The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 142 Meeting is not as good as remembering.

"Hello Uncle Chen, Aunt Gu, I am Xia Fenghua, Chen Rui's high school classmate."

Under Chen Rui's slightly nervous gaze, Xia Fenghua completed her self-introduction.

He didn't mention that he was a student at Yanjingmao University, but only said that there was a delicious Yangzhou fried rice restaurant in the school cafeteria and he wanted to invite Chen Rui's family to try it.

Gu Alian and Chen Bo exchanged a glance, having already formed a general understanding of Xia Fenghua's family background.

They were an ordinary family, not well-off.

However, her eyes light up when she speaks, and she has a very generous and outgoing personality.

This indicates that the child came from a good family environment and was loved and cared for by their parents from a young age.

Her appearance is more ordinary compared to Ma Siyi, but she doesn't have the same scars left by Ma Siyi's family background.

Given the choice between Gu Alian and Chen Boxuan, the two actually preferred that Chen Rui spend more time with children like Xia Fenghua.

"Great! I didn't expect to have a taste of home for my first meal in Yanjing. You're making me a little hungry."

Chen Bo joked.

Gu Alian smiled and nodded.

Soon the group arrived at the second floor of the Maple Tree Cafeteria.

I saw a long queue in front of a window, with the end of the queue almost reaching the stairwell.

Gu Alian asked curiously, "What do they sell at this window while they're queuing up?"

"Braised pork trotter rice is a popular food at Yanjingmao, a must-try for tourists. We arrived a bit late today, and all the tickets have already been given out."

Xia Fenghua explained.

Chen Bo clicked his tongue in amazement after hearing this: "Limited supply?"

"Yes, so many people come here because of its reputation that the shop can't make that many bowls. They can only limit it to 500 bowls a day."

After Gu Alian and Chen Bo had looked away, Xia Fenghua led them to an empty table to sit down.

The canteen at Yanjingmao University has tables for four people, and two tables are pushed together to save space.

Gu Alian and Chen Bo stayed behind to help reserve seats, while Xia Fenghua and Ma Siyi went to queue for food.

Chen Rui also volunteered to go along.

He had a lot to say to Ma Siyi, but it wasn't convenient to do so in front of his parents.

After Chen Rui left, Gu Alian nudged Chen Bo, who had just unscrewed the lid of his thermos and was about to drink some water, with her elbow.

"Isn't that the girl eating at that table the one we met at the hotel before?"

Chen Bo put down his thermos and glanced back.

It really is.

It's rare to see a girl that beautiful; Chen Bo was deeply impressed.

The key girl's table seems to be eating the pork trotter rice that Xia Fenghua just mentioned?

"This braised pork trotter rice is just so-so."

Xu Hongmi only ate a few bites before she started to criticize it.

Xu Jianguo, sitting next to Xu Hongmi, looked up, glanced at Liu Guiqin sitting next to Xu Hongdou, and said:
"I think this tastes pretty good."

Liu Guiqin nodded in agreement, siding with Xu Jianguo.

Both of them went there to support Xu Hongdou, but Xu Hongdou did not play by the rules this time.

"That's how internet-famous foods are; they mainly sell their fame, but the taste is actually just so-so."

Surprisingly, he stopped arguing with Xu Hongmi.

Not only were Xu Jianguo and Liu Guiqin somewhat unaccustomed to it, but Xu Hongmi herself was also quite surprised.

Xu Hongdou's voice continued to ring out.

"It's the same principle as Peking duck. If you come to Yanjing and don't eat it at least once, you'll feel regretful. But after eating it, you'll find that it's not as delicious as you imagined."

"It's ranked alongside Peking duck, so it seems you think highly of this pork trotter rice."

Xu Hongmi's argument this time was quite tricky.

Xu Hongdou knew that Xu Hongmi was deliberately picking a fight, and replied calmly, "Just telling the truth, anyway, I had only eaten here once before you came."

The main reason is that queuing is too troublesome.

If Chen Nanxing hadn't come early to queue, Xu Hongdou's family might not have been able to get a table today.

The only slight regret for Xu Hongdou was that Chen Nanxing left after getting the food, claiming he didn't want to disturb Xu Hongdou's family's meal.

That's pretty disloyal.

"So, do you dislike the food itself, or do you dislike this form of promotion?"

Xu Hongmi asked again.

"I don't dislike it."

Xu Hongdou vehemently denied it: "Besides, it's not important. Whether I like it or not doesn't stop so many people from coming here every day."

Seeing that he couldn't get a word in edgewise, Xu Jianguo was about to continue eating when Liu Guiqin nudged him with her elbow.

"Isn't that Xiao Yang?"

Before Xu Jianguo could even look up, the Xu sisters, Hongmi and Hongdou, asked in unison:

"Xiao Yang?"

Looking at the two sisters, Liu Guiqin replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "That Yang Muye, he's a classmate of Dou'er, isn't it right for me to call him Little Yang?"

Xu Hongmi and Xu Hongdou did not return, but instead turned their heads to look at each other.

Yang Muye was standing at the top of the stairs, talking to a boy wearing glasses and holding a DSLR camera.

The boy showed Yang Muyi the video he had taken with his camera, presumably to get Yang Muyi's feedback.

Cheng Feng, Wu Di, Xu Kaiyang, and Zhang Kai were also present.

The Plastic Brothers had a successful experience appearing in the Old Boys video last time, with a surge in video views and followers, so they immediately started filming a second round of collaborative videos.

This time, Old Boys is filming the second episode of "A Bite of College Cafeterias," and their target restaurant is the Yangzhou fried rice restaurant on the second floor.

Yang Muye watched the video footage that Chen Xiaozheng had taken before entering the cafeteria.

Cheng Feng and Wu Di have adapted to the rhythm of shooting these everyday videos, focusing on "authenticity".

It's not that there's no script, but rather that the performance in front of the camera should appear as real and natural as possible.

To put it simply, it's about how to "act" well.

After confirming that the two were in good condition, Yang Muye returned the camera to Chen Xiaozheng and stepped back behind Chen Xiaozheng.

Chen Xiaozheng remounted the camera on the handheld Steadicam and pointed the lens at Cheng Feng and Wu Di.

After receiving Chen Xiaozheng's OK sign, Cheng Feng spoke first:
"Long-time fans should be familiar with this place. That's right, today we're exploring the delicious food in university canteens again at Maple Tree Canteen. It's still the familiar second floor, and there are still so many people. The only change is that the line in front of the pork trotter rice window seems to have gotten longer again."

Chen Xiaozheng's camera lens followed and turned to the long line of people queuing to buy braised pork trotters rice.

Wu Di's voice followed: "After the last video was released, we didn't expect it to be so popular. We weren't planning on releasing a second video so soon, but someone actually told us that there's a Yangzhou fried rice place here that tastes just as good as that braised pork trotter rice place. They even made a bet with us that if we ate it and didn't like it, they would—"

The camera then pans to Xu Kaiyang and Zhang Kai on the side.

"If we lose, we'll demonstrate how to wash our hair upside down in the dorm!"

The speaker was Xu Kaiyang.

Zhang Kai was clearly taken aback for a moment, then turned to look at Xu Kaiyang:
"Are we really going to go that far?"

"That's right, if we're going to play, let's play big."

"If we lose, who's going to wash our hair while doing a handstand?" "Duh, of course you'll do it. Who else would do it, me or you?"

Xu Kaiyang tossed his hair, striking what he thought was a very handsome pose: "I spent two hundred yuan to have Tony cut this hairstyle. If I ruin it while washing it, are you going to pay me back?"

Zhang Kai could only resign himself to his fate and said, "Fine, I'll wash it. Who told me I can only afford a 20-yuan haircut? But we need to clarify the rules first. Including the two of them, we also need to find eight more students eating Yangzhou fried rice on site. Ten people will evaluate whether it's delicious or not. As long as more than half of them think it's delicious, we win."

Cheng Feng immediately raised the bar: "No, your standard for 'delicious' is too low. You need at least 8 people to think it's delicious for you to win, otherwise our video won't be convincing."

The bet is settled.

Following the camera, Xu Kaiyang and Zhang Kai led Cheng Feng and Wu Di to the window of the Yangzhou fried rice stall.

"Dang-dang-dang!"

Zhang Kai imitated the opening music of "Symphony No. 5" and pointed with both hands to the red sign above the window.

Cheng Feng and Wu Di glanced at the people waiting in line to pick up their meals. There were fewer than ten people, and they recognized two of the girls among them.

Seeing the camera lens pointed at them, Xia Fenghua and Ma Siyi, who were about to raise their hands to greet each other, quickly lowered them again.

Xu Kaiyang walked in front of the camera and tried to save face: "That braised pork trotter rice restaurant became popular because of your last video. Otherwise, not many people would have eaten there before."

Zhang Kai chimed in from the side, "That's right, however much the owner of that braised pork trotter rice restaurant sponsors you, our Yangzhou fried rice owner will give double!"

After recognizing the four people, the restaurant owner invited Chen Xiaozheng into the kitchen to film the process of making a fried rice dish up close.

Xu Hongmi, who had witnessed everything from a distance, turned her gaze back to Xu Hongdou, who was quietly eating with her head down across from her.

"Were Old Boys' previous two videos filmed like this?"

"more or less."

Xu Hongdou replied without looking up.

"Yang Muye is a director?"

Upon hearing Xu Hongmi mention Yang Muye, Xu Hongdou finally raised her head.

"I think he's more like a supervisor, like a producer."

"He's tall, handsome, rich, and talented, and he can also write songs and make videos. A guy like that must be very popular at your school, right?"

Xu Hongmi asked again.

Xu Hongdou shrugged: "He's quite low-key. You see, when he's filming videos, he never appears on camera himself."

"Is it possible that the reason he doesn't appear on camera is because he's already stealing the spotlight enough?"

"That's fine if you want to understand it that way."

Xu Hongdou didn't want to argue with Xu Hongmi any further.

Xu Hongmi looked at Xu Hongdou with great interest.

"You're not angry at all after I said that?"

Xu Hongdou retorted, "Why would I be angry?"

Xu Hongmi smiled thoughtfully, then said nothing more.

the other side.

Xia Fenghua, Ma Siyi, and Chen Rui returned to their seats carrying five plates of Yangzhou fried rice.

Chen Rui gave the two plates in his hand to his parents, while he set his sights on the two plates in Ma Siyi's hand.

Chen Rui really hoped that Ma Siyi would give him one of the plates.

As he wished, Ma Siyi handed him a plate of Yangzhou fried rice.

"Thank you."

Chen Rui happily accepted it, but the smile on his face froze the next second.

Because Ma Siyi placed another plate of fried rice in front of Xia Fenghua, and then took the plate from Xia Fenghua's hand.

"I think this portion is a bit small; I can't eat that much."

Ma Siyi explained.

Xia Fenghua glanced at the two plates of fried rice, which were almost the same size, and instantly understood what Ma Siyi meant.

Chen Rui was still unwilling to give up, so he offered to share some with Ma Siyi if she couldn't finish the food.

Anyway, the chopsticks and spoon haven't been touched yet.

As expected, Ma Siyi politely declined.

Seeing the undisguised disappointment on her son's face, Gu Alian picked up her plate of fried rice and offered some to him.

Even if others don't appreciate your good intentions, Mom will always give you a way out.

Chen Bo, who was standing nearby, was also busy and took the initiative to talk about the video that was being filmed over there.

"Do they get a lot of views when they film these kinds of videos and post them online?"

"a lot of."

Xia Fenghua used three videos that Old Boys has currently released online as examples in her answer.

The music video for "The Lone Warrior" has been viewed over 30 million times and is currently the most-viewed video on Youku.

The first episode of "A Bite of University Cafeterias" has garnered over ten million views.

The video introducing campus clubs and the game Werewolf has now surpassed 800 million views.

Not to mention Chen Bo, even Gu Alian couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.

Are those two guys really that popular online?
Xia Fenghua continued her introduction:

"Not only are the Old Boys popular, but the people who imitate them are also popular. Now, the other two boys who make videos with them have also formed a group called Plastic Brothers. A while ago, they released a video that parodied 'The Lone Warrior,' and now the number of views is approaching ten million."

Chen Bo listened and nodded, then suddenly spoke:
"Xia, I feel like you're very familiar with Old Boys. Do you know them?"

Before Xia Fenghua could answer, Chen Bo continued to explain:

"Uncle didn't mean anything by it, he just felt that these kinds of viral videos are so effective at promoting things like food and entertainment, it's a bit of a waste to use them to promote our traditional culture, wouldn't it be more meaningful to use them?"

Xia Fenghua stood there, stunned.

This question was definitely beyond the scope of what she was supposed to know, given that she hadn't even gotten into university.

Seeing this, Chen Rui took the initiative to cover for Xia Fenghua:

"Dad, there are so many students at Yan University of Economics and Business. Does telling you that Xia Fenghua and Old Boys must mean they know each other?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Bo realized he had been too hasty and was about to explain further to Xia Fenghua.

Xia Fenghua suddenly spoke:
"Uncle Chen, Aunt Gu, I want to apologize to you. Chen Rui said I was a student at Yanjing University of Economics and Business, but I wasn't. My college entrance exam scores were terrible, and I didn't even get into a junior college. I came to Yanjing to work and earn money to help ease the pressure on my family, and also to see if I could find Siyi... I shouldn't have agreed to lie to you before."

Upon hearing this, Chen Rui and his family of three were all stunned.

Xia Fenghua then apologized to Chen Rui:

"I'm sorry, it's not that I don't want to help, but my aunt and uncle only need to make a phone call to my high school teacher and they will know everything about my college entrance exam. I can't fool them by lying."

The initial shock in Chen Rui's eyes quickly turned into helplessness.

He had oversimplified things and overlooked his mother's most important role.

It wouldn't be too difficult for a district head to find out Xia Fenghua's background.

Chen Bo and Gu Alian looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

Ma Siyi's voice suddenly rang out:
"Uncle Chen, Aunt Gu, please don't blame Fenghua. The reason she agreed to help Chen Rui deceive you was all because of me."

Under Chen Rui's astonished gaze, Ma Siyi took a black plastic bag out of her backpack and solemnly placed it in front of Chen Rui.

"I'm sorry it took so long to pay you back. I'm really grateful for your help before. I will always remember this kindness and hope to repay it someday."

(End of this chapter)