After the door was closed, only the Su Ji family, Zhuang Daozhong and Zhuang Zhebin, a grandparent and grandchild, and Lin Ruifeng who had not returned home were left in the restaurant.
Little Feng Ruoruo snuggled in her father's arms, whispering to him about what interesting things she encountered when she was in kindergarten and which kindergarten kids made mistakes today.
All these seemingly trivial things, but in Feng Ruoruo's mind, are all worth telling her father.
And the father will be very patient, listening with a smile on his face, and will interject a few words when necessary, or exclaim, or give his daughter a compliment.
So Feng Ruoruo feels that it is very happy to chat with her father, as there are many things that only her father can understand.
As the father and daughter were chatting, Zhuang Daozhong took a sip of water and finally couldn't help but speak first.
"Yifan, I have to admit that even if my senior brother were still alive, he would probably be quite satisfied with your current cooking skills. You have inherited the traditional things very well, but at the same time you have your own unique ideas.
The most important thing is that when your ideas are combined with tradition, they can produce amazing results.”
Zhuang Daozhong paused here and stared at Feng Yifan who was holding his daughter in his arms.
Finally, Zhuang Daozhong said: "You can be considered a master chef now."
Zhuang Zhebin was a little surprised to hear such an evaluation from his great-grandfather, because this could be considered a very high evaluation.
Zhuang Zhebin is well aware that his great-grandfather's strength and status in the domestic culinary world are definitely not comparable to those of ordinary chefs.
As a true master of state banquets and a nationally recognized top-grade chef, he is also an expert in the training and assessment of stunt chefs.
Being able to gain Zhuang Daozhong’s recognition means that your cooking skills have reached a certain level.
Zhuang Zhebin knew very well that in his family, only his grandfather and third grandfather had been recognized by his great-grandfather. Even his father, as the eldest grandson, had not been recognized.
Compared to Zhuang Zhebin's surprise, Feng Yifan's performance was very calm, and he was not even as excited as his father-in-law Su Jinrong.
Feng Yifan raised his head, clasped his fists towards Mr. Zhuang Daozhong and said seriously, "Thank you for your recognition, uncle."
Zhuang Daozhong was a little surprised when he saw Feng Yifan's calmness. You know, many people who are familiar with his identity might not be able to get such a sentence even after decades of hard work.
However, Zhuang Daozhong could still see that Feng Yifan did not show any disrespect to him.
Because when Feng Yifan was speaking, he asked his daughter to stand beside him first, and then he stood up slightly, bowed forward and expressed his gratitude seriously.
Zhuang Daozhong felt that Feng Yifan might indeed be a relatively indifferent person, which might be the reason why he had such good cooking skills at such a young age.
In Zhuang Daozhong's eyes at this moment, Feng Yifan has become the same as the chef of Su Ji back then.
It turns out that they are the kind of people who are so obsessed with cooking that they no longer care about other things.
Feng Yifan had no disrespect for Zhuang Daozhong. After all, Zhuang Daozhong was able to make a name for his private cuisine in Beijing with his personal strength. This was no ordinary skill.
And Feng Yifan also knew that his wife's grandfather had only participated in state banquets.
Mr. Zhuang Daozhong not only participated in it, but also helped the state banquet team select chefs. Several of his disciples have also participated in state banquets.
From this point of view, my wife's grandfather's cooking skills are undoubtedly unquestionable, but he may not be as good as Zhuang Daozhong in training disciples.
However, this is also limited by region, after all, Zhuang Daozhong stayed in Beijing. Grandpa did not stay in Beijing, but chose to return to Huaicheng and continue to run Su Ji's small restaurant.
As the saying goes, "the one who is close to the water gets the moon first", Zhuang Daozhong has obvious advantages in staying in the capital.
Although he respected him in his heart, Feng Yifan did not feel too much about Zhuang Daozhong's comments on him.
Feng Yifan had heard too many similar words in his previous life, and now he just wanted to spend more time with his daughter and wife.
Zhuang Daozhong spoke again: "Yifan, are you really unwilling to come back with me? Perhaps you may have the opportunity to complete the opportunity that your father-in-law regretfully missed?"
Hearing this, Feng Yifan raised his head again, then looked into his father-in-law's eyes, and then looked at his wife beside him.
In fact, the whole family thought of participating in the state banquet almost at the same time.
This should be the biggest opportunity Su Jinrong missed that year.
Perhaps if Su Jinrong had participated in the state banquet, Su Ji would be very different today. Perhaps Su Ji would have opened in Beijing and become a well-known private kitchen restaurant.
Su Jinrong couldn't convince himself that he had no regrets at all.
But looking back now, although Su Jinrong has some regrets, he still feels sweeter when he thinks about the opportunity he lost in exchange for the last moments with his father, and the days he spent with his wife and daughter in Su's Bistro.
Now it's the son-in-law's turn to make a choice.
If it were five years ago, Su Jinrong would have let his son-in-law set off immediately to go to the capital with his uncle without hesitation.
But now, after five years of separation, I see how attached my daughter and granddaughter are to my son-in-law. Especially seeing with my own eyes that my daughter was not very happy in the past five years.
Su Jinrong no longer wanted to force his son-in-law to make a decision.
Feng Yifan hesitated for a moment, then smiled and shook his head: "Thank you, uncle-master, for your support, but I still don't want to leave. I think there are so many masters at the state banquet, and they don't need someone like me, Feng Yifan.
But Su Ji needs me, and I also want to spend more time with my wife and daughter, and take care of my father-in-law more."
At this moment, Zhuang Daozhong seemed to see again that Su Jinrong, who had rejected him back then, seemed to be exactly the same as Feng Yifan now.
Zhuang Daozhong also sighed helplessly: "It seems that Su Ji will continue to miss the state banquet."
Zhuang Zhebin, who was sitting next to him, finally couldn't help but speak up: "Uncle, you're not going to give up like this? If you go back with my great-grandfather, you will definitely get the chance to attend the state banquet."
When Zhuang Daozhong heard his great-grandson's words, he immediately said, "Xiao Bin, what are you talking about? This is your uncle's decision, don't say anything nonsense."
Feng Ruoruo also said in her father's arms: "Big brother, when adults are talking, we can't just talk casually. Look at Ruoruo, she is so well behaved and has never said a word."
Originally, Zhuang Daozhong scolded Zhuang Zhebin, making the atmosphere a little awkward, but it was resolved by Feng Ruoruo's soft words.
Everyone started laughing, and the atmosphere, which had been a little awkward and serious, suddenly became relaxed.
Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said to Feng Yifan: "It seems that having such a lovely and smart daughter really makes you happier. I won't force it. I also hope that your family can be happy."
Afterwards, Zhuang Daozhong talked to Feng Yifan about cooking and passed on some of his experience.
Perhaps this kind of teaching has no effect on a few words in general.
But for Feng Yifan, he can still seriously appreciate what is contained in these few sentences, and absorb and integrate them in his own way.
When the discussion was almost over, Zhuang Daozhong stood up and said, "Okay, we should go back, otherwise Yifan, you and Ruoxi's aunt will be worried."
Then Zhuang Daozhong said to Su Jinrong: "I will tell Lan Xin. I think she will listen to me."
Feng Yifan walked over, pushed his father-in-law up and said, "Uncle Master, let us take you there."
Zhuang Daozhong was about to say "No", but then he heard Feng Yifan say, "By the way, our family should go out for a walk, otherwise Ruoruo will be bored to death."
Feng Ruoruo was already dancing with joy: "Finally, I'm going out for a walk."
Zhuang Daozhong laughed immediately when he saw this.
The group walked out of Su Ji's door together and headed towards the east along the old street outside which was still quite lively at night.