Chapter 134: Thousands
While Wu Yongzheng was dazed, more than a dozen men wearing Sheng Yan uniforms came over pushing seven or eight carts.
“Hey, who is the person in charge here?” A middle-aged man leading the group was stopping a stage manager to ask questions.
The stage manager was also confused, staring blankly at the group of people in front of him.
“I am the crew’s producer, surname Guan.” Guan Chun left Wu Yongzheng, who was sitting on the small stool, and walked over quickly while saying, “Chairman Gu ordered it; today’s lunch was booked at Sheng Yan.”
“Hello, Producer Guan.” The middle-aged man turned his head and shook hands with Guan Chun. “My surname is Lu, a chef from Sheng Yan.”
While talking, Wu Yongzheng also came over to stand beside Guan Chun, observing the small carts pushed by the people from Sheng Yan.
The carts didn’t contain ready-made meals but rather jars and bottles of oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar. Other stainless steel boxes were covered with lids, hiding the specific contents inside.
“You are…?” Wu Yongzheng couldn’t help but question.
Chef Lu looked puzzled.
“Our crew’s chief director, Wu Yongzheng, Director Wu,” Guan Chun explained.
“Hello, Director Wu! Sheng Yan requires that the food entering every diner’s mouth be in the most perfect state, so after receiving the order, I brought my apprentices to the site to make the dishes on the order.”
Chef Lu pointed to the things on several carts, then puffed out his chest to display the work uniform embroidered with the two large characters “Sheng Yan” more obviously, seemingly extremely proud to be an employee of Sheng Yan.
This dialogue left the stage manager, who hadn’t left, dumbfounded. It should be known that the quality of the boxed lunches provided by their Fashion Queen crew every day was already excellent, but he didn’t expect that once the big boss came, it could be even better.
Then Chef Lu asked, “Producer Guan, Director Wu, you two see if you can point out a place, or clear a space for us?”
Sheng Yan didn’t provide takeout service, but one could spend money to invite the chef out!
While Wu Yongzheng was marveling, Guan Chun pointed out an empty and clean place for the Sheng Yan group.
Chef Lu waved his hand, and the rest of the people pushed the small carts to follow.
Upon reaching the spot, the carts were pieced together to form a kitchen counter. Stoves and kitchenware were taken out of the boxes one by one. In a short time, a simple and clean small kitchen was built.
Then, stainless steel boxes were opened one by one. Inside were clean, prepared ingredients, which turned into delicious and tempting dishes under Chef Lu’s hands.
The crowd of people wrapping up work on the set also noticed this.
“Sister Wen, no more boxed lunches for lunch from now on?” A young man gently tugged at the sleeve of an idle old employee and asked, “Changed to fresh stir-fry boxed lunches by the street? I ate that at construction sites before I came to the crew.”
The person called Sister Wen by the young man looked no older than him. She said complacently, “Are you stupid? Didn’t you see the uniforms they are wearing? Sheng Yan, do you know Sheng Yan?”
The young man shook his head and flattered Sister Wen, “You are Supervisor Wang’s right-hand woman and have seen big scenes. Give us a science lesson.”
“Yeah, let us broaden our horizons too,” several extras who heard the conversation and gathered around echoed.
“Sheng Yan is a place that only the celebrities and rich people of Shanghai can enter. Ordinary people can’t even hear the name. Even if you qualify to get in, you’d at most eat and drink tea inside. To have Sheng Yan people come to cook in person like now, you are lucky to have encountered Chairman Gu coming for inspection.”
Hearing Sister Wen’s explanation, the young man looked eagerly at the Sheng Yan people, as if trying to stare a hole through them.
“What’s wrong? Eyeballs are about to fall out?” Sister Wen glanced at the young man and asked, seeing him staring without blinking.
“I’m just curious. Look at the vegetables in the pot; they aren’t expensive things like abalone or sea cucumber…” The young man didn’t finish his sentence, but the meaning was there—these were ingredients available in ordinary restaurants too.
An extra chimed in, “Didn’t they say rich people love to eat bird’s nest and shark fin?”
Sister Wen rolled her eyes subtly at them. “Are greenhouse vegetables from the supermarket the same as the vegetables grown in your hometown fields? Is the cooking skill of the street restaurant you eat at the same as the hotel chef at a banquet?”
The group shook their heads.
“That’s right! You’ll know if it’s worth it after eating later!” After speaking, Sister Wen didn’t have the patience to continue gossiping with them and turned to find her boss, Supervisor Wang.
She was Supervisor Wang’s left arm; she couldn’t let the right arm find a chance to squeeze her out.
Passing by the handymen who were arranging tables and chairs, she said, “The master chefs are already cooking. You guys move faster! Are the tables, chairs, and benches wiped clean? You are the ones sitting there later!”
The young man was just an ordinary worker in the crew, and his family background was also ordinary.
After starting work, part of his salary was used for daily expenses, and part was saved to buy a house and a car. He was lucky to join Yishang, with a dormitory to live in and a cafeteria to eat in, allowing him to spend some salary elsewhere. Just an ordinary working class; where would he have the chance to contact these things?
The other extras were the same.
“Preserved Egg with Young Ginger.”
“Yellow Croaker Wontons.”
“Five Grains Abundance Eight-Treasure Duck.”
“Steamed Hilsa Herring with Chicken Oil and Huadiao Wine.”
“Cherry Meat (Braised Pork).”
“Pan-fried Hairtail.”
“Crab Roe Mixed Rice.”
…
Dishes were cooked one after another under the hands of several chefs from Sheng Yan.
“These are all Shanghai local dishes (Benbang cuisine), right?” Hearing the names of the dishes, the young man looked at the extra next to him, his phone screen still on the search page.
“I guess? I’m not a local either. Did you search it up?” An extra replied.
“Look quickly, I found Sheng Yan!”
The few people discussing whether it was local cuisine gathered around. It was a video with not many views, mentioning being at Sheng Yan.
“Let me see.” When he curiously clicked on the menu suspected to be from Sheng Yan in the comments section, his jaw instantly dropped at the prices. “A single tea egg costs thousands? Are we eating golden eggs?”
“What? So expensive?”
“There are more than eight hundred people in our crew this morning! Eating like this, how much money will that cost?”
“The world of the rich… no wonder Sister Wen disdains us.”
They weren’t the only ones exclaiming here. As long as one person knew this wasn’t something meant to be hidden, the entire crew would soon know.
Treating the crew to a meal during a visit wasn’t something they hadn’t experienced. The better ones would go to a nearby hotel for a meal; the worse ones would just have slightly more delicious boxed lunches delivered.
But like Gu Wanrong, casually treating a meal and spending a fortune like this was truly a first.
Just for this meal at noon today, for their more than eight hundred people, wouldn’t it cost millions?
Millions thrown into the water just for fun.
Gu Wanrong didn’t feel the pinch, but they felt the pinch just eating it. The people who were feasting couldn’t help but sigh in their hearts.
However, even though they said they felt the pinch, their hand movements were not ambiguous at all. “Smells so good, I want another bowl!”
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