From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The next day, Luo Qing and her sixth sister-in-law took the children out to play.

Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother went to check out several shops in Yancheng.

Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother now own three shops in Yancheng.

One of them is a branch of Feng's dry rice shop, and it is now run by the two apprentices of the sixth senior brother who have just graduated.

One of them is a newly opened restaurant by Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother, which is a superior restaurant to the dry rice shop.

This restaurant has been renovated and is considered to be of a certain level. It is the kind of place suitable for small gatherings of three to five friends or business dinners.

The last one was a restaurant that Feng Zhengming helped his sixth senior brother, Zhang Minghai, open in Yancheng.

The restaurant had only been open for a short time.

However, with Zhang Minghai personally in charge of cooking, the restaurant has already gained a great reputation in Yancheng.

Especially in Yancheng, Zhang Minghai's restaurant is almost always the first choice for large banquets.

According to the sixth senior brother, the restaurant had just received three large banquets before Feng Zhengming and his group arrived.

One was an elderly person celebrating a big birthday, and the other two were banquets hosted by students before the start of the new school year to celebrate their graduation.

“Zhengming, the economic environment is really getting better and better now. When we were with our master at Yanxi Tower, we never heard of any graduation banquets.”
In recent years, quite a few families in Yancheng have been holding celebrations for their children's college admissions. Many parents feel that their children have worked so hard to get into a good university, and it would be a shame not to give them a celebration. They're really willing to spend money on entertaining guests.

Feng Zhengming: "Sixth Brother is right. It shows that our country is becoming more and more prosperous and powerful."

Zhang Minghai: "Yes, as the country becomes stronger and everyone's income increases, they will have more money to do these things."

Feng Zhengming: "Sixth Brother, let's stick to the old ways. We need to make money, but we shouldn't overcharge. Whether it's a birthday banquet, a graduation banquet, or a wedding banquet, we have to do a good job for them. We can't skimp on the dishes."

Sixth Senior Brother: "Do you even need to tell me? I'm a local from Yancheng, how could I fool a local?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I trust Sixth Brother to handle things. How are your apprentices?"

Zhang Minghai: "The few who went to your place for further training have indeed made great progress. I can now entrust the restaurant to them with peace of mind."

Feng Zhengming: "That's good. Do you have enough staff in the restaurant's kitchen?"

Zhang Minghai hesitated for a moment at the question.

"We have enough manpower. I'm just wondering, if I go to the capital, who will take over the restaurant?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "We can bring Lü Zhengyu and Peng Yan back. They can take charge of the restaurant, and that should be fine."

Upon hearing these two candidates, Zhang Minghai immediately made the decision.

"Right, right, I forgot about those two kids. They are indeed the most suitable."

However, Zhang Minghai then asked, "If we transfer them back, will it have any impact on your side?"

Feng Zhengming: "It's alright, Sixth Brother. We have enough manpower now. If we didn't have enough manpower, I wouldn't be in such a hurry to upgrade each branch into a restaurant as soon as possible."

Sixth Senior Brother laughed: "We certainly have enough manpower now."

In recent years, several of Feng Zhengming's senior classmates, including Zhang Minghai, have been working hard to help him cultivate talent.

It wasn't just the eldest and third senior brothers who trained a group of people for Feng Zhengming in Jinan.

The second senior brother is in Dezhou, and the sixth senior brother is in Yancheng. Both of them have trained a lot of capable people.

Especially in Yancheng, where the sixth senior brother is located, the vocational school in Yancheng is the one with the most manpower.

Therefore, in recent years, Feng Zhengming has been constantly asking his sixth senior brother for people.

The sixth senior brother was instructed to send out his disciples for further training in successive rounds.

Now, the disciples of several senior brothers are all capable of standing on their own.

However, they are still somewhat lacking in management experience.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow students shared similar ideas: they believed that skills could be developed gradually through practice.

Therefore, Feng Zhengming asked his senior brothers to go to the capital to run the reopened Yanxi Restaurant, which was also to make room for his apprentices and give them some practical opportunities to improve their management experience.

This is also a huge test for Feng Zhengming and his fellow students.

The reopening of Yanxilou in the capital was something that none of the master craftsmen of his generation had ever imagined.

This time, Feng Zhengming made it clear that he wanted to go all out with his fellow disciples again.

We need to help my fellow apprentices establish themselves in the capital.

Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother first arrived at the Feng Family Rice Shop branch in Yancheng.

The store was still packed with people, and business was still booming.

Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother simply lined up and ordered a set meal offered by the restaurant.

The set meal includes a piece of braised pork, half a pig's trotter, and you can also choose to have a four-happiness meatball, as well as several side dishes that are the restaurant's main offerings for the day. Finally, a bowl of seafood soup is served.

After receiving their meals, Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother found a relatively secluded spot to sit down.

"I didn't expect you to go unrecognized, Sixth Brother!"

Zhang Minghai: "It's normal that you don't recognize me. I'm not cooking here anymore. I just come over to check every afternoon."

Feng Zhengming took a sip of the seafood soup: "The soup tastes good; you can tell it's fish soup base."

Zhang Minghai: "The guys in the kitchen are quite obedient; they don't dare to do anything reckless."

Feng Zhengming gently made a cut on the braised pork with his chopsticks.

The meat was easily sliced, and Feng Zhengming took a bite.

"Yes, the meat is fresh. It looks like the business here is really good."

Zhang Minghai: "Business is naturally very good. Our prices have always been low. Although the domestic economic environment is getting better and better, the wages of ordinary people are still just so-so. Our prices are so that everyone can afford to eat here and have a full meal."

Feng Zhengming: That's right. We can't just think about making money; we also need to make sure that the people in our hometown eat well.

Then the two brothers tried some of the side dishes in the restaurant.

While the taste was somewhat lacking, it was worth the price.

Moreover, judging from the knife skills and cooking time of the dishes, Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother were also satisfied.

While eating, Feng Zhengming observed the situation in the store.

The restaurant staff are also very diligent. They promptly clear away the dishes and bowls left by customers and wipe the tables clean, making them available for other customers.

Feng Zhengming learned this from some Western fast food restaurants.

He has been using this service model ever since he opened his first branch of the dry rice shop.

This has indeed made customers in various branches quite satisfied.

Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother had eaten at the restaurant together, and they voluntarily took their plates to the recycling center.

Then the two of them came out of the store, went around to the back of the store to enter the kitchen.

Without changing their clothes, the two simply stood outside the kitchen and peered inside to check on the situation.

Zhang Minghai also called out his two apprentices who were in charge of cooking inside.

Of the two, one is relatively young, while the other is somewhat older.

However, the two men recognized Feng Zhengming immediately upon seeing him, their faces showing excitement. Feng Zhengming is someone most Shandong cuisine chefs admire.

Many Shandong cuisine chefs would be quite excited to meet Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Don't get excited. I'm just like you. I have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. I'm just an ordinary chef."

Upon hearing Feng Zhengming's words, the two apprentices of the sixth senior brother in the branch couldn't help but laugh.

The sixth senior brother chuckled as well: "Your junior uncle is always so modest. He came here specifically to see how you're managing the branch."

Feng Zhengming: "You did a great job, even beyond my expectations."

Upon receiving such praise from Feng Zhengming, the two disciples of the sixth senior brother immediately smiled.

Seeing his junior brother praising him so much, the sixth senior brother quickly put the headband on his disciple.

"Don't get cocky. You'd better work hard from now on. If you ruin this store's reputation, I'll deal with you two. You'll both be fired."

Feng Zhengming: "You must do your job well. Since your master trusts you and has entrusted this shop to the two of you, you must not let him down."

Upon hearing this, the two disciples of the sixth senior brother quickly agreed.

"Don't worry, Junior Uncle, we will not let Master down."

"Yes, yes, we will definitely run this store well."

Feng Zhengming: "Alright, if you say so, I'll believe you. You can't lie to your junior uncle."

The two apprentices were amused by Feng Zhengming's humor once again, and the atmosphere completely relaxed.

Feng Zhengming pointed out some details to the two of them and taught them some tips to help them improve their cooking skills.

After receiving personal instruction from their junior master Feng Zhengming, the two nephews felt they had benefited greatly.

Both of them were chefs who had spent some time working in the kitchen.

The two of them are already quite familiar with many cooking techniques.

But many culinary skills may be lacking just a little bit of guidance from a master chef.

With just a few simple words, Feng Zhengming cleared some key obstacles for them.

In this way, the two of them truly understood that they had problems.

Once you identify the problem, and then improve it according to Feng Zhengming's methods, your culinary skills will naturally improve.

However, Feng Zhengming also knew that for a chef's skills to truly achieve a qualitative leap...

It requires more than just some small, in-person instructions.

The key is to go out and see more different things in more places.

Hearing someone else talk about it and seeing it with your own eyes are two completely different experiences.

Therefore, Feng Zhengming gave his two apprentices a final piece of advice.

"Work hard at the branch stores, don't rush, be patient. When the opportunity arises, we will let you go out and see the world, broaden your horizons."

"You might all become top-notch Shandong cuisine chefs in the country someday, so don't stop striving for more."

The two junior disciples exchanged a glance, and then expressed their gratitude to their junior uncle.

After chatting with the two branch chefs, Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother left the branch and headed to the restaurant in Yancheng.

At the restaurant, the six disciples are now mainly in charge of cooking.

Sixth Senior Brother comes here quite frequently.

When Feng Zhengming and his sixth senior brother arrived, the restaurant's kitchen was preparing ingredients.

Upon seeing their junior uncle arrive, everyone in the kitchen quickly came out to greet him.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "With this kind of entourage, you'd think I was some kind of high-ranking leader. No need for all this pretense; just focus on running the restaurant well."

Sixth Senior Brother: "Did you all hear that? Entrusting this restaurant to you is a sign of our trust in you, your junior uncle. Remember the goal of opening this restaurant."

The head chef of the restaurant stepped forward and said, "Master, junior master, we know that our restaurant is meant to provide delicious food for the people of Yancheng, so that they can enjoy a decent meal for a small amount of money."

Feng Zhengming: "That's right. Your name is Lü Zhengbo, right?"

The restaurant's head chef, who stepped forward, nodded: "Yes, Junior Uncle, my name is Lü Zhengbo."

Feng Zhengming: "Your brother is doing a good job over there. It seems you haven't let him down."

Lü Zhengbo is Lü Zhengyu's cousin. The two were actually born in the same year, with Lü Zhengyu being a few months older than his cousin.

There's an interesting story about the two brothers. Originally, Lü Zhengbo became Zhang Minghai's apprentice first.

Later, Lü Zhengyu tried his luck in other places for a while, but failed to make a name for himself and returned to his hometown.

Through Lü Zhengbo's recommendation, he successfully became Zhang Minghai's apprentice.

Interestingly, in the end, Lü Zhengyu's skills turned out to be better.

Feng Zhengming had discussed this matter with his sixth senior brother. Feng Zhengming felt that it was because Lü Zhengyu had ventured out into the world and knew better how hard it was to get an opportunity, so he would devote more time and energy to honing his skills.

After seeing his cousin catch up with him, Lü Zhengbo finally realized that he hadn't worked hard enough.

The fact that his cousin was transferred to Shanghai by Feng Zhengming was especially provocative to Lü Zhengbo.

This also forced Lü Zhengbo to finally stand out among Zhang Minghai's apprentices, as if he had an epiphany.

The restaurant owner who used to work with Zhang Minghai even privately contacted Lü Zhengbo.

I hope that Lü Zhengbo can stay at the restaurant after Zhang Minghai leaves.

Of course, Lü Zhengbo couldn't stay, so he decisively chose to follow his master.

When Zhang Minghai opened this restaurant, he also had a competition among his apprentices.

In the end, Lü Zhengbo successfully beat his fellow apprentices to win the position of head chef.

Feng Zhengming smiled at Lü Zhengbo: "You two brothers are both good. Before long, Zhengyu will also be back. He will temporarily take over from your master and help him manage the restaurant in Yancheng."

Upon hearing this, Lü Zhengbo's expression changed immediately, but then he smiled with relief.

“My cousin’s skills have indeed improved rapidly. Now that he’s back to manage Master’s restaurant, Master and Junior Uncle can rest assured.”

Feng Zhengming: "Don't slack off. Your master is going with me to the capital to reopen Yanxi Tower. He might select some of you to go to the capital in the future. I hope you can all make the most of this opportunity."

Hearing this, everyone, including Lü Zhengbo, felt as if they could see a bigger and higher stage.

Will I be able to go to Beijing?

Will I be able to go to the kitchen of Yanxi Restaurant, which my junior uncle has reopened in the capital?

This would be extremely attractive to any chef.

Lu Zhengbo and his team all nodded earnestly, indicating that they would not slack off and would definitely take good care of the restaurant.

Zhang Minghai: "Alright, your junior uncle has already told you everything. Don't embarrass me. I'll say it again: if anyone dares to slack off, cause trouble, or not work properly, don't blame me for kicking them out."

The apprentices immediately assured their master, Zhang Minghai, that they would never bring shame upon him. (End of Chapter)