From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After arriving in Beijing, Feng Zhengming communicated with Master Hou, Master Zheng, and Master Hu, who lived in the city.

To his surprise, the next people to come to his door were actually police officers.

They found Feng Zhengming, who also explained his purpose directly.

We need to find Feng Zhengming and ask him about what happened to him in Shanghai.

In particular, it is necessary to clarify whether Feng Zhengming himself has any connections with certain unscrupulous organizations or individuals in society.
Feng Zhengming was very frank and told the visitor the whole story.

He was so frank that he didn't even bother to emphasize that he had no connection with those bad organizations and individuals.

He simply and calmly recounted the entire truth to the police in Beijing.

His calm demeanor surprised those who came to investigate him.

After the questioning was over, the police officers in Beijing felt somewhat embarrassed towards him.

"After we met you, Feng Zhuangyuan, our conversation with you made us realize that you are indeed a very simple chef and should not have been involved in those things."

However, we hope you can understand that we still need to conduct some investigations.

Whether you can participate in the upcoming National Day celebrations and the welcome banquet for the athletes depends on the final survey results.

Feng Zhengming nodded to indicate that he understood.

"I know, and that's the right thing to do. We must ensure the safety of our National Day celebrations and the welcoming banquet for the athletes."

The police officers breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that Feng Zhengming understood.

The reason why Feng Zhengming was not told before he arrived in Beijing was that he would need to undergo some investigation.

It's because I wanted to see his real reaction to the investigation as soon as possible.

Another very important point is that it allows Feng Zhengming to be completely unprepared and without any precautions or arrangements.

This way, we can thoroughly investigate all aspects of Feng Zhengming's situation.

After the police left, Luo Qing felt somewhat worried about her husband.

"Are you sure it won't have any impact on you?"

Feng Zhengming smiled: "It shouldn't have any impact. Perhaps the investigation results will even be good for me."

Luo Qing was a little confused: "How can it still be a good thing?"

Feng Zhengming: "To prove that I am truly innocent, and that I was forced to do that kind of thing."

Luo Qing: "How dare you say that? You didn't even tell us that you were going to die with those people. If I had known, I would never have let you do that."

Feng Zhengming: "Didn't we say that if you throw one punch, you'll avoid a hundred?"

Luo Qing: "That's what they say, but they've already started investigating you."

Feng Zhengming: "I'm here to attend the state banquet, so it's a necessary procedure to review me."

Luo Qing asked, "What if the people you hired are deliberately framing you?"

Feng Zhengming: "We must trust the capabilities of our police officers. If anyone can be easily framed, what's the point of the law? How can there be any good people in this world?"

“Sometimes you’re so innocent it’s almost cute.” Luo Qing wasn’t entirely convinced by her husband’s words.

Feng Zhengming: "Don't worry, I am the national culinary champion. Besides, it's a fact that I was harassed by those people. It wasn't me who started the trouble; they attacked me first."

Luo Qing said seriously, "That's right, those people deliberately bullied us."

Feng Zhengming hugged his wife and said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Luo Qing leaned against her husband's chest, still hoping that he would be alright and able to participate in the state banquet with dignity.

In the following days, Feng Zhengming's apprentices, students, and his two senior brothers also discovered the problem.

They had already arrived here, but they hadn't been involved in the menu planning, nor had they been given any opportunities to familiarize themselves with the venue or to hand over the work with their chef colleagues in Kyoto.

They all sensed something was wrong, so they went to Feng Zhengming to ask him what was going on.
Feng Zhengming didn't hide anything from everyone and told them what had happened.

"I'm really sorry, you might be implicated because of me, and you might lose the opportunity to participate in the state banquet and the welcome banquet for the athletes."

Everyone was quite surprised after hearing Feng Zhengming's description.

After a moment of silence, Yang Bin, the third senior brother, laughed.

"Haha, that's fine too. At worst, we just won't participate. Anyway, we have a clear conscience, so we don't have to take any responsibility if we don't participate. We can just treat it as a trip to Beijing."

Fifth Senior Brother Cao Zhiguo: "Right, right, how about we go out and have some fun tomorrow? There are so many places in the capital that I want to visit."

After the two senior masters spoke, Xia Hui and the three apprentices who had come with her looked at each other in bewilderment.

This time, Tang Yong and Lu Haisheng spoke up almost simultaneously.

"Master, can we go see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall?"

"Yes, yes, I've never been there. I've always wanted to go and see it."

The two of them clearly didn't take it seriously at all; instead, they were already thinking about where to go in Beijing.
Sun Decai also said with a smile, "I also want to go to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, and I want to see all those historical sites."

Xia Hui finally spoke up: "Master, we believe you'll be fine. Let's go have some fun together for the next few days. Anyway, we haven't really explored the capital much."

Seeing that everyone was saying so, Feng Zhengming smiled and agreed: "Okay, I'll ask them later if we can go have fun. If I can't go, you can all go with me and don't have to stay in the hotel with me."

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, everyone's initial joy turned sour again.

If Feng Zhengming can't go out and have fun, it really makes everyone feel a little uneasy.

Feng Zhengming noticed that everyone's mood suddenly became low.

"Haha, don't be like that. I'm just under investigation. You'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'll definitely be alright. You should believe in my deep patriotism."

Hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Yang Bin nodded: "Yes, I believe in your master."

Cao Zhiguo: "Let's go have some fun together and not let your master down."

Everyone was somewhat worried at first, but when Feng Zhengming asked, he was told that he could go and have fun as he pleased.

"Haha, we can't possibly restrict your personal freedom, Feng Zhuangyuan. You're not being detained by us; you're just cooperating with our investigation. If needed, we can provide vehicles to take you out for fun."

This reply put Feng Zhengming and everyone else at ease.

The next day, Feng Zhengming organized everyone to go sightseeing in the capital.

The first stop for everyone was to go to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony before dawn.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentices had seen it, but Xia Hui and her students had not.

Seeing the five-star red flag rising with the sun for the first time was truly exciting and made me feel very proud.

After watching the flag-raising ceremony, Feng Zhengming and his group went to the Forbidden City for sightseeing.

Feng Zhengming and his wife also brought their daughter.

Moreover, Feng Zhengming simply carried his daughter throughout the entire trip so that she could see the sights.

Luo Qing tried to take her daughter in her arms many times, but Feng Zhengming refused each time.

“No need to switch hands. You’ve been running around for so long, you must be tired. I can carry Youyou without any problem.”

Feng Nuanyou seemed to understand her father's hard work, and even used her little hands to wipe the sweat off his face.

This scene between the father and daughter was captured by Tang Yong, who was holding Feng Zhengming's camera.

This heartwarming photo touched everyone.

After visiting the Forbidden City, Feng Zhengming and his group looked for a place to eat nearby. However, many restaurants were packed, so Cao Zhiguo suggested taking them to a place for lunch.

I realized that Cao Zhiguo had indeed worked as a chef in Beijing for a period of time.

So everyone agreed and followed Cao Zhiguo to find a place to eat.

After a series of twists and turns, the group finally arrived at a place located in the courtyard of an old traditional courtyard house.

There wasn't even a sign at the entrance; it didn't look like a restaurant at all.

Cao Zhiguo led everyone inside and then called out to them.

"Is anyone here? I, Cao Zhiguo, am back."

At Cao Zhiguo's shout, a group of people quickly rushed out from inside.

They were all dressed in chef's uniforms and looked to be older than Feng Zhengming.

Behind this group of people, a burly chef soon emerged.

The last burly chef to emerge was clearly the head chef here, and judging from his chef's uniform and demeanor, he must be a very famous chef in the capital.

"Cao Zhiguo? You're actually back?"

Before Cao Zhiguo could speak, the other person asked again, "I heard you went back to Quancheng and are working at your junior brother's restaurant? As your senior brother's assistant? Cao Zhiguo, you haven't made a name for yourself, have you?"

Cao Zhiguo simply smiled calmly in response to the other party's impolite words.

"Qu Bo, I'm here for dinner today, and I'd like to introduce you to two masters."

Qu Bo looked behind Cao Zhiguo.

Soon he saw Feng Zhengming holding his daughter.

"Oh, so you brought your junior apprentice brother with you? Feng Zhengming? The national culinary champion."

Feng Zhengming handed his daughter to his wife, stepped forward and smiled: "Hello, Master Qu. I've often heard my fifth senior brother mention you. I've come here today to see Master Qu's skills."

Qu Bo: "No need to be so polite. Your fifth senior brother is obviously here today to challenge me, isn't he?"

Feng Zhengming: "It shouldn't be. We really came here to eat."

Qu Bo looked at Cao Zhiguo: "You should know that we can't just entertain anyone here."

Cao Zhiguo laughed: "But our top scholar Feng has arrived, and you're not even going to receive him?"

Qu Bo was taken aback by these words.

He glanced at Feng Zhengming, then at Cao Zhiguo.

Finally, Qu Bo nodded: "Okay, come in. It's an honor for our little restaurant to host the national culinary champion."

Seeing this scene, Lu Haisheng couldn't help but ask a question in a low voice as he followed them inside.

"What kind of place is this? A small restaurant located in a courtyard house? It looks quite unusual."

Before his fifth senior brother could turn around to explain, Feng Zhengming gave his answer first.

"Private kitchen restaurant".

This answer still left several people somewhat confused.

Can a private kitchen restaurant have such a grand setup?
Feng Zhengming continued to explain: "These were restaurants opened by the private chefs of high-ranking officials and nobles in the past. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, they were basically recruited into well-known restaurants in the capital. Later, they came out and opened their own restaurants."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the apprentices roughly understood.

Cao Zhiguo added something earlier.

"That Qu Bo was a genuine apprentice of a private chef in the capital back in the day. He was the fourth generation of that family."

You all probably know about Tan Family Cuisine, right? His grandmaster learned from the earliest chefs of Tan Family Cuisine, supposedly from the eldest sister and a concubine of the Tan family.

Yang Bin was somewhat surprised to hear Cao Zhiguo say that.

"They actually learned to cook from the Tan family?"

Cao Zhiguo: "That's what he said. When I first came here, I competed with him for a while, but I couldn't beat him in the end."

Feng Zhengming: "If his master's ancestors learned the cooking from the Tan family, then Fifth Brother, you didn't lose unjustly."

Cao Zhiguo nodded: "Who says otherwise? I only realized that after I lost."

Yang Bin: "So, do you want to compete with him again now?"

Cao Zhiguo: "We're not competing now. I'm sure I still can't beat him. I'd rather Zhengming compete with him."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I don't want to compete with him for now. Let's wait until later. If there's a chance in the future, we can have a friendly match."

After entering the courtyard, I was led into a relatively large guest room.

This restaurant is clearly a converted guest room from an old house.

The staff quickly arranged everything for us.

They even brought a special baby chair for Feng Zhengming's daughter.

This surprised Feng Nuanyou greatly, and she found it very interesting while sitting inside.

Before serving the menu, various tea snacks were served to Feng Zhengming and his group.

Cao Zhiguo explained, "These are the four dried fruits and four candied fruits that are served at the beginning of the Manchu-Han banquet, according to legend."

The apprentices were immediately astonished.

"Is this a Manchu-Han banquet?"

Are we having a Manchu Han Imperial Feast today?

"Isn't this the private cuisine of the government?"

"This looks beautifully made."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "In the past, the top chefs were always the private chefs of officials and wealthy merchants. Next were the famous chefs in the big restaurants in the market, and the third were the imperial chefs in the palace."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qu Bo walked in.

"No wonder he is the national culinary champion; it seems he has done a lot of research on the inheritance of culinary traditions."

Feng Zhengming looked at Qu Bo: "Hello, Master Qu, I'm so sorry to bother you today."

Qu Bo smiled and said, "Scholar Feng, please don't be so polite. It's our honor to host you. What would you all like to eat today?"

Feng Zhengming: "Then Master Qu will make the decision. We'll just go along with what he says."

Qu Bo looked at Cao Zhiguo, clearly still asking for Cao Zhiguo's opinion.

The reason Qu Bo didn't finalize the menu directly was mainly because he was worried that if the dishes were served according to their standards, Feng Zhengming and his group wouldn't be able to afford the meal.

Cao Zhiguo laughed: "Hahaha, Qu Bo, don't worry, I definitely can't afford a meal here, but my junior brother certainly can."

Hearing Cao Zhiguo's words, Qu Bo nodded: "Okay, then please wait a moment, Scholar Feng and everyone else."

Qu Bo turned and left, and soon returned with a person carrying several kinds of ingredients.

"Everyone, these are the ingredients for today's dishes. Please take a look, Scholar Feng."

After speaking, he ordered the lid on the tray to be lifted, and the ingredients revealed immediately astonished everyone. (End of Chapter)