From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After a brief period of silence in the old shop, suddenly no one knew who started it.

Many people in the old shop couldn't help but laugh out loud.

In a blink of an eye, Feng Zhengming's old shop was filled with carnival-like laughter.

Some of the gourmets who frequently patronize the restaurant couldn't help but say a few words about Ma Jingcheng while laughing.

"Young man, do you know how difficult it is to surpass the top scorer?"

"Hahaha, you haven't even participated in the provincial youth chef competition yet, and you're already fantasizing about becoming the national champion?"

"Are you qualified to participate in the National Cooking Skills Competition?"

"You should first participate in the Young Chef Competition, get a place, find a good restaurant to learn well, and then consider participating in the national competition."

"That's right. Not everyone can achieve so many levels of continuous promotion in one step like our top scholar."

"The top scholar also made his way step by step."

"Yes, Zhuangyuan started out selling lunch boxes at the train station, and I frequented him."

"The reason why the top scorer was able to succeed is because he had accumulated enough experience. Do you have the same experience as the top scorer? Do you want to learn from him?"

Faced with the ridicule from the customers in the old shop, Ma Jingcheng blushed and didn't know how to refute.

He really wanted to shout, don't underestimate yourself.

But after hearing those gourmets recounting Feng Zhengming's experience, Ma Jingcheng no longer had the confidence to say that.

Seeing everyone's laughter getting louder and louder, Ma Jingcheng's face became worse and worse.

Feng Zhengming raised his hand and asked everyone to be quiet.

Wait until most people in the old shop are quiet.

Feng Zhengming smiled and looked at Ma Jingcheng: "Your idea is good, but if you want to catch up with me, you need to work harder.

I'm looking forward to you catching up with me and becoming the top winner of the national cooking skills competition even younger than me.

But you have to understand that the title of No. 1 is just an empty title. You have also eaten the food I cooked. Do you think my cooking skills are good because of the title of No. 1?"

These words not only left Ma Jingcheng speechless.

Many customers in the old shop were also lost in thought.

Feng Zhengming finally advised: "You should remember that your cooking skills are to let more people taste the delicious food, not just to defeat someone."

After saying this to Ma Jingcheng, Feng Zhengming looked at Ren Shouxiang.

"Master Ren hopes to see your apprentice's excellent performance in the provincial young chef cooking skills competition this time. I also hope that in the future, Master Ren, you can also let more people enjoy the skills that were once passed down from the palace."

Ren Shouxiang had to admit that Feng Zhengming's vision and bearing were indeed very strong.

A few words completely convinced him.

Ren Shouxiang even felt that such a person should be the top scholar in the country.

Feng Zhengming then said goodbye to the Ren family and went to chat with some gourmets who took care of his old shop.

Seeing Feng Zhengming walking away, Ren Juan pulled Ma Jingcheng to sit down.

"You, don't feel any pressure, just play well. Didn't the top pick say that? You have to take it one step at a time."

Ma Jingcheng turned his head and looked at Ren Juan: "Am I really not as good as him?"

Ren Juan smiled: "It depends on how you compare. You are definitely not as good as the champion in cooking skills right now. Just look at the dishes on the table. Do you dare to say that you can cook better than the champion?"

This question made Ma Jingcheng completely lose his temper.

Ren Juan continued to encourage: "But you are younger than the top scholar. Didn't Dad also tell you before he came here that this time he wanted you to see the world first?"

Ren Shouxiang also came to his senses after hearing his daughter's words.

He looked at his apprentice seriously and said, "That's right. Just treat this as an opportunity to see the world and have a direction to work hard in when you go back."

Ma Jingcheng sat down and thought about it carefully, and realized that his previous declaration was indeed a bit meaningless.

However, he did not regret saying those words in front of Feng Zhengming.

Ma Jingcheng felt that he could at least leave an impression on Feng Zhengming.

When I have the ability to challenge him in the future, I will not be treated as a nobody by Feng Zhengming.

When the Ren family finished their meal, paid the bill and prepared to leave.

Feng Zhengming followed them out of the shop and stopped the three people outside the door.

Ren Shouxiang is now quite polite when facing Feng Zhengming.

"Mr. Feng, what else do you want?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Master Ren, don't be nervous. I'm not looking for trouble with you. I just want to encourage your apprentice."

Then Feng Zhengming looked at Ma Jingcheng and said, "You are really brave to say in front of so many people, in front of me, that you want to become the top scholar in the country like me.

But as I said, courage needs to be supported by strength. Prepare well for the competition when you return.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself because of what you said today.

Everyone needs to go through a lot of hardships before they can succeed. You are just getting started now."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Ma Jingcheng was still a little dazed: "Thank you, No. 1 scholar. I won't be nervous. I will use everything I learned from my master to compete with others in the competition."

Then Ma Jingcheng continued, "I have to defeat those young chefs first before I am qualified to follow your path."

Faced with Ma Jingcheng's persistence, Feng Zhengming smiled again.

"Very good, keep your persistence, I want to see you in the provincial young chef finals this year."

Ren Shouxiang politely expressed his gratitude to Feng Zhengming again.

"Thank you for your encouragement, Zhuangyuan. We will work hard and I will teach him well when I return."

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Okay, Master Ren, take care, I won't see you off."

Ren Shouxiang said quickly, "No, no, Mr. Feng, let's go."

Feng Zhengming didn't give Ma Jingcheng any special care.

Because in the future, whenever young chefs come to Quancheng to participate in the provincial youth chef cooking competition, as long as they come to his old shop to eat, Feng Zhengming will give them some encouragement.

Many young chefs may not have thought that they would meet Feng Zhengming in his old shop.

Then the news spread, and in the following days, many young chefs who participated in the competition came to the old shop.

Feng Zhengming had already anticipated this situation, so he simply stayed in the old shop for the next few days.

He specifically chose to stay in the old shop at noon and in the afternoon.

In this way, almost all the young chefs who came here because of his reputation were able to meet him.

No matter where the young chefs come from, Feng Zhengming will give them serious advice and encourage them to compete well.

Naturally, this news was also known to the provincial event organizers, TV stations, and newspapers.

Television stations and newspapers came to the store specifically to interview Feng Zhengming.

By the way, the TV station also invited Feng Zhengming to shoot several cooking programs.

Since Feng Zhengming went to Shanghai, the cooking program on the provincial TV station has changed from a daily show to a weekly show.

Most of them were recorded in advance by Feng Zhengming who would come back every once in a while. People in the province who watched TV to learn cooking did not have many objections to this.

Because it is published once a week, the content is more refined.

It also allows everyone to try to cook the dishes taught in each episode at home.

Otherwise, if we teach you how to cook a dish every day, many people won’t have the time to try it.

People from the provincial TV station and newspaper came to Feng Zhengming's old shop.

Feng Zhengming was seen meeting some young chefs who came to the competition. He took the initiative to shake hands with them, exchanged some cooking techniques with them, and gave them various encouragements for their competition.

Whether they are facing some chefs from rural towns or very young apprentices who have just graduated.

Feng Zhengming treats everyone equally, without any reservations about anyone, and he will take the initiative to shake hands with everyone.

The people from the TV station and newspaper who came to interview the reporter saw this scene and whispered to each other.

"Did you see that? Did you feel that the top scholar nowadays is different from before?"

"Yes, the current top scholar looks more approachable."

“And I feel like the top scorers nowadays seem to smile more.”

"The top scholar used to be very approachable, but now he seems more down-to-earth."

"Yes, the term 'down-to-earth' is accurate."

"Very accurate. This is the first time I've discovered that the top scholar can speak different dialects from all over Qi and Lu."

After learning where the young chefs are from, Feng Zhengming would indeed adjust his accent to suit their local accent when chatting with them.

This also leads to the situation where several young chefs from different places come to visit together.

Even young chefs from several places were a little confused. Where was the top scholar from?
Fortunately, the accents in different parts of Qi and Lu are not very different.

Hearing Feng Zhengming's hometown accent, the group of young chefs who came to visit naturally felt more at home.

So this is also the reason why TV stations and newspaper reporters feel that Feng Zhengming has suddenly become more down-to-earth.

After communicating with this group of young chefs, I encouraged them to do well in the competition.

After seeing off this group of young chefs, Feng Zhengming looked at the waiting reporters.

"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long."

The person from the TV station responded with a smile: "It doesn't matter, we didn't wait, we filmed a more realistic side of the top scholar."

Feng Zhengming immediately pretended to be panicked and fixed his hairstyle.

"Oh, won't my unkempt image be exposed?"

Seeing Feng Zhengming's actions, he can really show a conflicted and nervous expression.

The people from the TV station and newspaper were all stunned at first.

Soon everyone understood what was going on and couldn't help laughing.

As the laughter sounded, the atmosphere naturally became relaxed.

The following interviews were also more relaxed.

First, a reporter from the newspaper asked: "Zhuangyuan, you seem very different this time. We feel that you are very happy and willing to interact with young chefs. What is the reason behind this?"

Feng Zhengming said frankly: "I am really happy because I have helped more people in Shanghai to know and accept our Shandong cuisine, especially some foreigners to like our Shandong cuisine.

As for having more contact and communication with young chefs? This is because I hope that more outstanding young chefs can emerge in our province.

Because if we want to better inherit and promote Shandong cuisine, we cannot rely on one or a few chefs, such as my master and other old chefs.

They are getting older, so more new generation of young chefs are needed to emerge.

With enough outstanding young chefs, we can do a better job in inheriting and promoting Shandong cuisine.”

After listening to Feng Zhengming's words, the people who interviewed him felt a surge of emotion.

They seemed to understand why the young chefs came to visit Feng Zhengming.

After returning, they all seemed to become more motivated.

After hearing Feng Zhengming’s passionate words, which young man would not be excited?

We can shoulder the responsibility of inheriting and promoting Shandong cuisine, so that more people can know and like Shandong cuisine.

These may be some of the ideals that many young chefs have.

Of course, it may slowly wear away over the years of hard work.

But now there is one person who always maintains a strong passion to lead and guide young chefs.

The person who interviewed Feng Zhengming felt that this might be a blessing for young chefs across the province.

Then the TV station asked, "Feng Zhuangyuan, since your restaurant in Shanghai is very successful, have you ever thought about opening a new restaurant? Let Shandong cuisine take over Shanghai as soon as possible? And then select the best young chefs from the whole province and bring them to Shanghai?"

After hearing the TV station person's question, Feng Zhengming didn't wait for him to answer.

The newspaper staff couldn't help but remind him: "We agreed that each of us would ask one question. Why did you ask two questions at once?"

The people from the TV station felt a little embarrassed when asked this question.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've answered it anyway, and both of your families can use it."

The TV station staff said, "Yes, yes, we can use it together."

The newspaper office had no choice but to stop hesitating and look at Feng Zhengming together.

Feng Zhengming thought about it and then gave an answer.

“Although the two stores in Shanghai are successful, I don’t plan to open more branches in the short term. I think the two stores are already very hard for now, and both of my stores employ young chefs.

Young chefs, myself included, now we all need to calm down and digest the changes in Shandong cuisine in Shanghai.

Learn and absorb dishes from other places, as well as some overseas cooking techniques, and slowly integrate them into our Shandong cuisine.

So I don’t think we will continue to open more stores in the short term, like we have in our province.”

There was a brief pause to allow the newspaper to organize the records.

Feng Zhengming then continued to answer another question.

“As for whether I will select the best young chefs from this young chef cooking skills competition and bring them to the store in Shanghai?
Probably not for the time being.

As I said before, both I and the chef teams at my two restaurants in Shanghai need some time to mature.

We still need to continue learning and absorbing things from others and summarize the reasons for the success of our two stores.

So for the time being, my two restaurants in Shanghai will not recruit new young chefs to join.”

After answering the two questions, Feng Zhengming took the initiative to say a little more without waiting for the next question.

“Of course, there is no need to worry about the outstanding young chefs. Although my two stores in Shanghai do not need anyone for the time being, my branches in various parts of the province still need manpower.

If they are willing, they can sign up to join my company 'Zheng Luxing'.

Then you can receive a series of training and will be arranged to do internships in various branches.

In the future, they may become the backbone of Huiquanlou's kitchen." (End of this chapter)