From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming and his eldest and fifth brothers came to the old shop. The business in the evening was still quite good.

However, it is still obvious that the recent business is not as good as before.

Senior Brother Li Huidong did not enter the door. Looking at the current situation of the old shop, he could not help but remind Feng Zhengming in a low voice.

"Have you noticed recently? Business is not very good. It's almost summer, but the old shop's business at night is obviously not as good as before. Huiquanlou's business is also not as good as before."

Before Feng Zhengming could speak, the fifth senior brother at the side couldn't help but sigh first.

“I heard that the performance of some factories is getting worse and worse, and some factories have not been able to pay wages for several months.

It’s not easy for everyone to make money, so they definitely don’t want to go out to eat that much.”

Feng Zhengming was still very clear about the problems he was about to face.

We are actually just seeing the initial signs now, and the next few years may be the time of difficulty.

We need to endure the next few years before we can truly usher in a period of explosive and rapid growth.

But such difficult days are not so easy to get through.

Of course, the turning point also came during difficult days.

Just like Feng Zhengming chose to plan ahead and open branches throughout the province.

It is a market that is seized in advance.

The reason why we make braised pork is because it is cheap and most people can afford it.

This is also an opportunity for people from all over the country to eat Bazirou.

Especially when you might be facing some difficult situations.

This delicious food will bring comfort to everyone in difficult times.

Let everyone forge ahead.

Don't be defeated by the difficulties you encounter.

Feng Zhengming thought about this and suddenly said, "Big Brother, Fifth Brother, should we do something? I think the dry rice shops and Huiquanlou can put up a sign saying that if we are really in trouble, we can eat for free."

Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo were a little surprised to hear this.

The two didn't expect that Feng Zhengming would have such an idea.

After these words were spoken, the two brothers were still surprised.

But another voice was heard.

"Okay, Zhengming, this is a good idea. Grandpa, I support you."

Feng Zhengming and his two senior brothers turned around and saw Grandpa Feng and Grandpa Situ appear behind them.

The two grandfathers learned from Luo Qing that Feng Zhengming had returned.

I also know what he will face when he returns this time.

Seeing that Feng Zhengming had not returned home so late, the two grandfathers knew that he was probably discussing going to Beijing with some of his senior brothers.

So the two grandfathers simply came to the old shop together to visit and see if they could run into Feng Zhengming.

What a coincidence, I just ran into it when I came here.

Then I heard what my three fellow disciples said.

Grandpa Feng and Grandpa Situ both agreed with Feng Zhengming's approach.

"Zhengming's idea is great, and it can be promoted to your other branches across the province."

Grandpa Situ said with a smile: "If you lose money in the end, Grandpa Situ will make up for your loss."

Feng Zhengming laughed and said, "No need. I can still afford to treat you to a few meals."

"Hahaha, you're right. After all, you are the national number one cooking expert now. You can afford to treat me to a meal." Grandpa Feng laughed.

Feng Zhengming and his two senior brothers followed the two grandfathers into the room.

When you step into the old shop, you can still feel that it is obviously not as popular as before.

In the kitchen, third senior brother Yang Bin learned that Feng Zhengming and others had arrived. He asked Sun Hai, Zhu Xu and Xia Mingye to take over, and he came out of the kitchen first.

The four brothers and the two grandfathers found a place to sit down.

After sitting down, everyone started talking about this trip to Beijing.

The two grandfathers also took this matter very seriously.

Grandpa Feng said in a serious tone: "Zhengming, you are going to Beijing to represent Shandong cuisine, so you are not allowed to be careless."

When Grandpa Situ saw that Grandpa Feng had a serious face, he became more relaxed and had a smile on his face.

"Xiao Feng, don't put pressure on the kids. Zhengming and his brothers are already great chefs. They will definitely not lose face for our Shandong cuisine this time they come to Beijing."

Third Senior Brother Yang Bin spoke first: "Should I not go? Although this opportunity is rare, if we all go to Beijing, what will happen to the stores?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked, "Third brother, do you have no confidence in Sun Hai and the others?"

"That's not the case." The third brother said that he was not without confidence.

Feng Zhengming asked again: "Since it's not that they don't have confidence, then Third Brother, do you think they can't cook on their own?"

Yang Bin immediately became anxious: "They can definitely cook on their own."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "If that's the case, then what do you have to worry about, Third Brother?"

In fact, the third senior brother is the same as the eldest senior brother.

Do you all understand what this trip to Beijing means?
The third senior brother also hopes that Feng Zhengming can give up some places to other masters' apprentices.

This will allow chefs from other companies to show up and participate in the state banquet.

Then Feng Zhengming will return triumphantly, and his reputation among Shandong cuisine chefs will reach its peak.

By that time, even the old masters may not have as strong appeal as Feng Zhengming.

But if Feng Zhengming asked several senior brothers to go together.

He didn't care about the face of other Shandong cuisine chefs at all.

Even if no one says anything?
Or maybe people just don’t dare to say it out loud.

But they must have discussed some things in their hearts and behind people's backs.

Afterwards, Feng Zhengming might be labeled as ignorant of the ways of the world, and then in the circle of Shandong cuisine chefs, everyone might just maintain a superficial respect for him.

Feng Zhengming knew very well what his third senior brother was thinking.

He smiled and said, "Third brother, I know what you are thinking. You want me to bring along the favorite disciples of other senior uncles and uncles, so that they can have the opportunity to participate in the state banquet, which can also enhance my prestige."

As soon as these words came out, the eldest and third brothers nodded affirmatively almost at the same time: "Yes."

Feng Zhengming shook his head and said, "I don't want that. I won't share this opportunity to go to Beijing with anyone else. I just want my brothers to accompany me to Beijing.

We want to showcase our cooking skills at the state banquet and let the whole country know that our Yanxilou is still standing."

Feng Zhengming's words surprised the senior brothers and two grandfathers present.

Obviously, Feng Zhengming's determined expression and his words were somewhat beyond everyone's expectations.

Perhaps except Luo Qing, no one else can understand Feng Zhengming's obsession.

Feng Zhengming also knew that no one understood his obsession.

He simply explained it bluntly.

“Ever since Yan Xi Lou closed down, even the restaurant on the ground floor of Yan Xi Lou has been demolished. On the surface, everyone still respects us, but in fact, they all have some prejudice against us in their hearts.

Even though I am now the top winner in the National Cooking Skills Competition, they still say behind my back that Guan and Zhang of Yan Xilou were related to our master and us.

So this time, I want to prove to everyone at the state banquet that our Yanxilou’s cooking skills are flawless.”

After hearing this explanation, the brothers and the two grandfathers also roughly understood why Feng Zhengming had worked so hard for so long.

He has obviously won the highest honor.

But he still did not slack off and kept working hard.

Participate in TV shows and teach others how to cook on TV.

Open branches in various cities in Qi and Lu.

All Feng Zhengming did was to prove one point.

He, the young apprentice from Yan Xilou, possesses cooking skills that are not inferior to any top chef, and he also has extraordinary leadership and management abilities.

The bankruptcy of Yan Xilou was not the responsibility of him, his master, and his fellow brothers.

At this point, everyone suddenly realized that this was the driving force behind Feng Zhengming's hard work.

Grandpa Feng couldn't help but sigh: "I really didn't expect that the closure of Yanxilou would be such a big blow to you."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You know, the closure of Yan Xilou is not your fault. It's the problem of those people who took over the management of Yan Xilou." Grandpa Situ also followed to comfort.

A smile appeared on Feng Zhengming's face. "Grandpa, Grandpa Situ, I am going to prove this point now. I want to show my senior brothers and I at the state banquet to let the whole country see the craftsmanship of our Yanxilou."

This time, the three brothers no longer had any objections.

They were also willing to go to Beijing with Feng Zhengming.

They also wanted to prove Yan Xilou's craftsmanship to others.

Li Huidong said seriously: "Okay, since you said so, we will accompany you to Beijing and help you prepare this state banquet well."

Yang Bin nodded: "Yes, we are going to show everyone the craftsmanship of Yan Xilou."

Cao Zhiguo laughed instead: "Hahaha, no matter what those people think of us, the opportunity to go to Beijing to attend the state banquet belongs to our Yanxilou anyway."

That night, Feng Zhengming finally rekindled the fighting spirit of his fellow brothers.

A few days later, the second senior brother Chen Zezhi and the sixth senior brother Zhang Minghai also rushed to Quancheng.

When the two senior brothers learned that they would go to Beijing with Feng Zhengming.

This time they are going to Beijing to attend the state banquet.

The fellow disciples went together, representing Yan Xilou.

The two brothers didn't say any unnecessary words and both expressed their full cooperation.

At the same time, during these days, many master chefs in the Quancheng cooking industry received the news.

Everyone knows that Feng Zhengming is going to Beijing to attend the state banquet.

Naturally, many master chefs wanted to go to Beijing together.

So several masters were found by their respective apprentices.

Several masters had communicated with Master Yan and knew that Feng Zhengming would not allow anyone else to join the team this time.

So the old masters also comforted their apprentices.

To the disciples who cannot understand.

The old masters’ response was very direct.

"Who made you fail to win the first prize in the national cooking skills competition? Your own cooking skills are worse than others, who can you blame?"

Although this sentence may sound a bit heartbreaking, it is indeed very useful.

When the master chefs in Quancheng heard this from the old chefs, they basically kept silent.

Master Hou and several people from Beijing still gave Feng Zhengming and others time to prepare.

Second Senior Brother Feng Zhengming and Sixth Senior Brother Feng Zhengming have arrived.

They and their fellow apprentices spent a few days training together in the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

Master Hou and his group finally arrived.

After arriving, without any unnecessary conversation, Master Hou asked Feng Zhengming and others to prepare a table.

Feng Zhengming and his senior brothers also made careful preparations.

Make some of the most classic Shandong dishes.

Finally, a table of food was prepared for Chef Hou and his team to taste.

What surprised Master Hou was that Feng Zhengming did not serve any stir-fried dishes at the table.

Basically, all the dishes are stewed, boiled, steamed, and grilled.

When Chef Hou saw the dishes served, he immediately understood.

He explained with a smile to several people from Beijing who came to investigate Feng Zhengming.

"This should be considered as early adaptation to state banquets. He knew that it was not good to serve stir-fried dishes at state banquets, so there was not a single stir-fried dish on his table, and he also chose more Western-style cooking methods for some of his dishes."

At this point, Chef Hou pointed to a dish of pork elbow in milk soup.

"Look, this milk soup dish is made by Feng Zhengming and his team using the stir-fried noodle soup method. It actually looks a bit like the Western-style thick milky soup."

While eating, Master Hou was even more surprised.

"Oh? He actually used the Western-style white thick soup method."

Several other people in the capital also tasted it.

The white soup is quite fresh and rich, and the key is that it has a milky flavor.

This shows that when Feng Zhengming made this thick soup, he did not just use Western-style fried noodles.

He also adds some milk and butter, which are commonly used in Western cuisine.

Doing this will add a unique and fragrant taste experience to the whole dish.

Several people from Beijing were very satisfied with the food and were even completely attracted to it.

Feng Zhengming's table had a dish of seared fish fillets, and he also used cod, which was completely boneless.

It can be said that the table that Feng Zhengming prepared for Master Hou and his colleagues was already demonstrating the ability of him and his fellow brothers to prepare a state banquet.

After the meal, the people from the capital city could find no fault with the cooking skills of Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices.

When Master Hou saw Feng Zhengming, his face was full of satisfied smile.

"Zhengming, you really surprised us. You actually predicted our assessment ideas in advance and have already prepared dishes according to some of the standards for the state banquet."

Feng Zhengming responded with a smile; "In fact, we usually do this in Huiquanlou."

A person who came to Beijing to investigate Feng Zhengming was a little surprised: "Does Huiquanlou usually do this?"

Feng Zhengming asked He Yunqing to hand the menu to the other party for him to see.

After the person from Beijing looked through the menu, he found that it was indeed on the menu.

This time, everyone was somewhat convinced of Feng Zhengming.

Master Hou still had a smile on his face: "No wonder, we have been in Quancheng these days and found that most people who come to Quancheng from other places like to choose to eat at your Huiquanlou."

Feng Zhengming still behaved quite modestly.

"We also try our best to respect our guests, and of course we will still retain the characteristics of our Shandong cuisine."

Chef Hou nodded: "It is indeed a great skill to preserve the characteristics of Shandong cuisine and make it suitable for people from all over the world."

After inspecting the dishes at Huiquanlou, Chef Hou and his team directly explained the purpose of their visit.

The visitor from Beijing was quite straightforward: "For this return state banquet, I hope that you, Feng Zhuangyuan, can go all out and make sure to show the spirit of our motherland and reflect a sense of unity and joy."

Feng Zhengming immediately agreed with a serious face: "Please rest assured, my brothers and I will do our best." (End of this chapter)