From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 866 Attracting People from All Directions

Yancheng, Daocheng and Boshan learned that preliminary competitions would be held in their three locations.

The three places are really very happy, and the leaders of the three places have expressed that they will give their full support.

The three places have made large investments to build new competition venues.

The other three places also sent people to Quancheng to find Feng Zhengming and express their gratitude to him.

I originally wanted to send some local specialties to Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming naturally rejected all of them.

“You are wrong. I chose your three places to hold the preliminary competitions mainly because I value the unique culinary cultures of your three places.

Yancheng and Boshan are both branches of Shandong cuisine, and are also important components that make up and enrich Shandong cuisine.

The island city has been influenced by some overseas factors, but it also has some unique features of its own.

That’s why I chose to hold the competitions in your three locations.

I am not greedy for these things you give me."

In addition to the three places where the sub-competitions were held, Qufu also found Feng Zhengming together with the Xia family.

Qufu believes that Confucius cuisine is also an important part of Shandong cuisine.

Therefore, a venue for sub-competitions should also be set up in Qufu.

Feng Zhengming gave some explanation for the matter.

"Confucius cuisine is indeed the most important branch of Shandong cuisine. I even think that Confucius cuisine should be independent. We did not set up a sub-competition area in Qufu this time because there will be a Confucius cuisine exhibition match later, which we will arrange in Qufu.

How about I set the sub-competition venue in Qufu? And then the Confucius Mansion cuisine performance will be held in Quancheng?"

After Feng Zhengming said this, Qufu was naturally willing to use it as a special venue for Confucius Mansion cuisine performances.

For Qufu, they naturally still hope to use this International Shandong Cuisine Competition to re-promote Qufu's Confucius Mansion cuisine and enhance the reputation of Confucius Mansion cuisine.

Feng Zhengming and Master Xia looked at each other, and both of them tacitly said nothing more.

After the other visitors from Qufu left, Feng Zhengming had a private conversation with Master Xia.

"Zhengming, you are really generous this time. You actually organized an International Shandong Cuisine Master Chef Challenge. When I first heard the name, I was shocked."

Feng Zhengming smiled bitterly: "You should know that this is not what I want to do. I am forced to do it."

Master Xia also learned the details from Xia Hui and Sun Hai.

"You are really quick-witted. I didn't expect that someone was planning to take advantage of your game. Tell me, how did you get those people to sponsor you?"

Feng Zhengming did not hide anything from Master Xia.

"I also used my reputation as the top scholar in the country to cash in on those people, and personally went to their homes to ask them to help me.

Fortunately, my reputation as the national champion was still useful, and I was able to get them to sponsor this competition."

Master Xia sighed: "Zhengming, your growth is beyond all of our expectations."

Feng Zhengming: "I just hope to promote our Shandong cuisine better."

Master Xia laughed: "Hahaha, this time our Shandong cuisine will definitely be promoted very well. It has already been promoted overseas, and this time it will be international."

Feng Zhengming also laughed: "In fact, there are more domestic chefs participating, and most of them are even chefs from our province."

Master Xia: "It doesn't matter. As long as there are chefs participating, it will have enough influence."

Speaking of this, Master Xia couldn't help but recall his overseas promotional activities many years ago.

"At that time, many chefs in our country went abroad to participate in promotion. I also went to the other side of the ocean to represent Confucius cuisine and performed Confucius cuisine for them."

Feng Zhengming: "It must have been a grand scene."

Master Xia was a little proud: "The scene is pretty good. There are many overseas Chinese who come here to watch, and there are also some overseas chefs who come to communicate with us."

"This is also a kind of communication for us. It is really great to invite Shandong cuisine chefs from all over the world to communicate with each other."

Master Xia felt that Feng Zhengming's words made a lot of sense.

"Yes, this is very important. By communicating with each other, we can better understand some overseas situations."

Master Xia then mentioned Cheng Guosheng and Jubin Garden.

"I heard that the current situation in Jubin Garden is not optimistic. Cheng Guosheng has always wanted to defeat you, but this time I'm afraid it will be a big blow to him."

Feng Zhengming spoke very frankly about his views and ideas.

“Brother Cheng’s cooking skills are really good. He put a lot of thought into making those innovative fusion dishes, and they all taste really good.

It’s just that Brother Cheng is still a little out of touch with the masses. Those high-end ingredients are indeed delicious, and will become something that many people yearn for and pursue.

But it is impossible for everyone to eat those things as meals on a daily basis.

Even overseas, not everyone can afford to eat those things.”

Master Xia nodded: "That's right, even the Confucius Mansion cuisine in the past had the same dilemma, those meticulously crafted dishes might become a performance.

We can’t think of those dishes as something that people eat every day. Food should be affordable for more people.”

Having said that, Master Xia looked at Feng Zhengming and praised him.

“In this regard, it is clear that you are doing better.

You did not throw away the things that the public likes, and you made it possible for everyone to eat delicious food in a way that was both good quality and affordable.

The most important thing is that you have used your own way to reverse the misunderstanding of Shandong cuisine among outsiders, and have enabled more people to accept Shandong cuisine and be willing to try it.

This is the way you should promote Shandong cuisine.”

Feng Zhengming smiled after hearing this: "Thank you, Grandpa Xia, for the compliment. I am a little flattered."

Master Xia was also immediately amused.

"You can still float? You are already standing at the highest point, why do you still need to float?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I still want to thank you, Grandpa Xia, for your support. Without your support, Grandpa Xia, and my master, I would not be able to make decisions on many things by myself."

Master Xia: "Because you have done a good job, of course we have to support you."

Feng Zhengming: "Okay, I will definitely continue to work hard to run my restaurant well and better inherit and promote Shandong cuisine."

Teacher Xia nodded: "You have done very well. No matter what happens in the future, you deserve Shandong cuisine."

After talking with Master Xia, preparations for the next competition began in full swing.

Because Feng Zhengming stepped forward and secured enough sponsorship.

Therefore, the funding for the competition is very sufficient.

Feng Zhengming also took out a sum of money from the two tycoons in Hong Kong and Macau as the prize money for this competition.

While everything was being prepared, Feng Zhengming also began to promote it on a large scale.

Not just on domestic television and newspapers.

We even carried out some publicity overseas through the media in Hong Kong.

Plus the publicity from the investors behind Cheng Guosheng.

This game really made a big splash.

This shocked other provinces in the country.

Many people admire the generosity of Feng Zhengming, the national top scholar.

Before, there were people in Beijing who were dissatisfied with Feng Zhengming's eccentric behavior in the national competition.

This time I saw Feng Zhengming organize such a grand competition.

They felt even worse.

When some people in Beijing talked about this matter, they all realized that Feng Zhengming had completely established his reputation through this competition.

It also let everyone see the weight of his national champion. "This Feng Zhengming is really amazing."

"Yes, he can actually organize such a game."

"The International Shandong Cuisine Competition is a direct way to internationalize Shandong cuisine. What about our other cuisines?"

"He makes it seem like Shandong cuisine is the only food in our country."

"Not convinced? Even if you're not convinced, you can still do it. Make an international Cantonese cuisine? An international Huaiyang cuisine? An international Sichuan cuisine? Right? You can do it too, no one is stopping you."

Chefs from other local cuisines do want to hold such a competition.

But they also know that it is quite difficult to achieve the same level of fame as Feng Zhengming.

After all, Feng Zhengming is able to get so many big bosses to sponsor him.

There is also his fame and appeal as the national top scholar.

In just a few days, thousands of chefs from all over the country signed up for the competition.

Many chefs who may not specialize in Shandong cuisine have also tried to sign up for the competition.

In fact, chefs from all over the country are aware that local cuisines do have their own characteristics, because the ingredients that people are good at cooking in different regions are definitely different.

But in terms of cooking techniques, all regions in the country can actually be traced back to Shandong cuisine.

Shandong cuisine has indeed pioneered most of the Chinese cooking techniques.

These techniques have been spread and have undergone different changes in different places.

Or it may be a fusion of techniques that were once unique to different places to form some new cooking techniques.

If we talk about the roots of tradition, they can all be traced back to Shandong cuisine techniques.

So to be honest, an international Shandong cuisine competition can indeed be held.

Chinese chefs from all over the world do not distinguish between national boundaries and regions when competing in techniques.

Shandong cuisine is also quite popular overseas.

At that time, many Shandong cuisine chefs went abroad from China to run restaurants.

However, as time goes by, what Chinese restaurants around the world cook has changed a lot.

This time, it was because of the help of the investors behind Cheng Guosheng.

We actually invited some overseas chefs who are familiar with Shandong cuisine.

Among them is Feng Zhengming’s fourth senior brother.

Wang Jialiang originally received an invitation from the investor behind Cheng Guosheng.

As a result, before he returned home, he found that the situation of the game had changed.

The person who originally contacted him to return to China to participate in the competition was kicked out of the event.

The organizer of the event became his junior fellow student Feng Zhengming.

Moreover, after some investigation, Wang Jialiang discovered that his junior brother had actually attracted quite a number of sponsors for this competition.

They are all very powerful bosses.

This really made Wang Jialiang look at his junior fellow apprentice with a new respect.

I still remember that when he and his wife returned to China, my junior brother was the top scholar in the country, but his influence was actually limited to Quancheng and Qilu Province.

Wang Jialiang did not expect that this time his junior fellow apprentice's influence had already reached the whole country and even expanded overseas.

He felt that this time he returned to China to participate in the competition, and this competition was created with such a big fanfare.

Next, my junior brother will also gain his own place among international chefs.

During these few years overseas, Wang Jialiang has been exposed to some foreign marketing methods.

Some chefs who seem to be quite famous overseas.

Some of them became famous entirely through marketing means.

Or it should be said that they run their restaurants according to the standards of some foreign restaurant rating agencies.

Thereby making themselves and the restaurant very famous.

It was not until Wang Jialiang went abroad that he realized that so-called famous chefs could actually be packaged like stars.

When I participated in some TV shows, I saw how famous chefs packaged themselves like stars.

Even Wang Jialiang has seen that some so-called food critics can rely on their large number of fans to wantonly blackmail some famous chefs.

Wang Jialiang really understood that everything overseas can become a business.

So when the investors behind Cheng Guosheng found Wang Jialiang.

One of the most important reasons why he agreed to return to China to participate in the competition was that among the investors behind Cheng Guosheng, there was a well-known overseas restaurant company.

Wang Jialiang felt that if he agreed to participate in the competition.

After that, you can get some overseas support from this catering company.

Then maybe I would have the chance to become a famous chef overseas.

Wang Jialiang even felt that if he could achieve a certain ranking, it would also help his wife's restaurant become a well-known restaurant overseas.

Several years of overseas training have worn away Wang Jialiang's sharpness.

He has really accepted his fate and plans to compromise with overseas capital.

But Wang Jialiang never expected this.

The junior fellow apprentice in China actually launched a counterattack at this time.

He knew clearly that Cheng Guosheng and the investors behind him were intentionally using his fame to elevate themselves.

Feng Zhengming directly took the initiative and turned the tables.

He took advantage of his reputation as the national number one scholar, as well as his relationships with some bosses and the overseas famous chef Kaufman.

It successfully made itself a sponsor of the competition and also helped to attract more sponsorship for the competition.

In this way, he himself became the person who hosted the competition.

What Wang Jialiang found most incredible was that his junior fellow apprentice raised him to the same level as his master.

Wang Jialiang couldn't help but smile bitterly and thought.

"My junior fellow apprentice has become a master of Shandong cuisine, and is on equal footing with our master and his friends. So do we, the senior brothers, have to call him Uncle Master from now on?"

However, Wang Jialiang was still quite satisfied and impressed with his junior brother's move of turning the tables.

I'm afraid that only Feng Zhengming can turn the situation around like this.

After all, his status as the national top scholar is obvious.

Cheng Guosheng has investors and overseas catering groups behind him.

But behind Feng Zhengming is the heritage of a country's food culture that has spanned thousands of years.

Whether it is the bosses invited by Feng Zhengming or the whole province that fully supports Feng Zhengming.

And some instigation from the top leaders.

We all have only one goal, which is to not let the quality of Chinese food be defined by other people's standards.

Wang Jialiang packed his luggage and set out again for home with his wife.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming, who knew that his fourth senior brother would also come back, had already prepared to welcome him with other senior brothers.

This will also be an opportunity for their fellow disciples to gather together in Quancheng again.

(End of this chapter)