From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

With Feng Zhengming's support, Feng Jiandong became even more confident.

He suddenly realized that his vision was still the same as before, and he could always spot profitable projects in advance.

However, Feng Jiandong also discovered that ever since Feng Zhengming came to the family and officially became his father's adopted grandson, things had changed.

His business was indeed significantly affected by his nephew, Feng Zhengming.

The first time was when a boss came from Guangdong province.

Then there are the vegetable companies within the province.

Now, when it comes to the transportation and logistics business, Feng Zhengming is once again stepping forward to provide strong support.

After thinking it over carefully, Feng Jiandong felt that his father's decision to bring his eldest grandson, Feng Zhengming, home might have truly brought a change of fortune to the whole family.

"Zhengming, you are truly our family's lucky star. Since you came home, everything seems to have become much smoother in our family."

Feng Zhengming: "Third Uncle, isn't what you're saying a bit too mystical? Actually, you've always had a good eye for talent, otherwise how could you have made money before?"
"And without the money you earned back then, which you invested in my first dry-rice shop, I probably wouldn't have been able to get started, would I?"

Feng Jiandong: "You can't say that. Even if I hadn't invested in you, you could have started the rice shop on your own. With your skills, becoming a head chef was almost a certainty."

Feng Zhengming: "I am confident in my skills. I never think that my skills are inferior to others."

However, some things require more than just skills when starting out; you also need ample opportunity, and most importantly, the support of a mentor or benefactor.

At this point, Feng Zhengming looked at his grandfather, then at Grandpa Situ, and finally at his third uncle.

"I think my family is my benefactor. Without your support, I wouldn't have achieved what I have today."

These words surprised Grandpa, Grandpa Situ, and Third Uncle.

Grandpa Situ then smiled and said, "Zhengming is right. We have actually helped each other out."

Grandpa nodded: "That's right, it's a mutual fulfillment. Our family has fulfilled Zhengming, and Zhengming has fulfilled our family in return."

Uncle San laughed: "There's no need for so much formality among family members. Look at me now, I'm not being polite with you."

Grandpa: "Do you even have the demeanor of an uncle? What do you mean by 'not being polite'? You should still be polite when you need to. When Zhengming invests in you, you should repay him."

Third Uncle: "Don't worry, I will definitely not treat Zhengming unfairly."

Feng Zhengming: "Sir, actually I'm not short of money now. All my stores are doing very well. Although I don't get much of the commission from the stores, most of it is used to pay everyone's wages."

But I own enough stores. With so many stores combined, my annual income is quite substantial.

Grandpa Situ laughed when he heard this: "Hahaha, I really like Zhengming's mentality."

He may seem like a boss, a big boss in the national catering industry who cannot be ignored, but in reality he is still a very down-to-earth chef.

He would take into account the income of the people in his restaurant and raise the wages of all the chefs in the kitchen, so that everyone in the kitchen would receive the treatment and social status they deserve.

This is something not every boss could do.

Feng Zhengming: "I think that's right. I've never considered myself a boss; I think of myself as a chef."

At this point, Feng Zhengming added with a smile, "I consider myself a young chef."

These words made the two grandfathers and the third uncle laugh immediately.

"Haha, that's right, you're a young chef."

Third Uncle: "Compared to me, you are indeed still a young man."

However, Grandpa Situ still gave Feng Zhengming a reminder.

"Zhengming, you still need to be careful. There are some people and things you need to prepare for in advance. Not everyone will be willing to follow your arrangements forever."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Grandpa Situ, don't worry, I know. I won't give those people a chance to attack me."

Feng Jiandong suddenly sighed, "Looking at it this way, Zhengming isn't so carefree and unrestrained after all."

Feng Zhengming: "Hahaha, Third Uncle, are you saying that I'll be criticized by others?"

Feng Jiandong: "Exactly. Think about it, aren't you constantly being watched and criticized? Everyone always wants you to be a perfect person, but who is perfect? ​​If you always have to be perfect, wouldn't life be exhausting?"

Feng Zhengming: "I'm not perfect, and I won't try to appear perfect. When it's time to take action, I'll never be soft-hearted."

Feng Jiandong laughed: "So how do you plan to deal with those who sued you this time?"

Feng Zhengming: "We can poach some of them and then open a few more stores."

These words drew applause from Feng Jiandong.

"Great idea! That's a fantastic idea!"

Feng Zhengming also smiled: "I still need to talk to my senior brothers about this. We need to see if we have enough manpower in different places to open a branch."

Feng Jiandong: "I think it's definitely enough. Over the years, you've trained a lot of new people in your stores all over Shandong."

This is actually one of the reasons why Feng Zhengming suddenly wanted to return to Jinan.

Over the years, Qilu's various branches have been recruiting a number of interns.

Many of those apprentices have already mastered their skills.

However, there are only so many stores in various parts of Shandong.

Therefore, many of them are stuck in their old shops in various places and have no opportunity.

Feng Zhengming felt that they should still be given some opportunities.

So he plans to open a restaurant in the central district of each prefecture-level city in the province.

This way, some of the staff can be assigned to the restaurant.

Afterwards, the apprentices in the dry rice shop can be promoted to head chefs in dry rice shops in various places.

Of course, opening a restaurant requires more preparation.

The first step is to select a suitable head chef.

In this regard, Feng Zhengming can be selected through an internal competition at the end of the year.

Secondly, each restaurant still needs a suitable manager to be in charge of its management.

The manager of a restaurant is also a very important person.

Choosing the wrong manager could lead to problems with the restaurant's service.

This is something Feng Zhengming cannot allow.

Therefore, restaurant managers and supervisors responsible for the restaurant's service staff need to recruit and screen a group of suitable people.

Feng Zhengming had an idea in this regard: he could transfer people from Shanghai to train personnel from various parts of Shandong.

This is a good opportunity for Li Fengning to take charge and train a group of suitable managers and team leaders.

With enough manpower, they can then be assigned to restaurants in various locations.

This ensures that the quality of restaurants in various regions meets the standards.

Shandong is, after all, Feng Zhengming's real stronghold, so his company's restaurants must be located throughout Shandong.

This also serves as a warning to those who sue themselves.

Feng Zhengming wanted to forcefully tell them this.

In Shandong, Feng Zhengming is the true representative of Shandong cuisine.

Whatever tricks the rest of you play are insignificant in the face of absolute power.

Grandpa Feng Zonggu was genuinely surprised after hearing Feng Zhengming's ideas.

Perhaps they didn't expect their eldest grandson to have such a strong side, especially his plan to open restaurants all over the province. This is tantamount to teaching those who sued him how to run a restaurant.

This direct confrontation will obviously provoke further resistance from some people. But Feng Zhengming doesn't seem to care; he wants to assert his position in this way.

After his initial surprise, Feng Zonggu carefully considered the matter and finally understood his grandson's intention.

For Feng Zhengming, he has had less and less time to return to Jinan in recent years.

It's been a long time since I've visited all the shops in Shandong province.

This will gradually lead to a decline in Feng Zhengming's influence within the province.

So what he's doing now is to continue to increase his influence.

Feng Zhengming wants to tell everyone that he is still the national champion of Shandong cuisine, he still represents Shandong cuisine, and he is the one who can truly determine how Shandong cuisine should be made.

Therefore, he wants to open his own restaurant in various places.

He wanted the whole province to see how the chefs under the tutelage of this national champion of Shandong cuisine prepared Shandong dishes.

In fact, Feng Zhengming's name alone is enough for him to dominate the entire province.

No chef in the entire province could possibly be as famous as Feng Zhengming.

However, if we're talking about restaurants, every region probably has its own most popular local restaurant.

Feng Zhengming's actions were undoubtedly intended to announce something to people all over the province.

His restaurant, Feng Zhengming's, is the standard, the best in the entire province.

Having figured all this out, Feng Zonggu stared at his eldest grandson: "Alright, if you want to do it, Grandpa will definitely support you. You should show them what a truly good restaurant should be like in your own way."

Grandpa Situ also supported this.

"That's great. There are indeed many restaurants across the province that are not doing well. Their business philosophy is still stuck in the past, but they are destined to be eliminated."

So, it proves your idea is good. Show them in your own way what good standards should look like.

Feng Jiandong: "Hahaha, if you do this, those guys will probably hate you even more."

Feng Zhengming: "Then let them hate it. Anyway, if they don't cook properly, they deserve to have no business in the future."

Such a strong-willed Feng Zhengming is rare, even among his grandfather Feng Zonggu, and even Grandpa Situ and his third uncle.

This also shows that Feng Zhengming was indeed somewhat provoked this time.

As family members, both grandfathers and the third uncle will support us.

His second aunt, third aunt, wife, and children all certainly support Feng Zhengming.

With the support of his family, Feng Zhengming had a great deal of confidence.

He was confident that he could completely win those people over.

After chatting that evening, Uncle, Aunt, and Second Aunt left together.

Feng Zhengming and his wife returned to their grandfather's room.

This room can be considered Feng Zhengming's first real home.

He was lying in bed with his wife and daughter.

Feng Zhengming also sighed with emotion.

“If my grandfather hadn’t taken me in, I might really have no home.”

Feng Nuanyou climbed onto her father: "Dad, how can you not have a home? You still have Mom and Youyou, right? And Great-Grandpa likes Dad so much, he will definitely welcome Dad home."

Feng Zhengming smiled and hugged his daughter.

"Yes, Dad has a home now. Dad has you all with him. Wherever you are, that's Dad's home."

Feng Nuanyou: "Hehehe, when we're all together, we're family, right?"

Feng Zhengming kissed his daughter: "Yes, our Youyou is so smart."

Luo Qing rested her head on her husband's arm; she knew very well what her husband had been through.

This made her love her husband even more, and there was even a hint of maternal love in it.

Luo Qing remembered her husband's talk about opening restaurants all over the province.

"Should we send Li Fengning over? Have her bring a group of people and then conduct centralized training for the restaurant staff from various places?"

Feng Zhengming: "No, we'll first poach people from the shops of those guys who sued me, and then send them all to Shanghai for training at our shops there."

Let's see how they perform. If they perform well, we can bring them back to be managers and foremen.

If they don't perform well, then let them start from the bottom in the restaurant.

Luo Qing was somewhat worried: "If we send them to Shanghai, will they all stay there and not want to come back?"

Feng Zhengming: "We can sign an agreement in advance. They go to Shanghai for training. If they want to stay in Shanghai, then we will not hire them again."

Luo Qing nodded: "That's a good idea."

After listening to her parents talk for a while, Feng Nuanyou realized she couldn't understand them and became somewhat unhappy.

"Oh dear, why are you talking about work again? Didn't you promise to tell me stories?"

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

"How old are you? You still need to listen to stories before bed? If you don't sleep well, you can go sleep in your little bed and won't be allowed to sleep here."

Feng Nuanyou immediately pouted: "Hmph, Mom is so mean, Mom doesn't keep her word."

When Luo Qing saw her daughter arguing with her, she immediately lost her temper as well.

"Feng Xiaoyouyou, I think you're asking for a beating. Do you want me to teach you a lesson?"

Feng Nuanyou quickly hugged her father's neck and snuggled into his arms to let him protect her.

"Oh, Dad, look at your wife. You need to keep an eye on her."

Their daughter's shout left Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing both speechless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Luo Qing: "This girl is getting more and more disrespectful."

Feng Zhengming: "Haha, it's okay. Our Youyou is still very well-behaved. She's just a little too excited tonight. It's been many years since the three of us have squeezed into one big bed together."

Feng Nuanyou: "Yes, yes, I usually sleep by myself obediently."

At this point, Feng Nuanyou even felt a little aggrieved.

Seeing her daughter like this, Luo Qing's anger immediately subsided.

"Okay, then let's sleep together and have your dad tell us a story."

Feng Zhengming: Why do I have to explain?

Then the mother and daughter instantly united: "Dad has to say it."

Helpless, Feng Zhengming could only start thinking as he began.

"Once upon a time, there was a mountain, and on the mountain was a temple..."

Hearing Feng Zhengming say that, the mother and daughter couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, I've heard that before."

"Yes, yes, we've heard that before. Isn't it just that there's an old monk in the temple? We want to hear something new."

Feng Zhengming: "Listen to me, please continue."

"In the temple, there's a kitchen, and in the kitchen lives a young monk, the head cook..." (End of Chapter)