From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The kindergarten was finally out for the holidays, and Feng Nuanyou was overjoyed. She couldn't wait to go to work at the restaurant with her father.

However, the little girl was stopped by her mother, maternal grandmother, and great-aunt.

This made Feng Nuanyou very dissatisfied.

Then she sat at home, sulking, her little mouth almost pouting to the sky.

Seeing her granddaughter's expression, the grandmother first tried to comfort her.

“Dad is so busy at the restaurant. If you go there, it will definitely affect him. We’ll stay at home. Grandma, great-aunt, and Mom are with you. Your younger brother and sister also need you.”

Feng Nuanyou still pouted and ignored her grandmother.

The great-aunt chimed in, "Little Youyou, look at you. It's actually your parents who care about you and don't want you to inhale so much fumes in Dad's kitchen. It's not good for you."

After listening, Feng Nuanyou said, "No, Dad's kitchen is very clean, there is no oil or smoke."

After the little girl said that, the old lady didn't know how to persuade her.

Finally, Mom spoke up: "Okay, you have to come with me to buy things. Dad's restaurant is about to close, and we're going back home for the New Year, so we need to buy some things to take back with us."

Dad is so busy, he doesn't have time to buy it. Should we buy it for him?
Look at you pouting like that, don't you want to help Daddy go shopping?

As expected, a mother understands her daughter best and knows that no amount of persuasion will work on the little girl.

Only by telling her that she needs to help her father with some things can the little girl stop being resistant.

Sure enough, after listening to her mother's words, Feng Nuanyou stopped pouting.

"Okay, then let's buy things for Dad."

Hearing the little girl say that, the maternal grandmother and great-aunt exchanged a glance, and then looked at Luo Qing together.

Luo Qing smiled at her mother and second aunt.

At this moment, Luo's mother and Feng Suying finally understood that Luo Qing, as their mother, truly understood their daughter's personality better.

Luo's mother and Feng Suying did not go with them because they had to stay at home to take care of their two younger children.

Luo Qing dressed herself up carefully, and also dressed her daughter up nicely, before taking her daughter's little hand and going out.

After the mother and daughter left, Luo's mother said a few words to Feng Suying with some helplessness.

“I feel that I am becoming less and less close to my daughter and granddaughter. It feels like we are from two different worlds.”

Feng Suying could understand Luo's mother's feelings, mainly because Luo's mother used to think that she could control everything.

However, because of her control and spoiling, her son was not raised well, while her daughter developed better later on.

Especially Luo Qing, who was very opinionated, chose to marry Feng Zhengming, who was selling boxed lunches at the train station at the time.

Later, he resigned from his job at the train station and went back to university, completely breaking free from the constraints of home.

Over the years, even the eldest son of the Luo family has been able to build his career thanks to the support of his younger sister.

So Luo's mother discovered that she seemed to have no control over anything.

When she came to Shanghai to take care of her child, Luo's mother often didn't even have a chance to speak.

This is why Luo's mother always felt that she was becoming increasingly distant from her daughter and granddaughter.

The main problem is that she always felt she couldn't control anything anymore.

Feng Suying smiled and said, "Grandma Youyou, you don't need to think like that. Young people have their own ideas. Look at Youyou now, isn't she growing up very well? She's more well-behaved than other children her age."

Although she does sometimes seem a bit eccentric, the child is essentially a good child.

Times have changed. We can no longer discipline our children with our old ideas; that will only restrict them.

After hearing what Feng Suying said, Luo's mother thought about it and realized that it made perfect sense.

Her views are still somewhat old-fashioned, especially in a metropolis like Shanghai where there are too many fashionable things that she doesn't understand.

Therefore, we really can't let her old ideas restrict the child's development.

Then Feng Suying added, "From now on, Xiaoyouyou and the two children in the family will definitely have a much better life than we did when we were young, and it will also be much better than Zhengming and Luo Qing's."

Mother Luo: "That's for sure. Look at how big a business Zhengming and his family have made now. I can't even imagine how good their lives will be in the future."

Feng Suying: "I strongly agree with Zhengming and Luo Qing's strategy for raising children. They take their children to see and experience many things."

Just like Zhengming let Youyou follow him into the kitchen, so that Youyou could see how hard everyone in the kitchen works, and let the child understand the hardship of earning money from a young age.

This way, when Youyou grows up, she'll understand that her family's money is earned through her father's hard work.

Luo's mother: "That's absolutely right. Otherwise, many children won't understand the hardships of work from a young age. They'll be too well protected by their parents and will often feel that they can eat and drink well without having to work hard."

Feng Suying: "But Zhengming's family business is still too big. I don't know if his children will be able to keep it."

Luo's mother also had some concerns.

At this moment, Luo Qing drove herself, taking her daughter with her to the pedestrian street.

He was about to go home for the Chinese New Year. Even if Feng Zhengming didn't buy anything, he would still be welcomed by many people.

But Luo Qing felt that she should still buy some gifts for her husband and their relatives and friends.

Especially during the Lunar New Year, my husband will definitely have to visit his master and the families of his fellow disciples.

Therefore, some gifts do need to be prepared in advance.

After driving to the vicinity of the pedestrian street, Luo Qing parked the car and took her daughter's hand as they walked into the pedestrian street.

On the pedestrian street, the mother and daughter visited many shops and bought all sorts of things.

This included some gifts, clothes, some Shanghai specialties, and a lot of food.

By the end, not only did her daughter feel exhausted from the shopping, but Luo Qing also felt exhausted.

During the shopping trip, a minor incident occurred because there were many people on the pedestrian street.

The mother and daughter bought a lot of things, which naturally attracted the attention of some criminals on the pedestrian street.

As Luo Qing led her daughter into a store, they encountered a large crowd.

He suddenly broke the mother and daughter's grip on each other's hands.

Almost at that moment, two figures appeared behind Feng Nuanyou.

He scooped up Feng Nuanyou and tried to cover her mouth as he carried her away.

When Feng Nuanyou was picked up, she was about to shout, but her mouth was covered.

The little girl struggled fiercely without any hesitation, even biting the hand covering her face.

This caused the person covering her mouth to scream in pain.

This shout instantly attracted the attention of everyone around.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Feng Nuanyou pushed the other person's hand away and shouted, "Help! They're trying to kidnap me!"

This shout truly caused a huge stir, and the crowd instantly surrounded the two people who were about to take Feng Nuanyou away.

Luo Qing also found her daughter inside. Upon hearing her daughter's cries, she quickly pushed through the crowd and rushed forward.

She snatched her daughter from the person who was holding her.

Feng Nuanyou also hugged her mother's neck.

"Hehehe, Mommy, I wasn't taken away. I bit the bad guy."

Seeing that he couldn't take the little girl away, and that the little girl had even bitten his hand.

It really made the two of them want to run away immediately.

But they were surrounded by the crowd and had no way to escape.

Eventually, someone called the police, and nearby officers quickly arrived and arrested the two men. Although her daughter wasn't lost, Luo Qing was still shaken.

They didn't buy anything else, and instead carried their daughter back to the parking lot.

The whole journey was truly nerve-wracking for Luo Qing.

Even after getting into the car, Luo Qing remained very nervous.

It was her daughter's constant comforting that gradually calmed Luo Qing down.

"Youyou, I'm sorry. It's Mommy's fault. Mommy shouldn't have let go."

Feng Nuanyou smiled and hugged her mother: "It's okay, Youyou knows that Mom didn't do it on purpose. There were just too many people who pushed Youyou and Mom apart. Don't be scared, Mom. Youyou is very smart and won't be taken away by bad people."

Looking at her smiling daughter, Luo Qing still felt a lingering fear.

If it weren't for my daughter's quick thinking, and if the other party had been more ruthless, she probably would have been taken away.

“From now on, when we go out, we can’t just have Mom take you with us. We need to invite other people to go with us so that we won’t be afraid that you will be kidnapped by bad people.”

Feng Nuanyou: "Okay, let's invite Dad along."

Luo Qing was amused by her daughter's words.

"Okay, from now on we'll call him Daddy. With Daddy around, no one can take Youyou away."

Luo Qing stopped going back to buy things, since she had already bought almost everything she needed.

If you feel there's anything else you need to buy later, you can ask your husband to come along.

Luo Qing drove her daughter home.

After getting home, she took the initiative to tell the story.

Luo's mother became agitated upon hearing this: "Look at you, I told you you couldn't take Youyou alone, but you wouldn't listen. What if someone takes Youyou away?"

This time, my second aunt also felt that it was indeed too dangerous.

"We'll go with you next time, otherwise it's too dangerous."

Luo Qing lowered her head, clearly knowing that she had done something wrong.

Seeing her mother's expression, Feng Nuanyou immediately stood up to speak up for her.

"Grandma, great-aunt, please don't scold Mom. Mom knows it's wrong. She apologized to Youyou on the way. Mom also said that next time we go shopping, we'll invite Dad along."

The moment the little girl spoke, the atmosphere in the house instantly changed.

Grandma spoke up again: "Okay, we don't blame Mom. It's really hard for Mom to take you out alone and go shopping. We'll go with you next time."

Grandma: "Yes, let's all go together next time."

Luo Qing looked up and said, "Mom, Aunt, let's wait until Zhengming Restaurant is closed before we go together."

My second aunt smiled and said, "That's good. All the Shandong chefs here also need to buy some things to take home. If you all go together, you won't have to worry about anything going wrong."

The mother went up and sat down next to her daughter, then reached out and hugged her.

"Okay, okay, don't be like that. Nothing bad happened, right? We'll just learn from this experience."

With her mother's comfort, Luo Qing finally calmed down.

On the way back, she was filled with self-blame and lingering fear.

She didn't even dare to think about what would happen to her if her daughter were really taken away by bad people.
Fortunately, Shanghai is relatively better in this regard.

Luo Qing then thought of Hongcheng in Jiangxi Province.

The situation over there seems to be even worse.

Thinking about it this way, Luo Qing felt that she shouldn't take her daughter out alone anymore.

The second aunt seemed to have noticed some of Luo Qing's worries.

"Qingqing, don't worry. I believe that the security situation in our country will get better and better in the future. You should have the opportunity to take your daughter out shopping alone in the future, or even our little Youyou can go out by herself without any problems."

Luo Qing looked up at her second aunt after hearing her words: "Zhengming often says that things will get better and better in the future."

This little incident didn't affect the atmosphere at home.

However, Luo Qing really didn't dare to take her daughter out shopping alone anymore.

Even when she goes out to buy groceries nearby, she either has her mother or second aunt accompany her, or she leaves her daughter at home.

Fortunately, Luo Qing and the others didn't have to wait long; Feng Zhengming's restaurant closed on time on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month.

Although most people knew this, many still felt a little regretful when the day of closing actually arrived.

I think if Feng Zhuangyuan's restaurant were open during the Chinese New Year, it would definitely do very well, and everyone would be willing to bring their families for a good meal during the holiday.

The good news is that in Shanghai, all of Feng Zhengming's shops have closed down.

However, there are still some restaurants and eateries that have been improved under the guidance of Feng Zhuangyuan.

Most importantly, Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant has already opened, which also provides an option for Feng Zhengming's restaurant if it closes down.

After the shop officially closed, Feng Zhengming told the chefs from Shandong to go shopping.

If someone wants to go back early, he will book their plane or train tickets.

Then Feng Zhengming booked several tables at Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant.

It was a small gathering for everyone before the Lunar New Year.

It was also a chance to sample the dishes at Jiang Chengzhe's restaurant.

Jiang Chengzhe received the call and naturally agreed happily, and began preparations ahead of time.

Feng Zhengming began to rest, but Feng Nuanyou was the happiest.

The little girl clung to her father almost every day.

Feng Zhengming also takes good care of his daughter's feelings and spends time with her from morning till night.

For example, I take my daughter out for a morning run in the morning, and when we come back, I take her to the nearby farmers' market to buy breakfast.

Around noon, I also take my daughter to the farmers' market.

It's safe to say that Feng Nuanyou has her father's company every day, which makes the little girl very happy.

Besides spending time with his eldest daughter, Feng Zhengming also takes care of his two younger children.

The two little ones are quite willing to be close to their father.

However, the two little ones are clearly not as well-behaved as Feng Nuanyou was when she was a child.

Especially when they're being naughty, the two little ones seem to be competing to see who can shout the loudest.

They often cry and make a scene together, as if they want to tear the roof off.

Feng Zhengming wouldn't get too annoyed and would patiently coax the crying child.

On the contrary, Feng Nuanyou sometimes finds it very annoying.

"Dad, I don't like my younger brother and sister anymore. They cry so loudly."

Feng Zhengming smiled and comforted his eldest daughter: "Your younger brother and sister are still young, they don't understand. When you were their age, you would cry just as loudly as they do."

Now that Youyou is more sensible, she won't cry and fuss like that anymore, so Youyou shouldn't blame her younger siblings for being so unreasonable, okay?

After listening to her father's words, Feng Nuanyou put away her impatience with her younger siblings' crying and fussing.

The family members couldn't help but smile as they watched their father interact with his three children. (End of Chapter)