From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After Kong Xingli's meal at Luli Restaurant ended, after seeing everyone off, he still asked Feng Zhengming for advice in private.

Feng Zhengming gave Kong Xingli great affirmation: "Brother Kong, don't be nervous. Your dishes and service today are very good. I have written down some areas that need improvement."

As he spoke, Feng Zhengming handed the notebook in his hand to Kong Xingli.

Kong Xingli couldn't wait to open it and read it.

After seeing some of the above content, Kong Xingli felt as if he had suddenly realized something.

Many times, we don’t notice the little bad details.

But bystanders are more likely to notice the bad little details.

This is also why Feng Zhengming suggested to Kong Xingli before that he should conduct a trial operation before officially opening the business.

Kong Xingli clenched the notebook in his hand: "Thank you, Junior Brother."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Brother, your cooking skills are fine. Be more confident. When have we, the Shandong cuisine chefs, ever lost to others in terms of skills?"

This made Kong Xingli laugh as well.

"That's right. Our Shandong cuisine has been passed down for so many years, relying on this technique. Other cuisines have been more or less influenced by our technique."

Feng Zhengming: "But you need to remember, brother, this is Shanghai. Whether it's locals, outsiders, or even people from overseas, they didn't grow up eating Shandong cuisine.

They all have different taste preferences, and we need to do some balancing in that regard.”

Kong Xingli nodded: "Yes, this is indeed very important. We need to adapt to the tastes of the people here."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Well, I wish you a successful start and hope that the restaurant's business will get better and better."

Kong Xingli thanked him again: "Thank you, Junior Brother. Please come and visit us often when you are free."

Feng Zhengming agreed, then said goodbye to Kong Xingli and left.

After walking out of the restaurant, Jiang Chengzhe had already gone back with the others.

His wife was waiting for him outside, holding their daughter.

Obviously, the little girl knew that her father had not left yet, so she didn't want to leave either.

The restaurant also specially moved a large chair for Luo Qing to sit at the door and wait while holding her daughter.

The little girl was not well behaved in her mother's arms. She twisted to this side and then to that side, looking inside all the time.

Finally seeing her father coming out, the little girl smiled and opened her arms to him.

Seeing this, Feng Zhengming trotted over to his wife and daughter, reached out and took his daughter into his arms.

The little girl was very happy to be held by her father.

Feng Zhengming held his daughter in one hand and extended the other hand to his wife.

"Your Majesty, let's go back to the palace."

Luo Qing immediately smiled and stretched out her hand and placed it on Feng Zhengming's hand.

Then Luo Qing stood up and walked out of the restaurant hand in hand with Feng Zhengming.

Kong Xingli followed out and watched Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing leave.

Behind him were a group of apprentices, the restaurant's foreman, and several of his investors.

Looking at Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing holding hands, he was still holding his daughter's back.

An investor couldn't help but say: "This Feng Zhengming is becoming more and more like a master. He looks really powerful."

The female head waitress in the restaurant couldn't help but mutter, "Why do I feel that this back view looks so warm?"

The foreman's words were recognized by most people.

The investor smiled and said, "You are only looking at the appearance. If he doesn't have enough strength, how can he be so carefree?"

Kong Xingli: "We need to prepare early. At the end of the year, his Shanghai food recommendation guide will launch a restaurant and high-end restaurant version. We must be there then."

The investor couldn't help but ask, "With your connections, can't you just say one word to get promoted?"

Kong Xingli looked at the investor and shook his head: "No, Junior Brother Feng is very serious about this and doesn't care about face."

Another investor asked, “What about his own store?”

Kong Xingli: "Usually his own store will not appear in the recommended guide."

The female supervisor asked, "He won't go to his own store?"

Kong Xingli nodded and explained: "Of his four stores, three are fast food restaurants, which have been listed in another small restaurant recommendation guide, and it is impossible for them to be listed in the restaurant and high-end restaurant recommendation guide.

His restaurant on Western Restaurant Street no longer needs to be listed in any guidebooks. How can foodies in Shanghai not know about it? "

Kong Xingli's words left everyone speechless.

The "Zheng Luxing" western restaurant on the street is indeed quite famous.

Especially after merging several nearby stores and expanding the store overall.

It has become a store that is famous not only in Shanghai, but also in many surrounding cities.

On weekends, people from surrounding cities would even make a special trip to Shanghai by car, train or bus just to have a meal at Zheng Luxing.

So in terms of customer appeal, Feng Zhengming's Zheng Luxing store really does not need any publicity.

It is really thanks to his skills and those of the young chefs in the kitchen that they can attract many people to line up to eat.

The investor said: "Then we must be included in the recommended guide and get a good ranking."

Kong Xingli clapped his hands and asked everyone to go back to the restaurant first.

He needs to hold a small meeting to review with everyone some issues concerning today's trial operation.

Feng Zhengming held his daughter in his arms, held his wife's hand, and strolled on the street for a while.

In the eyes of passers-by, they are an ordinary young couple taking their daughter shopping.

Luo Qing walked for a while before asking, "Will Kong Xingli's restaurant become your competitor in Shanghai in the future?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, Kong Xingli's cooking skills are still very good. After all, he is the senior brother of Jufengde. I have to admire some traditional classic Shandong dishes."

Luo Qing: "Then why are you helping him solve the problem? Aren't you afraid that he will squeeze you out if he becomes too powerful?"

Feng Zhengming smiled: "Shanghai is so big, and haven't you noticed that the population of Shanghai is increasing? It's a big market, and no one can take over it alone."

Luo Qing: "But if you also want to do high-end catering, the market is not that big."

Feng Zhengming held his wife's hand and walked to the bus stop. Just then a bus came, so he held his wife's hand and got on the bus.

After getting in the car and sitting down, Luo Qing asked curiously: "Where are we going?"

Feng Zhengming put his daughter on his lap and said, "I'll take you and my daughter to see a house."

Although it was a bit strange, why did my husband suddenly want to take me and my daughter to see a house?

Obviously, they already have a pretty big house now.

Does my husband want to buy a house?
But why buy so many houses?
But then Luo Qing thought again: Yes, there are more and more people in Shanghai. If I buy a few more houses now, I will definitely be able to sell them at a higher price in the future.

Luo Qing had a business mind and she quickly discovered the business opportunity.

They took a bus and soon entered an urban area with narrow roads.

There are very tall sycamore trees on both sides.

The bus was driving on the road, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, and sometimes making sharp turns, so it was quite bumpy.

Luo Qing was somewhat uncomfortable, but she was very happy to see her daughter on her father's lap.

My daughter seemed to find this ride in the car fun.

Finally, after turning two more corners, Feng Zhengming asked Luo Qing to get out of the car. After getting out of the car, Feng Zhengming asked with concern: "Are you okay? Let's find a place to sit and relax for a while?"

The daughter seemed to notice that something was wrong with her mother, and concern for her mother appeared on her little face.

Luo Qing took a few deep breaths and recovered: "It's okay, the road here is really narrow."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "This is the old city area. Many buildings are old and cannot be moved, so the roads here are relatively narrow."

Luo Qing looked around and saw that there were indeed some old houses.

“You want to buy the old house here?”

Feng Zhengming smiled and took his wife's hand and walked forward.

Not far away, we arrived at a large iron gate.

Feng Zhengming walked up and rang the doorbell on the wall.

After waiting for a while, someone came to the door and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Feng Zhengming smiled: "I am Feng Zhengming, and I brought my wife and daughter here today."

The people inside immediately opened the small door on the side of the big iron gate.

"It's Chef Feng. Hello, hello."

Feng Zhengming pulled his hand away from his wife's and shook hands with the other party.

"I'm sorry to disturb you."

Only then did Luo Qing see clearly that the person who opened the door was a middle-aged man.

The man smiled and led Feng Zhengming and the others into the house.

"Mr. Feng, you are too polite. The last time you came over, you said you wanted to buy this place and turn it into a private restaurant. To be honest, I am really looking forward to it."

Luo Qing followed him into the yard and found that the yard was actually very large.

There is a bamboo forest at the entrance, and inside is a very spacious courtyard.

As soon as you walk into the courtyard, you can see a three-story villa.

While being surprised, Luo Qing heard her husband introducing it.

"After buying this place, we can set up some tents in this large yard. In the summer, we can have some guests sit outside and enjoy the food and the night view."

Then Feng Zhengming pointed to the entire courtyard and said, "These things in the courtyard also need to be renovated and some flowers should be planted."

At this time, the middle-aged man who led them in spoke with a smile.

"This yard used to be planted with all kinds of flowers and plants, but after my parents passed away, we no longer hired workers to take care of it, so it became abandoned."

Luo Qing couldn't help but ask, "Did your family live here before?"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Yes, this western-style building was built by my grandfather. My father said that he also hired a foreign designer to help with the design."

Luo Qing was even more surprised: "Your grandfather built it? Then this house must be many years old."

The man nodded: "More than a hundred years. I was born here and grew up here when I was a child."

Speaking of this, the middle-aged man looked a little lonely.

“It was also here that I sent off my grandparents and parents.”

Feng Zhengming asked: "The property rights here should be shared by you and your brothers and sisters, right?"

Middle-aged man: “Yes, they are all abroad, so they entrusted me to handle it.”

Luo Qing was a little puzzled: "Since this place carries your past memories, why would you want to sell it?"

The middle-aged man was somewhat helpless: “There is really no other way, my brothers and sisters’ careers are all overseas, and we don’t have the energy to take care of it here.

And your husband, Feng Zhuangyuan, said he wanted to buy this place and open a high-end and exquisite private restaurant. I think it’s a very good idea, and you should take good care of it, so we are willing to sell it to you.”

Then the middle-aged man led Feng Zhengming and the others inside to take a look.

While walking towards the three-story old house, Feng Zhengming lowered his voice and speculated to his wife beside him.

“I guess he encountered difficulties in his overseas business and needed a large amount of funds to turn around, and there should be some disputes among his brothers and sisters over the ownership of this old house.

So in the end they simply sold the old house and divided the money equally among everyone.

He himself can also get some money to ease his business difficulties.”

After hearing her husband's guess, Luo Qing thought about it carefully and felt that this might be possible.

When you enter the villa, you are hit by a musty smell.

It was obvious that the house had not been lived in for quite some time.

Feng Zhengming took out a small mask from his pocket and put it on his daughter.

The little girl was reluctant at first, but after being comforted by her father, she finally wore it obediently.

Luo Qing saw it and asked: "You also prepared a small mask?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "I didn't go in here last time, but I felt that no one might live here, so I came here this time to make some preparations."

Feng Zhengming then took out a mask from his pocket and handed it to his wife: "You should wear it too."

Luo Qing took it and put on the mask as her husband said.

The middle-aged man also smelled the musty smell. He turned around to explain and saw Feng Zhengming putting masks on his wife and daughter.

Seeing this scene, the middle-aged man felt a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, no one has lived here for a long time, and I forgot to clean it."

Feng Zhengming: "It doesn't matter. If someone lives here, I don't think you will sell it to me."

The middle-aged man also forced a smile: "Please come in and take a look."

The entire old villa is indeed very large, and the space inside shows obvious signs of having been cut later.

It should be that as the family population increased later, some small rooms were separated inside.

The middle-aged man also introduced that the walls of these small rooms can be demolished.

Overall, Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing were both quite satisfied.

The three-story house is large enough and is suitable for use as a private restaurant.

Moreover, there is a spacious living room on each floor where tables can be placed to receive customers.

The rooms on the second and third floors can be used as private boxes.

The most important thing is that there is a very spacious kitchen on the first floor of the villa.

It can be seen that this villa was once very glorious.

Just like the middle-aged man’s former family.

A large population all lives in such a house, and the spacious kitchen is used to cook for the master, mistress, young masters and young ladies in the family.

However, in the future, this villa will become a private restaurant owned by Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming even thought to himself that such a place might not only receive the rich and powerful.

It can be fully opened to the public to experience the luxurious life of the wealthy class.

After the visit, Luo Qing was thinking, how much would such a big house, with a spacious courtyard outside, cost?

She was worried, can we really afford such a house? (End of this chapter)