From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After Feng Zhengming and his group settled into the hotel, it was already afternoon, so they decided to take a stroll around the area near the hotel, led by Wang Hanwen and Chu Huijuan.

On the streets of Chengdu, you can see all kinds of hot pot restaurants everywhere.

Many street foods are also quite unique.

To welcome Feng Zhengming and his group, Chu Huijuan even bought two strollers.

So while shopping, Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing each pushed their two little ones in a stroller.

This also makes things easier for the child's maternal grandmother and great-aunt.

Walking down the street, both Feng Nuanyou and the two babies in their strollers were full of curiosity about everything around them.

We strolled around, looked at things, and played games along the way, and time flew by.

As evening approached, Wang Hanwen and Chu Huijuan originally intended to invite Feng Zhengming and the others to dinner at a large restaurant.

However, Feng Zhengming said, "There's no need to go to any fancy restaurants. I think the small eateries on the street are just fine."

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, Wang Hanwen and Chu Huijuan exchanged a smile.

Feng Nuanyou also imitated her father: "It's great, it's great."

Luo Qing smiled and gently patted her daughter's head.

"Why did you start learning this too?"

Feng Nuanyou: "Hehehe, this is so interesting!"

After discussing it with Chu Huijuan, Wang Hanwen led Feng Zhengming and the others to a small restaurant.

This small restaurant was opened by one of Wang Hanwen's master's nephews.

Although the store isn't very big, it has a strong local, down-to-earth atmosphere because it's close to a residential area.

Wang Hanwen greeted the owner as soon as he entered the store.

When the boss heard from Wang Hanwen that it was actually Scholar Feng who had arrived, he quickly came out to greet him.

"Oh my, it really is Scholar Feng? You, you actually came to our side."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Hello, hello. I came here to support the opening of Hanwen's new store, and also to bring my family here to have some fun."

The owner chuckled, "Welcome, welcome! Chengdu has so many delicious foods and fun things to do."

At this point, the boss saw the child and asked, "Did you go see the giant pandas?"

Feng Nuanyou's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this: "Giant pandas? Where? Where?"

Feng Zhengming, holding his daughter's hand, said, "We haven't gone yet. We're planning to take the kids to see it tomorrow."

Boss: "Yes, we must go see it. The kids all really love it."

Feng Nuanyou exclaimed happily, "Let's go see the giant pandas!"

Feng Zhengming then said to the boss, "Thank you for your hard work tonight. Please bring some of your local specialties, and please use less chili, as we can't handle spicy food very well."

The boss smiled and said, "No problem, Scholar Feng, please come in and have a seat. I'll go and prepare it for you right away."

Feng Zhengming and his group entered and found a small, not very spacious, private room to sit down.

Chu Huijuan entered the private room and helped tidy up, wanting to carefully check the tables, chairs, and benches.

Luo Qing smiled and said, "It's okay. It's normal for the tables and chairs in this kind of restaurant to have some oil stains. It just means the business here is booming."

Chu Huijuan: "Sister Qing, I'm so sorry, the environment here might be a little lacking."

Feng Zhengming: "It doesn't matter if the environment is bad, the main thing is that the food has to be delicious. This small restaurant is obviously converted from a residential building, so the environment is fine. It is in this kind of environment that there are more surprises."

Wang Hanwen followed his master's nephew, Zeng Youfu, who was also the owner and head chef of the restaurant, into the kitchen.

After Zeng Youfu entered the kitchen, he peeked into the private room where Feng Zhengming and his group were.

"Hanwen, you're really something! You actually managed to invite Scholar Feng here."

Wang Hanwen: "The head chef received my call and immediately said he would come over."

Zeng Youfu: "Impressive, Hanwen. It seems we underestimated you before. You've been in Shanghai for a few years and you've really developed a very good relationship with Scholar Feng."

Wang Hanwen: "Brother, my relationship with the head chef isn't that great, but I do respect him a lot. I've learned a lot from him."

Zeng Youfu laughed: "If we're not on good terms, why would they come all this way with their family to support you?"

Wang Hanwen smiled sheepishly.

He was genuinely delighted that Feng Zhengming and his entire family had come together.

He felt extremely grateful to Feng Zhengming.

Wang Hanwen could sense from Zeng Youfu's current attitude that the people from his hometown would change their attitude towards him because of Feng Zhengming's appearance.

Wang Hanwen reminded Zeng Youfu, "Brother, don't put too much spice in. The head chef and the others are from Shandong and can't handle spicy food very well, so remember to go easy on them."

Zeng Youfu: "I know."

Then Zeng Youfu lowered his voice and said, "To be honest, I'm quite nervous. He's the national culinary champion. Even my uncle lost to him back then."

There are differences between Zeng Youfu and Wang Hanwen's fellow apprentices.

After all, he is Wang Hanwen's nephew and is closer to Wang Hanwen.

Therefore, I was able to get more details about the national cooking competition from my uncle.

The more details they knew about those years, the less likely they were to underestimate Feng Zhengming, and the less likely they were to harbor any resentment towards him.

Zeng Youfu was indeed extremely nervous when he finally met Feng Zhengming today.

However, he still carefully prepared the dishes for tonight.

Zeng Youfu prepared several dishes that required special skills, including stir-fried pork kidneys, which resembled Sichuan cuisine.

There are also some classic Sichuan dishes.

Mapo tofu, Kung Pao chicken, shredded pork with garlic sauce, sweet braised pork belly, and dry-fried fish.

There are also some dishes that aren't very spicy, such as chicken slices with egg white and pickled fish.

As Feng Zhengming watched the dishes being served one by one, especially noticing the large portions, he quickly told the kitchen to stop cooking.

"There's no need to cook so many dishes. The portions here are so large, we can't possibly eat too much."

Seeing that Zeng Youfu in the kitchen didn't seem to be stopping.

Feng Zhengming had no choice but to get up and go to the kitchen to make a special announcement.

When Feng Zhengming personally intervened and stopped him, Zeng Youfu had no choice but to halt the proceedings.

"I'm sorry, Scholar Feng, I just wanted to let you taste the flavors of our local cuisine."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "There's no need for that. We'll be staying here for a while, so there's no need to rush to cook all the dishes for us in one meal."

I know that Sichuan cuisine is very abundant, and there are many different flavors to try.

So I came here specifically to learn from you.

Since it's learning, it takes time. Giving us too many lessons at once is too much for me to learn.

Hearing Feng Zhengming say that he came here to learn, I realized that he was here to learn.

This surprised both Zeng Youfu and Wang Hanwen.

Zeng Youfu: "Feng Zhuangyuan, you are such a great chef, why would you need to learn from us? In our eyes, you are a true master, and we should be learning from you."

Feng Zhengming: "Haha, that's a bit of an exaggeration. How can I be a master chef? I'm just an ordinary chef like you all."

Like Hanwen's master, your uncle is the real master.

In their eyes, I was just a student who got a good grade on one test.

There's still so much I don't understand about the different regions and cuisines in China, and I need to learn a lot from all of you.

Zeng Youfu was stunned for a long time after hearing Feng Zhengming's words. By the time he came to his senses, Feng Zhengming and Wang Hanwen had already left the kitchen.

Zeng Youfu pondered Feng Zhengming's words again and slowly realized why his uncle was convinced by Feng Zhengming.

It's not just because Feng Zhengming became the champion of the national cooking competition through his genuine skills and craftsmanship.

More importantly, it's Feng Zhengming's attitude towards people and things.

He is already recognized as one of the top chefs in the country.

He owns a restaurant that can receive awards from the International Gastronomic Association and be named one of the world's top ten restaurants of the year.

But he still managed to maintain his humility, and he even said that in the eyes of the experienced teachers, he was just a student who had gotten a good grade once.

Zeng Youfu admitted that if it were him, he probably wouldn't have been able to be so open and humble.

At this point, Zeng Youfu then compared some of his uncle's apprentices with some of Wang Hanwen's fellow apprentices.

Zeng Youfu sighed inwardly: I really am not worthy of being compared to Scholar Feng.

When Feng Zhengming and Wang Hanwen returned, they greeted everyone with smiles as they entered the house.

"Come on, I've spoken to the kitchen. There probably won't be any more food coming out. Let's all eat as much as we can today and try not to waste any."

The mother-in-law looked at the dishes on the table and said, "There's really too much. This is a lot."

Feng Zhengming: "It's okay, Mom. If we really can't finish it, we'll just pack it up and take it home."

Feng Nuanyou quietly reached out and tugged at her father's sleeve: "Are these dishes spicy?"

It's clear that the little girl was genuinely a bit scared by the spiciness of the chili peppers she ate in Hongcheng.

Feng Zhengming: "It shouldn't be very spicy. Uncle Wang went and told them not to put too much chili."

Chu Huijuan quickly pushed the non-spicy dishes in front of the child.

"Here, have this. It's not spicy."

Seeing the sweet braised pork belly that Chu Huijuan pushed over, Feng Zhengming smiled and put a piece on his daughter's plate.

"This is definitely not spicy, it's sweet, you should try it."

Feng Nuanyou opened her mouth and let her father feed her a piece of food.

The sweet taste brought a smile to the little girl's face as she ate it.

"It's delicious, sweet, and not spicy."

Feng Zhengming then put some shredded pork with garlic sauce on his daughter's plate: "Try this. It's a little spicy, but it's still very good."

Feng Nuanyou was very careful. She first licked the meat with her tongue to make sure she didn't taste any spiciness before eating the shredded pork with garlic sauce.

"This is also delicious, it's only a little spicy."

Seeing Feng Zhengming feeding his daughter bite by bite.

This surprised Wang Hanwen and Chu Huijuan somewhat.

The two of them really didn't expect that Feng Zhengming would take such good care of his daughter.

Feng Zhengming fed his daughter a few bites, then noticed Wang Hanwen and Chu Huijuan staring at him.

He smiled and said, "You guys eat your food, there's no need for us to stand on ceremony."

Luo Qing also chimed in, "Yes, yes, let's eat ours."

Upon hearing this, Wang Hanwen gave his girlfriend, Chu Huijuan, a meaningful look.

Chu Huijuan immediately started urging Luo Qing and the others to eat.

Let them try some classic Sichuan dishes.

However, Luo Qing and Feng Zhengming's mother-in-law and aunt are not very good at eating spicy food.

So they don't eat much of dishes that are particularly spicy.

Feng Zhengming fed his daughter for a while, and the daughter pushed her father's hand.

"Dad, you eat too. You can't keep feeding me, but I can eat by myself."

Feng Zhengming: "Okay, then you can eat well by yourself."

Feng Nuanyou nodded: "I know."

Feng Zhengming then freed his hand, picked up the wine glass in front of him, and clinked glasses with Wang Hanwen.

"Lai Hanwen, I wish your branch a successful opening and prosperous business."

Wang Hanwen was so excited by Feng Zhengming's toast that he immediately stood up.

"No, Chef, how can you offer me a toast?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and pulled Wang Hanwen to sit down.

"What are you doing? There's no need to get so agitated. This glass of wine is just a wish for your future business. Why are you making it sound like I'm trying to harm you?"

Wang Hanwen was pulled to sit down, his expression a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"Chef, when you toast me, it really feels like you're trying to flatter me to death."

Feng Zhengming: "What kind of talk is that? Wang Hanwen, after all this time, are you really that insecure about your skills?"

These words stunned Wang Hanwen.

Before he could react, Feng Zhengming continued speaking.

“I know that your Sichuan cuisine has competitions every year. I hope that after your store opens this year, you will also participate in your Sichuan cuisine competitions this year or next year, and win an award for me.”

Wang Hanwen was taken aback and looked at Feng Zhengming with surprise.

"Chef, you...you want me to go to the competition and win an award?"

Feng Zhengming countered, "What's wrong? Lacking confidence? Do you think you won't win an award?"

Wang Hanwen: "No, no, I was just wondering if I'm not qualified to participate in the competition?"

Feng Zhengming: "How could you not be qualified? You are an excellent chef. You need to believe in your skills, and you need to prove to everyone that you have the ability, understand?"

After hearing Feng Zhengming's words, Chu Huijuan couldn't help but speak up.

“That’s right. Look how well Feng Zhuangyuan said it. You need to have confidence in your shop and prove your abilities to them.”

After Chu Huijuan said that, Wang Hanwen looked at her and then at Feng Zhengming.

Luo Qing smiled and said, "Xiao Wang, be confident. You have to make your own efforts. You must grow and become a real master chef."

With everyone's encouragement, Wang Hanwen finally regained his confidence.

He tilted his head back and drank the wine in his glass.

"Thank you, Chef. I didn't expect you to bring your family along to support me this time. I am also very grateful for what you just said. You made me realize that a good chef should focus on himself and not care about what others say."

Feng Zhengming also finished his drink: "Yes, a good chef must learn to focus, to focus on improving his skills, and to do his job well. That's what makes a good chef."

Wang Hanwen: "I remember the head chef, and I will run the branch well and also sign up for the competition."

Feng Zhengming poured himself and Wang Hanwen another full glass of wine.

"Come on, let me wish you the best of luck in winning a championship in your Sichuan cuisine competition."

Wang Hanwen smiled and raised his wine glass with both hands: "Thank you, Chef. I will do my best."

In the end, we still couldn't finish all the dishes.

Through this meal, Wang Hanwen received more encouragement and gradually became more confident.

Chu Huijuan saw this and her respect for Feng Zhengming grew even stronger. (End of Chapter)