pjbooks Chapter 99 [Filming Begins]
Chapter 99 [Filming Begins]
Chapter 99 [Filming Begins]
"Haven't you noticed? Because there are so many people here, the staff at the community service center have to work extra shifts to maintain order, just in case something happens due to the crowd. I feel quite embarrassed about it."
Liu Zhuohao's gaze swept over the community workers wearing reflective vests who were faintly visible on the side of the night market street.
After what's happened recently, his stall is now a major focus of attention in this night market. Many people are watching it closely, afraid that something might happen again.
"They made such a big fuss before, and they withstood inspections in all aspects, including hygiene and fire safety, but they were still reported. One of the whistleblowers was an insider at their service center."
Now they are afraid that something might happen because the stall is too crowded.
Among the seated diners, many regular customers nodded in agreement upon hearing this, having experienced even more bustling scenes before and deeply understanding the sentiment.
Seeing the growing impatience among some of the new faces in the queue, Liu Zhuohao changed the subject, seizing the opportunity to start a conversation: "Speaking of which, those guys who reported me before—"
He spoke casually, just chatting about something. "I asked around, and they probably think that because I'm doing well, and I was the first one in our area to sell this stuff, they're trying to ruin me so they can take over the business."
He shook his head, with a touch of the wisdom of someone who's been there: "In which industry can you really rise to the top by ruining others? There are plenty of capable people around here. Right now, some people are just watching and waiting. Believe it or not, within six months, several similar stalls will spring up in every night market."
He paused, his voice unusually clear and candid amidst the noise: "To be honest, if they hadn't gone down those crooked paths back then, and had just set up a stall honestly, even if they had completely copied my idea and done exactly the same thing as me, I would have been happy to put up a sign in front of my stall and cheer them on, which would have helped them get through the most difficult time at the beginning."
This inside story wasn't reported in the news.
The diners were immediately amused and began to discuss it animatedly.
"Are there really people like that? How are they even thinking?"
"This is so underhanded, it's malicious competition."
"Boss Liu, you've really broadened your horizons! I'm really thinking of getting a few people together to set up a stall. Could you really help promote it?"
When the topic of making money comes up, many people immediately start talking.
Whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision or not, after I offered to share this piece of the pie, several people actually followed up with questions, half-jokingly and half-seriously.
Liu Zhuohao always agreed with a smile, saying that as long as the hygiene and safety standards were met, he would definitely help.
This immediately drew praise for its "grand" and "refined" style.
The impatience on the faces of the new customers in the queue indeed faded considerably after this humorous and witty description.
The dazzling lights of the night market reflect the sizzling sizzling iron plates, the billowing steam, the bustling noise of people, and the satisfied or expectant smiles of diners—creating a vibrant and lively scene.
Liu Zhuohao moved through the crowd with ease, chatting with seated and queuing customers, but a strange, long-lost emotion rose in his heart.
He hadn't been fully immersed in this kind of pure offline noise for a long time.
In the online world, unless it's a live, interactive broadcast, those amazing numbers of views, likes, and comments are just cold, abstract numbers.
Even though Liu Zhuohao wasn't like Chen Youyin, who didn't use the internet much, he still felt very empty.
In particular, his main platform is a relatively niche website, which has not yet established a mature and smooth monetization channel.
No matter how impressive the video data is, if it cannot be efficiently and stably transformed into real money and resources to support the advancement of the business, all that excitement will always be distant and unable to touch the deepest value within.
At this moment, the stall is bustling with people, the air is filled with the rich aroma of food, and the team's operations are becoming increasingly skilled.
These tangible things, rather than the more than 200,000 fans in the background, give Liu Zhuohao a more down-to-earth sense of ownership and progress.
We absolutely cannot abandon offline industries in the future.
This thought was clearly and firmly etched in his mind.
We cannot abandon the real economy.
Before dawn, Liu Zhuohao was already leading Huang Weixiong and three others on their way to the vegetable market.
There was also a burly man in the group, who looked to be close to fifty. He was the most experienced hand-beaten beef ball master that Chen Youyin had specially hired from the factory, and he was also surnamed Chen.
"Master Chen's surname is Chen, could it be that he's related to Boss Chen Youyin—"
Liu Zhuohao hesitated, then struck up a conversation with Master Chen.
Meanwhile, the others were just following along; filming had not yet officially begun.
Since the breakfast stall was closed, it has become rare for people to head to the vegetable market or wholesale market before dawn.
With Liu Zhuohao's current status in the local area, he no longer needs to go to large wholesale markets. He has almost thoroughly explored the local markets, knows all the owners, and has even left their contact information.
Instead of going to the wholesale market to look at the wholesale goods, he can directly ask them to help him go to sea, or help him get some high-quality goods when picking up goods at the slaughterhouse or in the fields.
But today, in order to film a video, I'll definitely be going to the market to buy supplies.
"We're relatives," Master Chen replied. "We used to be from the same village. Old Chen made a fortune in business, so he brought us along to make money together."
Liu Zhuohao nodded; this kind of thing is very common.
Especially here, many people who have achieved some success will choose to seek help from their relatives.
He had thought the same way before, but obviously, not every relative has the ability and patience to help.
Master Chen added, "Actually, we can just take a piece of meat from our factory. Our factory manager said that we will definitely prepare the most suitable beef for making meatballs for Boss Liu."
"Video is needed."
Liu Zhuohao couldn't help but laugh as he explained, pointing to the equipment Huang Weixiong and the others were holding, "We'll start filming as soon as we enter the market."
"Master Chen, let me give you a brief introduction first, but in order to avoid the audience thinking this is a commercial order, I will say that you are the helper I found, a well-known local handmade beef ball master."
"Then you can guide me on how to buy meat, and then how to make beef balls by hand. Remember, whatever you do, don't even think about messing things up."
His tone became more serious, "Although this is to attract users to buy our beef balls, it can't be called GG."
"We need to treat this as a fun, lighthearted video. The theme isn't about selling things, but about—"
Liu Zhuohao had already explained this matter to Chen Youyin.
However, before filming, I couldn't help but mention it to Mr. Chen again.
"I'll film it exactly as Boss Liu tells me to."
He hesitated for a moment before replying with this sentence.
Looking at him, Liu Zhuohao couldn't help but wonder if he had really thought about saying something like "GG" in the video.
"Boss, give me two pounds of hind leg meat, no, four pounds of hind leg meat, and two pounds of beef bones, um—right, two pounds each of shank and hanging tenderloin, and some offal and tripe."
Arriving at the stall, Liu Zhuohao called out to the butcher inside, then looked at the camera that had already started filming, "After the last food video was released, I found that many friends sent me private messages asking where I bought the beef balls and how they were made."
"So in this video, we'll make these handmade beef balls."
"Of course—"
He looked at the group off-camera and said, "We can also have some hot pot while we're at it. There are a lot of us, and it feels like it's been ages since we've had hot pot."
"When we go back later, we'll also buy some potatoes, cabbage, enoki mushrooms, and fish tofu."
Liu Zhuohao pulled out Chef Chen, who was standing off-camera, and said, "As everyone knows, I'm not a graduate of any culinary program; I'm just an ordinary high school student."
"I usually learn how to cook from the internet, so it's all self-taught."
"In the past, it was easy to set up a stall and make some simple things, but now it's not easy to make handmade beef balls. It involves a complicated process and some tricks, so I specially found Master Chen, who is quite knowledgeable in this area, to make these beef balls together."
He paused at the opportune moment, handing over the right to speak.
"Hello everyone, I am ————"
Facing the camera, Mr. Chen appeared quite reserved, unlike how natural he was on the way there.
"What are you doing—"
The beef stall owner looked at them, somewhat puzzled, but soon recognized himself. "Oh, Mr. Liu? Are you filming another video?"
He not only knows himself, but he also knows that he often makes videos.
"Yes, we're filming a video."
Liu Zhuohao smiled and nodded, "Um—"
He looked at the half-cut beef on the cutting board. "Boss, could you help me cut this? Your knife skills seem pretty good."
"Oh, no problem, no problem at all," the butcher said without hesitation. "If Boss Liu needs something sliced, I guarantee I'll cut it thin and tender for you!"
"There's no need to cut the hind leg meat."
Liu Zhuohao quickly added, "I'm going to use it to make beef balls."
"You're an expert at wrapping meat in beef balls."
The boss replied with a smile, then noticed the burly man standing next to him. He seemed to recognize him, but didn't ask any further questions.
"Master Chen, why did we choose beef hind leg meat to make beef balls?"
While the butcher was cutting meat, Liu Zhuohao turned to the camera and asked a guiding question.
When the conversation turned to familiar topics, Chef Chen was noticeably less reserved and replied, "I chose this hind leg meat mainly because it has less connective tissue, making it easier to pick out later."
"If too much connective tissue gets mixed into the meat paste, it can easily get stuck in your teeth and affect the texture."
"But the main reason is that the fat in this piece of meat is just right, neither too fatty nor too lean, making the meatballs more fragrant."
It's more moist, not too dry.
Years of experience have allowed him to speak fluently and confidently about how to select suitable raw materials for making beef balls.
This experience even made him forget the tension of filming.
Cutting meat, buying vegetables, going home —
More than an hour later, the group returned to the rented room. In the morning, Master Chen had already delivered all the ingredients needed to make the beef balls.
"Now let's put this piece of hind leg meat in the freezer first. In the meantime, we can make some beef bone broth."
Master Chen directed from the side, "When making beef balls, temperature is very important. We need to cool down this piece of hind leg meat first, until a layer of frost forms on the surface."
"Yes, it should be placed in the lower freezer compartment, not in the crisper drawer."
All five people, including Liu Zhuohao, followed instructions throughout the entire process.
Although the camera will definitely follow them, they won't cut out Master Chen's off-camera instructions later.
Soak the beef bones in cold water to remove the blood.
"Prepare old ginger, white pepper, and galangal. If anyone finds the galangal too prickly, you can cut it into pieces and take it out after cooking. These are mainly for seasoning."
"We pay a lot of attention to the broth here. If it's fresh enough, even without beef, beef balls, or any vegetables, just cooking noodles in this broth will make them very delicious."
Liu Zhuohao followed instructions to process the beef bones and prepare the seasonings.
Chef Chen was clearly not only an expert in beef balls, but also an expert in all beef-related ingredients. He continued, "Aren't you going to have hot pot? You can cut up the potatoes and cabbage beforehand and set them aside. The offal and tripe can be added later, once the broth is almost ready, and stewed until tender. The honeycomb tripe is simple; just blanch it for a few seconds when you eat it."
With the preparation of ingredients complete, the hind leg meat still needs to be thawed in the freezer, and there's a little time to spare.
Liu Zhuohao glanced at the lens of his glasses, then at the slightly flustered Master Chen, his thoughts shifting slightly.
"Master Chen, take a break, have some tea. None of us have had breakfast yet," he greeted with a smile, his movements as he washed the cups and scalded the saucers with practiced ease. "Master Chen, did you formally study cooking at school?"
He asked questions as he brewed the tea, his tone casual, but his gaze was focused on filtering out the first brew.
The people next to me took turns holding cameras and eating rice noodle rolls they had bought on their way back.
"—I never went to that kind of school." Master Chen waved his hand, his body relaxing a bit with the aroma of tea. "Back then, we didn't have those kinds of conditions. We all followed our masters, starting from washing dishes, picking vegetables, and doing odd jobs. We learned little by little, observing and stealing knowledge. Only after years of training and getting the master's approval could we be considered to be in charge of cooking. And after a few more years, we were considered to have graduated."
"Having a mentor to guide you is already the right path."
Liu Zhuohao pushed a small cup of amber-colored tea towards him, chuckling self-deprecatingly. "This is what you call self-taught. I learned purely from cookbooks. If the book says 5 grams of sugar, I would never dare to put in 4 or 6 grams. If it says 'one spoonful of soy sauce,' I even have to find a spoon that's just about right. I follow the instructions exactly, not daring to make a single mistake."
Upon hearing this, Master Chen's face showed obvious surprise: "But the way you handled the offal and prepared the ingredients just now was very skillful, not like a novice. You are quite talented."
"I only graduated from high school, I don't have any talent for cooking."
Liu Zhuohao said sincerely, "I've been thinking about it myself, and I think cooking can be divided into three levels. Listen to what I think, and see if it makes sense."
A strange, indescribable feeling swept through his heart.
The experience gained from half a lifetime of working in the kitchen in a previous life has become a talent in this life.