From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Xia Mingye was left at Huiquanlou by his sister and was arranged by Feng Zhengming to join the kitchen team.

At the beginning, Xia Mingye was still quite confident.

In his opinion, with his abilities and experience, it should not be difficult for him to integrate into the kitchen.

He felt that even if he could not keep up with Feng Zhengming's pace, at least he would not hold back the kitchen.

But when Huiquanlou really started to welcome customers, the kitchen officially got into gear.

Xia Mingye suddenly realized that he was the only one standing in the kitchen and could not help at all.

Under his observation, the kitchen of Huiquanlou has become a cohesive whole.

Feng Zhengming is the brains of command and dispatch, and his daily instructions will be executed quickly and strictly.

With strong execution capabilities, everyone in the kitchen is in top form.

For example, a sweet and sour carp.

In the kitchen, the fish are killed freshly, cleaned, cut into pieces, marinated, battered, fried, and finally served on a plate with sauce.

During the entire process, Feng Zhengming didn't even have to intervene, as other people in the kitchen were able to complete it as required.

After being taken out of the pot, the carp is golden and upright, and its shape is very lively.

The sweet and sour sauce poured on the fish exudes an enticing sweet flavor.

Just through this dish, Xia Mingye has witnessed the overall strength of Huiquanlou's kitchen.

It’s not that the skills of individual chefs at Huiquanlou are much better than those of chefs at other big restaurants.

It's the entire team of Huiquanlou. Their ability to collaborate is much better than that of any kitchen staff of any big restaurant Xia Mingye has ever seen.

Different chefs are involved in every step of making a dish.

They can ensure that the processes they are responsible for are done well.

This in itself is not an easy thing to do.

In the kitchen of Huiquanlou, every step of the process is guaranteed to be done well, which is simply perfect.

Perhaps under normal circumstances, the dishes prepared by restaurants on a daily basis are only around six or seven points.

This score is enough to satisfy most diners.

It is already at the standard of a restaurant.

However, under the command of Feng Zhengming, the kitchen of Huiquanlou has been able to serve dishes at a level of 7 or 8 points on a daily basis.

It completely exceeds the daily standards of most restaurants.

If the chef in charge performs exceptionally well, the level may be close to nine points.

This leaves customers with nothing to complain about.

For the first time, Xia Mingye felt that he was not like a chef who had learned cooking skills in the kitchen for many years since he was a child.

In the kitchen of Huiquanlou, he was just like a primary school student.

After some observation, Xia Mingye finally began to try to integrate into the Huiquanlou kitchen team.

Let’s start with some of the very beginning steps.

Xia Mingye took the initiative to take over some of the work on the water platform.

Then slowly move from the water counter to the chopping board to help with the cutting and preparing work.

During this process, Xia Mingye gradually found the feeling of integrating into the team.

And he really integrated into the team, which gave Xia Mingye a unique and satisfying experience.

After being busy throughout the dinner time, I want to ask Xia Mingye if it was hard.

Of course it is hard work. How can working in the kitchen not be hard?
But Xia Mingye felt that the hard work was worth it.

The experience in the kitchen of Huiquanlou gave him a different experience, allowing him to feel the unique charm of teamwork, while also giving him great affirmation of his abilities.

Because in order to integrate into the kitchen and cook with everyone, you really need extremely strong abilities.

At the end of dinner, Feng Zhengming was asked to leave and say goodbye to every table of customers who left.

Every time Feng Zhengming receives compliments from customers, he responds with a smile.

“Thank you for your praise. The quality of Huiquanlou’s dishes is inseparable from the contributions of every chef in the kitchen, so please remember every chef in the kitchen of Huiquanlou.”

In response to this, Feng Zhengming would guide customers to look at the photos of the chef hanging on the wall of Huiquanlou.

In this way, every guest can see every chef of Huiquanlou and remember the chefs in the kitchen.

Customers also feel very comfortable with Feng Zhengming's recommendations and introductions.

“Chef Feng is always so humble and never takes all the credit for himself.”

“I believe that with Chef Feng and your team, Huiquan Restaurant will get better and better.”

"Now Huiquanlou is already the best restaurant in Quancheng, and it will continue to get better and better. Is it going to become the best restaurant in the country?"

“With Chef Feng and his team, that can be achieved.”

Accepting the customers' compliments, Feng Zhengming and He Yunqing saw the customers off together.

Whether customers book a private room at Huiquanlou or stay in the lobby of Huiquanlou, almost everyone can enjoy this arrangement.

This is one of the reasons why many people always give priority to Huiquanlou when choosing a restaurant that needs to show some status.

Of course, Feng Zhengming's courtesy was mutual.

The guests praised Huiquanlou and respected him and Huiquanlou.

He will also respect every customer.

After closing down in the evening, Feng Zhengming took everyone to the dry rice shop for a midnight snack.

Xia Mingye naturally joined everyone.

On the way, Xia Mingye gradually integrated into the team and got along well with the young chefs.

He also took the opportunity to ask questions to Gu Zhicheng and others.

"You guys are in the kitchen, following the chef's rhythm, don't you feel tired?"

Qi Jiale immediately asked back: "You are working in the kitchen of your restaurant. Do you think it's hard?"

This question stumped Xia Mingye. After thinking for a moment, he said, "It is indeed hard work."

Qi Jiale smiled and said, "Look, who in the kitchen doesn't have hard work?"

Xia Mingye continued, "But the requirements for many dishes in the kitchens of other restaurants are probably not as high as Huiquanlou's. Don't you think it's too demanding?"

After hearing this, Gu Zhicheng said, "What's so harsh about this? Huiquanlou has such a good reputation now, isn't it because of our strict requirements? If Huiquanlou's business is good, won't we also be able to have better income?"

Yao Zhenhui said: "You are working with us today. Do you think it is harder than working at home?"

Xia Mingye was a little embarrassed when asked this question and said, "To be honest, it's a lot easier than when I was at home."

This made everyone laugh.

Bao Feng said: “You see, high requirements will not make us work harder, as long as everyone cooperates well, the kitchen staff will do the same work.

But when people come to Huiquanlou, they will say that our kitchen in Huiquanlou cooks better dishes, and they will also praise us for cooking more seriously. Isn’t this a good thing? "

After saying this to everyone, Xia Mingye also felt that this was a very good thing.

He even wondered if he could do the same after returning to Confucius Mansion Restaurant.

After thinking about it, Xia Mingye quickly rejected this idea. Perhaps there are only a few restaurant kitchens in the country that can do it like Huiquanlou's kitchen.

Huiquanlou's approach is based on an overly capable chef like Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming has strong personal abilities and can break down the preparation process of each dish into great detail.

Everyone in the kitchen can complete each step as required according to the disassembly process.

This set of processes is not something that every chef can do.

Everyone came to Feng's restaurant together.

Come here, especially to the door of Fengjia Dry Food Shop at this time of night.

The hot scene he saw shocked Xia Mingye again.

In front of the Feng family's dry restaurant, there were tables lined up on the road, and almost every table was occupied by people.

Compared to some of the surrounding blocks, they have fallen into darkness and silence.

The road in front of Fengjia Restaurant is like stepping into another world.

Feng Zhengming took a quick look and said to everyone, "It looks like there's no room outside. Let's go in. The private rooms should be empty tonight. Go pick two of them."

At Feng Zhengming's call, everyone in Huiquanlou immediately walked towards the dry rice shop.

Feng Zhengming took Xia Mingye with him and went to the kitchen of the dry rice shop.

He led Xia Mingye to the door of the back kitchen and let Xia Mingye look inside.

Xia Mingye soon saw his sister busy at the stove in the kitchen.

Xia Hui went to the kitchen and cooked, looking very dashing and heroic.

Especially Xia Hui's stir-frying process and her agility when taking out the spoon made Xia Mingye feel that his sister was really like a chef.

After serving, Xia Hui shouted without hesitation, "Serve the dishes. Three stir-fried dishes."

When Xia Mingye saw his sister shouting like that, he couldn't help but smile.

His sister at this time was really different from the impression he had of her.

Feng Zhengming patted Xia Mingye gently: "How is it? Do you think your sister is beautiful like this?"

Xia Mingye nodded and replied: "It is indeed very beautiful. My sister really looks like a great chef."

Feng Zhengming then asked, "Who do you think is better, you or your sister, now that you have obtained the advanced cooking certificate?"

Xia Mingye was stunned at first when asked this question, then looked at the figure who was still busy in the kitchen.

He was a little unsure for a moment.

"Who is more powerful? I really don't know."

Feng Zhengming smiled, hugged Xia Mingye and left from the back kitchen door.

He did not let Xia Mingye experience the kitchen of the dry rice shop.

Instead, when ordering food, he specifically asked the kitchen staff to let Xia Hui be responsible for preparing the food for their two tables.

Xia Hui learned the news in the kitchen and guessed that it was Feng Zhengming who arranged it.

Yang Bin was still joking beside him: "Your uncle wants to give your brother a warning, to let your brother know that he is still a flower in a greenhouse and can't compare with you."

Xia Hui curled her lips and said, "My brother is such a heartless guy, he won't take it to heart at all."

In fact, Xia Hui really knows her younger brother very well.

Xia Mingye really didn't take it to heart at all.

Even when he tasted his sister's cooking, he praised her while eating, but he didn't actually think that his sister was necessarily better than him.

Even when Xia Mingye was eating, he showed off to other people in Huiquanlou.

"Hahaha, look at the way you guys eat. Do you think the food my sister cooks is delicious? Isn't my sister amazing? Her cooking skills are definitely not worse than yours."

Faced with Xia Mingye's bragging, everyone in Huiquanlou was a little amused and helpless.

Qi Jiale asked: "You are not panicking at all? Your sister is so powerful, aren't you afraid that she will come back and take your place as the successor?"

Xia Mingye said with a smile: "That's my sister, my real sister. If she is willing to go back and take over the family restaurant, I will immediately give up my position and be willing to follow my sister."

After hearing what Xia Mingye said, everyone realized that he was truly happy for his sister's ability.

Feng Zhengming also re-recognized the relationship between the two siblings.

Obviously, Xia Mingye never wanted to compete with his sister for anything since he was a child.

He is a guy who would rather be under his sister's command and do what he likes.

So he signed up for the challenge on his own without telling his family.

Maybe for Xia Mingye, he came to participate in the challenge just to enjoy the process.

You can see the cooking skills of the province's top chefs and learn a few tricks from them.

After returning, he can improve his cooking skills through what he learned from the competition.

After listening to Xia Mingye's talk about his mental journey and plans for signing up for this challenge.

Everyone in the kitchen of Huiquanlou really looked at him with new eyes.

Gu Zhicheng gave Xia Mingye a thumbs up and said, "That's great! You really have some ideas. You actually want to learn and steal from others by participating in the competition?"

Qi Jiale slapped his thigh and said, "Why didn't I think of this idea? If I had known, I would have signed up too."

Guan Wei next to him said bluntly: "You are not eligible to sign up."

This made Qi Jiale even more depressed: "No, next year, next year I have to hurry up and pass the senior chef certificate."

Feng Zhengming smiled and patted Xia Mingye: "Your ideas are very good and your attitude is very good. No matter what we do, we really need your attitude."

Xia Mingye smiled and said, "My sister always says that I just don't have the ambition to make progress."

"That's your sister's misunderstanding. If you don't have ambition, why bother to participate in the challenge?" Feng Zhengming directly denied Xia Hui's judgment.

"You also have your own ambition. You want to improve yourself by participating in competitions and learn some good techniques from others. These are your ambitions."

After hearing this, Xia Mingye quickly said, "Uncle Feng, don't tell my sister about this."

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked, "What's wrong? I hope your sister always thinks that you are a child who has no ambition to make progress?"

Qi Jiale beside him suddenly couldn't help asking: "Xiao Xia, you don't have any bad hobbies, do you like being scolded by your sister?"

When these words were spoken, everyone looked at Xia Mingye strangely.

Feng Zhengming also felt that Xia Mingye seemed to have such a tendency.

However, Xia Mingye did not admit it, but said: "My sister has loved cooking since she was a child, but her family did not allow her to learn cooking, so she always placed her hopes on me.

So she was very strict with me since I was a child, and she scolded me more than my parents and grandfather.

I know she didn’t mean to be so harsh on me, she just wanted me to do better and support the family business.”

After saying this, Xia Mingye smiled again and said, "It's not that I like being scolded by her, but her scolding is a spur to me, which makes me dare not slack off and must work harder."

Feng Zhengming sat and chatted with Xia Mingye today, and he really had a new respect for Xia Mingye.

This is a person with an optimistic and positive attitude, and who is also motivated and hardworking.

The key is that he is also very young, younger than Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming felt that perhaps in the future Xia Mingye would become a chef who could catch up with him. (End of this chapter)