I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Three people were busy in the kitchen.

Feng Yu took charge of the cooking. Holding the fish in one hand, she used the other hand to pour hot oil evenly over the fish, which had been scored, causing the fish meat to shrink and fixing the shape of the whole fish.

Qin Tiantian was washing vegetables in front of the sink. Because she was not tall enough, it was tiring to stand, so she put a cardboard box under her.

Lu Ban was cheering for the two of them.

It's not that he doesn't know how to cook, it's just that Lu Ban usually cooks for his own consumption, so he doesn't care much about the presentation, and the taste is barely acceptable.

In comparison, it's obvious who should be cooking: Feng Yu, who has traveled extensively and mastered various culinary skills, and Qin Tiantian, who comes from a food-loving province in Southwest China.

The three of them worked from noon until the afternoon, and finally managed to put on a sumptuous meal before the Spring Festival Gala started.

A whole table full of dishes: poached chicken, squirrel fish, Dongpo pork knuckle, stir-fried squid flowers, steamed pork with rice flour, salted duck, and some stir-fries and cold dishes.

"Why are there so many bowls?"

Qin Tiantian glanced at Lu Ban, who was carrying the bowl over.

Goodness, they took eight sets of bowls and chopsticks and arranged them in a circle.

"With so many people, there must be that many sets of bowls and chopsticks."

Lu Ban responded as a matter of course.

"You're saying weird things again."

Qin Tiantian didn't dwell on it. She felt that the world was full of things that she just couldn't understand, so she might as well just drink and sleep.

Following Lu Ban brings good food, money, computer games, and happiness; everything else is trivial.

"Never mind, let's eat together."

Qin Tiantian picked up her bowl and chopsticks, watching the newly opened gala while picking up some food.

"This is delicious, you should eat more."

She immediately saw Lu Ban pick up a piece of poached chicken and put it into an empty bowl.

"?"

Qin Tiantian glanced at Feng Yu.

Feng Yu ate normally, and sometimes picked up a little food and put it into the empty bowls.

Qin Tiantian turned her gaze back to the bowl containing the poached chicken and suddenly realized that the chicken had disappeared from the bowl.

"what happened?"

Seeing this, Lu Ban asked.

"No, this is delicious. This is a specialty dish from my hometown, it's incredibly delicious."

As Qin Tiantian spoke, she picked up a piece of Dongpo pork knuckle and put it into the bowl of poached chicken.

Just then, the host's voice came from the TV. Qin Tiantian turned her head to look, and when she turned back, she found that the piece of meat was gone.

"!"

The tuft of hair on her head seemed about to stand up but then stopped.

But then I glanced at Lu Ban and Feng Yu.

The two of them acted perfectly normally, just like a group of people eating together.

Qin Tiantian swallowed.

They decided to pretend they hadn't noticed anything.

Chapter 368 The Only Chance in This Life

After the Chinese New Year, everyone gradually returned to their original posts, and Silent Media was no exception.

Bai Qiquan and his girlfriend went to meet his parents. At his age, he had just graduated and started working. He didn't have a car or a house, so meeting his parents was a bit too hasty.

But Lu Ban gave just too much.

After receiving his bonus, which amounted to several months' salary, Bai Qiquan suddenly realized that the biggest obstacle preventing him from buying a house and settling down was his three years of social security contributions!

Of course, even so, I was still very nervous about meeting the parents.

However, the tension only lasted for a short while. After having a couple of drinks with his father-in-law, Bai Qiquan felt that there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

Back in Jiangcheng, on the first day back to work after the New Year, Lu Ban followed tradition and gave out red envelopes to mark the start of the new year.

After distributing the red envelopes, Lu Ban clapped his hands and gathered the employees together.

"Everyone, after such a long break, we now have a new job to do."

Lu Ban said.

Upon hearing this, the employees looked at each other in bewilderment.

"The Tide of Magic" has only been off the screens for a little over a month, how come there's something new out there?

Is it an advertisement or a short video?

"It's a new movie."

Lu Ban didn't keep them in suspense; he went straight to the point.

Upon hearing this, Bai Qiquan was taken aback, and his first thought was—was another bonus coming?

"Boss, you're incredibly efficient!"

"So, you don't take any holidays at all?"

"Boss, treat yourself better. You're still young, you should enjoy life more!"

"Boss, I think we're already pretty good enough, we don't need to work so hard!"

Instead, the employees advised Lu Ban not to be in such a hurry.

Bai Qiquan thought about it for a moment and it seemed to make sense.

If Lu Ban can finish a movie in a month and a half, then he can finish one in four weeks tomorrow. If he keeps working non-stop, it is entirely possible for him to finish four or five movies a year.

For these people, two movies a year is already quite saturated, three is considered overtime, and four or five is practically exploitation!

Moreover, under normal circumstances, they don't have very high requirements for every film they do post-production work on. Some are just done quickly and easily. It's common for them to spend one hour at work chatting for nine hours.

But Lu Ban's movies, even if they're not world-class, are still highly anticipated and can't tolerate the slightest carelessness, which means they have to be fully committed to their work.

Given the subject matter of Lu Ban's films, if he continues like this, he might have to retire in less than two years!

Anyone who has worked knows that if your colleague is pushing you too hard, that's their fault, or your boss is exploiting you. But if your boss is working even harder than you, that's really a problem.

"Don't worry, this time our film is a heartwarming and healing art film, so the workload won't be too heavy."

Lu Ban could see the worries of these people.

"Moreover, our goal is not box office revenue, but winning awards."

"Win an award? What kind of award?"

Bai Qiquan was puzzled.

"Win whatever awards you can."

Lu Ban took out a piece of paper and glanced at it.

"Let's set a small goal first, which is the Palme d'Or this May..."

"???"

Several question marks appeared above the heads of those present.

"Boss, the Palme d'Or, you mean that Palme d'Or?"

Someone asked.

"What are you doing here?"

Lu Ban asked a question in return, and then spoke.

"The Palme d'Or in May, the Golden Bear in June, and the Golden Lion in August are the current priority awards."

"..."

The employees present were speechless.

If Lu Ban were a newcomer, people would probably just laugh it off, thinking he was joking or being arrogant.

However, Lu Ban was already a successful director.

His works have reached the top five box office rankings in film history, making him the top commercially successful artist in China and renowned worldwide.

These words, spoken by him, seemed to have a certain flavor to them.

"...Boss, are you serious?"

Some employees asked tentatively.

Why would I lie to you?

Lu Ban found it strange.

"But, uh, boss, I think it's necessary to remind you that so far, no film has been able to win all three awards at the same time; the most any film has ever won is two."

In the early years, the judges of the three major film festivals would share information. Sometimes, a very good film would be nominated by all three festivals. Although it was rare for a film to win awards at two festivals at the same time, it did happen.

Later, the three major film festivals gradually began to differentiate themselves, and their respective judges would sometimes deliberately avoid works that had won awards at other film festivals in order to highlight the characteristics of their respective festivals.

The Grand Slam that people talk about most now is the Grand Slam of actors or directors. For example, there are actresses in China who have won major awards at the three major film festivals with three films, thus achieving the Grand Slam.

Therefore, anyone with even a little knowledge of film festival judging would realize just how outrageous Lu Ban's statement is.

Normally, at this point, one should start to question Lu Ban, feeling that he is asking for an exorbitant amount and that he has become arrogant.

Indeed, that's the first reaction many employees have.

but.

But this is Lu Ban.

Lu Ban, who said he would top the global box office for a month and actually did, did top the box office for a month.