From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

On the way back to Quancheng from Dezhou, Tan Jianwei and two other young chefs initially wanted to perform well and took care of Feng Zhengming's food and daily life along the way.

As a result, Feng Zhengming taught the theory directly on the train, which made the three of them feel depressed along the way.

Theoretical teaching is to directly ask three people how big a dish is considered a diced dish? How big a dish is considered a piece of dough?
How big should the cubes of stir-fried chicken be cut usually?

Feng Zhengming's theories are directly accurate to the millimeter.

After some theoretical teaching, Tan Jianwei and the other two were asked to memorize the entire theory.

Along the way, Feng Zhengming would also conduct some random checks on the three people.

The three of them had absolutely no intention of taking care of Feng Zhengming's daily life.

Even the meals they had were bought for them by Feng Zhengming.

After a bumpy journey, the group finally returned to Quancheng.

When Feng Zhengming led Tan Jianwei and the other two off the train.

After walking out of the train station, the three people thought Feng Zhengming would take a taxi back.

Unexpectedly, Feng Zhengming actually took these three people to take the bus.

After the four of them got on the bus together, Feng Zhengming was immediately recognized.

The ticket seller even refused to let Feng Zhengming buy a ticket at first.

It was Feng Zhengming who insisted on buying the ticket.

Tan Jianwei and the other two saw that everyone was excited to see Feng Zhengming, but he was quite enthusiastic in talking to everyone.

At first, all three of them felt a little strange?
I don’t understand why Feng Zhengming wanted to take the bus back?
Until halfway, the three people heard Feng Zhengming chatting with people on the bus about some things in the local Quancheng.

Through chatting, I heard a lot of interesting stories about Quancheng during this period.

Tan Jianwei guessed why Feng Zhengming wanted to take the bus back.

He probably wanted to have a chat with everyone on the bus so that Feng Zhengming could understand what changes had taken place in Quancheng during the more than one month that he had been away from the city?
Tan Jianwei and the other two followed along and listened, and they also heard a lot of changes in Quancheng.

Among them are those related to urban planning and construction, as well as some ordinary people’s daily lives.

The biggest thing that happened during the nearly two months since Feng Zhengming left Quancheng is something that most people in Quancheng know about.

The soy sauce factory invested by the boss from Gangcheng has started construction of a new plant.

And many people on the bus were saying that a batch of new machines had arrived from the factory.

This news made Feng Zhengming quite excited.

"Okay, this is good news. After I finish dealing with things, I will definitely go and take a look to help everyone see if some of the new technologies in Hong Kong City have passed the test."

When everyone on the bus heard that Feng Zhengming would personally check it, they immediately felt relieved.

"With the top scholar checking for us, there will definitely be no problem."

"Yes, the top scholar's vision is definitely not wrong. We will use the top scholar's products in the future."

"Hahaha, that's right, I can trust the number one scholar."

"Zhuangyuan, your products won't be very expensive, right?"

Feng Zhengming laughed when he heard this: "Don't worry, the prices of our products will not change from the past. We guarantee that everyone can afford them."

Everyone on the bus was particularly happy to hear that the price was the same as before.

Along the way, on the shaky bus, I watched Feng Zhengming chatting with everyone.

In the eyes of Tan Jianwei and the other three, Feng Zhengming did not look like a top chef who had just returned from a state banquet.

He is more like an ordinary chef in a small restaurant on the street.

Chatting with neighbors about daily life.

They chatted until the train arrived at the station, and the conductor even called out Feng Zhengming specifically.

"Zhuangyuan, you have arrived at your stop. Don't miss your stop by chatting."

Feng Zhengming stood up with a smile: "Thank you for the reminder, and thank you all for chatting with me all the way. If you have time, please go to the store to eat braised pork."

Everyone in the car agreed with a smile and waved goodbye to Feng Zhengming.

Tan Jianwei and two others followed Feng Zhengming out of the car.

The three of them were a little surprised, as they originally thought that Feng Zhengming was going to take them to Feng's restaurant.

Unexpectedly, Feng Zhengming brought them to Huiquanlou.

Feng Zhengming's selection mechanism has already spread throughout the land of Qi and Lu.

So Tan Jianwei and others had also heard of it.

We know that since we are from Feng Zhengming's side, it is impossible for him to go directly into Huiquan Tower.

You must work seriously in the kitchen of a restaurant for more than a year.

Then you have to pass an internal competition and win the competition before you can enter the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

So they followed Feng Zhengming to Quancheng, hoping to be arranged to work in a dry rice shop first.

They never expected that Feng Zhengming would bring them directly to Huiquanlou.

The three people stood in front of the door of Huiquan Tower, feeling somewhat excited.

Then I saw that Huiquan Tower was decorated with lights inside and outside.

There was also a banner hanging above the door of Huiquan Building.

"Welcome the top scholar to attend the homecoming state banquet and return triumphantly."

After seeing the banner, Tan Jianwei and the other three roughly understood that Feng Zhengming must have received a notice from home in advance, asking him to go back to Huiquanlou directly.

This should be a triumphant return ceremony prepared for Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming looked at this in a state of confusion.

"Why do all this? It's not a big deal."

Tan Jianwei and the other two looked at each other in bewilderment.

It was hard for the three of them to understand, how could participating in a state banquet not be considered a big deal?
Tan Jianwei and the other two felt that if they had the opportunity to participate in a banquet like the Return to State Banquet, it would be a great recognition of their cooking skills.

Feng Zhengming led the three people to the door and spoke to them before entering.

"We bring you to Huiquanlou to let you take a look at the conditions in Huiquanlou's kitchen. Before you go to the restaurant's kitchen, you must first receive two weeks of training in Huiquanlou's kitchen.

Then you will be assigned to different kitchens of dry rice shops."

Tan Jianwei was a little surprised: "Aren't we going to one?"

Feng Zhengming: "Of course not just one. I have three stores in Quancheng. Although one of them belongs to my third senior brother, we also have a unified kitchen.

This time, five branches were opened in the province at once, and many of the staff here were transferred to other places.

You definitely can’t go to just one kitchen, you should be assigned to three different kitchens.”

After listening to Feng Zhengming's introduction, Tan Jianwei and the other two were quite surprised.

They knew that Feng Zhuangyuan opened a branch in Texas.

But few people knew that Feng Zhuangyuan had opened five branches in the province at once.

The five branches are obviously opened in five locations.

This made Tan Jianwei and others feel Feng Zhuangyuan's influence in the province.

Feng Zhengming led the three of them into the house, and when he saw Luo Qing holding flowers, he came out to greet them.

Seeing Luo Qing like this, Feng Zhengming also laughed.

After taking the flowers prepared by Luo Qing, Feng Zhengming also hugged Luo Qing.

"Thank you for the flowers, my wife." Luo Qing's cheeks suddenly turned red.

She didn't object to Feng Zhengming calling her that.

"You've had a hard time on this trip."

Feng Zhengming: "It's OK, not too hard, my senior brothers are always helping me."

Afterwards, Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing held hands and led Tan Jianwei and the other two into the house.

As soon as he entered the door, many people came towards him and threw flowers at Feng Zhengming.

Then his senior brothers, the waiters from Huiquanlou, his two grandfathers, and his family came to welcome Feng Zhengming's triumphant return.

Even Tao Jingwen and Chen Zhiheng were present.

Feng Zhengming naturally quickly noticed that there were also city leaders in the crowd.

Everyone was waiting for him to come back.

Feng Zhengming was a little surprised: "How did everyone know I would be home at this time?"

Luo Qing smiled and reminded him, "Have you forgotten what I did before?"

After being reminded by Luo Qing, Feng Zhengming immediately understood.

It should be Luo Qing who helped find out through the people at the train station what flight Feng Zhengming and his friends took, as well as the approximate time they would be able to return to Quancheng.

Everyone should be at Huiquan Building today to welcome him back.

Feng Zhengming walked forward and looked at everyone who came to welcome them back.

“Thank you all for coming to welcome me back. Without your support, I would not have achieved what I have today. I have the honor to participate in such a big event as the Homecoming State Banquet, which has really taught me a lot.

I will continue to work hard and strive to go one step further and make Huiquanlou and my branches better.”

Feng Zhengming's remarks were quite standard and everyone applauded him.

Naturally, the province and the city also gave Feng Zhengming some commendations.

And today, Tao Jingwen and Chen Zhiheng also brought Feng Zhengming a time-honored brand sign specially given to Huiquanlou by the province.

This shows that Huiquanlou has been recognized by the province and has become a time-honored brand in the province.

Feng Zhengming naturally expressed his gratitude very solemnly.

Although it is only a time-honored brand in the province, it is a time-honored brand of Shandong cuisine and has sufficient weight.

Tan Jianwei and the other two watched everything, and they realized how lucky they were to pass the assessment.

Being able to learn cooking from Feng Zhengming later, even if they cannot become his apprentice, but being able to learn some of his skills is a great opportunity for Tan Jianwei and other three young chefs.

In particular, Huiquanlou has been labeled as a time-honored brand by the province.

Having experience working in the kitchen of Huiquanlou will be crucial for all chefs to find jobs in the future.

Since Feng Zhengming had just returned, it was impossible for him to cook directly in the kitchen.

So the city leaders and Tao Jingwen and Chen Zhiheng sent by the province quickly said goodbye and left.

After they left, Feng Zhengming formally introduced Tan Jianwei and the other two.

He also announced to the eldest and fifth brothers that the three of them would first receive two weeks of training in the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

"Two weeks later, based on their assessment results, you two can discuss which store they will be assigned to."

Li Huidong nodded: "Okay, we will arrange it when the time comes."

Feng Zhengming also asked Tan Jianwei and the other two to meet Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo.

Then, the eldest and fifth brothers led everyone to visit the kitchen.

Let Feng Zhengming stay and talk with Luo Qing and the family about their experiences during this period.

Feng Zhengming sat down with everyone and started talking about his trip to Beijing to attend the state banquet.

Although the eldest brother and the others came back first, they had already told a lot of things.

But now after listening to Feng Zhengming, everyone is willing to listen.

After talking about many things that happened in Beijing, Feng Zhengming talked about some things in Texas.

Everyone knows the statement made by Feng Zhengming.

Listen to Feng Zhengming talk about some things in Texas.

It makes everyone feel a little bit regretful.

The main thing is that no one expected Liang Xiaocheng to do such a thing.

Under the banner of Feng Zhengming, he actually tried to attract sponsorship to open his own branch in Texas.

Grandpa Situ sighed: "Nowadays, more and more people are taking chances and want to do some opportunistic things to make money.

More and more people are unwilling to start from scratch, let alone learn the skills well. "

Hearing Grandpa Situ's sigh, everyone felt somewhat helpless.

Feng Zhengming knew very well that this trend was not that strong at the moment.

It may become more and more powerful in the future.

But he remains optimistic.

"We should still do something as soon as possible. I hope I can gradually change everyone's views and make everyone realize the importance of craftsmanship. Not only the skills of chefs, but other traditional skills should also be valued."

Feng Zhengming said seriously: "I will continue to open branches in the province so that everyone can taste the difference in craftsmanship.

And we must also set up our own training to be able to successfully train a sufficient number of chefs.

Let them become the backbone that supports those branches.”

Everyone thinks Feng Zhengming’s idea is great and a way to better promote Shandong cuisine.

Only Grandpa Situ couldn't help but pour some cold water.

"Zhengming, your idea is good, but it is not easy to implement it. It will not be done overnight to change people's perceptions.

Also, when you open branches and train chefs, you will need to invest a huge amount of money in these areas.

If some of your stores are unable to maintain adequate levels, it could affect the profitability of all your stores.”

Even though Grandpa Situ poured a basin of cold water on him, Feng Zhengming was not angry at all.

“Grandpa Situ, I understand what you said, so I will only open five branches this year. I have issued a statement saying that I will invest and operate the branches myself for the time being, and I will not allow others to invest and join.

I just want to use these five branches to verify whether there is any way to keep the branches at the same standard?
We also need to come up with some ways to supervise the kitchens of branches.”

When Feng Zhengming mentioned supervision, Grandpa Feng nodded and interrupted.

"The supervision mechanism is still very important. No one can guarantee that there will be no slacking. If there is no supervision at all and the branches are allowed to do things on their own, then all your ideas will collapse together."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Grandpa, I understand. I will formulate supervision measures."

I heard Feng Zhengming and the two grandfathers had almost finished talking about the branch store.

The second aunt finally couldn't help but interrupt: "Okay, okay, stop talking about your work all the time. Have you forgotten that you have more important things to do?"

After hearing what the second aunt said, naturally everyone looked at Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing with a smile.

Feng Zhengming also knew what everyone meant, and he reached out and held Luo Qing's hand.

"Of course I haven't forgotten. After the state banquet, Luo Qing and I should also prepare for the wedding. This will also require a lot of help from the elders. I think it doesn't need to be too extravagant, but it still needs to be very formal."

The Third Uncle decisively volunteered: "Okay, you don't have to ask, let the Third Uncle take care of everything, you two just need to be prepared."

Seeing that everyone should have discussed it long ago, Feng Zhengming did not refuse and simply handed the wedding over to his uncle. (End of this chapter)