From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The next day, Cao Zhiguo arranged things at the shop and came to find his junior apprentice early in the morning.

When Cao Zhiguo arrived near the alley, he saw his junior apprentice chatting with several elderly people.

The elderly people chatted about some interesting stories from the past in Beijing.

The conversation naturally turned to some of the famous delicacies that were once renowned in Beijing.

Feng Zhengming listened attentively while engaging in lively conversation with the elderly.

Feng Zhengming knows more about some of the old delicacies of Beijing than even the elderly people living near the capital.

As Cao Zhiguo approached, he overheard Feng Zhengming talking to the old people about rotten meat noodles.

An elderly man from Beijing became somewhat emotional as he spoke.

"Oh my, that rotten meat noodles is amazing. Back in the day, that place made the most authentic rotten meat noodles."

Feng Zhengming continued speaking, following the old man's words.

"Grandpa, you're talking about that dried meat shop, right? The one that used to be diagonally opposite Ritan Park?"

Upon hearing Feng Zhengming's words, the old man immediately widened his eyes and began to scrutinize him.

"Hey? How old are you, young man? You actually know about 'Meat Jerky Xu'?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I know a little about it. Back then, outside Chaoyangmen, the streets were bustling with traffic, and the six kinds of fragrances were the most enchanting."

Upon hearing Feng Zhengming's words, the elderly people all turned to look at him.

Cao Zhiguo was also full of curiosity and waited quietly to listen.

"The first flavor is the aroma of tea, and the second flavor is the aroma of wine."

The third flavor comes from the oil and salt shop: the pungent aroma of stinky tofu, the sesame fragrance of sesame paste, the savory aroma of Liubiju pickles, the numbing aroma of Sichuan peppercorns, and the spicy aroma of chili peppers. The aroma fills the room, lingering around the nose, and the tantalizing fragrance is intoxicating.

The fourth scent is the aroma of herbs from a traditional Chinese medicine shop, and the fifth scent is the incense from a candle shop and the scent of rouge.

And that sixth flavor—isn't it just the aroma of noodles from a restaurant?

After hearing Feng Zhengming's words, Cao Zhiguo was completely stunned.

He truly hadn't expected that his junior brother would have such extensive knowledge about these things in the capital.

You should know that what my junior brother is talking about all happened back in the late Qing Dynasty.

Back then, the Forbidden City wasn't called the Palace Museum yet; the emperor still lived there.

So much time has passed that many people in Beijing have long forgotten these things.

Judging from the expressions of the elderly people that Feng Zhengming was talking about, it's not hard to see that many of these elderly people who have lived in the heart of the capital for many years don't really understand what Feng Zhengming is saying.

Listen to Feng Zhengming recount many famous snacks from the past in Beijing, as well as some local customs and traditions.

Finally, an old man spoke up and asked a question.

"Young man, you don't sound like you're from Beijing. How do you know so much about Beijing? Could it be that your ancestors were from Beijing?"

Feng Zhengming smiled slightly: "No, what I said is all from books. I am from Shandong, and I have lived in Jinan since I was a child. Now I am in Beijing to do business."

After listening to Feng Zhengming's self-introduction, the group of elderly people suddenly realized what was going on.

"Oh, you read that in a book? That's incredible."

"If the book is written so authentically, then the author must be an old man from the capital."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "You gentlemen all know about teahouses, right? Tell me, how could Mr. Lao She not know about Beijing?"

The elderly people immediately nodded in agreement.

"That's true, Mr. Lao She really knew Beijing well."

"Ah, speaking of Mr. Lao She, he also lived in Jinan."

"Yes, yes, Mr. Lao She also wrote about the springs of Jinan."

Feng Zhengming chimed in, "Yes, it's in the textbook, 'Baotu Spring'."

“That’s right.” The old folks all smiled and found chatting with Feng Zhengming very interesting.

Feng Zhengming chatted with the old people for a while longer, and then he saw his fifth senior brother standing to the side.

He smiled and said goodbye to the elderly, explaining that he had other things to do.

Then I left the alley with my fifth senior brother.

The elderly people watched Feng Zhengming and Cao Zhiguo leave, and they all sighed that Feng Zhengming knew so much.

"This young man is really impressive; he knows so much."

"You can tell at a glance that you love reading; you've learned a lot from books."

"There are fewer young people like this nowadays."

"That's right, nowadays many young people prefer to go online, and fewer and fewer people are reading books."

"Hey, the way he said it, I almost thought he was from the capital."

"Haha, they must be here in Beijing to do big business, so they must have done their research on us beforehand."

Feng Zhengming and his fifth senior brother walked to the intersection and got into the car that his fifth senior brother had driven.

While driving, Cao Zhiguo couldn't help but ask, "Zhengming, you really know a lot. Did you really read all that in books?"

Feng Zhengming nodded with a smile: "That's right, I learned it all from books. If I hadn't read it from books, I wouldn't have known it, and I wouldn't have experienced it at my age."

Cao Zhiguo: "No wonder my master always said that your future is limitless."

Feng Zhengming: "Haha, that's an exaggeration from my master. I haven't achieved anything. I just know how to cook well and have some knowledge about food."

Cao Zhiguo: "That's enough. Nowadays, who can properly explain what they're eating?"

"Haha, Fifth Brother, you know too, right? It's just that I'm better at talking." Feng Zhengming took the opportunity to praise his fifth senior brother.

Cao Zhiguo chuckled and said, "How could I know so much? All I can do is cook well."

At this point, Cao Zhiguo sighed again.

"To be honest, in the past, my master was the one watching over me at Yanxi Tower, and later it was you and my senior brother who were watching over me. If it weren't for you, I would have slunk back from the capital, and my skills would probably have been lost."

Without achieving what they have today, returning to the capital would likely be quite difficult.

Feng Zhengming's fellow students all have their own problems.

Master saw this a long time ago.

Perhaps the only thing the master didn't expect was Feng Zhengming's sudden emergence.

Feng Zhengming also understood the strengths and weaknesses of his fellow students.

So after he took over Huiquanlou, he made some arrangements for his fellow disciples.

For example, he could ask his third senior brother to help him manage the dry food shop and send some of the apprentices to his third senior brother to train.

For example, let the eldest brother manage Huiquan Tower, and let the fifth brother assist the eldest brother.

If Huiquan Tower had been solely managed by the Fifth Senior Brother, given his personality, things might have gone wrong.

With the eldest brother in charge, the fifth brother can be prevented from causing problems, and his shortcomings can be corrected.

It is also because we understand the strengths and weaknesses of our senior brothers that we can help them make the most of their strengths.

Ultimately, this allowed Feng Zhengming to help his fellow apprentices improve their culinary skills and make their business thrive.

Now, Fifth Brother is confident that he can stand alone in the capital.

This is what Feng Zhengming most wanted to see: for his fellow apprentices to become true master chefs, so that they could help him run all the restaurants in various places successfully.

Cao Zhiguo drove Feng Zhengming to the address on the edge of the Third Ring Road.

From a distance, it was still visible that it was indeed a courtyard that had been abandoned for some time. The courtyard wall had been repainted, so it didn't look too dilapidated.

Feng Zhengming first had his fifth senior brother drive around the courtyard wall.

After walking around, he found that the whole yard was actually quite big.

If Yanxilou were to reopen here, there would be no need to look for other parking lots, as this large courtyard alone could provide enough space for parking.

What pleased Feng Zhengming even more was that the entire courtyard had more than one gate at the front.

There are also doors on the back and sides, although all of them look rusty.

"Fifth Brother, the place you found is indeed good. Although it looks a bit dilapidated, it should become a very nice place if we spend some money to renovate it completely."

Seeing that his junior brother was satisfied, the fifth senior brother also smiled.

"This place was found with the help of your sister-in-law."

Feng Zhengming: "Then we should thank Fifth Sister-in-law properly."

Cao Zhiguo: "No need. You've helped us so much. Your sister-in-law has always wanted to thank you. This place was mentioned by a relative of hers, and your sister-in-law helped to inquire about it."

Feng Zhengming: "I should thank my sister-in-law for asking. Once this place is confirmed, I will go and see her."

Cao Zhiguo: "Okay, once your sister-in-law is resting, I'll invite you to my house for a meal."

Feng Zhengming: "Okay."

The car drove back to the main gate, and the two brothers got out together and walked to the gate.

Cao Zhiguo had already contacted the owner of the place by phone in advance.

The other party had already gone in first and was waiting for them and their fellow disciples inside.

Upon seeing Feng Zhengming, the other party took the initiative to greet him.

"Oh, it's so great to meet you, Scholar Feng!"

Feng Zhengming: "You're too kind. Please come and wait for us."

The landlord smiled and said, "It's no trouble at all. This place has been abandoned for quite a long time. You can probably tell that this used to be a factory building, a kind of warehouse."

Later, the factory moved away, and this place became vacant, but it was too big, and no one rented it.

Feng Zhengming got straight to the point: "My fifth brother should have told you that I want to buy this place outright."

The other party was taken aback at first, then thought for a moment and said, "I know your abilities, Scholar Feng, but I still want to say that I am not really willing to sell this place."

Upon hearing this, Feng Zhengming smiled and replied directly.

"Then excuse me."

After saying this, Feng Zhengming didn't waste any more words, called his fifth senior brother, and prepared to leave.

The landlord was stunned; he hadn't expected Feng Zhengming to be so decisive.

He just said he "doesn't really want to sell."

Feng Zhengming didn't even try to bargain with him, and didn't even bother to look at the place before turning around and leaving.

Cao Zhiguo was also taken aback, but since his junior brother had spoken, he turned around and followed.

The landlord watched as the two people walked out the door, and finally couldn't help but call out to them to stop.

"Wait, wait a minute, Scholar Feng, what are you doing? I didn't say I really wouldn't sell this place."

Feng Zhengming did not turn around: "I came here with the sincerity of wanting to buy this place. You probably know what I want to do with it."
I don't like to force people to do things against their will. Since you don't want to sell this place, there's no need for us to continue negotiating.

The landlord said helplessly, "No, no, I didn't say I wouldn't sell, Scholar Feng."

Feng Zhengming then turned around and looked at the landlord.

"Give me a straight answer, whether you're selling or not. I think people in the capital are all straightforward. There's no need for me to drag this out with you several times."

The landlord looked at Cao Zhiguo; he truly hadn't expected Feng Zhengming to be so assertive.

Cao Zhiguo smiled and said, "You don't need to look at me. This place is for my junior brother to buy, so I won't comment. If you really want to sell, then give me a fair price. If my junior brother can accept it, he will buy it."

At this moment, the landlord was indeed very hesitant.

He knew from Cao Zhiguo before he came that Feng Zhengming wanted to buy his place.

Therefore, he felt that he could easily control Feng Zhengming.

As long as I hold firm and don't give in, Feng Zhengming will definitely make concessions to me in order to buy this place.

However, he hadn't even started speaking from his prepared script; he had only said, "I don't really want to sell."

Feng Zhengming turned and left without any hesitation.

This made it impossible for the landlord to fully grasp Feng Zhengming's temperament.

He didn't know what to say.
Now he was afraid that if he continued to try to control Feng Zhengming, he would only anger the other party and cause him to actually turn around and leave.

At the same time, he was also afraid that if the price wasn't agreed upon, he would end up losing money selling his property.

After hesitating for a long time, the landlord could only sigh.

“Scholar Feng, you are truly remarkable. I prepared a lot of things to say before I came here. I thought about playing the victim with you or negotiating with you, but you came up and turned around and left. I really don’t know how to start.”

Despite the landlord's words, Feng Zhengming remained completely unmoved.

"Whether I sell or not is just a matter of a word. As long as the price you offer is right, I won't haggle with you too much. I definitely won't let you lose money."

The landlord hesitated for a moment before saying, "But if I don't sell this place, things might change in the future..."

Before he could finish speaking, Feng Zhengming rudely interrupted him.

"If you don't want to sell, just say so. You don't need to tell me so much. I bought this place to reopen Yanxilou. I haven't thought about whether this place will appreciate in value in the future."

If you think this place will be valuable in the future, then you can keep it for yourself. I don't necessarily need it.

After finishing speaking, Feng Zhengming turned around again, called his fifth senior brother, and prepared to leave.

The landlord gave Cao Zhiguo a wry smile; he was truly driven to the brink of desperation.

He wanted to sell this place; otherwise, he wouldn't have contacted Cao Zhiguo or asked to meet Feng Zhengming.

The landlord, however, still hopes to get a good price.

After all, this is Beijing, even if this place is on the edge of the Third Ring Road.

However, the landlord still believed that even in this area on the edge of the Third Ring Road in Beijing, there would still be room for appreciation in the future, and that this should be enough to keep Feng Zhengming under control.

Unfortunately, Feng Zhengming wasn't buying it at all.

Moreover, Feng Zhengming had already said everything he was going to say in advance.

Finally, Feng Zhengming and his fifth senior brother were about to get on the bus.

The landlord had no choice but to relent: "Sell, sell, Mr. Feng, don't be in such a hurry. Let's discuss the price, is that alright?"

Feng Zhengming stopped by the car and turned to look at the helpless landlord standing there.

"Okay, give me a quote, and I'll see if your price is reasonable. Of course, I also need to go back and think about it."

Ultimately, the landlord realized he simply couldn't control Feng Zhengming.

He could only state the price he had already calculated in his mind.

After receiving the landlord's quote, Feng Zhengming nodded.

"Alright, I'll have my fifth senior brother give you an answer tomorrow. I won't go inside to take a look at your place. If I think the price is right, I'll contact you to sign the contract."

After saying this, Feng Zhengming told his fifth senior brother to get in the car, and then left directly. (End of this chapter)