Huayu Chef

061 The Pig That Took Off the Wind at Youku

Since the release of the two episodes of "Wild Kitchen", Zhang Jinxuan's Weibo followers have increased by more than 40. Since he doesn't have money to buy followers on Taobao, the quality of his 40 followers is not high, and most of them are real people.

Shortly after the Weibo post announcing the third episode's preview was released, many fans teased and joked with him in the comments, which was quite amusing. Zhang Jinxuan's fan club and Zhang Jinxuan's fan forum reposted it, with fans spontaneously spreading the news that the third episode was about to air.

My daughter's new work is here.

What? My son was abused?

Let me see.

News needs time to spread naturally. Before a work is released, it's difficult for it to gain popularity, and expecting it to suddenly appear on the trending topics list is out of the question.

But having accumulated popularity over two episodes, many people are still paying attention to Zhang Jinxuan's every move.

A struggling content creator who follows Zhang Jinxuan on Weibo shared a screenshot in the group chat, tagging Tianjin Satellite Yuan Xiaodangjia: "Xiaodangjia, is the kid that Brother Xuan is talking about you?"

"What's going on?"

"Wow, Little Master is so fierce! He actually challenged Brother Xuan, and Brother Xuan accepted! @Tianjin Satellite Little Master @Zhang Jinxuan, who won?"

"Judging from what Brother Xuan wrote on Weibo, it seems that Little Master won."

"Awesome."

"Awesome."

"..."

"Our industry is full of talented people."

"Little Chef beat Brother Xuan without saying a word, he's about to become famous, right?"

"In just a short while, Little Chef's Weibo account has gained several hundred followers."

"Damn, does Brother Xuan like challenges? I think I got it wrong last time. I shouldn't have teamed up with Brother Xuan; I should have challenged him to a competition to catch eels."

"Are you out of your mind? Brother Xuan is a chef. You want to challenge him to a contest of fishing for eels? How could you even think of that?"

"It makes perfect sense for a chef to know how to catch eels."

"Hey, why can't I see Brother Xuan's videos?"

"It suddenly disappeared this morning, and my fans even left messages asking me about it."

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

"@9bishi, have you gone mad again?"

"Screw you, it has nothing to do with me. Youku bought out the copyright to Xuan Ge's videos, so they can't be spread on other websites. He deleted them himself, and he'll release some promotional clips later."

"Did Youku buy out the rights?"

"Can these kinds of videos really be sold for money? How much did @9bishi sell them for?"

"@12dora I don't know, Brother Xuan didn't say."

"@Zhang Jinxuan, come out and give us a hint."

"With the popularity of 'Wild Kitchen' and Brother Xuan being an actor, it must have made a lot of money."

"@9bishi, would our little Bilibili (site name) buy copyrights?"

"This little Bilibili site is broke, where would it get the money to buy copyrights? Last time, it was the brothers and sisters who chipped in to get through the crisis together."

"Alright, Brother Xuan is different from us. Let's not talk about him anymore. Talking about money will only ruin the harmonious atmosphere of this little site. We're not here for money."

The once lively group chat quickly fell silent; suddenly, no one was chatting anymore.

Previously, everyone gathered on Bilibili because of shared interests, creating content out of love, day after day, year after year, without asking for anything in return. Now, suddenly someone comes out and tells everyone, "My videos are making money."

It would be strange if no one was curious, no one asked, and no one was interested.

For example, the veteran Bilibili creator 12dora, who recently resurfaced, will have a conflict with 9bishi next year due to a dispute over a commercial order, leaving Bilibili. After his account was banned for several years, he finally pleaded with CEO Rui on Weibo and was able to return to Bilibili.

Zhang Jinxuan was completely unaware of the commotion he had caused on Bilibili.

On Saturday morning, he arrived at the shop early and made braised dishes with Mao Juncong and Tang Qiwen. After braising the braised chicken feet and duck parts, Zhang Jinxuan started making breakfast.

He made a little extra this morning because Zhuangzhuang, his senior from the directing department, and his second senior brother were coming to the shop to eat. After they finished eating, they would head to Baoding.

While having breakfast, Zhang Jinxuan and Zhuangzhuang sat at a table, their four heads huddled together, quietly discussing the filming plan for the fourth episode.

"After exploring the process in the first three episodes, the filming process of 'Wild Kitchen' can be basically fixed, with each episode divided into four parts."

"In the opening segment, I will appear on camera to introduce the food critics to the audience, leading into the dish to be made this episode and the food culture behind it."

"The second part, the Journey to Obtain Ingredients, includes the process of obtaining ingredients and takes viewers on a tour of the unique natural scenery and cultural landscape of the area."

"Part Three: Cooking"

Part Four: Self-Evaluation and Conclusion

Seeing the three nod knowingly, Zhang Jinxuan continued, "After you arrive in Baoding, your first task is to find a place where you can make donkey meat sandwiches. I prefer donkey farms. These places usually integrate breeding, slaughtering, and sales, making it convenient to obtain ingredients and cook the dishes."

"To enhance the appeal, we need to increase the difficulty of obtaining ingredients. You need to learn more about the working conditions at the donkey farm and choose a more interesting and fun aspect as the challenge for obtaining ingredients."

A senior from the directing department asked, "What if we can't find a suitable donkey farm?"

"Then let's find out some interesting stories and anecdotes in the city and choose from them. For example, expert donkey breeders, time-honored donkey meat sandwich shops, anything interesting, with a story, positive energy, and beautiful things, objects, or people are all fine. I just need a place to cook, and you can use your imagination for the rest."

Zhuangzhuang grinned mischievously, "Can't we also make a fire by rubbing sticks together and chisel a stone into a pot?"

"hey-hey."

The two senior students from the directing department had particularly sinister smiles.

Zhang Jinxuan rolled his eyes: "If you want to eat a dark version of donkey meat sandwich, then go ahead and do whatever you want. This dish requires braising donkey ribs first, and then making the sandwich, which requires an oven or a professional baking oven. Not to mention I don't know how to build an oven, even if I did, it would take me a day or two to finish. We have to finish filming this episode on Tuesday, otherwise it will affect the post-production schedule."

"Jinxuan, please continue."

"Once we've settled on a place to cook, you guys should find out about the city's famous historical sites and landmarks, and plan a simple tour route so we can explore them together."

"That's easy."

"Doing these two things is equivalent to scouting locations. After scouting, take some time to think about the storyboard and how to shoot it for the best effect. Gathering ingredients and cooking are left to me and the food tasters..."

Because the filming crew had increased its size and was filming in another location, Zhang Jinxuan couldn't leave due to other commitments, so he could only give the three of them detailed instructions on what aspects they should pay attention to.

After one round of adjustment, we won't need to put in so much effort for the next round.

Yes, Zhang Jinxuan plans to bring his senior classmates from the directing department into the production team of "Wild Kitchen".

Starting from the third episode, the filming locations were no longer limited to the outskirts of Beijing, but went further and further away. This inevitably required the team to arrive at the filming location in advance, collect materials in advance, and determine the cooking location in advance in order to ensure filming efficiency.

Zhang Jinxuan and Zhuangzhuang alone are not enough.

After explaining everything that needed to be explained, Zhang Jinxuan gave the three of them 5000 yuan for activity expenses. The three of them took the money and excitedly headed to Baoding to scout the route.

After 8:30, accountant Xiao Song, cashier Xiao Yu, waiters Xiao Liao and Xiao Li, and vegetable washer Sister Niu arrived at the store to start work.

Xiao Song handed Zhang Jinxuan a work schedule for April and said, "Boss, this is the work schedule I made according to your instructions."

"You finished so quickly, thank you for your hard work."

Zhang Jinxuan carefully reviewed it and, finding no problems, instructed, "Post it on the wall. Also, compile a list of employees who are going home for the Qingming Festival and report it to me."

"Okay, boss."

Hearing their conversation, Sister Liu asked, "Boss, is the shop closed for the Qingming Festival?"

"Look at you all. If you want to take a holiday, then take a holiday. If you don't want to take a holiday, then keep working."

Does working during the Qingming Festival count as overtime?

"Doesn't it say in the employee handbook that overtime work on statutory holidays is paid at triple the normal rate?"

The store employees are all well paid. They get triple pay for the three days of Qingming Festival, which can earn them several hundred or even a thousand yuan. Sister Liu was the first to say, "Boss, I'll stay and work at the store."

Tang Qiwen followed suit: "I don't take a holiday either."

"Me too..."

"Xiao Song, do the statistics."

In the end, apart from Xiao Yu and Mao Juncong who took a day off on Qingming Festival, everyone else was willing to stay at their posts, so Wild Kitchen continued to operate as usual.

During the three-day Qingming Festival, the daily turnover was estimated to be similar to that of Saturday and Sunday, around 40,000 to 50,000 yuan a day. Zhang Jinxuan was also reluctant to close the shop.

At nine o'clock, as soon as Wild Kitchen opened its doors, customers poured in.

"Brother Xuan, who won the cooking contest between you and Kid Brother?"

"you guess."

"I won't guess, just tell me."

"Guess whether I'll tell you or not?"

"Ha ha."

"Brother Xuan, will buying 10 duck necks give me an answer?"

"You're so tough huh, huh? Pay up first before you ask any questions."

"If I give it to you, will you answer?"

"hold head high."

"Miss, hurry up and take the money."

"Very well, my answer is no."

"Ha ha."

The whole room burst into laughter, and the girl who asked the question was dumbfounded, on the verge of tears.

"Just kidding. You'll know the answer when 'Wild Kitchen' airs at 10 o'clock. There's no need to ask me. Xiao Yu, return her money."

"No need to return it, I originally wanted to buy 10 duck necks."

"Wow, you're so cunning! Are all city people this good at playing tricks? No way, I want to go back to the countryside."

"Pfft."

"hehe."

"Giggle."

"..."

Amidst a burst of laughter, Wild Kitchen welcomed a busy Saturday.

At 10:00 AM, "Wild Kitchen Episode 3: Old Explosion" was launched on Youku and immediately appeared on the homepage.

It's not an original category, nor is it an original section on the homepage; rather, it's displayed at the top of the homepage. This time, Youku has given it a major recommendation.

External users and users of this site can see "Wild Kitchen" prominently when they enter the website homepage, on the computer, and on the mobile device.

Youku also needs to make money. After spending hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy the exclusive online broadcasting rights for "Wild Kitchen," the cost will eventually come from the viewers, so they definitely need to find a way to recoup their investment.

Bilibili also gave similar recommendations, but the results were worlds apart. Zhang Jinxuan didn't even need to post the video link; Youku's powerful built-in traffic easily made "Wild Kitchen Episode 3: Lao Bao San" a hit, with the number of views skyrocketing at an alarming rate, taking off from the spot.