From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Master Xia and Grandpa Feng drank two glasses of wine together, and Xia Mingye also drank two glasses with them.

After drinking, Master Xia ordered the Huiquanlou’s specialty, the silver thread roll.

At the end of the meal, Master Xia taught his grandson: "Xiaoye, you can use the silver thread roll to break it apart and wipe the shrimp soup at the bottom of the plate to eat it."

These words reminded Xia Mingye, and he immediately did what his grandfather said.

However, he was still a little slow because Xia Hui had already dipped the silver thread curls first.

Xia Mingye watched his sister almost wipe the bottom of the plate clean with the silver thread curler.

Although she looked unhappy, she did not dare to lose her temper with her sister. She could only wipe the remaining bottom of the plate carefully with a silver thread.

The silver thread roll soaked in shrimp soup was put into the mouth for a moment.

The rich flavor of the shrimp soup, paired with the aroma of the silver roll itself, is really delicious.

Xia Mingye's eyebrows kept twitching while he was eating, and it really felt like his eyebrows were about to fall off.

"You guys are really good at eating, Master. If you hadn't told me earlier, my sister would have wiped it all out."

Xia Hui smiled and licked her fingers: "Who told you not to find out? If you wait for grandpa to tell you, you may not be able to eat it."

At this point, Xia Hui added, "If Sister Luo Qing hadn't refused to eat, you wouldn't have had any."

Luo Qing smiled and said, "Just eat your fill."

Xia Mingye said: "Sister Luo Qing is the boss's wife. If she wants to eat, can't she just say it?"

Luo Qing waved her hands: "I'm not the boss's wife yet. Besides, even if I were the boss's wife, I can't eat whatever I want."

Xia Hui reached out and tapped her brother: "You just talk nonsense. How can Sister Luo Qing eat so casually? These don't cost money, right?"

Seeing the brother and sister playing around, Master Xia couldn't help but sigh.

"You two will both study in Quancheng from now on. I hope you can study hard and master the skills. When you two return home in the future, you can pass on the Confucius Mansion cuisine together."

Xia Hui followed her grandfather's instructions and urged her younger brother on.

"Did you hear that? I asked you to stay so that you can study hard and inherit and promote Confucius cuisine in the future."

Xia Mingye said: "Sister, you should come back with me when the time comes, and we will work together to revive the Confucius Mansion cuisine."

Xia Hui was hesitant after hearing her brother's words.

She was very clear in her mind that now, seemingly under pressure from her grandfather, her father did not stop her from continuing to learn cooking.

But in fact, due to his father's deep-rooted traditional ideas, he still did not want Xia Hui to go back and inherit the Confucius family cuisine.

It is not difficult to see that Xia Mingye's cooking skills have improved significantly this time.

After the provincial youth chef cooking exchange competition.

After Xia Mingye returned, he must have received serious intensive training from his father.

So even if her father accepted the fact that Xia Hui learned cooking, he still didn't want Xia Hui to go back and inherit the family business.

Xia Hui, who understood this, looked at her grandfather and continued, "I will have a broader world. I hope to be like my uncle, to see more things and to own a small restaurant where I can show my ideas."

Xia Mingye was a little surprised: "Sister, do you want to open your own store in the future?"

Xia Hui nodded without hesitation: "Yes, I hope to open my own private restaurant, just like the Yan Family Restaurant in Grandpa Yan's house."

After hearing what his sister said, Xia Mingye pondered for a moment and said, "Xia's Restaurant? Isn't that the same as ours?"

Xia Hui was immediately amused by her brother's unique idea.

"You idiot, I'm not going home to open a restaurant. Can't I open one in Quancheng? Or follow my uncle to the south and open a small restaurant of my own in the south?"

When Master Xia heard this, he could understand his granddaughter's thoughts.

In Master Xia's heart, he didn't want his granddaughter to go back and take over the family business.

Because if you want to take over the family business, you must bear the weight of it.

Master Xia would feel that that is not the responsibility a girl should bear.

The heavy burden should be borne by grandson Xia Mingye.

Therefore, Master Xia is quite supportive of his granddaughter's plan to open her own restaurant in the future.

Having her own small restaurant will allow my granddaughter to live more freely and enjoy her own life with peace of mind.

Master Xia said to his granddaughter, "Girl Hui, your idea is great. Grandpa supports you. If you can really open a small restaurant in the future, I will retire and help you."

Xia Hui was really touched to hear that her grandfather was so supportive of her.

"Okay, Grandpa, you must wait for me. When I become a chef who can handle everything on my own, I will open a small restaurant and invite you to come to my restaurant to guide me."

Master Xia agreed with a smile: "Okay, Grandpa will take good care of his health and try to witness my granddaughter become a chef and open her own small restaurant."

When Xia Mingye saw his grandfather say this, he couldn't help but curl his lips: "Grandpa, you have always been partial to my sister."

Grandpa Feng immediately smiled and said, "Mingye, you are a boy. Although my sister is a few years older than you, she is a girl and should be taken care of more."

Xia Mingye immediately laughed again and said, "I know about Grandpa Feng, so I also want to follow my sister in the future. My sister will open a small restaurant, and I will work as a handyman in the kitchen for her."

Xia Hui immediately said, "Get lost! You have to inherit the family business well, understand?"

When saying this, Xia Hui became serious.

"Xia Mingye, you must remember that you are the successor of Confucius cuisine, so you must practice your skills well, go back and make Confucius cuisine well, and pass it on in the future."

Being warned so seriously by his sister, Xia Mingye could only nod and agree.

At this time, Luo Qing said, "Grandpa Xia, Xiaohui, I have been on business trips frequently recently. There was a period of time before when I was arranged to go on a business trip to Shanghai in the south. I have some immature ideas of my own."

Master Xia smiled and said, "Xiao Luo, tell me what you think."

Luo Qing said: "I think that if Confucius cuisine wants to develop better, it should be promoted to more capable chefs so that more people can learn it. Only by pooling ideas and learning it can it be better passed on.

In Shanghai, I came into contact with Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and some other cuisines, including some foreign Western food.

My feeling is that compared to them, Shandong cuisine is actually a little conservative.

This proves that he may be a person who is more advanced and can keep up with some of the ideas outside.

It means daring to make some attempts, not sticking to the stereotypes, and incorporating characteristics from other places into Shandong cuisine.”

After listening to Luo Qing's words, Master Xia fell into deep thought.

Luo Qing also quickly said: "Grandpa Xia, please don't be angry. I'm just telling you some of my experiences outside. These are some of my immature thoughts."

Master Xia waved his hand: "No, I'm not angry. Xiao Luo, I think these ideas of yours are very valuable suggestions." After a brief pause, Master Xia continued with a smile.

"During this period, I have also been thinking about how to better pass on Confucius Mansion cuisine? And let more people see and eat it, because a dish must be cooked and eaten by people, so that more people can eat it, which is more conducive to its inheritance and continuation.

If it is just made to look good, it can be displayed in some competition or on a cooking show stage.

Then the dish loses its original meaning.

Food should not only look good, but also be delicious to eat.”

Luo Qing also said: "Yes, Grandpa Xia, you said too much. Food should be beautiful to look at and also delicious to eat."

Master Xia said: "So, in this regard, Zhengming did a very good job.

He always comes up with some wonderful ideas for dishes, making an originally ordinary dish become very beautiful.

And the food tastes delicious to the customers, which is really a skill.”

Grandpa Feng couldn't help but say, "Old Xia, you don't have to keep praising Zhengming."

Master Xia smiled and said, "He is indeed worthy of praise."

Then Master Xia continued, "What Xiao Luo said just now is very right. We should also learn some of Zhengming's ideas, let more people learn Confucius Mansion cuisine, and research some good-looking and delicious dishes to win the favor of diners.

Only when more people like it can a dish be better preserved and passed on.”

Master Xia also admitted that Shandong cuisine is more conservative than Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine.

"So I and several people in Quancheng said at the beginning that we should give more opportunities for young people to go out and see more things outside, broaden their horizons, and not limit themselves to the local area or province."

Grandpa Feng said: "Being conservative is not necessarily a bad thing. Conservatism can better continue traditional things."

Master Xia nodded: "Old Feng, you are right. Conservatism can be very good for the continuation of heritage, but the times are different now, and we also need to keep up with the development of the times."

Luo Qing added: "Zhengming was right when he said that innovation cannot be blindly innovated, but should be based on the foundation of maintaining the status quo.

We need to preserve the unique techniques of Shandong cuisine, use our Shandong cuisine techniques to make some innovations, integrate different dishes from other places, and process different ingredients to make the dishes better. "

After listening to Luo Qing's clear and logical explanation, Master Xia had a different impression of her.

"It seems that Zhengming is really a very capable person. Xiao Luo's current concepts have really improved a lot. And Xiao Luo, this should be our second meeting. I can clearly feel that you have become more confident."

Master Xia has a good memory and he still remembers how Luo Qing looked the last time he met her.

Grandpa Feng also smiled and said: "Xiao Luo has indeed changed a lot in this period of time. She has become more confident and beautiful, and she has also become more thoughtful."

Luo Qing was a little embarrassed when she was suddenly praised by the two old men.

"Grandpa Xia, Grandpa, why are you suddenly praising me?"

Xia Hui chimed in, "Hehehe, because Sister Luo Qing, you have really changed a lot. You are so confident now and have your own opinions. I find that you are becoming more and more like my uncle."

Xia Mingye didn't understand what his sister said. He looked at Luo Qing and asked curiously, "How does Sister Luo Qing look like Uncle Feng?"

Hearing what her brother said, Xia Hui couldn't help but hit her brother's head again.

"When I say similar, I mean that Sister Luo Qing's confidence and the way she expresses herself are becoming more and more like Uncle Shi."

Master Xia looked at his grandson and said, "I really regret not letting Xiaoye come here earlier. If Xiaoye had come to learn from Zhengming earlier, he might have made faster progress."

Grandpa Feng smiled and said, "It's not too late now. Mingye is very capable. If he learns a little, he will be very powerful."

Xia Mingye quickly expressed his opinion: "Grandpa, I will definitely learn well from Uncle Feng here."

Seeing that his grandson is very motivated, Master Xia is still willing to believe in Feng Zhengming's ability.

Because the changes in both Xia Hui and Luo Qing are obvious before our eyes.

Master Xia felt that if he let his grandson Xia Mingye study with Feng Zhengming for a period of time, he would be able to see changes in his grandson.

"Okay, I'll buy a ticket and go back tomorrow. You stay with your sister and learn from your Uncle Feng."

Although Feng Zhengming was very busy tonight and had no time to accompany his grandfather and Master Xia, Master Xia still enjoyed the meal very much.

The guests from the upstairs table who brought Moutai liquor wanted to apologize to Feng Zhengming in person again when they came downstairs after eating.

However, Feng Zhengming was busy in the kitchen, so they didn't see Feng Zhengming in the end.

They could only let He Yunqing and Luo Qing express their apologies on their behalf.

What's more, the other party actually left behind a bottle of unopened Moutai liquor.

"We gave this bottle of wine to Chef Feng to express our apologies tonight. Chef Feng did make a great dish with Moutai tonight. We really admire him."

An older person from the other group came out and said that after He Yunqing and Luo Qing discussed it, they went to the kitchen to ask Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming said directly: "Just accept it. Since I cooked dishes made with Moutai for them, why can't I accept their bottle of Moutai? Accept it."

Feng Zhengming said he would accept it, so Luo Qing came out and accepted the wine.

Master Xia also sat in Huiquanlou until the business closed in the evening.

Feng Zhengming left the finishing and cleaning work in the kitchen to others, and he came out of the kitchen.

"Uncle Xia, I'm so sorry for making you wait for so long."

Master Xia smiled and said, "It's okay. Your treat tonight is worth my wait. I don't have much to say. I just want to ask you to help teach these two siblings."

Feng Zhengming naturally agreed: "Uncle Master, please rest assured. I will do my best to teach them."

After receiving Feng Zhengming's promise, Master Xia nodded with satisfaction.

"Then I'm relieved. I look forward to your successful selection in the trials, and I also look forward to your truly shining in the national competition, so that our Shandong cuisine can show a new look and new vitality in the national competition."

Feng Zhengming responded seriously: "Uncle Master, please rest assured. I will do my best."

Afterwards, Luo Qing was asked to help accompany the Xia siblings and send Master Xia back to the hotel where he was staying.

Grandpa Feng stayed in Huiquanlou, preparing to go back with Feng Zhengming.

After seeing off Master Xia and his companions, Feng Zhengming returned to the kitchen and cleaned the place with everyone else.

Of course, we didn’t forget to let everyone taste the roasted duck heart.

Feng Zhengming even let his grandfather have a taste of it.

After eating it, my grandfather said, "It does have the aroma of Moutai, but it doesn't seem to be very flavorful."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said: "Adding Moutai is just to make it more expensive." (End of this chapter)