Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The filming crew this time consisted of those Ji Yi had selected after many considerations. All of them were people with true skill.
There was the extremely skilled director, Da Hai, the assistant director, Qiu Qiu, the gaffer Xiao Longren, the sound engineer, Ah Ken, the script supervisor, Xiao Dao, and the beautiful makeup artist, Bai Li. There were other members in the crew but they were unimportant.
There were seven of them with a lot of equipment. Therefore, they had to travel in a van. While in the van, everyone started a short discussion.
“I used to hate filming promotional videos. After all, I am a proper filmmaker,” Ah Ken said. “But ever since I filmed Master Wan Ao, I fell in love with doing this.”
“We have to thank our most respected Director Da Hai. Thank you for giving me this opportunity,” Ah Ken said.
“You are quite good at ass-kissing, huh? You’re giving me goosebumps,” Xiao Longren said.
Ah Ken countered, “Don’t you pretend like you are not the person who wanted more even after finishing three bowls of dumplings.”
Xiao Longren and Ah Ken were original members of Da Hai’s crew. They had been through a lot of jobs with him and knew each other very well. Such banter between them was quite normal.
“The eating part of filming promotional video has always been perfect,” Director Da Hai said with a nod.
“Boss Yuan is still quite young, right? I feel like I am the one suffering a loss here,” Xiao Dao suddenly remarked.
“What loss are you suffering? Are you doubting Boss Yuan’s food? Let me tell you that the food cooked by Boss Yuan can only be described with the term ‘extremely delicious’,” Qiu Qiu the assistant director countered. He had eaten at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant once before. At that time, Yuan Zhou’s restaurant only had Jin’ling Cuisine.
Although he had only eaten here once, that one time was enough to conquer him and transform him into a fan of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
Bai Li the makeup artist did not partake in the discussion. A smile hung on her face, as if she was thinking of something amusing.
When filming promotional videos for cooked wheaten food, a meal would be provided for the crew out of courtesy after filming.
Regardless of whether it was Master Ao they mentioned earlier or Master Long Xumian, these were people who had long stopped cooking personally.
Therefore, everyone in the crew, including Qiu Qiu, had been holding back in their meal earlier. They were preparing to eat the meal that Boss Yuan was going to provide for them later tonight.
“Between Boss Yuan and Master Ao, who do you think is better?”
“I think they should be of similar levels?”
“I think so as well. Although Boss Yuan is very young and has no advantage in terms of experience, I heard that Boss Yuan is a genius chef. Therefore, I don’t think he is too far off from the masters.”
They chatted while they traveled and finally, they reached Taoxi Road.
At night, Taoxi Road was peaceful yet lively.
“Wait. Driver, just stop at the intersection,” said the director as he suddenly thought of something.
Ah Ken and the others looked at the director in confusion. They could not understand why they weren’t bringing the van straight to the restaurant. After all, they had a lot of filming equipment they needed to carry along.
“Master Ji told me that no cars can enter Taoxi Road. It’s not that far anyway. We can carry the equipment ourselves,” Da Hai said.
Next, they started carrying their equipment and headed toward Boss Yuan’s restaurant.
“By the way, the public amenities of this street are quite good. The trash cans are all neat and tidy, and there are resting benches as well,” Xiao Longren was more attentive to details.
The appearance of the crew of seven had attracted the attention of the customers that were drinking liquor.
“Look, they are carrying cameras. Are they here for the promotional video?”
“I think so.”
“Come on. Let’s go have a look. Boss Yuan is going to act cool soon.”
Many of the customers chugged all the liquor they had and rushed downstairs to have a good look.
Within the restaurant.
Yuan Zhou was dressed in a gorgeous Han attire with complicated designs on it. He was seated at the lobby waiting. Because of his sharp senses, he already knew that the crew was arriving before they even reached the door.
After entering, all seven of them and their equipment caused the 20-square-meter restaurant to be packed full. Even the five customers that had just came down from upstairs were forced to stand at the wall beside the door.
“Hello, Boss Yuan,” Director Da Hai greeted.
“Hello, everyone,” Yuan Zhou stood up and greeted politely.
“This is the main crew for today. Boss Yuan, these are my colleagues, Assistant Director Qiu Qiu, Gaffer Xiao Longren… and the makeup artist Bai Li,” Da Hai had good communication skills. The moment they met, he introduced everyone.
The director introduced the crew one by one and Yuan Zhou greeted them one by one.
“Alright, we will cut to the chase. I will get Bai Li to put on makeup for you first. Is that fine?” Director Da Hai asked.
“Sure. But I don’t want anything with smell. Make sure the makeup won’t lose me any fans as well. And when filming, I need to wear a face mask,” Yuan Zhou said. He was always attentive to anything that might affect his cooking.
After Yuan Zhou voiced his requests, Da Hai hesitated. After all, this promotional video would be posted online. Many people would watch it. Even though Da Hai had never used makeup, he still knew that every makeup would have some smell to it. As for the request to not cause him to lose any fans, this caused Da Hai to be in an even greater hesitation. He looked at Bai Li, hoping for a solution.
With her long wavy hair, Bai Li looked gentle and sweet-tempered. She had a delicate makeup on her face and was not surprised when she heard Yuan Zhou’s request.
Noticing that the director was looking at her, she spoke, “No problem. We won’t put on any makeup. I will only do some adjustments to your eyebrows to give you a refreshing look and nothing else.”
“Thank you very much,” Yuan Zhou nodded before sitting down at the prepared makeup chair.
“You’re welcome,” Bai Li smiled and nodded. She then started working on Yuan Zhou.
“Bai Li is indeed always prepared,” Da Hai nodded in satisfaction before he continued supervising the other crew members.
The customers started discussing about this.
“Boss Yuan is as strict as usual. He’s not putting any makeup even when filming a promotional video. He’s even afraid that he will lose fans,” Fang Heng lamented.
“Yeah. The food for the promotional video is not for sale yet he is still so strict. Worthy of being Boss Yuan indeed,” said someone else.
“That’s understandable. That is how Boss Yuan has always been,” Chen Wei did not seem bothered. Yuan Zhou had always been like this.
Since no complicated makeup was required, Yuan Zhou was ready after his eyebrows were trimmed and his face was washed with water.
“Thank you,” Yuan Zhou stood up, thanked, and returned to the kitchen.
Bai Li quickly put away her things and retreated behind the camera.
“I will start immediately,” Yuan Zhou said to the director.
“Boss Yuan, are you not going to say anything to the camera?” Da Hai was somewhat stupefied.
Normally, other chefs would give an introduction before filming. Moreover, Yuan Zhou looked quite good as well so it shouldn’t be a problem for him to show his face. But yet he already had his mask on.
“There’s no need for that. I trust your editing skills,” Yuan Zhou said with a deadpan face.
Yuan Zhou already had previous experience standing in front of a camera. He had no problem cooking in front of a camera as he would always forget his surroundings when cooking. But if he was required to speak in front of the camera, he would probably make many mistakes.
Therefore, Yuan Zhou made the smart choice of speaking with his skills. That was something he was good at.
