From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

When Luo Qing heard her husband's confident words, she was also very happy for him.

In Luo Qing's opinion, a husband should have such confidence.

Not only is he the champion in the national cooking skills competition, he is also someone who can surpass overseas famous chefs with his cooking skills.

In Luo Qing's opinion, no matter how much the dishes are priced when opening a store, it is not too much.

What’s more, it is in Shanghai, an international metropolis like that.

The prices of ingredients alone cannot be as low as in other regions.

Not to mention, after the opening of two stores, the employees had to pay various daily expenses in Shanghai.

Eliminate all aspects of investment and operating costs.

The value of Feng Zhengming's craftsmanship also needs to be reflected.

So Luo Qing agreed with what Jiang Chengzhe said to persuade Feng Zhengming.

When the price was almost set, Li Tao finally arrived in Shanghai.

Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe received Li Tao together. They explained to Li Tao in detail all their requirements on tableware and handed him a label drawing.

The badge Feng Zhengming took out was the one he had seen when he attended the state banquet in Beijing.

At that time, we invited senior professors from the Academy of Fine Arts to help design the shape of the landscape of the motherland.

Feng Zhengming later made a special trip to find several old professors.

I asked the old professor to help me design a logo unique to him using the three words "Zheng Luxing".

The old professors at the Academy of Fine Arts were old professors after all. After discussion, they designed several versions of the logo for Feng Zhengming.

Then mail them all to Quancheng together.

After Feng Zhengming received it, he called several old professors to thank them.

During the Chinese New Year, he asked someone to take some of his gifts to Beijing for several old professors.

Although they are not very valuable, they are some specialties of Qi and Lu.

But the old professors were also very happy to receive the gifts.

"I hope these symbols will be on every table's plates, bowls and spoons."

Li Tao nodded: "Okay, champion, please rest assured, we can do it with our current technology."

Feng Zhengming asked again: "How long will it take for your samples to come out?"

Li Tao thought for a moment and said, "After I go back, I will ask them to speed up. I estimate that the samples will take about half a month."

Feng Zhengming asked: "Is it a set?"

Li Tao nodded: "Yes, it's a set, twelve people."

"Okay." Feng Zhengming nodded with satisfaction.

Li Tao did not stay. Feng Zhengming wanted to give a deposit, but was rejected by Li Tao.

"Master Zhuang, you don't have to pay the deposit. We trust your character. I can't guarantee that what we make will meet your requirements, so I can't accept your deposit.

When I send you the samples and you are satisfied with them, we can sign the contract and you can pay me the deposit.”

Feng Zhengming nodded and agreed to Li Tao's idea.

After seeing Li Tao off, Jiang Chengzhe still couldn't help but make a suggestion to Feng Zhengming.

"Looking for a domestic porcelain factory to make it, do you really think they can be trusted?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "It seems that you have a prejudice against some domestic products."

Jiang Chengzhe also planned to persuade Feng Zhengming again using the method he used to persuade Feng Zhengming to raise prices.

Feng Zhengming directly refuted this time: "It is precisely because I am the top scholar that I should set an example. I want to use tableware made by our domestic porcelain factory.

We want to let people at home and abroad know that porcelain is something we invented and we can make it very well.

I am also supporting our domestic porcelain factories and raising their status so that they can keep up with the times."

Jiang Chengzhe was left speechless by Feng Zhengming's words.

Seeing that Jiang Chengzhe seemed unable to win the argument with him, Feng Zhengming simply continued to educate Jiang Chengzhe.

“Why can those overseas porcelain factories produce in batches on a large scale? Because they have enough customers. This time, I started to take the lead and let domestic restaurants also start to use products from domestic porcelain factories in large quantities.

I believe that in the future our domestic porcelain factories will also improve their firing technology and can do better than those overseas."

Jiang Chengzhe was educated by Feng Zhengming.

"Well, you are right. We should indeed support domestic porcelain factories."

In the following period of time, Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe divided the work and were responsible for various arrangements in the two stores respectively.

Out of trust, Feng Zhengming handed over the management of the branch of the Western restaurant on the street to Jiang Chengzhe.

The owners of other Western restaurants here learned that Jiang Chengzhe was a famous chef from Hong Kong, and they were all quite polite to him.

Several bosses even took the initiative to show their goodwill to him.

Jiang Chengzhe told this to Feng Zhengming.

"In fact, the people are all pretty nice. The owners of the surrounding shops are all very polite."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "That's because they know you're from Hong Kong, and they heard that you're a famous chef in Hong Kong, so they're polite to you. If you were a chef from somewhere else, they wouldn't be so polite."

"Not really? Are they so snobbish?" Jiang Chengzhe was a little unconvinced.

Feng Zhengming was very straightforward: "Many people are just so snobbish."

Jiang Chengzhe thought carefully and said, "I remember now. They really don't like our Chinese-style interior and exterior decoration, but they didn't dare to say it in front of me."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Our store should be the most eye-catching one on that street. It will become a thorn in their eyes."

Jiang Chengzhe burst into laughter: "Hahaha, what does that matter? Isn't this what we want?"

Feng Zhengming also laughed: "Yes, that's the effect we want. We want to let them know that their weird things are just garbage."

"That's right, things that are neither Chinese nor Western are indeed rubbish." Jiang Chengzhe still laughed happily.

Then Jiang Chengzhe discussed the store menu design with Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming gave two different menus.

"The two stores serve different customers, so we need to provide two different menus. Therefore, the menu of the store on the western restaurant street will keep the braised pork belly unchanged, but the pork elbow, pig's trotter and four-happiness meatballs will be cooked in a different way.

The menu will also include some seafood, as well as the Hong Kong-style Cantonese dishes you are familiar with, and I will also design some modified local dishes to add to the menu.”

After listening to Feng Zhengming's design, Jiang Chengzhe found that he had no chance to speak.

There is really nothing that can be modified or improved on this menu.

According to Feng Zhengming's design, this menu is placed on the Western Restaurant Street, serving both white-collar workers passing by and overseas people who come here to look for restaurants.

Feng Zhengming's menu can perfectly meet the needs of all parties.

Moreover, Feng Zhengming's menu has well preserved many characteristics of Shandong cuisine.

For example, Feng Zhengming was determined to preserve the most important dish in the store, the braised pork.

Jiang Chengzhe asked: "What about the other store?"

Feng Zhengming smiled slightly and said, "For the other restaurant, I will design the menu exactly according to my restaurant in Qilu. The main dish will still be Shandong cuisine, with some local dishes added as appropriate."

Jiang Chengzhe scratched his head: "You are indeed the chef, I don't even have the opportunity to express my opinion."

"Hahaha." Feng Zhengming was amused by Jiang Chengzhe. "It's okay, if you have any ideas, just tell us and we can discuss it later."

Jiang Chengzhe looked helpless: "I have no idea. Some of my original ideas seem a bit petty compared to your design. They are not as grand as your two menu designs."

Feng Zhengming asked curiously, "Grand? How is the menu grand?"

Jiang Chengzhe explained: "Your design takes into account Shandong cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, local cuisine, and even Western cuisine, and you also take care of different customers."

“Isn’t this what should be done?”

Feng Zhengming said as a matter of course, "If we want customers to be willing to patronize our restaurant, we must make sure they think the food is delicious and that they feel comfortable dining there."

Jiang Chengzhe nodded: "Looking at it this way, I'm afraid it won't be long before the business of those non-authentic Western restaurants on this street will be taken away by our store. When they see me next time, they probably won't be polite to me anymore."

Feng Zhengming: "Survival of the fittest. Since you said they are not an authentic Western restaurant, they should be eliminated."

"Although they are not authentic, some of their dishes taste pretty good." Jiang Chengzhe had obviously eaten there.

Feng Zhengming: "That's easy. Ask them to lower their prices and not set such a high premium. They should still be able to sell their products."

"Hahaha." Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help laughing again, "If they were to do that, I'm afraid they would rather close down."

Feng Zhengming was somewhat helpless: "Then let them close down. It's such a good location. If their store closes, new stores will open here.

Maybe if we drive away all the fake Western restaurants around here, this street will become a row of Chinese restaurants again.”

Jiang Chengzhe shook his head: "I don't think so. The closure of those fake Western restaurants may attract more authentic Western restaurants."

This made Feng Zhengming a little strange: "Why?"

Jiang Chengzhe looked at Feng Zhengming and smiled bitterly: "You probably don't know how high the rent of shops here is? I'm afraid ordinary Chinese restaurants are unwilling to rent shops here."

Feng Zhengming was stunned when he heard this, and after thinking for a while, he sighed: "It turns out that our chefs are treated too badly."

Jiang Chengzhe agrees: "The skills of domestic chefs are not respected enough."

Feng Zhengming thought about it and felt helpless: "There is no other way. The overall labor costs are relatively low, and the craftsmanship and technology have not received enough attention."

Back to the topic here, Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but feel a little proud.

"Look, so I asked you to set the menu prices higher, right?"

Seeing Jiang Chengzhe's smug expression, Feng Zhengming could only smile.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, Feng Zhengming’s two stores in Shanghai have been renovated and decorated.

Including some things in the kitchen have also been assembled and debugged.

Li Tao also returned to Shanghai with samples again.

Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe saw the samples that Li Tao brought from the Porcelain Capital together.

"Hahaha, Azhe, take a look, isn't it better than those made overseas?"

Jiang Chengzhe took the bowl, plate and spoon, looked at them carefully, and put the twelve sets of samples he brought together for comparison.

He also had to admit that the samples brought by Li Tao were indeed fired very well.

Whether it is the patterns on each item or the "Zheng Luxing" logo on it, they are really very clear and beautiful.

The most important thing is that all twelve sets of these samples are exactly the same.

Even Jiang Chengzhe looked very carefully but couldn't find even the slightest flaw.

Jiang Chengzhe had to admit defeat.

"I underestimated the level of the Porcelain Capital. This set of tableware is indeed very well made."

Li Tao smiled when he heard the compliment and said, "As long as you are satisfied, we will bake them all for you according to this standard in the future?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, all are fired according to this standard."

When discussing the price, Jiang Chengzhe was surprised again when he heard Li Tao's offer.

But Jiang Chengzhe didn't say anything.

After Feng Zhengming added some more money, he and Li Tao finally signed the agreement.

After seeing Li Tao off, Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but sigh to Feng Zhengming.

"The price quoted is really low. I'm afraid it's less than one-fifth of what those overseas porcelain factories quote."

Feng Zhengming laughed after hearing this: "In the future, our products will be sold all over the world, and those overseas will know what 'good quality and low price' means."

Jiang Chengzhe suddenly felt the strength of his motherland and its unstoppable momentum.

Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe have finalized all aspects.

Leave Jiang Chengzhe in Shanghai to take charge of some matters of the next two stores.

Feng Zhengming returned to Quancheng first, preparing to pick up his wife and bring the young chef from the kitchen to take over the new store.

Jiang Chengzhe didn't have to go to Gangcheng, but he also notified his little apprentice in Gangcheng to come to Shanghai.

When Feng Zhengming returned to Quancheng, he was naturally welcomed by many people.

At the same time, many people come to the door specifically.

Among them are some people from the Chefs Association and some enterprises from all over Qilu.

The people from the Chefs Association came to ask Feng Zhengming's two branches in Shanghai to hang up the "Authentic Shandong Cuisine" sign, so that they could be regarded as representing the Shandong Cuisine Chefs Association.

Feng Zhengming also felt a little amused and helpless about this.

But he did agree to this request.

This actually surprised the people from the Chefs Association who came to visit.

I didn't expect Feng Zhengming to agree so readily.

Feng Zhengming explained with a smile: "I think it's good to hang up the sign of our Shandong cuisine chef. At least people will know that the Shandong cuisine chefs in my restaurant are all serious Shandong cuisine chefs."

These words made several people from the Provincial Chefs Association feel very comfortable.

Of course, they didn’t come just to let Feng Zhengming hang the sign.

Several people in the Chefs Association still want to send their own children to Feng Zhengming's restaurant in Shanghai.

Feng Zhengming would definitely refuse this.

“My two stores in Shanghai are to promote the reputation of Shandong cuisine. The young chefs I brought with me are all the backbones of my stores in Quancheng, so as not to embarrass our Shandong cuisine outside.

So I definitely cannot recruit new people for the time being, but if some of you are interested in letting your children at home learn the craft.

My suggestion is that you can first participate in the new recruitment assessment of several stores in Quancheng."

Several people from the Chefs Association just smiled and did not agree directly.

Feng Zhengming knew that they were unwilling to let their children work in the Feng family restaurant and start over.

So Feng Zhengming simply stopped talking to them about this matter.

As for representatives from some enterprises across the province, they came to see Feng Zhengming.

They hope to supply goods to Feng Zhengming.

Even though Shanghai is far away, they still have to supply goods to Feng Zhengming's store in Shanghai.

Feng Zhengming quickly guessed their intention.

The purpose is to give him the opportunity to supply products so that the products can go beyond Shandong and open up new markets in Shanghai and even the whole country.

In this regard, Feng Zhengming did not refuse to help his hometown enterprises, but also required that they must be screened and not go outside to ruin the reputation of Qilu products. (End of this chapter)