From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Early in the morning, Feng Zhengming got up and, so as not to wake his wife and children, quietly got out of bed, put on his clothes, and slowly walked out of the room.

As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, I heard the doors to the other rooms being pushed open.

Then came the sound of doors opening one after another.

Soon, Feng Zhengming saw his master and fellow disciples standing in the courtyard, just like him.

They exchanged glances, but no one spoke; instead, they all broke into smiles.

The master and his disciples washed up together, put on their clothes, and then went out together.

Today is the official opening day of Yanxilou Restaurant.

Another batch of fresh goods will be delivered to Xinyanxilou in the early morning.

Feng Zhengming got up early to pick up the goods.

But the master and fellow disciples also kept this in mind, so they all got up almost simultaneously.

Feng Zhengming rented a minivan. Since his fifth senior brother wasn't staying there, Feng Zhengming, his master, and his senior brothers filled the van and headed to Xinyanxi Restaurant.

At first, no one said a word on the way; everyone was very excited.

After a long silence, Feng Zhengming, who was driving, spoke first.

"Ten years have passed. I never imagined that ten years later, my master, my senior brother, and I would be going to the restaurant to pick up goods early in the morning again."

Feng Zhengming's words immediately put everyone in the car at ease.

The master, sitting in the passenger seat, also sighed with emotion.

"I never imagined that Yanxilou would have to wait ten years to reopen after it closed down."

Senior Brother Li Huidong chimed in, "Master, over the past ten years, Junior Brother has been working hard. The fact that Yanxi Restaurant was able to reopen in the capital after ten years is truly a testament to Junior Brother's dedication."

The master couldn't help but laugh when he heard his eldest disciple's words.

"Haha, it's clear that your senior brother is also on your side now."

Feng Zhengming chuckled: "That's how it is, Big Brother. He's always been thinking about taking care of us fellow disciples."

The second senior brother added, "Yes, the eldest senior brother has always taken good care of us."

Li Huidong felt a little embarrassed by what was said.

"I... I haven't actually taken care of everyone much. It's Zhengming who has been taking care of us for the past ten years."

Feng Zhengming immediately corrected him: "Brother, please don't say that. Over the past ten years, we have all helped each other. Without your help, I would not have been able to build such a big business."

"It's probably going to be who knows when Yanxi Tower will reopen in the capital."

Master: "Yes, it is because you brothers and sisters are united and support each other that you have achieved what you have today."

The fourth senior brother smiled and said, "We also owe a lot to our master. He taught us the skills and how to be a good person, which is why we have achieved what we have today."

The master couldn't help but shake his head and laugh when his fourth disciple said that.

"Fourth brother, you still like to talk nonsense like this. You really need to watch your mouth."

Wang Jialiang chuckled and said, "I'm telling the truth, and I won't beat around the bush."

Master: "The rest of the journey is up to you brothers to walk on your own. There's nothing more I can do to help you."

Feng Zhengming: "Master, please don't say that. You are still our guide in our craft."

The other senior brothers also chimed in, saying "Yes."

Master looked out the car window; the scenery passing by was the unfamiliar streets of Beijing.

He listened to the respectful words his apprentices spoke to him in the car.

At that moment, the master felt that perhaps his greatest achievement in the past half of his life was teaching such a group of disciples.

When Feng Zhengming arrived at Yanxilou by car, he saw that it was already brightly lit.

Fifth Senior Brother arrived even earlier than them, as did the staff from the kitchen of Yanxi Restaurant. They all lived in nearby dormitories, so they arrived very early as well.

Not long after Feng Zhengming and his group arrived, the delivery truck that had arrived that morning also arrived.

The master personally conducted an examination this time.

We confirmed that the fresh produce delivered in the early morning was fresh enough.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices directed the kitchen staff to begin moving the items after their master had finished inspecting them.

After all the goods were moved into the kitchen, Feng Zhengming expressed his gratitude to the delivery person.

"Thank you all. If you're not busy at noon, you can come and have lunch. We'll be officially open at noon, and if you come for lunch today, I can give you your meals for free."

The delivery drivers were thrilled to hear that the delivery would be free.

However, whether they can come at noon depends on whether they are busy.

So the drivers only agreed initially, without saying they would definitely come.

After all the goods were inventoried, the master chef led everyone into the kitchen.

Then, before six o'clock in the morning, Master and Feng Zhengming started working in the kitchen.

Many ingredients that require pre-processing must be prepared in advance.

Oil, broth, and various other ingredients all need to be prepared.

Although Yanxi Restaurant officially opened at noon, it already felt like a grand opening to Feng Zhengming and his group.

Upon entering the kitchen, the master led Feng Zhengming and the others to first worship the Kitchen God.

After a very formal process, the stove was finally lit.

This is considered a very formal cooking ceremony.

It's considered quite traditional, and many restaurants and eateries no longer do it this way.

But this time, Feng Zhengming and his group followed the old rules exactly as they had in the past.

Once everything was ready, the master said with a serious expression, "Alright, let's get started."

Feng Zhengming smiled and turned to face the kitchen staff: "Let's get started."

With their master leading them, Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices were also required to work on the front lines.

This left the apprentices and trainees in the kitchen completely bewildered.

Because many of the tasks used to be done by these apprentices and students.

Now, they can only do odd jobs on the side. All the work of preparing materials has been taken care of by their masters, and even their masters are vying to do the work among themselves.

Although the apprentices and trainees in the kitchen all found it unbelievable.

But there was one thing they also thought was good: they could observe their master working from the sidelines.

This is definitely a rare opportunity.

In the past, they might not have been able to see many of these technologies.

Today I truly witnessed how the masters work.

Soon, the master also noticed something was wrong.

That is, Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices seemed to be working a little too efficiently.

Many things, as soon as he was about to start, were immediately taken over by his apprentices.

Then the apprentices were really quick and efficient. They completed all the preparation work in the kitchen quite smoothly and successfully.

One morning, Feng Zhengming and his master and fellow apprentices were busy in the kitchen.

Around 9:30, all the service staff had arrived at Yanxi Building.

Under the guidance of several managers, including her brother-in-law, they are quickly becoming familiar with their respective jobs.

From the first to the third floor, inspect every table and chair in the lobby and private rooms, carefully check all the tableware, and even examine the furnishings in the rooms. Once everything is confirmed to be in order, then assign personnel accordingly.

Lin Jiacheng took the initiative to take on the work in the lobby on the first floor, while the work upstairs was handed over to the other two managers.

Each head waiter is responsible for a specific area, assigning waiters to their respective private rooms.

Ensure that each private room has at least three servers.

In accordance with Feng Zhengming's instructions, he instructed the three main waiters in charge of each private room to ensure that at least two of them were in the room to provide service.

Everything inside Yanxilou is ready, just waiting for its official opening today.

At 10:30, all the relatives and friends arrived at Yanxilou first.

Feng Nuanyou and her younger siblings are all dressed in very festive clothes today.

When the little girl arrived at Yanxi Restaurant, she immediately wanted to rush to the kitchen.

She wanted to visit her father and the others.

However, her mother reacted quickly and pulled her back.

"Don't go. Dad and the others are still preparing. They'll come out when they're done. You stay outside with us and wait patiently. What if you disturb Dad?"

When her mother pulled her back, Feng Nuanyou immediately pouted.

But she didn't dare to resist, and the little girl knew she shouldn't bother her father.

Relatives and family members arrived first, followed by many friends who came to offer their congratulations.

Then came some people who came specifically because of Feng Zhengming.

Almost all the master chefs and senior chefs from the entire Beijing culinary scene came.

When Chef Hou from the Beijing Chefs Association arrived, he was quite impressed by the grand scale of the event.

"Seriously, no wonder it's the restaurant of our top scholar. It attracted so many people as soon as it opened."

Another of Master Hou's colleagues also smiled and said, "Even foreigners have come. Everyone is really paying special attention to the opening of our champion's restaurant."

Chef Hou quickly spotted the Koffmans and several other renowned international chefs in the crowd.

Six of the chefs who were named among the top ten restaurants of the year alongside Feng Zhengming were also present today.

Clearly, they were all very curious about Yanxilou, which Feng Zhengming had gone to great lengths to reopen.

As more and more people arrived at the restaurant, Lin Jiacheng went to the kitchen to inform them.

Upon receiving a message from his brother-in-law, Feng Zhengming, along with his master and fellow disciples, prepared to go out to greet the guests.

The remaining small tasks in the kitchen were all handed over to the apprentices and trainees.

Before leaving, the master carefully straightened his chef's uniform.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow disciples also helped their master tidy up.

When their group walked out of the kitchen and arrived at the entrance of Yanxi Restaurant.

The audience erupted in gasps and applause.

The presence of Master Yan, in particular, surprised many of the experienced masters.

According to previous information, Master Yan would not be cooking at Xin Yanxi Restaurant this time.

But now, seeing Master Yan dressed in his chef's uniform, appearing with his apprentices...

Everyone couldn't help but wonder, was Master Yan going to take charge of the cooking himself?

Although his colleagues knew that the master chef himself might not necessarily be better than Feng Zhengming, the significance of the master chef taking charge of the cooking was indeed different.

Soon, in front of everyone, Master Yan spoke up.

"Thank you all for coming today. Yanxilou, a century-old brand, has finally reopened in Beijing after experiencing many ups and downs."

Many people might find it strange to see me, wondering if this old guy is going to take over Yanxilou again?
Haha, actually, it's not that I want to take over the cooking again. I'm just here to encourage my apprentices. My apprentices are the real head chefs of this new Yanxi Restaurant.

After hearing Master Yan's words, everyone present understood.

Sure enough, Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices were in charge of cooking at the new Yanxi Restaurant.

Everyone agrees that this is not wrong, after all, a restaurant and its craftsmanship need to be passed down.

Currently, Feng Zhengming and his senior apprentice have received this inheritance from their master.

From now on, everything about Yanxilou in the capital will be written by these two fellow disciples.

After the master finished speaking, he made way for Feng Zhengming to come forward.

Upon seeing this, Feng Zhengming immediately hesitated.

"Master, this, this won't do."

The master still pulled him to his side.

"This position is yours from now on. You will be the future owner and head chef of Yanxi Restaurant. From now on, you will have to manage everything well on your own."

At this point, a smile appeared on the master's face.

"Don't blame your master. Your master can only take you brothers this far. The rest of the journey is up to you brothers to walk."

After saying this, the master walked down the steps in front of the door and returned to the relatives and friends who had come to offer their congratulations.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow students stood in front of the door, looking at the many people who had come to offer their congratulations.

Among the crowd were Feng Zhengming's colleagues and those long-established master craftsmen.

There are also master chefs from the Beijing culinary scene.

There were also people from the capital, as well as master chefs from all over the country who came to offer their congratulations.

Of course, the foreign chefs led by Koffman were also there.

Feng Zhengming's gaze swept over everyone; at this moment, he was indeed somewhat excited.

The reopening of Yanxilou was different from the restaurants and eateries he opened in Shanghai.

The old-style restaurant was originally his own restaurant, a place where he could showcase his culinary skills.

The Yanxilou of today is different; it has a history spanning over a century.

This is a restaurant that represents Shandong cuisine.

Today, the red silk on the old plaque of Yanxilou was unveiled.

The official opening of Yanxilou signifies that Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices will now shoulder the responsibility of carrying on this legacy.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Feng Zhengming was indeed a little nervous.

After a brief silence, Feng Zhengming looked serious.

"Thank you everyone, thank you for gathering in front of Yanxi Restaurant today to witness the reopening of our Yanxi Restaurant."

Thank you to my master. He passed on his skills to me and now he has handed Yanxilou Restaurant to me. He didn't give me any requirements. In fact, he even allowed us apprentices to design most of the dishes on the menu ourselves.

Over the years, I, Feng Zhengming, have always believed that I have been diligent and conscientious in cooking, and that I have done a pretty good job.

Today I want to say to my master: Master, I will continue to uphold this craft and will run Yanxilou well.

The crowd erupted in applause, everyone expressing their high expectations and approval of Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming then called his fellow disciples forward. Together, they reached out and grabbed the red silk rope on the old plaque. As the sound of celebratory cannons rang out, they unveiled the plaque.

The red silk was pulled down, revealing the old plaque that contained the long history of Shandong cuisine to everyone.

Feng Zhengming stood under the old plaque and announced to everyone.

"Yanxi Restaurant is officially reopening today." (End of Chapter)