From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Zhu Xu's departure from Jubin Garden did not cause any ripples in the outside world, and even no one on the streets cared about it.

Or should we say that for ordinary people in Quancheng, no one knows who Zhu Xu is?
Coupled with the changes that have taken place at Jubinyuan, many diners frown when they mention Jubinyuan.

Therefore, no one cares whether the chefs in Jubinyuan’s kitchen stay or leave.

However, Zhu Xu's resignation from Jubinyuan still caused quite a stir in the culinary industry.

Especially when Cheng Guosheng visited Feng Zhengming at Huiquanlou for the first time.

In the lobby on the first floor of Huiquanlou, Cheng Guosheng was very rude to Feng Zhengming in front of the Huiquanlou service staff and the chefs in the kitchen.

"Feng Zhengming, do you really think you are such a big shot? To put it bluntly, we are just cooks. If you hadn't asked Huang Tao to write that article,

Then you step on the facade of our Jubin Garden, do you have a chance to get in?
Even Yan Xilou is gone, and Master Yan is now just an ordinary old chef. What qualifications do you, a small handyman from Yan Xilou, have to be on an equal footing with me?
You became famous by stepping on our Jubin Garden, and you poached people from everywhere, and you even poached me.

Let me tell you, if you dare to use Zhu Xu, I will make you pay."

Cheng Guosheng's personal visit surprised others.

Feng Zhengming was not surprised.

In his opinion, Cheng Guosheng should have wanted to come to his house and say these words to him a long time ago.

This incident with Zhu Xu just gave him an excuse.

So after hearing what he said, Feng Zhengming's face was full of smiles.

"Master Cheng, you have such a deep grudge against me. Why didn't you speak it out in public at the farewell party when Uncle Wang left?"

These words stunned Cheng Guosheng, but he certainly would not give in easily today.

"I was just giving face to Master. Don't think I'm afraid of you."

Feng Zhengming nodded and said, "I know you are not afraid of me, and I also know that you have always been unwilling to accept it. In fact, you should not have come today. We can see who is the real winner in the national cooking competition during the provincial selection."

Cheng Guosheng felt guilty, but he still said stubbornly, "Don't think you can definitely make it to the National Cooking Competition. See you at the trials then."

Feng Zhengming added: "You should know better than me why Zhu Xu left Jubinyuan. He is a chef who pursues his ideals, so he chose to leave Jubinyuan, which has become a dance hall."

Feng Zhengming's direct and impolite words made Cheng Guosheng's face flush with anger, and he had no way to refute it.

I could only stand there and listen to Feng Zhengming continue talking.

"You've come to the wrong place, Huiquanlou. Zhu Xu is not qualified to work in the kitchen of Huiquanlou. According to the rules I set, all chefs who come to apply for my job must first work in the kitchen of a restaurant for a year."

Cheng Guosheng was so surprised that he could hardly believe his ears.

Zhu Xu would rather work in the kitchen of a restaurant for a year than stay in Jubin Garden?
Feng Zhengming saw Cheng Guosheng's surprised face and continued, "If you want to find Zhu Xu, go to Ganfanpu to find him in the future. Of course, if you want to come to Huiquanlou for dinner, we welcome you at any time."

At this point, Cheng Guosheng finally realized that he really didn't get any benefit from coming to Huiquanlou.

In front of everyone in Huiquanlou, Cheng Guosheng even felt like he was being lectured by Feng Zhengming.

His face flushed, and he racked his brains to try to find something he could say to save his face.

In the end, no explanation could be found.

Cheng Guosheng could only say indignantly: "Okay, then we'll see what we can do in the selection competition."

Feng Zhengming nodded and agreed: "Okay, but Brother Cheng, remember to practice your skills when you go back. The things that Jubinyuan makes to deceive young people cannot be used in the competition."

"Hmph." Cheng Guosheng could only grit his teeth and leave with a cold snort.

After Cheng Guosheng left, Feng Zhengming turned around and said to the crowd watching the fun, "Now that you're done, get back to work."

Hearing this, everyone present immediately returned to their respective posts.

He Yunqing finally walked up to Feng Zhengming and said, "Did you really let Cheng Guosheng's apprentice go to the kitchen of the dry rice shop?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, the rules cannot be changed. From now on, no matter who comes to Huiquanlou to apply for a job, they must first work at the Ganfanpu for at least a year.

You also have to pass the internal competition at the end of the year, pass my assessment, and outperform the chefs at Huiquanlou before you are eligible to be transferred to the kitchen of Huiquanlou."

He Yunqing was also a little amused and said, "I heard that Zhu Xu's cooking skills are very good. In name, he is Cheng Guosheng's apprentice, but he has always been learning cooking from Master Wang."

Feng Zhengming said with a smile: "But he is not as capable as me, so he can only listen to my arrangements."

These words left He Yunqing completely speechless.

What He Yunqing was thinking was: That’s right, at your age, how could there be a chef as good as you?

But thinking about it this way, He Yunqing was once again amazed by Feng Zhengming's craftsmanship.

In terms of age, Feng Zhengming is a few years younger than Zhu Xu.

Not to mention comparing with Cheng Guosheng and others, Cheng Guosheng is old enough for Feng Zhengming to call him "uncle".

What He Yunqing couldn’t understand was why Feng Zhengming, who was so young, could be such a good cook?

This may also be a question that many people have.

What everyone doesn’t know is that Feng Zhengming’s cooking skills are the result of many years of hard work day and night.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that Feng Zhengming himself likes cooking and can immerse himself in cooking and enjoy the joy of it.

Because of his passion, the basic skills that seemed very difficult to many people at first turned out to be a pleasure for Feng Zhengming.

Is it hard to practice basic skills?
That is of course very bitter.

What chef hasn’t cut his hand while practicing his knife skills?

And what chef hasn’t been scalded by hot oil while practicing stir-frying?

Outsiders usually only see a chef's superb knife, fire and spoon skills after he has learned a lot, and will praise the chef for the delicious food he cooks.

Outsiders cannot see the hardships that every chef went through when he first started learning cooking in order to master superb knife, fire and spoon skills.

Although He Yunqing had never formally learned cooking in the kitchen, he could still imagine how much hard work Feng Zhengming had gone through to develop his cooking skills.

Feng Zhengming recalled his experience of learning cooking at Yanxilou and told it to He Yunqing with a smile on his face.

"Do you know why the brothers are so nice to me? It's because before I became their apprentice, I worked as a waiter for each of them.

At that time, I would rush to do any dirty or tiring work in the kitchen, just to prove my determination to learn cooking, so that my senior brothers could teach me something in their spare time. "

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, He Yunqing could probably imagine it.

From the very beginning, he was just taken in by Master Yan.

He was just a handyman in the kitchen of Yan Xilou.

I kept watching Master Yan and his senior brothers busy every day, and followed them to learn from the simplest basics.

Step by step, he impressed the master and fellow brothers of Yan Xilou with his hard work and determination.

By learning from my seniors, I gradually mastered the most basic things.

Finally, he was able to impress Master Yan and received his personal instruction.

He Yunqing sighed: "You must have suffered a lot to acquire your current skills."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "To achieve any success, doesn't it take hard work? I think when my master and fellow students first started learning cooking, they also went through the same hard work that I did. They kept learning and practicing to have such good cooking skills."

At this point, Feng Zhengming changed the subject: "It's a pity that some people have forgotten their original intentions."

He Yunqing immediately understood that Feng Zhengming was talking about Cheng Guosheng.

Cheng Guosheng has indeed forgotten his original intention, as evidenced by his willingness to accept the commercialization of Jubin Garden.

It even became a "dance hall" and the kitchen became a foil.

Obviously, for Cheng Guosheng now, it is better to cook according to the boss's requirements than to cook the dishes well, as long as the boss pays him a high enough salary.

Feng Zhengming didn't say anything more. He handed the front to He Yunqing and went to the kitchen.

At Fengjia Restaurant, Zhu Xu arrived early in the morning to report in.

Yang Bin wasn't too surprised to see him.

But Xia Hui, Sun Decai and others in the kitchen were a little surprised.

Xia Hui even exclaimed, "Brother Zhu, are you really going to come to the kitchen of our dry rice shop?"

Zhu Xu nodded and replied, "Yes, the chef said that I have to work in the kitchen of the restaurant for a year before I have a chance to compete for the job at Huiquanlou."

After hearing this, Xia Hui was even more surprised.

"You, aren't you doing well in Jubin Garden?"

Zhu Xu smiled bitterly and said, "Jubinyuan? Do you think the kitchen of Jubinyuan still needs my cooking skills?"

This question left Xia Hui and the others speechless.

Sun Decai was a little surprised: "Jubinyuan is also a famous restaurant in Quancheng. How could their kitchen not need your skills? Are they not going to cook?"

Xia Hui helped explain: "Jubin Garden is now decorated like a dance hall, and it seems that the boss has invited many chefs from other places. Anyway, there are many fancy things."

After listening to Xia Hui's explanation, Sun Decai was even more puzzled: "Why did Jubinyuan do that? Isn't it a Shandong cuisine restaurant?"

This time Zhu Xu gave the answer: "The boss felt that Shandong cuisine alone was not profitable, so he wanted to make something more profitable."

Shen Rongsen couldn't help but shook his head and smiled bitterly: "The boss of Jubinyuan wanted to do this in the beginning, right? But Master Wang stopped him."

Zhu Xu was frank: "Yes, when the master was here, he didn't dare to do that."

Xia Hui asked curiously, "What about your master? Is Chef Cheng really willing to listen to the boss?"

Zhu Xu was silent for a while, and finally said bitterly: "Master? The boss gave him more money, so Master agreed."

Yang Bin said with a smile: "So, your boss must have given Cheng Guosheng a lot of extra money."

Zhu Xu nodded and replied: "The boss gave Master a share of Jubin Garden and also increased Master's salary."

These words made everyone suddenly understand why Cheng Guosheng agreed to do that.

Cheng Guosheng is tied to the owner of Jubinyuan.

Or it should be said that the owner of Jubinyuan is also very smart.

He first tried all kinds of strange things, but at least he had the chef Cheng Guosheng to back him up in the end.

Xia Hui couldn't help but say, "What if our restaurant becomes like Jubin Garden? I'm afraid my grandfather will be so angry that he will die."

Sun Decai thought about it and suddenly said, "In this case, wouldn't Huiquanlou become one of the three major restaurants in Quancheng today?"

Yang Bin said with a smile: "Huiquanlou has long been considered one of the three major restaurants in Quancheng. Don't forget that Huiquanlou used to be as famous as Jufengde."

"I know. What I mean is that after the chef takes over, won't Huiquanlou become one of the top three restaurants again?" Sun Decai asked again.

Yang Bin replied: "Maybe it has been considered in everyone's mind, but one more thing is needed."

"What is it?" Everyone except Xia Hui asked in unison.

Without waiting for Yang Bin to answer, Xia Hui gave the answer.

"China old name Number."

This time everyone understood instantly.

Indeed, "China's time-honored brand" is more important to Huiquanlou.

Only by hanging that sign can Huiquanlou truly become the top restaurant in Quancheng.

Yang Bin did not let everyone indulge in their fantasies.

"Alright, alright, go in, change your clothes and get ready for work. Thinking alone is useless, you still have to work hard."

Then Yang Bin actually asked Zhu Xu to go into the kitchen to help.

"Zhu Xu, you can be in charge of cutting and preparing the food first. Let's see what you have learned in Jubin Garden. You are not allowed to cook here for the time being."

This surprised the other people in the kitchen.

Everyone is very clear that Zhu Xu has a high position in the kitchen of Jubinyuan.

Zhu Xu has also participated in the Youth Chef Competition and was among the top ten chefs.

As a result, Yang Bin actually asked Zhu Xu to do some cutting and preparing work in the kitchen.

But Zhu Xu didn't complain, but nodded and agreed: "Okay, Uncle Yang, I understand."

Seeing that Zhu Xu agreed directly, Yang Bin had a good impression of him.

Being able to let go of one's past status and start over in the kitchen does require a certain level of psychological endurance.

You need to adjust your mindset, otherwise most people really can't accept such a gap.

However, judging from Zhu Xu’s performance in the kitchen of the dry rice shop after half a day.

Everyone admired him.

He will complete the cutting work very neatly as required.

Even when things are busy, Zhu Xu will take the initiative to help with plating and serving.

These are the things that the apprentices who came to Huiquanlou before would do only after being asked and taught by Yang Bin.

It can be seen from this that Zhu Xu is indeed a person who can endure hardships.

Yang Bin couldn't help but feel that after Zhu Xu's growth, he might become a strong competitor of Feng Zhengming in the future.

On second thought, if Feng Zhengming passed the provincial selection and successfully represented Shandong cuisine in the national cooking competition, it would seem that Zhu Xu would have a hard time catching up.

When Feng Zhengming was not busy in the afternoon, he did not go to the dry rice shop to see Zhu Xu.

It was just that when Huiquanlou closed in the evening, he invited everyone from Huiquanlou to go to Ganfanpu for a midnight snack.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Feng Zhengming asked everyone in Huiquanlou's kitchen to take a look at the current kitchen of the dry rice shop.

It was to put some pressure on them, so that they could understand the strength of the kitchen staff at the dry rice shop. (End of this chapter)