From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming was like an inspector, carefully inspecting his several stores.

Once the person in charge of each store is determined, each store can be supported.

He and Luo Qing also got their visas to Hong Kong at this time.

Feng Zhengming made some final arrangements for his family affairs and invited his fellow brothers to a meal.

"Brother, my trip to Hong Kong may take some time. We will go to Guangdong Province first. I also want to communicate with some Cantonese chefs there. After chefs from other places arrive, we will go to Hong Kong together.

After the exchange in Hong Kong is over, I actually want to go through Shanghai again and conduct some research in Shanghai."

Senior Brother Li Huidong stared at Feng Zhengming and asked, "Are you planning to open a store in Shanghai?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "It is not certain whether to open a store or not, but I want to go and take a look first. I heard that the east part of Shanghai is well developed now. I want to go there to investigate and see if there is a place and conditions suitable for us to open a store."

Fifth Senior Brother Cao Zhiguo was a little surprised: "Zhengming, when we went to participate in the return state banquet, I saw that people in Beijing were very respectful of you. Don't you also want to rebuild Yanxi Tower in Beijing?

Why don't you go directly to Beijing? Instead, you choose to go south to Shanghai?"

Feng Zhengming put away his smile and became serious.

"If Fifth Brother goes to Beijing, we will definitely have a great advantage. Shandong cuisine was the most famous in Beijing at the beginning, but the development of the south has been better in recent years.

Especially in Shanghai, it is a place where various cultures from the east, west, south, north and overseas converge.

There, we will face greater challenges, but we will also be able to show off our craft more.”

Third Senior Brother Yang Bin spoke up: "So it is clear that you are going to compete head-on with various cuisines at home and abroad?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, our Shandong cuisine has been too conservative in recent years. We have always adhered to our traditions and have always been in the north. We have never thought about going south.

But nowadays, more and more people are moving south, and a large amount of wealth is also gathering in the south.

If we don’t go to the South to gain a foothold at this time, I’m afraid we will lag far behind others in the future.”

“Behind others?”

This statement made the three senior brothers puzzled?

Feng Zhengming continued to explain: "Yes, we are behind others, not in terms of techniques, but in some cooking concepts."

After a brief pause, Feng Zhengming's face became very serious.

"I realized one thing when I went to Beijing to attend the state banquet for the return of Hong Kong. That is, in many cases, we cannot wait for everyone to get used to the rules set by others and then change them according to their rules.

If we want our products to be accepted by more people, we must show our strength and become the ones who set the rules.”

The senior brothers looked at each other and then at Feng Zhengming in surprise.

In fact, after returning from Beijing, the senior brothers had already noticed that Feng Zhengming was setting the rules.

He first promoted it in several of his own stores.

For example, in several dry restaurants in Quancheng, Feng Zhengming has strict requirements in terms of hygiene, environment, and tableware.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming also made more stringent requirements on the dishes served in the kitchen.

Third senior brother Yang Bin has the most intuitive feeling about this.

Feng Zhengming had previously visited the old shop for inspection and had made quite detailed requirements for the dishes served in the kitchen.

For example, what quantity should be guaranteed for each dish.

The size of the plate and the amount of different ingredients in the plate.

Before serving the dish, the edges of the plate must be wiped clean and no soup can stick to the edge of the plate.

This series of somewhat strict requirements puts a lot of pressure on the apprentices helping out in the kitchen.

Fortunately, Yang Bin’s requirements for them are usually quite high.

So after a few days of adapting, I was basically able to master it.

Feng Zhengming implements strict rules in several of his stores.

The senior brothers all knew that he was definitely not just trying to be strict with himself.

Feng Zhengming once told his seniors that he would implement this set of rules throughout the province.

He was planning to publish a magazine, which would introduce and publicize the local customs and practices of various parts of Qi and Lu, as well as the local delicacies with local characteristics.

On the other hand, the magazine will include a brochure recommending restaurants and hotels from various places.

To sum it up simply, Feng Zhengming wants to establish a completely new set of dining rules.

Senior brothers, including the master and Shandong cuisine masters, all support Feng Zhengming's practices.

After all, there is no order without rules.

If you really want others to understand and accept you, you must first have your own set of rules to show others.

Let others know what is good and what is bad?
If you can't even tell what is good and what is bad?
How can you make others understand what you are saying?
So Feng Zhengming first set rules in his own store and let his store take the lead.

This will make the promotion to other stores in the province more convincing.

Feng Zhengming looked at his fellow brothers and said, "During this trip south, I also want to investigate other people's things and see if there are any business strategies worth learning from them.

We can also learn from it when we come back and improve some of the shortcomings of our store.”

At this time, the eldest senior brother Li Huidong suddenly reminded in a low voice.

"Zhengming, shouldn't we be too hasty about some things? Business is still a little slow right now. You can see that Huiquanlou's business has obviously declined recently. Many factories are also facing many problems now.

At this time, if we do too much, will it cause some trouble? Will it put too much pressure on everyone in the kitchen? "

Feng Zhengming naturally understood his senior brother’s concerns.

He is also well aware that the country will enter a period of economic slowdown in the next few years.

A large number of people may lose their jobs, and a lot of backward production capacity will be gradually eliminated.

More emerging industries will have the opportunity to rise again.

This process will take several years and will be accompanied by some turbulence.

Catering will definitely be affected to a certain extent.

Especially for large restaurants like Huiquanlou, the overall business will definitely be affected.

But it is precisely because of this that Feng Zhengming feels this is a good opportunity.

His idea was to establish some rules during the low period.

And it will promote some changes in restaurants and hotels in Quancheng and across the province.

Let everyone accept the new rules.

Let all restaurants abide by the rules.

In this way, after this period of time, everyone will be accustomed to the new rules, and all restaurants will abide by the rules.

Then when the economy improves in the future, Shandong cuisine will naturally usher in a blowout development.

Only by preparing in advance can we cope with greater challenges in the future.

Even become a trend-setter leading the new environment after the millennium.

Feng Zhengming didn’t say much to his senior brothers, he just told them.

“No matter how the environment changes, we should stick to our craftsmanship and prepare each dish in accordance with the rules. We cannot be perfunctory to customers who are still willing to come and eat just because the number of customers has decreased.

Huiquanlou may indeed face greater pressure in the future, but fortunately there are still several dry rice restaurants.

Although you can't make much money from selling a piece of pork belly, you can still make a lot of profit if you sell it in large quantities.

So you guys don’t have to worry, at worst Huiquanlou can offer some discounts, as long as we can maintain a stable income and expenditure.”

Feng Zhengming could more or less foresee the difficulties that Huiquanlou might face next.

This is why he opened branches of Bazirou in various places in the province.

In a nutshell, it is to make money. Only by making money first can you smoothly get through some financial difficulties you may encounter.

Only then can we get better development opportunities when the economy improves.

Otherwise, if even Huiquanlou cannot be preserved, how can there be any subsequent development?

Yan Xilou is an example of failure in this regard.

After listening to what Feng Zhengming said, the senior brothers nodded one after another.

"Zhengming, you are right. We cannot give up on doing something. The more difficult the situation is, the more we should try to do something."

"I think braised pork will not be affected too much. Our prices have not increased and it is still very popular."

"I really have to admire your vision, Zhengming. You opened branches of Ba Zi Rou in various places first, seized the market in advance, and made it our own fast food brand."

Feng Zhengming: "It is also thanks to you brothers who are willing to help me. Otherwise, if I want to open a branch by myself, I am afraid I will have to work hard for many years."

The three brothers looked at each other and smiled.

In fact, everyone knows that other stores may be affected, but Feng Zhengming’s store will definitely be the least affected.

After all, Feng Zhengming is well-known.

As long as the quality of the dishes can be guaranteed, it is definitely everyone’s first choice.

Finally, the three senior brothers assured Feng Zhengming that they would help him run both Huiquanlou and Ganfanpu well.

After a few more days of packing, Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing took a train and started their journey south.

Along the way, Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing observed the different customs and cultures of different places.

Feng Zhengming carried his camera and took pictures of many of the scenery along the way.

Although Feng Zhengming is tall and strong, the two of them remained relatively low-key along the way.

Because we spend a long time on the train, we get to meet all kinds of people along the way.

Most of them are people from all over the north who have gone south to work.

These people often carry large and small bags.

Many people are reluctant to buy sleeper tickets, and some don’t even have hard seat tickets.

Many people were crowded in the carriages along the way.

It can be said that the aisles on the train are packed with people, making it extremely inconvenient to move around.

Luo Qing went to the toilet several times and Feng Zhengming accompanied her.

Prevent bad things from happening in the car.

Fortunately, Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing did not encounter any pickpockets at the train station.

Perhaps Feng Zhengming was vigilant enough and did not give others the opportunity to take advantage of him.

But Luo Qing felt very tired from sitting all the way.

Feng Zhengming looked at his wife who looked tired.

"I said, why don't we take a plane? You insisted on taking the train."

Luo Qing looked helpless: "Okay, I was wrong."

Feng Zhengming held his wife's hand and comforted her: "Don't worry, you may not get enough rest on the way. When we get there, we will find a place to stay and have a good rest for a day."

Luo Qing asked: "Don't you need to go meet up with them first?"

Feng Zhengming shook his head: "No rush."

Two people were chatting when suddenly someone poked his head out, looked at them cautiously and asked if they wanted to buy something.

Then the other party showed off various things, including some food and a wide variety of small gadgets.

Luo Qing was a little stunned and felt that the man in front of her was just like a street vendor at the train station.

Feng Zhengming took a quick look and realized that the other party's dazzling array of gadgets were basically fakes, so he lost interest.

However, the other party seemed to notice that Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing had somewhat different identities.

Seeing that Feng Zhengming was not interested in the gadgets he showed him.

He actually lowered his voice and took out his "treasure".

"I have a treasure here. This is an old item I collected from my hometown. Now this item is in the south. If you take it to the streets of Guangdong Province, you can sell it for a high price."

Hearing the other party say this, Feng Zhengming felt that this boring journey seemed to have some fun.

"Oh? Is this an antique?"

The other party nodded immediately: "Yes, it is an antique. Look at the signature on the base. This is something from the Ming Dynasty.

It's fate that we ride on the same train, I'll sell it to you at a lower price."

Luo Qing was a little impatient when she heard this: "We don't want it, please leave."

Feng Zhengming thought it was quite interesting, and he was bored on the train anyway, so he called the other person over.

"Don't leave so quickly, tell us where you got this thing from?"

Luo Qing was originally somewhat dissatisfied with what her husband said and wanted to drive him away.

But when she looked at her husband, she saw Feng Zhengming winking at her.

Luo Qing also immediately understood that her husband was a little bored sitting on the train, so he deliberately tried to find something interesting to do.

When the other party heard that Feng Zhengming was interested, he immediately started introducing himself with a smile on his face.

He said that his things were collected from somewhere in the countryside.

He also told Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing a rather tortuous story.

The process of telling stories also attracted many other passengers.

After the other party finished telling the story, Feng Zhengming had no reaction.

Others nearby had already reacted.

"How much do you want for this?"

"Yeah, you've exaggerated this thing to the heavens, how much do you want to sell it for?"

"You sound so awesome, is that true?"

I heard many people around me asking about the price, and many people raised questions.

The antique seller said in a serious tone, "Of course it's real. I spent a lot of money to buy it. When I take it to Guangdong Province, I can directly exchange it for an imported car."

When they heard that they could exchange it for an imported car, many of the onlookers were instantly discouraged.

In this day and age, an imported car is a very valuable item for many people.

Seeing that many onlookers retreated in disappointment.

The man who had been telling the story for a long time looked at Feng Zhengming again.

"How about it? Do you want it? I can give it to you at a lower price."

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked, "Are you so sure that we can afford it?"

The other party smiled and said, "Of course, you look like a big boss."

Feng Zhengming couldn't help laughing: "How can I be a big boss? If I were a big boss, I wouldn't have to take the train to Guangdong Province."

Looking at Feng Zhengming who was laughing, the other party began to pack up his things again and prepared to leave.

Feng Zhengming suddenly asked: "Where did you buy this? Is there a place that can make it in batches?" (End of this chapter)