Zhuang Daozhong was a little surprised because the call he received was from Su Jinrong.
This was actually somewhat beyond the old man's expectations. Zhuang Daozhong originally thought that Su Jinrong would not show up regarding the cooking competition between the two families, but would leave it entirely to his son-in-law.
Listen patiently to Su Jinrong on the other end of the phone as he explained the location and method of the cooking competition.
Zhuang Daozhong was surprised again: "Jinrong, are you sure you want to let a group of children judge?"
Su Jinrong responded on the phone: "Yes, it's Ruoruo's birthday, let Ruoruo decide."
Zhuang Daozhong hesitated for a moment, then said, "But, Jinrong, you should understand that it is not easy to grasp the preferences of children. Maybe just a little trick can attract children's likes."
Su Jinrong continued, "Also, you and I will ask Su Lanxin to be the judge, and we will be three people."
Zhuang Daozhong pondered for a moment, then understood: "Jinrong, I understand what you mean. The theme is Children's Day. It is Ruoruo's birthday. First of all, we need to make something that the children like, and then the three of us will make the final decision."
Su Jinrong responded again: "Yes."
Zhuang Daozhong thought carefully for a moment and felt that this method seemed feasible: "Well, this method is OK. I will tell Lan Xin, but you have to wait for the results over there to decide."
Su Jinrong responded again: "Okay."
After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Daozhong originally wanted to make a phone call, but then he remembered that he and Su Lanxin were living in the same hotel, so he went downstairs to find Su Lanxin.
Su Lanxin had just finished her morning meeting and was in the room listening to the secretary's arrangements for the Fujing Building competition.
Now, because of the involvement of the Provincial Catering Association, the secretary will have to represent Su Lanxin's company to contact the Catering Association, so some things need to be clarified with Su Lanxin.
Zhuang Daozhong's arrival immediately made Su Lanxin in a good mood.
"Uncle Master, you are here. It seems that my eldest brother and his friends have agreed to the cooking competition. Tell me, what are their conditions?"
The secretary was also a little surprised when he saw President Su smiling.
You know, before Mr. Zhuang came, Su Lanxin almost never smiled.
Zhuang Daozhong sat down and was very direct. He told Su Lanxin what Su Jinrong had told him about the cooking competition method and the judging method.
After hearing this, the secretary was shocked again. It was hard for her to understand why a group of children were asked to judge the cooking competition. Wasn't this a bit too much of a joke
Fortunately, Mr. Zhuang also said later that he would come forward and serve as a judge together with Su Jinrong, and Su Lanxin would also need to provide a judge.
Su Lanxin was silent for a moment, thought about it carefully and said: "Well, this way of competing in cooking is very strange. I didn't expect that my eldest brother's son-in-law is actually a daughter slave."
After hearing what Su Lanxin said, the secretary thought carefully and felt that Feng Yifan was really a daughter slave.
After he came back, the secretary conducted secret observations according to Su Lanxin's arrangement and found out clearly that the little girl was Feng Yifan's absolute Achilles' heel and also his weakness.
But the secretary didn't dare to touch the little girl on his own initiative.
Not to mention that Su Lanxin would never agree to it, just looking at Feng Yifan's thick arms and such a strong body, I'm afraid that ordinary people would not be his match.
Even for such a big event as the cooking competition this time, he actually let his daughter be the judge. He really dotes on his daughter too much.
Thinking of this, the secretary suddenly couldn't help but feel that the daughter would definitely be very happy to have such a father.
The secretary felt a little envious of the little girl.
After some consideration, Su Lanxin said, "Okay, since my eldest brother is willing to do this, then I have no objection. I will be the judge here and let the two generations of Su Ji's sons-in-law compete."
When Zhuang Daozhong heard this, his expression was a little complicated.
The secretary was a little surprised when he heard this.
This is the first time in all these years that President Su has publicly admitted that Chen Wei was once her husband.
Zhuang Daozhong sighed and said, "I never thought that there would be a day when Su Ji would compete with its own people. We are obviously a family, why must it be like this?"
Su Lanxin looked at her uncle, and her expression also became a little complicated.
After a moment of silence, Su Lanxin said, "Perhaps, this was destined to happen since Chen Wei and I left with a group of fellow apprentices."
Zhuang Daozhong then asked, "So, where did they go after they left Su Ji with you?"
Su Lanxin fell into deep thought after hearing this.
My thoughts went back to the past, when Su Lanxin and Chen Wei decided to leave Su Ji, and then they anxiously discussed it with a group of fellow apprentices.
In the end, seven of Su Lanxin's father's ten disciples chose to leave together.
Including the senior brother Chen Wei, it means that Su Lanxin's father has eight disciples left.
After they left Su Ji, they first chose to go north to Beijing to find their uncle. Su Lanxin asked for help from his uncle and let them open a small restaurant in Beijing.
For a while, Su Lanxin and her fellow apprentices really seemed like they were going to make a name for themselves.
But later, as fellow disciples got married one after another, some of their ideas began to deviate.
Especially since the eldest senior brother Chen Wei was not the master after all, Chen Wei had not really achieved any great fame at that time, and he had not had the opportunity to attend large banquets.
To put it bluntly, Chen Wei and his friends can no longer use the Su Ji name. Their cooking skills may be really great, but they still cannot prepare for large-scale banquets.
Not to mention attending a state banquet, even some higher-end banquets might not invite Chen Wei and his group.
Over time, the conflicts between the brothers gradually grew.
Some of the junior students felt that staying in Chen Wei and Su Lanxin’s small restaurant was too restrictive.
They want to go to a well-known big restaurant, even if they have to start from scratch, at least they have the opportunity to accumulate experience, and with some recommendations from the big restaurant, maybe they can attend better banquets in the future.
In the end, almost all of the junior brothers chose to leave.
That was the second time we split up after everyone left Su Ji.
The brothers parted ways at this point.
Five of them chose to go to the more famous restaurants in Beijing, where they gained experience and accumulated opportunities.
Another one chose to return to his hometown and open his own restaurant.
Su Lanxin knew that the five brothers who had entered the big restaurant in Beijing later left Beijing one after another. They were never able to make a name for themselves in Beijing, so naturally they had to go to other places.
So many years have passed, and now that Mr. Zhuang asked, Su Lanxin actually didn't know where those fellow disciples had gone.
"Maybe Chen Wei will have some contact with them."
When Zhuang Daozhong heard this, he sighed and shook his head, saying, "Back then, you came to see me once, but none of you brothers came to see me later."
Su Lanxin smiled bitterly and said, “Those senior brothers still feel that they are like betrayers of their master and are embarrassed to see you.”
Zhuang Daozhong also smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that you harmed them back then."
Su Lanxin said unconvincedly: "They wanted to leave on their own initiative. If they were willing to stay with me and Chen Wei, they would have a very good future now, at least they could become the head chef of the top restaurants under my group company."
Zhuang Daozhong shook his head and said, "So what? Did your fellow apprentices go to your father to learn cooking for this reason?"
Su Lanxin naturally understood that none of them were, so she chose to remain silent.
Zhuang Daozhong continued, "Since you brothers haven't seen each other for many years, I will find another one to come over. He is your and Jinrong's youngest brother. He is with me now. I will call him over."
Su Lanxin was a little surprised: "Brother Shitou finally went to your place?"
The Senior Brother Shitou that Su Lanxin mentioned was the youngest disciple her father accepted besides them and their siblings. His full name was “Shi Jinbin”.
Su Lanxin also wanted to ask him to come along at the beginning, but Shi Jinbin finally refused and chose to stay in Su Ji.
Zhuang Daozhong said calmly: "Perhaps you all don't know that Shi Jinbin is the only disciple besides your eldest brother who saw your father off to his final journey."
When Mr. Su was seriously ill, Shi Jinbin and Su Jinrong took turns to take care of him, and the two of them also supported Su Ji together.
Later, when the old man passed away, Zhuang Daozhong came to pay his respects. He originally wanted to ask Su Jinrong to go north with him, but Su Jinrong was unwilling to give up the Su Ji shop and could not leave his wife and children at home.
In the end, Su Jinrong gave the opportunity to go north to Shi Jinbin.
Zhuang Daozhong looked at Su Lanxin and said, "If Shitou knew that you were back, he would have come to fight you and Chen Wei a long time ago."
Su Lanxin was stunned when she heard this, and a hint of fear actually appeared in her eyes.
She knew very well that Shi Jinbin was a very hateful person. Although he didn't talk much, if he really got ruthless, perhaps even ten of his fellow apprentices wouldn't be as ruthless as him.
Su Lanxin hesitated for a moment and asked: "Brother Shitou, what is he now..."
Zhuang Daozhong did not hide anything and answered directly: "He is now one of the deputy chefs of the 'Red Maple Restaurant' in Beijing."
Su Lanxin was stunned again. The reputation of the Red Maple Restaurant in Beijing was really very loud. The key reason was that the Red Maple Restaurant might be the only restaurant in Beijing that could prepare state banquet dishes.
Moreover, the state banquet dishes of Hongfeng Hotel are authorized, which means that Hongfeng Hotel is allowed to serve state banquet dishes to the outside world.
Even Su Lanxin knew that the prices of dishes at the Hongfeng Restaurant were all fixed and could not be easily changed.
Zhuang Daozhong is the real executive chef of the Red Maple Hotel, but he seems to have retired in recent years and serves as the hotel's food consultant.
What Su Lanxin didn't expect was that her youngest senior brother is now one of the deputy chefs there.
This also shows that Shi Jinbin has participated in state banquets.
Zhuang Daozhong guessed what Su Lanxin was thinking, so he gave her the answer she wanted: "Shi Jinbin has participated in the state banquet."
Su Lanxin understood, and at the same time couldn't help but sigh in her heart: I didn't expect that among so many disciples of my father, it was Shi Jinbin, who was not very optimistic about the beginning, who finally participated in the state banquet.
Zhuang Daozhong confirmed with Su Lanxin again: "Do you want me to call Shi Jinbin?"
Su Lanxin was stunned for a moment, and looking at the serious expression of the master's uncle, she also guessed what the master's uncle meant. Call Shi Jinbin over, and the master's uncle should be able to explain the situation.
If Shi Jinbin comes, he will definitely cause trouble for Su Lanxin and Chen Wei.
After hesitating for a moment, Su Lanxin said seriously: "Since you, Uncle Master, have said so, then please ask Senior Brother Shitou to come once. We haven't seen each other for many years. Among so many brothers and sisters, I'm afraid he is the only one who can meet."
Zhuang Daozhong nodded: "Okay, I'll call him later."
Then, Zhuang Daozhong said, "If that's the case, then I think your competition will be judged by you, Jinrong, Jinbin, and me. Is that okay?"
Su Lanxin nodded: "Okay."
Zhuang Daozhong stood up after saying this and looked at Su Lanxin deeply: "I hope that after this, the grudge between you can be resolved. You still have more important things to do next."
Su Lanxin also stood up and nodded: "Okay, I also hope that the grudge can be resolved."
After a short pause, Su Lanxin asked again: "Uncle, if Senior Brother Shitou comes, can he be a judge for this cooking competition?"
Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said, "You can ask him yourself when the time comes."
After saying this, Zhuang Daozhong left the room.
After Zhuang Daozhong left, Su Lanxin thought about it and decided to call Chen Wei and told him everything.
When Chen Wei learned about this cooking competition, especially the one that required pleasing a group of kindergarten children, he felt it was a bit of a joke.
However, after hearing that my uncle-master would come forward as the final judge, I accepted it.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Wei was a little surprised to hear the news about Shi Jinbin.
After holding the phone for a long time, Chen Wei sighed, "I really didn't expect that among our brothers, Shi Jinbin, who has always been looked down upon by us brothers, would be the one who succeeded."
After listening to Chen Wei's sigh, Su Lanxin asked again: "Chen Wei, do you have any other contact information for fellow apprentices?"
Chen Wei said directly: "If you need, I can contact four people, as for the others, I can't contact them either."
Su Lanxin was silent for a while, and finally said: "Okay, you call them all over, we will put an end to it this time, and finally see who should inherit the old plaque of Su Ji."
When Chen Wei heard this, he really shook his head silently, knowing that Su Lanxin still couldn't let go of this knot in the end.
But on second thought, Chen Wei thought this might be an opportunity to help Su Lanxin completely resolve this issue. So he agreed: "Okay, I'll try to contact them, I hope they can come."
After hanging up the phone, Su Lanxin suddenly felt in a good mood, as if she could finally prove herself.
This time, she can prove to all her fellow disciples, including her uncle, that her father's choice was wrong.
Thinking of this, Su Lanxin's expression became very excited.
Seeing President Su's excited face, the secretary couldn't help but feel a little worried: "President Su, are you okay?"
Su Lanxin looked at the secretary with a smile and said, "I'm fine. I'm fine. Go ahead and talk to the catering association as we agreed. In short, remember one thing: use the momentum of the competition to promote Fujinglou."
The secretary hesitated for a moment, but when she saw that President Su had already stood up and walked towards the bedroom of the suite, she could only get up and leave to prepare to talk to the catering association.
Su Lanxin entered the room, locked the door, sat in front of the dressing mirror, and smiled at herself in the mirror.
"Finally, I have waited until this day. I can finally prove to them who is the most qualified to inherit the old plaque."