Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Chapter 35 Why Does It Smell So Good!

The new guests were about to arrive, and the entire production team started working busily around the clock.

“Sister Li, I thought after such a big incident, the production team wouldn’t let Lü Yi appear on the show again.”

“How could that be?” Though Li, the stage manager, was only in charge of logistics, she had struggled in the entertainment industry long enough to see things clearly. “This industry feeds on traffic. Whether the traffic is positive or negative, who cares? As long as people tune in to watch the show, that’s all that matters.”

To put it bluntly, the show’s interests no longer aligned with Lü Yi’s.

“Oh, right,” Wan Jiaxin nodded, not particularly interested in this topic. “But I noticed there are more people than usual today. I was going to coordinate with the scenic area—should we order a few more boxed meals?”

“Yes, yes, go talk to them. Let’s get fifty boxes. It seems there will be some changes for this episode, so there might be more people.”

Speaking of the boxed meals made by Chen Ran, even Li the stage manager perked up: “Once this episode is done, we’ll be gone. Probably won’t get to enjoy these boxed meals in the next one.”

Let alone boxed meals—this quality of food wasn’t even available at most restaurants!

Due to the public uproar, several senior executives were suddenly sent over, including the producer. Say what you will, but at the very least, they had to make sure the meals were sufficient.

After all, being in a scenic area, even the executives couldn’t go eat at the small restaurant.

Lü Jiayi’s uncle happened to be the producer for this episode. A group of people had argued all the way from the network to the set, and in the end, no conclusion was reached.

“How can a few games still not be finalized? Do games even matter? What matters is capitalizing on this wave of traffic! Peach Blossom Spring has been airing for several years already—ride the wave for as long as we can, and if it crashes, just shut it down.”

“It’s not just about traffic,” another staff member said. “With how the online trolls are steering the conversation, there’s already a faint implication that we’re faking things and manipulating the audience. If reality shows are all about scripts and acting, it could severely damage our reputation.”

“Alright, there’s no point in talking about this now. The higher-ups have already set the tone. This episode must reverse the audience’s perception.”

“Has Lü Yi agreed?”

The staff member responsible for guest coordination nodded: “He said he’s prepared food again at home and will show his real skills this time.”

“We can only hope he actually has some skills… The trailer’s already out. In addition to trying to stay authentic, we’ll also upload an unedited version on the video platforms…”

The format of this episode had changed as well. Although they’d invited big-name guests, there were still skeptical voices online.

After all, under the intense scrutiny of those dissecting bloggers, all the dishes from previous seasons had already been picked apart.

No need to even recreate them—just common sense was enough to know those dishes weren’t tasty. Yet, thanks to some guests’ acting, they had been hailed as culinary masterpieces.

If they were just praised, that would be one thing. But the dishes often went untouched—brought to the table and carried away the same. Wasn’t that just making a fool of the audience?

So, this episode’s format had changed from just having guests over, to having the guests go out and randomly pull in tourists to taste the food.

“Will bringing in tourists make the audience believe?”

Lü Jiayi’s uncle made the final call: “This is already the best way to earn the audience’s trust. Other tourists will also take videos. Once those circulate, people will naturally believe.”

As for the dishes being tasted, they were no longer just made by Lü Yi—he would now be compared side-by-side with Qiao Yunteng, the model with a culinary background.

There was an unmistakable signal: if Lü Yi still didn’t perform, he’d be replaced as a regular guest.

Lü Yi realized this too. Before filming began, he deliberately sought out Chef Chen Boduan from Jingcheng’s prestigious Zhiwei Zhai to relearn how to make a clear-braised pork knuckle.

After glancing at the online reviews, he knew the biggest fiasco had been his yellow wine pork knuckle cooked without a single drop of water. So this time, he planned to redeem himself with a new version of the dish.

At this moment, he was reviewing his pre-recorded cooking tutorial, while gloomily watching the other guests.There were just too many videos flooding online. Seeing the other guests laughing while looking at their phones, Lü Yi even suspected they might be watching videos reviewing him.

But... there was no need to doubt that.

One of the actors invited to the show was actually there for the second time. The first time, things had gotten quite unpleasant between them.

Everyone maintained appearances in public, but privately, sharing a laugh wasn’t illegal.

As long as no one was caught liking the videos.

All the guests acted unfamiliar with each other, except for Teacher Bai Jing, who brought a bit of cheer wherever he went.

The actor was very familiar with him; Qiao Yunteng had also appeared on a show with him before, and the ping pong coach had done several interviews with him.

Li, the stage manager, watched the group chatting and laughing, then glanced at Lü Yi sitting alone on the other side, pursed her lips, and asked Wan Jiaxin nearby, “How is it? What did the scenic area say?”

Wan Jiaxin looked a bit troubled. “The scenic area said… they want to add more, but Chef Chen is just too busy… If they add more, they’ll have to send another cook to make it separately.”

Ah?

That wouldn’t do. She wanted the boxed meals made by Chef Chen! No matter how good ordinary boxed meals were, it wasn’t worth this hassle.

Seeing Li not say anything, Wan Jiaxin couldn’t help but defend Chen Ran: “It’s definitely not that Chef Chen is being difficult. These past few days, some people even got up at four or five in the morning to climb the mountain just to eat two slices of the limited pork knuckle… Think about it, who normally eats at a restaurant in a scenic area?”

That was true. If the restaurant was at the foot of the mountain or by the scenic area entrance, maybe people would try it.

But when hiking up the mountain and suddenly seeing a small restaurant—unless you wanted to make a viral short video—who would dare go in?

Li thought it over from another perspective. If she knew Chen Ran had a restaurant halfway up the mountain… well, even if it were on the summit, she’d probably still go.

“Well, then order more boxes. Mix them together when serving. Whoever made them, whoever gets credit. Just pay attention to the director’s portion.”

Wan Jiaxin acknowledged and hinted to Li: “Sister Li, you’ve been too busy these days. I’ll deliver them to you personally, so you don’t have to worry.”

Not bad, this girl was really gaining experience!

Li patted Wan Jiaxin on the shoulder, signaling her to keep quiet.

The new episode of Peach Blossom Spring had officially started filming!

Because the slogan was now “original and minimally edited,” with promises to upload unedited videos online, this episode’s runtime would be much shorter.

Basically, there were only two parts: playing games and cooking. After finishing and eating, everyone would follow Peach Blossom Spring’s tradition—chatting casually before bed and filming some sleepy scenes. The next day, all the guests could part ways.

Because of the shorter filming schedule but unchanged pay, plus the recent surge of traffic, they were able to invite the actor and the ping pong coach.

Teacher Bai Jing served as the temporary host and announced the rules.

“Qiao Yunteng and Teacher Lü Yi will cook with the same ingredients. The rest of the guests should try to bring tourists to taste the dishes. But you must wear masks, so you’re not recognized. If someone recognizes you, you have to switch people. Each person must bring one tourist.”

The game rules were very simple because the focus of this episode wasn’t the games.

The other guests began to disguise themselves. The actor and Teacher Bai Jing were too well-known, so they had no choice but to wear full mascot costumes that completely hid their identities.

To make the show more entertaining, Gu Yifeng was pranked into wearing women’s clothes again. Only the ping pong coach needed to wear sunglasses and draw on a mustache to go out.

“It's so hot… this weather.”

“Teacher Bai Jing! I’ll walk with you, we’ll pull people together and say we’re doing an event together!”The actor eagerly followed Teacher Bai Jing and went out.

“No problem, this event should be good for pulling in people… Didn’t they say it’s a new restaurant tasting? Tourists come up the mountain to have fun—free food tasting should be an easy draw, right?”

Unfortunately, Teacher Bai Jing’s expectations were brutally crushed by reality.

The number of tourists on Yanglianshan had increased somewhat compared to before, but they were still sparse—only one or two could be seen every few steps.

Most tourists were locals, really just hiking for the mountain scenery. After all, Yanglianshan was best known for the sea of clouds swirling at the summit, and everyone was anxious to get up early; if they came too late, they wouldn’t see it.

Under such circumstances, forget about a free restaurant—probably even if they were paid, they wouldn’t go.

“Not even going for free food tasting?”

Inside the mascot costume, there was a voice changer, but the actor’s voice was so loud it nearly pierced through it!

Teacher Bai Jing had done some research and more or less understood tourists’ psychology. He comforted the actor: “They’re probably afraid of being ripped off. Think about it—if we were hiking and suddenly someone popped out and invited us to eat, would we be willing?”

Two round panda mascots helped each other walk forward, silently praying to meet more tourists.

And they really did!

Turning a corner, they suddenly saw a large group of tourists!

The tourists were even lined up in an orderly queue, with someone counting from front to back, occasionally passing a small red flag along.

“What’s this? Is there a roller coaster on this mountain?”

Bai Jing almost laughed at the actor’s comment, but completing the mission was more important now. If the dishes being judged came out and they still couldn’t pull tourists over, it would look bad.

Although the production team surely had backup staff, he still had to try.

“Maybe they’re lining up to check in and take photos. Those popular spots only look good from certain angles; otherwise, who’d bother keeping order?”

“Do you think those who’ve waited this long would come?”

“Let’s try!”

The two of them adjusted their round panda heads inside the mascot costumes and approached the long queue.

The line was so long it had been stretched out in a “bow” shape to avoid blocking hikers.

When they reached the middle of the line, they asked:

“...Hello, our restaurant has newly introduced dishes. You can taste them for free. Would you like to try?”

The tourist who was asked stared in shock at the giant panda walking toward her.

This was Chef Chen’s restaurant! And she was holding a small red flag!

Ever since Lu Xiaoyu’s video was released, everyone knew that the chef who made the lion’s head meatballs had come here, and countless people took advantage of the weekend to line up.

Although the lion’s head meatballs were no longer available, there was an even tastier big pork knuckle!

Moreover, back when the lion’s head was served at the kindergarten, you had to borrow a child to get in, and each child could only visit once. Now, as long as you’re willing to get up and climb the mountain, you’re guaranteed to eat the pork knuckle.

It was even rumored that someone had established a “Chef Chen Supporters Club,” not only helping Chef Chen purchase fresh pork knuckles and send them up the mountain but also successfully turning the braised pork knuckle from a single plate into a tasting portion of four slices per person.

The small red flag in her hand meant that as long as she kept lining up today, she would definitely get to eat!At this moment, someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere nearby... inviting her to another restaurant for a free tasting?

She firmly shook her head: “I’m not going… not going, even if it’s free! I wouldn’t go even if they paid me! Let me tell you, scalper prices have already been driven up to five hundred!”

Scalpers? Not going even if paid?

Bai Jing was a little confused. The actor patted him, and the two continued asking other tourists.

However, at least he understood that what these tourists were queuing for was very important. The ones at the front were probably hard to persuade, so better try the ones at the back.

“Hello, would you like to try a free tasting at our restaurant? We have pork knuckle…”

The person he asked this time was the cookman who had traveled a long way, preparing to film a new video.

However, because Cookman had arrived late, he missed getting a small red flag and only got a small yellow flag at the edge of the danger zone.

Unless someone ahead gave up halfway, it seemed unlikely he’d get to try Chen Ran’s new dish, the clear stewed pork knuckle, today.

“No no no, not interested.”

Cookman shook his head like a rattle.

Especially when he heard Bai Jing mention the pork knuckle, he almost laughed out loud.

“I barely managed to get here to line up for Chen Ran’s clear stewed pork knuckle. Where did you get some other pork knuckle to offer me? Do I lack a pork knuckle meal?”

Cookman scrutinized the two panda mascot promoters, feeling more and more suspicious.

Could these two be trying to trick others away so they could keep their own spot in line?

“No no no, you misunderstood.”

Bai Jing never expected there really was another restaurant on this mountain!

At first, when the production team told everyone to disguise themselves and pull people to try the new restaurant’s free dishes, the guests internally had all kinds of complaints.

What a joke! This kind of scenic spot? A restaurant halfway up the mountain? And trying to pull people to try food?

Even as celebrities, they knew this made no sense at all.

Who in their right mind would believe that?

But since they had come to participate in the show, they had to try their best at the game. Bai Jing worked hard to brainwash himself and pull people, and unexpectedly, there really was a restaurant halfway up the mountain.

What surprised him even more was that there was such a long line in front of this restaurant!

How was he supposed to pull people now?

While Bai Jing struggled to complete his task, Cookman’s suspicion grew stronger, and he couldn’t help but shout loudly:

“Hey! Someone here is using unfair tactics!”

Chen Ran’s whereabouts had been discovered for several days already.

On the first day, the entire line was chaotic; some even bought ten portions at once, or bought one portion then disguised themselves to buy another.

Lu Bei, the green pepper brother who had been maintaining order since the food truck, couldn’t stand it anymore. Although he was a college student with plenty of time to hike and try the pork knuckle, he couldn’t handle how cutthroat people were being.

So, the queue committee was born.When Cookman shouted, Lu Bei, holding a handful of small red flags, ran over.

“What’s going on? Who are they?”

The actor was a bit confused by the situation. He had always struggled to lose weight because of his love for food. He had been spotted by fans many times before when checking in at popular restaurants online.

But having someone specifically responsible for maintaining order… that was rare.

Moreover, this person’s clear and naive college student gaze made him look nothing like someone hired by the restaurant.

The actor saw Lu Bei size him up and then asked, “What’s this about? Take off that headgear and show yourself!”

Bai Jing was stunned.

The actor was stunned.

Fortunately, Bai Jing reacted quickly; he hurriedly pulled the actor to the side, saying, “We’re not pulling customers anymore! Let’s go now!”

Not pulling customers anymore?

Lu Bei wasn’t unfamiliar with vendors trying to pull customers away from Chen Ran’s place—this had already happened back when the small food truck was around.

After all, with such a long line, what if someone couldn’t wait or had something urgent and had to leave?

Some even couldn’t stand being hungry waiting, so they bought a small snack to tide them over before continuing to line up.

Usually, vendors trying to pull customers wouldn’t leave after just a couple of questions—they would argue a bit. Like “Why can’t we pull customers? We’re not forcing sales,” or “This place isn’t even her exclusive territory.”

Seeing the two sneaky panda mascots trying to leave immediately, Lu Bei felt like he finally could do something for Chef Chen!

These two pandas were definitely pretending to be other vendors trying to pull customers so they could take over!

If such people existed, what if someone spread rumors that ruined the reputation of Chef Chen’s small restaurant?

He took a big step forward, grabbed the panda head, and started pulling!

Bai Jing was stunned.

The actor being pulled was also stunned.

The crew secretly filming were stunned too…but immediately rushed forward to help the actor!

Cookman saw this—wow, they even had accomplices!

Everything quickly connected in his mind; at that moment, the detective Cookman realized that these two pandas must have been hired by the accomplice!

Once these two pandas dragged people away, the accomplice could smoothly get in line to eat the pork knuckle!

He handed his small yellow flag to the cameraman beside him and hurried forward: “Lu Bei, I’m coming to help you!”

The cameraman nodded, cheering Cookman on while clutching two small yellow flags, guarding the hard-earned queue positions for himself and Cookman.

He didn’t forget his duty as cameraman—he pulled out his equipment, started filming, adjusted the angle, and framed Cookman like a hero.

On camera, Cookman rushed up and fiercely pulled at the panda’s big head, every move so smooth and bold! With his strong tugging, the panda’s headgear was immediately yanked off!

Everyone in line was ready to condemn the offenders.

“Film these guys and make sure they’re banned from lining up for pork knuckle ever again!”

“Yes, film them! These people must be banned from Chef Chen’s restaurant from now on!”“Send this to all four groups—if anyone sees these people lining up, kick them out immediately!”

“W-wait a moment?”

“That person looks kinda familiar?”

“Huh? Isn’t that the actor?”

To capture Cookman’s heroic charge looking cool, the cameraman was using professional equipment, and under the high-definition lens, he immediately recognized him.

The head slowly coming out from the panda costume… was the actor!

For the actor, from being grabbed to being pulled completely out of the panda head took less than half a minute. He still hadn’t fully escaped the thought of “there’s a very popular restaurant here.”

Anyone familiar with the actor knew he loved food very much, which was why he never lost weight. Fans had spotted him many times at various popular trendy eateries.

He really loved to eat.

So much so that when the headgear was pulled off and he finally breathed the outside air, his first words were:

“Smells so good?”

Yes, it really did.

The reason the line was so long was because Chen Ran’s double-S-rated clear stewed pork knuckle was incredibly fragrant.

The recipe from the system was simple—only three spices and three vegetables. The sweet aroma of the clear stew came entirely from the vegetables’ natural sweetness. The spices were just simple additions to remove any gamey smell and enhance the aroma, perfectly highlighting the pork knuckle’s meaty fragrance.

At first, she used frozen pork knuckles supplied by the scenic area procurement. Later, with the intervention of the queue committee, the knuckles were replaced with freshly slaughtered pigs that day, making the flavor even more delicious.

And it was a pure, unadulterated pork aroma with no mixed-in spices.

This fragrance could awaken anyone’s genetic craving for pork.

Because of this, the queue stretched so long.

Otherwise, some people had never tasted Chen Ran’s lion’s head meatballs before. Normal people lining up would eventually give up and leave. But this queue was continuously drawn in by the rich aroma of the clear stewed knuckle…

To not disappoint the customers who climbed up the mountain to line up, Chen Ran promised: anyone who failed to get knuckle meat could receive a free small bag of meat broth to take home and cook a bowl of noodles.

The actor instinctively muttered, “Smells so good,” then immediately realized—oh no!

He and Bai Jing’s mission was probably impossible to complete.

Cookman sheepishly released the actor, and Lu Bei quickly apologized to the staff nearby.

The staff’s uniforms were practically ragged from being grabbed!

“Sorry, sorry,” Lu Bei apologized repeatedly, “Mainly because there were people causing trouble before, you know, with such a long queue, everyone hopes to keep order…”

The staff understood.

Compared to the two stars who had no idea what was going on, they’d been smelling that aroma for a long time. They could only say, those who kept climbing were truly determined warriors!

Of course, it was also possible some just had blocked noses.

One staff member was already quickly communicating with the production team. Under the current situation, it would be really hard to find genuine tourists willing to try the dishes.

Seeing the actor’s hair all mussed from being pulled, Lu Bei felt deeply apologetic: “Are you filming that variety show ‘Peach Blossom Spring’? If it’s really impossible, I’ll come with you!”He came especially early today and had already carefully and respectfully finished his portion of pork knuckle, so he went out to maintain order.

The staff had also finished communicating with the production team, and the team thought this footage could be used—it could be edited later if needed. Lu Bei, this passerby, was especially comedic.

“Okay, each of us needs to recruit one tourist…”

Lu Bei immediately called his roommate over. The two of them had come together to climb the mountain and eat pork knuckle. After finishing, they had no classes and stayed behind to help maintain order.

“Both of us can go!”

Since the line was so long, even if they stayed, they probably wouldn’t get a second portion of pork knuckle. Might as well join the variety show!

Lu Bei and his roommate followed the production team to the filming site. The coach and Gu Yifeng had also each recruited tourists. Meanwhile, Lü Yi’s and Qiao Yunteng’s pork knuckles were about to be ready.

Lü Yi was especially nervous, silently repeating to himself the key points about clear stewed pork knuckle that Chen Boduan had taught him.

Six spices plus four vegetables, knuckle cut into pieces…

Lü Yi had never listened to anyone so carefully before.

After debuting for so many years and coaching many people’s acting skills, he was used to being the senior. Whether they understood or not, he couldn’t help but give advice.

The coach guest had already recruited tourists early on. While wandering nearby, he was not only called over to assist but also had to listen to Lü Yi discuss basketball techniques with him.

Even the staff below were a bit bewildered—it was like a true Guan Gong showing off his blade in front of the temple!

Fortunately, the coach guest had seen all sorts of strange things and just smiled, showing nothing on his face.

Only after Qiao Yunteng’s braised pork knuckle finally came out of the pot did Lü Yi nervously stop talking, frequently lifting the lid to check on his clear stewed knuckle.

Lu Bei couldn’t help but chat with his roommate: “This smell kind of reminds me of Chen Ran’s clear stewed pork knuckle?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! This taste is way off; his clear stew probably isn’t even one ten-thousandth as good!”

“True. Chen Ran’s knuckle is strange, you notice? Although the whole shop smells like it outside, the aroma actually comes from the broth. The knuckle’s own fragrance is all inside the meat… biting into it, with that broth dripping into your mouth—that’s something else!”

“Stop talking… we can’t eat it today anyway. I’ll line up again tomorrow and bring Lao Si along.”

“Okay!”

The two whispered for a while. Luckily, the production team had been filming mostly the interactions between the stars, and Teacher Bai Jing was vividly recounting their experience of being discovered, making everyone laugh.

Finally, Qiao Yunteng’s and Lü Yi’s pork knuckles were both done!

One clear stewed knuckle, one braised knuckle, plated out of the tourists’ sight, with voting boxes on both sides.

Lu Bei went forward first to taste.

He tasted the knuckle and exchanged glances with his roommate; they both saw familiarity in each other’s eyes.

It had to be said, the flavor of this clear stewed knuckle really did somewhat resemble Chen Ran’s!

But only somewhat.

The difference between the two was like night and day.

From the tenderness of the skin to the elasticity of the lean meat, to that subtle but overpowering spice aroma…

Chen Ran’s knuckle was stewed whole, with painstaking knife work to score the inner parts with cuts, so the tendons and muscles inside were sliced, but the outer skin showed no sign of this.

When Chen Boduan was teaching Lü Yi this clear stewed knuckle, knowing Lü Yi couldn’t possibly master that knife technique, he simply taught him to chop the whole knuckle in half directly.The results of doing it this way naturally varied greatly.

The lean meat, not being stewed wrapped in the fat, tasted a bit dry, and a lot of the juice was lost into the broth. Although the flavor was decent, all the tourists had eaten Chen Ran’s clear stewed pork knuckle before, and now comparing the two…

Lu Bei shook his head and went to try Qiao Yunteng’s braised pork knuckle.

Compared to Lü Yi’s clear stewed pork knuckle, Qiao Yunteng’s braised version—made by a former professional chef—was fairly standard.

Not particularly surprising, but it had the advantage of contrast!

After the four tourists finished one round of tasting, all their votes went to Qiao Yunteng!

Lü Yi’s expression was already losing composure; he even suspected the director team was deliberately messing with him.

Teacher Bai Jing hurriedly came out to smooth things over: “The taste of clear stewed pork knuckle really can’t compare to braised. Most people prefer stronger flavors.”

Several guests also began tasting. The movie star straightforwardly voted for Qiao Yunteng, and Gu Yifeng hesitated a moment before also voting for him.

The situation was already very clear. Maybe after the next episode of Peach Blossom Spring airs, his colleague will be Qiao Yunteng. If he hasn’t picked a side yet, when else?

Besides, to be honest, he did think the meal made by a genuine chef tasted good.

The coach guest, after listening to the unrelated technical discussion for a while, smiled slightly and also voted for the braised pork knuckle.

Outside, the staff were already trying not to laugh.

Most of the staff had been immersed in the entertainment industry for years, having seen plenty of scenes with celebrities coming and going, and stars suddenly collapsing after becoming famous—this was neither the first nor the last.

Everyone no longer cared about that, only about tonight’s boxed meals!

News had quietly leaked that because many station leaders were coming, the scenic area arranged for boxed meals to be brought from elsewhere.

It wasn’t mealtime yet, but someone had sneaked a peek at the boxed meals, which were indeed divided into two kinds.

One was made by Chen Ran: inside was a portion of cabbage wrapped with pork broth from the clear stewed knuckle, plus two refreshing vegetable stir-fries.

The other boxed meal was originally supposed to be made by someone else at a small restaurant, but due to location and ingredient issues, they chose to buy them from the foot of the mountain and send them up via cable car.

Anyway, it was boxed meals—just heat them up and eat.

Considering how heating affects taste, these additional boxed meals were all fried chicken rice, tasty when hot and looking plentiful.

Zhao Dajun, Lü Jiayi’s uncle, had just finished watching the surveillance footage, feeling a bit sentimental about a new generation replacing the old. He wandered out, ready to eat a boxed meal.

This episode’s game rules had suddenly changed to require going out to find tourists, so the staff’s workload greatly increased. For a time, even the producer coming out didn’t prompt many people to greet him.

Filming wasn’t finished yet, and he didn’t want to delay progress: “It’s fine, I’ll just get a boxed meal myself, isn’t it over there?”

Wan Jiaxin was also too busy to watch over the boxed meals today. Since she had already delivered her share to Li the stage manager and the director, her own portion was kept aside. Everyone could get their own.

Zhao Dajun looked at the boxed meals left unattended on the ground. One moment he thought he might not get a tasty one, the next moment he suddenly noticed there were actually so many fried chicken rice boxes left.

On one side were two lonely vegetable-only boxed meals; on the other was a pile of fried chicken rice stacked like a small mountain… Just as he reached out to grab a box, a staff member suddenly rushed over.

The person seemed about to say something but upon seeing his hand reaching for the fried chicken rice, relaxed with a sigh and quickly took one of the vegetable-only boxed meals.

“Huh?”

Zhao Dajun was momentarily stunned.However, no one who reaches such a high position is a fool. He immediately took a vegetable-only boxed meal for himself and casually handed the fried chicken rice to a colleague nearby.

“Ah, really sorry, Brother Zhao. Things here are already troublesome...”

Seeing Zhao Dajun take the only vegetable boxed meal, the other person said sorry while smugly grabbing the fried chicken rice.

After competing with Zhao Dajun for so many years, finally seeing his celebrity show Peach Blossom Spring run into some trouble, he didn’t expect the old guy to even eat up this kind of traffic!

Ruthlessly abandoning Lü Yi.

Still, even if he didn’t see much excitement this time, being able to snatch a fried chicken rice box from Zhao Dajun made him feel a bit better inside.

Zhao Dajun smiled but didn’t reply. The two sat down, each opened a pair of disposable chopsticks, and started eating.

“You know, this fried chicken is actually pretty crispy… Brother Dajun, I gotta tell you, I used to follow film crews too. For a boxed meal to be this good, it’s honestly rare!”

Zhao Dajun smiled faintly, not looking at this defeated subordinate.

Over the years, the other person’s variety shows were always overshadowed by him, the hosts they pushed were beaten by his, and their sponsors… also lost out to him.

He picked up the cabbage from the boxed meal and realized it was one meat dish with two vegetable sides. This cabbage looked tender and juicy, with firm meat filling wrapped inside.

Taking a bite, the light cabbage released a clear sweetness, sharply contrasting with the salad dressing on the fried chicken.

The meat filling inside was soft, bouncy, and juicy. The juice bursting out revealed not only the aroma of the meat itself but also the broth used to stew the cabbage rolls.

This broth was more fragrant and rich than any soup base he had recently tasted!

Meanwhile, the colleague was still babbling, bragging: “Your show’s crew is good, but why are the boxed meals divided into two types? I’m telling you, my crew just orders boxed meals directly from hotels.”

Zhao Dajun smiled calmly, took another bite of the cabbage roll, first sucking the juice out hard before eating it.

Just a defeated subordinate, losing even in variety shows and not even able to pick a tasty boxed meal.

He recalled that the chef for this show’s boxed meals was probably the one his niece had mentioned before? Back then, Zhao Dajun hadn’t paid it much attention, but now it seemed worth trying to recruit this staff member for future Two Capitals Culinary Competitions.

Zhao Dajun picked up his phone and started typing a WeChat message to Lü Jiayi: “Xiaoyi, that chef you recommended back then is really good, remember to give her WeChat to my assistant…”

Chewing on the delicious cabbage roll, Zhao Dajun deleted the word “assistant” and changed it to “me.”

He finished the boxed meal without leaving a bite, stood up, and looked down at the colleague still happily eating fried chicken.

Peach Blossom Spring crew will ultimately win!

However, even the undefeated golden producer Zhao Dajun didn’t expect this.

After the show finally aired, the topic rapidly thrown into the spotlight wasn’t about Lü Yi potentially being abandoned, nor the new chef Qiao Yunteng.

Topping a certain short video platform’s hot search was a candid video posted by the cooking male cameraman on a secondary account.

In the video, at the moment the movie star’s panda headgear was pulled off, a messy-haired head appeared.

With a clueless expression, the first words he said were surprisingly: “So fragrant?”

This video quickly surged to millions of likes!

Countless netizens were curious about what kind of food was so delicious that even in that situation, the movie star didn’t forget to ask first.