From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Jiang Chengzhe followed Feng Zhengming out of the car and stood in front of the door of Huiquanlou. He first looked at Huiquanlou and its quaint facade.

"Wow, Zhengming, your Huiquanlou looks no worse than Jufengde."

Feng Zhengming immediately laughed: "After all, Huiquanlou is also an old restaurant."

Jiang Chengzhe praised: "Well, some old restaurants like this in Hong Kong are slowly disappearing."

Hearing Jiang Chengzhe say this, Feng Zhengming couldn't help but sigh: "Perhaps in the future, these old restaurants in the mainland will gradually disappear."

When saying this, Feng Zhengming naturally thought of Yanxi Tower, which had already been demolished.

If he had not come to this era, he would have succeeded in gaining a high enough reputation.

Now he has won the first prize in the national cooking competition.

Perhaps Huiquanlou has followed the same fate as Yanxilou.

Two people stood in front of the door, each thinking about their own things.

Feng Jiandong, who was in the car behind him, leaned out and asked, "Should I come over to pick up Azhe?"

Jiang Chengzhe turned around and waved his hand with a smile: "Uncle San, no need. I can take a taxi back to the hotel after I finish the tour."

Feng Jiandong still reminded Feng Zhengming: "Remember to send Ah Zhe off."

Feng Zhengming agreed: "Don't worry, Uncle San, I will definitely send him back to the hotel."

Then Feng Jiandong asked the driver to drive away.

He still has things to deal with in the company.

Moreover, Feng Jiandong is still planning to contact the tycoon who came from Hong Kong this time.

If he could cooperate with the other party and obtain their investment, Feng Jiandong would naturally not miss such a great opportunity.

After his uncle left, Feng Zhengming solemnly invited Jiang Chengzhe to come in.

After entering the door, Jiang Chengzhe still looked around with curiosity.

He Yunqing saw Feng Zhengming coming back and bringing a young man with him.

He walked up and greeted with a smile: "The chef is back."

Feng Zhengming introduced to He Yunqing: "Uncle He, this is Ah Zhe, Jiang Chengzhe, a member of the Hong Kong City chef team this time. I participated in the national cooking competition before, and he was the chef representative from Hong Kong City. He is younger than me."

He Yunqing suddenly got excited: "Oh, is this the Jiang Chengzhe that the chef mentioned? He looks really young. Hello, hello."

Feng Zhengming introduced Jiang Chengzhe again: "Azhe, this is Uncle He, he helps me manage the front of Huiquan Building."

Jiang Chengzhe immediately smiled and shook hands with He Yunqing: "Hello Uncle He, I know you should be the shopkeeper of Huiquanlou, right? That is, the lobby manager of some big restaurants now."

He Yunqing nodded and responded: "Yes, in the old days, I was the shopkeeper, but now I'm called the lobby manager."

Jiang Chengzhe was quite polite to He Yunqing, which also made He Yunqing have a good impression of him.

At the same time, many service staff of Huiquanlou were also looking around.

Take a closer look at Jiang Chengzhe, the young chef from Hong Kong.

Many service staff gathered together to discuss in whispers.

"People from Hong Kong are different. They look really handsome."

"No way, I think if we talk about handsomeness, our chef is still the most handsome."

"Don't talk nonsense, okay? The chef is not really handsome, but he has temperament. The chef's temperament is still stronger than this Hong Kong chef."

"Temperament? What kind of temperament does the chef have? I think the chef is as handsome as this young chef from Hong Kong."

"You are too young to understand. The chef has a mature temperament. Don't you realize that when standing next to the chef, Jiang Chengzhe looks like a child?"

The service staff commented on Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe.

In the eyes of the service staff, Jiang Chengzhe does look more handsome.

But if he stood together with Feng Zhengming, Feng Zhengming's more sturdy and taller physique, and his temperament that seemed to take everything quite calmly, he was indeed more magnanimous than Jiang Chengzhe.

After Feng Zhengming showed Jiang Chengzhe the lobby on the first floor, he asked him if he wanted to go upstairs to take a look.
Jiang Chengzhe immediately said he didn't want to go upstairs: "Why go upstairs first? I came here to see your kitchen. Let's go to the kitchen first."

Feng Zhengming smiled and agreed: "Okay, then let's go to the kitchen first."

Then Feng Zhengming led Jiang Chengzhe into the kitchen.

When Jiang Chengzhe entered the kitchen of Huiquanlou, he was somewhat surprised.

"Zhengming, your kitchen is so big."

Feng Zhengming explained with a smile: "This kitchen was converted from the old restaurant's kitchen. In the past, the old restaurant's kitchen needed to use a stove that burned coal briquettes, so the kitchen was relatively large. Because of the need to burn the stove, ventilation was also required."

Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but sigh: "From this perspective, Huiquanlou was really a big restaurant in the past."

When everyone in the kitchen heard the sound, they all looked curiously at Jiang Chengzhe who came in with Feng Zhengming.

Seeing that everyone was curious, Feng Zhengming introduced it to everyone.

After Feng Zhengming finished his introduction, everyone in the kitchen became even more curious about Jiang Chengzhe.

Qi Jiale took a step forward and looked at Jiang Chengzhe and asked, "Are you the chef from Gangcheng who almost beat our chef?"

Jiang Chengzhe looked at Feng Zhengming, then nodded with some pride and responded, "Yes, I am almost there, and I will be the champion of the national cooking competition."

Xia Hui asked curiously, "Don't people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese? How come you seem to speak Mandarin very well?"

Jiang Chengzhe explained with a smile: "Because I was actually born in Formosa, and I went to school there when I was little. Later, I moved to Hong Kong with my family."

Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but complain when he said this: "I'm not good at speaking Cantonese, and I was discriminated against in Hong Kong. When I was in school, my classmates often talked about me behind my back."

This complaint immediately brought Jiang Chengzhe closer to everyone in the kitchen.

There was a sudden burst of laughter in the kitchen.

Jiang Chengzhe looked carefully at the people in the kitchen.

His eyes fell on Xia Hui who was asking him about language.

"You are the only girl in the kitchen?"

Xia Hui immediately asked, "What's wrong? Girls can't learn cooking?"

"I'm sorry." Jiang Chengzhe thought Xia Hui was angry, so he quickly apologized to her.

"I'm not saying that girls can't learn to cook. I just find it strange that there are so few female chefs in Hong Kong. The intensity of a chef's work is still quite hard for girls. There are more female chefs abroad."

I heard that there are more female chefs abroad. Xia Hui was very curious: "Why are there so many female chefs abroad?"

Jiang Chengzhe explained: "They may not be considered female chefs, they should be called pastry chefs. There are more varieties of dessert making abroad, and making desserts often does not require much physical strength, so there are more female pastry chefs."

After listening to Jiang Chengzhe's explanation, Xia Hui said seriously: "I don't want to make desserts, I want to be a chef as good as my uncle."

Jiang Chengzhe was a little surprised: "Who is your uncle?"

Feng Zhengming stood up with a smile: "The uncle she is talking about is me."

Jiang Chengzhe was even more surprised: "Ah? Are you her uncle? You two are about the same age."

Xia Hui explained: "He is of a higher generation. He is a disciple of Grandpa Yan. Grandpa Yan and my grandfather are chefs of the same generation. They are both masters of Shandong cuisine, so I have to call him Uncle Shi."

Jiang Chengzhe finally understood.

He could understand this kind of generational relationship.

In Hong Kong, people may pay more attention to the seniority of the master-disciple relationship.

At the same time, Jiang Chengzhe looked at Xia Hui and then at Feng Zhengming.

He smiled and whispered to Feng Zhengming: "Is your nephew interested in you?" Feng Zhengming quickly told him not to talk nonsense.

"Don't talk nonsense. I do have a girlfriend. Xia Hui just hopes to learn cooking from me and become a good chef in the future. Don't make up stories about her desire to learn cooking."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Jiang Chengzhe quickly apologized to Xia Hui again.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I really shouldn't have said that."

Xia Hui had a very bad impression of Jiang Chengzhe at this time.

Originally, Xia Hui thought that people in Hong Kong should be polite.

But now that she has come into contact with Jiang Chengzhe, she feels that Jiang Chengzhe is obviously proud in his bones.

She also felt that Jiang Chengzhe was clearly prejudiced against female chefs.

However, Xia Hui has also felt prejudice against female chefs in other people.

So in her heart, she felt even more that Feng Zhengming was different from others.

Perhaps for all this time, Feng Zhengming was the only one who never treated her differently based on her gender.

Feng Zhengming will teach her cooking skills very seriously, and when she makes a mistake, he will not let her off just because she is a woman.

When Xia Hui made a mistake, Feng Zhengming would also point out the problem directly.

He would also warn Xia Hui to try not to make the same mistake again in the future.

Sometimes, even when Xia Hui was distracted and made mistakes that she shouldn't have made, Feng Zhengming would not treat her as a woman at all and would scold her directly.

This equal treatment also made Xia Hui feel that she had the same status as others in the kitchen.

Seeing Jiang Chengzhe apologize, Xia Hui could only smile and said, "It's okay."

Next, Feng Zhengming took Jiang Chengzhe to the kitchen for a formal visit.

Jiang Chengzhe took a tour of the kitchen.

He also pointed out some shortcomings in Feng Zhengming's kitchen.

For example, Jiang Chengzhe suggested that Feng Zhengming should also prepare some things that are already being used in the kitchen of Gangcheng.

"Those things may only be imported from foreign countries now, but some tools are really easy to use, such as some ovens and steamers, which are much easier than steaming on the stove like you do."

Jiang Chengzhe also suggested to Feng Zhengming that he should prepare some things like muskets in the kitchen.

"The musket is really useful for burning the hair on the pork skin, but you have to be careful with that."

The other people in the kitchen looked at Jiang Chengzhe and gradually felt a little dissatisfied.

He really seemed to be here specifically to inspect the work.

He gave some instructions to the kitchen.

Although many of the suggestions he gave were quite practical.

But his attitude always makes people feel arrogant.

It was like the kitchen of Huiquanlou, which in his eyes looked like an earthen stove in the countryside.

Feng Zhengming didn't care and just listened to Jiang Chengzhe.

Feng Zhengming would show Jiang Chengzhe most of the things he wanted to see.

Feng Zhengming did not intend to follow all of Jiang Chengzhe's suggestions.

Because some things may bring certain improvements to the kitchen, but some things are not so practical for the current Huiquanlou kitchen.

Jiang Chengzhe talked as he watched, and slowly he realized that he seemed to have said too much.

He stopped, looked at Feng Zhengming, and then looked at the other chefs.

Jiang Chengzhe is not stupid and he also noticed the unfriendly looks from other chefs.

He was embarrassed and quickly apologized to Feng Zhengming.

"Zhengming, I'm sorry. I said too much and I may not have paid attention to my tone. But I have no ill intentions. I just hope that your restaurant can be better."

In response to Jiang Chengzhe's apology, Feng Zhengming just smiled indifferently.

"It's okay. Some of your suggestions are good. I will consider making some changes later."

However, Jiang Chengzhe only apologized to Feng Zhengming.

He obviously still didn't care about the other chefs and apprentices in the kitchen.

In Jiang Chengzhe's eyes, Feng Zhengming was the national champion who defeated him in the national competition, so he naturally deserved his respect.

Jiang Chengzhe actually still feels about the other chefs.

They are in Quancheng, and their vision is still not as good as mine.

After Jiang Chengzhe finished his visit, Feng Zhengming asked with a smile, "How is it? Do you want to go upstairs and take a look?"

Jiang Chengzhe nodded: "Okay, let's go upstairs and take a look. I heard that the private rooms in Huiquan Building are also very unique. I am really curious."

Feng Zhengming led Jiang Chengzhe out of the kitchen.

Not long after the two of them left, an apprentice in the kitchen couldn't help it anymore.

"What kind of person is this? Isn't he too arrogant?"

"That's right, so what if he's a chef from Hong Kong? Didn't he lose to the head chef in the national competition?"

"Yes, he is a famous chef in Hong Kong, younger than our chef, but he lost to the chef."

"He looked just now like a leader coming to inspect."

I heard the apprentices couldn't help but complain.

The young chefs couldn't help themselves either.

Xia Hui spoke first: "He is indeed very arrogant, as if we know nothing and he knows more than us. But when it comes to cooking, we are not sure who is better than the other."

As soon as Xia Hui opened her mouth, the other young chefs naturally became a little dissatisfied.

Qi Jiale, Guan Wei and Bao Feng all expressed their dissatisfaction with Jiang Chengzhe's attitude.

Gu Zhicheng found it hard to accept: "He is indeed too arrogant. No matter what, he is definitely younger and less experienced than us. He should have at least some respect for everyone."

However, everyone in the kitchen could see that Jiang Chengzhe really couldn't be arrogant in front of Feng Zhengming.

Cao Zhiguo took the opportunity to ease everyone's resentment with a smile.

"He is indeed arrogant, but in front of the chef, shouldn't he put away his arrogance?"

These words immediately made everyone in the kitchen laugh.

Qi Jiale deliberately exaggerated and imitated Jiang Chengzhe's behavior: "When he was with us, he was really proud and his eyes were looking up to the sky, but when he was with the chef, he immediately changed and was polite and didn't dare to be arrogant at all."

Seeing Qi Jiale's praise for the imitation, everyone burst into laughter.

When Li Huidong saw that everyone was laughing, his resentment disappeared.

He then spoke: "Well, no matter what, he is a guest who came from afar, and some of the things he said are indeed helpful to our kitchen. We should just treat him as an ordinary person."

Li Huidong's words were recognized by everyone.

Before, everyone looked at people from Hong Kong with a little bit of difference.

Through contact with Jiang Chengzhe, I saw Jiang Chengzhe's humble attitude in front of Feng Zhengming.

At least the people in Huiquanlou's kitchen no longer look down on Hong Kong chefs. (End of this chapter)