From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Uncle San drove and took Feng Zhengming to the door of the old shop.

The old shop is still crowded, and there are still many people queuing.

On the one hand, the old shop has been recognized by many people nearby.

On the other hand, Feng Zhengming never mentioned the price of the old shop.

I talked about this with my uncle before in front of Huiquanlou.

Uncle San felt that Feng Zhengming’s price for pork stew was a bit low.

But Feng Zhengming felt that everyone should be able to at least have a piece of meat.

So just like Uncle San said, many customers who come to Laopu and Feng Zhengming’s other Baozirou shops really just buy a piece of Baozirou and ask for a bowl of rice or a big bowl of hand-rolled noodles.

Then pour the braised broth of pork belly on it and it really becomes a meal.

And this meal costs only 2 yuan in all the restaurants in Feng Zhengming's province.

This price also makes other stores afraid to raise prices arbitrarily.

Feng Zhengming got off the car and walked to the door of the old shop.

He was recognized by many people immediately.

"Hey, the top scholar is back."

"The top scholar is back."

"Hahaha, our top scholar is back, that's great."

"Mr. Feng, it's not even the New Year yet, why are you back?"

"How is Mr. Feng's business doing in Shanghai?"

I saw that everyone was polite and happy about my return.

Feng Zhengming also greeted everyone with a smile.

And he announced it solemnly to everyone with a smile.

"My stores in Shanghai are now the two most famous stores in the city. Many people line up to eat here. They all say that our Shandong cuisine, such as braised pork belly, pork elbow, pig's trotter and four-happiness meatballs, are delicious. Even foreigners like them."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, everyone inside and outside the old shop became excited.

"Good, that's great. Our number one scholar has really made our Shandong cuisine famous."

"Hahaha, originally, our Shandong cuisine is the best of all cuisines, but in recent years it has been robbed of its fame by Cantonese and Sichuan cuisines, but now it has finally been taken back by our number one scholar."

"Yes, our Shandong cuisine is the best."

"The number one scholar really brings honor to our Shandong cuisine."

"What if he is the top scholar? The skills of the top scholar are the best."

Feng Zhengming saw that everyone was so happy that they said some things that were a bit excessive.

He corrected it with a smile.

"We can't say that Shandong cuisine is the best. Different places have different taste preferences and customs. We are all Chinese people and we should see the good in each other.

We should also learn some excellent things from other local cuisines so that our Shandong cuisine can keep up with the times.

I am just trying my best to help, and I hope more people can experience the charm of Shandong cuisine.

Don’t always look at Shandong cuisine with the prejudice that it is sticky and black.”

Feng Zhengming's words made everyone silent.

Soon someone took the lead in applauding.

Many people inside and outside the old shop applauded.

"As expected of our top scholar, his speech is very sophisticated."

"That's right, this is our top scholar. His vision is bigger than ours."

"That's right. The top scholar is the top scholar in the country, so naturally he has to stand at a different level."

"We support the champion and make Chinese cuisine even better."

"Yes, for the better."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I just came back today. To celebrate the fact that our Shandong cuisine has opened a restaurant in Shanghai and even foreigners recognize it, I will give everyone a piece of braised pork for free today."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone inside and outside the old shop cheered.

At the same time, not far from the door of the old shop, a group of people were watching from afar.

Hearing Feng Zhengming's loud announcement, everyone in the group was moved.

One of the young men couldn't help but mutter, "This Feng Zhengming really knows how to behave. He actually gave everyone a piece of pork belly. He's really rich."

The young woman next to the young man said, "It shows that the champion has a vision. Didn't you hear what he said just now? He told everyone not to have regional prejudices, not to always think that Shandong cuisine is the best, and to be able to accept and learn from others' excellence.

How good is that? That’s what a true champion would say.”

The young man immediately looked displeased: "Huh, it's obvious that he is talking without any worries. He is already the top scholar, so of course he doesn't care. If I were the top scholar, I would be more talkative than him."

The young woman smiled and said, "You? I'm afraid you won't be the top scholar."

The young man was not convinced: "Why do you say I can't be the top scholar? My master said I have talent."

The young woman looked at the middle-aged man next to her and said, "Dad, you are not the top scholar yourself. How can you teach a top scholar? Do you believe it yourself?"

The middle-aged man glared at his daughter and said, "His master, Feng Zhengming, wasn't the top scholar either."

The young man immediately took over the conversation: "That's right, Master Yan was able to teach Feng Zhengming to become the top scholar, so Master can also teach me to become the top scholar. I will definitely bring a top scholar back to Master."

The young woman asked, "Are you sure? Can you win the first prize in this provincial young chef cooking skills competition?"

The young man was quite confident: "Absolutely."

This time it was the middle-aged man who was less confident.

"We still have to keep a low profile. Although the young chefs under Feng Zhengming are unlikely to participate this time, there are still many young apprentices under the old chefs and master chefs from all over the province who will participate.

It’s hard to say whether you can win the top prize, so you need to watch more, learn more and practice more.”

The young woman smiled immediately after hearing what her father said.

"Hahaha, look, even your master said that."

The young man was naturally very unconvinced.

However, the middle-aged man stopped the young man from arguing and led them to the dry food shop.

"I'll go in later and try the food first to see how the craftsmanship of the first Zhuangyuan store is now."

The young man curled his lips and said nothing.

The young woman looked expectant: "Dad, now that the top scholar is back, will he cook for us?"

The middle-aged man shook his head: "No, he just came back from another place. He came to this old shop to check whether the kitchen staff's level has declined. He will not cook by himself."

Unfortunately, the middle-aged man guessed completely wrong, he didn't understand Feng Zhengming at all.

The reason why Feng Zhengming didn't go in when he arrived at Huiquan Tower.

Instead, he asked his uncle to drive him to the old shop first.

It was because he was itching to show off his skills in front of his old customers in the old shop.

So Feng Zhengming entered the old shop and went directly to the dressing room to change into a chef's uniform. Then he walked into the kitchen and greeted his third brother Yang Bin.

"Third brother, I'm back."

Yang Bin turned around and saw Feng Zhengming who had already changed into his chef's uniform.

"Zhengming? Why did you come back suddenly?"

Without waiting for Feng Zhengming to answer, Yang Bin immediately understood what was going on.

"I see. It must be Master and Master Cui who called to ask you to come back. The new provincial youth chef competition is about to be held."

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Yes, Uncle Cui called me personally, so I must come back."

While speaking, Feng Zhengming looked at the few newcomers brought by his third senior brother in the kitchen.

When the new people in the kitchen saw Feng Zhengming coming in wearing chef's uniforms, they all stood up straight, but lowered their heads to avoid making eye contact with Feng Zhengming.

Yang Bin couldn't help laughing when he saw the looks on those people's faces.

"Hahaha, aren't you all usually pretty capable? You said you'd wait for our top scholar to come back and show off your skills in front of him.

What's wrong? Now the champion is back and standing right in front of you, and no one wants to show off their skills to him?"

These words made the newcomer in the kitchen wish he could find a hole to crawl into.

But then Yang Bin started to call out names directly.

"Yue Songyi, didn't you tell me a few days ago that you have learned what I taught you, and you can teach the top scholar a few tricks even if you face him? Come on, you go first and show him your two tricks."

Being called directly by name, Yue Songyi looked up in surprise.

After taking a look at Yang Bin, he quickly lowered his head again.

Yang Bin insisted: "Why are you still embarrassed? Come on, show us your skills."

Feng Zhengming smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Brother San, don't embarrass the young man. Young people should have the courage to brag. If you don't even dare to brag behind my back, then you are even more afraid to surpass me, right?
If more young people dare to think, speak and act, our Shandong cuisine can be inherited and carried forward better.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, a group of young people in the kitchen suddenly raised their heads.

In the past, they only heard that Feng Zhengming had a good temper and would almost never lose his temper in the kitchen.

Hearing these words in person today really made everyone feel different.

Seeing that everyone dared to raise their heads, Feng Zhengming said to his third senior brother, "Third brother, please introduce me to him."

Naturally, it was impossible for Yang Bin to introduce them to Feng Zhengming one by one himself.

"Please introduce yourselves."

The first person to come forward to introduce himself was Yue Songyi: "Hello, Mr. Zhuangyuan, my name is Yue Songyi, I graduated from Yancheng Technical School, and worked in a restaurant in Yancheng for two years. This year I came to Quancheng and have been working in the kitchen of an old shop for six months."

Feng Zhengming nodded and said, "Yes, you can explain so clearly the school you graduated from and your previous experiences, which shows that you should have a very detailed plan for yourself.

You come to the old shop specifically to apply for a job because you want to learn more and make a breakthrough in your cooking skills.

More importantly, do you want to use the old shop as a stepping stone to get out of Qilu?"

Yue Songyi was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Feng Zhengming had predicted all his thoughts.

Then I heard Feng Zhengming say: "It's a good plan. I hope I can study hard and work hard in the future."

Feng Zhengming reminded before the next introduction began.

"Don't call me the top scholar. This is the kitchen. You should call me the chef. Do you understand?"

The second person who was about to speak quickly changed his words.

"I'm the chef. My name is Tang Minglei. I also graduated from Yancheng Technical School. I graduated just over a year ago and looked for a lot of restaurants. Later, I heard that your old shop in Quancheng needed someone, so I came here to apply. I have been working here for six months."

Feng Zhengming looked at him with a smile: "You are not as meticulous in your planning as Xiaoyue. You should be the type who takes things one step at a time. I'm afraid learning cooking is not something you really want to learn, right?"

When asked this question, Tang Minglei hesitated for a moment, but still nodded: "My dad said that I should have a skill."

Feng Zhengming said: "Father hopes that you can support yourself, hope that you can overcome the difficulties and work hard here."

The next person quickly followed and introduced themselves.

"Chef, my name is Liu Ruibao. I graduated from Quancheng Technical School and was recommended by my master."

Feng Zhengming asked: "Who is your master?"

Before Liu Ruibao could speak, Yang Bin answered: "Oh, he was recommended by Master Cui."

Feng Zhengming just nodded without analyzing Liu Ruibao's personality traits, and looked directly at the next one.

Seeing Feng Zhengming like this, Yang Bin knew very well that his junior brother was a little unhappy.

Although Liu Ruibao was recommended by Master Cui, it was obvious that Feng Zhengming did not like to mention Master Cui like this.

When Liu Ruibao was introducing himself, he shouldn't have mentioned who recommended him at all.

Since he brought it up, it means that in his heart, he feels that since he was recommended by Master Cui, he must have an advantage over others, and he also wants Feng Zhengming to look up to him.

It’s a pity that by saying this, he was showing his weakness in front of Feng Zhengming.

So Feng Zhengming would not think highly of him.

"Hello, chef. My name is Li Dechang. I am from Daocheng. I worked in a seafood restaurant in Daocheng for more than a year. Then I came to Quancheng and worked in the old shop for six months."

The next few apprentices came in later than these four.

So they were a little lacking in confidence when introducing themselves.

Feng Zhengming had a general understanding of it.

He said calmly, "Okay, work hard. You are lucky to follow my third brother. My third brother is the most solid teacher of basic skills. If any of you have the opportunity to be selected by my third brother as his disciple, you will definitely have a bright future."

Yang Bin felt a little embarrassed when he was told this.

"Zhengming, you are just bragging in front of the young people. How can you have a bright future if you become my disciple? If the eldest brother and the fifth brother knew about it, wouldn't they come to my house to fight me?"

The third brother was very serious in the first half of the sentence, but when he said the second half, the kitchen suddenly burst into laughter.

After laughing, Yang Bin clapped his hands and shouted, "Okay, we've met the champion, hurry up and get to work, there are guests waiting in front."

Then Yang Bin asked the four young chefs to help, leaving only him and Feng Zhengming at the stove.

The young chefs and apprentices in the kitchen all widened their eyes.

Carefully observe Feng Zhengming's cooking process.

Soon they saw the true power of Feng Zhengming, the top scholar.

Using the same stove fire, Feng Zhengming always uses the pot and spoon on the stove and puts almost the same ingredients in it.

Various main ingredients, auxiliary ingredients and small ingredients are also prepared in the kitchen.

When his and his third brother’s dishes came out of the pot at the same time.

The aroma from the shop allowed everyone in the kitchen to immediately tell the difference.

Yang Bin looked at Feng Zhengming's dish and couldn't help but sigh: "Not bad, Zhengming, your cooking skills have really not fallen behind, and your level is even better than before."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Third brother, you gave in to me because you were afraid that I would embarrass myself in front of these young newcomers."

Yang Bin shook his head: "I also want to accept the step you gave me, but I really can't take it."

In fact, ordinary customers who really come to the old shop cannot tell the difference between Feng Zhengming and Yang Bin.

But some gourmets who often come to the old shop will immediately tell the difference between the two dishes when they are served. (End of this chapter)