Chapter 265 - 227: Monkey, Will This Be Any Good?

Chapter 265: Chapter 227: Monkey, Will This Be Any Good?

September 8, 2012. Saturday. Overcast.

As requested, Wu Yongfeng arrived at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant at 5:30 in the morning, carrying all his photography equipment. He was ready to start filming, just like the day before.

But something felt strange today. When he’d arrived at the same time yesterday, the area in and around the restaurant had been bustling with activity. Today, however, he was surprised to find most people leaning against their vehicles and chatting, while a few were dozing off in their cars.

Wu Yongfeng wasn’t sure what they were up to, but he wasn’t curious enough to find out. After locking his electric scooter, he took his equipment out of its bag and focused on adjusting the camera settings, preparing for the upcoming shoot.

Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds later, his settings were dialed in. He raised the camera to see if everything was ready, and as he did, he noticed that all the men and women who had just been chatting by their cars were now staring straight at him.

"Morn... Good morning, everyone..." Wu Yongfeng quickly mustered a polite smile and greeted the crowd.

"Good morning, Photographer Wu! Come on, over here! You have to see this. Today’s cabbages are massive, and every last one is perfect. Absolutely photogenic!" Aunt Hong waved enthusiastically at Wu Yongfeng, motioning for him to come over and film.

Before he could respond, Bald Chen, who was standing right beside him, grabbed his arm. He was even more enthusiastic than Aunt Hong. "Hey, hey, my friend, over here! Look at this meat I’ve got today. Every single cut is top-quality, carefully selected! Come on, look at this beautiful, pink texture. Isn’t that worthy of a close-up?"

"Hey, buddy, over here, over here! Look at my dried mushrooms. Every single one smells amazing! The braised mushrooms at all those delis? They get them from me. Every customer who’s tried them raves about them!"

"I’ve got spices over here! Young man, come see..."

"...Dried goods, I’ve got dried goods..."

In that instant, Wu Yongfeng felt like he had stepped into a bustling marketplace, with every stall owner eagerly beckoning him over, waiting for his imperial favor...

’But what’s going on? What happened?’

’Yesterday, they were so dismissive of me, and even seemed annoyed that I was in their way while they unloaded their cargo. Why is every last one of them so enthusiastic today?’

Aunt Hong seemed to have noticed Wu Yongfeng’s confusion. Carrying a cabbage larger than her own face, she sidled up to him and explained, "We saw the video you filmed yesterday. It was good, but there were too many wide shots and not enough close-ups. It couldn’t fully show off the best qualities of our ingredients. Today, you should get more close-up shots. You know, like... like in that documentary, *Visiting Fast Food Restaurant*. Film our ingredients in a way that makes people’s mouths water!"

"Ah... uh, uh... okay!" Wu Yongfeng surrendered to Aunt Hong’s enthusiasm. He recalled the beautiful, ingredient-focused cinematography from *Visiting Fast Food Restaurant* and raised his camera to start filming.

Cabbage, lettuce, pork, duck feet, chicken feet, mushrooms, kelp... He filmed them all, not missing a single one.

He shot from a single detail to a whole ingredient, then from one ingredient to countless more, from countless ingredients to an entire crate, and finally from one truck to a wide shot of all the vehicles. The frame finally settled on the brightly lit sign of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, where the three large, calligraphed words "Xu’s Fast Food" appeared in the center of the lens.

Sun Xuezhen was a regular at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. While she was quite satisfied with their boxed meals and had never had any problems, she would still worry occasionally. ’Could these cheap meals be a result of... subpar ingredients?’

But since she’d never gotten sick, and the restaurant had passed two food safety inspections without issue, she’d been able to put her mind at ease, for the most part.

Then, a couple of days ago, Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was suddenly ordered to close by the food safety authorities, which gave her a major scare. Even after news reports confirmed that the restaurant was not at fault, she had already made her decision: she would cook for herself from now on!

’Whether or not I save money is another question, but at least it’s healthy, and I won’t have to worry about food safety.’

’Sure, I have to buy groceries, wash and chop vegetables, cook, wash all the pots and pans, and clean the kitchen afterward... It’s a bit of a hassle, but compared to my health, it’s nothing!’

Just after she had steeled her resolve and cooked for herself for a full day, she happened to see a message about Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant in a group chat.

To prove its innocence, Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant had taken the initiative to film its entire process, from raw ingredients to finished dishes! Some of the ingredients shown in the video were of even higher quality than what she bought for herself.

Despite this, Sun Xuezhen remained skeptical of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

’Maybe it’s just for show,’ she thought. ’The cost of filming for just one day wouldn’t be that high! Perhaps I should just wait and see?’

And so, as soon as her lunch break started at noon today, she promptly opened the ordering page for Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant and navigated to the "Brand Story" section. Sure enough, there was another video. The title was: Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant - September 08, 2012!

’They’re actually filming a new video every single day!’

With a click of the mouse, the video expanded to fill the screen. The four words "Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant" appeared, and the video began to play.

She had only watched the beginning, but Sun Xuezhen already sensed something was different. ’Why does today’s video feel more and more like a food documentary?’

Pale green, jade-like cabbage was transformed into a plate of refreshing, delicious stir-fried cabbage with glass noodles; deep, emerald-green lettuce stems were steeped in a five-spice marinade; snow-white duck feet donned a new, amber-colored coat as they simmered and bubbled in the stew...