From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

To show his appreciation and sincerity to the city of Shanghai, Feng Zhengming actually took some time to visit and look around the newly planned food street.

Since it was the weekend and his daughter didn't have to go to kindergarten, Feng Zhengming decided to take his wife, his second aunt, and their three children to the newly planned food street for a trip.

Driving all the way to the vicinity of the neighborhood, I have to admit that the area is indeed quite bustling.

It is located in a different place than Feng Zhengming's Old House Restaurant and other branches.

This is a more modern neighborhood.

The entire block is surrounded by a cluster of high-rise buildings.

Many more buildings are still under construction.

However, some shops in the food street area have already been planned in advance.

As you can see, there are quite a few shops along the roadside.

Some of these spaces already have businesses operating there, while others are currently vacant.

Because Feng Zhengming and his family arrived relatively early, there weren't many people here.

This made Feng Nuanyou very happy, as she could run more freely on the sidewalk.

"Dad, come quick, over here, over here."

Upon hearing his daughter's calls, Feng Zhengming quickly ran towards her.

I saw my daughter pointing to a shop on the side of the road.

Although the restaurant is not open yet, judging from its interior design, it is clearly a very stylish Western restaurant.

"Dad, are these things in here very expensive? They look so pretty."

Feng Zhengming looked in the direction his daughter was pointing.

I noticed some unique little trinkets displayed in the store.

For example, there are uniquely shaped mugs and decorations such as small dolls.

"Youyou wants those things. Let's walk around the mall here for a bit and see if we can find similar items, okay?"

Hearing her father say that, Feng Nuanyou immediately laughed happily: "Hehehe, okay, okay."

My second aunt and wife followed behind, pushing the two little ones in pushcarts.

Seeing her eldest daughter's happy expression, Luo Qing immediately guessed what had happened.

"Look at how happy you are. Did Dad promise to buy you something you want again?"

Feng Nuanyou smiled at her mother: "I won't tell Mom."

Luo Qing deliberately said, "Okay, if you don't tell Mom, then Mom won't let Dad buy it for you."

Feng Nuanyou immediately chickened out and ran to her mother's side, pulling her mother's hand to point out the small decorations in the shop.

The great-aunt also noticed what the little girl was pointing to: "Oh, this shop is decorated very nicely. The cups and little dolls are all very pretty."

Feng Nuanyou turned to her great-aunt and smiled, "Mom, look, even your great-aunt thinks it looks good."

Luo Qing reached out and gently pinched her daughter's cheek.

"Okay, Dad said if we see it, can we buy it for you?"

Feng Nuanyou: "Mom likes it too, right?"

When asked by her daughter, Luo Qing could only reply, "Yes, Mom likes it too. Let's see if there are any nearby? We can buy some and bring them home to put on display."

Feng Nuanyou was immediately overjoyed, and then she pushed the stroller with her mother.

Feng Zhengming and his group continued walking, looking at the various things around them.

Construction is still ongoing on one part, but overall it is complete.

Moreover, because it was newly built, the road surface appeared very clean and tidy.

After walking along the sidewalk for a while, I came to a place that looked like a small park.

It has very beautiful green plants inside, and there is also a fountain area.

Next to it are houses with a mix of modern and old-fashioned buildings.

Feng Zhengming looked around and said, "This should be the new, more upscale food street that the city told me about."

Luo Qing: "The environment here looks really nice. It feels like the overall surrounding environment is even better than the old villa restaurant area."

My second aunt agreed: "Yes, the overall environment does look better."

Feng Zhengming: "After all, this area is newly built, so it will appear cleaner and tidier. The area where the old villas are located is already considered a relatively old urban area, and the surrounding facilities may be renovated in the future."

Luo Qing: "I think so."

Feng Zhengming: "It's okay, the facilities there are still quite good, and it's not convenient to carry out large-scale repairs, since those old villas need to be preserved."

Second Aunt: "Preserving those old villas will make Shanghai more characteristic of its past."

Feng Zhengming: "The preservation of some of the buildings here adds a lot of character to this place."

Luo Qing: "There is a sense of time crossing here, as if one side is modern fashion and the other side is old-fashioned classicism."

Feng Zhengming: "That's exactly the feeling we want, to better attract people from overseas."

As they were strolling around, they suddenly saw several familiar figures walking towards them.

The most familiar figure in the crowd was naturally Jiang Chengzhe.

Surrounding Jiang Chengzhe were several business owners from the port city.

Upon seeing Feng Zhengming, they all came to greet him.

"I never expected to see Scholar Feng here."

"Does Scholar Feng also want to open a new store here?"

"I heard that Scholar Feng was even singled out by the city?"

"Does Scholar Feng have a shop he's interested in? I can invest in him to open a new store."

“I can also invest, and everything in the store will be handled by you, Mr. Feng. I will absolutely not participate in any operations, and you will hold the majority of the shares.”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present, including Jiang Chengzhe, turned their attention to the speaker.

The other business owners from the port city who came with him were looking at him with a strange expression.

Clearly, no one expected this; they had only come to say hello.

You're offering to invest in Feng Zhuangyuan right off the bat?
Then, ignoring the stares of others, the other person took out his business card and handed it to Feng Zhengming.

"Let me introduce myself, Mr. Feng. I'm from Gangcheng. This is my business card. My family runs a transportation business in Gangcheng, and we also have a lot of business with the ports in Shanghai."

Feng Zhengming looked at the business card: "Chen Jiarong".

After taking another look at the other party, he noticed their age and their earlier emphasis on their family's transportation business.

Feng Zhengming roughly understood why this boss from the port city was so direct.

Because he was young, the younger generation in the family, and it was clear that he was eager to expand into new markets in Shanghai.

It is clear that being born into a large family may not be a good thing.

It's also necessary to prove one's abilities to family members.

Feng Zhengming smiled and put the business card away: "I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, I didn't bring any business cards. As for the investment you mentioned, I don't really need any right now. I came here this time because the city hopes I can take the lead in opening a new store here."

Then Feng Zhengming continued speaking to the other business owners from the port city present.

"As you can see, the construction here is very good, but there are not enough shops. The city hopes that the food street here can be developed into a more high-end restaurant area."

I think everyone should be able to give it a try; the small investment in these shops shouldn't be a big deal for you.

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, the other business owners from Gangcheng present also laughed.

They all said that the investment here was really nothing to them.

Furthermore, some business owners have already indicated that they have invested in other projects in this neighborhood.

There are also other bosses who, like Chen Jiarong, hope to cooperate with Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming declined all offers, stating that he did not need to invest.

He even told these Hong Kong business owners that his restaurant was just a small business and that it really didn't need their money to invest.

Seeing that Feng Zhengming was so determined, the business owners in Gangcheng did not press him further.

Chen Jiarong still expressed his hope for cooperation and said he hoped to arrange a private meeting with Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming did not refuse: "If Mr. Chen has time, you are welcome to visit my restaurant. I will treat you very well."

Chen Jiarong smiled and nodded: "Okay, I will definitely patronize Feng Zhuangyuan's restaurant."

Other business owners in the port city also said that they had heard of Feng Zhengming's old house restaurant before and planned to visit it this time.

Feng Zhengming welcomed everyone and invited them to sit down at the restaurant.

After saying goodbye to the group of bosses in Gangcheng, Feng Zhengming went over to meet up with his second aunt, wife, and children.

Just as they were about to continue shopping, Jiang Chengzhe unexpectedly caught up with them.

Feng Zhengming looked at Jiang Chengzhe, who had caught up with them: "Don't you need to stay with them?"

Jiang Chengzhe looked helpless: "I didn't come with them. I ran into them by chance here. I had made an appointment with them..."

Before Jiang Chengzhe could finish speaking, Liu Fangyou ran over, her face flushed.

Luo Qing smiled broadly: "So it was a plan between the two of you?"

Liu Fangyou was still panting, and Jiang Chengzhe helped answer.

"Yes, we had arranged to come and take a look. I arrived here first and then ran into those people. They pulled me aside and chatted with me for a while."

Feng Zhengming: "They also want you to open a new store here?"

Jiang Chengzhe: "I can't come. I only have so many people in my shop, and for now, I'll basically have to rely on myself. I can't just abandon the shop there and open a new one here."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "If you need, I can lend you some people."

Jiang Chengzhe was taken aback, then shook his head: "No, I don't want to lend people. I'm already exhausted from running a shop."

Liu Fangyou finally calmed down and quickly spoke up: "He's busy enough with his shop every day, he doesn't have much time to look for me, most of his time is spent in the shop."

Luo Qing: "Did you hear that? You need to spend more time with Fang You."

Jiang Chengzhe replied, "Sister Qing, I understand, I understand."

Seeing Jiang Chengzhe's expression made everyone burst into laughter.

Feng Nuanyou peeked out and greeted Liu Fangyou with a smile.

"Hello, Sister Fangyou."

Then the little girl turned to Jiang Chengzhe and said, "Hello, Uncle."

Jiang Chengzhe: "Why do you call her 'sister' and me 'uncle'? She even calls your mother 'god-sister,' how can you call her 'sister'? Shouldn't you call her 'aunt'?"

Feng Nuanyou made a face at Jiang Chengzhe after hearing this.

"You should call me 'older sister'."

Liu Fangyou smiled and pulled Feng Nuanyou over: "We both have the character 'You' in our names, so we are both carefree little girls, and therefore we are sisters."

Jiang Chengzhe was speechless after Liu Fangyou's lecture.

Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing looked at each other and laughed.

Feng Suying, standing to the side, couldn't help but laugh.

"That's fine, you can each do your own thing."

Jiang Chengzhe was utterly helpless: "Fine, call me whatever you want."

In the following time, Luo Qing, Liu Fangyou, and their second aunt Feng Suying took the children out to stroll and play.

Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe followed side by side and began to talk about the situation of the food street.

"What do you think of the situation here?" Feng Zhengming asked first.

Jiang Chengzhe looked around: "The environment must be excellent, and it's obvious that some shopping malls or similar centers are going to be built here, right? It seems like a great place to open a more upscale restaurant."

Feng Zhengming: "There are quite a few places here. If it can be developed into a large-scale operation, it will make business here very easy."

Jiang Chengzhe was taken aback by these words. After thinking about it carefully, he said, "It's true. If this place becomes a large-scale business, it will be very successful and will attract many people to come here specifically to eat."

Feng Zhengming: "This is the effect of a food street, just like Zhapu Road back then, which naturally attracts people to go there."

Jiang Chengzhe: I've heard about that place too. It's really a pity.

Feng Zhengming: "It's a pity, but it's also unavoidable. After all, Shanghai is a very big city with too many places to develop. Nobody knows where the next big opportunity will be."

Jiang Chengzhe: "Brother-in-law, what do you think of this side?"

Feng Zhengming: "Do we even need to ask? Didn't I just say that as long as a lot of shops open here, it will naturally attract people to gather here, because there is shopping, entertainment, and various restaurants here."

"Now that you mention it, I'm actually a little tempted." A glint of light appeared in Jiang Chengzhe's eyes.

Feng Zhengming: "You should focus on running your current store well. How long has your store been open? It hasn't even been a year yet. Why are you opening a new store here?"

Jiang Chengzhe chuckled and said, "I was just saying it casually. I really can't possibly come here to open a new store."

Then Feng Zhengming told Jiang Chengzhe some things that he had said to his aunt and wife at home.

After listening, Jiang Chengzhe nodded.

“You really need to create something different, otherwise if you open a new store here, it will seem unoriginal and may even affect the business of your other stores.”

Feng Zhengming: "Of course I won't let the new store here affect my other stores."

Jiang Chengzhe: "So this time, you're going to be even bolder?"

Feng Zhengming smiled slightly: "Indeed, we are planning to be a bit bolder and try some more fashionable dishes to broaden the horizons of the local restaurants and diners."

Hearing this, Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but laugh.

"You've broadened my horizons, and suddenly I'm really looking forward to it."

Feng Zhengming: "This place is full of fashion elements, and it is obvious that it is going to go international, so we should also go international a little bit."

Jiang Chengzhe: "If you need any help, just let me know, and I will do my best to help."

Feng Zhengming gently patted Jiang Chengzhe on the shoulder with a smile: "You just focus on running your shop well. As for the new shop here, you just need to watch how I have a good time with everyone." (End of Chapter)