Chapter 1

After all the staff members finished recording the Easter eggs and their personal VCRs of less than 20 seconds, it was already afternoon and the sun outside was not as strong as at noon.

Xiao Zhao and another person in charge whom Jiang Qi had never met directed the staff to put together the props for the God of Cooking Contest. They also found a staff member with good eloquence to play the role of a vendor selling candied haws under the arrangement of the director.

Yes, Fang Jing not only hired a professional planning team and photographer for this team-building event, but also hired a director.

Although this director doesn't want money.

The director's name is Gong Ye, Fang Jing's childhood friend. He studied directing when he was in college. Later, relying on his family's wealth and connections, he joined a large-scale crew as an assistant director as soon as he graduated. After being beaten by life, he found that directing was not a good career, so he simply changed his career to open a bar.

Fang Jing originally didn't plan to hire a director for this team building event. It wasn't a real reality show, so why would he hire a director? Gong Ye heard that there was a live-action script-killing segment, so he rushed to help as a director. Fang Jing just happened to have no time to come over to supervise, so he simply sent his childhood friend over, just in case he was useful.

The actor playing the hawker was caught, but the straw target selling candied haws was not.

"Director Gong, there's no problem in adding an NPC selling candied haws, but we don't have any straw targets prepared to sell candied haws. There is a candied haws stall over at the parent-child park, but that's a cart." Another person in charge, Lao Zhao, said with an embarrassed look on his face.

By the way, the reason why Xiao Zhao, who is 32 years old this year, asks everyone to call him Xiao Zhao is because another person in charge also has the surname Zhao and is 5 years older than him.

In order to make it easier for everyone to distinguish them, the two persons in charge simply asked everyone to call themselves Xiao Zhao and Lao Zhao.

"It's okay." Gong Ye said casually, wearing a pair of sunglasses that were very unique and obviously expensive. "I knew you didn't have them, so I brought them. I even brought candied haws to make the rehearsal more realistic."

Lao Zhao:?

Gong Ye had put more than 20 candied haws directly on the straw target. The top circle was 4 candied apples, and the rest were all traditional hawthorn candied haws. Because of the high temperature outside, the outermost layer of the candied haws had begun to melt, and the glutinous rice paper had also become soft.

The actress who played the role of the vendor selling candied haws was a young lady, and Wang Erya also helped her change her clothes. Perhaps because she thought it was cute that Wang Erya always thought before speaking and then spoke slowly, the young lady selling candied haws held the straw target while talking to Wang Erya, and they talked about the costume idol drama that Wang Erya and Huang Fugui had watched together recently.

The young lady was talking about the plot, and Wang Erya was looking at the candied haws.

The second rehearsal involved cameras, a cameraman and a half-baked director. The configuration was no different from the official event except that there were no real players.

In order to make this rehearsal more perfect, the two responsible persons gathered all the free staff members to act as spectators, and let the peripheral NPCs also play some role.

Gong Ye had not read the script beforehand and did not know the plot. Like an ordinary player, he only knew a general opening background. He sat behind the monitor with the attitude of a spectator, just to watch the fun.

"Director Gong, we are almost ready, can we start?" Xiao Zhao stepped forward and asked.

Just as Gong Ye was about to nod, he saw Wang Erya running past him and towards Jiang Wanwan's herbal tea stall, holding a small electric fan in her hand. She obviously wanted to hide the small fan under the herbal tea stall where outsiders could not see it.

"Wait." Gong Ye stood up. Wang Erya wanted to participate in the rehearsal but couldn't use the small fan, and he didn't want to participate.

He felt that he really needed a small electric fan.

"Little sister, wait a moment." Gong Ye called out to Wang Erya loudly.

Wang Erya stopped and became a little nervous, thinking she had done something wrong: "Sorry... Director Gong, I didn't mean to do it. I thought it would take a while before it started, I just went to release the fan."

With Wang Erya's current understanding of the world, she doesn't quite understand what the position of director is, but she can make an equivalent conversion.

Director = Gong Ye = Fang Jing’s friend = Landlord’s friend = Landlord.

"It hasn't started yet." Gong Ye said with a smile, "I want to borrow your little electric fan. Can I borrow it for a while?"

Wang Erya obediently handed the fan to Gong Ye.

"Thank you." Gong Ye went back.

"By the way, I didn't notice it just now. How could there be such a small child? Was it one of the staff members' children who brought this child here to play together?" Gong Ye asked.

"She is the niece of the script store employee who plays Mr. Huang. Their store is short-staffed, so they brought her here to help." Xiao Zhao explained, pointing to Old John in front of him, "Did you see that foreigner, Director Gong? She is also a store employee, a cleaner. Their store is short-staffed, so they even brought the cleaner here to make up the cast to play the NPC."

Gong Ye: ???

Foreign cleaning staff?

He didn't understand, but he was shocked.

Although Gong Ye is only a half-baked director, he still has the basic skills. After confirming the camera position with the cameraman, he made an OK gesture to Xiao Zhao, and the second rehearsal officially began.

At the director's command, Jiang Wanwan began her performance.

"The herbal tea is cheap and delicious, it's refreshing and heat-relief. It's only 5 cents a bowl. There are many flavors, and the quantity is limited. Come and buy some!" Only a few hours had passed, and the price of Jiang Wanwan's herbal tea had increased by two cents.

The cameraman subconsciously turned the camera to Jiang Wanwan.

Qin Can was not to be outdone, and shouted at the top of his voice: "Sugar-roasted chestnuts, hot sugar-roasted chestnuts, a large bag for 10 cents, a small bag for 7 cents, cheap and filling!"

The girl selling candied haws was confused. She thought that NPC sellers like them only had to stand quietly and wait for people to buy, but she didn't expect that they had to shout.

"Tanghulu, 2-3 cents a string, exclusive secret recipe, absolutely does not contain any preservatives, everyone come and buy some!" The young lady also shouted.

Only the guy selling sugar figurines insisted on taking it easy and said in a normal voice: "Sugar figurines, the quantity is limited, buy them as soon as possible."

Seeing everyone working so hard, Gong Ye smiled and said to Xiao Zhao: "Everyone is very energetic."

Amid the shouts, Jiang Qi struck the gong a few times and made a brilliant appearance behind Huang Fugui.

In the morning, even without an audience, Huang Fugui was able to perform vividly, no different from before. Although there were no contestants this afternoon, at least there were onlookers. Even Jiang Wanwan and Qin Can's performances were more enthusiastic than in the morning, not to mention Huang Fugui who had a skill bonus.

Huang Fugui was enjoying his performance, and the real onlookers who were captured to be spectators were also enjoying watching him.

Jiang Wanwan, Qin Can and the guy selling candy figurines didn't have any real goods on their stalls. Only the girl selling candied haws had real candied haws. Everyone was enjoying the show so much that some people actually came over to chat and wanted to buy candied haws.

Pay by scanning the QR code via WeChat or Alipay, and buy the ones that cost 3 yuan each.

NPCs with personalities and plots, such as Liu Lan, took the opportunity to infiltrate the masses and spread gossip about Taiping Town to everyone.

Only Old John and Wang Erya remained in the background. Some people tried to talk to Old John, but he could only tell them some simple stories he had heard, such as the legend about the God of Cooking from foreign countries.

Only Wang Erya is really free.

The girl selling candied haws was selling the candied haws on her straw target very quickly. Apple candied haws were 5 yuan each, and hawthorn candied haws were 3 yuan a string. Huang Fugui's performance had just finished, and there was only one apple candied haws and a string of hawthorn candied haws left on her straw target.

"Qinghe." Seeing Wang Erya nearby, the young lady smiled and said to her, "Here, I'll give you a candied haws. Which kind do you want?"

Wang Erya wanted an apple, but she remembered that she was here to work as a maid, not to watch the game, so she shook her head and refused.

"Sister Hong, I came here with the owner to help, and I can't eat now."

The young lady who buys candied haws is named Zhang Hong in the plot. There is no detailed plot or grudges. Her father sells candied haws in the town, and the daughter follows in her father's footsteps.

The young lady didn't expect Wang Erya to be so into the show. She smiled and said, "Well, I'll save one for you after the game. Qinghe, which one do you want to eat?"

“Apple’s.”

Seeing that Wang Erya acted quite well, the people around laughed and joked, "Oh, so you are the maid of Mr. Huang. I heard that Mr. Huang is a very kind person who likes to help others. Why are you wearing such gray clothes?"

Wang Erya explained in a serious manner: "Because I am a maid in the backyard of the mansion. Today is the competition for the successor selection of the old master of the kitchen. My wife is worried that the servants in the house can't serve the other masters and the county magistrate well, and the sisters in the front yard can't come, so she let me come out to see the world."

The people around laughed when they heard Wang Erya say this. Just as they were about to say something else, Gong Ye behind them suddenly shouted "Cut!"

From the clear, loud and powerful voice he pronounced, it could be heard that Gong Ye had wanted to shout this word for a long time.

Gong Ye stood up happily, holding the small speaker and said, "Very good, the actors up there performed very well, and the group actors down below also coordinated well. It's just that when the vendors were hawking their wares at the beginning, it would have been better if they kept their voices down, otherwise it would have been too noisy."

"Let's take a break for a few minutes and then move on to the next part. Everyone, drink some water and wipe your sweat. We'll do it again after this part is over."

After saying that, Gong Ye put down the small speaker and small electric fan and walked straight to the candied haws stall.

"Give me a candied haws." Gong Ye had been eyeing the candied haws he brought for a long time. "It seems that I have to bring more candied haws tomorrow. I think the vendors have too few, but four is enough. I'll prepare more food and more varieties at the stalls."

"Okay, Director Gong." The young lady said with a smile, reaching for the candied hawthorn. "That's great. We can eat and drink while watching the game. It would be best if we could sit down. That would be quite interesting."

The young lady found that Gong Ye was a little far away and couldn't reach him, so she gave the candied haws to Wang Erya and asked Wang Erya to pass it to Gong Ye.

Wang Erya took the candied haws and handed it to Gong Ye respectfully, saying, "Master Gong, this is the candied haws you asked for."

Gong Ye's hands hung in the air, his expression dull for a moment.

"Pfft." When the people nearby heard Wang Erya call "Master Gong", they couldn't control themselves and laughed out loud.

Gong Ye took the candied haws awkwardly. His mixed feelings at the moment were not much better than when Jiang Qi was called Master Jiang by Wang Erya that night: "You don't have to call me Master Gong. I don't play the role of a master."

"But the county magistrate and several officials are not here now, and you are a good friend of the county magistrate. If you are not the master, then what are you?" Wang Erya expressed her confusion.

As the financial sponsor, Fang Jing got the role of the county magistrate.

"I'm the director, the mysterious person behind the scenes. Just call me Director Gong." Gong Ye began to fool the children.

After a few minutes' break, the rehearsal continued.

There's no need for a cameraman to film this time, Gong Ye can just watch from the side.

Because there was no Weixianlou restaurant to enter, Huang Fugui changed the plot to an on-site announcement, and everyone present helped him keep the secret. Weixianlou will change the daily limit of one table to 30 guests per day. The low-key "Chef God" will try his best to let every diner who likes green vegetable noodles have the opportunity to taste the taste of green vegetable noodles.

When the plot was completely over, the audience burst into warm applause.

Gong Ye clapped the loudest, and those who didn’t know would have thought that the film he directed had been completed.

During the third rehearsal, because all the audience already understood the plot, everyone's focus was no longer on Huang Fugui, but on the NPCs outside the competition venue.

After the second rehearsal, the onlookers who were temporarily gathered found that most of the NPCs still had many interesting stories to tell.

Just like playing games, some people like to follow the main storyline, while others like to follow the side stories. After completing the main storyline, you will naturally want to explore the side stories.

During the third rehearsal, the sky began to darken, which coincided with the official event tomorrow.

Liu Lan, the matchmaker NPC, was surrounded by the crowd, and Jiang Qi, the servant of Mr. Huang, was not spared. Seeing this, Jiang Wanwan and Qin Can stopped hawking and started sharing gossip and arguing. A group of people watched them argue for 10 minutes over who was the real golden bachelor in Taiping Town.

The two added some original plots during their quarrel, and the guy selling candy figures next door listened with great interest.

Even the cameraman was attracted over to eat the melon.

The rehearsal was a great success.

Everyone was busy until 8pm. After several responsible persons confirmed that there were no problems with all the processes, projects and props, they arranged for everyone to take the bus back. Jiang Qi and his group also took the bus. They didn't have to go to the end. When they were almost there, they just told the bus driver to let them get off.

When Jiang Qi returned home, he felt so exhausted.

He was not physically tired. He just walked around and talked to people all day. He did not lift any heavy objects or do any heavy work.

Mainly mentally exhausted.

After rehearsing three times a day, even the most interesting plots were a bit boring. In addition, he had to talk non-stop, and when Jiang Qi returned home, he felt dizzy and his mouth was dry. He didn't want to move at all and just wanted to lie quietly on the bed.

He really admired Jiang Wanwan in terms of speaking. She was a little hoarse in the morning, but she could still speak in the afternoon. Jiang Qi almost suspected that his cousin had an iron voice.

After lying quietly in bed for nearly half an hour, Jiang Qi took out his mobile phone to check the chat in the WeChat group and found that the bosses of his two roommates who had made it to the shore were having another day of trouble, but Yu Fang's entrepreneurship was picking up again.

After many days of unremitting efforts, he turned a loss of more than 2 million into a loss of 2 million.

It is still cause for celebration.

Although both methods will result in being beaten to death, the latter may allow the body to remain intact.

Thinking about the two unlucky roommates who work so hard every day, getting up at 6 o'clock to go to the laboratory, and replying to the boss's messages at 1 or 2 in the morning. The data cannot be produced, and the modeling is full of problems. The boss has a new idea every day, adding a group control today, adding a chart tomorrow, and providing all support except help. Jiang Qi feels that he is not so tired anymore.

After my two unlucky roommates graduate, they will be able to seamlessly adapt to the 996 working environment.

It is also possible that they cannot adapt. The work intensity of 996 is not as great as theirs.

It’s a pity that their majors are not very suitable and the two are not locals, otherwise inviting them to work part-time in the store would also be a good choice.

Jiang Qi happily opened the dialog box with the customer service card and began to check the star upgrade progress.

He insists on chatting with Xiaoka every day, and the chat records are all about the star-up progress. At first glance, Xiaoka looks like a machine number.

The star upgrade progress is amazing.

Old John was a passerby for a day and his salary didn't increase at all, which is normal.

Huang Fugui performed steadily, probably because he didn't make vegetable noodles, so his stock didn't increase at all, which was normal.

Wang Erya rose by 22 points.

Jiang Qi was stunned when he saw that Wang Erya's star upgrade progress had become 24/100.

What is strength?

What does it mean that the latecomer is ahead?

That's it!

Looking at Wang Erya's star-up progress that was soaring like a rocket, Jiang Qi began to suspect that not only Huang Fugui but also Wang Erya would be able to upgrade to two stars tomorrow.

If she is lucky, Wang Erya can really be upgraded directly.

Fang Jing has more than 80 employees. Although Wang Erya is not likable enough for everyone to like her, she only came into contact with more than 30 people at most today.

There were many staff members she had no contact with.

Suppose 78 people like her tomorrow, Wang Erya will be promoted.

Jiang Qi will now have two two-star card characters!

Wuhu!