From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After her mother-in-law and second aunt finished eating, she reached out to take the two babies from Feng Zhengming's arms so that he could eat too.

As a result, the two little ones stood on their father's lap, seemingly finding it amusing, and didn't want to be carried back by their maternal and paternal grandmothers.

Auntie laughed and said, "See? She still prefers her dad, so she won't let us hug her."

The mother-in-law laughed along, "Zhengming is just very popular with children. Youyou and these two little ones are the same. When he goes to kindergarten and school, the children there like him too."

Feng Nuanyou ate some chili peppers at this moment, and her mouth was sore from the spiciness. She sat there drinking water, but it didn't help.

"Ouch, Daddy, my mouth hurts so much."

Feng Zhengming quickly turned to look at his eldest daughter.

Luo Qing was both amused and exasperated: "I told you the chili peppers were quite spicy, but you still insisted on trying them. Now look what happened."

Feng Zhengming quickly gestured to a waiter in the shop: "Do you have coconut juice? Could you give us a few bottles?"

The waiter immediately replied, "Okay, okay, please wait a moment."

As the waiter agreed, he couldn't help but take a few careful glances at Feng Zhengming.

I feel like Feng Zhengming looks very familiar.

For a moment, the waiter couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

Some distracted waiters bumped into another waiter.

"Hey, what are you doing? Watch where you're going! What if you bump into a customer?"

The waiter, startled by the bump, suddenly remembered who the familiar-looking person was.

"Hurry up and take those cans of coconut juice over to that table."

Another waiter looked at him strangely: "Why don't you serve it to them yourself?"

The waiter hurried to the kitchen: "Go quickly, I have something to do."

Soon, the waiter walked to the door of the kitchen and called out to Yu Fuxiang, who then came out.

Yu Fuxiang looked at the waiter with a strange expression: "What's wrong now? I told you to start as a waiter properly. Let me tell you, your mother begged me many times before I agreed to let you come here."

The waiter said excitedly, "Uncle, I, I want to tell you, outside, I saw that Scholar Feng outside."

Yu Fuxiang looked at his nephew: "Are you seeing things, kid?"

Waiter: "Uncle, you're absolutely not seeing things. It really is your Scholar Feng! You, you should go and see for yourself!"

Yu Fuxiang quickly turned around and went back into the kitchen, where he gave a few instructions to his apprentices.

He came out of the kitchen again and followed his nephew into the front dining room.

Before Yu Fuxiang even reached the table, he recognized Feng Zhengming, who was comforting his daughter.

"Scholar Feng, you've arrived! Why didn't you tell me?"

Feng Zhengming turned to look at Yu Fuxiang, and stood up with a smile: "Master Yu, why are you being so polite with me? We're just passing through here and stopped by your shop for a visit."

Before Yu Fuxiang could speak, Feng Zhengming added affirmation: "Chef Yu, your cooking skills are excellent. These dishes are fantastic."

Yu Fuxiang: "Scholar Feng, you're too kind. My skills are only good enough for making local dishes; they can't compare to yours."

Feng Zhengming: "Master Yu, please don't say that. Whether it's age or cooking experience, I still have a lot to learn from you."

Yu Fuxiang: "I dare not accept such praise. Scholar Feng, would you like to go and take a look at the kitchen?"

Feng Zhengming shook his head: "I don't need to look after the kitchen. With Chef Yu here, I can rest assured."

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Yu Fuxiang's face.

Yu Fuxiang still felt very pleased to have gained Feng Zhengming's trust and affirmation.

Feng Zhengming then lowered his voice and reminded him, "Master Yu, are you still personally cooking all the dishes in the kitchen? I think now that the apprentices have grown up, they should be the ones doing the cooking."

After hearing this, Yu Fuxiang sighed: "I'm worried that they won't do a good job and will ruin the reputation of your shop, Feng Zhuangyuan."

Feng Zhengming chuckled: "How could that be? We need to let our apprentices do the work so that we can better correct them when problems arise. If you protect them like this, Master Yu, how can they grow?"

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Yu Fuxiang thought about it and realized that it made perfect sense.

Apprentices always need to experience some setbacks in order to grow better.

Yu Fuxiang also understood that he would have to step down sooner or later, and couldn't stay in front of the stove forever.

When he retires completely, it will be his apprentices who will continue to support this branch.

Rather than having his apprentices run into problems and be fired by Feng Zhengming, and then having to find someone else to take charge of the branch, it would be better to find someone else to manage the business.

Yu Fuxiang felt that it was indeed better for him to let go sooner and allow his apprentices to practice their skills more.

“Your foresight is truly remarkable, Scholar Feng. I was overly concerned about whether they could handle it. From now on, I will have them do more work and practice more.”

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "That's more like it. Master Yu, you should let your apprentices take over from now on."

After thinking about it, Yu Fuxiang still hoped that Feng Zhengming would go into the kitchen to take a look.

He also wanted Feng Zhengming to take a look and see if his apprentices could satisfy Feng Zhengming.
Feng Zhengming still refused to go into the kitchen.

“Master Yu, I trust you. I trust your character, your skills, and the way you teach your apprentices. So I really don’t need to go and see. I’m at ease leaving this branch in your hands.”

This trust truly moved Yu Fuxiang.

Yu Fuxiang is 62 years old this year and has been a chef for more than 40 years.

In the years before, Yu Fuxiang had never met a boss like Feng Zhengming who knew how to recognize and appoint talent.

In fact, Yu Fuxiang had a bad temper in the past and had fallen out with several bosses.

Now that Yu Fuxiang is older, his temper has improved a lot.

But he never expected to meet a boss like Feng Zhengming who trusted him so much.

Moreover, the business at this store in Hongcheng is indeed getting better and better.

Yu Fuxiang also felt that Feng Zhengming's branch store model, which allows for more local specialty dishes in the branches, is indeed a very good way to run a business.

At this moment, Yu Fuxiang had already decided that he had chosen Feng Zhengming.

He also believes that his skills can be well passed down in this shop in Hongcheng in the future.

Feng Nuanyou peeked her little head out from behind her father.

She looked at Yu Fuxiang and suddenly spoke.

"Grandpa, could you please stop putting chili peppers in your cooking from now on?"

Upon hearing the little girl's words, Yu Fuxiang was taken aback.

Then he chuckled and squatted down to apologize to Feng Nuanyou.

"I'm so sorry, Grandpa didn't know you were here. When Grandpa cooked, he probably put in too much chili according to our local taste. Is it too spicy?"

As he spoke, Yu Fuxiang turned to his nephew and shouted, "What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and go outside to buy some rice candy to relieve the spiciness for the child."

Upon hearing Yu Fuxiang's words, the nephew quickly ran out of the house and bought rice candy from the street.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Master Yu, you're too kind."

Yu Fuxiang broke open the rice candy he had bought and fed it to Feng Nuanyou with a smile.

"Come on, try some, have a little bit of this. It's sweet, it can help relieve the spiciness." Feng Nuanyou was quite obedient, opening her mouth to take a bite of the rice candy that Yu Fuxiang fed her.

"Hehehe, it's so sweet, thank you Grandpa."

Yu Fuxiang was very pleased: "Scholar Feng, your daughter is such a good child."

Then Yu Fuxiang saw two more children.

"Oh? Scholar Feng brought two little ones with him this time? They're both very well-behaved children."

Feng Zhengming: "Mainly because it's summer vacation now, I felt it wasn't good to keep the children cooped up at home, so I simply brought them all along this time. It's also been hard on my mother-in-law and aunt to accompany them."

Yu Fuxiang then greeted Feng Zhengming's mother-in-law and aunt.

"Haha, you two must be very happy to help take care of your grandchildren and grandchildren, right?"

The mother-in-law and the second aunt exchanged a glance.

"Absolutely, I'm really happy to be able to take care of their children."

"Now that I've grown attached to my child, I feel uncomfortable if I can't be by his side."

Yu Fuxiang chuckled: "That's right. Whoever takes care of the child will be closer to them when they grow up."

Second Aunt: "That's true. Besides her parents, Youyou is closest to us."

Feng Nuanyou: "Hehehe, I like my great-aunt and maternal grandmother."

Looking at Feng Zhengming's large family, Yu Fuxiang felt somewhat envious.

Yu Fuxiang's relationship with his son was not very good in his early years.

So he has been living alone since he retired.

On the contrary, his older sister and her nephew would visit him from time to time.

However, during this period, he was invited back to take charge of Feng Zhengming's branch in Hongcheng, and Feng Zhengming's reputation was growing nationwide.

Yu Fuxiang's son and daughter-in-law also visit him frequently.

However, Yu Fuxiang knew very well that his son and daughter-in-law's sudden visit was actually because they coveted this branch store.

Several times when his son and daughter-in-law visited him, they subtly inquired whether he owned any shares in the store.

Yu Fuxiang was truly disappointed in his son and daughter-in-law.

So he told his son and daughter-in-law that he did not have any shares.

He was an old chef who worked for Feng Zhengming.

During this period, his son and daughter-in-law visited him less often.

However, Yu Fuxiang's sister's nephew came to the shop and insisted on staying to learn the craft.

After much deliberation, Yu Fuxiang decided to have his nephew start as a waiter.

This can also be seen as a way to train my nephew and observe what kind of character he truly has.
Judging from the current situation, my nephew is indeed a person of good character.

Therefore, Yu Fuxiang also planned to let his nephew work in the kitchen.

Yu Fuxiang's nephew, who works as a waiter, is named Li Qingyuan.

After meeting Feng Zhengming, he longed to learn cooking from him.
However, he was too embarrassed to ask, and also too embarrassed to let his uncle ask.

Li Qingyuan knew that his uncle was a rather strict person and was not willing to ask others for favors easily.

After some hesitation and internal struggle, Li Qingyuan finally found an opportunity to speak up.

Yu Fuxiang heard his nephew ask directly if he could learn to cook from Feng Zhengming.
He quickly scolded, "What are you asking here? You haven't even mastered the basics, you still make mistakes when serving dishes, and you want to learn cooking from Master Feng? What makes you think you can?"

Li Qingyuan wasn't angry at being scolded by his uncle.

Instead, he grinned and said, "Uncle, I know you've always looked down on me. I was a bad student before, unlike my older cousin who was honest. But now I really want to learn how to cook."

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked, "Have you ever studied cooking? What are the basic skills?"

When Li Qingyuan heard Feng Zhengming ask this question, he quickly replied, "I have studied it. I went to a vocational school and studied cooking."

Feng Zhengming: "In this way, if your uncle and your parents are willing, I can give you a chance. You can go to Jinan, Shandong, to take the assessment of my old shop. If you can pass the assessment, you can go to the old shop to learn cooking."

Li Qingyuan was stunned after hearing this.

Yu Fuxiang quickly apologized to Feng Zhengming.

“Scholar Feng, you don’t need to do this. Let him stay by my side. I can rest assured then. I’m worried that if he goes to your place, he will cause you trouble.”

Feng Zhengming: "Master Yu, I believe in you, and I also believe that your nephew really wants to learn well."

Since he wants to learn well, we should give him a chance. Besides, I think it wouldn't be a bad thing to let him go to a different place and start learning properly from scratch.

Upon hearing Feng Zhengming's words, Yu Fuxiang was stunned and looked at his nephew, speechless.

Li Qingyuan came to his senses: "Okay, I'm willing to go. I will definitely study hard for Scholar Feng."

Feng Zhengming: "You don't need to make any promises to me. You should thank your uncle. Also, as I said, it needs your parents' consent."

Li Qingyuan: "Then I'll go home and ask my parents."

Feng Zhengming: "Remember, going there is not like being in your hometown. The assessments and learning there are very strict. You have to start from the basics. If you fail the assessment, you will have to come back."

Li Qingyuan: "I will definitely study hard."

Yu Fuxiang looked at his nephew, and he finally nodded.

"Thank you so much, Scholar Feng. I will talk to his parents nicely and tell him to study cooking diligently when he gets there, and not to cause any trouble."

Feng Zhengming: "Hahaha, once he gets there, he probably won't have the time or energy to cause trouble."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingyuan couldn't help but ask a question.

"Is learning to cook at Feng Zhuangyuan's place really that tough?"

Feng Zhengming: "But if you can really learn it, you will become a great chef, and your skills may even surpass your uncle's."

Li Qingyuan's face lit up with joy: "Great, great, I must surpass my uncle."

Yu Fuxiang laughed: "You silly boy, what does it matter if you surpass me? Your uncle has only ever been a small-time chef in the Jianghu (江湖, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry). You should learn from Scholar Feng and become a capable head chef in the future."

Li Qingyuan stopped smiling and looked at his uncle seriously.

"Uncle, don't worry, I won't embarrass you."

Yu Fuxiang reached out and patted his nephew: "Alright, hurry up and get to work properly, don't even think about slacking off here."

Li Qingyuan smiled and turned to go to work quickly.

Feng Zhengming looked at Li Qingyuan and said, "Master Yu, I trust my judgment. Your nephew is probably right. What a man needs most is to turn over a new leaf. As long as he is really willing to work hard, he will succeed."

Yu Fuxiang sincerely expressed his gratitude to Feng Zhengming.

"Thank you, Scholar Feng. If it weren't for you, my nephew might really have had a hard time turning over a new leaf."

Feng Zhengming: "Haha, Master Yu, there's no need for formalities between us. So you should also remember to let your apprentices do more hands-on work and practice more in the future."

Yu Fuxiang smiled and nodded in agreement, "Okay, I understand." (End of Chapter)