Chapter 725 Chinese Restaurant
【Chinese Restaurant】 is a business reality show launched by Mango TV in 2017.
The content is to select several celebrity guests as youth partners, open a Chinese restaurant in a beautiful place abroad, and record the process of everyone working together to run the restaurant.
The program takes "management" as its main theme. On the premise of promoting Chinese cuisine, it allows celebrities to experience the "difficulty" of management, and see how the guests face difficulties and whether they can overcome them one by one to bring joy to the audience.
In recent years, since the popularity of "Running Man" and "Go Fighting", various outdoor reality shows have emerged one after another. "Chinese Restaurant" can be regarded as a very distinctive variety show among them, and its ratings and popularity have remained high.
The first and second seasons were recorded in Koh Chang, Thailand and Colmar, France respectively, both places with extremely beautiful scenery.
The third season is set in the small town of Taormina on the Italian island of Sicily. There is a cliff on one side and the sea on the other. The city buildings are built on layers of rocks. From a distance, the green mountains and white houses are mixed together, and in the distance is the sapphire sea, which is beautiful.
In a manor-style restaurant by the sea, several guests from the [Chinese Restaurant] are gathering for lunch.
"Yang Zi, do you want to ask where Gu Wei is? We are in urgent need of him as manpower." The store manager Huang Xiaoming picked up a piece of fish on the table and asked casually.
"He said he can arrive today, I'll send him a WeChat message~"
Yang Zi quickly took a mouthful of rice, wiped her hands naturally on the apron on her body, then opened her phone and sent a voice message on WeChat.
"Where are you? Did the plane land?"
"I'm so envious of you, Sister Yang Zi. You have such a strong network of connections to get Gu Wei to help you!" Wang Junkai sat opposite Yang Zi, holding a bowl in his hand and making an envious sound.
"You are college classmates, right? I have seen photos of you having dinner together on the Internet, and also Zhang Yishan." Qin Hailu looked at Yang Zi and asked.
"Alumni, Gu Wei is one year younger than Zhang Yishan and I.
It’s just that they often played basketball together in school, so we always played together,” Yang Zi explained.
"The friendship between classmates is the most profound and unforgettable. Cherish it and it will be your lifelong wealth!" Brother Xiao Ming made a summary speech. He felt deeply about this. After all, he used to be a bootlicker when he was in college.
"Ding Dong~" Yang Zi's phone rang while everyone was chatting.
She opened WeChat and saw that Gu Wei had replied to her message.
"We're here, at a gate~"
"Yang Zi, go and pick her up, don't go to the wrong place," Huang Xiaoming instructed.
"Okay, I'll go right away!" Yang Zi stood up and walked outside with his cell phone.
"There's a big job tomorrow. There's a wedding banquet to be held in our restaurant. Fortunately, Gu Wei and the others came to help, otherwise we would be very busy!" After Yang Zi left, several people ate as usual, and Huang Xiaoming said to the others.
"Can Gu Wei cook?" Qin Hailu was most concerned about how much work the new helper could do for them.
"I'm not sure about this, you'll have to ask Yang Zi, they're the most familiar with it!
But I suggest you don't have too high expectations. The probability of Gu Wei being able to cook is too small since he is so busy." Although Huang Xiaoming has a good relationship with Gu Wei, he has no idea whether he can cook, so he can only analyze it rationally.
"It doesn't matter whether you can cook or not, as long as you can come and work~" After recording [Chinese Restaurant] for such a long time, Qin Hailu was a little tired.
On the other side, Gu Wei and Meng Ziyi got off the plane and got into the program crew's car.
"Wow, the scenery in Italy is so beautiful! If I weren't working, it would be a great place to vacation!"
Meng Ziyi, who was sitting in the back seat, opened the car window and was in a good mood looking at the beautiful scenery outside.
"What are you thinking about? You are here to help with the work.
But after the restaurant closes at night, you can go out for a walk." Gu Wei was in a good mood. Beautiful scenery always makes people feel relaxed and happy.
After a while, the car arrived at the designated place. Gu Wei chatted with Yang Zi on WeChat for a few words and then began to move things out of the car.
"Hello! Gu Wei, Ziyi!"
Within two minutes, Yang Zi, wearing short-sleeved jeans, appeared in front of the two of them.
"Hello, Sister Yang Zi~" Meng Ziyi was not familiar with Yang Zi, so she greeted her politely when they met.
"Come and help me get the things!" Gu Wei was not polite and directly assigned Yang Zi to work.
"What are all these?" Yang Zi was not surprised. He looked at Gu Wei moving things out of the trunk one by one and asked curiously.
"The gifts I brought for you are a box of red wine, various seasonings and ingredients brought from China, and this," Gu Wei said as he took out something wrapped in oil paper with one end thick and the other end thin from the trunk.
“Jinhua ham! They say it tastes amazing!”
"Wow, Chef Lin will definitely like your gift!" Yang Zi took the large ham from Gu Wei and almost dropped it. "It's so heavy!"
"6 kilograms~"
As he spoke, Gu Wei had already unloaded all the things, and there were still two suitcases of his and Meng Ziyi on the ground.
"It's hard to move so many things, especially this box of red wine!" Yang Zi scratched his head. "Wait a minute, there's a folding cart in the store. I'll get it."
After saying that, she trotted back to the restaurant.
"Why are you back? Where is Gu Wei?" Everyone in the restaurant had finished their meal. Huang Xiaoming asked Yang Zi who had returned alone.
"He brought a lot of things, it's inconvenient to carry them, I'll come back to get the cart~"
"I'll go with you to help." Seeing this, Huang Xiaoming put down the work in his hands and followed Yang Zi out.
200 meters away is where Gu Wei gets off the car to unload the goods.
After Huang Xiaoming came out, he first hugged Gu Wei.
“Welcome to our little white house, our holiday paradise.
"Please embrace everything in the future as if you were on vacation!" Huang Xiaoming smiled warmly and welcomed Gu Wei, then greeted Meng Ziyi next to him.
"On vacation? I thought I was here to help in the kitchen~" Gu Wei smiled and raised his eyebrows.
"Haha, labor is also part of vacation!"
The four of them put the things Gu Wei brought on a cart and walked back together.
After entering the restaurant, Gu Wei and Meng Ziyi greeted and got acquainted with the financial officer Qin Hailu, lobby manager Wang Junkai, chef Lin Shuwei, and kitchen helper Tong Zhuo.
"Gu Wei has brought us a lot of gifts, everyone please accept them!" Huang Xiaoming called on others to unload the goods from the cart.
"This is - Jinhua ham!" Chef Lin Shuwei is a connoisseur and he saw the big ham among the pile of things at first sight.
"There's also red wine, seasonings, and canned food."
"I like canned food. I haven't eaten it for many days. I really want to have a bite of it." Qin Hailu's eyes lit up when he heard about canned food.
"What is this?" Yang Zi opened a bag and took out two red clothes from it.
"Chinese wedding dress?"
"Yes, Chinese-style groom's suit and bride's suit. Isn't there a wedding tomorrow? These are the clothes prepared for the newlyweds!" Gu Wei smiled as he looked at the clothes in Yang Zi's hand. He prepared a lot of the food himself, but these were given to him in advance by the program crew.
After a while of noise and chatter, everyone sat down and started to assign tasks.
"Gu Wei, can you cook?" The store manager Huang Xiaoming coordinated the overall situation and arranged everyone's work. Of course, the two new recruits, Gu Wei and Meng Ziyi, could not be let go.
“Simple stir-fry is OK~
Oh, by the way, I can speak Italian and can help entertain some local guests."
[Chinese restaurant] is located in Sicily. It serves both local customers and tourists from other places. Some speak Chinese, some speak English, and some speak Italian.
Yang Zi and Wang Junkai usually work as waiters. They are good at Chinese and English, but they can only rely on mobile phone translation for Italian-speaking customers.
"That's great, you can help us a lot!" Huang Xiaoming said excitedly, clapping his hands.
"Then, when it's not busy, you can help Chef Liu in the kitchen, and if there are local guests coming, you can come and help.
Oh, and there’s a wedding tomorrow, so you need to perform two shows.”
Gu Wei listened and smiled bitterly: "Isn't it a bit too much work for me?"
"Those who are capable should do more work!" Huang Xiaoming smiled and patted his shoulder.
"What about Ziyi? What would you do?"
After Meng Ziyi came in and greeted everyone, he stood quietly aside. Seeing Huang Xiaoming asking him, he said confidently: "I can stew rice and scrambled tomatoes and eggs."
After saying that, he didn’t forget to emphasize again: “It’s delicious!”
Gu Wei was not surprised by her answer at all. From the recording of "Divas Hit the Road 3" to now, this is still Meng Ziyi's specialty.
"Okay, then add scrambled eggs with tomatoes to the menu and leave it to Ziyi.
You usually work at the front desk like Yang Zi, and let her guide you."
Huang Xiaoming was not stupid either. Seeing Meng Ziyi's expression, he knew it was unrealistic to expect her to cook, so he assigned her some simple tasks.
After Gu Wei and the others arrived, they quickly got down to work at the [Chinese restaurant].
The restaurant started to serve customers in the afternoon. Meng Ziyi and Yang Zi were busy at the front desk, while Gu Wei put on an apron and went to the kitchen to help Lin Shuwei.
First he helped to wash and cut the vegetables, and then he could do some simple stir-frying independently. The taste was not very delicious, but it was always salty enough.
During this period, I also went to the front desk to help receive two tables of Italian-speaking guests.
"I didn't know before that Gu Wei could speak Italian. When did he learn it?"
Yang Zi held the menu notebook in front of her chest, looking like a waiter in a restaurant, watching Gu Wei talking to two white foreigners in a language she couldn't understand.
"When we were recording [Divas Hit the Road 3] in Brazil, he was able to communicate with the locals in Portuguese.
In his words, he has some talent in languages, so he knows many foreign languages.
Sister Zi, aren't you and Brother Wei classmates from college? Haven't you seen him learning foreign languages before? "
Meng Ziyi was dressed the same as Yang Zi, with an apron wrapped around her chest. She had just made some scrambled eggs with tomatoes, which tasted pretty good and not some dark dish.
"We're not in the same class, but when we were in school, he was always playing. Could it be that the top students were working hard in secret when we couldn't see them?"
As the two were standing aside chatting, the store manager Huang Xiaoming walked over with a frown on his face.
"Are you two looking at handsome guys?
There are new guests over there, why don’t you go and greet them quickly! "
"I'll go right away, right away." Yang Zi finally reacted, stuck out his tongue embarrassedly, and trotted over.
"Um, I'll go to the kitchen to see if there's anything I can help with." Meng Ziyi also lowered his head and walked towards the kitchen.
In the [Chinese restaurant], the manager Huang Xiaoming is still very authoritative.
Although he often speaks in a blunt and unsubtle way, everyone still listens to him.
After a busy period, the business ended for the day after the last table of guests left.
The evening breeze was blowing and the sun was slowly setting over the hillside.
After a busy day, a group of people finally had time to have a quiet dinner at the [Chinese restaurant].
Everyone sat around a long table at the outermost edge of the restaurant, near the sea. Chef Lin prepared several dishes, Gu Wei also fried some Mu Shu pork, and Meng Ziyi, who got the chance to show off, finished her specialty, tomato and egg.
"Thank you Gu Wei and Meng Ziyi for joining us. You've helped us so much on your first day today!"
After everyone sat down, the store manager Huang Xiaoming raised his glass.
"Thanks!"
"Thank you, Brother Wei and Ziyi!"
"There's not much I can do. Chef Lin is in charge of the kitchen. He also taught me a lot of techniques for cutting and cooking."
Gu Wei raised his glass and everyone took a sip together.
"Hmm~ This red wine tastes very good. Where did you buy it, Gu Wei?" Everyone was drinking the box of red wine that Gu Wei brought today. Huang Xiaoming took a sip and smacked his lips in savoring the taste.
He owns his own winery and red wine brand, and has done some research on red wine.
"This is the kind of wine you gave me before!" Yang Zi tasted it after taking a sip.
"Unicorn? Never heard of this brand?" Huang Xiaoming picked up the red wine bottle next to him and read the English words on it.
Gu Wei smiled and said, "This is the wine I made in my own estate. I haven't sold it to anyone for a long time. It's normal that you haven't heard of it~"
"You also bought a wine estate. Where is it?"
Huang Xiaoming looked surprised. He bought a wine estate in France in 2014 and founded his own wine brand "LAN".
At the beginning, they made some money by relying on the information gap between China and foreign countries, and the good packaging due to the celebrity effect. However, in recent years, the Internet has become more and more developed, and people have lost their filter for foreign red wines, making it increasingly difficult to make money.
Moreover, the wine estate requires a large amount of maintenance fees every year. Huang Xiaoming is considering whether he should sell the estate and cash out in time.
"Médoc region on the left bank of Bordeaux, France"
"Then it's from the same production area as Mouton Rothschild and Golden Rose. I know the wine estates there are quite expensive and basically not for sale to the public." Huang Xiaoming is knowledgeable.
“It was quite a coincidence when I bought it, as Unique Manor was in a loss-making state due to poor management.
However, its brewing technology was very good, and it was the only third-level winery in the Medoc region that was sold to the outside world at that time.
So I bought it.”
"Third-level winery?" Qin Hailu listened with a bewildered look on her face. Although she often drank red wine, it was mainly for better sleep and she didn't know much about wine itself.
Huang Xiaoming looked at everyone's bewildered expressions and explained slowly, "This winery classification dates back to the 18th century. Under the impetus of Napoleon III, Bordeaux, France, the world's wine center, established an official classification of Bordeaux wineries.
Because it was 1855, it is also called "Bordeaux 1855 Classified Growth".
The Bordeaux 1855 classified growths are divided into first growth to fifth growth, and there are currently 61 wineries in total.
There are only five first-class wineries among them, such as Lafite and Latour, which are well-known to everyone.
Being rated as a third growth indicates that its brewing technology is also at an upper-middle level in the Bordeaux region.
You should know that in addition to these 61 wineries, there are actually many wineries in France that are not rated as superior."
Huang Xiaoming was embarrassed to say that his own winery was just a small winery that could not be rated as a high-end winery and had no reputation. However, people in China did not understand. As long as he told them that it was authentic red wine from the Bordeaux region of France, they would think it was very high-end and must be a good wine.
"Wow, Gu Wei, it turns out that the wine you gave me these two years is so valuable!" Yang Zi sighed while holding the bottle of wine beside him.
She said this, attracting everyone's attention.
Yang Zi quickly explained, "Gu Wei sent me several boxes of this wine during the Chinese New Year in the past two years, and Zhang Yishan and the others also have some."
“After I bought the winery, I stopped selling this brand of wine, but I continued to produce it every year.
I can't finish the extra wine by myself, so I'll give some to my friends." Gu Wei said with a smile.
Meng Ziyi raised her hand weakly: "Actually, I have some too, but I don't drink much. I take most of it home to my parents."
"Gu Wei, you are so mean. Why don't you just give me some?" Huang Xiaoming, feeling that he had a good relationship with Gu Wei, shouted a little aggrievedly.
"Haha, Brother Xiaoming, you have your own winery, so I can't send it to you."
"Well, I don't care. You have to get me some later." Huang Xiaoming was embarrassed to say that the quality of my wine was far inferior to yours.
It has been more than two years since Gu Wei bought the Unico Estate. Since it is no longer sold to the outside world, there is no sales pressure. His requirement for the winery master is not to rush for speed or quantity, but to maintain quality.
Under this condition, the quality of the wine has become even better in the past two years.
If it were to be rated again now, it is possible that Unico Manor could be upgraded to the second level.
"No problem, everyone here will have a share, no one will be left out!" Gu Wei said generously.
Because a lot of red wine is brewed every year, this kind of wine is included in the New Year benefits given to employees by his company.
However, the quality of wine produced by the same winery can vary, and the best quality wines are definitely reserved for yourself and your closest friends.
"Thank you Gu Wei!"
"Thanks!"
Everyone raised their glasses again.
(End of this chapter)
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