From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

On this day, Feng Zhengming was busy with his new apprentices in the kitchen of the new store.

He Xiaona ran into the kitchen and said, "Master Junior, your phone number."

Feng Zhengming didn't think it was strange that the call came from Xindian to find him.

He guessed that the person who would call him directly should be from the province.

It might be that after so many days of review, my plan for the provincial youth chef cooking exchange competition has probably already come to a conclusion.

Feng Zhengming handed the things in his hand to the apprentices and asked Yao Zhenhui and Yang Peng to watch the apprentices carefully.

He washed his hands and remembered to take off his apron before leaving the kitchen.

This is also the rule he set for the new store's kitchen after he arrived at the new store.

No one in the kitchen is allowed to walk out of the kitchen wearing an apron, and is not allowed to greet customers in the front store wearing an apron.

Feng Zhengming walked out of the kitchen and looked at He Xiaona: "You and Xiaopeng have both obtained the marriage certificate and held a wedding banquet in your hometown, so why haven't you made any moves?"

He Xiaona was stunned at first and didn't understand what Feng Zhengming meant.

Chang Xiuqin, who was greeting customers in the front shop, couldn't help but smile and remind her when she heard it.

"Xiao He, your junior uncle wants to know when you and Xiao Peng are going to have a child?"

After being reminded by Chang Xiuqin, He Xiaona immediately understood.

Her face turned red instantly.

"Hey, Junior Master, why are you like them, always asking questions like this?"

Before Feng Zhengming could speak, Chang Xiuqin helped explain: "He is your uncle, and he is considered an elder. It is normal to ask."

Feng Zhengming smiled and explained: "I just asked casually. Besides, if you and Xiaopeng have a child, I will buy you a house and help you get your household registration in Quancheng."

He Xiaona was a little surprised when she heard this: "Master Junior, can we register our household registration in Quancheng?"

Feng Zhengming thought for a moment and replied, "It shouldn't be a big problem. It may not work in the main city, but it can be done in the branch."

Chang Xiuqin nodded: "It will be convenient for you to take care of the child if he falls here."

He Xiaona hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help muttering: "We are worried that having a child will affect our work."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, there's no need for you to worry. You have a child and need to take care of him. I can make some arrangements so that you don't have to work so hard."

Chang Xiuqin persuaded: "Xiao He, you should have a child while you are still young. It won't affect your future work."

He Xiaona thought for a moment before answering, "But Xiaopeng wants to participate in the provincial young chef cooking competition."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Okay, you decide for yourself, it's ok next year too. Business will be better next year, then you can buy a house first and have your own little home here."

After chatting for a few words, Feng Zhengming walked to the cashier counter and picked up the phone.

"Hello? I'm Feng Zhengming."

Chen Zhiheng's voice immediately came from the other end of the phone.

"Zhengming, it's getting harder and harder for us to find you. We called you several times this morning."

Feng Zhengming heard Chen Zhiheng's voice and responded with a smile: "Brother Chen, does the province have any opinions on my plan? In fact, if you want to revise it, you can discuss and revise it."

Chen Zhiheng said quickly on the other end of the phone: "It's not about changing it, it's about your proposal being approved, and the leader asked you to take some time to come over for a meeting."

Then, without waiting for Feng Zhengming's agreement, Chen Zhiheng directly told the time and place of the meeting.

"The meeting will be held in two days at the provincial government. You must be there at nine in the morning. Don't be late. Several senior masters will also be there. You must come if the leader calls your name."

Hearing that a meeting was going to take place, Feng Zhengming felt helpless.

"I've given you a plan, just approve it. I'm not really suitable for meetings."

Chen Zhiheng knew that Feng Zhengming didn't like to attend meetings frequently.

Moreover, before he called Xindian, he first called Huiquanlou.

I learned from Huiquanlou that Feng Zhengming is currently training a new apprentice in the new store.

Chen Zhiheng naturally guessed that Feng Zhengming was busy.

One can probably guess that he is preparing to open a branch in the future.

But this second provincial young chef cooking exchange competition is also a major event in the province.

Especially because Feng Zhengming won the first place in the national cooking competition last year.

This year, the province also wants to take this opportunity to better promote Shandong cuisine.

Let Shandong cuisine truly create a more resounding brand.

We also hope to select a group of more outstanding young chefs through this young chef cooking exchange competition.

The province even hopes that the outstanding young chefs selected will be able to shine again in the national cooking competition in a few years.

Of course, people in the province had never thought that there would be another talented chef like Feng Zhengming who could win the top spot in the national cooking competition again.

But the province still hopes to see the company stand out again in the national cooking competition.

After receiving Chen Zhiheng's call, Feng Zhengming had to agree to attend the meeting even if he didn't want to go.

After hanging up the phone, Feng Zhengming did not delay and went back to the kitchen.

After returning to the kitchen, Feng Zhengming explained the situation in front of everyone.

"Okay, I have to go to a meeting the day after tomorrow, so I may not be able to come over to look after you. Zhenhui, Xiaopeng, the store will be handed over to you two the day after tomorrow."

Yao Zhenhui and Yang Peng nodded in agreement with serious faces.

"Okay, chef, we will make sure the dishes are cooked well."

"Uncle Master, don't worry. There will be absolutely no problem."

Feng Zhengming nodded and looked at the apprentices.

"As for you, take what I have taught you these days and do it carefully. Remember, listen to Master Yao and Master Yang. Don't always think that you are learning from me. Don't take them seriously."

The apprentices looked at each other and quickly expressed that they dared not ignore the two chefs in the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming did not intervene again and left the rest of the material preparation work to the apprentices.

And let Yao Zhenhui and Yang Peng take the apprentices to do it.

Basically, these days strict professors come down.

These eight new apprentices learn very quickly and have basically mastered some basic things in the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming suddenly felt that it was not a bad thing for the province to ask him to attend the meeting.

I'll leave for a day to see if the new store's kitchen can hold up.

It can also be used to test whether these new apprentices can really do their job well.

After all, although Feng Zhengming let the apprentices do it themselves, or let Yao Zhenhui and Yang Peng lead the apprentices to do it these two days, he was always by their side.

With him watching, the new apprentice remained serious.

What if Feng Zhengming is no longer in the kitchen?

Can these apprentices still be as serious as before?
This is a little test.

What makes Feng Zhengming happy is the process of training new apprentices here these days.

Yao Zhenhui and Yang Peng are still studying with me very seriously.

So the two of them have made great progress in their craftsmanship in the past few days.

Originally, the branch basically served home-cooked dishes.

It can be said that there are not too many difficulties in terms of technique. The most important thing is to prepare the ingredients in advance, control the heat and season.

These three are often the most likely to cause problems.

Many chefs don't take the preparation seriously.

As for controlling the heat? That may be something that many chefs need to practice for a long time.

The seasoning seems simple, but you can tell whether it is salty or not by tasting it yourself.

But even some chefs who have worked in the kitchen for many years may have this bad habit.

It means not tasting the food while you are cooking.

The so-called adjusting the tone based on experience.

The result is naturally the easiest to overturn.

This is a point that Feng Zhengming has been emphasizing to his new apprentices, Yao Zhenhui and Yang Peng in the kitchen of the new store these days.

You must taste the food yourself when seasoning it, and don't rely on so-called experience to season it.

As he kept emphasizing it over and over again.

Yao Zhenhui and Yang Peng finally developed the habit of tasting the seasoning themselves.

Why do Feng Zhengming’s several stores have such a good reputation nowadays?

In a nutshell, the chefs in the kitchen of every store will strictly follow the requirements.

After a busy day, Feng Zhengming did not stay to help with the cleaning in the evening.

He left first and rode his bike back to his grandfather's house.

He has been coming back late these days, but he came back early today because he wanted to chat with the two grandfathers about some things regarding the meeting in the province.

Feng Zhengming still believed that Grandpa Feng and Grandpa Situ saw some issues more clearly than he did.

The two grandfathers will give me some good advice.

So that you won't be at a disadvantage when dealing with some people.

To Feng Zhengming's surprise, when he returned to his grandfather's house, he found that there were guests there.

When he entered the room, he saw that it was his third brother and his wife, who came with their child, as well as his third sister-in-law and eldest brother.

The third sister-in-law and her eldest brother came here specially tonight to apologize to Grandpa Feng.

When Feng Zhengming walked in, the two grandfathers were chatting with them.

Seeing Feng Zhengming coming in, Grandpa Feng asked with a smile: "What a coincidence, did you two brothers agree on this? Why did you come back early as well?"

Grandpa Situ echoed, "Yes, just now you said you hadn't told Zhengming, and he came back."

Yang Bin stood up and explained: "We really didn't agree on it, and I didn't have the nerve to tell Zhengming."

The third sister-in-law also explained: "Yes, Yang Bin was afraid that if he told Zhengming, he would rush back."

Feng Zhengming smiled and explained, "Third brother and the others didn't tell me. I came back early because I had something else to discuss. I wanted to talk to you, Grandpa Situ."

Grandpa Feng smiled and responded, "Then sit down first. Your third sister-in-law and her eldest brother insisted on coming to apologize to me."

Feng Zhengming immediately said that this was what he should do.

"Master, it's only right that Third Sister-in-law and the others come to apologize. After all, no matter what, Third Sister-in-law shouldn't have made you angry at that time."

The third sister-in-law also nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, Grandpa Feng, please don't be angry. It's my fault. I shouldn't let my brother point fingers in the old shop."

The third sister-in-law's eldest brother also quickly apologized: "It's all my fault. I didn't persuade my sister and I fanned the flames."

To be honest, my third sister-in-law and her brother are not bad people.

If Third Senior Brother hadn't taken action, Third Sister-in-law wouldn't have been so angry and asked her brother to do such a mess.

During this period, they have always wanted to go to Grandpa Feng's house to apologize.

However, Feng Zhengming arranged everything and they were all very busy.

In particular, the third senior brother Yang Bin, in order to thank the younger junior brother for helping him resolve family conflicts, he opened a dry rice shop branch for himself on Furong Street.

Solved the job problem of my brother-in-law who came to Quancheng for help.

Third Senior Brother really felt that he owed Feng Zhengming too much.

So Feng Zhengming arranged a dozen new apprentices for him, and the third senior brother had no complaints.

After taking over a dozen new apprentices, he immediately began to teach them personally.

Third Senior Brother is really trying hard and hopes to help Feng Zhengming.

Business was relatively slow tonight, so he took some time out and asked his wife and brother-in-law to go and apologize together.

The two brothers just looked at each other without saying much.

Feng Zhengming also told him about the phone call Chen Zhiheng had made tonight.

Hearing that Feng Zhengming and the others wanted to talk about serious matters, the third sister-in-law and her eldest brother also took the child and left first.

The remaining two grandfathers and the third senior brother listened to Feng Zhengming's words.

Grandpa Situ spoke first: "Zhengming, the province still attaches great importance to you, you should grasp this importance, but you must also have your own principles. The purpose of the competition is to communicate, and you should come forward to point this out."

Grandpa Feng also agrees with this: "Yes, communication is the key. Winning or losing cannot be used as a criterion to rank young chefs."

The third brother was more practical: "You should take this opportunity to select a group of young chefs. You should also pay attention to their character, not just their ability."

Feng Zhengming roughly understood what his two grandfathers and third senior brother meant.

The two grandfathers hope that they will not blindly follow the provincial government’s plans, but should stick to their own ideas.

The third senior brother asked Feng Zhengming to pay more attention to and investigate the performance of the young chefs besides cooking.

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "I understand, I will pay attention to this."

Grandpa Situ suddenly asked at this time: "Zhengming, since you want to open branches all over the province, do you need me to give you some investment?"

Feng Zhengming knew that Grandpa Situ had always wanted to invest in him.

I hope it can help me do my career better.

So he didn't refuse this time.

"If Grandpa Situ is willing to invest, that would be great. I can start branches in several places at the same time next year."

The third brother asked, "If we start them all at the same time, wouldn't that be too hasty?"

Grandpa Feng doesn’t think it’s hasty: “No, we don’t have to open all the stores at the same time. We can plan other places in advance and open one first to see how it goes.

Based on some problems encountered in the first branch, we will adjust the plans for opening subsequent stores.

Some problems cannot be solved foolproofly through early planning.

There will always be some unexpected problems, so we need to find new problems in operations and solve various problems.”

Feng Zhengming hadn't chatted with his two grandfathers like this for a while.

After today's conversation, he also felt that grandfathers still have rich life experience and can think of some problems that he may not have noticed.

With the guidance of the two grandfathers, Feng Zhengming discovered many new problems and came up with some new solutions.

Of course, the most crucial thing is the investment from Grandpa Situ.

With Grandpa Situ's investment, it would be much easier for Feng Zhengming to open a branch store, at least financially. (End of this chapter)