true reflection of a city."

The reason it doesn't look good is because our old streets haven't been properly cleaned and maintained, making them appear somewhat dirty and messy.

In fact, with a proper cleanup, the old market street can be revitalized.

Yang Bin seemed to understand after his junior brother said that.

After thinking it over carefully, and looking at the scene of the old streets of Beijing in front of me...

If the old streets of Jinan were cleaned up and renovated, it would indeed look like this now.

Moreover, preserving old things gives more people a sense of nostalgia.

When tourists come from other places, what they really want to see is the past of a city.

If the old things are gone, and instead all sorts of high-rise buildings are built that are the same as those all over the country, then why would anyone want to travel to your city specifically?
Similarly, when people come to your place, they naturally hope to taste the most authentic local flavors.

This also gave Yang Bin a lot of inspiration, making him feel that he should stick to the traditional craftsmanship.

Not everyone needs to learn from the junior apprentice and integrate new elements into old dishes to create many innovative dishes with a personal style.

Most chefs should try their best to recreate traditional classic dishes from the past.

On the basis of tradition, some adjustments can be made to adapt to the new era.

In this way, it is actually easier for most people to accept.

The visit to the scenic spot also gave Xia Hui and the five young chefs a lot of inspiration.

They sampled the food from various small shops and discovered some unique flavors.

This kind of subtle inspiration may require them to gradually digest it on their own.

When they are able to incorporate inspiration into their own cooking.

Their skills may also be elevated to a higher level.

Feng Zhengming didn't offer much guidance, but instead let everyone do as they pleased, to look around, eat, and think for themselves. (End of Chapter)