Literary Master 1978

Boiled beef is a unique cooking technique in Chaoshan area, similar to the common blanching or boiling, but the skill lies in the use of appropriate seasonings to match and highlight the deliciousness of the ingredients.

Cai Lan's blanched beef is slightly different from ordinary home-cooked dishes. It tastes fresh and tender, and the taste is salty and fresh.

There is no such dish in the world as "The Little Chef". It is difficult to satisfy everyone. It is a skill to make a table of people say that the dish is good after eating it.

After everyone finished eating Cai Lan's blanched beef, they cast their eyes on Lin Chaoyang, full of expectations.

For them who wander in the world of fame and fortune, gatherings are common, but this sudden cooking competition is a new thing. Everyone is looking forward to Lin Chaoyang's move with interest.

He is going to make sesame paste mixed with pork loin slices, a typical dish to go with wine.

You can't find sesame paste in ordinary Hong Kong families, but Zhang Cuiying is from Yanjing, and her family is not short of this stuff.

After washing the pork loin, he first used a sharp knife to slice both sides flat and discard the loin smell, so as to ensure the integrity of the loin slices to the greatest extent.

Then use cold water to drain the blood, and change the water three or four times repeatedly, and check the water quality to see if it is clear before it is considered complete.

Then boil water to blanch the loin slices. In this regard, Lin Chaoyang and Cai Lan have similar methods, highlighting a large pot with a lot of water, wait for the water to boil, put the loin slices into the pot, and then use a colander to scoop them out.

At this time, the loin slices are not cooked, so pour out the first pot of water, boil water again, and repeat the previous operation.

After blanching the loin slices twice, they are cooked, but still tender and crisp. When Lin Chaoyang used a colander to pour the loin slices into the plate, the loin slices touched the ceramic, and there was a duangduang elasticity, which made people around him look curious.

Just now, while waiting for the water to boil, Lin Chaoyang had already prepared the seasoning, sesame paste, bean paste, chopped green onion, chopped ginger, and minced garlic, and poured them into the dried loin slices.

After mixing evenly, a dish of sesame paste and loin slices was ready.

When Lin Chaoyang was cooking, the kitchen was full of people, and everyone was watching the whole process. When the dishes were ready, they didn't need to be served on the table. Everyone took a pair of chopsticks to taste them.

Cai Lan stopped them and asked everyone to drink saliva to clean the aftertaste in their mouths.

"You made it almost like recording a TV show."

Li Hanxiang said, then picked up two pieces of loin slices and put them in his mouth. The teeth bit together, and the firm and tender taste was transmitted through the teeth and bones, making a crunching sound between the eardrums.

This sound was not loud to others, but it was very clear. Li Hanxiang kept chewing and felt that it was tender, fresh, fragrant, salty, sweet, spicy, and the taste was extremely rich.

Everyone looked at his mouth full of oil and the constant crunching sound coming from his mouth, and they couldn't help but salivate and move their chopsticks. The kitchen was full of crunching sounds.

"Hmm~ Delicious!"

"Not bad, not bad. This is the first time I eat loin slices like this. It tastes really good."

Li Hanxiang took two bites of loin slices and wanted to take more, but Lin Chaoyang picked up the plate.

"Don't just eat it, at least give a review!"

Everyone immediately applauded.

Just now, everyone said that Cai Lan's blanched beef was good, but Li Hanxiang thought it tasted bland. In this way, Lin Chaoyang won the cooking competition by one vote.

Li Hanxiang said in a pretentious voice: "I declare that the final winner of this gourmet competition is..."

He paused here deliberately, and Yue Hua, Ti Lung and others immediately understood and imitated the drumbeats on TV that were specially used to whet the audience's appetite.

"Dangdangdangdang..."

Lin Chaoyang and Cai Lan smiled at each other and shook their heads.

"He is... Lin Chaoyang!"

As soon as Li Hanxiang finished speaking, the crowd immediately burst into warm applause, feeling as if they had really participated in a cooking competition.

There were more than a dozen men present, the oldest of whom was almost 60 years old, but when they were making noise, they were like a group of teenagers.

Lin Chaoyang also stood up in a pretentious manner, with his head held high, as if waiting for the award, and waved to the crowd, which attracted thunderous applause again.

"Hey, that's not right, why should we call people who compete in cooking skills "gourmets" instead of "cooking gods"?" Yue Hua raised an objection.

Li Hanxiang waved his hand, "Don't pay attention to these details."

The atmosphere of the party became hot after a lot of laughter.

Compared to the gatherings with writer friends in the mainland, the gatherings and interactions with Li Hanxiang and others were more rough, and the topics were more popular and down-to-earth, each with its own advantages.

Unlike the nodding acquaintances at the gathering at Li Hanxiang's house after the Academy Awards last year, Lin Chaoyang got to know these people at today's gathering.

In the following days, Tao Yushu went to Lockhart Road almost every day. Although New Kunlun Pictures was just a shell company, Tao Yushu still had a lot to learn.

Since Lin Chaoyang supported her to start her own business in the future, she naturally could not be lazy. No matter whether it was useful or not, it was always right to learn first.

Lin Chaoyang focused on writing and spent most of his time on writing.

There was an advantage of coming to Hong Kong. He stayed indoors all day and had no distractions. Lin Chaoyang's creative progress returned to its peak. He wrote 12,000 words in one day.

At this rate, the first draft of the novel will be completed in less than half a month.

Of course, it will definitely need to be revised and improved at that time.

That evening, he just came out of the study, and Tao Yumo said, "Brother-in-law, there are a few letters for you."

Lin Chaoyang was slightly surprised. They had just informed their family of their safety and their mailing address after they settled down in Hong Kong. It had been just over a week, but a letter had arrived so soon.

He took the letter and looked at the sender and the mailing address. One letter was from Yanjing, signed by Lin Erchun, and the other two were forwarded, one from China and one from abroad.

He first read Lin Erchun's letter, which was full of family matters. He was most concerned about Xiao Dongdong and the unborn baby in Tao Yushu's belly.

In addition, at the end of the letter, Lin Erchun mentioned the two forwarded letters, which were sent one after another within two or three days after Lin Chaoyang left, so Lin Erchun forwarded them all to Lin Chaoyang.

The sender of the letter in China was Li Shifei of Huacheng Publishing House. The content of the letter was nothing special. It just reported the current sales of "Crossing the Boat" and "Crossing Guandong", and then asked about the progress of Lin Chaoyang's new work.

The latter purpose was of course the focus of Li Shifei's letter. Lin Chaoyang thought about it and mentioned the matter of Yanjing Publishing House to Li Shifei in his reply. This kind of thing must be said in advance, at least to let people have a mental preparation.

The other letter from abroad was actually sent by Naoko Kondo. When Lin Chaoyang opened the letter, he didn't pay attention. The first thing scattered was a few photos.

Lin Chaoyang picked it up and saw that the content of the photos included Japanese manuscripts being translated, as well as work photos of Naoko Kondo and a middle-aged man.

Lin Chaoyang read the letter again. According to Naoko Kondo's description, she devoted most of her spare time to the translation of the Japanese version of "Crossing Guandong" after returning to Japan.

Because the workload and difficulty exceeded her expectations, Naoko Kondo had to invite Associate Professor Shozo Fujii of the Faculty of Literature at the University of Tokyo to help.

The two spent more than three months and have completed most of the translation of "Crossing Guandong". It is expected that the entire translation work will be completed in two months.

During this period, Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii also used their connections to communicate with various publishers in Tokyo. After reading some of the manuscripts translated by the two of them, Kawade Shobo became interested in "Crossing Guandong".

However, because the manuscript had not been translated yet, Kawade Shobo was not sure about the quality of the final manuscript, so its attitude was a little ambiguous.

At the end of the letter, Naoko Kondo made a promise to Lin Chaoyang that she would definitely promote the publication of "Crossing Guandong" in Japan.

Her firm attitude made Lin Chaoyang feel a little embarrassed.

That was a novel of more than 600,000 words. Most of the translation was completed in just over three months, and it was done in spare time. The effort and hard work can be imagined.

Lin Chaoyang could probably understand Naoko Kondo's thoughts. In her eyes, Lin Chaoyang gave her the manuscript of "Crossing Guandong", which was undoubtedly entrusting her with all his hard work.

Women dress up for those who please them, and men die for those who understand them.

This is the origin of Naoko Kondo's firm attitude.

At the end of the letter, she also mentioned that if the Japanese version of "Crossing Guandong" is translated in the future, it will inevitably have to be formally negotiated with the publisher. She hopes that Lin Chaoyang can definitely come to Tokyo to see the red leaves in Kyoto.

After reading the letter, Lin Chaoyang wrote back to Naoko Kondo and expressed his gratitude.

May came in a flash, and Lin Chaoyang and his family had been here for more than half a month. Except for Tao Yushu who often went out to work, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yumo basically stayed at home. Taking advantage of the good weather on this day, he originally planned to take his family out for a walk.

Unfortunately, the phone at home rang. It was Li Hanxiang who called to invite him for a cup of coffee.

Lin Chaoyang knew that this must be something, after all, he still owed Lao Li a favor, so Lin Chaoyang agreed without thinking.

The two agreed to meet at a cafe near Princess Road, called Hair Culture Cafe, which roughly translates to Hair Culture Cafe.

When Lin Chaoyang arrived, he found that there was a bald, small-eyed middle-aged man wearing a pair of black-framed glasses sitting next to Li Hanxiang.

"Old Li!"

"Michael!"

"Mr. Lin!"

The two sides greeted each other.

Michael is Xu Guanwen's English name. According to the transliteration habits of the mainland, it should be "Michael". Everyone calls him that, and Lin Chaoyang also follows the local customs and calls him that.

After a few pleasantries, Li Hanxiang said: "Actually, Michael is looking for you today, it's the thing I told you before."

When Lin Chaoyang saw Xu Guanwen, he had guessed the purpose of Li Hanxiang's invitation to him today. He smiled and asked: "I heard that Michael, aren't you filming "The Brave Double Bang: The Three Treasures of Wisdom and Courage"? There are many movie stars in it, so it shouldn't be a problem to sell well, right?"

"The box office should be good."

When talking about the box office, Xu Guanwen looked very confident, but there was no excitement on his face.

"Are you not happy with the box office sales?"

Xu Guanwen waved his hand, "I might be anxious if the box office fails, but I don't feel anything if the box office succeeds."

If someone else said this, it might be a bit crazy, but when Xu Guanwen said it, it didn't feel out of place.

Over the past decade, he has conquered moviegoers across East Asia with one critically acclaimed and commercially successful movie after another, and is the undisputed comedy king of the Hong Kong film industry.

After saying this, Xu Guanwen ignored Lin Chaoyang's reaction and continued:

"When I was young, I wanted to buy a gold Rolex. Later, the gold Rolex became a Mercedes-Benz. But how much can I eat? How much can I drink? How much can I use?

The difference between the deposits in the bank and one more zero and one less zero is not big to me.

I am forty-three years old this year. The audience loves to see me perform comedy, but how many more years can I perform?

I can't act anymore. I don't want the audience to look at me pretending to be crazy and stupid on the screen someday in the future, with disgust on their faces. "

Speaking of this, Xu Guanwen's face was filled with loneliness.

As the most popular star in the Hong Kong film industry in recent years, people only see his glamor, but no one knows his mental journey.

Xu Guanwen is the eldest son in the family. After he became famous, he focused on leading his younger brothers to succeed. Now all three younger brothers have carved out their own careers. Over the years, the reputation of the four Xu family brothers as outstanding civil and military figures has spread throughout Hong Kong.

The brothers' wings were hardened, and Xu Guanwen decisively chose to let go.

In the past, when the eldest brother acted in movies, his younger brothers would definitely have their place, but now, Xu Guanwen has not worked with his younger brothers for a long time.

Xu Guanwen rambled on about what was in his heart, while Lin Chaoyang and Li Hanxiang listened quietly.

"Lin Sheng, do you know why I came to you?" Xu Guanwen suddenly asked Lin Chaoyang.

"Why?"

Xu Guanwen smiled mockingly, "We Xiangjiang people, whether you call it snobbish or realistic, if I said these things to that filmmaker, they would just think I'm hypocritical. But you are different..."

Xu Guanwen looked at Lin Chaoyang with admiration in his eyes, "You are a writer, I believe you understand me."

Lin Chaoyang smiled. He didn't know whether Xu Guanwen's words were sincere or a compliment.

In his view, Xu Guanwen has the narcissism of an artist. Narcissism is certainly not a good thing in the eyes of others, but for many people who work in the arts, it is a trait that must be possessed if they want to succeed.

"Mi Gao, I can understand your mood. However, even if I cooperate with you, I may not be able to achieve the success you want, right?"

Lin Chaoyang's question hit the point. Xu Guanwen wanted to transform, so why did he have to identify him?