Chapter 1168 - Zi Yan and Mengmeng Prepare a Surprise in the Kitchen
Chapter 1168 Zi Yan and Mengmeng Prepare a Surprise in the Kitchen
“What are you talking about?” Yue Wuwei said as his face darkened.
“What’s going on?”
He found it extremely unreasonable.
Zhang Han said, “We should head back now, or it may be too late for dinner.”
As soon as they reached the Northernmost Sea, Zhang Han looked at the time.
“You may leave now. I’m so tired of running errands for you all the time.” Yue Wuwei said, “Hurry up and teach Mengmeng how to cultivate. When she reaches the Elixir Realm, she will be able to control the pearl and come and go at will.”
Hearing that, Zhang Han said faintly, “Well, do you mean that you don’t want to follow around when your daughter plays with my daughter?”
“Damn! I didn’t say that.” Yue Wuwei was thrilled and hurriedly touched his beard to calm himself down.
There was still a long way to go…
At six o’clock, the two of them returned to the secular world. Then, Zhang Han called Zi Yan.
“Then we’ll wait for you to have dinner together,” Zi Yan said with a smile.
Zi Yan was driving back home with the three little girls in the car.
Surprisingly, the girls all sat quietly in the car, reading and learning wholeheartedly.
They looked so serious.
Zi Yan was speechless at the scene. It wouldn’t take long for the girls to finish the schoolwork if they went on studying like this.
“Mengmeng, your daddy is going to be back soon,” When they arrived at New Moon Bay, Zi Yan said.
“Really? Daddy is back?” Mengmeng burst into laughter instantly.
“That’s right. Do you remember what we have agreed on the last time?” Zi Yan blinked at Mengmeng through the rearview mirror.
She was trying to remind Mengmeng.
“Uh? Oh! I remember.” Mengmeng licked her lips and said, “Mummy and I will cook for daddy together.”
“That’s it. It’s just that I’m actually… not very good at cooking,” Zi Yan said.
“It won’t be a problem. I can help you.” Mengmeng moved her head confidently.
“Mengmeng, you want to cook?” Yue Xiaonao grinned and said, “then I’ll eat at the restaurant tonight. You can cook for yourselves.”
“Hum, I didn’t intend to invite you to join us, either,” Mengmeng snorted and said, “Nobody but my daddy deserves to eat the dishes cooked by mummy and me.”
Besides, they needed to prepare the ingredients. While they were talking, the car arrived at the mountain gate.
The sight of Mount New Moon was like that of a fairyland.
With the formation of the Thunder Yang Treasure Land, the view of Mount New Moon was getting better day by day.
Zi Yan parked the car in the castle.
Yue Xiaonao and Nina went to study.
Then, Zi Yan and Mengmeng rushed to the kitchen which was on the third floor.
“Where should we start?” Zi Yan looked at the clean kitchen and was at a loss about how to start.
Then she recalled the days when Zhang Han used to cook…
He always cooked so smoothly and the whole process looked so easy.
“Mummy, have you decided what we should cook?” Mengmeng asked.
“I’ve thought of a few dishes,” Zi Yan said. “Cooked rice, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, sliced cucumber, and fried mushrooms. Do you have anything in mind?”
“There’s no meat,” Mengmeng said, “Shall we make some fried chicken wings?”
“Then let’s add fried chicken wings which is a meat dish, and beef fillets to the menu. Along with the previous three dishes, there will be five dishes in total. As for the soup, what about spinach vermicelli soup? What do you think?” Zi Yan asked.
“Okay, we should start right away. Daddy will be back soon.”
“I’ll ask Xiaofeng to bring some ingredients here.” Zi Yan took out her mobile phone and called Zhao Feng.
They had fresh ingredients in stock every day.
In less than ten minutes, Zhao Feng delivered the ingredients to them as told.
Zhao Feng almost laughed out when he saw that both Zi Yan and Mengmeng were ready to cook with aprons on, “Ma’am, Mengmeng, are you seriously going to cook on your own? Do you need me to help you process the ingredients?”
“That sounds alright. Can you do that fast?” Zi Yan said as she checked the time.
It had been half an hour since her last call with Zhang Han, who might arrive at any time.
“Sure.”
Zhao Feng definitely could see that Zi Yan was afraid of wasting the limited time here.
“Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!”
Zhao Feng’s action was swift as he washed and cut the ingredients. In less than a minute, all kinds of raw ingredients were orderly placed on the plates. Even the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and shallots were ready.
“Damn, are we in charge of cooking here?” Mengmeng was reluctant to accept the help and muttered.
“Thanks for your hard work. You may leave now,” Zi Yan said with a smile.
“Okay, ma’am. Call me if you need anything else.” Zhao Feng nodded and left.
Zi Yan and Mengmeng were left alone in the kitchen.
The remaining task was still tricky.
“I will cook the rice first,” Zi Yan said.
“Then I’ll make the scrambled eggs with tomatoes,” Mengmeng said.
“Can you do it?” Zi Yan started cooking according to the instructions. She was worried about Mengmeng and was absent-minded, so she forgot to wash the rice first and started cooking directly. She even clapped her hands at the same time.
“I can do it.”
Mengmeng poured some oil into the pot and asked, “Why can’t I start the fire?”
“You haven’t turned on the gas tank.” Zi Yan twisted the switch below.
“Sizzle.”
The flame finally showed.
Zi Yan reminded, “You haven’t got the eggs ready. You need to stir them together.” Hearing that, Mengmeng quickly ran aside, cracked three eggs, and stirred the eggs altogether. After stirring them a few times, the oil in the pot was already heated.
“Should I add some shallots?” Zi Yan said with uncertainty.
“Maybe just a little bit.”
“Whiz!”
The temperature of the oil was a little high. So when the chopped shallots were put in, some oil immediately splashed out.
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
Sharp cries came from the kitchen.
“Put the eggs in.” Zi Yan reminded.
“Doing it.”
“And the tomatoes.”
“Some salt, seasoning, then what? Spices?” It was not until then that Mengmeng realized how difficult it was to cook.
“I guess that’s it.”
“Mummy, it’s burnt!”
Mengmeng hadn’t expected that it would be so difficult to cook. Whenever she observed her daddy cooking, it seemed to be so easy.
Zi Yan fell into deep thought as she saw the burnt eggs. After a while, she took out her chopsticks and fiddled with the dish a few times, saying, “A little cover-up will do.”
“Really?” Mengmeng was confused.
“Absolutely.” Zi Yan gave her a positive answer.
“What should we do next?” Mengmeng asked.
“Fry the mushrooms, but they may be burnt if cooked directly. So you should first boil the mushrooms in hot water and then fry them. Besides, boil some pure water. I will go and fry the chicken wings.”
Zi Yan put the chicken wings, which had just been sprinkled with salt, into the oven. After she adjusted the temperature and time, her work was done.
“The stir-fried mushrooms are not burnt this time. The last failure was because of the fire. Should I set it on fire myself?” Mengmeng was a little annoyed at the gas tank.
“Just use it. If you use your ability when dealing with everything, you will lose some fun.” Zi Yan shook her head.
“That’s true.”
“The cucumber slices are easy to cook.”
“What about beef fillets?”
“You can search how to make it online.”
“Crap. The beef fillets are so sticky.”
“You may have added too much starch.”
“Then what should I do now?”
“Get some of the fillets out and make it look nicer.”
Their cooking plan didn’t go as well as they had expected.
Even so, when Zhang Han came back 10 minutes later, he was totally stunned.
It was a big surprise for him to see Zi Yan and Mengmeng cooking for him.
“Clatter, clatter…”
Warmth flowed through his heart.
He felt warm all over.
However, upon seeing their clumsy action, he really wanted to laugh.
He smiled and shook his head with strongly mixed feelings.
He felt incredibly lucky with them around.
He was in a very good mood.
He felt as if he was bathing in sunshine.
After thinking for a while, Zhang Han walked into the house and came to the corridor on the third floor.
“I’m back.”
“Wow! Don’t come over now!” Zi Yan exclaimed.
“Bang.”
The kitchen door was shut.
Ten minutes later, Mengmeng ran out of the kitchen.
Zhang Han took a closer look at her face and noticed a stain on her left cheek.
“Daddy! Guess what mummy and I are doing?”
“Let me think… are you pulling down the house?”
“Wrong!! Mummy and I are cooking for you. Let’s go to the dining room.”
Mengmeng took Zhang Han’s hand and ran to the restaurant.
“Clang, clang!”
They opened the door and saw that Zi Yan had just set down the tableware.
“Dinner is ready,” Zi Yan said with a smile.
“There are so many dishes. You are so amazing,” Zhang Han smiled and said. “And the dishes look appetizing.”
“They taste even better. Mummy and I just tried them for you,” Mengmeng said.
Zi Yan pursed her lips and smiled.
Then she made a face at Zhang Han.
She knew very well that the taste of the dishes depended on the natural flavor of the ingredients. The dishes might taste okay, but they would be far worse than those cooked by Zhang Han.
However, it was the first time that she had cooked with Mengmeng, so she was quite satisfied.
“Daddy, sit here and have a try.”
Mengmeng said excitedly.
“Okay.”
Zhang Han sat on the chair, picked up the chopsticks, and put one piece of beef fillet into his mouth.
“Eeeahhh…”
His expression suddenly turned complex.
It looked as if he were taking some poison.
“Uh?”
“Uh?”
Zi Yan and Mengmeng were stunned at the same time.
Unconsciously, they began to doubt themselves.
“Did he bite on the burnt part?” They felt worried.
Just now, when they tried the dishes, the food all tasted fine. But those burnt parts had been covered.
Thus, they felt guilty.
“Oh.”
“Ah!”
“It’s so delicious. Did you make this?”
Then Zhang Han’s expression changed drastically. Now he seemed to enjoy it a lot.
“Hum, daddy, you are so mean. Do you really like it?”
“Of course, I love it. Those are the best dishes I’ve ever eaten,” Zhang Han replied.
While speaking, he reached out his hand to wipe Mengmeng’s delicate face.
“Then you should eat more,” Zi Yan said smilingly.
She had just replied to Zhang Han with the words he used to tell them every day.
Zi Yan secretly made up her mind that she would cook more for him whenever it was possible.
However, there wouldn’t be too many opportunities like this. Zhang Han seldom went out alone, and he wouldn’t let them work when he was at home.
For Zhang Han, the delicious food was a kind of psychological enjoyment.
It was nice to enjoy the dishes cooked by them. Still, he didn’t want them to be too much busy in the kitchen.
Soon afterwards, the meal was basically over.
Only then did Zi Yan wipe her mouth, saying, “The soup is a bit salty.”
“I think it’s tasty,” Zhang Han replied.
“By the way, Teacher Bai called me today. Mengmeng and the other two kids went to Teacher Bai after school and said that they would not go to class. It freaked the teacher out and he urged me for long.” Zi Yan smiled helplessly.
“Did you agree to that?” Zhang Han glanced at her and asked.
“Of course, but they have to study in school during this period of time.”
“That’s right,” Mengmeng said. “And we learn very fast. After dinner, I’ll go back to study.”
“You don’t need to be so serious,” Zhang Han smiled and said. “Don’t work too hard. We are satisfied with average grades.”
Sensing Zi Yan’s gaze, Zhang Han added, “Your mummy has said that it’s okay as long as your grades are among the top three in your class, right? Well, I think it’s very easy for you.”
“I can take the first place in the exams.” Mengmeng snorted. After a pause, she added, “It’s possible that I may take the second place. Nina is also doing very well. If I’m not careful, she may take the first place.”
“Nina learns really fast,” Zi Yan said. “She’s also very smart.”
Nina was a great girl, but it was a pity that her mother Tricia was gone.
That was why Nina’s personality was sometimes dull. When they first met, Nina appeared gentle and elegant, with the temperament of a noble. But back then, she never smiled from the bottom of her heart. Now that she had come to the earth twice and had played with Mengmeng and Yue Xiaonao, she now smiled more sincerely.
After dinner, Mengmeng went back to her room to study.
Zhang Han cleaned up the kitchen and the dining room. Then he sat in the balcony with Zi Yan for a while.
He told her that he need to cultivate for some time.
It would take about a month.
That night, Zi Yan fell asleep soundly.
But Zhang Han went to the practice room.
Then, he set up a magic formation.
“Air-shattering Hand, Heavenly Devil Punch…
“I’ll do it slowly. Let me use the Air-shattering Hand to gather all five types of power first.
“It’s a huge project.
“But with my Immortal Body, the Great Demon Yuan Ying, soul sense sea Thunderbolt Mark, and my comprehensive capability, I should be able to absorb one power in a day.
“Instead of becoming slower in the absorbing process, I will only get faster and faster.”
Somehow, Zhang Han smiled inexplicably.
According to Yue Wuwei, the more power he absorbed, the slower he would get. But for Zhang Han, the situation was different. His Immortal Body had reached its limit. In theory, the process of breaking through the Immortal Body of the Five Elements would be slower, because the body wouldn’t be able to take too much pressure.
However, he had so many skills. It was as though he had been enhanced both internally and externally.
With such good aptitude, it would be impossible for him to absorb slowly.
“Whoosh!”
A stream of water began to merge by Zhang Han’s Air-shattering Hand.
The flame and drips of water blended together, which made Zhang Han’s face partly invisible in the practice room.
On the next day, Zi Yan took Mengmeng to school, when Zhang Han was still cultivating. She went to the company and checked the progress of the making of the movie with Zhou Fei.
After editing, the visual effect of the movie was very good. The movie lasted for two and a half hours. Now it only needed to process the sound effects and some other productions, with the beginning and the end included.
Zi Yan’s and Zhou Fei’s names were listed in the director’s column.
After a total of seven days of hard work, the movie was ready to be released.
The date of its release was set to be on May 1st.
After the news came out, it caused a sensation in the entertainment circle.
In the conference room of the Dark Gold Entertainment Group in Lin Hai City, President Li patted the table, saying, “On May 1st, our movies Sand River, and The Legend of the Imperial Physician, are going to be released. The internal competition is already fierce enough. In addition, there is also the Eight Inner Gates from the Arced Entertainment, which will add to pressure. Now, the Interstellar War from Purple Moon Entertainment Company will be released on that day too? Are they in favor of cruel competition?”
“President Li, the Mengmeng Group is very powerful in Xiangjiang. We all have heard of Purple Moon Entertainment Company. It’s said that it’s the company of Zi Yan, the famous star. She has won Oscars so many times. This time, she must have come with great ambition.”
There were more than a dozen people present.
One of them said, “We’re all in the same field. They didn’t say anything about the film before as if they had done it on purpose. It’s embarrassing. Although our company has just risen in the past three years, it’s now a well-known company. It’s a small circle. I guess we have to talk to their new president, General Manager Sun.”
“It’s useless to talk to them now. They’ve already sent out the news. Haha, since Zi Yan retired, Purple Moon Entertainment Company hasn’t produced any great celebrities. I read the report. The protagonist’s name is Li Mu. I’m really speechless. How can an unknown actor make a hit overnight? It’s foolish of them to challenge us. I guess they’re going to suffer a great loss. If Zi Yan doesn’t come out, nothing they do will be useful.”
“Purple Moon Entertainment Company was indeed glorious at that time. It was almost the leading entertainment company in Xiangjiang. Back then, everyone respected it. I worked there for two months. To put it in an exaggerated way, even a manager of Purple Moon Entertainment Company was personally received by our boss. It was indeed powerful, but unfortunately, they didn’t make the right move and gradually fell. The company hasn’t produced any decent film or TV drama in recent years. President Li, don’t worry. They wouldn’t be a threat to us.”
“Do you remember that Purple Moon Entertainment Company has one of the world’s top special effects production teams? The video released last year was a spectacular science fiction. With such amazing special effects, they are worthy of our great concern.”
There were all kinds of comments online, but those young people and new companies had never experienced the horror of Purple Moon Entertainment Company. Therefore, they didn’t think highly of the company.
“It’s useless to obtain special effects alone. It’s more likely to arouse audience’s disgust toward magical effects and silly plots.”
“They don’t even dare to release the trailer. I think what they did was just processing some stories and piecing them together.”
Hearing his subordinate’s words, President Li raised his eyebrows.
He said, “That’s it for now. Pay attention to their movement and give me General Manager Sun’s number. I’m going to inquire about it and get ready for this match.”
At the same time, some people were discussing in the conference room of another company – Arced Entertainment Company.
“Our Eight Inner Gates is supposed to compete with the two films of the Dark Gold Entertainment Company on May 1st. Among them, Sand River has a big production of 500 million yuan, and Legend of the Imperial Physician is said to be at 300 million yuan. The production of Eight Inner Gates is 200 million yuan. But I’m confident in our movie. However, Purple Moon Entertainment Company suddenly showed up in the way, which can be troublesome. Purple Moon Entertainment Company is famous for being generous in spending money. How is this movie? Judging from its previous video, it can be really aggressive.”
Someone sighed with emotion, “I don’t think Purple Moon Entertainment Company’s debut work will be ordinary.”
Someone else said, “The Dark Gold Entertainment Company just rose to power in the past three years. They mainly focus on domestic market. In the past, they worked mainly on variety shows. Last year, they reaped something in films and television dramas. To put it bluntly, they are still newcomers, especially President Li, who always likes to compete with others to gain popularity. His means are not bad. In the face of Purple Moon Entertainment Company, they may take some effective actions.”
“What should we do?
“Should we choose another time for the movie to be released?”
“If so, President Li would take it as a laughingstock, as if our company were afraid of him.”
“Let’s just wait and see.”
After the brief meeting, they adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
In fact, they held the meeting because they sensed a lot of pressure.
But they chose a different attitude from Dark Gold Entertainment Company.
Sure enough, three days passed quietly.
Suddenly, Sun Dongheng posted on Weibo, “Don’t ask me those idiotic questions again, fellows. If you are afraid, you should withdraw your movies.”
“RUMBLE!”
In the Entertainment Circle, such special words immediately generated an extraordinary effect.
Gradually, President Li understood the status of the boss of Purple Moon Entertainment Company.
Sun Dongheng’s post had won countless supports.
Many bosses of entertainment companies in Xiangjiang left comments below Sun Dongheng’s post, and even many stars supported him.
Instantly, it collected much attention.
Especially those fans who had followed Zi Yan due to her short video of Interstellar War.
“The Interstellar War is finally coming out.”
“Purple Moon Entertainment Company’s production must be excellent!”
“Awesome! I’m looking forward to May 1st right now!”
President Li checked Weibo and exclaimed, “What the fuck! His post has got so much attention?”
Of course, he needed to hype it up too.
He posted online, “On May 1st, two of our company’s films will be on, and we are sure to win.”
In the blink of an eye, many stars belonging to the company reposted the post.
Only then did everyone realize that Dark Gold Entertainment Company and Purple Moon Entertainment Company were competing with each other.
It attracted a lot of onlookers.
Originally, Sun Dongheng intended to ignore it.
However, he didn’t expect that the Dark Gold Entertainment Company, which was good at hyping, was making trouble.