Huayu Chef

069 Baoding

At 6:00 AM on April 1st, at the west gate of Beijing Film Academy.

Zhang Jinxuan, Jingjing, and Yang Zi reunited.

Yang Zi's attire was quite casual, wearing a black jacket on top and tight jeans on the bottom, with the cuffs tucked into Martin boots.

She seemed to have just applied a BB cream and lipstick to her face, and her hair was tied into a single ponytail, with the ponytail peeking out playfully from under her baseball cap and hanging down her back. It was simple, casual, and quite girlish.

She only carried one bag.

Zhang Jinxuan gestured with his chin and asked, "Zimei, is your bag heavy? Do you need me to help you carry it?"

Yang Zi said cheerfully, "Thank you, Brother Xuan. I didn't bring much, it's not heavy at all, I can carry it myself."

Zhang Jinxuan abruptly turned to look at Jingjing, seizing the opportunity to say, "Jingjing, now you see what an independent woman is, right? You should learn from Zimei. Don't always make me carry your bag. You're empty-handed and relaxed, while my shoulders bear all the weight. What do you call that? It's like going against the grain, you know?"

"You've worked hard, Brother Xuan," Jingjing said listlessly, covering her mouth with her hand and yawning softly.

"The old lady went upstairs, you can't argue with that. She was up to no good last night, is she still asleep?"

Jingjing rubbed her face vigorously to wake herself up, and replied cutely, "I'm awake now."

Yang Zi couldn't help but laugh, finding Xuan Ge's pretty assistant quite adorable. She thoughtfully suggested, "Xuan Ge, let's go. Jingjing can take a nap in the car and catch up on some sleep."

"Thank you, Hazi."

"You call me Zimei?"

"Is there a problem?"

"You look so young, you're definitely not older than me, you should call me Sister Zi."

Jingjing raised her chin. "I was born in 90."

Yang Zi immediately changed her address: "Sister Jingjing".

"Good girl." Jingjing smiled with satisfaction and said energetically, "Brother Xuan, Sister Zi, I'm going to get a taxi."

"Let's go together." Zhang Jinxuan and Yang Zi walked behind, saying as they went, "We'll grab something to eat at the high-speed rail station later, but don't eat too much, save room for good food in Baoding."

Yang Zi looked expectant and chuckled strangely.

Around 8 a.m., a high-speed train departing from Beijing arrived at Baoding East Station.

Zhang Jinxuan, Yang Zi, and Jingjing emerged from the exit passage and immediately spotted Zhuangzhuang, their senior from the directing department, and their second senior brother who had come to greet them.

The filming crew for this episode was quite large, making location changes a major issue. Zhang Jinxuan specially allocated funds to have a senior from the directing department rent a seven-seater van to transport all six people at once, which was convenient and saved time.

The car stopped near the East Station, and the six people got in. Zhuangzhuang sat in the front passenger seat, Jingjing and Yang Zi sat in the middle two seats, and Zhang Jinxuan, the senior from the directing department, and the second senior brother squeezed into the last row.

"Brother Xuan, can we go now?"

"Let's go."

"Sir, let's go to the photography equipment center here first..."

While Zhuangzhuang was giving directions to the driver, the senior from the directing department took out three pre-printed shooting scripts and handed them to Zhang Jinxuan, Yang Zi, and Jingjing.

He dutifully explained, "Jinxuan, Junior Sister Yang Zi, today's itinerary is roughly as follows."

"We first went to rent filming equipment. After getting the camera and audio equipment, we went straight to West Street. That area is the old city, full of ancient buildings and snack shops. It's a great place to stroll around and take pictures."

"We'll grab something to eat, then visit the Zhili Governor-General's Office and the Ancient Lotus Pond. We'll just stroll around those two places for a bit, and then head to the donkey farm at noon."

Zhang Jinxuan frowned slightly, puzzled, and said, "The schedule is too tight. We can't even get a quick look around the old town in one morning."

The senior student from the directing department said helplessly, "Your task is to feed the donkeys at the donkey farm around 1 p.m. If you miss it, you'll have to wait until evening."

"The donkeys at Xi Shi's donkey farm usually eat at fixed times, in fixed places, and in fixed quantities. There are more than a hundred donkeys, so they can't possibly coordinate with our filming schedule. We have to coordinate with them."

"If we shoot in the evening, the lighting will be a big problem. We'll need to rearrange the lighting, otherwise the timing logic of the final image will be off."

"Lighting requires the use of lighting equipment. Although Zhuangzhuang, Lao Er, and I can temporarily act as lighting technicians, setting up lighting is a time-consuming and laborious task, which will lengthen the overall shooting time."

Zhang Jinxuan coughed lightly and said, "Don't complicate things. Just follow Senior Brother's shooting script. We'll handle the location footage like this: while we're filming at the donkey farm, Second Senior Brother or Zhuangzhuang will come out and film some scenes from other places, which will then be edited into the final cut."

A senior student from the directing department agreed: "It's entirely feasible."

"Senior brother, what other things should Zimei and I be careful about?"

"Once you arrive at the donkey farm, you must follow the instructions of the farm's staff when feeding the donkeys. Do not put hay or concentrate in the troughs on your own..."

Zhang Jinxuan and Yang Zi listened attentively, writing and drawing on the script and marking key points.

"That's all the other things to note. It's up to you two to do your best."

"Zimei, what do you think?"

Yang Zi said nervously, "Brother Xuan, I've never filmed a video like this before. I'm under a lot of pressure. I feel like there are problems everywhere."

"There are problems everywhere, and I'm here for everything. I'll solve all your problems. Relax, you're just here to have fun, to eat and drink for free, so don't feel pressured. And don't be afraid of making mistakes, they'll be cut out later."

Yang Zi relaxed and laughed, "I'm relieved to hear Brother Xuan say that, hehe."

The second senior brother grinned and said, "We're all scoundrels."

"You're a slacker, don't involve me."

"Second Senior Brother, you can just talk about yourself, don't include me."

Zhang Jinxuan asked in a strange voice, "Second Senior Brother, Master and Eldest Senior Brother have been captured by monsters, what should we do?"

"Let's break up."

"Ha ha."

Everyone laughed, and the car was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

As he stopped laughing, a sudden idea flashed through Zhang Jinxuan's mind, and he quickly instructed Yang Zi, "Zi-mei, draw a picture with a brush."

Yang Zi hesitated, "I'm not very good at drawing..."

"It's okay. The more sloppy, abstract, and funny the drawing is, the better. This drawing might become a memorable point for you, just like Mengying's street lamp joke and crazy joke."

Yang Zi knows better than anyone how popular Huang Mengying's streetlight and crazy memes are. Hearing Zhang Jinxuan say this, she went all out and showed off her amazing drawing skills.

Zhang Jinxuan, his senior from the directing department, and his second senior are all professionals who don't usually laugh. But when they saw Yang Zi's painting, they burst out laughing and collapsed in the back seat.

Jingjing was the most dramatic, rolling around in her seat while clutching her stomach.

Zhuangzhuang wanted to watch, but no one paid him any attention.

The soul painter, Juejuezi.

After picking up the camera and recording equipment from the equipment rental company, the six of them took a car to West Street and found a quiet spot to film the opening scene of the fourth episode of "Wild Kitchen," featuring donkey meat sandwiches.

Yang Zi is not on camera yet. Zhang Jinxuan is facing the camera and begins his introduction: "Hello everyone, welcome to watch the original food video series 'Wild Kitchen,' exclusively sponsored by Guangyuan Foods, every Saturday at 10:00 AM. I am Zhang Jinxuan, the head chef of Wild Kitchen, and an actor who is both beautiful and talented."

"The clever little devil must have spotted the key point immediately. The opening of the first three episodes of 'Wild Kitchen' was the same as always, with no effort to change a single word. This episode, for the first time, it's been longer."

"Unbelievable, Xiao Zhang isn't lazy anymore."

"Is it a hallucination?"

"I can assure you that this is not an illusion, it is fantastic news, this is not an illusion, it is fantastic news... I'll say it three times because it's important."

"Wild Kitchen has found a sponsor! Now we're loved and supported! With this sponsor's financial backing, I'm going to go all out this episode—cough cough, let's keep a low profile and not be reckless. Oh, I misspoke, I meant to make a dish with high-cost ingredients. What is it?"

"Please welcome our food critic, Junior Sister Yang Zi, to reveal the answer. Welcome, Junior Sister Yang Zi."

Yang Zi walked up to Zhang Jinxuan and greeted him with a smile: "Hello, Brother Xuan. Hello, viewers of 'Wild Kitchen,' I'm Yang Zi."

"Hey Zimei, I've been waiting for you for ages! You know what? I grew up watching your TV dramas!"

Such a poor Taiwanese accent.

Yang Zi suppressed a laugh and replied, "Brother Xuan, don't talk like that, it's hurtful. I'm younger than you."

Why do you talk like that? Don't you find it strange?

"You started this by saying that."

Zhang Jinxuan said with a sad expression, "Xiaoxue, the childhood goddess of 'Home with Kids,' has grown up. She's not cute anymore, and she's even started to argue with people. Have you forgotten Xia Yuhe by the Daming Lake?"

"Brother Xuan, you've got the wrong channel, haven't you?"

"Ha ha."