Starting from a Bankrupt Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant

"That grand-uncle master doesn't sound very broad-minded, then. The old masters at Rongcheng Restaurant and Rongyuan Garden all worked together to compile teaching materials and publish books. They trained young chefs in classes, and as long as you were hardworking and willing to learn, they were happy to teach." Zheng Qiang pursed his lips. "When I was at Rongcheng Restaurant, I mainly studied under my master, but the other masters would give me pointers too. My master never held anything back when he taught other chefs, and I always attended those classes."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan was all the more astonished by the noble character of his Master, Kong Huafeng. The Kong Sect's family culinary arts originated with the founder's father, yet after Kong Huafeng inherited them, he was willing to teach and pass them on to countless young chefs. Such enlightenment and breadth of mind were truly admirable.

Zhou Yan knew he couldn't do the same. 'At least, not right now. I couldn't bring myself to make my recipes public without any reservations.'

'He… was perhaps more like Kong Qingfeng.'

'When it came to a family craft, it was only natural to think of your own family first.'

'For instance, he had given the recipe and method for Kneeling Beef to Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai, letting them carry on the tradition so they could make a good living and build a better life for themselves.'

'Even when He Zhiyuan used all his persuasive power, dangling the cover of *Sichuan Cuisine* magazine as bait, he hadn't been swayed.'

'So, he was selfish.'

'He couldn't be a Grandmaster.'

'Standing in the same position, he naturally had no right to criticize Kong Qingfeng.'

But if not for selfless Grandmasters like Kong Huafeng, then his own master, and Zheng Qiang's master, might never have truly entered the world of professional chefs or attained their current achievements.

He had once interviewed several elderly Sichuan Cuisine Grandmasters, all of whom mentioned Rongyuan Garden. As a major technical training base for the Rongcheng Catering Company, it had cultivated batches of outstanding Sichuan Cuisine chefs and was hailed as "the Huangpu Military Academy of Sichuan Cuisine."

Back then, when the Sichuan Cuisine Grandmasters taught, they truly shared their skills with the young chefs. As long as you had the aptitude and were willing to work hard, you could learn real skills.

At the time, Zhou Yan had only treated it as an interesting anecdote, a supplement for his video, and hadn't given it much thought.

But hearing about it from his own master, and experiencing this era firsthand, felt completely different.

'Weren't the preservation and popularization of Sichuan Cuisine reliant on this very group of selfless Grandmasters who broke the tradition of private, family-based teaching?'

Xiao Lei smiled and shook his head. "Back then, I also felt my Uncle-Master lacked a certain breadth of vision. But thinking about it later, I can understand. The Kong Sect bears the Kong name; it was always the Kong Family's craft, the capital they used to make a living, passed down from generation to generation."

"Later, Kong Qingfeng insisted on selecting a few descendants from the Kong Family to take as apprentices, and he trained them meticulously."

"And how did they turn out?" Zheng Qiang asked.

"None of them achieved anything great," Xiao Lei said.

"I knew it!" Zheng Qiang laughed smugly. "Our Master really had foresight! If he'd insisted on keeping it in the family, the Kong Sect's skills probably would have been lost within three generations."

Xiao Lei smiled and shook his head. "This grand-uncle master of yours… after he got older, his relationship with your Master slowly improved. He probably realized that among his own descendants, there was truly no one who could fully carry on the Kong Sect's skills."

"Although he didn't take any more apprentices, he stopped being secretive about his skills. He and your Master taught classes together at Le Ming Restaurant, and over the past seven or eight years, they've trained quite a few young chefs who went on to become successful."

"A few years ago, when your Master's health started to fail, he went to the restaurant's kitchen less and less. It was your grand-uncle master who took over teaching the culinary training classes. He did a fantastic job, producing several Second-level Chefs."

"Thanks to his outstanding contributions over the years, after your Master passed away, he became the highly respected Second Master Kong in Jiazhou's culinary circle."

"I've also visited him a few times over the years, and every time, he'd pull me aside to talk about cooking, genuinely teaching me quite a few real skills."

With that, Xiao Lei paused, then looked at Zheng Qiang and said, "Speaking of which, your master has probably visited him more times than I have. Before he took the First-level Chef exam, he made a special trip back to ask our Uncle-Master for guidance. He went back and passed on the first try."

"That time he came back for a drink with me, he even told me that our Uncle-Master was becoming wiser with age, more and more like our Master. He said he would treat him with more respect from now on, visiting him on holidays, and showing him the same filial piety as he would a master."

"If your master heard what you just said, you'd be in for it."

Zheng Qiang stopped laughing. His lips trembled, and he said with a pained expression, "Master Xiao, can't you just lead with the conclusion next time? You're totally setting me up…"

Hearing this, Zhou Yan couldn't help but laugh. He looked at Zheng and teased, "Zheng, when your master gets back, he might 'take special care' of you."

"No way, no way, Junior Brother," Zheng Qiang said quickly. "Just pretend you didn't hear any of that. I'll buy you a drink later."

'His master wouldn't fire him, but his own maternal uncle would have zero qualms about tanning his hide. He was thirty years old and still got chased down the street and whacked with a shoe by him.'

Zhou Yan grinned. "Don't worry, I'm terrible at keeping secrets."

"A true brother."

"Huh? Something's not right with you!"

The three of them chatted and laughed as they rode their bikes to the old Le Ming Restaurant.

The original sign had been taken down, replaced by a plaque that read: "Jiazhou Catering Company Technical Training Base."

"Uncle Huang," Xiao Lei greeted the old gatekeeper familiarly, then led Zhou Yan and Zheng through the gate, pushing their bicycles into the courtyard.

"This was the old Le Ming Restaurant. This whole area of single-story buildings used to be part of it, with elegant booths and private rooms. It eventually became too run-down, so they moved to the current Le Ming Restaurant—a two-story, brick-and-wood building with upgraded decor. It's a much grander venue for banquets." Parking the bicycles in the courtyard, Xiao Lei showed them around while explaining, "After this place was left vacant, it was converted into a technical training base used specifically to train young local chefs in Jiazhou."