Gourmet and actor

Xiao Ke's words made Han Xilin feel deeply disappointed, but he still said thoughtfully: "You didn't go home last year, so it's time to go this year."

He wanted to ask Xiao Ke if he had mentioned himself to his family, but he thought about the dispute on the night of the recording ceremony, and immediately dismissed the idea.The situation of Xiao Ke's family seems a bit complicated, he should not add pressure to his lover.

However, when it comes to Xiao Ke's family, Han Xilin can't help but remember the doubts raised in the Summer Resort.Then I thought, the conditions in his family seem to be not very good, so how to develop an attitude of not caring about excess money in addition to the necessary savings?Is this a common problem unique to people with artistic pursuits?It made me beat around the bush when I gave myself a gift.

"What are you thinking about?" Seeing that Han Xilin hadn't moved for a long time, after putting on the T-shirt, Xiao Ke stretched out his hand and waved it in front of his eyes, and straightened his messy hair again.

Putting aside those wild thoughts, Han Xilin grabbed his hand and kissed the palm, put on his pajamas and got out of bed to look through his suit, "There is something I didn't have time to give you yesterday."

Xiao Ke said helplessly: "I said I don't want a birthday present."

"This is not a gift." Han Xilin handed an album to him.

Flipping through the floor lamp, Xiao Ke discovered that it was actually a design drawing of a restaurant branch, covering everything from site selection to interior decoration.From the pictures attached, it looks almost finished.

Han Xilin explained: "Didn't you say that you want to open a branch around the end of the year? It just so happened that the rent of this property expired, so I had someone take it back and keep it for myself. I am the shareholder in charge of investment, and I will never let go of the opportunity to make money .So, it’s not a gift, it’s an investment.”

He became more and more proficient at changing concepts secretly, Xiao Ke didn't know what to say for a while.

Turning back to the first page, he noticed that probably because of the success of the first store, this time the branch was not located in a commercial center, but a street-facing shop at an intersection.Every time he came back from the airport, he had to pass by there. He remembered that there was a lot of people, and the nearby shopping malls and restaurants were very prosperous.

With the reputation of Yushan Palace, the daily passenger flow after opening must be doubled.According to the previous agreement, he is the one who earns the most money.Because Han Xilin has to bear the daily expenses such as decoration taxes, employee wages, etc., and as long as he cooks recipes and teaches the chefs, he can get a high proportion of dividends.

Although he knew that Han Xilin didn't care about such a small amount of money, Xiao Ke still felt a little awkward.

While thinking about how to persuade Han Xilin to change the contract, he noticed that the pattern of tissue packaging attached to the bottom of the photo seemed to be a bit strange, so he couldn't help but take a second look.

The packaging still uses the old store's gold letters on a black background, and the main body has basically remained the same, but there is an indescribable weirdness.After scrutinizing for a while, Xiao Ke finally discovered the clue: Jinlin Road and Kezhong Road intersect, and the place names on the map are marked in official script. Among them, Lin and Ke are written in ancient official script, which is slightly different from the strokes of other characters. .At first glance, you will often notice the word Lin Ke first.

After a little thought, he suddenly understood the mystery.For Han Xilin's "good intentions", I find it interesting and also a bit funny.

Leaning into Han Xilin's arms, he said, "You even said it wasn't a gift, thanks to you who figured it out."

Saying that the rent of the property is due, maybe Han Xilin bought it specially.

Seeing that he saw through, Han Xilin hugged him tightly and said, "For the sake of me searching all over the map, don't say too much, just accept it. Huh?"

At this time, if the matter of revising the agreement is mentioned again, it would be too distasteful.But if he didn't say anything, Xiao Ke was not too reconciled.After thinking for a moment, he suddenly had an idea, "Han Xilin, let's open a joint account. I will deposit all the income from the restaurant in the future and leave it for the children in the future. How about it?"

After the enlightenment that night, Han Xilin has changed his mind on the child's issue.Hearing Xiao Ke's words, he nodded first, then teased and said: "Even the child has been considered, it depends on whether you dare to say anything in the future, you may not necessarily recognize me."

It was only then that Xiao Ke discovered that this guy was quite vindictive, and he remembered all the jokes he made.

Just when he was about to speak, Han Xilin had already pushed him down between the soft quilts, opened the T-shirt from behind, and kissed his butterfly bone, "I will leave a seal for you first, so as not to say anything else."

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Xiao Ke originally thought that if he didn't have to film for the time being, he would be able to relax before the Spring Festival.In addition to taking care of the restaurant, preparing new dishes and branching out, just read the script of the new drama and memorize the lines.

But an accident broke his original leisurely plan.

Through director Zeng's hard work, "Song of Playing the Sword", which was almost done in the later stage, was arranged to be a holiday theater for students. It will start broadcasting during the Spring Festival and finish before the end of the winter vacation.

As time changes, all promotional schedules also change.Since the male lead was catching up with another drama, Xiao Ke and Jin Lan, who were relatively free, became the main propagandists. They participated in various variety shows with the director every two days and worked hard for more than half a month.

Jin Lan had already prepared to announce her retirement after the TV series was over, so she intentionally gave way when she was on the show, giving up most of the limelight to Xiao Ke.

Xiao Ke, who has never participated in a variety show, does not understand the rules and obeys her arrangement.After the program was broadcast, it was discovered that something was wrong, but it was too late, and basically all the recordings that needed to be recorded were finished.

He apologized to Jin Lan embarrassingly, but in exchange for feigned anger from the other party: "Xiaoyue treats you like a younger brother, and I am your sister-in-law. If you dare to cheat on your sister-in-law, I will punish you to cook six dishes for me tonight—no, eight dishes .”

Xiao Ke had no choice but to say yes.

The heat from the previous drama has not dissipated, variety shows are in the lead, and there are trophy bonuses, Xiao Ke's popularity continues to rise.The two magazines with him on the cover were sold out within half a day, and more than [-] copies were sold out.After that, the magazine urgently printed two more batches, but they were sold out in an instant.The magazine official Bo Te congratulated him, but accidentally found Xiao Ke who had dozens of copies of the same magazine at Father Han and Han Xilin, and always felt that the sales volume might be very high.

When the TV promotion was about to run, the opening time of the branch was also set, which was the day before Xiao Ke went to the crew to report on the eighth day of the Spring Festival.In order to attract diners, new dishes will be launched in branch stores first, and then synchronized to old stores the next day.

Meanwhile, Dennis, who had worked with him in the movie, brought his brother-in-law Zhou Fu to the Imperial Food Palace in City B to taste dishes. Xiao Ke officially met his partner who will participate in the Bocuse competition in the future.

Zhou Fu is in his early forties this year, but he looks very young both in appearance and conversation. He is full of confidence in his speech and demeanor, and he speaks of modern culinary art theory in a logical manner.Xiao Ke confirmed the ancient point of view with him, and the more they chatted, the more speculative they became.Ding Haili, who accompanied him, was able to interject a few words at first, but later he could only listen in.

After talking for a long time, the two of them felt like they were in the same place.Xiao Ke took the initiative to ask: "What is the specific process of the competition?"

Knowing that he asked this, it meant that he agreed to form a team with him.Zhou Fu cheered up, and said: "The competition will be held one year in advance, and a selection competition will be held every six months. The registration deadline will be at the end of this month, and the domestic primary selection will begin in the middle of next month, and six contestants will be selected from the applicants. After the primary election, there will be a re-election in the Asia-Pacific region in June, and five groups will be selected from six countries to participate in the finals in Lyon, France in January of the following year."

Xiao Ke asked again: "How many people from our country will sign up this year?"

Zhou Fu said: "Two or three thousand, but you have to scan it before the primary selection, which is considered a preliminary selection. I will guarantee you when you sign up, so that we don't have to participate in the preliminary selection. According to past experience, the remaining after the elimination There are about 300 players."

Taking the first place among 300 people, Xiao Ke thought he had the confidence, "Will you specify the dishes then?"

"Every player will be given the same ingredients, use the same equipment, and let the players play freely. Although my goal is to form a team with you in the end, in the primary election, we will be competitors."

Speaking of this, Zhou Fu joked, "You must not be eliminated."

Just at this time, the apprentice who was about to become the head chef of the branch entered the box with dinner.Xiao Ke pointed at the tray with a smile, and said, "Taste it before you talk."

In order to entertain them, Xiao Ke made some preparations by himself in the morning.At present, more than a dozen exquisite dishes are served on the table one by one, with all kinds of color, aroma and taste, bringing a double impact of vision and smell.Not only did Dennis, who was drowsy because he couldn't understand what they were talking about, wake up completely, Zhou Fu couldn't help showing admiration.

Before Zhou Fu could speak, Dennis, who had been drinking tea all afternoon and impatiently waited, moved his chopsticks first.After he had just tasted the silver shredded beef, his eyes lit up and he muttered a bunch of words in his native language.Although Xiao Ke couldn't understand, judging from his browbeating expression, it was probably a compliment.

A layman tries something new, but an insider's perspective is different.Zhou Fu scooped up a spoonful of beef and held it in front of him. He looked at the oily brown-red shredded meat for a moment, and said, "I didn't put baking soda in it, and I didn't beat it, so it was cut directly, right?"

The first two methods he mentioned are all ways to make the beef taste fresh and tender, but in this way, the original flavor will be lost.Therefore, Yushan Palace never used such tricks, relying purely on knife skills.

Xiao Ke was deeply impressed when he saw him at a glance, "Yes. Master Zhou, you have really good eyesight."

"Good eyesight doesn't mean you can do it. At your age, my knife skills are far inferior to yours. Let me fry this silver shredded beef. You must beat it again and again to ensure it is tender enough."

Zhou Fu said with emotion, put the spoon into his mouth, let the delicious and smooth taste linger on the tip of his tongue for a while, before going to the next dish.

Among the dazzling array of special dishes, he chose a home-cooked lion's head.

The lion's head is stewed in a small pottery bowl, with a piece of fresh meat skin on the bottom, and topped with mushrooms, scallops, wind chicken, green bamboo shoots and other ingredients.Put the smooth and plump meatballs soaked in the aroma of vegetables into a bone china bowl, and after only one glance, Zhou Fu said, "You don't use a machine to finely grind it, you only rely on finely chopping and rough chopping, and you are showing off your knife skills." gone."

Xiao Ke said: "It's so simple, how can it be considered showing off, it just needs a little patience."

After taking a sip, Zhou Fupin slurped for a while, resisting the urge to continue eating, and said, "Let me guess, the front and rear legs are not used, but the most tender ribs are used?"

"That's right. The restaurant doesn't usually serve this dish. After the freshly slaughtered live pigs arrived today, I asked the meat distribution staff to remove the side meat and save it for the lion's head."

"Fragrant and smooth, fat but not greasy. The last time I ate such an authentic lion's head, it was at an old chef who went out of business. But he used soy sauce to braise, and the vegetables on the bottom were somewhat stained." Very sour, not as delicious as your white-cooked ones." Zhou Fu commented, "It's also fortunate that you didn't launch this dish, otherwise all the customers would go to your place, and Huai restaurants should jump their feet."

After finishing speaking, Zhou Fu noticed that Dennis had already cleaned more than half of the dishes while they were tasting and communicating, leaving only half of them.

Seeing this, Zhou Fu hurriedly finished the lion's head in two or three bites, picked up his chopsticks and joined the cleaning ranks, without the calm demeanor he had just said, "Well, I can't even drink the soup any more. Xiao Xiao, see You can cook Kung Fu’s home-cooked dishes so well, and the taste of special dishes must be even better. Don’t talk about it, I want to eat food quickly. Let’s continue to communicate when we are full.”