Huayu Chef

081 In conversation, one finds influential figures among those who associate with them, and no ordin

"Bang!"

Zhang Jinxuan locked the door, took the handbag from Huang Mengying, and asked, "Mengying, are you going back to school from the east gate or the west gate?"

"It's so late, the east gate must be locked. It's safer to go through the west gate." Huang Mengying pointed to her right and started to walk.

Zhang Jinxuan quickly grabbed her arm, laughing and crying at the same time, "You silly girl, that's Huangtingzi Road, which leads to the East Gate. This is Xitucheng Road, you've gone the wrong way."

"Has it reversed?"

"Absolutely the opposite."

Huang Mengying smiled sheepishly: "I'm quite absent-minded sometimes, I can't tell east from west, and I forget things from time to time."

"I can see that now. Last time you mistook the Beijing Film Academy compound for the east gate of the Beijing Film Academy. Nobody else would do that. What do you call that? You have such a shrewd face, but you're just wasting your time."

"Ha ha."

Huang Mengying laughed carefree, followed Zhang Jinxuan, and walked side by side with him, the two of them slowly heading towards Xitucheng Road.

"If you take me to the West Gate, it'll be a long detour back to the Beijing Film Academy compound. Isn't that too much trouble?"

"It's no trouble at all. Just take a walk after dinner, and you'll live to ninety-nine."

"You're so strong, you'll definitely live to be a hundred! There's a saying, 'Good people don't live long, but bad people live a thousand years,' haha~~"

Zhang Jinxuan was speechless: "Panda ordering takeout, you've really gone too far."

"Ha ha."

Huang Mengying kept laughing; she has a very low threshold for laughter and loves to laugh, which is completely different from her villainous female characters on screen.

As they walked, Zhang Jinxuan asked, "I remember that Happy Twist's plays usually run for several years in a row. Is this Tianjin performance only on the 18th?"

"It's been several days, but the 19th, 20th, and 21st are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Your shop is so busy, you can't get away, right? You have to film 'Wild Kitchen' on Monday the 22nd, right?"

"Friday is fine. We can go to Tianjin for two or three days, and on Sunday I'll fly there to film 'Wild Kitchen'."

Huang Mengying glanced at Zhang Jinxuan and shook her head, saying, "No, you're working too hard running around. Actually, I've already seen the play 'Goodbye Mr. Loser.' I went to see it with Lan'er and the others when it premiered at the end of last year. It was hilarious. Just now, I suddenly had the urge to see it again, but now that I think about it, I'm not really that eager."

"Are we still going?"

"Let's go see it together another time." Huang Mengying saw the subway station nearby, took out a baseball cap from her bag and put it on Zhang Jinxuan's head, saying with disdain, "You're too famous, I'm afraid we'll have a scandal."

Zhang Jinxuan retorted without backing down, "The streetlight goddess is so radiant, I'm afraid I'll be completely exposed in front of you."

"Simple."

Huang Mengying took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. Walking with her head down at night, it was indeed difficult for her to be recognized, but it was a bit strange.

"You're so silly, wearing sunglasses at night, are you playing a blind person?"

"Ha ha."

The new store wasn't too far from the west gate of Beijing Film Academy, and the two chatted and laughed as they walked for a while before arriving.

After Huang Mengying entered the school, Zhang Jinxuan did not linger and went straight to the Beijing Film Academy residential area.

Back home, he was stunned by Nazha's outrageous actions.

Naza was sitting cross-legged on the V-shaped sofa, with a pile of empty tea bags on the coffee table in front of her. She was eating tea leaves while watching TV, and it seemed she had already eaten several bags.

Pointing to the empty packaging bags, Zhang Jinxuan asked incredulously, "Nazha, you ate all these tea bags?"

When Naza saw Zhang Jinxuan return, her eyes lit up with joy, and the right corner of her mouth turned up in a charming smile. "When I'm angry, I like to eat tea leaves. If you hadn't come back tonight, I would have eaten them all night and finished all the tea leaves you bought. Maybe then I wouldn't be angry anymore. Even if you come back, I won't be angry anymore. Senior brother, will you make me a midnight snack?"

Are you hungry?

"Oh, I haven't had dinner yet."

"Fine, didn't I already leave you some money for living expenses?"

Naza, on the verge of tears, said somewhat affectedly, "I have money, but the thought of you and Huang Mengying eating hot pot behind my back makes me feel terrible, and then I lose my appetite and don't want to eat dinner at all."

Zhang Jinxuan chuckled, "And then you have the appetite to eat tea dregs?"

"I want to eat it as soon as I see it."

"I brought back some hot pot base, let me cook you something simple to eat."

"Okay, okay."

Naza quickly put down her cup, slipped on her slippers, and rushed to the kitchen. She hugged Zhang Jinxuan tightly and asked in a soft, sweet voice, "Senior brother, is the hot pot broth you brought back the kind you and Huang Mengying eat?"

"Yes, I made it myself."

"Tonight's doesn't count. My senior brother is going to cook me hot pot tomorrow too. I want to eat hot pot twice, one more time than Huang Mengying."

"What's the point of comparing? I'll make it for you every day if you want to eat it."

"My senior brother makes me hot pot every day, and I can live my whole life without getting angry."

"You're so easy to please."

"Hehe, because Da Meina loves her senior brother very much, he's very beautiful, very tolerant, very mature, and very understanding."

"Extremely narcissistic."

"I'm not narcissistic. I'm beautiful, and I'm confident."

Zhang Jinxuan let Nazha hug him and act cute, and used the ingredients in the refrigerator and the beef tallow hot pot base to make her a bowl of hot pot-style maocai (a type of Sichuan street food). Nazha ate it with great relish, her mouth full of red oil, and she smiled sheepishly, forgetting all the unpleasant memories of the evening.

The next morning, Zhang Jinxuan continued to make Nazha a heavily flavored breakfast using beef tallow hot pot broth, took her to school, and then drove to the market to buy groceries.

This afternoon, Zhu Xiangyang, the chief editor of Youku, is coming over for dinner. He invited two people, both of whom are very influential figures.

The two are veterans of Youku: Wei Ming, vice president of Youku, and Zhu Huilong, a senior executive in charge of business and government relations.

Following the promotion trajectory of his previous life, Wei Ming will be promoted to president of Youku in a few days, Zhu Huilong will be promoted to vice president of the group in a few days, and Zhu Xiangyang will be promoted to chief content officer of the group.

To be honest, Zhang Jinxuan was very surprised to receive Zhu Xiangyang's message. Not daring to be negligent, he drafted a menu and sent it over. He made sure to change any dietary restrictions the boss had in advance to avoid any unpleasantness during the meal.

As the old saying goes, a feast is incomplete without chicken and fish.

In addition to Peking duck, which Zhu Xiangyang specifically requested, Zhang Jinxuan also prepared seven other dishes: steamed chicken in a clay pot, steamed sea bass, braised pork, braised meat platter, cucumber salad, blanched lettuce, and braised bamboo shoots.

It seems ordinary, but it is actually very ordinary.

It looks simple, but it's actually not simple at all.

The selection of ingredients is very particular. For steamed chicken, young hens that have never laid eggs are used, along with ingredients such as matsutake mushrooms, morel mushrooms, pine mushrooms, and ham.

The bamboo shoots used in braised bamboo shoots are very fresh.

There are also techniques involved in knife work. Although cucumber salad is just a cold dish, professional chefs consider it a beginner-level dish that can easily fool outsiders.

The preparation is exquisite and ingenious, and the taste is excellent; it's not necessarily inferior to high-end cuisine.

Zhang Jinxuan had considered making a few elaborate dishes, such as replacing the steamed sea bass with Sichuan-style steamed catfish, replacing the braised pork with sunflower-shaped chopped pork, and making salted duck for Zhu Xiangyang, a native of Nanjing, but then he thought better of it.

Firstly, my wallet can't afford to lose money.

Secondly, the effort and the reward are not necessarily equal. When two parties meet for the first time, it is a big taboo to talk too much with someone you don't know well. Being overly enthusiastic and flattering may backfire. Many things cannot be settled in one or two meals.

Thirdly, high-end and elaborate dishes are complicated to prepare, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to failure. Zhang Jinxuan decided to play it safe, act within his capabilities, and avoid unnecessary trouble.

The other party consisted of three heavyweight figures, and it was inconvenient for Zhang Jinxuan to receive them alone. He specially invited Uncle Yu to accompany them, which was also to save face for himself, show his connections and strength, and prevent them from looking down on him or taking advantage of him.

In the world of crosstalk and Beijing's arts and culture circles, Uncle Yu still has some influence and prestige. He has high emotional intelligence, is good at creating a lively atmosphere, and loves to have fun, making him an absolute "good helper" at the dinner table.

In the morning, Zhang Jinxuan was interviewed by Youku staff in the kitchen of the new store. The questions asked were mostly related to "Wild Kitchen", such as what the original intention of the creation was, where the inspiration for the filming came from, what interesting things happened during the filming process, and so on.

Zhang Jinxuan has already answered many of the questions in the video. Since Youku has arranged an interview, he can just repeat what he said. After all, it is a pretty good exposure opportunity for Zhang Jinxuan.

"Brother Xuan, that concludes today's interview. Thank you for your cooperation."

"You're welcome."

After a 20-minute interview, Zhang Jinxuan shook hands with the Youku staff to say goodbye, giving each of them a small gift box of braised dishes from Wild Kitchen and pastries from Luxiang Pastry Shop. The staff left with profuse thanks.

They thanked him too soon. Once they get addicted to the crickets, they'll probably think Zhang Jinxuan is incredibly wicked, claiming it's a gift but actually just a scheme to steal from them.

Around 2 or 3 p.m., Zhu Xiangyang, Wei Ming, and Zhu Huilong arrived at the shop. Zhang Jinxuan and Grandpa Yu invited them into the kitchen so they could try making duck themselves.