From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Master Wang saw that Feng Zhengming had indeed drunk quite a bit, and originally wanted to have someone take him home to rest.

But Feng Zhengming refused very directly.

"Uncle Wang, there's no need to see me off. I'm still quite sober. I'll just push my bicycle around for a bit, let the breeze dissipate the alcohol, and I'll be completely sober in no time."

Master Wang was still worried: "Zhengming, you should have someone deliver it to you. Otherwise, I really won't feel at ease."

Lin Guofu also spoke up: "That's right, Zhengming, we'll send someone to take you back to rest."

Feng Zhengming: "No need, really no need, I didn't drink much."

As he spoke, Feng Zhengming walked around to show Master Wang and the others what it was like.

Seeing that he could indeed walk very well, Master Wang and the others ultimately did not insist.

I watched Feng Zhengming push his bicycle away.

After waiting for Feng Zhengming to walk a distance, Master Wang called over a young apprentice.

"Go and follow him. Just follow behind him and don't go up to him on your own. Only go up to him if you see him encounter any danger. If he makes it back to his lodgings safely, then come back."

After listening to Master Wang's instructions, the young apprentice replied, "I understand, Master Wang."

Lin Guofu also instructed: "Remember what the advisor said, you must follow him back to his residence."

The apprentice nodded earnestly in agreement once again.

Then the young apprentice quickly caught up with Feng Zhengming, following far behind him.

Feng Zhengming didn't ride a bicycle; he just pushed it slowly along.

Even though the National Day holiday was over, the streets of Beijing were still a bit chilly at night.

However, the cool breeze on his face gradually sobered Feng Zhengming up.

Slowly regaining his senses, Feng Zhengming pushed his bicycle with one hand, took out his cell phone, and made a call.

The moment the call connected, it was my daughter's voice on the other end.

"Hehehe, Dad, why did it take you so long to call me? I've been out of kindergarten for ages."

Upon hearing his daughter's voice, Feng Zhengming's lips unconsciously curled into a smile.

"Youyou's home from school already? Have you eaten?"

Feng Nuanyou: "I've already eaten. My great-aunt took me to a children's restaurant for dinner, and then we came home with my mom. I just fed my younger brother and sister with my mom and grandma."

Feng Zhengming exclaimed in exaggerated surprise into his phone.

"Wow, really? Our Youyou is so amazing!"

Hearing her father exaggerate and praise her on the phone, Feng Nuanyou laughed heartily on the other end of the line.

In the next phone call, the daughter started talking non-stop, chatting with her father for a long time.

Feng Zhengming first listened to his daughter's story, and later, when his daughter asked him about it, he had to tell her about his situation.

My daughter is like a little housekeeper; she wants to know about everything.

But Feng Zhengming didn't find it annoying to be asked questions by his daughter incessantly.

He was quite patient, and listened to his daughter's words the whole way.

He didn't have a chance to say a few words to his wife until Feng Zhengming was already pushing his bicycle and almost reached the vicinity of his fifth brother's shop.

"Everything is going smoothly on my end, so you don't need to worry. Tomorrow I should go with Fifth Brother and the others to check out the shop. If it's suitable, I plan to buy it and then find someone to renovate it completely."

Luo Qing was somewhat surprised after hearing her husband's words: "You haven't even gone to see the place today?"

Feng Zhengming: "No, I went to the front of Fifth Brother's shop today. Fifth Brother's shop is doing so well in Beijing that I didn't go in and disturb him and his family."

"Honey, those small shops we acquired in Beijing are doing very well now."

Luo Qing: "You don't need to tell me that; the news has already come from the capital."

Feng Zhengming chuckled: "Hearing others talk about it and seeing it with your own eyes are two different things."

Luo Qing laughed on the phone.

"Okay, okay, did you drink tonight?"

Feng Zhengming confessed: "I went to see Uncle Wang last night and had a few drinks with him. Don't worry, I didn't drink too much. You can tell from my voice."

Luo Qing said helplessly, "You should be careful while you're alone in Beijing, and try to avoid social engagements."

Feng Zhengming glanced at the night sky: "Don't worry, I'll try my best to control myself. I won't go to any social events that I can turn down."

Luo Qing: "I'm just worried that you won't be able to turn down those social engagements."

Feng Zhengming was also somewhat helpless: "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Some social engagements are really hard to refuse. After all, we're going to reopen Yanxilou in the capital, so we still have to meet some people and drink some wine."

Upon hearing this, the wife on the other end of the phone remained silent for a while.

Feng Zhengming knew why his wife was silent.

His wife didn't want him to go out for social events or drink alcohol.

Moreover, his wife felt sorry for him, a world-class chef, who still had to go out for drinking and socializing.

Feng Zhengming spoke softly to his wife on the phone.

"Don't overthink it. We don't necessarily have to socialize with those people right now. We just need to show them some respect, since we're in the capital. I'm sure they won't make things difficult for me, after all, I'm just a cook."

Luo Qing sighed on the phone: "You must take good care of yourself."

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, ma'am. You all need to be more careful at home. Tell Mom and Aunt not to spoil Youyou all the time."

Luo Qing was amused by her husband's last words.

"Why don't you talk to yourself about this when you're at home?"

Feng Zhengming laughed when his wife said that.

"Haha, after all, she's our own daughter, and we've raised her all along, so we just can't bear to hurt her."

Luo Qing: "If you can't bear it, then Mom and Auntie can? Anyway, your daughter's future mischievousness and willfulness will all be because you, her father, spoil her."

Feng Zhengming had no way to refute his wife's words.

"Okay, it's my fault for spoiling him. I'll definitely be more careful in the future."

I chatted with my wife for a few more minutes, and then said goodbye to my wife and daughter before hanging up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Feng Zhengming had almost reached the door of the branch store that his fifth senior brother was in charge of.

Feng Zhengming parked his bicycle by the roadside, walked over, and pushed open the door to enter the store.

It was past peak hours, and there weren't many people queuing up in the store.

As soon as Feng Zhengming entered, a waiter immediately came forward to guide him.

"Are you here for dinner? We're out of braised pork and four-happiness meatballs right now. If you'd like to have those, you'll probably have to come back tomorrow."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Okay, I understand. I won't eat; I'll just take a look."

The waiter smiled and said, "Please go ahead."

Feng Zhengming nodded, and then he walked to the food serving window.

As soon as he stood still, someone in the kitchen saw him and recognized him.

"Junior Uncle, you've arrived."

Someone in the kitchen recognized Feng Zhengming and shouted that.

Immediately, everyone in the kitchen rushed to the front window where food was being served.

Cao Zhiguo also came out of the kitchen: "What are you all looking at? You've all finished your work, right? Hurry up and get back to work."

Upon hearing Cao Zhiguo's words, those who had originally intended to gather around and watch Feng Zhengming quickly returned to the kitchen to get busy. Cao Zhiguo walked up to Feng Zhengming, the two apprentices separated by the glass partition used for serving dishes.

"Why are you only getting here now? Who invited you out drinking tonight?"

Feng Zhengming chuckled: "I went to Uncle Wang's place last night and had a couple of drinks with him."

Cao Zhiguo: "I know you've arrived in the capital, but I haven't seen you come to the shop. I guessed you must have been invited away. Is business at Uncle Wang's restaurant doing well?"

Feng Zhengming replied, "It's quite good. I saw that it was almost full tonight."

Cao Zhiguo: "Uncle Wang's skills are recognized, and his apprentices are all with him. With his skills as a guarantee, the restaurant's business will definitely not be bad."

As the two brothers finished their conversation, Feng Zhengming turned and looked around the shop.

"Looks like you're doing a good job running this shop, Fifth Brother. There are still customers this late."

Cao Zhiguo was somewhat helpless after being talked to.

“There are indeed too many people in the capital. We even started offering late-night snacks for a while, and people were still coming to eat late at night. Eventually, it was too tiring for them, so I stopped them from offering late-night snacks.”

Feng Zhengming agreed with his fifth senior brother's arrangement: "That's right, business is already very good, there's no need to do late-night snacks."

Cao Zhiguo then asked, "Would you like to come in and take a look?"

Feng Zhengming: "I won't go in yet. I'll go in after you're done."

Cao Zhiguo nodded: "Okay, then go and sit down for a while."

Feng Zhengming didn't stand on ceremony. He turned around and walked straight out of the store, sitting down in the waiting area outside.

Feng Zhengming sat there for over an hour.

Almost all the customers had left, and the shop was no longer accepting new customers.

Feng Zhengming was then personally called in by his fifth senior brother.

"You're just sitting by the door? Come in and find a place to sit. How can we accept such treatment from a top-notch chef like you sitting by the door?"

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, it's just that I drank a bit too much tonight, and it's a bit too hot inside, so sitting outside is much better. A little breeze will help me sober up faster."

Upon hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Cao Zhiguo quickly instructed the kitchen to prepare some ginger soup.

"You've been drinking and you're still sitting outside in the cold wind? Do you think you won't get sick?"

When Feng Zhengming heard that his fifth senior brother had asked the kitchen to prepare ginger soup, he smiled too.

"Thank you, Fifth Brother."

Cao Zhiguo: "Don't give me that. If I had known you were sitting by the door enjoying the cool breeze, I would have dragged you into the kitchen no matter what."

Feng Zhengming asked, "Fifth Brother, aren't you afraid that if I go into the kitchen and see someone I don't like, I'll curse them while I'm drunk?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhiguo immediately smiled.

"Haha, if you're going to curse people while drunk, I'd really like to hear it and see for myself."

Feng Zhengming laughed loudly, "Then you won't see it today, I'm sober now."

Soon someone from the kitchen brought out the cooked ginger soup.

Feng Zhengming didn't want to drink it, but because his fifth senior brother was so kind, he drank a cup anyway.

After drinking the ginger soup, the two brothers went into the kitchen together.

The kitchen in this shop is similar to most of Feng Zhengming's shops.

It can be said that all of Feng Zhengming's dry rice shop branches basically follow this pattern.

In front of the kitchen is a food preparation counter similar to that of a Western fast food restaurant.

However, on Feng Zhengming's counter, there were braised pork belly, pig's trotters, four-happiness meatballs, and braised pork hock.

At Wu Shixiong's restaurant, there is a special window for serving roast duck, as well as a section for traditional Beijing-style pickles.

You can take any kind of pickled vegetables from Beijing as you like, it's completely free.

The shop even prepares some porridge every night.

The types of porridge vary depending on the season.

It can be said that all of Feng Zhengming's branches focus on adapting to local conditions.

We will add some local specialties based on the local people's eating habits.

This is a key reason why Feng Zhengming can open branches all over the country.

He can make people from all over the world feel as if they've entered a local specialty restaurant when they come into his branches.

The two branches in Beijing are considered by many in the city to be truly "authentic".

Both in terms of taste and the various Beijing-style dishes in the store.

It's so good that many locals in Beijing treat the restaurant as their regular dining hall.

Feng Zhengming went into the kitchen with his fifth senior brother.

Everyone in the kitchen immediately became serious.

Even some of the apprentices were very reserved and nervous.

Seeing this, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "What? Are you so afraid of me now that I've come in? Ask your master. I never yell at people in the kitchen. You don't need to be afraid of me."

Hearing Feng Zhengming's words, the fifth senior brother couldn't help but say, "The way you're saying it makes it sound like all of us senior brothers like to swear?"

Feng Zhengming's words hadn't initially made anyone laugh, but Cao Zhiguo's response made everyone burst into laughter.

Feng Zhengming then gave everyone a word of encouragement.

"When I saw the long queue at our branch today, I knew you were all very capable. Each of you deserves credit for running such a successful store in Beijing."

I, Feng Zhengming, would like to express my gratitude to all of you. Without your contributions, our store would not have earned such a good reputation.

As he spoke, Feng Zhengming even bowed to the kitchen staff to express his gratitude.

When Feng Zhengming bowed to express his gratitude, everyone in the kitchen was stunned.

Then everyone panicked a bit and hurriedly bowed to Feng Zhengming again in a flurry of activity.

Cao Zhiguo was both amused and exasperated to see the kitchen in complete chaos.

“Zhengming, aren’t you making things chaotic for everyone? As their junior apprentice and their boss, they learned their skills in the shop and are earning much higher wages than many other shops.”

You even bowed to them in thanks? How could they possibly accept that?

Feng Zhengming smiled and reassured everyone: "Don't be nervous, I'm not putting on a show. I'm genuinely grateful to everyone. Some of you are from Beijing, but most of you came to Beijing from Shandong."

I am truly grateful to you for leaving your homes and coming to the capital to help my senior brother and me run this shop.

In the kitchen, Cao Zhiguo's apprentice Wei Youbo, who was already old enough to work on the stove, stepped forward to speak on behalf of everyone.

"If Junior Uncle is going to express gratitude, it should be us who thank you. You gave us this opportunity. Although we are far from home, we not only receive high salaries in the capital, but we are also provided with food and lodging."

Hearing Wei Youbo say these words, everyone else present nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Junior Uncle, we should thank you for giving us this opportunity."

"Yes, we are doing really well here. We have such good treatment that many people envy us."

"Moreover, we can learn many skills from our master here."

"Thank you, Junior Uncle."

Seeing that everyone was thanking him, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Then let's not thank each other. This is a mutual support. I hope you can continue to work hard, learn your skills, and run your shops well."

The kitchen staff immediately responded almost in unison, "Understood, Junior Uncle." (End of Chapter)