Chapter 117: It’s Just the Hai City Local Station, Alright

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: It’s Just the Hai City Local Station, Alright

When Rogge learned that Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant focused mainly on deliveries and that the small delivery truck had just left, a look of annoyance flickered across his face.

’Food delivery is a novelty in Hai City. What a great angle for the story! It’s a shame we were a step too late and completely missed it.’

Xu An glanced at the wall clock inside the restaurant, quickly calculated the time, and said, "If we head to the Silver Star Office Building now, we should be able to catch the last wave of lunch box deliveries!"

Rogge’s eyes instantly lit up. He immediately left three crew members behind to film Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, while he, two others, and Xu An set off for the Silver Star Office Building.

After rushing all the way there, the van had just pulled to a stop in front of the Silver Star Office Building when Xu Guosheng’s small truck arrived right behind them. The timing was perfect!

As Xu Guosheng hopped down from the small truck, he was startled to see three people aiming professional-looking cameras right at him. For a second, he thought he’d wandered onto a film set by mistake.

Xu An hurried over and leaned in to whisper a quick explanation to Xu Guosheng.

After hearing the explanation, Xu Guosheng’s expression turned serious. He tugged at his clothes, ran a hand through his hair, and whispered, "Is this outfit okay? I won’t embarrass us on TV, will I?"

A white T-shirt, floral shorts, and flip-flops—the classic Hai City look.

"No problem! It’s perfect. You’ll look incredibly handsome on camera!" Xu An gave Xu Guosheng a thumbs-up.

The four companies on their delivery route were on the sixth, thirteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-seventh floors. Naturally, their first stop was Huapu Media Company on the twenty-first floor.

Surprisingly, a security guard was on duty at the back entrance even at this hour. Xu An and the crew had to register their information before they were allowed into the building.

The freight elevator moved quickly, reaching the twenty-first floor in just over ten seconds.

The cameraman led the way as Xu An, carrying a crate of lunch boxes, walked toward Huapu Media Company just like any other day.

A group of five or six people, along with all their camera gear, created quite a stir.

They attracted the attention of several other offices along the hallway. People watched Xu An’s group, wondering what was going on.

When they saw the film crew’s ID badges from the local Hai City TV station, their excitement grew, and many even started following them to see what the fuss was about.

A total of twenty-seven employees at Huapu Media Company had ordered from Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant that day. They collected their meals in an orderly fashion, making a point to greet Xu An and exchange a few pleasantries. The atmosphere was cheerful and friendly.

The next three companies reacted similarly after learning it was a shoot for the local Hai City TV station. The day’s delivery handoffs went exceptionally smoothly.

After Xu An and the crew left, the employees who had ordered from Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant were immediately swamped with questions from their colleagues. Everyone wanted to know what was happening and why the local Hai City TV station had come to film them.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the onlookers who were confused; even those who had ordered the food were completely baffled and had no idea what was happening.

On the way back, the cameraman wanted to get some shots of Xu Guosheng driving, so he hopped into the passenger seat of the small truck. He filmed and chatted about the restaurant business as they drove.

When the cameraman heard that Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant had only officially opened in late June and had started out as a simple stall at a construction site, his interest was piqued. He kept asking how Xu’s Fast Food had grown from a roadside stand to delivering meals to office buildings.

Xu Guosheng immediately launched into the story, holding nothing back. He spilled every detail of Xu An’s journey to success and nearly blurted out the fact that Xu An was still wetting the bed at eight years old.

Fortunately, a final shred of sanity stopped him, sparing Xu An from having his bedwetting phase broadcast to the entire population of Hai City...

Three members of the television crew had remained at the restaurant to film the back kitchen, the food preparation process, and the customers as they ate.

Customers who came in were incredibly cooperative when they heard a documentary was being filmed for the local Hai City TV station. Before walking into the camera’s view, each person would tug at their clothes and fix their hair, making sure they looked their best before entering to order.

Everyone, from the restaurant staff to the dining customers, spoke a little louder, hoping the cameraman would notice them and give them a bit more screen time.

Even Granny Xu pulled out a small comb to make her already slick hair even slicker, and the polished old abacus in her hands clacked away furiously.

Before the cameraman arrived, Xu Kang and Xu Le had been eating at a snail’s pace. The moment the cameraman appeared, however, they began to eat with incredible gusto. The cameraman couldn’t resist giving them a few extra shots. The two little guys had successfully stolen the spotlight.

When Xu An got back, the crew was still filming B-roll at the restaurant. Rogge got out of the van, gave a few brief instructions, and then got back in to head toward the greenhouse farming area in Qianhai Town.

This time, it was Xu An’s turn to narrate the history of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant’s growth.

Xu An’s telling of the story was much more modest. It lacked the flowery praise of his father’s version, but it flowed smoothly, clearly painting a picture in the listener’s mind: a young man working hard to put meat on his family’s table, who eventually succeeded in opening his own restaurant.

"So, are you still planning to go to college?" Rogge asked curiously, knowing Xu An had just taken his college entrance exams.

"I didn’t get into any of the programs I applied for," Xu An said, a bit sheepishly. "Besides, both my family and the restaurant need me right now. And as they say, you can excel in any profession..."

He let the rest of the sentence hang in the air, its meaning understood.

Only when they were about to arrive at the greenhouses did the film crew allow Xu An to call Aunt Hong.

Aunt Hong was both surprised and delighted by the call. She made a point of changing into a red suit before riding her electric scooter to meet them.

’The local Hai City TV station! They’re actually coming to film *my* greenhouses!’

Aunt Hong, Hu Juan, and Uncle Lin arrived at nearly the same time. When they saw the television crew, they quickened their pace and rushed over to greet them, all smiles.

The shoot went smoothly for the most part, but a small incident occurred right at the end.

The other farmers got into another heated argument with staff from Victory Supermarket. The scene was captured on camera, but whether it would make the final cut was up to the station.

To recreate the purchasing process for the camera, Xu An placed a new order at the greenhouses, then went to Bald Chen’s to buy meat, before driving it all back to the restaurant.

After that, things proceeded as usual. Liang Dani and the others started washing and preparing the ingredients, Zhou Qi took charge of the cooking, and the finished dishes were finally displayed on the hot food station...

The local Hai City TV station’s documentary shoot began without warning and ended just as abruptly.

Xu An had assumed they would stay until the next day to film the restaurant’s actual food prep, but to his surprise, they wrapped up filming and left at four o’clock in the afternoon.

In stark contrast to the joyful atmosphere at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, some of the other restaurants chosen for filming were in a state of panic.

They tried to refuse as soon as the film crew explained their purpose, but this was a documentary with a mission: to capture the real conditions of fast-food restaurants. With food safety inspectors on site, their refusals carried no weight.

For them, this film shoot was a catastrophe.

After seeing the film crew off, Xu An collapsed into a chair in the restaurant. He wasn’t tired; it was the post-adrenaline crash. He’d been so excited during the shoot that now, as he relaxed, his body felt completely drained.

Xu An quickly replayed the entire filming process in his mind, searching for any potential problems.

’The meal delivery: drop-off, registration, receipt exchange, signatures—no problem!’

’The storefronts: sanitation, food safety, business licenses, purchase receipts—no problem!’

’Aunt Hong’s greenhouses: cultivation up to code, harvesting followed procedure, packaging and transport—no problem!’

’Bald Chen’s meat stall—no problem!’

’Other food suppliers—no problem!’

’He went over everything from start to finish. As far as he knew, he had done his absolute best. If there were issues beyond his scope of knowledge, well, there was nothing he could do about that.’

’I hope there are no problems.’

The thought that the documentary, once edited, would be broadcast on the local Hai City TV station made Xu An suddenly giddy with excitement.

’Hai City! That’s millions of people! They’re all going to learn about Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant from this documentary!’

’What an amazing promotional opportunity!’

’I wonder when the documentary will air, how much screen time Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant will get, and if I’ll have hired a new chef by then...’

Xu An drifted off into daydreams about the future.

Six camera crews from the local Hai City TV station were simultaneously filming six different fast-food restaurants. The filming wasn’t confined to the restaurants, either; it extended to their suppliers and distributors. An operation of this scale didn’t go unnoticed, and word began to spread among the citizens of Hai City.

Combined with the recent food poisoning incident and the scandal of Victory Supermarket selling expired food, public interest in the documentary was incredibly high. People were eager to see which of the six restaurants were good and which were bad...

Aunt Hong’s hurried appearance sparked curiosity among the villagers. After a few questions, the news was out, and it spread through the village like wildfire.

’The TV station is filming a documentary at Anzi’s restaurant! Anzi’s restaurant is going to be famous!’

’The TV station found out about Anzi’s restaurant and did a special interview!’

’The TV station did a special feature on Anzi’s restaurant!’

’...’

By the time Xu An finished cleaning up the shop and got home, he found his house and yard packed with villagers. They were all chatting animatedly, and the main topic of conversation was him.

By now, the rumor had evolved: Xu An was about to become famous nationwide...

Xu An himself was very excited, and he could understand everyone else’s excitement, but ’isn’t this rumor getting a little out of hand?’

’It’s the local Hai City station, for crying out loud!’