From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

No one present expected Cheng Guosheng to issue such a direct challenge.

Feng Zhengming had a smile on his face and clinked his glass with Cheng Guosheng.

"Okay, I'm also looking forward to fighting with Brother Cheng again."

A smile appeared on Cheng Guosheng's face, and he drank the wine in the glass.

Feng Zhengming naturally followed suit and drank the wine in the glass.

After drinking this glass of wine, Cheng Guosheng asked Feng Zhengming to sit down first.

Then Cheng Guosheng walked to his master with a glass of wine.

"Master, I, your eldest disciple, embarrassed you before and almost smashed the sign of Jubin Garden. Today I am here to toast you and admit my mistake."

Master Wang said this to Cheng Guosheng and raised his glass in response.

"You don't have to admit your mistakes. Later, I often thought that the incident at Jubin Garden was not your fault. After all, it was not you who contracted Jubin Garden at that time. Many times, the boss gave the order and you had no choice but to do it."

Cheng Guosheng: "Thank you Master for your understanding and forgiveness. I am the boss this time and things like that won't happen again."

Then Cheng Guosheng earnestly assured Master Wang.

“Master, you can rest assured that I will strictly control both the raw materials and the craftsmanship of Xinjubinyuan, and there will definitely not be the quality problems of the dishes like before.

And I will definitely make Jubinyuan the top restaurant of Shandong cuisine and restore its reputation.”

Master Wang asked: "Do you still want to run the so-called high-end restaurant model?"

Cheng Guosheng: "Yes, in fact, Zhengming should be very clear about the catering business outside now. Either they do some low-end street snacks, or they run fast food restaurants, or they run some high-end restaurants and hotels.

Since other local cuisines can have high-end restaurants or hotels, why can't our Shandong cuisine have one?
I want to combine what I have learned outside in the past few years with our Shandong cuisine. We will choose the best ingredients and stick to our Shandong cuisine in terms of craftsmanship and techniques.

Then we will build a high-end Shandong cuisine restaurant and set a benchmark for Shandong cuisine restaurants in the future.”

Having said that, Cheng Guosheng looked at Master Su and Master Sun from Jufengde and Taifenglou who were present.

"Uncle Su, Uncle Sun, I am not saying this to target Jufengde and Taifenglou. I respect Jufengde and Taifenglou very much. They are indeed the real time-honored brands of Shandong cuisine.

Of course, there is also Huiquanlou owned by Zhengming, which is also one of the top restaurants serving traditional Shandong cuisine.

But your model is still too backward and cannot keep up with the new era of the new millennium.

I will use my own way and the external form to create a brand new benchmark Shandong cuisine restaurant."

Cheng Guosheng's words made Master Su and Master Sun look at each other, and then they looked at Feng Zhengming together.

In the eyes of the two masters, it is important to keep up with the new millennium and the new era.

Who has more say than Feng Zhengming?

He has already proven himself successfully in Shanghai.

If you want to promote Shandong cuisine, you don’t necessarily have to make fundamental changes.

As long as the dish is delicious, just make some slight adjustments to the taste.

In fact, Shandong cuisine is also popular in other places.

But what Cheng Guosheng wants to do is obviously the opposite of what Feng Zhengming does.

Feng Zhengming started from ordinary mass catering.

Make delicious food that more people can afford and eat well.

It is not difficult to tell what Cheng Guosheng is doing now from the dishes he served today.

What he chose was to pile up better ingredients and use them to show the high-end of his restaurant. He could be considered to have ignored the purchasing power of the general public and provided high-end satisfaction in consumption and dining to a small number of people who had accumulated wealth.

The old masters don’t know what to say?
Are you saying that Cheng Guosheng’s approach is wrong?
But he spent so much money to reopen Jubinyuan and used so many better raw materials, he couldn't lose money.

What's more, Cheng Guosheng's approach can indeed make Shandong cuisine more advanced.

In particular, it caters to wealthy businessmen and can also use them to better promote Shandong cuisine.

But is this the right approach?

It is obvious that the true meaning of food has been abandoned by Cheng Guosheng.

Delicious food should be accessible and affordable to everyone.

Just cater to a small number of rich people.

Food will lose its original meaning of existence.

This may be something that the current masters also need to think about.

I noticed that the atmosphere in the private room was a little strange.

Feng Zhengming stood up and raised his glass with a smile.

"Brother Cheng has a very kind heart. Having Brother Cheng competing with me can also urge me to do many things better. I am willing to accept Brother Cheng's challenge."

At this point Feng Zhengming raised his glass to everyone.

"Let us raise our glasses together and hope that our competition can help Shandong cuisine be inherited and developed better."

Feng Zhengming's words calmed everyone down.

The old masters also felt that it was not a bad thing for Cheng Guosheng to appear and compete with Feng Zhengming through another way.

Perhaps the competition between the two of them can indeed help Shandong cuisine to be inherited and developed better.

Everyone raised their glasses.

"Okay, then we'll wait and see. I hope Guosheng and Zhengming can work together to develop Shandong cuisine better." Master Cui said.

Other master chefs also agreed, and the master chefs present, including Feng Zhengming and his three brothers, stood up and raised their glasses.

Cheng Guosheng drank the glass of wine with everyone.

Next, he asked everyone to eat, then he excused himself and went to toast in other private rooms.

After Cheng Guosheng left, the private room became quiet for a while.

Master Wang couldn't help but speak first.

"Zhengming, please don't let this competition between you hurt your relationship."

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Uncle Wang, don't worry, the competition between me and Brother Cheng will definitely not hurt the harmony between us."

Then Feng Zhengming pointed it out again.

"In fact, Senior Brother Cheng and I may not be able to compete with each other."

These words stunned everyone present.

Feng Zhengming explained to himself: "Brother Cheng's path is different from mine. My restaurant and Huiquanlou are more places to entertain the public. I don't want to run such a high-end restaurant."

After hearing Feng Zhengming's explanation, everyone present suddenly understood.

The old masters all laughed immediately.

Master Cui: "Zhengming is right. Your restaurant and Huiquanlou are places that ordinary people can afford to eat. They really don't need to be fancy."

After a pause, Master Cui pointed out Cheng Guosheng’s new Jubin Garden.

"Guosheng is more like a place that makes Shandong cuisine more refined, and with the service and other aspects, ordinary people may not come here to consume. But if we recommend our Shandong cuisine restaurant to the outside world, Guosheng's current Jubinyuan is indeed more suitable for recommendation."

After hearing what Master Cui said, everyone's expressions changed slightly.

Feng Zhengming looked at Master Cui. He probably guessed what Master Cui meant.

It is obvious that Master Cui is very satisfied with Cheng Guosheng's new Jubinyuan model.

Perhaps it is because we have entered the millennium. Domestic communications have become more convenient, allowing more people to see a lot of information outside, even overseas.

Therefore, Master Cui feels that if he wants to promote Shandong cuisine better, he can no longer continue on the old path.

People are now gradually developing a craze for high-end restaurants.

So at this time, Shandong cuisine should also keep up with the times and have high-end restaurants.

It just so happens that Cheng Guosheng’s new Jubin Garden is located along this route.

Master Cui naturally felt that Cheng Guosheng was right.

Of course, this doesn't mean that he prefers Cheng Guosheng, and he no longer favors Feng Zhengming as much as before.

In fact, Master Cui hopes that Feng Zhengming and Cheng Guosheng’s two paths will run parallel.

This will help better promote and spread Shandong cuisine and enhance its influence.

Indeed, from this perspective, it is not surprising that Master Cui supports Cheng Guosheng.

Several old masters gradually understood what Master Cui meant.

Master Su and Master Sun also gained some inspiration.

I think maybe Jufengde and Taifenglou can also make some changes.

We must adapt to the times and keep up with the more diverse demands of people in the new century.

Even Master Feng Zhengming had some ideas in his mind and wanted to make some changes to his son's Yan's Restaurant.

Master Cui looked at Feng Zhengming with a smile.

"Zhengming, what do you think?"

Feng Zhengming: "Master Cui is right. We should serve the masses and try high-end restaurants and hotels. Master Cheng has given us a good start and given us a new way to try."

When Master Cui heard what Feng Zhengming said, he burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay, Zhengming, you can understand my thoughts. I hope you can cooperate with Guosheng in the future. You can work together to promote Shandong cuisine better and let our Shandong cuisine regain its glory in the past when it dominated the capital."

These words were not only what Master Cui thought, but also what the other masters present hoped for.

For any master chef, they are Shandong cuisine chefs who have been immersed in Shandong cuisine all their lives.

Shandong cuisine is the most untainted pride in their hearts.

In the eyes of the master chefs, Shandong cuisine is the first of the four major cuisines and the source of all true Chinese cuisines.

So whenever and wherever anyone strives to inherit, publicize and promote Shandong cuisine, the masters are willing to give their all to support them.

It’s just like Feng Zhengming’s sudden emergence.

All the veterans supported him, allowing him to continue winning without being affected.

Now that Cheng Guosheng has returned from other places, he wants to open a high-end Shandong cuisine restaurant, and the old chefs will also support him.

Feng Zhengming can understand the thoughts of the masters.

They just want Shandong cuisine to be passed down and promoted well.

So in the end, Feng Zhengming also expressed his support for Cheng Guosheng's new Jubinyuan.

"It seems that in our Qilu Recommendation Guide this year, among the recommended restaurants, we should put Senior Brother Cheng's New Jubinyuan at the top."

This sentence is Feng Zhengming's recognition of Cheng Guosheng.

The old masters also laughed.

They were still very satisfied with Feng Zhengming's recognition of Cheng Guosheng.

No matter how the two compete next.

There still has to be mutual recognition.

After the meal, Feng Zhengming and his fellow brothers sent their master back.

When they arrived at the master's house, the master asked them to come in and sit together.

Master has something to say to them.

After sitting down at the master's house, Feng Zhengming and others took the initiative to boil water and make tea.

After finishing all the busy work, he sat down with his master.

When the Master's wife saw this, she couldn't help but laugh and blame the Master.

"You old man, you come home and let your disciples serve you."

Before the master could speak, Feng Zhengming spoke first.

"It's okay, Master. As disciples, isn't it our duty to make a cup of tea for our Master?"

Master Yan waved to his wife and said, "You go and have a rest first. I'll talk to them."

The master's wife did not stay and went straight into the inner room.

After the master's wife entered the room, the master looked at Feng Zhengming and his three brothers and began to speak.

"You should have seen today that Cheng Guosheng had bad intentions. His new Jubin Garden, whether it was the interior and exterior decoration or the various furnishings inside, including the bowls and plates used, should have been custom-made at a high price.

In addition, his waiters are carefully selected and have undergone rigorous training.

His skills have also improved since he came back this time, and he really has the capital to compete with you."

Senior Brother Li Huidong said, "Master, don't worry. We will take it seriously. If he wants to compete with us, we will not be afraid of him."

The third and fifth senior brothers also followed suit.

"Yes, I'm not afraid of him."

"He still wants to challenge Zhengming? He has to get past us first."

Master Yan smiled when he heard his apprentices' words.

"Master is very happy that you have such confidence. After Zhengming leaves, you can help him run the store well."

Then the master looked at Feng Zhengming: "You don't have anything to say?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "What did Master tell me to say? I still think that there is no direct competition between us and Cheng Guosheng.

He wanted to go for the high-end route, using good raw materials, and then decorating and arranging the place, including the service from the waiters. He wanted to go for the high-end route.

The customers he is targeting are not the same as ours, so how can there be any competition between us?"

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the master and three senior brothers thought about it carefully and felt that he was right.

This time, the third brother laughed and spoke first: "Hahaha, Zhengming is right. Our customers are the working people, and his customers are those wealthy bosses. We are not on the same track at all."

The eldest brother is still more cautious, not as optimistic as the third brother.

"That being said, if he really makes Jubinyuan a success and gets the approval of the big bosses, it will have a certain impact on Huiquanlou and will also attract some ordinary people to try it."

Fifth Brother: "Yes, I'm just afraid that people will think that the Shandong cuisine he cooks is more authentic and better."

After listening to his two senior brothers, Feng Zhengming realized that their concerns were not unreasonable.

He did have concerns about this, but when he thought about the recommended guide he had in his hands, he felt that it was not a big deal.

“Big Brother, Fifth Brother, the public always likes good quality and low price. They may go to Jubinyuan to experience it, but they won’t go there often. As long as we ensure that our skills remain unchanged and insist on making our own dishes well.

Customers who have tried Jubinyuan will soon find that our Huiquanlou dishes are more delicious and not expensive, which makes them more worthy of their choice. "

Feng Zhengming's words made his master and fellow apprentices nod in agreement. (End of this chapter)