Huayu Chef

Phase 3 launched

Every year, 99% of art students who apply to art colleges for performance majors are aiming to become actors or stars.

Similarly, those who apply to directing programs are aiming to become directors and make films.

Ideal is full, the reality is very skinny.

Most people fail to make it big and fade into obscurity, yet they remain on the fringes of the film and television industry, demonstrating that their ideals have not bowed to reality and that they still possess ambition and perseverance.

That's the kind of person my senior from the directing department is.

He looked at Zhang Jinxuan in surprise and hesitated, saying, "I've never filmed a video like 'Wild Kitchen,' so I might not be able to help."

Zhang Jinxuan pointed at the computer screen and asked, "What do you think of the final product, senior?"

"There are many problems."

"That's settled then. My requirements aren't high. The first, second, and third installments can all be posted online directly. Doesn't your senior have the confidence to produce even higher quality work than these three installments?"

The senior from the directing department smiled confidently, offering no answer but conveying his meaning without words. He then asked, "Jinxuan, where are we filming for the fourth episode?"

Zhang Jinxuan said without any hesitation, "I plan to go to Baoding for a nice meal."

"Baoding, do you make donkey meat sandwiches?" The junior student, who was busy with animation effects, turned around and asked.

"right."

"Dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground. Donkey meat sandwiches from Baoding and Hejian in Hebei are famous throughout the country. Most people haven't tried them, so they should be quite curious. Episode 4 is sure to be interesting."

Jingjing interjected, "I think the audience will be really craving donkey meat sandwiches after watching this."

Zhang Jinxuan exposed him, saying, "You're just greedy, aren't you?"

Jingjing had a plan in mind: "I'm your assistant, Brother Xuan. I'll follow you wherever you go, and I'll definitely get to eat the donkey meat sandwich before the audience does, so they won't be so tempted when they watch it later."

"Jinxuan, take me with you."

The senior from the directing department retorted, "What the hell are you going to do, Xiao Liu? Have you finished your work? This is none of your business, don't meddle, just get back to what you're doing."

The junior apprentice shrugged, slid back to his work, and silently began to utter profanities.

"Senior brother, are you interested?" Zhang Jinxuan asked.

"If you talk to me about interests, I'm definitely not interested. But if you talk to me about money, then I'm interested."

"300 a day, meals and accommodation included, are you in?"

Back in my previous life, many unknown directors, assistant directors, and director's assistants received fixed monthly salaries. Now, 13 years later, 300 yuan a day is considered a high salary; you could find a bunch of struggling directors at or around the Beijing Film Academy.

The senior from the directing department clapped his hands and said, "Deal, I'm yours now."

"Cough cough cough."

Jingjing and her junior brother stared dumbfounded at their senior brother from the directing department, completely stunned by his astonishing words.

That's some serious bromance!

Zhang Jinxuan's lips twitched violently twice. He really wanted to be like Brother Crow, stand up, flip the table, and swing the chair to smash the senior from the directing department on the head, so that he would have a wild imagination like Melody.

"Senior brother, you have to take responsibility for what you say," Zhang Jinxuan said with ill intent.

"Just kidding, don't take it seriously." The senior from the directing department quickly waved his hand, then asked seriously, "Jinxuan, has the shooting script for the fourth episode been completed yet?"

"I have a general idea. I hope that you three, Senior Brother, Zhuangzhuang, and Second Senior Brother, will go to Baoding tomorrow or the day after to find a donkey farm and design the filming process in advance. Jingjing, Yang Zizhou, and I will come to meet you."

"Which Yang Zi? The Yang Zi from the 10 acting class?"

"It's her."

The senior from the directing department exclaimed in surprise, "Your connections are impressive! The last two episodes featured Huang Mengying, the next one features Yang Zi, each episode has a bigger star than the last. Who will you invite for the fifth episode?"

"It should be an artist from our studio. We'll see what my manager decides."

"It would be awesome if we could get Yang Mi to come."

Zhang Jinxuan shook his head and said, "That's unrealistic. Sister Mi is very busy and doesn't have the time. We also can't afford her appearance fee."

"really."

"Can my second senior brother go?"

"Let me call him and ask."

"Okay, go ahead and ask. I'll watch the video first."

The senior from the directing department walked away with his phone. After a while, he came back and gave an OK sign, meaning he could go.

With that, we have two professional photographers, plus the versatile senior from the directing department, making it easy to have three cameras.

After watching the third episode, Zhang Jinxuan offered a few suggestions, and the senior from the directing department immediately took action to make adjustments, promising to finish them before dinner.

On his way back to Wild Kitchen after leaving the studio, Zhang Jinxuan called Boss Jin to inform him that his distant relative had been hired, and generously raised the transfer fee to 20 yuan.

Boss Jin was very touched, but said in a somewhat annoyed tone, "Brother Zhang, it's kind of you to think of me like this, thank you so much."

"Mr. Jin, you're subletting your shop. Every day it's vacant, you're losing money. Hundreds of thousands in transfer fees isn't a small amount, and no one will readily offer that. I understand you want to make a profit, but don't treat others like suckers. Please give me the lowest price possible; if it's still too high, then forget it."

"Okay, I'll give you a floor price, 30."

"27 yuan, I want all the equipment and furniture."

Boss Jin got anxious: "Brother Zhang, you're not being honest at all! Last time you said you didn't want the equipment and furniture, so I gave you a 5 discount. Now you've given me another 5 discount, which is already the lowest price. How come it's only 27 after adding the equipment and furniture?"

"27 is the absolute ceiling price."

"There's nothing more to talk about with you..."

"To switch or not?"

30.

"Does it include equipment, tables, and chairs?"

"It's all yours, everything's yours, okay?"

"I'd like to meet with the landlord tonight to talk. I'm thinking of renting out the second floor as well."

"The second floor is unavailable for rent."

Why can't I rent it?

"There's a beauty salon on the second floor. I heard they renewed their lease at the beginning of the year and paid a year's rent upfront."

Zhang Jinxuan also felt that the hope was slim, but he still asked Boss Jin to arrange a meeting with the landlord to talk and set a time and place, finally putting his mind at ease.

Money gives heroes courage. With money, there's no need to be so stingy. 30 yuan exceeded Zhang Jinxuan's previous psychological price.

We didn't really want the equipment, but we're making Peking duck for Zhu Xiangyang next week, so we can invite him to the restaurant without having to find another place.

Oh right, I still owe Huang Mengying a Sichuan hot pot meal.

Let's arrange it together.

I'll take care of these things next week, find a design company to do a simple design for the new store, start renovations the week after next, expand the kitchen a bit, and it should be done in a month or two. After leaving it vacant for a while, it can open for business.

We aim to open a shop in the new store in June.

That evening, after signing the contract with Boss Jin, Zhang Jinxuan went home and watched the final episode of the third season again with Nazha in his arms.

After confirming there were no major issues, I contacted the editor at Youku on WeChat to arrange the review process. Under his guidance, I came up with a title and uploaded the video.

The review team will give the green light and complete the review as soon as possible, and set a scheduled release.

With everything ready, Zhang Jinxuan opened Weibo and posted a teaser on his personal account: "To be honest, filming the third episode of 'Wild Kitchen' was a nightmare. A young culinary prodigy from Tianjin challenged me to a cooking contest to see who could cook better. He's 15 years old, started cooking at 6, and has been cooking for 9 years. You could say I grew up watching him cook. Saturday morning at 10 AM, @Huang Mengying @Tianjin Satellite Yuan Xiaodangjia @Photographer Zhuangzhuang, everyone come to Youku to watch me get thoroughly humiliated by this kid. (Zhang Jinxuan and Xiaodangjia silhouette PK.jpg)"

Bilibili wasn't included this time; Youku bought the exclusive broadcasting rights, and the first and second episodes were taken down from Bilibili. In the future, like Kuaishou, some promotional clips will be released to drive traffic to "Wild Kitchen" and expand its influence across all platforms.

Someone forwarded it right after he posted it. Zhang Jinxuan took a closer look and was speechless.

I, Nazha, reposted and commented: "Senior brother could have easily made a living off his looks, but he insisted on relying on his talent. Now he's backfired, hasn't he? Haha, I really want to see you get utterly crushed by Kid Brother (happy happy happy happy) Kid Brother, keep it up (keep it up, keep it up, keep it up)"

"Hey idiot, don't share this so fast, are you trying to get on the front page?"