From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 536 Returning with Honor
After the competition, most of the participating chefs planned to stay in Shanghai for a few more days.

Feng Zhengming was thinking about the dry rice shop and restaurant at home.

Moreover, during these days of competition, he also took time out to play with Luo Qing in Shanghai under the arrangement of Grandpa Situ.

So after the game, he packed his luggage and went back to Quancheng with his grandfather, third uncle and Luo Qing.

Even the other chefs from the Shandong cuisine team did not go back with them, but stayed in Shanghai for a few more days.

Grandpa Situ did not go back to Quancheng with them.

It’s not that Grandpa Situ doesn’t want to, but he has been invited by the city of Shanghai to participate in some activities held in the city.

Feng Zhengming and his uncle bought four soft sleeper train tickets together.

When we got on the train, there were exactly four of us together.

The return journey was also smooth. There were people who were working outside and were also returning to Quancheng at the end of the year. They recognized Feng Zhengming on the train.

As a Shandong cuisine chef, Feng Zhengming won the top prize in this national cooking competition, and naturally received praise from his fellow townspeople.

People from his hometown who recognized him on the train all praised him for vindicating and bringing glory to Shandong cuisine.

Feng Zhengming is still relatively modest. He said that he learned a lot from participating in the national competition. He also said that chefs from other places are also very good and he hopes to communicate and learn more in the future.

Everyone from my hometown on the train said that they would definitely go to Fengjia Ganfanpu and Huiquanlou for a meal after returning home.

"We have to go and eat there to support Chef Feng."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Thank you all for coming. Whether you go to Feng's dry rice shop or Huiquanlou, we will definitely prepare the dishes for you."

When Feng Zhengming went to participate in the national competition, he received a very warm farewell.

When he came back, although he had a full load, because he came back first, it seemed a little quiet.

However, when Feng Zhengming returned to Fengjia Restaurant.

He immediately saw a banner hung above the door of Feng’s dry restaurant.

Then when they saw him coming back, everyone in the restaurant, including those in the kitchen, came out to welcome him.

Everyone clapped and cheered to welcome Feng Zhengming.

"Number one scholar, number one scholar, our number one scholar is back."

Seeing how welcoming everyone was, even people who were supposed to be at Huiquanlou showed up at Fengjia Restaurant.

Feng Zhengming was still a little surprised, and then he looked at his third uncle.

Sure enough, Uncle San smiled, indicating that he had arranged these on purpose.

Third Senior Brother Yang Bin stepped forward and said, "Quick, top scholar, take out your trophy and show it to us all."

Senior Brother Li Huidong immediately stopped him: "Third Brother, can we just take out the trophy casually? There are so many people here today, what if the trophy is damaged?"

The eldest brother always cares about the younger brother.

I know how difficult it is for my junior brother to win back this top scholar trophy.

Therefore, the eldest senior brother did not want the younger junior brother to take out the trophy casually, especially since so many people gathered at the Feng family restaurant today.

Feng Zhengming understood that his senior brother was thinking about him, but he also knew that everyone who came to Feng’s dry rice shop to welcome him back today wanted to see the trophy.

He smiled and said to the eldest brother: "It's okay. Everyone is here to welcome me back today. I'm sure everyone wants to see it. I'll take it out and show it to everyone."

Seeing that Feng Zhengming decided to take it out, Li Huidong asked his two fellow apprentices to help him protect it and not allow anyone else to touch it.

Feng Zhengming opened his suitcase and took out a tightly sealed box from it.

Unfold the towels that are wrapped around the box layer by layer.

When the box was opened, inside was the trophy, which was also wrapped tightly in a towel.

These towels were bought specially because we were worried that Feng Zhengming would damage the trophy on the way back.

The towel wrapped around it was unwrapped, allowing everyone to finally see the trophy with their own eyes.

The top scholar's trophy is a specially made gilt enamel trophy.

When it was taken out and presented in front of everyone, everyone couldn't help but exclaim "It's so beautiful".

Even Li Huidong thought she was very beautiful and was filled with envy for his junior brother.

Someone wanted to reach out and step forward, but was immediately stopped by the people around him.

"Don't reach out. You can't touch this trophy casually. Do you know how hard it was for Chef Feng to win this trophy?"

"Yes, that's right. I went through so much hardship and cooked so many delicious dishes before I could win it back."

“It’s really not easy to win a trophy like this.”

“This is a symbol of Chef Feng’s strength.”

"Yes, starting today, Chef Feng is not only the best Shandong cuisine chef, he is also the best chef in the country."

Faced with everyone's praise, Feng Zhengming remained humble while holding the trophy.

“I can’t say he’s the best chef in the country, but I can say he’s one of the better chefs in the country.”

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, everyone present laughed.

"Hahaha, Chef Feng is still so humble."

"Yes, Chef Feng has always been a very humble person."

"But he is not modest about his craftsmanship, it is really amazing."

"I really watched every dish in this national competition. Chef Feng's cooking skills are really amazing."

"The chefs in Beijing and Hong Kong are no match for Chef Feng."

“So our Shandong cuisine is still the best.”

"Yes, Shandong cuisine is the top cuisine."

……

This time, Feng Zhengming won the top prize, which really made many people in Qilu feel proud.

In recent years, Shandong cuisine has been subject to a lot of criticism outside of its home region.

There are always people who look down on Shandong cuisine, saying it is something only poor people eat.

Some even say Shandong cuisine is heavy in oil and salt, and is cooked in a sticky and black manner.

These statements made people from all over Qi and Lu feel very uncomfortable.

Obviously there is more to Shandong cuisine than that, and it is so delicious when cooked well.

The result is always subject to various criticisms.

This time, Feng Zhengming won the first place in the national cooking competition.

And almost all the dishes he cooks are Shandong cuisine.

It really made Shandong cuisine proud.

It has made many people realize that Shandong cuisine has never been heavy in oil or salt, and that not all Shandong cuisine is sticky.

Moreover, when Feng Zhengming uses his own Shandong cuisine techniques to combine ingredients from other places, he can make some creative new dishes.

It also proves to everyone the ability of Shandong cuisine chefs.

Feng Zhengming held the trophy and spoke with a smile to everyone who came to welcome him home with honor.

"Thank you so much for coming to welcome me. I have lived up to everyone's expectations and brought back the top prize. To be honest, it was not easy.

It wasn't until I went to the national competition that I realized that chefs from all over the country are so talented.

Fortunately, I withstood the pressure and learned something from chefs from all over the world, which made up for the gap between me and them, and finally let me win the first prize. "

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Third Senior Brother Yang Bin asked with a smile, "Are you taking advantage of the competition to steal some skills over there?"

Li Huidong immediately said, "What nonsense are you talking about? The national competition is supposed to be a mutual exchange, so how can it be called stealing skills?"

Yang Bin quickly corrected himself: "Yes, that's right, we are exchanging experiences with each other, not stealing others' knowledge."

Feng Zhengming knew that his third senior brother was just joking.

He smiled and said: "To talk about stealing skills, there is definitely some part of it. After all, some of their skills are indeed worth learning. But I learned their things and also taught them our things during the communication process.

So we all learned from each other.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, everyone burst into laughter.

Then someone asked, "Chef Feng, when can we taste the dishes you made in the competition?"

Once someone raised this question, naturally others followed suit out of curiosity.

"Yes, we all want to try the dishes from Chef Feng's competition."

"Yes, I want to try it."

“I really want to eat it.”

Seeing that everyone was eager to eat, Feng Zhengming said helplessly: "I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while for this."

Many people were disappointed when they heard that they had to wait.

Feng Zhengming then gave an explanation.

“When you watch me on TV, you may think that my dishes are easy to make, but in fact, I need to do a lot of preparation before cooking each dish.

Therefore, every dish in the competition is not so easy to be introduced in restaurants and hotels.

Especially once it’s on the menu at Fengjia Rice Shop or Huiquanlou.

There will definitely be a lot of people ordering, so it would be impossible for me to make so many servings by myself.

So please be patient and wait for a moment. I need to carefully analyze the cooking methods of each dish so that each dish can be made more calmly and my helpers in the kitchen can help me cook the dishes together. "

After finishing the explanation, Feng Zhengming smiled and raised the top scholar trophy in his hand.

"With this trophy, everyone should believe that they can enjoy delicious food whether they are at Fengjia Ganfanpu or Huiquanlou."

With Feng Zhengming's promise, those who wanted to welcome him back expressed their willingness to wait.

"Okay, we're willing to wait so we can eat the food from the competition."

"Hahaha, I believe Chef Feng will not let us down."

"Will Chef Feng still cook in the kitchens of Ganfanpu and Huiquanlou in the future?"

"Yeah, will Chef Feng give more instructions to other chefs in the future and won't cook himself anymore?"

Faced with this question, Feng Zhengming smiled and asked back: "If I am a chef and I don't cook, can I still be considered a chef?"

Hearing this, everyone felt relieved.

Many foodies are still worried that after Feng Zhengming wins the national top prize, he may no longer cook for himself.

In that case, it would become very difficult to eat the dishes cooked by Feng Zhengming himself.

Fortunately, Feng Zhengming still planned to cook by himself.

Feng Zhengming said to everyone seriously: "In the future, I may be in the kitchen of Huiquanlou on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and in the kitchen of Fengjia Ganfanpu on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays."

Someone immediately asked, “What about Sunday?”

Feng Zhengming smiled and replied, "Of course I take a break on Sunday. Even the strongest people need a break. Now we have two days off a week, but I still only take one day off a week."

This statement was also recognized by everyone.

After all, chefs are also human beings. It is really hard for them to have only one day off a week.

Feng Zhengming took out the trophy and certificate for the gold medal dish.

Let everyone who welcomes you have a look.

He even let several of his senior brothers hold up the top scholar trophy in his hand and look at it.

This made several senior brothers very excited.

The brothers and sisters have all seen the trophy that Master won in the national competition.

But later the trophy was also taken away by the master.

Now they have once again lifted their junior brother’s trophy.

And this time, the junior brother brought back the top prize trophy.

When Li Huidong took it, his hands were even shaking a little.

Looking at this trophy, Li Huidong was really excited.

As a chef, who wouldn’t want to hold this trophy in their own hands?

But Li Huidong knew very well that he might not have any chance in this life.

But now I can hold my junior brother’s trophy.

Li Huidong was actually happier than if he had won the top spot.

The master was not wrong about the little junior brother. He is someone who can bring glory to the master's school and Shandong cuisine.

Third brother Yang Bin had never been that nervous before.

But when he really held the trophy in his hands, Yang Bin suddenly became very nervous.

Seeing Yang Bin's nervous look, Cao Zhiguo immediately laughed at him: "You just said that the senior brother was shaking with nervousness when he got a trophy. How come you seem to be more nervous than the senior brother?"

Without waiting for Yang Bin to reply, Cao Zhiguo said, "Don't shake, don't shake."

Yang Bin quickly calmed down and said seriously, "Who, who is shaking? Don't blame me now. When you get it, you will be nervous and shake too."

Hearing what his third brother said, Cao Zhiguo laughed and said, "Hahaha, you are still shaking."

Although Cao Zhiguo made fun of his third senior brother for a long time.

But when I received the trophy from my third senior brother.

His situation is really not much better than that of his third senior brother.

Holding the trophy base in one hand and the trophy in the other.

To say I wasn't nervous would be fooling myself.

Cao Zhiguo looked at the trophy in his hand and said in a trembling voice: "It's really heavy."

Hearing Cao Zhiguo's trembling voice, Yang Bin immediately started laughing.

"Look, you're shaking too, right?"

Cao Zhiguo tried hard to calm himself down and coughed twice to clear his throat.

"This is probably what they say, if you want to wear the crown, you must first bear its weight."

Yang Bin didn't quite understand: "Can you stop being so literary? Can't you just say that the trophy is heavy?"

Cao Zhiguo nodded: "Yes, this trophy is indeed very heavy, but this heaviness is for us. For my junior brother, this trophy is not heavy at all, because he deserves it."

When everyone heard what Cao Zhiguo said, they all applauded to show that he was right.

Cao Zhiguo carefully returned the trophy to Feng Zhengming.

After letting the trophy go, Cao Zhiguo breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's really heavy. I'm really worried that I might drop it. Zhengming, you should keep this trophy for yourself from now on. Don't just take it out casually. It puts too much pressure on us."

Cao Zhiguo's words once again caused everyone to laugh.

Amid the laughter, a voice came from outside the door.

"What's the pressure? This trophy should be placed in the most prominent position to urge you to cook well and live up to the title of No. 1 that Zhengming won for our Shandong cuisine."

Hearing the sound, everyone immediately looked towards the door of Feng’s restaurant.

Everyone saw Master Yan standing at the door with a serious face.

When Feng Zhengming saw his master coming, he quickly pushed through the crowd with the trophy in his hand and came before his master.

Holding the trophy in front of his master, Feng Zhengming said proudly, "Master, I won the national championship."

(End of this chapter)