From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

During dinner that evening, Feng Zhengming mentioned to his two grandfathers that he had gone to visit his master and his wife.

After hearing this, Grandpa Situ chuckled and said, "Your master doesn't want people to say that he's old and still has to rely on you, his disciple, for fame."

Grandpa: "Yes, your master doesn't want people to say that he depends on you, his disciple, for his whole life."

Feng Zhengming: "I can roughly understand my master's thoughts. He didn't want me to inherit his name because he hoped that I could form my own school."

Grandpa Situ: "Yes, your master hopes that you will become a grandmaster, not his successor."

Feng Zhengming: "But no matter what, I am still my master's disciple. I always feel that I was taught by my master and can be considered his successor."

Grandpa Situ: "You're thinking wrong. Every master hopes that his disciple can surpass him."

Grandpa: "You can be said to have surpassed your master. You should start your own sect. Your master would never confine you to the sect's faction."

Grandpa Situ: "You must understand your master's good intentions. You must cook well, using your own skills and understanding, and create your own unique cuisine."

Feng Zhengming: "But what I learned was also taught to me by my master. How could I completely break away from it?"

Grandpa: "Your master's attitude today has made everything clear. He's not going to the reopened Yanxi Restaurant in the capital because he wants you and your fellow disciples to do it yourselves. He hopes you can break out of your comfort zone and build your own system."

Grandpa Situ: "Zhengming, you've done a great job in Shanghai. Ever since your restaurant in Shanghai became one of the world's top ten restaurants of the year, recognized by the International Food Association."

You have already transcended any culinary school, and you are no longer a successor of any regional cuisine in China.

You represent the entirety of Chinese cuisine. As the first chef to gain international recognition, you are destined to establish your own school.

Before Feng Zhengming could speak, Grandpa Situ continued to give him serious advice.

"You need to understand that you are now a very famous chef, and you should have your own responsibilities. Now that you have a restaurant that is among the top ten in the world, you should be even more strict with yourself."

So you shouldn't keep insisting that your master endorse your new store. You think it's a sign of respect, but your master actually feels like you're humiliating him.

After listening to Grandpa Situ's words, Feng Zhengming thought about them carefully.

He quickly understood what Grandpa Situ and his master meant.

On the way back, Feng Zhengming roughly understood what his master meant.

Now, Grandpa Situ has given it a fresh interpretation from an elderly person's perspective.

This made Feng Zhengming realize that he might not have insisted on sending his master to Beijing to guide the reopening of Yanxilou.

“I understand that Master hopes that my fellow disciples and I can make the reopening of Yanxilou truly unique and showcase the characteristics of Shandong cuisine.”

Grandpa Situ: "Yes, that's what you should be doing."

Grandpa: "You sent your master to the capital because you wanted him to prove himself again. But why does your master still need to prove himself?"

Feng Zhengming: "Grandpa, I was wrong. Only by doing better can we live up to our master's expectations, instead of trying to drag him down with us."

Grandpa Situ: "This is the key point. The reopening of Yanxi Restaurant will be a new beginning for you and your fellow apprentices. You need to use your and your fellow apprentices' skills to prove yourselves and Shandong cuisine to the capital, the whole country, and even the world once again."

Before Feng Zhengming could speak, Grandpa Situ continued to analyze the situation for him.

"With your current reputation, you shouldn't just be satisfied with reopening Yanxi Restaurant in the capital. You should make your reopened Yanxi Restaurant one of the top restaurants in the capital, a benchmark for the capital, just like you did in Shanghai."

You should be thinking about whether, within a few years, your Yanxi Restaurant in Beijing can also be named one of the top ten restaurants of the year.

Feng Zhengming laughed after hearing what Grandpa Situ said.

"Grandpa Situ, you think too highly of me. I'm afraid it would be very difficult for me to do that."

These words made Grandpa Situ and Grandpa Situ laugh.

Feng Zonggu: "What? Are you so lacking in confidence this time?"

Grandpa Situ: "Don't say that. Anything is possible. If you can get it once, you can make a second one to get into the top ten."

Feng Zhengming: "Grandpa, Grandpa Situ, it's not a matter of whether I want to or not, it's about needing an opportunity. The old villa restaurant in Shanghai relied on the opportunity of China's entry into the WTO, and the International Gastronomy Association wanted to enter the domestic market."

That's how I caught this opportunity and was able to get into the Top Ten Restaurants list.

Grandpa Situ: "The capital is about to host the Olympics, so isn't this a great opportunity?"

Hearing this, Feng Zhengming was taken aback, and after thinking about it carefully, it did seem to make sense.

There might be some opportunities in Beijing. Perhaps I can turn the reopened Yanxilou restaurant in Beijing into one of the top ten restaurants in the world.
But then I thought, the reopened Yanxilou restaurant in Beijing might be serving traditional Shandong cuisine.

"However, traditional Shandong cuisine may not be so easy to gain international acceptance."

Grandpa Situ: "This is what you need to do, to think of a solution. This is what you, as the head chef and the national culinary champion, should be thinking about. We and your master have this expectation of you."

Feng Zhengming knew that everyone had expectations of him.

He was particularly looking forward to reopening Yanxilou in the capital.

After all, he had already proven himself in Shanghai.

They have also created a restaurant that won a place among the world's top ten restaurants of the year.

This means that it has raised everyone's expectations for Feng Zhengming.

Everyone hopes that Feng Zhengming's newly reopened Yanxilou restaurant in Beijing will also be able to win a place among the top ten restaurants of the year in Beijing.

This is everyone's expectation of Feng Zhengming, and of course, it is also Feng Zhengming's own expectation.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to the capital specifically to reopen Yanxi Tower.

They certainly wouldn't have considered inviting their master and fellow disciples to the reopened Yanxi Restaurant in the capital.

Feng Zhengming wanted his master to be in charge and his fellow disciples to help him build a better reputation for Yanxilou in the capital.

It seems that Master is unwilling to go to Yanxi Tower in the capital.

Feng Zhengming had no choice but to go there himself, but fortunately, his senior brothers helped him.

"Grandpa, Grandpa Situ, I understand that everyone has this expectation of me, and I will work hard. Although Master is unwilling to go to the reopening of Yanxi Tower in the capital, my fellow disciples will all go."

I believe my senior brothers have been eagerly anticipating this opportunity to reopen Yanxi Tower, and they certainly won't let it slip by.

Feng Zonggu: "That's right, how could you fellow disciples let such a great opportunity slip by?"

Grandpa Situ: "Zhengming, you need to use your experience and strength. Your master also hopes to see you two work hard to make Yanxilou shine again in the capital."

After listening to his grandfathers' words, Feng Zhengming naturally felt more confident.

His mission in the past was to revive the glory of Shandong cuisine.

He has already achieved this, making Shandong cuisine known to more people across the country.

He also inspired many people to learn about Shandong cuisine, thus attracting many to Jinan and other parts of Shandong for tourism.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming also brought together chefs from different regions of Shandong cuisine, enabling them to work together as a team to make Shandong cuisine as good as possible.

It can be said that the culinary skills of restaurants and eateries throughout Shandong are constantly improving.

Although there were still some guys trying to take advantage of the chaos to fill the ranks.

But Feng Zhengming has already decided to open restaurants and hotels under his company all over Shandong Province.

Those who are just pretending to be competent will inevitably be kicked out.

In the past, Feng Zhengming would have thought that perhaps some of the market should be left to others.

This incident involved someone filing a complaint against me at the provincial level for disrupting the job market.

Feng Zhengming finally understood.

You should leave others some leeway, otherwise they won't appreciate it.

So rather than letting those people continue to mediocrely pass themselves off as experts and ruin the reputation of Shandong cuisine in various places.

Feng Zhengming felt it would be better to do it himself and take over the markets in various places.

Although he couldn't personally go to the kitchen of the purchased stores to cook, he could at least guarantee that the restaurants and eateries in various places would have qualified chefs in charge of cooking.

We won't give those mediocre guys any chance to take advantage.

Since none of you want to make money properly with your skills, then you should just stop trying to make money this way altogether.

Feng Zhengming told his two grandfathers his thoughts directly.

The two grandfathers immediately exchanged a smile.

Feng Zonggu: "Hahaha, your Grandpa Situ said long ago that you would definitely make a big move this time you came back. So this is your big move. It seems that your Grandpa Situ really guessed it."

Feng Zhengming looked at Grandpa Situ: "Grandpa, you guessed it?"

Grandpa Situ smiled and said, "Your idea in the past was very good. You wanted to let talented chefs from all over the country flourish and let more capable chefs emerge in Shandong cuisine."

Unfortunately, over the years, your laissez-faire attitude has not led to the emergence of chefs across the country who can rival you.

Instead, this has led to the emergence of restaurants in various places that haphazardly offer so-called authentic Shandong cuisine under different guises.

Now, those mediocre restaurants are the ones that bring criticism to Shandong cuisine across the country.

At this point, Grandpa Situ stopped smiling.

"Instead of letting them ruin the reputation of Shandong cuisine, you should step in and monopolize the market throughout the province."

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but laugh when Grandpa Situ said that.

"You really are back from overseas. You're definitely more ruthless than me. I haven't thought about monopolizing the market. I just want to use my restaurants and hotels as a benchmark, so that at least when people from other places come to any city in the province, they can eat authentic Shandong cuisine and won't say that Shandong cuisine is not good."

Grandpa: "This is the most difficult part; it requires the chefs in the kitchen to stick to their skills."

Feng Zhengming: "That's why I raised their wages, so that everyone in the kitchen has no worries and is willing to devote themselves wholeheartedly to cooking."

Grandpa Situ: "Hahaha, Zhengming, this is indeed a very good method, bringing real benefits to everyone."

Feng Zonggu: "If you want to open restaurants and hotels in various places in the future, you will need suitable people to help you manage them. You will also need to cultivate your own team and ensure that the restaurants in various places do not go wrong."

Feng Zhengming: "I know, sir. I've already made the arrangements, and my senior brothers are helping me select people."

Grandpa Situ: "Your senior brothers really treat you like their own brother. They have spared no effort in helping you all these years."

Grandpa: "Yes, the shops in Jinan are all managed by your senior apprentice, as are the rice shops in other places. They have truly helped you wholeheartedly in this regard."

Feng Zhengming: "I am truly grateful to my senior brothers. Back when I was in the kitchen of Yanxilou, it was my senior brothers who were willing to teach me, their junior brother. Now, all my shops are supported by my senior brothers."

For Feng Zhengming, his senior fellow apprentices were the key to his success in building the catering group.

Now, in the kitchens of almost all the stores within the group, it's the senior apprentices who are managing the operations.

Feng Zhengming's own apprentices and students are actually somewhat lacking.

It might be Xia Hui, because she has been by Feng Zhengming's side for long enough.

Xia Hui has matured in recent years and is now capable of handling things independently.

When Feng Zhengming returned to Jinan on short notice, he arranged for Xia Hui to return to the kitchen of the old villa restaurant.

As for the Western restaurant on the street that Xia Hui was in charge of, it was temporarily handed over to Lu Haisheng, Tang Yong, and Sun Decai.

Feng Zhengming was still clear that only Xia Hui could better complete the task he had assigned.

People like Fu Jun and Cai Tao still need to grow.

Fu Jun and Cai Tao had no objection to Xia Hui being transferred back to the old villa restaurant.

The two men knew very well that although they were nominally Xia Hui's senior brothers, when it came to the skill and craftsmanship in the kitchen, they truly had to call Xia Hui "senior sister".

When Xia Hui was mentioned, Feng Zhengming felt a sense of pride, and a proud smile appeared on his face.

Grandpa Situ: "Hahaha, Zhengming is quite satisfied with Xia Xia."

Feng Zhengming: "I am very satisfied. She already has quite a few ideas of her own, but she needs some time. I believe that with more time to grow, I can rest assured that she will be fully in charge of the stores in Shanghai."

Hearing this, Feng Zonggu smiled.

"That's definitely an achievement. Xia is really amazing to be able to be in charge of so many stores in Shanghai."

Feng Zhengming: "Afterwards, my fellow students and I will go to Beijing and arrange for Sun Hai to go to Shanghai to help her get married as soon as possible. Then, they can help me take charge of Beijing together."

Hearing this, the two grandfathers laughed even more happily.

"Haha, that's good. Let the couple take charge of Shanghai for you. Don't let them separate."

"Yes, yes, it's better for the young couple to stay together."

Then Grandpa asked curiously, "And what about your situation in Jinan?"

Feng Zhengming: "Don't worry about Quancheng. We still have Yao Zhenhui, Chen Anbang and their disciples, as well as the disciples of the eldest and third senior brothers. I believe they can take good care of Quancheng."

After a pause, Feng Zhengming added, "Oh, right, there's also Xia Mingye. I'm planning to transfer him to Huiquan Tower."

These words surprised the two grandfathers.

Feng Zonggu couldn't help but laugh: "Hahaha, you've poached the entire younger generation of the Xia family."

Feng Zhengming laughed along, "It's not so much about poaching them, but about giving them a better environment to grow in, so they can learn more and carry forward the Confucius Family Cuisine in the future." (End of Chapter)