Huayu Chef

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Wei Ming, Zhu Xiangyang, Zhu Huilong, and Grandpa Yu each served themselves a bowl of soup and drank it with a spoon.

The steaming golden broth enters the mouth, and the rich oil releases a strong umami aroma. The unique fragrance of mushrooms such as chicken mushroom, morel mushroom, and matsutake mushroom is captured by the taste buds, and it is also mixed with the medicinal aroma of Panax notoginseng, astragalus, and cordyceps flower.

Each ingredient has a different flavor, making the soup exceptionally rich in taste, yet not overpowering or overpowering. They blend together perfectly, intensely stimulating the taste buds—it's truly amazing.

"Delicious, so delicious!"

"This soup is amazing."

"It looks oily, but it doesn't feel greasy at all when you drink it. It makes you feel warm all over. It tastes good."

"I'm on duty again today."

Zhang Jinxuan smiled with satisfaction, put on gloves, pulled the sorghum stalks off the duck's rear end, let the scalding spice water drain, and picked up a cleaver to slice the duck.

Wei Ming and his colleagues had lived in Beijing for many years. As senior executives at Youku, they had a decent income and often ate Peking duck. They weren't particularly interested in slicing duck, but instead, they all tried several other dishes.

Grandpa Yu ate a piece of braised pork. The pork was stewed to perfection; it was so tender that he didn't even need to bite it. His tongue easily broke through the gelatinous skin, and the fat beneath was even more tender, as if it would melt at the touch of his tongue. The next layer of lean meat was soft, juicy, and still had a satisfying chew.

Because it's made with pork belly, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, the different textures create a delightful and addictive experience.

"It's fatty but not greasy, melts in your mouth, and has a perfect balance of sweet and salty flavors. Xiao Zhang's braised pork is at a chef's level," Grandpa Yu praised generously.

Zhu Xiangyang recommended in a very artistic way: "You guys should try the braised spring bamboo shoots. I actually tasted the feeling of bamboo shoots sprouting from the ground after a spring rain."

"It has both sweet and salty flavors, but the bamboo shoots taste very fresh."

"Speaking of freshness, steamed sea bass is also quite good."

"Tender and fresh, smooth and delicious, with a chewy texture... wait, this flavor..." Grandpa Yu asked in surprise, "Xiao Zhang, did you add lard to the fish?"

After slicing the roast duck, Zhang Jinxuan took off his greasy gloves and praised with a smile, "Uncle Yu, you have a very discerning palate. Yes, I did use lard."

Zhu Huilong asked curiously, "Xiao Zhang, how come it's not greasy at all after adding lard? Did you add too little?"

"I wrapped the sea bass in blanched pork caul fat and steamed it. After steaming, I took it out of the steamer and poured away the steam and the melted fat from the pork caul fat."

"No wonder."

"Steaming sea bass with pork caul fat is a refined method."

The four were deeply impressed.

Zhang Jinxuan gladly accepted the compliments from the bigwigs and said, "President Wei, President Zhu, President Long, Uncle Yu, everyone hurry up and eat the roast duck while it's hot, it tastes terrible when it's cold."

"Okay, try the duck that Xiao Zhang made."

"Xiao Zhang is a professional at making male prostitutes."

"hehe."

The group skillfully used roast duck pancakes to sandwich roast duck and scallions, enjoying their meal immensely. With each bite, they had a pancake, roast duck meat, scallions, and sweet bean sauce, their mouths stuffed full. The happiness of eating carbs in large bites was overwhelming, and it tasted incredibly delicious.

"The duck skin is crispy and fragrant, and the duck meat is tender and juicy. It tastes refreshing, not sticky or greasy. Xiao Zhang's duck-making skills are really good," Zhu Xiangyang commented with a smile.

Grandpa Yu nodded: "It's good enough to open a shop, but I feel it's still a bit lacking compared to those established roast duck masters. I can't quite put my finger on why."

"I feel that way too."

Zhang Jinxuan said, "The feeding and selection of ducks, the preparation of the duck carcass, the roasting of the duck carcass, and the handling of details—if any step is slightly off, the final roasted duck may not be perfect. I still haven't done enough, and my experience is not as good as those master chefs who have been immersed in the craft for decades."

"Xiao Zhang, you're too modest. Tonight's seven dishes include Beijing cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Yunnan cuisine, Sichuan braised dishes, and home-style dishes, spanning several cuisines. That's amazing."

"It's not as exaggerated as Mr. Zhu said. I can only cook representative dishes from a few cuisines. I can't say that I have mastered them all. In fact, I only have a superficial understanding of the cooking techniques of various cuisines."

"Take your time, you're still young, you have plenty of time to hone your culinary skills," Wei Ming comforted him, then raised his glass and said, "We are very grateful to Xiao Zhang for cooking such a delicious meal for us tonight. Let's toast him."

"Mr. Wei, you're too kind."

Zhang Jinxuan quickly picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

After a glass of wine, the atmosphere at the table visibly became more lively and enthusiastic. Wei Ming, Zhu Huilong, and Zhu Xiangyang all let loose and displayed their unrestrained attitudes.

The group chatted and ate, and the conversation drifted to the reality show "Wild Kitchen." Wei Ming asked with interest, "Xiao Zhang, I heard from President Zhu that you're planning to adapt 'Wild Kitchen' into a reality show, right?"

Zhang Jinxuan glanced at Zhu Xiangyang, put down his chopsticks, and replied, "I have that idea."

"General Manager Zhu said you have a well-thought-out plan. Please tell us more about it."

It's impossible to provide detailed information.

Zhang Jinxuan expanded on the first season of "Wild Kitchen," but omitted the guest ordering segment planned for the second season. Even so, Wei Ming, Zhu Xiangyang, and Zhu Huilong all nodded in agreement.

"The reality show retains the core highlights of the first season of 'Wild Kitchen' and enriches the highlights in terms of main dishes, filming locations, ingredient sourcing, and the selection of food tasters. It is a very safe and wise approach, and I think it is worth doing."

Wei Ming expressed his appreciation, then asked, "Xiao Zhang, how much do you think it would cost to produce a season of the reality show 'Wild Kitchen'?"

Zhang Jinxuan pondered for a moment and said, "The production costs are nothing more than the cost of ingredients, transportation, accommodation, team member salaries, and the appearance fees for food tasters. Among these, the cost of ingredients, transportation, accommodation, and the appearance fees for food tasters can vary flexibly, depending on where we go and which guests we invite."

Wei Ming gave a soft "hmm," then asked, "Have you been contacted by the TV station?"

"Our CEO Zeng is contacting people at Hunan TV and plans to take some time to go to Changsha to talk to the head of the variety show department about this matter."

"Mango TV, huh?" Wei Ming frowned slightly and turned to Zhu Xiangyang, saying, "President Zhu, after the meeting on the 11th, could you please invite the people from Mango TV to Beijing? We can sit down together and discuss how to develop the reality show 'Wild Kitchen'."

"Okay, Mr. Wei."

"Xiao Zhang, tell your boss Zeng that he doesn't need to go to Changsha. Youku will handle this and find a TV station partner."

It's reasonable for the platform to have the advantage and become the dominant party. Zhang Jinxuan welcomes Youku's desire to be the leader, provided that his interests are not harmed. It all depends on what the final agreement between the parties is.

"Okay," Zhang Jinxuan replied, then asked curiously, "President Wei, does Youku plan to make a reality show called 'Wild Kitchen'?"

Wei Ming spoke in a bureaucratic tone: "Youku has always attached great importance to its self-produced variety shows, and we've consistently been at the forefront of major video platforms in this area. The original series 'Wild Kitchen' has been so successful that it has become a variety show IP with immense development potential, and Youku is definitely going to continue developing it. Xiao Zhang, are you familiar with the short film 'Old Boys'?"

Zhang Jinxuan paused for a moment, then asked, "The Chopstick Brothers' 'Old Boys'?"

"Yes, it's this short film. Since its release, it has broken Youku's multi-platform viewership records and has tens of millions of viewers and fans. Youku plans to adapt it into a feature film. Xiao Zhang, don't you like acting? Once the film is in pre-production, we'll invite you to play a role."

If Zhang Jinxuan remembers correctly, the feature film Wei Ming was referring to was "Old Boys: The Way of the Dragon," written and directed by Xiao Yang and starring the Chopstick Brothers. It grossed over 200 million yuan in his previous life and was quite popular for a while.

However, it's not a particularly good film resource. This movie is basically a two-person comedy by the Chopstick Brothers. Zhang Jinxuan is unlikely to play the female lead, and the other male characters have limited screen time and not much room for development, unless the script is changed and more scenes are added.

Yes, Xiao Yang can socialize a bit. He'll be very successful in the film industry in the next few years, and his career transition will be quite successful.

"Mr. Wei, when will filming begin for your movie?"

"It's still in preparation." Wei Ming, understanding the implied meaning, asked, "Is Xiao Zhang unavailable?"

Zhang Jinxuan frankly stated, "My studio has secured a role for me in a drama series, which is scheduled to begin filming in July."

Which company produced this film?

Huanrui.

Zhu Xiangyang said meaningfully, "Huanrui is really making headlines lately, with big production plans and eight star producers, it's got a lot of hype."

Zhu Huilong said with a faint smile, "They've taken too big a step. Eight projects have been launched one after another, and the investment in each project is so high. Even Huayi Brothers doesn't have such boldness. Huanrui is desperate to go public, so they're making hasty decisions and haven't even found the right partners. Why not choose Enlight Media? Chairman Wang of Enlight Media is known for being very shrewd. I think Huanrui's big production plan is most likely to fall through."

Zhang Jinxuan listened intently as the three bigwigs gossiped, and the secrets about Huanrui caught his attention. Combining his memories from his previous life, he gradually pieced things together.

Poor Yang Mi seems to have been tricked again.