From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The news that Feng Zhengming bought the old villa was once again widely circulated.

Unlike other people who bought old houses and tried to keep a low profile.

Feng Zhengming not only had no intention of keeping a low profile, he also brought his relatives and friends to visit.

He also specially invited TV stations, newspapers, magazines and some media to visit.

And in front of the media reporters, Feng Zhengming very formally stated his next plans after buying the old house.

"This place has witnessed the rise and fall of a family, the development and changes of the city of Shanghai, and the story of our country's rise from poverty to prosperity.

After I buy this place, I will renovate it. I will not touch the original building and will try to keep its original appearance as much as possible.

I will also find professionals to restore the yard so that it can return to its original prosperous state.

Then I will restore the interior of the old house to its original state, preserving the traces left by the years.

After the decoration is finally completed, this will be my private restaurant open to everyone.

My team of young chefs and I will present the art of delicious food to everyone here.

We welcome people from all walks of life to dine and visit here.”

Feng Zhengming's public remarks shocked the media reporters who were reporting on the scene.

Everyone had previously speculated about Feng Zhengming's purpose in buying the old villa.

Many people speculated that he wanted to open a restaurant here.

It’s just that most people guessed this, but they thought Feng Zhengming would not publicize it.

His restaurant might be a very high-end place, perhaps even one that only accepts reservations and caters to certain wealthy people.

No one expected that Feng Zhengming would publicly announce the construction of a restaurant.

And the message that everyone can get from Feng Zhengming's words is.

He actually wanted to open this place to the public, not just to the rich.

The key point is that in the past, various media reported on various private restaurants and hotels that specialized in entertaining wealthy people, and these were usually discovered by their media reporters.

Who else can be like Feng Zhengming?

The announcement was made to the public even before the renovation started.

Soon some media reporters realized it.

It looked like they were tracking and revealing Feng Zhengming's movements to everyone.

But in fact, it was clear that Feng Zhengming was using these media reporters to promote himself.

He does not shy away from any reports at all, and he never explains even the various rumors.

Don't you media reporters want to use his title as the national top scholar and report on his behavior to attract readers?

Then he might as well take advantage of your needs and use your media reporters' interviews and reports to directly promote himself to everyone.

Feng Zhengming's series of actions suddenly caught the attention of quite a number of media reporters.

He is like a celebrity who knows how to promote and market himself.

But who can blame Feng Zhengming for his self-marketing?

He is the real champion of the National Cooking Skills Competition.

Not only does he have good skills himself, he can also train the young chefs under him very well.

Whether it is his dry rice shop branches all over Qilu.

Or his four stores in Shanghai.

Even if Feng Zhengming is not in the store, no customer can say that the food in the store is not delicious.

This strength is in front of everyone, so no one has the right to accuse him of excessive self-marketing.

In fact, media reporters prefer Feng Zhengming like this.

Because this way they will always have topics and content to report.

The reporters who arrived at the scene today, after being shocked, began to ask questions to Feng Zhengming.

"Mr. Feng, can you tell me how much you spent to buy such a big old house?"

Feng Zhengming smiled: "I definitely can't tell you how much money it is, but I can be honest. I borrowed money from the bank. I mortgaged my four stores in Shanghai to get the money."

This answer has made the media reporters present very satisfied.

"Feng Zhuangyuan, you just said that you will convert this place into a restaurant. Wouldn't it be disrespectful to the history of this antique building to use it as a restaurant?"

Feng Zhengming: "That's a good question. If I don't buy this place, will you have a chance to enter?"

This question stumped all the media reporters present.

In fact, if Feng Zhengming had not opened it to them, many of them would not have been able to enter here.

Feng Zhengming: “I’m afraid you will hardly have the opportunity to enter here, and you won’t be able to see the history that is carried here.

If I convert this place into a restaurant and open it to more people, wouldn't it be better for this old house that carries a lot of history and attract more people to come in and learn more about it?

Walking into this place will allow you to travel through time and space and return to the world of fame and fortune in the former foreign concessions.

Wouldn't it be a better use of this place to personally experience the various unique delicacies that are intertwined between the past and the present?"

No journalist present felt that there was anything wrong with what Feng Zhengming said.

Some people even think that he is worthy of being the top scholar in the country, and the situation is different.

Then another reporter asked a question.

"Feng Zhuangyuan, when this restaurant opens, how will the prices of the dishes be?"

This question is quite acute.

Feng Zhengming did not avoid the question and bluntly stated that the pricing here would be high.

“I think the skills of me and our young chefs are worthy of higher prices, and we will use our skills to prove that the prices here are worth the money.

Of course, the high pricing I’m talking about is under normal circumstances, which is when we only accept reservations.

After the restaurant opens, we will have open days for the public twice a month and host a banquet here to entertain the public.

By then, our prices will drop, and everyone is welcome to come and taste our food.”

After Feng Zhengming said this, everyone was really looking forward to it.

I want to come to an old house like this and have a banquet prepared by Feng Zhuangyuan and his young chefs.

"Mr. Feng, how long will it take for you to renovate your place? We are really looking forward to your opening soon."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "It will take some time to renovate this place. Everyone should know that the maintenance and interior decoration of old houses require professionals, so I can't give a specific time for the time being."

After a brief pause, Feng Zhengming continued, "But I think we won't have to keep you waiting too long."

He then joked: "After all, I also hope to open the business earlier so that I can earn back the money I spent on buying the old house."

This remark caused laughter to break out at the scene.

The media reporters have a really good impression of Feng Zhengming.

Because he does not shy away from all kinds of sharp issues.

He did not hide the fact that he bought the old house and opened a restaurant just to make money.

He's not like some of the other chefs and owners.

Tell you a story.

Tell stories that others find very extraordinary.

Then attract customers to come for those stories.

Often the results are always disappointing.

After all, not everyone can truly create the flavor of the story.

If the story cannot give the listeners the taste they expect, then no matter how good the story is, it will eventually collapse.

Does Feng Zhengming tell stories?
Of course he can tell stories too.

Just like the words he said at the beginning, it is also a kind of storytelling.

But after telling the story, he did not hide the fact that he wanted to make money.

The most important thing is that he does have enough skills to support him in telling all the stories well.

With his craft, the stories he tells are not offensive.

After the interview, Feng Zhengming gave the media reporters a small gift.

"Here are some small cookies made in my shop. The recipe was developed by my deputy chef Jiang Chengzhe. They taste pretty good. I'm giving them to you as a small token of my appreciation. Thank you all for coming to listen to what I have to say today."

The media reporters who came today were a little surprised to receive this small gift from Feng Zhengming.

After receiving the small gift distributed by Feng Zhengming, everyone took some photos and left one after another.

After leaving, many people couldn't help but unpack their packages on the way back.

When you take out the biscuits, you can immediately smell the rich sweet aroma.

The sweet smell alone made the reporters feel that it was something special.

When you put it in your mouth, you can instantly feel the milky aroma spreading between your lips and teeth.

Sweet, fragrant and slightly salty, a unique taste is intertwined in the mouth.

Almost all the reporters who ate the cookies were attracted by the unique texture and taste.

This is definitely the most delicious cookie many people have ever eaten.

And the reporters can be sure that there is no other place in Shanghai that can match the taste.

Some reporters ate only one piece and quickly put away the rest.

Either you prepare to keep it for a long time, or you prepare to leave it to someone important to you.

Related reports on Feng Zhengming were also released soon.

Shanghai TV station, local newspapers, and various magazines of all sizes.

Almost all of them set up independent pages to report Feng Zhengming's special clarification to the outside world.

Maybe it was because the cookies Feng Zhengming sent tasted so good.

Almost all the reports were unanimous in praising Feng Zhengming.

Once such a report came out, it naturally attracted a lot of attention again.

After lunch, Kong Xingli held the morning newspaper and read a series of reports about Feng Zhengming buying the old villa.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Feng Zhengming is really amazing. He always manages to make some noise, get people to keep reporting on him, and then attract a lot of attention."

The eldest disciple Duan Jinsheng couldn't help but mutter something.

“Isn’t this a bit over-hyped?”

Kong Xingli raised his eyes and glanced at his eldest disciple.

Then he continued to stare at the newspaper: "Others would like to hype it up like this, but who has the talent to do so?"

These words instantly left Duan Jinsheng speechless.

At the same time, some chefs from the Shanghai Chefs Association also saw related reports.

Almost all of them also lamented Feng Zhengming's ability to hype.

Most people are quite envious.

It’s not that they don’t want to make some noise like Feng Zhengming and get TV stations, newspapers and magazines to report on them.

It is really difficult for them to make as big a fuss as Feng Zhengming.

Like the matter of Feng Zhengming buying the old villa.

Even some financial magazines will report from a financial perspective.

To many chefs, this is unimaginable and outrageous.

A chef was featured in a financial magazine and was reported in various articles.

The key is that you have to pay attention to it, because he is also being reported on TV and in newspapers.

So you have to pay some attention to him.

With the attention, it is natural that many people will want to go to his shop to try his cooking.

Whether you like it or not in the end?
At least as long as enough people want to try, the business of Feng Zhengming's four stores in Shanghai will hardly be bad.

After paying attention to Feng Zhengming, many financial professionals feel that he is truly a genius in self-marketing.

I'm afraid there's really no one else in the country who can exploit his fame to such an extent.

At least at this stage, there is no second master like him.

The best thing about Feng Zhengming is that he does have solid skills.

You can't say his cooking skills are definitely better than all the chefs in the country.

But you have to admit that his skills are definitely among the best in the country.

Others may just be bragging without real ability.

When it comes to Feng Zhengming, no matter how much he brags, others feel that it is not enough to truly demonstrate his strength.

This also leads to the fact that no one thinks there is anything wrong with Feng Zhengming's attempts to attract attention.

Even many old customers who like him feel that he deserves all this attention.

There really are people who worship Feng Zhengming like a celebrity.

Many chefs lamented, why are they not Feng Zhengming?

It was promoted and received enough attention.

Feng Zhengming did not take these seriously.

He still runs around his four stores in Shanghai every day, but now he has an extra job, which is to communicate with the people who are renovating old villas.

This time, Feng Zhengming did not completely hand over the work to the Liujia Village decoration team.

Because the decoration of old houses does require professionalism.

Many parts of the old house are old and it is not easy to replace them.

However, although the Liujia Village decoration team was not asked to do the work directly, Feng Zhengming still invited them to help and learn.

It also helped the Liujia Village decoration team gain some knowledge.

Although I don’t expect that the Liujia Village decoration team can really renovate this old villa in the future.

But at least it gives them some knowledge in this area.

The people in the Liujia Village decoration team are very grateful to Feng Zhengming for giving them this opportunity to learn.

At the same time, the people who were hired to renovate the old villa were also experts that my uncle helped find.

Such an old house is going to be converted into a restaurant.

At first, the experts were quite regretful.

However, after some communication with Feng Zhengming, especially after the experts tasted the dishes that Feng Zhengming specially prepared for them based on the tastes of their respective hometowns.

These experts were soon conquered one by one.

They changed their minds and felt that it was indeed a good thing to hand over the old house to a top chef like Feng Zhengming to open a restaurant.

It is a way to make better use of old things, and it also allows people to appreciate the historical stories carried by some old houses while enjoying the food. (End of this chapter)