From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Since his second aunt brought her younger sister and daughter, Feng Zhengming could no longer talk to his two senior brothers.

He had already shared most of the plans with his senior classmates.

So I let my second aunt, sister and daughter enjoy the air conditioning in the private room and served them some cold drinks.

They didn't give the eldest and third senior brothers a chance to give money to their daughter.

Feng Zhengming then left Huiquan Tower with his second aunt, his younger sister, and his daughter.

After they left, Yang Bin couldn't help but smile and say something to his senior brother.

"Zhengming is really full of energy. He's still so energetic after all these years. Seeing him like this, I feel at ease. According to his plan, Shandong cuisine will definitely continue to be famous throughout the world."

Li Huidong: "He alone is not enough; he needs the help of the rest of us."

Yang Bin: "I know that he has opened so many stores in the past few years, and he does need a lot of manpower. To be honest, I was worried that we didn't have enough manpower in the kitchen to support his branch stores."

Li Huidong: "I was worried about that too, but fortunately he was relatively calm and didn't rush to expand."

Yang Bin: "The main problem is that young people nowadays want to make money as soon as possible when they learn to cook, and they are unwilling to seriously endure the hardship and learn from scratch."

Li Huidong: "There's nothing we can do about it. Back in the day, when we learned a trade, we thought we should learn it well so that we could live a comfortable life with it in the future."

But what about now? The smart people have more choices, and many of the less intelligent people are also thinking about venturing out to other places. There are truly very few who are genuinely willing to learn a trade properly.

Li Huidong added, "The key point is that learning to cook is not something that can be done overnight."

Yang Bin sighed, "I remember when we were in the kitchen of Yanxilou, if we wanted to learn some skills from our master, we had to make him happy and we also had to be observant to learn some of his skills."

Li Huidong: "Haha, it must have been different back then. When we were young, learning a craft was very important. There were many people around our master who wanted to learn the craft, so we naturally had to take it seriously."

“Who says otherwise?” Yang Bin chimed in. “Now it’s great. We’re willing to teach seriously, but many young people who enter the kitchen find it too hard after a few years and are no longer willing to learn.”

Li Huidong: "There will probably be more and more young people like this in the future."

Yang Bin: "Life is getting better and better, and young people have more and more choices."

Li Huidong: "It's okay. There are still some people who are willing to learn cooking well, especially those who admire Zhengming. Those young people are very hardworking, and we will teach them well."

At this point, Li Huidong smiled and looked at Yang Bin.

"Don't you think that Zhengming's emergence is a savior for our Shandong cuisine?"

Yang Bin: "That's true. Because many young people admire him, many young people are willing to learn to cook."

Li Huidong: "So there's no need to worry. As long as Zhengming is here, we will still attract young people, and the craft will continue to be passed down."

When the topic of passing on skills came up, Yang Bin suddenly asked a question.

"Senior brother, don't you think it's obvious that he doesn't want his child to learn cooking from him?"

Li Huidong laughed: "That's normal. I didn't want my son to learn to cook either. It's just that the kid's grades don't seem to be very good. It's also my fault. I've been too busy and haven't had time to spend with him."

In the end, that kid will probably only be able to learn to cook. Hopefully, Zhengming will take a liking to him then.

Yang Bin couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

"Haha, brother, the way you're saying that makes it sound like you're quite disappointed in Xiaogang?"

Li Huidong said helplessly, "That kid, even his mother can't control him anymore. Now he's always thinking about learning to cook from his uncle in the future."

Yang Bin: "Well, that really is just like my son."

Li Huidong looked at his third junior brother: "You mean, your son also wants to learn to cook?"

Yang Bin: "Yes, his mother and I went to great lengths to get him to study in Jinan. But he just doesn't study properly."

Li Huidong: "We spend too much time in the kitchen and neglect the education of our children."

Yang Bin said helplessly, "There's no other way. If we're not busy in the kitchen, how are we supposed to make money? How are we supposed to support them if we don't have money?"

At this point, Yang Bin was clearly annoyed: "So, these kids really don't know how hard it is to make money. My son recently told me something, but I don't understand him."

Li Huidong couldn't help but laugh: "He's right, we really don't understand them."

After being told off by his senior brother, Yang Bin immediately calmed down again.

He thought about it carefully and it seemed that his son was indeed right.

He hasn't had much communication with his son over the years.

Although Feng Zhengming always told them that they could have more time to go home and take care of their children.

However, the sense of responsibility of the senior apprentices did not allow them to abandon everything in the kitchen.

The result is that they completely neglect the education of their children at home.

However, none of the senior brothers blamed their junior brother Feng Zhengming for this.

Because if it weren't for their junior brother, they would probably be even busier than they are now, and they certainly wouldn't be able to earn more money than they are now.

Therefore, in many situations, it's impossible to have both fish and bear's paw.

In the end, Yang Bin could only sigh and smile.

“Okay, if he can really learn to cook in the future and become Zhengming’s apprentice, I believe he can be taught by Zhengming and eventually take over our business. That would be fine.”

Li Huidong smiled upon hearing this: "Yes, I think so too. It would be excellent enough if the child could become Zhengming's apprentice and take over our business."

Yang Bin: "Senior brother, what's your feeling that in the end, our family's children will still need Zhengming to bail them out?"

These words startled Li Huidong, who suddenly realized that his third junior brother was right.

Over the years, their junior apprentices have been the ones to protect them.

They were given more opportunities, allowing them to work more securely in the kitchen, earn money with their skills, and gain a certain social standing in Jinan.

Now that it's their own child, it seems that what Yang Bin said is indeed true.

Even if a child's grades aren't good, they still have to learn cooking from a junior apprentice, and in the end, the junior apprentice will still have to cover for them.

Li Huidong: "We fellow disciples are lucky to have such a good junior brother as Zhengming."

Yang Bin: "It's true. With Zhengming around, I feel really at ease. I'm really willing to work with Zhengming for the rest of my life."

Li Huidong: "Then we apprentices will work together for a lifetime to make Shandong cuisine better and pass it on."

Yang Bin smiled and said, "It's a deal."

The senior students trusted Feng Zhengming completely; they were genuinely willing to tie the rest of their lives to him.

Because they all knew that their junior brother would never let them suffer, and that their sacrifices for him were worthwhile.

Feng Zhengming, along with his wife and children, stayed in Jinan for a few days, visiting all the shops in the city.

I also met with the kitchen staff and service personnel of each store.

This will give everyone the greatest encouragement and make everyone take their work seriously.

Then he went to Texas to see his second senior brother.

Following Feng Zhengming's arrangements, the second senior brother has also started a respectable restaurant in Dezhou. With his several apprentices in charge and a few noodle-making apprentices sent by Lü Chongshan, the restaurant in Dezhou is doing very well.

Feng Zhengming and his wife only brought their eldest daughter, Feng Nuanyou, while their two younger children were left at home.

My second aunt, mother-in-law, and two grandfathers helped take care of her.

This made the two grandfathers very happy.

After all, the two grandfathers hadn't taken care of Feng Nuanyou much, so they really wanted to take care of the two little ones more.

When Feng Zhengming and his family of three arrived in Dezhou, his second senior brother was overjoyed.

The second senior brother and his wife, along with their entire family, welcomed them.

Second Sister-in-law smiled broadly and held Feng Nuanyou's hand affectionately.

"Oh, you guys have no idea, I really miss your little Youyou so much. I feel so close to that girl."

Before Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing could even speak, the second senior brother's daughter was already unhappy.

"Hmph, isn't it because you think I'm disobedient now that you've started to like children?"

The second sister-in-law said helplessly, "You're disobedient, and you're quite proud of it?"

Daughter: "My grades haven't fallen behind, I just didn't do what you said, but I didn't do anything wrong, okay?"

Feng Zhengming: "Second sister-in-law, it's okay. As long as the children's grades don't fall behind, they should be allowed to retain some of their individuality. In this respect, I think your daughter is quite good."

Hearing this, the second senior brother's daughter was overjoyed.

"My uncle has indeed lived in Shanghai for many years. His thinking is much more modern than yours, unlike you two old fogies."

The second senior brother was displeased upon hearing this: "You still have the nerve to talk back? How could you tell your uncle this yourself? You lied to boys at school, why didn't you say anything then?"

When her father said that, Chen Jin, the daughter, was not embarrassed at all.

"Those boys said they wanted to pursue me, but I didn't want them to bother me. I wanted to study hard to get into university, so I could only lie to them. I didn't expect them to actually believe it."

They were fooled by me, and they even dared to tell the teacher. Aren't they ashamed?

After hearing Chen Jin's words, Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing exchanged a glance, both of them somewhat surprised.

The second brother and sister-in-law looked embarrassed and recounted what had happened to their daughter at school.

The truth is, Chen Jin is beautiful and has excellent grades at school.

Because my second senior brother came to Texas to manage the restaurant and branches.

So later, the second brother and sister-in-law simply moved their family here and transferred their daughter to this school.

Upon arriving here, Chen Jin immediately attracted the attention of several boys at the school.

Perhaps because everyone in the old school knew that Chen Jin didn't want to be in a relationship, after being rejected by the boys multiple times, no one dared to mess with Chen Jin anymore.

When Chen Jin arrived here, since she was new to the school, the teachers didn't know her and didn't offer her much protection.

As a result, some boys in the school started to relentlessly pursue her.

Unable to bear the harassment any longer, Chen Jin came up with a solution: she simply accepted all the boys who came her way.

She accepted all kinds of gifts from whoever pursued her.

But she still kept her distance from those boys.

Even after school, when boys outside the school gate wanted to walk with her, she would always find various reasons to refuse.

Over time, this situation naturally aroused dissatisfaction among the boys in the school.

Then Chen Jin found her father's apprentices.

He had his father and his apprentices ambush him on his way home from school.

When those boys organized themselves to intercept him.

The father's apprentices rushed out and gave the group of boys a good beating.

At this point, the boys realized that they had been deceived and tricked by Chen Jin all along.

In the end, Chen Jin even had someone beat him up outside the school gate.

The key issue is that the group of boys wanted to find someone to help them get revenge, but they didn't expect Chen Jin's father to have so many disciples.

Moreover, because they all work in the kitchen, they are all very healthy.

As a result, even after the boys sought help several times, they were no match for Chen Jin's father's apprentices.

Finally, one of the boys couldn't bear the humiliation any longer and went home to tell his family what had happened.

The boy's family was naturally unhappy, so they dragged him to the school to complain to the teacher.

Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing were stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then they couldn't help but laugh.

Feng Zhengming smiled and gave his niece a thumbs up: "Good, good, awesome! Your uncle supports you. Well done! If any boys bother you again, tell your uncle, and I'll call all the kitchen staff in the province and give them a good beating."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jin was overjoyed, as if he feared the world was not chaotic enough.

"Really? Uncle, you're willing to help me find someone to teach them a lesson?"

Before Feng Zhengming could agree, the second senior brother immediately called a halt.

"Alright, alright, stop joining in the commotion. Your niece is quite famous at school now. The parents of those boys have approached your sister-in-law many times, saying that your niece is playing with their children's feelings at school, causing their grades to drop."

Chen Jin retorted, "What does their drop in grades have to do with me? Does that mean their kids aren't cut out for studying?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and encouraged, "That's right, that's right. They can't manage their own children well, so it's not your fault."

Feng Nuanyou didn't quite understand, but she knew she had to support her sister.

"Sister Jinjin, I support you! We can't let those boys bully you."

Chen Jin was even happier: "Youyou is right. We can't let boys bully us. If any boys bully you at school, tell your sister, and she'll take some people to teach them a lesson."

Feng Nuanyou nodded with a smile: "Okay."

The second brother and sister-in-law were completely helpless; they had no way to talk about their daughter.

Feng Zhengming did offer a suggestion to his second senior brother's daughter.

"I think you should just go to a teacher's college and become a teacher. With your personality, you'd be perfect for teaching. Go to Shanghai and stay there as a teacher. Maybe you could even become Youyou's teacher."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jin immediately thought it was a great idea.

“Okay, I’ll listen to my uncle. I’ll apply to a normal university in Shanghai. After I graduate, I’ll stay at the school in Shanghai to teach Youyou and protect her.”

Luo Qing thought this was a good idea: "Once you get into Shanghai, you can stay at our house. Before you find a job, you can tutor Youyou."

Chen Jin smiled and agreed, "Thank you, Auntie. It's settled then." (End of Chapter)