From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The meeting at Sun Hai's house ended somewhat unhappily.

Xia Hui did not speak.

Despite facing his family alone, Sun Hai remained resolute and showed no intention of backing down.

When the three families of two uncles and one aunt left.

Aside from Sun Hai's fourth uncle's somewhat unreliable cousin, everyone else left with resentment towards Sun Hai.

Even after they all left, Grandpa Sun Hai was still heartbroken, feeling that he had made a fool of himself in front of Xia Hui.

"How shameful! They have no manners at all as elders, coming to ask their own juniors for things. They have no shame whatsoever. It's disgraceful."

Grandma Sun Hai and her parents tried to persuade her.

Xia Hui also offered a few words of advice.

"Grandpa, don't be angry. Actually, my family has had similar experiences. My uncles and aunts used to come to my house often asking me for this or that."

For example, when my dad took over the family restaurant, my uncle and aunt were not convinced and often had arguments with him.

Later, my grandfather told them to go out and start their own businesses, but their restaurants didn't do well, and they even came to our house to cause trouble.

Hearing Xia Hui say this calmed Grandpa Sun Hai down a bit.

"My dear daughter, I'm sorry you had to see this."

Xia Hui: "No, Grandpa, don't worry about it. Just like Sun Hai said, everything we have now was given to us by our master. We can't just let anyone work in our master's shop without his permission."

My master is a strict person, but he is very easy to talk to in other matters.

However, when it comes to matters in the kitchen, the master is always firm and will never allow anyone who tries to slack off to enter.

Grandpa: "That's right, otherwise how could your master be the national culinary champion?"

Grandma: "Yes, yes, I saw on the news that your master's restaurant is one of the top ten restaurants in the world. Such an amazing restaurant must have very strict requirements."

Sun Hai then spoke up: "Grandpa, Grandma, Mom and Dad, next time they come, it's fine to visit relatives, but if they ask you for help finding a job or arranging for their child to work in the kitchen, just ignore them."

Sun Hai's father said, "After all, they are your uncle and aunt. If you can help them, you should still lend a hand."

Upon hearing this, the mother immediately became displeased: "What help are you talking about? Have they even thought about helping Xiaohai? They've been avoiding our family all these years, and they don't even care about my parents."

Now that Xiaohai is doing well at work, he's sticking up posters at every house he goes to. Why should we help them?

Clearly, Sun Hai's mother still harbored resentment towards his uncle and aunt's families.

Sun Hai's grandparents looked at each other and could only sigh.

Sun Hai's father couldn't help but say, "What kind of talk is that? They are my younger brother and sister after all. As their older brother, I have to consider family ties."

Sun Hai's mother disagreed: "Only you consider yourself the eldest brother. Do they treat you like the eldest brother?"

Sun Hai finally spoke again, stopping his mother from continuing.

After all, her mother's words were filled with heavy emotions.

If Mom continues talking, Grandpa and Grandma might get a little embarrassed.

"Mom, don't say anymore. I know how to handle this. Just like Xia Hui said, we are now following Junior Uncle. We can't make decisions on our own. Junior Uncle has very strict requirements for the kitchen."

If they knew we randomly hired people for the kitchen, and that the relatives we assigned didn't work properly because of our relationship with them.

That junior master might get angry, and might even expel both of us.

Sun Hai's words startled his family.

Father: "Is it that serious?"

Xia Hui glanced at Sun Hai, but remained silent.

Sun Hai said with a serious expression: "Of course it's serious. My junior uncle fired the entire shop before. He can't tolerate any nonsense when it comes to things in the kitchen."

Seeing Sun Hai's serious expression.

Hearing what he said made his grandparents and parents realize how strict Feng Zhengming was.

The three families who left Sun Hai's house all felt a pang of sadness on their way back.

For some people, the last thing they want to see is others living better lives than them.

Sun Hai's uncles and aunts and their families are like that.

In the past, Sun Hai's family was not well-off, and for many years his uncles and aunts would not visit.

Even during holidays, when they would come back from the county town, it would only be to visit Grandpa and Grandma Sun Hai.

Even when they met Sun Hai's father, they didn't call him "elder brother" for many years.

Now we can see the changes Sun Hai has brought to his family; they've built a two-story house.

How could he not be jealous of his uncles and aunts' families?

They came to Sun Hai's house today not because they knew in advance that Sun Hai was coming back.

Their original intention in coming here was to take the opportunity of visiting Sun Hai's grandparents to test the waters with Sun Hai's parents.

In particular, they knew that Sun Hai's father always liked to act like the eldest brother.

So the three families had discussed it beforehand, and upon arrival, they took the initiative to fawn over Sun Hai's father.

Then everyone would have a drink together at noon, and maybe Sun Hai's father would get drunk and readily agree to their requests.

The three families never expected that their arrival today would coincide with Sun Hai returning home.

Seeing the car Sun Hai drove back, and then looking at Sun Hai's two-story house.

And then there's Xia Hui, who came back with Sun Hai—beautiful and poised.

It truly ignited a burning flame of jealousy in the hearts of the three families.

But they still put on a smiling face, hoping to get Sun Hai's help.

They were surprised to find that even though they thought they had already humbled themselves enough, Sun Hai still resolutely refused to help.

This really broke down the defenses of all three families.

If Xia Hui hadn't been there, the three families might have actually turned on each other right then and there.

On their way back, the three families are getting angrier and angrier.

I don't understand, how did Sun Hai manage to turn things around?

It was clear that Sun Hai's family was the worst among his siblings.

Sun Hai's father was also an honest and unskilled man.

Just like back then, when the village was promoting the idea that only one child was left, that was good.

Sun Hai's father also didn't dare to have a second child.

Although this is also related to the fact that Sun Hai is a boy, don't Sun Hai's uncles and aunts also have quite a few children?
Back then, those families often laughed at Sun Hai's father behind his back, saying he was too timid and had no ambition.

In the past, Sun Hai was considered a rather dull boy by his uncles and aunts. But it was this dull boy in their eyes...

Now he's become a very famous chef in the province.

Moreover, Sun Hai was able to go to Shanghai to work as a head chef and even had the opportunity to participate in state banquets.

What was even more unacceptable to my uncle and aunt's families was...

Sun Hai, such a dull-witted boy, actually managed to earn enough money to build a two-story house for his family, buy a car, and even find such a beautiful wife to bring home.

These buildings and these items—how could they possibly make Uncle Sun Hai and his aunt's three families uncomfortable?

Despite feeling uncomfortable, the three families were helpless against Sun Hai's family.

The key point is that Sun Hai only goes home for a few days a year.

Even if they wanted to cause trouble for Sun Hai, what could they do if he wasn't home?
Should we go to Jinan to cause him trouble?
The three families admitted that they did not have that ability.

After much deliberation, the three families parted ways when they reached the village entrance.

On the way back, Sun Hai's fourth uncle's younger cousin was still very excited.

“Mom and Dad, I think Sun Hai is a pretty good person. He has seen a lot in the outside world. He is right. I should go to the South and try my luck. If Sun Hai can be a head chef in Shanghai, why can't I make a name for myself in the South?”

Hearing his son's words, Uncle Sun Hai felt dizzy and wanted to slap his son.

Aunt Si could only sigh: "Are you stupid? You really think Sun Hai is doing this for your own good? He's deliberately encouraging you to do something foolish."

The son was indignant at his mother's words: "How is that encouraging me to do something stupid? Mom, you should trust your son's abilities."

The second daughter of the fourth uncle's family was also a little helpless when she saw her brother's appearance.

"You think it's that easy to go south and make your way in the world? Don't you think that Sun Hai was able to go to Shanghai? Was it his own ability? It's because he had a good teacher, and his junior uncle was the national culinary champion."

"It's because of those connections that they took him to Shanghai. Otherwise, do you think Sun Hai would have the ability to do anything in Shanghai?"

Upon hearing his sister's words, the younger brother immediately said, "That's right, Sun Hai is incompetent. Sister, your brother is capable. Just you wait and see, I will definitely do better than Sun Hai."

Seeing her brother's expression, the older sister was speechless.

The eldest son and daughter-in-law of the fourth uncle's family looked at each other, and the daughter-in-law gave a wink but didn't say anything.

Then the eldest son spoke up: "Mom and Dad, I think we shouldn't make things too tense with Sun Hai. I heard he's back in Jinan now, at Huiquan Tower."

My wife and I also want to go to Jinan. If we can get Sun Hai to help us out, at least he can arrange some work for us.

Hearing their eldest son's words, Sun Hai's fourth uncle and aunt exchanged a glance.

Aunt Si asked, "Are you two going to Jinan again?"

Eldest son: "Mom, everyone's leaving for other places these days. What kind of development can our small county town possibly have?"

The fourth uncle still supported his eldest son's idea.

“Go ahead, there’s nothing wrong with getting out of here. If all else fails, your mother and I will go look for Sun Hai again. Our whole family will go to Jinan and ask him for help.”

Upon hearing his father's words, the eldest son quickly advised, "Dad, you are the elder, how can you ask him for help? Let's go to Jinan first. After all, we are of the same generation. If we ask him for help, he might be willing to help us."

At this moment, the daughter chimed in, "Mom and Dad, I'm going with my brother and sister-in-law too."

The younger son was rather dismissive of his older siblings' choices.

"Do you all really like asking Sun Hai for help? What's so special about him? Didn't you just say, sister? He relies on his master and junior uncle. What's the point of asking him for help?"

The older brother didn't tolerate his younger brother's behavior: "Shut up! If you hadn't been talking nonsense today, things wouldn't have turned out like this."

Sun Hai's fourth uncle's youngest son is not afraid of his parents, but he is very afraid of his older brother.

So when he heard his older brother speak, he immediately shut up and dared not say another word.

The fourth uncle and fourth aunt exchanged another glance, and finally could only agree to let their eldest son, eldest daughter-in-law and second daughter go to Jinan to try their luck after the New Year.

They just didn't notice that when the eldest son and daughter-in-law looked at each other, a hint of joy was clearly visible in their eyes.

Clearly, the eldest son and his wife had already made their own plans.

A similar story unfolded in the homes of Sun Hai's second uncle and third aunt.

Both families also have younger members who want to seek development opportunities in Jinan.

Neither Sun Hai's second uncle nor his third aunt stopped him.

This might be true for Sun Hai's uncle, aunt, and their families.

They didn't achieve their goal today, but that doesn't mean they can't achieve it in the future.

If we send the younger generation directly to Sun Hai, there might still be a chance of success.

However, their resentment towards Sun Hai did not diminish in the slightest.

They even secretly planned that when their own children got into business, they would definitely show off in front of Sun Hai.

Sun Hai didn't dwell on what his uncle, aunt, and their families thought of him.

He returned home and cooked with Xia Hui, preparing many delicious dishes for his parents and grandparents.

The family still happily gathered together for a reunion dinner.

Even without his uncle, aunt, and their families present, Sun Hai felt the atmosphere at home was still very good.

After having a few drinks, Sun Hai shared some ideas with his parents and grandparents.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Mom and Dad, Xia Hui and I will probably be in charge of Huiquanlou in Quancheng. After we get married, we will probably spend most of our time in Quancheng. We would like to ask you if you would like to come and live with us in Quancheng?"

Xia Hui also spoke up: "Yes, maybe after we get married, Junior Uncle will let us take charge of Huiquan Tower together."

Hearing Sun Hai and Xia Hui say this surprised their grandparents and parents.

The mother quickly smiled and said, "Great! After you get married, you can work together at Huiquanlou in Jinan. That way, you can look out for each other. And when you have children, I'll come over and help you take care of them."

Sun Hai's father didn't have many ideas about going to Jinan; instead, he looked at Sun Hai's grandparents.

Clearly, the father's meaning was obvious: if his grandparents wanted to go, he would go with them so he could take care of them.

If his grandparents don't go, he will definitely stay in the village to take care of them.

After a moment of contemplation, Grandpa spoke up: "Xiaohai, Grandpa knows you are filial, but Grandpa and Grandma are getting old and don't really want to leave the village."

Grandma: "Yes, we've lived in the village most of our lives. Now that we've moved to the city, we don't know where to go."

Xia Hui: "Grandma, you and Grandpa can go wherever you want, and we can take care of you."

Sun Hai: "Grandpa, Grandma, don't you want to see your great-grandson born?"

Xia Hui nodded: "Yes, Grandpa and Grandma, you can also help us take care of the children."

Sun Hai's mother said, "We can listen to Sun Hai about this. We'll all move to the city and help take care of the children so that Xiao Hai and Xiao Hui can focus on their work."

After some persuasion, Sun Hai's grandparents thought about it for a while and tentatively agreed to wait until a child could help. (End of Chapter)