Jiang Hao could not care less about the chef's and manager's expressions.
The jet engine had already ignited; there was no stopping it now.
"You say your Imperial Kitchen places special emphasis on 'ancient methods and ancestral traditions,' focusing on Qing imperial cuisine. But Qing palace cuisine was mainly part of the Shandong culinary tradition, with many dishes following their own set formulas in ingredient quantities, combinations, and cooking methods."
"Take this Eight-Treasure Duck, for example. Its eight supplementary ingredients are diced bamboo shoots, diced pork, diced ham, diced chestnuts, diced chicken gizzards, diced shiitake mushrooms, lotus seeds, and shrimp. Your ingredients are completely different."
"Your dishes have clearly been altered into flavors we Hong Kong people prefer. They are not Shandong cuisine at all, so your claim of following ancient methods is just fooling people."
In the end, the entire TV station crew was thrown out again. It was somewhat embarrassing, but better than last time at least—they had not come to blows.
After returning to the TV station, everyone hurried to finish the post-production work.
In the blink of an eye, it was the following evening. Jiang Hao and Zhen Xiaoqiu sat on the sofa, their eyes fixed on the television, both nervous and excited.
"Welcome to Gourmet Roast, a different kind of food program." Xiaoqiu appeared on the television, carrying herself with great poise. Jiang Hao praised her, "After dressing up, the glasses girl turned into a beauty. You really look gorgeous on TV."
"I'm gorgeous in person too, okay? Stop talking and watch the show."
Various delicacies subsequently appeared on screen. Then the God of Cookery, Stephen Chow, showed up and started trading barbs with the chef. The climax came when they broke into a full-on brawl. It was incredibly lively.
The program had visual appeal, fun, and entertainment value.
After the show ended, Xiaoqiu was still somewhat uneasy. She asked Jiang Hao beside her, "Do you think we can succeed? Will this show become popular?"
"It definitely will. Go to sleep. We'll have the results tomorrow."
"I can't sleep. I'm still so excited."
"Then how about a drink?"
"Okay, let's open a bottle of wine to celebrate and wish ourselves success in advance." Xiaoqiu found a bottle of red wine. Her alcohol tolerance was truly terrible—one glass made her face turn red, and then she dizzily went off to bed. Before entering her room, she did not forget to warn him, "I'm warning you, don't come into my room in the middle of the night, or I'll break all three of your legs."
Jiang Hao smiled and shook his head.
Jiang Hao did not really care whether the program succeeded. What he cared about was his mission. Two episodes had already completed 20% of the mission value. Was this mission really that easy?
He showered and went to sleep.
Many households had just finished watching television and had not switched channels yet. Seeing the program's interesting name, they wondered, Food Roast? You could roast food too? So they stayed to watch.
Once they started watching, many people were drawn in by the food. Then the later scenes had them laughing until they bent over backward. It was far too entertaining. The God of Cookery battled the chef, and there was even a full-on brawl. They had rarely seen such an entertaining variety show.
In no time, many people remembered Gourmet Roast.
Of course, people also learned that Da Long Feng Restaurant had been passing off inferior ingredients as good ones. Da Long Feng Restaurant had become famous, but certainly not for anything good.
They slept peacefully, but some people could not sleep.
At the headquarters of Da Kuai Le Catering Group,
Gourmet Roast had just ended. Boss Wu's face was full of rage as he grabbed the ashtray from the table and hurled it.
Crash!
The television was ruined and began smoking.
Tang Niu narrowed his small eyes and said, "I didn't expect that guy to go to the TV station again and become some kind of tasting guest. Boss Wu, what he's doing is very bad for Da Long Feng."
"That bastard actually dared expose my restaurant! I'll kill him! I'll kill him!" Boss Wu roared.
He picked up the telephone on the desk and called that ATV executive, speaking in an unfriendly tone. "Old Yang, didn't you say you'd stop this program? Why did it air again?"
"Boss Wu, I did stop it. Who knew the deputy station director would directly arrange for it to air? There was nothing I could do."
Smack!
Boss Wu slammed down the phone and cursed, "Useless trash."
"Boss Wu, Stephen Chow is clearly targeting you. He exposed our restaurant's use of inferior ingredients on the program. It will definitely affect the restaurant's business badly," Tang Niu added fuel to the fire from the side.
A fierce gleam appeared in Boss Wu's eyes. "Bastard, you dare mess with me? I'll kill you first!" With that, he grabbed the phone and dialed. "A Rong, help me chop someone up. Stephen Chow. I want one of that bastard's legs. Fine, one hundred thousand. I'll give you the money tomorrow."
After hanging up, Boss Wu gritted his teeth and said, "For the rest of his life, I'll make him crawl on the ground and beg."
Tang Niu smiled beside him.
The next day, Zhen Xiaoqiu rushed excitedly to ATV. The moment she entered the building, she headed straight for the variety department. She noticed that her colleagues were looking at her differently than usual. When she arrived at the supervisor's office, the supervisor wore a gloomy expression.
"Supervisor, how were the ratings for my program yesterday?" Zhen Xiaoqiu asked excitedly.
The supervisor looked at her and handed her a sheet. "Go look for yourself. All right, I have things to do. You can leave."
After leaving the supervisor's office, Xiaoqiu opened the ratings report and suddenly let out an excited cry.
"Ah, second place!"
The ratings were 24%. It ranked only behind the prime-time drama, second in overall ratings and first among variety programs.
A massive hit.
The show had become popular.
The perceptive colleagues came over to congratulate her, and Xiaoqiu was all smiles. When she returned to her team's office, cheers immediately erupted. The program's success brought them considerable benefits too, the most obvious being bonuses.
"Post-production team, finish the second episode. It'll air tomorrow in the same time slot. Filming team, get ready. We'll record another episode today." Xiaoqiu was incredibly excited now, feeling as though she had endless energy.
After picking up Jiang Hao, they set off. In the car, Zhen Xiaoqiu asked him, "Which restaurant are we going to film at next?"
"Jinjiang Hotel."
Jiang Hao had long since decided on the answer.
Because Boss Wu also had shares in Jinjiang Hotel.
The moment the TV station vehicle stopped, a doorman came over. Seeing the ATV logo on the vehicle, he was startled and immediately reported through his walkie-talkie. Before long, several people emerged from Jinjiang Hotel, led by a man in his forties.
When he saw Zhen Xiaoqiu, Jiang Hao, and the others get out of the vehicle, the group approached and swept their eyes over them. Their gazes lingered on Jiang Hao's face for several seconds before the man said, "Are you people from ATV?"
Zhen Xiaoqiu froze. This hotel was reacting rather quickly. Had they come to receive them?
"Yes, we're from ATV. We came to make a food program at your hotel," Zhen Xiaoqiu said with a smile.
The middle-aged leader revealed a professional smile. "Miss, I'm sorry, but our hotel has no plans to make a program. Please go somewhere else."
Zhen Xiaoqiu looked at Jiang Hao. Seeing the situation, Jiang Hao already understood. They had definitely watched yesterday's episode of Gourmet Roast and were on guard against them.
"Can we eat here?" Jiang Hao asked.
The middle-aged man still wore his professional smile. "I'm sorry, but we do not receive any of you."
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