From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After returning to Jinan from Shanghai with her master, Xia Hui and Sun Hai went to Sun Hai's house first.

Sun Hai's family wasn't well-off, but over the years, by working alongside Feng Zhengming, he had received a considerable salary and bonuses each year.

He remitted most of the money back home, so the situation of Sun Hai's family has greatly improved in recent years.

Sun Hai's parents even spent money to renovate their old house.

Xia Hui and Sun Hai drove to his house, and when they saw the newly built two-story villa, they couldn't help but laugh and joke with Sun Hai.

"Your family really did become rich thanks to your skills."

Sun Hai chuckled sheepishly and glanced at the small house he had built.

“My parents told me about this building when they were building it. I even asked them to take a look at my junior uncle’s old-style restaurant in Shanghai.”

Xia Hui was startled upon hearing this, but after observing carefully, she suddenly understood.

"I was wondering why this building looked so familiar at first glance. You know what, it really does look a bit like that old villa."

Sun Hai laughed: "Didn't you say before that you really liked that old villa?"

Xia Hui was startled again and turned to look at Sun Hai.

At that moment, Xia Hui suddenly realized that Sun Hai, who usually didn't talk much and seemed a bit dull, actually remembered every word she said.

"Look at you, so silly. I was just saying it casually. You like a lot of things, but you can't buy them all."

Sun Hai: "When we have money in the future, we'll buy whatever we like."

Xia Hui smiled helplessly: "You know, we can't do that. We still need to help our master run the restaurant well in the future, and we also need to think about our future children. We can't buy everything."

Sun Hai: "Tell me, after we get married and have children, could we bring the children with us, like Junior Uncle did?"

Xia Hui: "It's really hard to say. We are all chefs, and we are very busy in the kitchen. If we bring our children with us, we won't have time to take care of them."

Sun Hai felt a little disappointed upon hearing this.

Actually, he was quite envious of Feng Zhengming for always keeping his daughter by his side, and at the same time, he wanted to learn from him.

Although Sun Hai became Yang Bin's apprentice, he always regarded Feng Zhengming as his role model.

Xia Hui noticed Sun Hai's disappointment and smiled, "What's with that expression? I didn't say it was definitely impossible. Besides, have you considered whether we can educate our children the same way our master does?"

These words startled Sun Hai at first. After thinking about it carefully, he realized the problem.

Feng Zhengming was able to keep his daughter with him mainly because he knew some methods of educating children.

Like Feng Nuanyou, who is now being educated by Feng Zhengming, she is really well-behaved and sensible.

Sun Hai felt that if it were him, he really wouldn't know how to teach his child.
Xia Hui: "So we can't learn everything from our master. You've been following our master for so long, don't you understand? Our master is a person who knows a lot of things. He is very capable in all aspects."

We should act according to our capabilities, and first consider where we will ultimately end up working.

Sun Hai: "It seems that Junior Uncle means that he is preparing me to take over from Senior Uncle and then take charge of Huiquan Tower."

Xia Hui: "It seems so. Our eldest uncle and the others are going to the capital to reopen Yanxi Tower."

Sun Hai hesitated for a moment: "If that's the case, wouldn't we have to live apart?"

Xia Hui laughed: "No, that's not true. I can go back to Quancheng and work with you to manage Huiquan Tower."

Sun Hai was stunned by these words; he really hadn't expected Xia Hui to be willing to return to Quancheng.

"You, didn't you always want to stay in Shanghai and run the Western restaurant on that street owned by Junior Uncle?"

Xia Hui: "You don't understand. All of Master's shops have a fixed model. You could say that it doesn't matter whether I'm there or not. In fact, the work I can do in the kitchen of each of Master's shops is pretty much the same."

Sun Hai was stunned for a moment, then thought about it carefully and realized that it was indeed true.

Feng Zhengming's branch stores for dry rice shops do indeed have a limited upper limit.

The work in the kitchens of all the stores is almost exactly the same.

This way, the taste can be consistent.

This also ensures that the quality of each store's products is not too different.

However, this would limit the development of the head chef in the kitchen.

Xia Hui continued, "So actually, Master didn't want me to stay in the branch store either; he definitely hoped I could advance further."

I think I should volunteer to return to Jinan and help you manage Huiquan Tower. Master will definitely agree, and then we can be together in Jinan.”

Sun Hai thought it made sense. If Xia Hui returned to Quancheng and worked with him to manage Huiquan Tower, that would be a good idea.

Then they can officially get married and settle down in Jinan.

If they were in Jinan, Sun Hai would find it very convenient to bring his child with him.

The two talked for so long in the car that Xia Hui saw Sun Hai's parents had come out to greet them.

"Oh dear, hurry up and get out of the car. We've been so busy chatting. Look, your uncle and aunt have come out to greet us."

Sun Hai also snapped out of his daze and quickly got out of the car with Xia Hui to greet his parents.

Then he parked the car in the yard of his renovated house.

Sun Hai and Xia Hui carried the things they brought back into the house.

Seeing the two of them return, especially by car, made Sun Hai's parents extremely happy.

When Sun Hai got home, he saw that his grandparents had also been picked up by his parents.

In the past, Sun Hai's family was not well-off, and his grandparents did not live in very good conditions either.

It's just that Sun Hai's family is not well-off and they can't take good care of his grandparents.

Now that the family's financial situation has improved, Sun Hai has talked to his parents about bringing his grandparents to live with them if possible, so that they can take better care of them.

Unexpectedly, his parents actually did as Sun Hai said and brought his grandparents to their home.

The old man was naturally very happy to see his eldest grandson, Sun Hai, return.

Seeing their granddaughter-in-law returning home with her grandson made the two elderly people beam with joy.

Xia Hui greeted Sun Hai's family members in a generous manner.

She grew up in a well-off family, but she never looked down on Sun Hai's family.

Even in Xia Hui's eyes, the warmth between Sun Hai and his family made her feel very cozy.

Of course, besides this warmth, there are still some upsetting things.

Sun Hai and Xia Hui carried their things into the house and sat down to chat with their grandparents.

Before I could even settle in, someone came knocking on my door.

The visitors were none other than Sun Hai's two uncles and an aunt.

Sun Hai's father had five siblings.

One of his aunts married and moved away, while Sun Hai's two uncles and one aunt remained in their village.

Previously, Sun Hai's family was not well-off, and his uncles and aunts rarely interacted with them. Moreover, his two uncles had earned money outside and moved to the county town.

Instead, they left their grandparents in the countryside and asked Sun Hai's parents to take care of them.

Now Sun Hai has made money outside and gained fame, and his family has also rebuilt a two-story house.

His two uncles and aunts, along with their families, took advantage of the Chinese New Year to make a special trip to his home.

They ostensibly came to pay New Year's respects, but anyone could see that they were there for Sun Hai.

Because Xia Hui was there, Sun Hai's family couldn't very well kick her out.

They could only let the three families in, and Sun Hai's mother even served them tea and water.

Xia Hui had also heard Sun Hai talk about his two uncles and one aunt.

But seeing that Sun Hai's family members were all inviting people to sit down, and that his grandparents seemed very happy that so many people had come to visit, it became clear that they were all happy to see them.

Xia Hui also helped to greet them and even took out some candies that she and Sun Hai had brought back.

When they saw the White Rabbit milk candy that Xia Hui took out, Uncle Sun Hai and the younger children from his aunt's family couldn't help but reach out and take it.

As a result, the children almost started fighting over it.

Grandpa Sun Hai still had a hint of displeasure on his face.

“What kind of behavior is this? Second son’s family, fourth son’s family, give the children some food. We have guests here. What kind of behavior is this? There’s no manners at all.”

Grandma Sun Hai was also clearly somewhat dissatisfied.

Then Sun Hai's second aunt, fourth aunt, and third aunt quickly distributed candy to the children.

This trip involved the entire families of all three households.

Sun Hai learned to cook outside and worked with Feng Zhengming for so many years.

Therefore, he never married Xia Hui.

However, the children of Sun Hai's two uncles and aunts, although younger than Sun Hai, all got married and had children at a young age.

Among them, Sun Hai's second uncle's family consists of a man and a woman. Today, the second uncle's son's family and his second uncle's granddaughter came together.

My aunt's family consists of two girls and one boy. The two families that came were the eldest daughter and the youngest son. The eldest daughter brought her children with her.

The most people came from my fourth uncle's house. My fourth uncle has two sons and a daughter. His eldest son had just gotten married and even brought his baby.

Fourth Uncle's unmarried daughter and youngest son also came along.

If Sun Hai's family hadn't rebuilt their house, the living room on the first floor of their new house would be big enough.

With so many people coming to his house, Sun Hai's home was really overflowing.

Grandpa and Grandma Sun Hai didn't dislike their great-grandchildren and great-grandsons.

However, over the years, Sun Hai's two uncles and aunts have rarely inquired about the two elderly people.

This left the two elderly people somewhat dissatisfied.

Especially since they specifically chose this time to come to our home, it's clearly not as simple as just wishing the two elders a Happy New Year.

During the conversation, none of the three families offered to take the two elderly people home for a while, which clearly shows that their trip was not for the sake of the elderly.

Finally, after some time, Uncle Sun Hai spoke first.

“Sun Hai, I heard that you’ve become quite famous now, working with that Scholar Feng, and that you’re also a very good cook.”

Sun Hai humbly said, "Fourth Uncle, I'm still learning. I can't be considered a master chef yet. Compared to Junior Uncle, I'm still far behind and have a lot to learn."

Then Uncle Si continued, "Sun Hai, look at your little brother. He graduated from junior high school, but his grades aren't very good. Your aunt and I discussed it and were thinking, could we let him learn a trade from you?"

Auntie Si quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, I'll help you out from now on, at least you'll have something to eat."

Once the fourth uncle spoke, the second uncle and the third aunt's families also expressed their intentions.

The second uncle's son wanted Sun Hai to see if he could arrange a job for him.
The aunt's request was that Sun Hai arrange a job for her eldest daughter at a restaurant, and that her youngest son learn to cook from Sun Hai.

The fact that the three families stated their intentions so directly surprised both Sun Hai and Xia Hui.

Grandpa Sun Hai couldn't help but speak up: "You are Haizi's elders, do you even have the demeanor of elders? Have you had a hard time all these years of Haizi's struggles outside? You uncles and aunts don't even offer to help."

Now that your child has achieved some success, you all come to ask them to arrange jobs for your own children. How can you even ask your own nephew for that?

Grandma chimed in, "What are you all doing? Did you come here specifically to pressure Xiaohai?"

Seeing that the two elderly people had gotten angry first, the three families quickly said that they were not there to pressure Sun Hai.

Sun Hai's third uncle said, "Mom and Dad, don't be angry. We're not here to pressure Xiao Hai. We're just asking for his help. He's capable now, so it's only right that he helps his younger siblings."

As soon as the third aunt's husband spoke, the second and fourth aunts also chimed in.

Sun Hai's parents are both honest people; otherwise, they wouldn't have been constantly suppressed by their younger siblings all these years.

At this time, although they feel angry, they don't know how to refute it.

Therefore, Sun Hai's parents were clearly very anxious.

Sun Hai and Xia Hui exchanged another glance.

Then he spoke up: "Uncle, aunt, uncle, and uncle-in-law, please listen to me first."

Everyone immediately fell silent, their eyes all fixed on Sun Hai.

"As I just said, I am still learning. I don't have the ability to open my own restaurant, nor am I the head chef of any restaurant. I'm just a small cook."

I've made money following my junior apprentice uncle these past few years because he takes good care of us kitchen chefs and pays us high wages.

So you're really giving me too much credit; I'm not capable of arranging any jobs for my younger siblings.

Before his fourth uncle could speak again, Sun Hai looked at his fourth uncle's house, at his younger brother who seemed to have ADHD.

"As for what my fourth uncle said about letting my younger brother learn to cook from me? I haven't even graduated myself yet, how could I possibly take on apprentices? If my fourth uncle really wants my younger brother to learn a skill, I suggest that he go to a vocational school, where he can really learn something."

Sun Hai's words immediately displeased the youngest son of the fourth uncle's family.

"Tch, what a load of rubbish. You said my dad was so skilled, but he hasn't even mastered the craft himself. I don't want to learn any skills from him."

I don't want to go to vocational school. I want to go to the south to work. I can earn money just the same way.

I'll definitely earn more money than him in the future, just you wait and see.

Upon hearing their youngest son's words, Uncle Sun Hai and Aunt Sun Hai's expressions immediately changed.

Sun Hai seized the opportunity to back down and went along with his boastful underling.

“I think you have a great idea, and I support you. The South is indeed developing very well now. You should be able to find a job there.”

There are 360 ​​professions, and every profession can produce an expert. As long as you are willing to work hard and endure hardship, I believe you can definitely succeed.

Sun Hai's words made the younger brother of his fourth uncle's family beam with joy.

Sun Hai's fourth uncle and the Four Gods looked ashen-faced. (End of Chapter)