From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Luo Qing did not contact any of the chefs her husband knew in Jiangxi Province after arriving there.

She first conducted a survey in the provincial capital on her own, going out early and returning late every day, and walking all over the city.

She went to those old residential areas and carefully investigated the tastes of some local people.

I also learned about some local delicacies, and gained a detailed understanding of many aspects of the local area.

However, what Luo Qing found somewhat unacceptable about the local area was how extremely spicy the locals ate.

She ate spicy food for several days in a row and got a sore throat.

However, if you want to understand the local flavors, you still need to try some local dishes.

Before coming here, Luo Qing really didn't expect that many dishes in Jiangxi Province would be so spicy.

She used to think that only Sichuan, Chongqing and Hunan provinces had spicy food.

She never expected that the spiciness of Jiangxi Province would also be unacceptable to her.

However, it also allowed Luo Qing to quickly gain some understanding of local flavors.

The next step is to find a suitable location and prepare to open the store.

Luo Qing's idea was that she could help her husband prepare everything in the early stages, and then her husband could come and recruit some local young chefs, train them, and then they could start operating in the kitchen.

Therefore, Luo Qing was very careful in selecting the shop location.

Her first consideration was the area near the train station.

However, the shops near the train station were clearly overcrowded, and it was impossible to find a suitable place.

Then Luo Qing simply started from the train station and looked around at some places in the surrounding area.

She proceeded outwards from the train station on foot.

The screening process is carried out layer by layer.

But Luo Qing still couldn't find a suitable place.

Most of the shops I was interested in were already rented out by others.

Or some vacant shops are obviously too far from the train station and cannot benefit from the passenger flow of the train station.

Having no other choice, Luo Qing had to select other locations.

She went to some districts in the provincial capital where locals gathered.

After several more days of searching.

Luo Qing finally found a suitable shop.

The location isn't the best, but it's not far from the busiest part of the street.

Of course, Luo Qing was not satisfied with just one shop, so she looked for some other shops.

I want to find a few more shops, and we'll discuss it together when my husband comes over.

And so, Luo Qing squatted there for a long time.

Although she talks to her husband and daughter on the phone every day, Luo Qing really misses them.

Every time Feng Zhengming asked on the phone, "Should I bring my daughter over to help you?"

Luo Qing always firmly replied, "No need, I can manage on my end. You just need to focus on running your restaurant and taking good care of your daughter."

She said that on the phone, but in reality, Luo Qing missed her husband and daughter very much.

The more she missed him, the more Luo Qing wanted to work hard and help her husband accomplish this.

While Luo Qing was busy looking for a shop, she was quickly noticed by some locals.

After all, Luo Qing still had some Shandong accent.

Moreover, the food she eats is different from what the locals eat.

Most importantly, Luo Qing was always busy, leaving early and returning late every day.

But those who observed her noticed that she didn't do any business.

In addition, Luo Qing herself did not realize that she had been following Feng Zhengming for a long time and had become accustomed to never letting herself suffer a loss.

Therefore, she had excellent food, drink, and accommodation, and never neglected herself in any way.

This naturally made Luo Qing a target for some people.

Finally, that evening, Luo Qing returned to the hotel after searching for a shop all afternoon.

As soon as she entered the hotel, she was immediately surrounded by several people.

At first, Luo Qing didn't notice, but when she got to the elevator, she found several people surrounding her.

Luo Qing immediately became alert: "What are you going to do?"

One of them spoke in a deep voice: "Your name is Luo Qing? Feng Zhuangyuan's wife? We've been watching you for days. We heard you've been looking for a shop here? Is Feng Zhuangyuan planning to open a branch here?"

Another person sneered: "Scholar Feng shouldn't be staying in Qilu. He dares to open a branch here? Didn't he tell us beforehand? Does he really think we locals can't do anything to you?"

Luo Qing remained composed and unyielding: "Hmph, you still want to lay a hand on me? Let me tell you, if you dare touch me..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by several people.

"Hahaha, what can you do about it? Where do you think this is? Let me tell you, this is..."

As the other person spoke, they approached Luo Qing and reached out to grab her.

Just then, two figures suddenly rushed out from the side.

They knocked all the people surrounding Luo Qing away.

The guy who reached out to Luo Qing had his arm grabbed and twisted.

"Ah!" With a scream, the people surrounding Luo Qing were all knocked down in the blink of an eye.

"Madam, we're late. Are you alright?"

Luo Qing looked at Hou Dong and Gao Yongfu: "I knew your master would send people, but I didn't expect him to send the two of you."

Then Luo Qing said to the two of them, "Alright, call the police now."

Kao Yung-fu: "Shouldn't you teach them a lesson, Madam?"

Luo Qing: "We're here to do business, not to fight. Call the police."

Without waiting for Hou Dong and Gao Yongfu to call the police, Luo Qing took out her phone and called the police herself.

Shortly after, local police arrived at the hotel.

As a result, they saw that Hou Dong and Gao Yongfu had subdued all the people, and they were all obediently squatting against the wall in the corner.

Luo Qing and I returned to the police station and explained everything in detail.

The local police station was also a bit confused.

I really don't know how to handle this.

However, before Hou Dong came to the police station, he called Feng Zhengming first.

Feng Zhengming immediately contacted some local contacts.

The police station doesn't know what to do.
It was also because the people who went after Luo Qing were clearly connected to them.

As locals, they still wanted to show some favoritism towards the locals.

However, while the police officers handling the case were still hesitating, a call came in from the provincial authorities.

Soon the bureau chief intervened, personally releasing Luo Qing and the others, and promising to deal with the matter seriously.

Meanwhile, the guy who hired these people to target Luo Qing was quickly arrested by the local police.

The other party never expected that Feng Zhengming would not even show up, and that he would be arrested by the locals.

He had originally intended to try and leverage his local connections.

As a result, many of the local contacts he had previously made remained silent this time, and not one of them stepped forward to help him.

Finally, someone who was somewhat related to him gave him a piece of information. "Don't bother looking for help. You've really messed with someone this time. They went directly to the higher-ups. There are orders from above to carry out a crackdown. You've walked right into the line of fire. They'll use you as an example."

The person in the area who had been targeting Feng Zhengming probably never expected this.

Because he hired locals to harm Luo Qing.

This directly led to a province-wide crackdown.

Not only was he used as a typical example, but also some shady organizations and individuals throughout the province were thoroughly investigated as typical examples.

Years later, no one would have imagined that this crackdown, which was carried out ahead of schedule, would be triggered by the wife of Feng Zhengming, the national culinary champion.

Feng Zhengming took his daughter by plane and arrived in the provincial capital of Jiangxi Province from Shanghai the next day.

After reuniting with his wife, Feng Zhengming and his daughter hugged her together.

"Don't take such risks next time, you really scared me to death."

Luo Qing was also holding her husband and daughter.

However, she was still a little unwilling: "It's all those bad guys' fault. I was almost done and just waiting for you to come and make the final decision, but they ruined it."

Feng Zhengming was amused by his wife's complaints.

"You're a mother now, why are you still acting like a child?"

Feng Nuanyou reached out her little hand and gently touched her mother's face.

"Mommy is not good."

Luo Qing was amused by her daughter's words.

"You little rascal, I think you're the one who's being naughty."

Feng Nuanyou protested, "Mom is not being good; she doesn't take me and Dad with her."

The little girl can now speak in almost complete sentences.

It has to be said that the little girl has a pretty strong learning ability.

Especially during this period of time, the little girl has been in the kitchen with her father and has learned a lot of words from the group of people in the kitchen.

Phrases like "The dishes are ready," "Hurry up," "Don't rush," "Plate," "Serve the dishes," "Wrong," and "Reheat."

These words made Luo Qing unable to hold back her laughter as she asked her husband.

"Aren't you afraid that if your daughter learns all this, she'll want to be a chef like you in the future?"

Feng Zhengming said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do. Mom isn't home, and Dad has to go to work, so I have to bring her along."

Feng Nuanyou looked at her father and suddenly smiled, "Dad, cook."

Luo Qing was amused by her daughter's unexpected words.

"So your daughter works in the kitchen and often urges you to cook?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, I learned it all from them. Whenever I need to cook, I call out 'Chef, cook!'"

"Hahaha..." Luo Qing was completely amused by her husband's words.

After the laughter and chatter subsided, back in their hotel room, Luo Qing took out the various things she had prepared and handed them to her husband.

Seeing his wife's meticulous market research and detailed markings of shops in various locations, he was deeply moved.

Feng Zhengming hugged his wife and said, "You've really worked hard."

Luo Qing: "I'm glad I could help you. I'm finally not just a stay-at-home mom anymore."

Feng Zhengming: "You've never been someone who can only stay at home and take care of the children."

Luo Qing looked at her husband: "Will these be useful to you?"

Feng Zhengming: "Of course, this saves me a lot of trouble. You see, you even marked the local people's taste preferences, which is very useful to us."

And these are some of the best-selling dishes in some local restaurants. Honey, you're amazing!

Luo Qing was very happy to be praised by her husband.

"Looks like I did the right thing. You have no idea how spicy the food is here. There are so many restaurants on the street that I can't eat at all."

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, I've always heard that people here can handle spicy food quite well."

Luo Qing: "I always thought that people from Sichuan, Chongqing and Hunan were more able to handle spicy food."

Feng Zhengming: "They're all right next to each other, so they're all spicy together. People say that the people here are afraid of things that aren't spicy enough."

Luo Qing: "That's somewhat true. I feel like a lot of their dishes are really all chili peppers."

Feng Zhengming: "We also need to consider this. When our braised pork comes here, we may need to make some improvements to the flavor. We may need to make some spicy braised pork to sell, and we also need to add some chili to the pig's trotters and hocks."

Luo Qing: "If you add chili peppers, will it really taste good?"

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Everyone has their own taste. Since people here prefer spicy food, we can add chili peppers to it."

Luo Qing: "Doesn't that mean the braising liquid might need to be improved?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, some improvements need to be made. Adding some chili peppers may change the taste. We need to balance the flavors so that the spiciness doesn't overpower the other flavors, but it also can't be without spiciness."

Luo Qing couldn't help but sigh, "It feels really difficult."

Feng Zhengming: "Take it slow. Now that we're here, we definitely need to prepare properly."

Luo Qing then asked, "What about these shops? Should we choose some first?"

Feng Zhengming: "We'll go take a look tomorrow. We can't just look at the ones you found; we also need to check out some other shops so we can choose the most suitable one in the end."

Luo Qing agreed with her husband: "Yes, none of my shops are really good."

Feng Zhengming: "Thank you for your hard work, my dear wife. Now let's do the rest together."

Luo Qing: "Okay, let's find a suitable shop together, and we also need to adjust the flavors together."

Feng Zhengming: "We also need to find some local young chefs."

Luo Qing: Oh right, I hadn't noticed that before.

Feng Zhengming: "There's no need to pay special attention. We can start with open recruitment, and I believe that young chefs will apply soon. We can then select some good ones from among them."

Luo Qing asked curiously, "Why don't you ask some experienced local craftsmen?"

"Why ask them?" Feng Zhengming smiled. "We can't expect to poach their star pupils from the master craftsmen, can we?"

We still need to find some chefs ourselves; young chefs are relatively easy to find.

It doesn't matter if you lack skills; as long as you're willing to work hard, learn diligently, and put in the effort, we can teach you from scratch.

Hearing her husband say this, Luo Qing was a little surprised: "Teaching from scratch? Won't that be very hard for you? Are you going to stay here for a while?"

Feng Zhengming: "I definitely can't stay here, but I can send people over to teach and mentor newcomers."

Luo Qing: "Are you going to send someone over to run a branch here?"

Feng Zhengming: "Hou Dong and Gao Yongfu, they arrived a long time ago, and I told them about it."

Luo Qing was somewhat surprised: "You, weren't those two the ones you specifically sent to follow me?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, I specifically sent them to follow you, but I also plan to let them stay here to gain experience. Once a suitable branch manager and head chef are selected here, they will go back from here."

Luo Qing asked with some concern, "Would Hou Dong and Gao Yongfu be willing?"

She knew that the two of them were still her husband's apprentices and were definitely trying their best to learn more from him.

She will formally become her husband's apprentice once she has mastered the skills.

He hasn't been studying for very long, but he's already been sent to another city to manage a branch store.

Luo Qing was worried that Hou Dong and Gao Yongfu would have objections.

Feng Zhengming, on the contrary, was very confident: "Don't worry, Hou Dong and Gao Yongfu have already agreed, and I have also agreed to them. They will stay here for a maximum of six months. Once things are on track here, they can go back."

Luo Qing nodded, thinking that six months should be about right. (End of Chapter)