From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The bus took Feng Zhengming and his group to Huiquan Tower, where they got off.

They immediately saw that there were many people waiting for them in front of Huiquan Tower, and the entrance of Huiquan Tower was decorated, with a large banner hanging there.

"Welcome back home, Mr. Feng and the kitchen staff of the world's top ten restaurants of the year."

Looking at everything before him, Feng Zhengming was truly moved.

Perhaps all the hardships and toil I've endured over the years have been for this moment of recognition.

Feng Zhengming saw his master, the master chefs of Shandong cuisine, and his two grandfathers were all there.

He first went forward to pay his respects to his master, to the other master chefs of Shandong cuisine, and to his two grandfathers.

This scene was captured entirely by cameras from a fellow television station.

Perhaps many years from now, many people will jokingly say that Shandong people like to take the civil service exam.

However, as the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, Shandong does indeed care more about certain etiquettes that are looked down upon by some people.

Just like Feng Zhengming's respect for his master, his senior colleagues, and his two grandfathers, he will be highly regarded by many people in Shandong.

In fact, broadcasting his actions on television is also a way of educating children and young people.

Even a top chef like Feng Zhengming, who has already made a name for himself internationally.

He still respects his master, and he also respects the veteran chefs of Shandong cuisine.

They have always taken very good care of their two grandfathers who are not related by blood.

This moral excellence will serve as a role model for many children and young people.

The power of role models lies in their heartfelt demonstration.

Instead of performing intentionally or artificially.

Feng Zhengming's genuine respect for his master and senior colleagues, his filial piety towards his two grandfathers, and his current achievements make him a true role model.

In front of Huiquan Tower, Feng Zhengming spoke a few words to everyone on camera once again.

"Thank you again for welcoming us home. To be honest, I'm even happier to be back home. This year has probably been the year I've been the busiest, as I've spent most of my time away from home."

Because my master and senior fellow apprentices are in my hometown, and my fellow apprentices are helping me, I can venture out into the world with peace of mind.

I really didn't expect to be welcomed by so many people today. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone again.

I will continue to work hard to promote Shandong cuisine to more places, and use my skills to help our Chinese food, and especially Shandong cuisine, gain wider recognition.

Feng Zhengming's statement satisfied everyone.

After these remarks, the television station completed filming the entire process of welcoming Feng Zhengming.

Afterwards, the TV station staff took their leave.

Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen followed Feng Zhengming and the others into Huiquan Tower.

Sitting down inside Huiquan Tower, Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen once again brought up the matter of reopening Yanxi Tower with Feng Zhengming.

Seeing that the two were clearly anxious and eager to get a definite answer from him.

Feng Zhengming had no choice but to reveal his idea of ​​reopening Yanxilou in front of everyone.

"I plan to reopen Yanxilou in Beijing, so that Shandong cuisine can regain its footing in the capital and recreate the glory days of the eight famous Shandong restaurants."

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this surprised both Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen.

They realized that Feng Zhengming hadn't mentioned the reopening of Yanxilou in detail along the way, so he must have his own plans.

But the two did not expect that Feng Zhengming's other plan was to reopen Yanxilou in the capital.

This somewhat disrupted some of Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen's plans.

In fact, the two of them proposed to Feng Zhengming today that Yanxilou be reopened.

The reason is that the province hopes that Feng Zhengming will reopen Yanxilou in Jinan and make it a top-tier restaurant like Feng Zhengming's old villa restaurant in Shanghai, which can be recognized as one of the top ten restaurants in the world.

In this regard, the provincial government clearly gave instructions at its meetings that Feng Zhengming could receive full support.

Feng Zhengming has now stated that he intends to reopen Yanxilou in Beijing.

This was quite unexpected for Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen.

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Feng Zhengming gave his explanation earnestly.

"It's not that I don't want to reopen Yanxilou in Jinan. Firstly, there are already enough good restaurants in Jinan, such as Jufengde, Taifenglou, or Jubinyuan, all of which are excellent restaurants."

There's also a Cuihualou restaurant in Jinan now, and I think the restaurants in Jinan are already very good.

They can all represent the essence of Shandong cuisine, and each has its own strengths.

My reopening of Yanxilou in Jinan would actually be a blow to them and would also damage the unity within our Shandong cuisine community.

After a slight pause, Feng Zhengming continued speaking before Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen could speak.

"The reason for choosing to reopen Yanxilou in Beijing is that we hope to recreate the glory of Shandong cuisine in the eight major restaurants in Beijing. We also hope that there is Yanxilou in Beijing in the north and my old villa restaurant in Shanghai in the south."

This can create a synergy between the north and south, better promoting Shandong cuisine to people from different regions.

After listening to Feng Zhengming's words, Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen finally understood.

They realized that the main reason Feng Zhengming wasn't actually going back to Jinan to open Yanxilou was probably because he didn't want too much competition within the Shandong cuisine industry.

At the same time, he wants Shandong cuisine to go beyond Shandong and flourish all over the country.

Thinking about it this way, Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen felt that Feng Zhengming's approach seemed better.

After all, whether in Shanghai, Beijing, or all over the country, Feng Zhengming is regarded as a Shandong cuisine chef.

His branches mainly serve Shandong cuisine.

This is something that no one can deny or change.

Therefore, Feng Zhengming promoted Shandong cuisine outside of Shandong province, developing and expanding its influence.

It might be a better option than letting him stay in Jinan.

Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen exchanged a glance, both of them realizing that the other agreed with Feng Zhengming's choice.

However, the two were, after all, representing the province.

There were some things the two of them still needed to say to Feng Zhengming.

Tao Jingwen spoke up: "Zhengming, we understand your idea, but this time the province does hope that you can help upgrade the standards of our province's catering industry."

Chen Zhiheng: "The province also hopes that more good restaurants and hotels will emerge in our province."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I think the recommendation guide that my Uncle Huang is in charge of will be a very good supervision, and will help restaurants in various parts of the province to do a good job."

Then Feng Zhengming offered his other solution.

"I will also urge the stores in my province to make some improvements, so that each store has a certain identity, thereby raising the standards of catering in various places and enabling everyone to keep up with the development."

Then Feng Zhengming added: "Furthermore, I will discuss with my master and other senior chefs of Shandong cuisine that we will jointly organize some advanced training courses for head chefs, giving chefs from all over Shandong some opportunities to further their studies and improve their skills and kitchen management abilities."

After listening to Feng Zhengming's words, Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen had nothing else to say. They had to admit that Feng Zhengming had indeed thought further ahead than they had.

Having Feng Zhengming return to Jinan to reopen Yanxilou restaurant wouldn't really improve the city's current catering landscape much.

After all, Feng Zhengming already has many stores in Jinan, as well as Huiquanlou, another time-honored restaurant.

Therefore, Feng Zhengming's reopening of Yanxilou in Jinan could not bring about much change.

On the contrary, he said that the recommended guidelines would be used throughout the province to further urge the improvement of the catering industry.

In particular, his collaboration with experienced chefs and master chefs to run chef training courses is the right way to truly improve restaurants and eateries throughout the province.

Feng Zhengming has already explained his plans, and his arrangements are clearly better.

Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen were both speechless.

Master Cui was the first to express his support for Feng Zhengming's arrangements.

"Zhengming's idea is excellent. Your master and I have been discussing this matter. We do need a leader to help us Shandong cuisine chefs improve our skills."

This is the advanced training course you just mentioned, which is excellent. Our chef association will make the arrangements later.

I believe that through this training program, more chefs will be able to improve their own restaurants.

Feng Zhengming: "In addition to providing some training for head chefs, restaurant and hotel owners also need to learn some skills, which I will arrange later."

Chen Zhiheng: "Should we arrange training for the boss?"

Feng Zhengming: "That's right. Many bosses may have some problems with their business practices. I think we can have some business people in Shanghai who are good at business teach us some business strategies."

Combined with advanced training courses for head chefs, this should greatly improve restaurants and eateries throughout Shandong province.

Tao Jingwen: "Zhengming's idea is very good. It is a complete improvement. We can't just improve the chef's skills. The business ideas of the bosses also need to be improved."

Chen Zhiheng nodded in agreement, approving of Feng Zhengming's idea of ​​giving lessons to the boss.

At this moment, He Yunqing asked, "Head Chef, may I attend a class?"

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Uncle He, of course you can go to class. In fact, I think some of your ideas are good for teaching."

He Yunqing: "Don't laugh at me, I also want to learn modern management concepts to better manage Huiquanlou."

Feng Zhengming: "No problem. We'll let you learn it too, Uncle He. Huiquanlou really needs you, Uncle He."

This made everyone laugh.

He Yunqing was also very happy, feeling that he was still very useful.

After chatting for a while at Huiquan Tower, Chen Zhiheng and Tao Jingwen left first.

Afterwards, the experienced craftsmen all left first, and Feng Zhengming and the others saw them off and gave them the things they had brought back.

Back at Huiquan Tower, Feng Zhengming took out the things he had bought for his fellow disciples and gave them to them.

The senior brothers felt a little embarrassed that their junior brother would bring them gifts every time he came back for the Chinese New Year.

Li Huidong: "Zhengming, it's true that all your stores are making a lot of money, but you can't just spend money like this. We fellow apprentices don't need to buy so many things every year."

Yang Bin: "That's right, Zhengming. Look at you. Every year when you come back, you buy things for your master and the others, for us, for your sisters-in-law, and for your children. It makes us feel embarrassed."

Second Senior Brother Chen Zezhi: "Zhengming, if you want to reopen Yanxilou in the capital, you will also need to prepare some funds."

Feng Zhengming: "Senior brothers, why are you being so polite with me? This little bit of money is nothing to us now. It's the New Year, so everyone should have a gift. That way, we'll all be happy."

After Feng Zhengming's explanation, the senior brothers had no choice but to accept the gifts.

The third senior brother asked, "Since you just got back, how about we all have a meal together at Huiquanlou tonight?"

Feng Zhengming: "Sure, tonight we brothers will cook together, bring our wives and children over, and have a good time at Huiquanlou."

Li Huidong: "You just got back, so please don't go into the kitchen tonight. We'll handle it."

Chen Zezhi: "Yes, yes, we'll come tonight."

Feng Zhengming: "What? Senior brothers, you don't believe in my skills anymore?"

Yang Bin: "You're a good kid, let's do it together."

Then in the afternoon, Feng Zhengming and his fellow students worked together in the kitchen.

Because there were quite a few people, including Feng Zhengming's family, his senior brother's family, and a group of people who had returned from Shanghai, there were five or six tables set up on the first floor of Huiquanlou.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices were busy in the kitchen, while Xia Hui, Sun Hai, and their apprentices could only lend a hand.

But cooking for family and themselves still brings everyone a lot of joy.

Many things in the kitchen don't need to be prepared with the same meticulous care as when entertaining guests.

Therefore, everyone can be more comfortable.

The fellow apprentices each prepared a traditional dish.

This was probably the most homely meal they had prepared all year.

Feng Zhengming even cooked a few dishes from other cuisines.

For example, I made Kung Pao Chicken and Kung Pao Shrimp, and also Sweet and Sour Pork, a Cantonese dish.

There's no need to go to such great lengths just to entertain guests.

This allowed Feng Zhengming to express himself even more freely.

Many home-style dishes are easy for Feng Zhengming to prepare.

Besides the fact that the initial material preparation takes a lot of time.

When it came to actually cooking, Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices would only start cooking after everyone had arrived and been seated.

Then, dish after dish was served, making everyone in the family feel very comfortable eating.

This was the first meal Feng Zhengming and his group had after returning to Jinan.

There were no outsiders; in fact, Feng Zhengming and his family even brought their master's family over.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow disciples toasted their master and mistress together.

This also deeply moved the master and his wife.

Master Yan felt that taking on Feng Zhengming as his apprentice was truly worthwhile.

The key point is that he not only has excellent skills, but also always adheres to the principle of respecting teachers.

This is probably what other experienced craftsmen envy most about Master Yan.

Amidst laughter and cheerful conversation, Feng Zhengming and his group thoroughly enjoyed their first meal back in Jinan.

This moment also marks the successful conclusion of everyone's busy year.

As for next year, let's talk about that after we've had a happy New Year.

Feng Zhengming even drank a few more glasses of wine in his happiness, eventually becoming quite drunk. Looking at the joyful crowd before him, he couldn't tell whether it was the wine that had made him drunk, or the people around him. (End of Chapter)