Chapter 75: Treating a Star to Dinner

At the Tianyun Mountain Legend production crew, director Lü Quan still had an impression of Qin Yun, but only remembered that he had run a minor walk-on part; as for everything the action director had told him, he had long since forgotten it completely — after all, the crew had so many things to deal with every day.

Compared with director Lü Quan, the action director and action choreographer recognized Qin Yun immediately the moment they saw him.

The action choreographer in particular was already thinking about how to design the action for this long take; he was confident Qin Yun could pull it off. It was an intuition born of having seen Qin Yun's learning ability firsthand.

"Ying-jie, Zhan-ge."

Xiao Zhan greeted him: "You've worked hard, Qin-ye."

He had taken to addressing him the same way Chen He did. If it had been an ordinary person being called that by a big star, they would surely be floating on air, but Qin Yun stayed perfectly calm, ignoring the astonished looks from those around him.

He said with a grin: "This is a chance for Zhan-ge to make me money — how could that count as hard work?"

Zhao Liying rolled her eyes beside him: "I'm clearly the one who recommended you, yet you only thank him."

"Haha, then what time do you two wrap up today? How about I cook personally and treat you both to a meal?"

"You actually know how to cook?" Zhao Liying wore a thoroughly unconvinced look.

"You'll know once you get there."

Xiao Zhan glanced at Zhao Liying; she gave an almost imperceptible nod, so he agreed.

"Alright, then I'll be looking forward to Qin-ye's cooking."

Qin Yun thought to himself, Lin Yao, oh Lin Yao — brother has done all that could possibly be done for you.

Seeing him looking so familiar with the crew's two biggest actors, the rest of the staff simply took him for some big shot unknown to the industry, and each and every one of them was absurdly polite.

Stylists, wardrobe, props — every single crew member was as attentive as could be; even the clothes they prepared for him had been freshly washed.

You couldn't really call them mercenary — it was just human nature, that's all.

Once everything was ready, Qin Yun stood together with the action choreographer and a female stunt double. From the back, this female stunt really did look quite a bit like Zhao Liying — dashing and spirited — she just wasn't as pretty as Zhao Liying herself.

The female stunt's side had already rehearsed; only Qin Yun's side remained.

"Teacher Qin, I'll run through it once with Teacher Shen first. Remember as much as you can." The action choreographer gave Qin Yun a heads-up, then said to the female stunt as well, "Teacher Shen, because Teacher Qin actually has real martial arts skills, I've made some slight adjustments. We'll talk it through as we fight."

The female stunt nodded, having no objections whatsoever — this was the rice bowl she ate from; whatever the crew said, that's what she did.

Still, being evaluated by the action choreographer as someone with real martial arts skills did pique her curiosity about Qin Yun. She herself had originally practiced traditional martial arts, later switched to kickboxing, and gradually drifted into showbiz, ending up in Hengdian as a stunt double.

It was hard work, but the pay wasn't bad — far better than a regular office job.

On the other side, Xiao Zhan and Zhao Liying sat together. Xiao Zhan said: "Ying-jie, does Qin-ye really know martial arts?"

Zhao Liying shook her head: "I don't know, but Brother Wang said so, so it should be true. We'll just have to watch and see."

In fact, one reason Zhao Liying had recommended Qin Yun in the first place was precisely this — over the past few days the action choreographer had said more than once that Qin Yun's martial arts were extraordinary.

Xiao Zhan nodded and said nothing more.

Qin Yun stood to one side watching the two of them demonstrate the fight in slow motion. To him it was pure flashy choreography — good-looking but useless — yet when actually performed, it really did look like the real deal.

Every move and stance was like an antelope hanging its horns — seemingly casual yet looking quite aggressive.

It took a full ten minutes or so for the action choreographer and the female stunt to run through every move from top to bottom.

"That's the full choreography. Teacher Shen, do you feel the adjusted parts are difficult?"

The female stunt shook her head: "A few more run-throughs and I'll be fine."

The action choreographer nodded in satisfaction and turned to look at Qin Yun.

Qin Yun didn't wait for him to speak — he picked up the blade and walked over: "Let's give it a try. I've got most of it down. Point out anything off."

The female stunt frowned. She had wanted to familiarize herself first, or keep drilling with the action choreographer — not rehearse with someone who'd only watched once. But seeing Qin Yun already walking over, she couldn't refuse outright.

She only hinted tactfully: "Teacher Qin, how about a few more viewings?"

Qin Yun shook his head: "No need. Let's run through it first — I'm afraid I'll forget."

Seeing he couldn't tell good will from bad, the female stunt grew a little annoyed in her heart. She leveled her sword and stopped caring.

But the moment they actually crossed blades, she realized her worry had been unnecessary — Qin Yun's movements were as standard as if they'd been copied straight off the action choreographer.

No — even more standard. When he swung the blade, his opponent's hand was rock-steady; not the slightest tremor was visible.

One had to understand that an ordinary person just holding something couldn't help but shift it around a bit. But this fellow — every single movement landed as if it had been keyframed, hitting exactly where it was aimed.

Still, just as Qin Yun himself had said, his memory was decent but remembering everything was still a bit difficult. After the action choreographer pointed out the gaps, he drilled with the female stunt a dozen-odd more times before he was completely fluent.

Meanwhile, the female stunt had already been thoroughly outclassed by him.

And what made it worse for her was that, seeing how fast Qin Yun learned, the action choreographer piled on a number of high-difficulty moves — moves that even she found very hard to perform — yet in the hands of this ridiculously handsome man, they came effortlessly.

"Hey, what school's yours?"

Qin Yun was briefly taken aback, then shook his head: "No school, no lineage. Self-taught."

The female stunt, Shen Yue, frowned unhappily: "If you won't say, then don't say."

"…"

Another half hour or so passed, and the director came over to check. Once the action choreographer gave a definitive answer, the crew sprang into action at once.

In no time at all, lighting, camera, and props were all in position, and filming officially began.

This long take was wrapped in just three tries. Qin Yun didn't make a single mistake the entire time — all three were because of Shen Yue — which made her flash away the moment filming ended, feeling rather embarrassed.

A professional couldn't beat an amateur who was just there for fun.

Soon Xiao Zhan and Zhao Liying stepped in, filling in a few close-ups and front-facing shots, and this set of shots was wrapped up.

After wrap, Qin Yun sent them a location pin, asked what dishes they liked to eat, then left first and headed back to Lin Yao's restaurant.

Right now the restaurant didn't even have a signboard, but if Lin Yao could seize this opportunity with Zhao Liying and Xiao Zhan, the road ahead for the restaurant would be wide open.

However, when Qin Yun got back to the restaurant, he found Shi Lulu was still there.

Remembering that Xiao Zhan and Zhao Liying would be coming shortly, he immediately frowned.

"Shi Lulu, I'm treating a few friends to dinner later — you should head back first." He unceremoniously sent her packing on the spot.

This nearly made Shi Lulu blow her top, but she didn't let it show.

"Senior, who are you treating to dinner? Let me help out."

"No need." Qin Yun refused without hesitation. If he let this one see those two and secretly snap some photos, he wouldn't be able to explain it to either of them.

"Fine then." Shi Lulu clenched her silver teeth, thinking so what if it's a big deal, it's just a walk-on part, I don't even care.

"Ah-Yao, I'll head off first then."

"Alright, Lulu, be careful on the way."

After Shi Lulu left, Lin Yao looked at Qin Yun in confusion: "Brother Yun, who are you inviting to dinner? Was it necessary to chase Lulu away?"

"I pulled a stroke of fortune for you, stop the nonsense and get ready. I'll be cooking personally in a bit."

Lin Yao didn't ask any more, thinking whatever Brother Yun says, that's what I'll do.

Half an hour later, when two familiar figures appeared in Lin Yao's line of sight, he immediately understood why Brother Yun had chased Shi Lulu away.

Zhao Liying and Xiao Zhan looked at the shabby storefront, completely baffled.

Big bro, if you're treating us to dinner, not finding somewhere upscale is one thing, but how did you pick a fly-ridden joint? Are you really planning to cook yourself?

Qin Yun waved the two over and introduced Lin Yao to them: "This is my friend, Lin Yao. This restaurant is his, though it hasn't opened yet. Today I'll be cooking, you two have a seat first. I guarantee you'll leave stuffed."

Zhao Liying clearly didn't believe it, but she came from an ordinary family. Although she was now a big star, she had no resistance at all to eating at a place like this. Xiao Zhan was the same, just curious whether Qin Yun was really going to cook himself.

At this moment the rolling shutter door was pulled down. The driver and assistant in the nanny van outside clearly had no intention of getting out, so Qin Yun didn't bother with them.

While on set he had already asked the two. Zhao Liying preferred Hunan cuisine, and Xiao Zhan, being from Chongqing, liked Sichuan food and also liked Cantonese fare. So, catering to their tastes, he had prepared eight dishes.

Seeing that Qin Yun really went back to the kitchen and started bustling about, they set aside their doubts for the time being. Since they were already here, they might as well make the best of it.

Lin Yao still hadn't recovered. He felt Brother Yun was insanely awesome, actually getting Zhao Liying and Xiao Zhan to come. Once he officially opened the restaurant in the future and put the name out there, he wouldn't even need to deliberately draw traffic.

No wonder Brother Yun said it was a stroke of fortune.

If in the future he could use the connection from the film crew through these two, the restaurant's future operations would absolutely have no problems.

Soon, a Chongqing boiled fish and a chili-pepper stir-fried pork were brought out: "You two, try my cooking."

Zhao Liying caught the aroma of the chili-pepper stir-fried pork, her appetite immediately rose. She picked up her chopsticks at once, grabbed a piece of green pepper and a slice of meat, and put it in her mouth.

After just two chews, her eyes lit up.

"Delicious, you really weren't lying."

Qin Yun's face darkened. So you came just to do me a favor?

Xiao Zhan also tried the boiled fish. After just one bite, he silently picked up the rice on the side and started eating it with the boiled fish.

At this point he completely dropped the feeling of having been fooled, thinking only that this was the most delicious boiled fish he'd eaten in recent years. That spicy flavor was just too authentic.

Qin Yun looked at the two of them, smiled, and went back to the kitchen to keep busy. The skill the system gave was master-level right off the bat; conquering their stomachs was a piece of cake.

A moment later, eight dishes were all laid out on the table. He called Lin Yao to sit down and opened a few bottles of beer.

"Care for some?"

The two didn't stand on ceremony and both nodded.

As cups clinked and chopsticks flew, Qin Yun didn't bring up Lin Yao's restaurant. Some things, once said too much, wouldn't be good. This stroke of fortune only needed to be touched upon lightly; any more and it wouldn't be something Lin Yao could handle.

"Your cooking is amazing." Zhao Liying praised sincerely. "I never expected you to have such skill. Just based on this alone, countless people would invest in you."

"Not bad, what Sis Ying said is right." Xiao Zhan was eating so much his tongue nearly got swallowed. "Qin Ye, your cooking is off the charts. I've been on set so long and it's been ages since I ate this well. I'll have to diet for several days when I get back."

At Xiao Zhan's words, Zhao Liying also caught on. She gave him an annoyed little smack: "We're eating fine, why bring that up."

With food and drink satisfied, two figures came out of the restaurant, got into the nanny van, and left. In the distance, a sneaky figure lowered the camera in his hand, his face full of regret.

Shi Lulu somewhat regretted leaving just like that. If she'd held her ground, maybe she could've met Xiao Zhan and Zhao Liying. She was a stand-in photographer, not a paparazzo—what use were blurry photos like these?

She just hadn't expected Qin Yun to even know Zhao Liying and Xiao Zhan. Hadn't he just arrived in Hengdian?

Shi Lulu couldn't figure it out no matter how she thought about it.