Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 167 Two Cokes, with Ice

The back door of the Central Academy of Drama, Nanluoguxiang.

Meng Bai and Song Zhi walked through the crowd and stopped in front of an inconspicuous restaurant on the roadside.

There is a red sign on the wall of the second floor of the restaurant, with four white characters "Jingxiu Restaurant" written on it. Next to the gray antique door, there is a display board.

What is different from other restaurants is that in addition to the signature dishes, the display boards also feature photos of various celebrities.

There are two lines of words written on the photo: "The Second Canteen of the Central Academy of Drama" and "Twenty-two Years Old Shop".

Jingxiu Restaurant is a well-known old restaurant in the Central Academy of Drama. It has been opened here since 1992 and is known as the "Second Canteen" or "Back Canteen" of the Central Academy of Drama. Because of its affordable prices and good taste, it is deeply loved by teachers and students of the Central Academy of Drama.

Many actors and celebrities who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama have checked in here, making Nanluoguxiang a famous "Internet celebrity check-in spot."

"We're lucky." Song Zhi looked inside through the window. "Not many people."

The two walked into the store and a middle-aged woman came out from the counter. She was the owner of the restaurant.

"Auntie, there are two of us."

"Okay, just find an empty table and sit down." The boss lady greeted warmly.

Song Zhi found a seat near the corner and sat down, then he said familiarly: "Auntie, we want a portion of boiled beef, fish-flavored poached eggs, and minced chicken. I saw a notice outside saying that there are glutinous rice balls today, right? I want another portion of glutinous rice balls."

"Oh, you are old customers." The boss lady said with a smile, looked at the two of them, thought for a few seconds and said: "Hey, I remember that you two are from the class of 06 or 07."

"Yes, Auntie." Song Zhi asked in surprise, "You still recognize us?"

"Well, I have some impression of all the classmates who come here often." The boss lady's attitude became more enthusiastic. "I remember that this guy always came with you. Now it has been several years since you graduated. It's great to see you still together."

"Uh..." The smile on Song Zhi's face paused, and he subconsciously glanced at Meng Bai next to him.

Meng Bai looked normal, echoed and said, "Auntie, will the food take a while?"

The boss was really diverted from the topic and laughed loudly, "Don't worry, Auntie will help you rush it, it will be quick."

Watching her leave, Song Zhi glanced at Meng Bai and asked with a flickering gaze: "Why didn't you explain just now?"

"Explain what?"

"That's right, we've broken up."

"What's there to explain? He was just asking casually. Why make trouble?"

"But... wouldn't it be easy to be misunderstood?" Song Zhi said softly.

"It's just a misunderstanding." Meng Bai poured two cups of hot water and handed one over. "You won't suffer any loss anyway."

“That’s right… huh?”

Song Zhi frowned his small eyebrows. Why did this sound a bit awkward?

The boss lady seemed to really help them speed up the process, and the dishes were served not long after.

In the white porcelain plate, the amber sauce hung on the soft and crispy chicken, gleaming with an attractive oily luster. Song Zhi picked up a piece, took a bite, and then his eyes lit up: "Hmm - it's still this familiar taste."

After taking two bites happily, she suddenly sighed again.

As her "ex-boyfriend" with whom she had been together for many years, Meng Bai knew without asking that she must be worried about how much weight she would gain after eating.

Song Zhi actually loves to eat, but unfortunately he doesn’t have the physique to eat as much as he can without gaining weight.

Every time she went out to eat, her mood kept jumping back and forth between "I really want to eat" and "I will gain weight". Then she would be entangled while eating, and finally "finished the meal with worry".

"One or two meals won't matter." Meng Bai said, "Besides, girls need to have more meat, it's better for their health."

"Ah?" Song Zhi looked at him in disbelief, "Where did you read this?"

Meng Bai spread his hands: "That's right. Women need more fat to protect their internal organs because of their body structure. Besides, if you have more subcutaneous fat, you can at least protect yourself from more attacks if you encounter danger."

"...I can tell you've been studying forensics seriously lately."

With all the reasons given by Meng Bai, Song Zhi finished his meal "painfully".

It was already past four in the afternoon when we walked out of the restaurant, and the sky was slowly beginning to darken.

"What to do next?" Meng Bai asked.

He had promised this girl before that he would accompany her for a day. Just in time to meet her today, Meng Bai put aside the company's affairs temporarily and fulfilled his promise.

"Let's go to the movies." Song Zhi said, "I haven't been to the cinema for a long time."

"Are there any good movies recently?"

"Let's go to the cinema first." Song Zhi pulled Meng Bai's arm, "Let's go!" The nearest cinema to the Central Academy of Drama is the International Cinema of China Film Group. It was almost dinner time, so there were not many people in the cinema.

March and April are not traditionally the golden months for movies, so this period is dominated by various foreign language films, including many blockbusters.

For example, "Big Hero 3" co-produced by Disney and Marvel, the recently popular "Kingsman: The Golden Circle", and "Taken " in which "the daughter has not learned her lesson after being kidnapped twice".

"Popcorn and two cups of Coke, thank you." Meng Bai said to the front desk staff.

"Okay, do you want the Coke at room temperature or on the rocks?"

"One cup at room temperature, one cup..." Meng Bai paused, and an idea came to his mind, "Add ice to both cups. Sorry for the trouble."

After getting the things back, Meng Bai handed the Coke to Song Zhi.

The girl didn't think much about it, took it and took a sip, then sighed: "Sure enough, the best taste of Coke is the first sip!"

After saying that, she looked at Meng Bai who was smiling beside her and asked puzzledly, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing." Meng Bai returned to normal and pointed at the show schedule. "Have you chosen anything to watch?"

Song Zhi pointed to a poster with a large white inflatable doll printed on it and said, "Let's go with Big Hero 6, Disney's movie. It looks very interesting. Hmm, there haven't been many domestic movies recently."

"Who said there isn't one? This is it." Meng Bai pointed to the smaller display board next to it.

"Wolf Warrior?"

Song Zhi took a look and thought the title sounded like an action movie.

After taking a look at the poster, it was indeed a "military action film directed and starred by Wu Jing".

"Do you want to see this?" Song Zhi asked.

She didn't really care what she watched, as long as she could watch it with Meng Bai.

"Support domestic films." Meng Bai said, "Or watch both. It's still early."

"That's fine." Song Zhi glanced at the show schedule, "It's just right. Let's watch Big Hero 6 first, and then we'll take a 20-minute break after that before watching Wolf Warriors."

I bought two tickets for the back seats, checked in and sat down. After a while, the screen went dark and the whole theater was plunged into darkness.

Song Zhi subconsciously leaned towards Meng Bai, and then she felt her hand being held by him.

And their fingers are tightly clasped!

What a familiar feeling, Song Zhi thought. When they watched movies together before, they also held hands and cuddled together like this.

"What's wrong?" Meng Bai leaned over and asked softly.

The girl leaned against him with her chest pressed against his arm, so he could easily feel her suddenly faster heartbeat.

"nothing."

Song Zhi bit his lips lightly, trying to calm his breathing.

I kept repeating to myself, this isn't like we've just started dating, we've all gotten to know each other in depth countless times, there's no need to be nervous.

Seeing that the girl seemed to be mumbling to herself, Meng Bai raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Fortunately, the movie started soon. Seeing Meng Bai's attention being drawn away, Song Zhi pursed his lips and felt a little disappointed, but at the same time he was relieved.

Although watching movies has always been among the top three activities for couples on dates, Meng Bai believes that this is actually a way for couples with stable relationships to kill time, and is not suitable for men and women who have just met and do not have a deep relationship.

It's really not a suitable project to stay in such a dark place for two hours, without being able to see faces or talk.

It would be fine if the movie was a little worse, at least there would be more topics to complain about.

But if the quality of the movie is good, then it's over.

Just like Meng Bai and Song Zhi, there was a bit of ambiguity between the two at the beginning. But after watching for a while, they were attracted by the plot of the movie.

However, the points of attraction were different. Song Zhi was completely immersed in the plot, just like ordinary audiences.

Meng Bai habitually began to break down the film's rhythm, story framework and characters from the perspective of a creator.

The story of the movie "Big Hero 6" is actually quite simple. The "geeky" male protagonist accidentally obtains a super-technological robot, and then they experience setbacks together and finally save the world.

The classic plot, textbook four-act structure, and smooth rhythmic transitions are no different from Marvel's other "superhero movies", a standard "film industry film".

But the degree of completion is high and the characters, pictures and expressiveness are all above standard, so it can attract audiences.

Meng Bai couldn't help but think of the problem he had discussed with Guo Fan before. He didn't know when the "small workshop" of domestic films could become a real "industrial assembly line."

(End of this chapter)