From unemployment in crosstalk to top star in Chinese entertainment

"This is a very fine yellow wine. I specially asked someone to bring it from Shaozhou."

The director specifically mentioned this.

Yu Liang nodded.

"The temperature is perfect for drinking Shaoxing wine."

Everyone raised their glasses.

Yu Liang took a sip, the wine sliding down her throat with a warm, sweet taste.

The night wind from the mountains blew in from outside the film studio, making the tablecloth on the table rustle loudly.

Li Xiaoran turned to the side, her long hair blowing in the wind, brushing against her overly cold arms.

"Are you cold?" Yu Liang asked.

"fine."

"You're dressed scantily."

Li Xiaoran glanced at him, a slight smile playing on her lips: "What, are you worried about me?"

Yu Liang remained silent.

No, do women this age all speak so directly?

Li Xiaoran laughed out loud and turned to wink at her assistant.

A moment later, her assistant jogged over with a long, fleece-lined down jacket and draped it over Li Xiaoran's shoulders.

Wang Churan, who was standing next to him, picked up a piece of braised pork, took a bite, and his eyes lit up: "Brother Ruoyun, this pork is amazing!"

"Absolutely divine! It practically melts in your mouth!"

Guo Qilin also praised it.

Yu Liang was about to reach for his chopsticks when his hand froze in mid-air.

"No, you're saying exactly what I wanted to say."

He looked at Wang Churan and Guo Qilin with a serious expression.

Why are there still people vying for this track?

The table was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Zhang Ruoyun waved her hand modestly: "It's a home-style recipe."

"This is home cooking?" Yu Liang mumbled, his mouth full of meat. "My usual way of cooking is to just throw the meat in a pot and boil it."

That's called boiled pork.

"Yes, that one."

Tian Yu quietly served food to Guo Qilin and the two princes, occasionally adding a bite to their bowls with serving chopsticks.

The three were flattered: "Teacher Tian, ​​we can do it ourselves."

"It's alright, you young people should eat more." Tian Yu said kindly, "My character in the drama is destined to be a worrywart."

Yu Liang called out from across the crowd, "Teacher Tian, ​​you're not just a worrywart in the drama."

Tian Yu looked up: "Hmm?"

"You are also greedy for money."

The whole table burst into laughter.

Tian Yu wasn't annoyed. Instead, she raised her glass and said, "So what if I'm greedy? A gentleman loves money, but he acquires it in a proper way. I call this having a business mind."

"Yes, yes, yes." Yu Liang also raised his glass, "Teacher Wang's business acumen is the best in the whole show."

The two touched each other from a distance.

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

Wang Churan's braised pig's trotters in Shaoxing wine were finally served.

She used a deep earthenware pot; when the lid was lifted, the aroma of wine mixed with the smell of meat wafted out.

"Come on, have a taste."

She stood up and put a piece in everyone's bowl.

When it was Yu Liang's turn, she deliberately chose the biggest piece.

Yu Liang looked down at the pig's trotters in the bowl.

The meat is bright red, the skin is trembling, and you can feel the elasticity of the collagen when you pick it up with chopsticks.

He took a bite.

Then he froze.

"How is it?" Wang Churan stared at him.

Yu Liang slowly finished chewing and put down his chopsticks.

"The crabs in the competition are delicious."

Wang Churan's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"real."

"How does it compare to Ruoyun's braised pork?"

Yu Liang thought for a moment: "They're not on the same track."

"His is braised, yours is stewed in Shaoxing wine. His is reduced to a thick sauce, yours is just the original broth. There's no comparison."

He paused, glanced at the rice wine soup in the casserole that hadn't completely evaporated, and added, "The key is that you can still digest the food with the original broth."

He regretted it as soon as he said it.

Don't make me drink the soup later.

Wang Churan didn't mean it that way; she just stared at him longingly.

Yu Liang took another bite.

The rich aroma of Shaoxing wine permeates every fiber of the pig's trotter, making it soft, chewy, and slightly intoxicating when you bite into it.

"Bitter... um... so cool!"

"This dish is so cool!"

He gave a thumbs up.

Wang Churan was satisfied.

Li Xiaoran whispered from the side, "You're pretty good at sweet-talking people."

Yu Liang turned her head to the side: "I'm telling the truth."

"real?"

"Really. The wine she makes from pig's trotters is quite good."

"What about the crab-like dish?"

Yu Liang paused for a second: "...It's quite unique."

Li Xiaoran laughed so hard her shoulders shook.

She picked up another piece of the crab-like dish with her chopsticks, tasted it, her expression subtly changed, and then she silently took a big gulp of water.

Yu Liang noticed that the pig's trotter in Li Xiaoran's bowl hadn't been touched much.

"Sister Xiaoran, why aren't you eating the pig's trotters?"

"I've been on a diet recently," Li Xiaoran said without changing her expression.

Wang Churan tasted a few bites of the braised pig's trotters in Shaoxing wine that he had made, and drank two cups of Shaoxing wine. A faint pink blush slowly rose to his cheeks.

She started to feel slightly tipsy, her tone of voice softened, and her eyes became hazy.

"Brother Liang, this meat... no, this pig's trotter... is also wrong."

She wrinkled her nose, seemingly trying to organize her thoughts, but eventually gave up and just gave Yu Liang a silly smile.

Yu Liang couldn't help but laugh when he saw her.

This girl usually has a mature and sophisticated look, but this college student is still a naive and simple-minded person when she speaks and acts.

Now that he's had some alcohol, the tough guy has turned into a softie.

Wang Churan reached for the water glass on the table, and his fingers accidentally touched the back of Yu Liang's hand, which was placed on the table.

Her fingertips were slightly cool, yet carried a hint of the warmth of the rice wine.

Both of them paused for a moment.

Wang Churan pulled her hand back as if she had been burned, and her ears turned red at a visible speed.

"I...I'll get the water," she said softly.

Yu Liang didn't say anything, but simply pushed the water glass over to her.

Moonlight streamed down from the antique-style eaves of the film studio, turning the entire street silvery-gray.

The dishes on the table were gradually emptied, and several bottles of warm rice wine were drunk.

Li Xiaoran put down her chopsticks and suddenly suggested, "How about we sing a song?"

Everyone responded enthusiastically.

Several people here own motorhomes.

The RVs of people like Zhang Ruoyun, Li Xiaoran, and Li Lin are all equipped with professional KTV systems.

Director Sun Hao and action choreographer Li Lei were chosen to lead the charge.

The two exchanged a glance, cleared their throats, and sang a duet of "Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven".

"Behold the clanging of iron hooves, traversing thousands of miles of rivers and mountains—"

Director Sun Hao's voice was incredibly loud and powerful, so loud that the bowls and plates on the table trembled slightly.

Action director Li Lei provided backing vocals, but his pitch was inconsistent.

Yu Liang glanced at him and noticed his breathing was so unsteady. This guy usually only cared about craving food when he went to karaoke.

He's a seasoned foodie.

After the song ended, the whole table applauded.

Yu Liang gave a heartfelt thumbs up: "As expected, old songs should be old... let the senior sing them."

He swallowed the words "old thing" back down.

Zhang Ruoyun then sang a lyrical ballad, and her voice was surprisingly good, with a slightly husky quality.

Guo Qilin stood up and sang Yue Yunpeng's "Huan Huan Huan Huan Huan" in a serious manner. When he got to the chorus, he started to twist his body, making everyone at the table laugh so hard they were doubled over.

"It's so cold! It's so cold! It's so cold!"

No one knows who started it, but everyone began to make a fuss.

Now he's in a difficult position and has no choice but to stand up.

"Alright. Then let's play a section of 'Exploring the Clear Water River'."

He cleared his throat and picked up the microphone.

"Diss, diss..."

"Peach leaves are so pointed, and willow leaves cover the entire sky—"

Yu Liang's voice isn't particularly high-pitched, but it's steady.

Guo Qilin turned to look at Yu Liang with a puzzled expression.

No, bro, who taught you this tune?

Why does it smell so strongly of commercial karaoke?

The table gradually quieted down.

Wang Churan rested his chin on his hand, looking at Yu Liang with hazy, drunken eyes. Whether it was the alcohol or something else, his gaze was much gentler than usual.

Li Xiaoran's hand, holding the wine glass, froze in mid-air, and Li Qin, Song Tie, and the others also put down their chopsticks.

Everyone stared at Yu Liang.

"Looks like you've been to that karaoke bar quite a bit."

"Cough cough." Yu Liang coughed inwardly twice.

Not only the people at the scene, but he also noticed it.

Let's warm up our voices first.

Yu Liang remained calm.

"In his position, this Ming Agong"

Listen carefully to what I have to say—”

……

After a few sentences, Yu Liang gradually found his rhythm and got into the swing of things.

"Hmm, these few lines are more in line, but it's not the way it's sung in traditional opera."

Guo Qilin nodded, but remained puzzled.

"How come it's gone from karaoke to pop music again?"

"No, brother, this couldn't possibly be something my dad taught me, could it?"

"Brother, have you learned so many skills now?"

"You didn't sing 'Heartbreaker' like this before!"

……

"—What a loving couple, they jumped into the water together, oh—"

……

The last syllable should be stopped.

There was a two-second silence.

Then applause erupted.

"Holy crap, Liang-ge!" Guo Qilin was the first to jump up. "Your voice is amazing! Why don't you sing usually?"

Yu Liang sat down and smiled, "No one usually asks me to sing."

He was telling the truth.

In his previous life, after finishing work on the film set, he loved to go out and sing with his brothers.

In the karaoke room, he was always the one who wouldn't let go of the microphone.

His friends always teased him about it.

One time, a girl at the karaoke bar couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed his hand, trying to pull it into her arms. "Brother, stop singing. If you really can't stand it, just touch it a couple of times."

Yu Liang was so angry that he almost threw the microphone away.