From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

This time, in addition to formally accepting Xia Hui as his apprentice, Feng Zhengming will also accept five more apprentices.

Although he is called an apprentice, he can actually be considered as a disciple by Feng Zhengming.

Or it should be said that he lacks some skills and needs to gain experience in the kitchen as an apprentice before he can officially become an apprentice like Xia Hui.

Among the five apprentices, there is Hou Dong, who has already retired from the army and once traveled all over Qi and Lu on foot with Feng Zhengming.

There is also Gao Yongfu, who also recently retired from the army and worked for a while with Gu Zhicheng in Feng Zhengming's island city branch.

This time, Sun Decai was also accepted as one of Feng Zhengming's apprentices.

There are also two apprentices who are new recruits in Feng Zhengming's Shanghai store and have performed very well.

One is called Tang Yong and the other is called Lu Haisheng.

Tang Yong is the grandson of Grandpa Tang, the man who prepared meat, pork elbows and pig's trotters for Feng Zhengming when his grandfather took him to the meat processing factory to buy meat when Feng Zhengming first started selling steamed meat at the train station.

His grades were not very good when he was in school, and his family was worried about his future.

After a long talk with his grandson all night, Grandpa Tang decided to send him to learn cooking.

In the words of Grandpa Tang, learning a skill can at least allow you to support yourself in the future.

Grandpa Tang found Grandpa Feng and asked him to help find Feng Zhengming.

At first, he hoped that Feng Zhengming would teach him directly.

However, Feng Zhengming believes that when starting to learn cooking, one still needs to go to a vocational school to systematically learn the basics.

So at his suggestion, Tang Yong was sent to a vocational school in Yancheng.

I don’t know if it’s because I left home and no longer have my grandfather and parents to rely on.

After going to Yancheng Vocational School, Tang Yong seemed to have grown up all of a sudden.

He studied very seriously in vocational school and was willing to endure hardships to hone his basic skills.

He even won first place in the competition before graduating from vocational school last year.

When he was doing his internship after graduation, Feng Zhengming directly arranged him to work in the restaurant of his sixth senior brother in Yancheng.

After training in the restaurant kitchen, he has now acquired some skills. This time Feng Zhengming plans to take him in as an apprentice and then let him go to Shanghai with him.

Tang Yong was also very excited when he heard the news. After resigning from his sixth uncle, he rushed home overnight.

When his grandfather and parents heard the news, they changed their harsh attitude towards Tang Yong.

Tang Yong's father couldn't help but feel that his old father was much better than himself at educating children.

Especially Tang Yong's mother, who had a very unhappy argument with Grandpa Tang because her son was sent to Yancheng Vocational School to learn cooking.

I feel that Grandpa Tang deliberately made his son suffer.

Now seeing her son return from school and be accepted as an apprentice by Feng Zhengming, the top scholar, and will follow him to Shanghai in the future, Tang Yong's mother is really very happy.

My mother also sincerely apologized to Grandpa Tang.

The happiest person was naturally Grandpa Tang.

As a grandfather, how could I not feel sorry for my grandson?
But Grandpa Tang knew very well that a boy must suffer a little and be allowed to step out of the protection of his family.

Grandpa Tang sent his grandson to Yancheng to learn cooking because he wanted his grandson to grow up without the care of family members.

Even though he was misunderstood by his daughter-in-law at one point, his son and daughter-in-law did not go home to visit him for a while.

Now that his grandson has finally made progress, the old man feels very pleased.

"Okay, you have to learn from your master and listen to him when you go to Shanghai. Your master is a very capable person. You are just an apprentice now, so you have to work hard to become a formal disciple. Do you understand?"

After hearing what his grandfather said, Tang Yong also knelt down in front of his grandfather.

"Thank you, Master. If you hadn't sent me to Yancheng, I would have been useless. Don't worry, Master. I will definitely learn the craft well from my master."

Seeing my grandson kneeling down in front of me, seeing that he understood my intentions back then.

Grandpa Tang also felt comforted.

"Okay, okay, get up, get up quickly. Grandpa is really happy that you are willing to learn the craft well."

Pulling his grandson up, Grandpa Tang looked carefully at his grandson who was a head taller than him.

"Remember, learn from your master well. Grandpa believes that you will become a great master chef in the future."

Tang Yong nodded: "Grandpa, don't worry. I will strive to become Master's official apprentice as soon as possible. In the future, I will also become a famous chef like Master, who is sought after by many people."

The mother smiled and said, "Remember what you said and work hard."

Father: "Okay, this is my son. Dad believes you can do it."

Grandpa: "Yes, if you want to become a famous chef like your master, you must also remember to respect your teacher and keep a humble and friendly heart, just like your master."

Tang Yong promised earnestly: "Don't worry, I will."

Regarding Tang Yong’s change, his grandfather and parents all felt that the child had matured too much.

They also think it is right to let children go out and gain experience.

Lu Haisheng and Tang Yong are about the same age, the difference is that Lu Haisheng was born in Shanghai.

Moreover, Lu Haisheng's family was against him learning cooking and becoming a chef.

Lu Haisheng's family is considered to be relatively well-off in Shanghai.

His grandfather and his great-grandfather both have certain status in Shanghai.

His grandfather had even been the deputy district mayor of a district in Shanghai.

Because of his grandfather's past status, Lu Haisheng's mother had very high expectations for him. She hoped that he would study hard and work in a government agency in Shanghai in the future.

Perhaps because he was disciplined too strictly by his mother since childhood, Lu Haisheng began to rebel against his mother when he went to college.

By chance, he read about the legendary experience of Feng Zhengming, the national culinary champion, in college.

At that moment, Lu Haisheng immediately admired Feng Zhengming, the top scholar.

He found Feng Zhengming's Western Restaurant on the street and applied for a job to become a waiter in the restaurant.

While working as a waiter in the store, Lu Haisheng performed very well.

Even more active and enthusiastic than many old employees.

His performance was soon noticed by Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe.

Soon, it happened that Feng Zhengming's store needed to recruit new apprentices.

He signed up without hesitation, and through his own efforts, he actually defeated some applicants who graduated from culinary schools.

After successfully moving from being a waiter to working in the kitchen, Lu Haisheng learned for the first time how hard the work of a kitchen apprentice was.

But he still had no complaints and started learning from the basics in the kitchen.

His efforts once again impressed Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe.

Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe even had a heated argument over whether to accept him as an apprentice.

Jiang Chengzhe also felt that Lu Haisheng was very serious and was a good talent worth cultivating. He also wanted to accept Lu Haisheng as his apprentice.

So when he learned that Feng Zhengming also wanted to take him as an apprentice, Jiang Chengzhe argued with Feng Zhengming.

In the end, the two of them directly asked Lu Haisheng for his opinion.

Lu Haisheng naturally chose Feng Zhengming.

After all, he started as a waiter because he wanted to become Feng Zhengming's apprentice.

After becoming an apprentice, Lu Haisheng was first arranged by Feng Zhengming to return to school to complete his university studies.

Lu Haisheng also confessed to his family for the first time that he wanted to be a chef.

When the family learned that Lu Haisheng wanted to be a chef, they were very unhappy, especially his mother, who had high expectations for Lu Haisheng and almost locked him up at home.

Fortunately, his grandfather supported his choice in this matter.

Grandpa came out and had a serious talk with Lu Haisheng.

Upon learning that Lu Haisheng was learning cooking from Feng Zhengming, the national culinary champion, in his restaurant, his grandfather supported his choice even more.

Afterwards, my grandfather brought the whole family to have a meal at Feng Zhengming’s Western Restaurant on Restaurant Street.

Let Lu Haisheng's mother see how hard her son works in the kitchen.

Even after having a meal, the mother still did not give in and still did not agree with Lu Haisheng's decision to become a chef.

However, with the support of his grandfather, Lu Haisheng moved out of his home and lived in the apprentice dormitory despite his mother's opposition.

In the kitchen, Lu Haisheng is the most dedicated and hardworking apprentice.

He also went back to school and completed his college education.

Feng Zhengming also rewarded his efforts by making him his apprentice.

Before the apprenticeship ceremony began, Feng Zhengming gathered Xia Hui and five apprentices in the hotel.

"After becoming my apprentice, you will be my sisters and brothers from now on. In the kitchen, you can formally call me Master.

But I need to warn you in advance, don't think that you can become my disciple or apprentice and show off outside. If I find out, you will be expelled.

In addition, you will have to endure a lot of hardships as my apprentices and students, so I hope you are mentally prepared."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Xia Hui did not speak first this time. Instead, she looked at her five fellow apprentices.

The five apprentices looked at each other, and Hou Dong was the first to step forward.

"Master, rest assured. I am willing to learn from you and endure hardships."

Gao Yongfu also expressed his opinion: "Yes, I am willing to learn cooking from my master and I can endure hardships."

Sun Decai: "I am relatively stupid. If the master is willing to accept me as an apprentice, I will definitely study hard."

Tang Yong: "Master, I will definitely learn well from you."

Lu Haisheng: "Master, without you, I might not know what I really like. Now I really understand that I like cooking, so I am not afraid of hard work and will study hard."

Feng Zhengming nodded, then his eyes fell on Xia Hui.

"Xia Hui, you will be the senior sister in the future. You must also take care to supervise the junior brothers and make sure they don't fall behind in basic training."

Xia Hui agreed seriously: "I know the master."

A smile appeared on Feng Zhengming's face.

"Don't be so serious. This is my first time as a master. If there is anything I do wrong, you can point it out to me. Master, I will try my best to correct it."

Seeing Feng Zhengming say this with a smile, Xia Hui and the five fellow apprentices present all laughed.

"Master, your skills are there. We are very happy to be able to learn from you."

"That's right. As the saying goes, a master can only teach you the way, but you still have to work hard on your own."

"Yeah, cooking is good or not, you have to do it yourself."

"We will definitely learn well from Master."

“I must become a famous chef like my master.”

"You should learn the master's specialty dishes, and also help the master share some of the hard work."

After hearing Xia Hui's last words, Feng Zhengming continued with a smile.

"Okay, if you can all learn to cook the dishes I created, you can cook for me in the future, and I can have a good rest."

Next came some arrangements for the apprenticeship ceremony, and Feng Zhengming led his apprentices in cooking during the ceremony.

“You should have seen the menu of dishes that will be prepared by then, but many of our chefs will be back by then, so we should have more than a dozen tables in Huiquanlou.

You have to behave well and follow me to prepare the dishes for each table."

Naturally, Xia Hui and the others all agreed to cooperate with their master in cooking.

"The menu mainly features our traditional classic Shandong cuisine, which may be unfamiliar to you, Lu Haisheng. There will also be a few dishes I created myself, so you should watch and learn more when the time comes."

Feng Zhengming emphasized very seriously: "Remember to keep up with my progress and rhythm. Don't just focus on the details, but follow and do it. Do you understand?"

This time, Feng Zhengming and his apprentices prepared the banquet together.

Although Feng Zhengming was there, it was impossible for him to prepare a banquet for more than ten tables by himself.

So the disciples need to follow his rhythm.

After all, it was his disciple-taking ceremony, so it would be bad for him to ask his senior brothers to help too much.

Of course, if the situation is really urgent, we will still need our senior brothers to help.

After Feng Zhengming gave his instructions, he looked at his six disciples.

Xia Hui was more natural. After all, she had worked at a food stall with Feng Zhengming before, so she was not worried about the banquet with more than a dozen tables.

The five apprentices were somewhat worried that they would not be able to keep up with Feng Zhengming's pace.

Seeing the worries of the five apprentices, Feng Zhengming smiled and encouraged them.

"Don't worry, you guys usually perform very well in each store, so you don't have to feel that cooking with me is any different, as long as you can maintain your usual performance."

After hearing the encouragement from their master, the five apprentices also gained confidence.

Feng Zhengming gave a few more instructions and then left the hotel.

Because there are still some things to prepare.

We also had to pick up Master Wang and several other masters from Beijing who were coming to watch the ceremony.

Since the apprenticeship ceremony has been made public and people have been invited to watch, the reception also needs to be in place.

Not only will the master chefs from Beijing come, but according to Jiang Chengzhe's notification, a group of chefs from Hong Kong will also be coming.

Even the Kofman couple congratulated Feng Zhengming after receiving the news and gave him a gift as a disciple.

This ceremony of Feng Zhuangyuan accepting an apprentice has indeed attracted more attention from people in the culinary industry.

After Feng Zhengming left, the five apprentices also came to pay their respects to Xia Hui together.

"Greetings, Senior Sister."

"Please give me more guidance in the future, Senior Sister."

"We will learn more from Senior Sister in the future."

"Master sister, please take care of me in the future."

"Yes, yes, please take good care of me, Senior Sister."

Xia Hui smiled: "Although you are the master's apprentices, you are actually the master's apprentices. As long as you work hard, I believe you will be able to learn the master's skills."

Sun Decai sighed with emotion: "I never thought that I could become the master's apprentice."

Others also said that they had not expected this, and it was still a little unbelievable at this moment.

But Xia Hui said, "Because you work hard enough, your efforts have been seen by the master, so the master will accept you as apprentices. The master told me to be confident and not to deny myself."

After hearing what Xia Hui said, the five apprentices immediately regained some confidence.

Then Xia Hui acted like a senior sister for the first time: "Okay, everyone go back and rest first. Keep your spirits up so that you can keep up with the master's pace."

The five people immediately bowed respectfully to Xia Hui again: "Yes, Senior Sister." (End of this chapter)