Chapter 12: Cooking And Behaving With Integrity
Chapter 12: Cooking And Behaving With Integrity
Tao Mu's afternoon scene was a scene where the male protagonist sneaked into the demonic sect with a mask hiding his identity, but was discovered by Mu Huating, who played the leader of the demonic sect, and the two preceded to fight each other. Because the face of the male number three was to be photographed in this scene, in order to strive for the best shooting effect, the crew's intention was to have Mu Huating personally fight him.
Mu Huating argued all morning but failed to get director Chen to agree to his request for a stand-in. When wearing the wire suit, his expression looked ugly, as if he had constipation. He looked at Tao Mu nervously, for fear that he would use the scene to beat him up and take revenge for earlier.
As a result, during the filming, whenever Tao Mu made a piercing action with a sword, Mu Huating would definitely scurry backwards like a rabbit, and even the camera could only manage to capture an afterimage at the speed he moved. There was none of the proud arrogance and intimidating presence that the demonic sect leader should have.
Being timid to this extent, how could this scene be filmed?
Chen Yiqian couldn't endure it anymore. After yelling "cut" eight times in a row, he held a loudspeaker and shouted, "Mu Huating, are you here to make a comedy drama?"
Mu Huating was both fearful and aggrieved, yelling: "Don't blame me. Tao Mu deliberately scared me."
Tao Mu stood in place with no expression on his face.
The whole crew had their arms crossed, eyes rolling in exasperation. Did he take them all for the blind? Tao Mu obviously didn't do anything. It could be seen that Mu Huating not only had a bad character, but also had a terrible habit of pushing blame onto others.
Mu Huating, who was questioned by the entire crew, felt quite aggrieved. He insisted that Tao Mu had malicious intentions, and would definitely take the chance to beat him up while filming. If he hadn't run fast every time, he would have already been beaten to the ground by Tao Mu at this moment.
Chen Yiqian could no longer put up with Mu Huating's wild fantasies. In order not to delay the shooting process, he finally pinched his nose and agreed to Mu Huating's request to use a stand-in.
Mu Huating breathed a sigh of relief and took off his wire suit as quickly as possible. He stared at Tao Mu and raised his chin to demonstrate. His face was full of arrogance, as if to say "what can you do to me now?"
Da Mao and Xiao Pang, who were playing the roles of demonic sect cannon fodders, were so angry they itched to pull a sackcloth over Mu Huating in a small alley and beat him up immediately.
Tao Mu stood with a sword in hand and without any expression on his face. He didn't even spare Mu Huating a look.
The body double who became Mu Huating's stand-in was a martial artist actor from Gou Rixin's team, named Da Luo. They even had a drink together last night. After seeing Tao Mu, he lowered his voice and voiced his outrage on behalf of Tao Mu: "You are too honest. If it was me, I would have definitely taken this opportunity to beat him severely. Let's see if he'll splash dirty water on others again"
"It's not necessary." Tao Mu replied mildly. When a person was bitten by a dog, it wasn't as if he could bite back. If he really did that, then how different was he from the idiot Mu Huating? Besides, there were so many people watching on the set, even if he wanted to secretly land some hits, how much could he even injure Mu Huating?
Since he was too lazy to even bother pulling a sackcloth over the other's head, naturally he wouldn't do something that would leave a weakness in the sight of othershe just casually amped up his film emperor-level acting skills against Mu Huating during the scene, substituting the emotions of the perverted murderers he played in his previous life into the emotions he displayed during the scene. The feeling it gave when his eyes stared at Mu Huating was like that of a butcher looking at a slab of pork on a cutting board. Sure enough, Mu Huating couldn't help but become frightened, scaring himself into a neurotic person.
However, yaxi was quite mysterious and difficult to put into words (TN: refers to disparity in the acting skills between two actors with the more skilled actor using their acting skills to crush their co-actor). Except for the person involved, it was hard to say whether other people have this keen sense of what was going on as well. But it didn't matter if they could see ithe relied on his better acting skills to psychologically suppress Mu Huating, and Mu Huating could only blame himself for not having the skills to match up against Tao Mu.
Da Luo looked at Tao Mu and said, "That's true. I heard that Zhao Keping introduced to you an audition opportunity for a male number 3 role. If you really pass, the wrongs you suffered will not be in vain."
Tao Mu didn't say a word.
With the cooperation of Da Luo, the filming of this scene went smoothly.
After the end of the filming, Tao Mu approached director Chen and wanted a copy of the action scene video shot yesterday: "For my resume, it might count as field work credit later."
Since Chen Yiqian wanted to express goodwill towards Tao Mu, he would naturally not refuse this little thing. After all, Tao Mu did not sign a confidentiality agreement in this life. Just before giving the video, he still habitually warned: "Before the TV series is broadcast, don't pass the video out. It will affect the normal shooting of the crew."
After a pause, he added: "It won't be too long. There will be a promotional video posted by the crew in two days, and it is estimated that there will be this section. You can judge when to show it yourself."
Tao Mu nodded.
Seeing that Tao Mu had finished discussing business with director Chen, Shen Yu walked up with a smile, holding an Apple mobile phone box in his hand: "Tao Tao, happy birthday."
Tao Mu glanced at the gift Shen Yu prepared, and politely refused: "I already have it, it was given by Xiao Pang. And I didn't prepare your gift."
In other words, you dont have to give me a birthday present.
The distant attitude and refusal was clear.
Shen Yu didn't care: "Then tell me the phone number and I will save it."
Tao Mu: "I haven't registered it yet."
Shen Yu: "Do you have a Weibo? Let's follow each other? Fans on my Weibo want to know your information."
Before Tao Mu could speak, Shen Yu said again: "It's useless if you refuse. I have already exchange follows with Wang Ye and Pang Yue. Even if you don't tell me, I can go back and look through their friends list, and sooner or later I'll find your Weibo."
Tao Mu glanced at Shen Yu and did not refuse anymore.
Shen Yu searched for Tao Mu's Weibo with a grin, and saw that his Weibo nickname that was both elegant and not at all affected. He couldn't help but glance at Tao Mu in surprise.
Tao Mu had no expression on his face: "What?"
"Nothing." Shen Yu said with a smile: "I think your name is quite imteresting. I heard Wang Ye and Pang Yue say that you gave them their Weibo nicknames, how about you make one for me too?"
Tao Mu did not say a word, obviously unwilling.
Shen Yu smiled and didn't press on. He thought Tao Mu was very interesting. He looked fierce and unreasonable, but actually had a warm and caring side. As long as you treat him nicely and smile brightly at him, even if he was seriously annoyed at you, he won't turn away from you. He was just like the large cats with beautiful fur that he had seen on the African grasslands. One needed to approach cautiously, please gradually, and carefully smooth the fur before one could actually pet it.
But he didn't know Tao Mu's actions were a result of his worry that a bad attitude towards Shen Yu would receive a backlash from the plot power.
These days in his second life, Tao Mu had carefully analyzed it based on his previous life experience and the [Book Reviews] that appeared from time to time in his head: So long as it was someone Shen Yu liked or someone who really liked Shen Yu, then this person's luck and ending were usually not too bad; but if a person did not like Shen Yu, especially those who maliciously targeted Shen Yu, always had bad luck and a worse ending. As for those who had little communication with Shen Yu, or those who Shen Yu didn't pay much attention to, the [Book Reviews] didn't disclose much information about them.
In summary, Tao Mu concluded that Shen Yu's protagonist halo also had a limited scope. The closer people were to Shen Yu, the more they must restrain their dislike of Shen Yu. Otherwise, it would result in inexplicable bad luck.
Tao Mu was destined not to like Shen Yu because of his birth situation and previous life experience. Due to the strong power of the plot, Tao Mu couldn't be as hostile to him as he was in his previous life. After thinking about it, Tao Mu felt that the only thing he could do was to restrain his emotions towards Shen Yu. It was best to be able to stay away completely, but even if he couldnt, he should still try to keep a distance.
After getting off work, Tao Mu waited for Da Mao and Xiao Pang for a bit, and the three of them went home together. The two young people who were committed to being melon eater big V went straight to the computer when they got home, just like a teenager with a serious internet addiction.
"Aiyo, I'm so happy that I got three thousand fans in one day." Da Mao and Xiao Pang stared at the Weibo page with silly grins on their faces: "He's worthy of being called a celebrity. Just exchanging follows with him brings so many benefits."
Having said that, he didn't forget to ask Tao Mu: "Didn't you also exchange follows with the little prince? How many fans have you gained?"
"I don't know." Tao Mu replied boredly. In his heart he thought, who cared about a group of fans who turn their faces faster than the pages in a book. (TN: turn face=to fall out, to be hostile with somebody)
"Ai, where are you going!" Da Mao and Xiao Pang looked at Tao Mu, who was getting ready to go out after picking up his wallet.
"Go buy chicken feet." Tao Mu said: "Didn't I say I'll be roasting chicken feet for you guys on Saturday."
The two teenagers with a severe internet addiction immediately got up from having their butts stuck to the computer chair: "We'll go too."
In the end, Tao Mu didn't go to the market, but went to sister Ping's restaurant downstairs to ask about the supply channel: "Can I order ten catties of chicken feet? I'm not familiar with the place here, and I don't know who has better quality."
The lady boss made a gesture: "No problem. Do you want it tomorrow morning?"
"It's best tonight. So I can make it at noon tomorrow."
The lady boss didn't say anything more and immediately called to order.
Half an hour later, fresh chicken feet were delivered to the door. The boss, brother Feng, specially alerted Tao Mu: "The shop will be closed at nine today. When the time comes, brother will give you the kitchen, so make yourself at home."
Tao Mu: ""
Brother Feng was particularly enthusiastic: "Do you need this brother to help you?"
"No need." Tao Mu particularly hated others helping when he cooked. Because it would disrupt his rhythm and it was more like a hindrance than helping.
Brother Feng smiled, and he didn't know if Tao Mu really didn't need help, or he was afraid of outsiders stealing his secret recipe.
However, brother Feng still kept his promise and handed over the kitchen to Tao Mu at nine o'clock. He and sister Ping waited for him while watching TV and eating melon seeds.
At nine o'clock in the evening, the nightlife outside had just begun. But in the corner of the back kitchen, it was quiet as if everything had fallen asleep.
The noisy kitchen had quiet down, and Tao Mu was the only one in the kitchen. He stood standing in front of the faucet wearing an apron, washing the chicken feet over and over again. Tao Mu used running water, the rushing water pouring over the chicken feet and thoroughly washing them clean. At the same time, the cold water also made the chicken skin more crisp. After washing the ingredients, Tao Mu put the chicken feet in a large iron pan and stir-fryed them for two minutes, then rinsed them with cold water again. This would remove the smell and excess greasy fat.
Immediately afterwards was making the luwei. This step needed to use the fesh meat oil from good pork belly. Then add special spices and seasonings into the oil to stir fry. Tao Mu learned the exclusive secret recipe from Old Song Tou, which he taught to him when he was very young. The old man once said that a cook should be calm and steady when he was cooking, so that he could carefully judge the heat levels and be worthy of the ingredients themselves.
It's a pity that Tao Mu was never calm and steady when he was cooking in his previous life. Because the dishes he cooked in his previous life were either to please the Shen family or to win over business partners. As a man he was utilitarian so his cooking lacked a purity and spark.
Many people said that he had too many distractions when cooking, and the dishes he made were not as pure as Shen Yu's.
Although Tao Mu himself didn't know what karmic connection there was between what he was thinking when cooking and the taste of the dishes.
A tempting fragrance gradually spread in the kitchen. It was a bit like braised pork, but the taste was fresher and the aroma was stronger.
The diners sitting in the front hall couldn't help but sniff their noses. Old Feng said in awe, "Tao Mu's skills, not bad!"
"Of course." Da Mao and Xiao Pang said proudly: "My brother Mu is amazing!"
"It's so damn fragrant." The old diners who spend every evening watching TV in the restaurant while enjoying the air-conditioning touched their bellies. They were once again hungry even after having dinner just now.
Brother Feng couldn't bear it, and motioned to Da Mao and Xiao Pang to go in and ask: "Can we have some to try first?"
"It's not done yet!" Da Mao and Xiao Pang were also struck with craving, and sneaked to the kitchen door secretly: "Brother Mu, can you give us a few mouthfuls first?"
"I haven't finished it yet!" Tao Mu rebuffed: "You help me ask brother Feng, is there Shaoxing yellow wine in the kitchen?"
"Yes" Before Da Mao and Xiao Pang could speak, brother Feng stood up immediately: "On the shelf above the sink, there is a black jar with a piece of red paper pasted on it."
"I see it." Tao Mu replied and spilled half the jar of Shaoxing yellow wine. The iron pan sizzled audibly and the rich aroma spread with the steam. The scent rushed to the front hall, and the saliva of the old diners flowed all over the floor.
"No, I can't take it anymore." Someone rushed out the door and went to the skewers shop next door to order 30 yuan worth of skewers.
Tao Mu was still making the luwei sauce patiently. After half an hour, Tao Mu threw the stir-fryed chicken feet into the iron pan and simmered it over a small fire.
The simmering would take half an hour. After that, the simmered bones and meat of the chicken feet would become tender, the skin soft and chewy.
A large number of old diners in the front hall have all been KO-ed by the delicious scent by now.
Brother Feng looked at Tao Mu with bright eyes: "What shall we do next? Xiao Mu, please give me any instructions, and this brother will help you."
What would happen next?
Tao Mu casually threw the simmered chicken feet into the newly made luwei to marinade and soak: "In fact, there is nothing else but to let it soak in the flavor."
"Do you need to use any special technique to massage the chicken feet during the soaking period?" Brother Feng's imagination went wild. From the secret recipes passed down by the palace chefs to the secret techniques passed down by the folk people, at this moment he was preparing to feast his eyes and widen his horizons.
But Tao Mu said with an exasperated expression on his face: "No."
Brother Feng: ""
Flames of excitement instantly became extinguished by a basin of cold water. Brother Feng gave Tao Mu a pensive look, "Then you can go upstairs and rest."
Brother Feng looked at Tao Mu and wanted to inquire about the luwei recipe, but after thinking about it, he still didn't say anything in the end. Just after the restaurant closed, he dragged sister Ping into the back kitchen to examine the ingredients, wondering how many seasonings and spices Tao Mu used
But in the end they didn't find anything at all.
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