Chapter 349: Chapter 349 - 348: Collecting All 8 Major Cuisines Through Stories and Experiences!

The trip to Fuzhou went smoothly, and the reputation was successfully established.

With the added boost from the cultural festival, after acquiring the restaurant, the renovation and training were accomplished in one go.

Thus, another Jiangyue Terrace opened.

Looking at the time, it was already September, right in the midst of the golden autumn season.

The variety of cuisines in China is countless, the more Jiang Feng learns, the more he feels there are so many things he doesn’t know.

But he always strives to learn.

This day, Jiang Feng received an unexpected gift.

A female photographer named Xu Wenling contacted him.

Jiang Feng knew this person, having met a few times during his stall days, she was a photographer for a geography magazine, very beautiful, with slightly dark skin, looking very healthy.

She came to Jiang Feng to deliver a payment for a photo submission.

It turned out that once when he was setting up a stall under the windmill, Xu Wenling took a photo, submitted it to the human geography photography contest in the World Geography magazine, and the photo won first place.

The vast wilderness, the swaying windmill, the boss setting up a stall in the small square with the crowd.

The picture indeed had a lot of artistic conception.

"A payment?"

"It’s not necessary, I already said, as long as you don’t use it commercially, you can dispose of the photo as you wish."

Jiang Feng was quite surprised to see Xu Wenling, but also happy.

In Jiang Feng’s stall business, he encountered many people, many things, and saw many stories.

Not everyone works in a routine way, or rather, some people choose certain jobs because of their hobbies, and when these people talk about their jobs, they are always full of enthusiasm.

Chatting with these people is very interesting.

Jiang Feng doesn’t particularly like idle chatter, but he enjoys making friends with interesting and knowledgeable people.

Chatting with these people makes him better too.

"This won’t do, I said I’d split it with you."

"The payment is quite a lot, 30,000 US dollars, half for you is 15,000."

Xu Wenling said with a cheerful smile.

"You could have just sent it via WeChat, no need to make a special trip."

Jiang Feng chatted casually with her.

"I missed your cooking, can’t get it abroad."

"Just finished a special shoot on the Great Migration in Africa, and I’m back home for a break. Got quite a tan during this time."

Xu Wenling joked self-deprecatingly.

"You weren’t really... uh, what do you want to eat, it’s on me."

"It’s hard to come back home, of course, you need some hospitality."

Jiang Feng originally wanted to say she wasn’t very fair-skinned to begin with, but seeing her expression, he held back.

"Anything’s fine, aren’t you opening a Fujian Cuisine Restaurant? Let’s have Fujian cuisine then."

"Let’s have a good meal."

Xu Wenling said with a satisfied smile.

"Sure, no problem," Jiang Feng agreed.

Jiang Feng was curious about the African savannah’s happenings, exchanging a meal for some interesting stories sounded good.

During the meal, Jiang Feng listened to Xu Wenling recount her experiences.

For instance, why animals migrate is simply to chase after water and grass.

Wherever the water and grass are abundant, the herbivores go, and naturally, the carnivores follow.

"Weren’t you afraid of danger shooting nearby?"

Hearing about hundreds of thousands of animals migrating, the scene sounded overwhelming.

After all, encountering a cow on the road can be intimidating, let alone hundreds of thousands of animals stampeding, the sense of pressure must be intense.

"It’s okay, it’s already customary, many photographers are together."

"It’s a bit tough, after all, it’s the wilderness."

"But in this profession, it’s inevitable, upsides and downsides exist."

Xu Wenling responded calmly.

Then she continued to share,

"The Mara River has crocodiles, and they prey on wildebeests and the like. Once past the Mara River, the animals enter mating season, and the herbivores start fighting for territories."

"Zebras, wildebeests, fighting every day, there’s a large group of male herbivores fighting daily."

"Stories abound during this time, find a protagonist, name it, and just keep filming it daily."

"The zebra I chose was pretty good, filmed it for a few days, and it finally won the mating rights."

"It feels like male animals are the strongest during this time."

Listening to Xu Wenling, Jiang Feng nodded unconsciously,

"That’s normal, they’re animals after all."

Seeing his expression, Xu Wenling laughed.

The two continued their casual chat.

Through Xu Wenling’s description, Jiang Feng could vividly sense the wildness of the African savannah.

Because it was Xu Wenling’s personal experience, recorded in photographs.

Personal experiences are certainly more authentic and more likely to touch people.

"You enjoy listening to others’ experiences, you can exchange stories for food, like Pu Songling who wrote ’Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio’, didn’t he exchange tea for many strange stories, and then wrote a book?"

Seeing Jiang Feng attentively listening, Xu Wenling smiled and said.

"Nowadays, the internet is full of stories, but most people don’t have any strange experiences, they’re just workers."

"I even want to open a late-night snack bar, but when I’ve opened it at night, most of the time, customers order, play with their phones for a while, eat, and then leave, who chats with you about stories."

Jiang Feng responded as well.

"That’s why it was pretty good to set up a stall before, there were lots of customers, you could see many different people."

"Now that the popularity has risen, it’s all fans, making it harder to meet people from different industries."

Hearing this, Xu Wenling nodded.

Jiang Feng made a lot of sense.

The two had a great time chatting.

Jiang Feng wanted to listen, and Xu Wenling wanted to share, and having a meal together felt quite comfortable.

Jiang Feng was also planning his next steps.

His goal is naturally to open the final Jiangyue Platform Anhui Cuisine Restaurant.

Opening a restaurant for each of the eight major cuisines, and all of them successful, counts as a new achievement in his life.

"I heard you’re just missing the Anhui Cuisine Restaurant, are you planning to go over?"

Xu Wenling inquired.

"It’s a matter of these few days. I’ve already found a suitable restaurant, just like with the Jiangsu Cuisine Restaurant I opened before. I’ll buy a restaurant directly, renovate it, train the chefs, and it will be open soon."

Jiang Feng said to her.

"Collecting all eight major cuisines, are you trying to summon the Divine Dragon?"

"Your achievements are really extraordinary. To be honest, I’m just a natural human-cultural photographer. If I were a journalist, I’d definitely write a special feature on you."

"Haven’t you considered writing an ’Autobiography’?"

Xu Wenling indeed had some ideas, things that Jiang Feng never anticipated.

She was always so imaginative.

"There’s no need for an autobiography."

Jiang Feng waved his hand.

How to write an autobiography, starting with successfully binding the Culinary God System?

That might be a bit too fantastical.

"As for features, indeed a few magazines have approached me, but I think it’s unnecessary."

Jiang Feng laughed.

"Really? You’re still too low-key." Xu Wenling marveled.

The two had a pleasant chat.

Xu Wenling spent a few more days wandering around Fuzhou and then went to attend to her own matters.

Probably went on vacation to Sanya, to surf.

Jiang Feng, after finishing his business in Fuzhou, rushed to Hefei in Anhui, preparing to open the last Anhui Cuisine Restaurant and complete his life achievement.

On his first day here, he began researching how to make Anhui’s "Stinky Mandarin Fish."

Jiang Feng had cooked many fish and mastered many cooking methods for fish.

But Stinky Mandarin Fish was a first for him.

Just the preparation work takes a week.

The preparation involves marinating, to get the fish to release a slight odor, but without damaging the fish’s structure.

Jiang Feng found it intriguing as he made it.

Chinese culinary culture is broad and profound.

For example, with fish, in most cases, you want to eat them "fresh."

The fresher and more delicious the fish, the better it is to eat.

Stinky Mandarin Fish is completely the opposite, marinating for a week.

The fish is quite dead.

Of course, marinating doesn’t mean leaving it to rot.

It’s about cleaning it, applying salt, piling them up together, and sealing them in a jar for marination.

The ingredients still need to be good.

Mandarin fish is a unique high-end ingredient in China, and Stinky Mandarin Fish is a high-end way to enjoy it.

Ordinary restaurants can’t really produce authentic Stinky Mandarin Fish.

Jiang Feng plans to research it well and then set up a stall to sell Stinky Mandarin Fish.

People want to eat what he makes, so he makes more.

No need to hold back, he welcomes customers openly.

Whoever wants to buy, can come and buy.

He marinated top-quality Stinky Mandarin Fish, filling several large jars.

Every day, he would marinate a bit more.

Then, Jiang Feng went wandering around the restaurant he was about to purchase.

He was soon recognized.

Several people immediately came over to greet him.

"Boss Jiang, you’ve finally come to Anhui, are you here to open an Anhui Cuisine Restaurant?"

Someone asked with a smile.

"Yes, the eight major cuisines, just this one left."

Jiang Feng replied openly.

"It’d be great if it were a chain, just opening eight Jiangyue Terraces isn’t enough!"

Another person said.

Hearing this, Jiang Feng was at a loss for words.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to open more, it’s because opening a Jiangyue Terrace requires a lot of effort.

The head chefs at Jiangyue Terrace are legitimate chefs, handpicked by him.

It’s not that easy to find them.

Franchising is naturally out of the question, after all, these aren’t standardized dishes that others can replicate.

He essentially puts all his energy into this, and even opening one every few months is considered fast.

Moreover, he can’t invest too heavily.

So, opening one restaurant for each of the eight major cuisines ensures quality, and that’s just right.

"Boss Jiang, when will you be setting up a stall? Are you still going to set up a stall here?"

Someone else asked.

Jiang Feng is very popular and well-liked by the public.

Ordinary people enjoy chatting with him.

"In a few days, I’ve been marinating Mandarin Fish recently, preparing to set up a stall to sell Stinky Mandarin Fish."

"They have to be marinated well before selling."

Jiang Feng still replied with a smile.

Everyone chatted with him, feeling that Jiang Feng was very approachable and the atmosphere was relaxed.

Jiang Feng has always been this way.

After entering the restaurant, the lobby manager took him to a private room. After confirming some matters, he began touring the entire restaurant.

If all goes well, the last restaurant will open within a month.

The restaurants for the eight major cuisines would also be completely gathered.