Chapter 135: I Can Cook

"Then stick with your earlier claim; saying I grew up watching your show sounds more sensational. I'm not seventy or eighty yet."

He Jiong, born in April 1974, is only twenty-seven this year. Although, by the domestic traditional method of counting age, he is about to turn thirty, facing Zhou Yi's teasing, he clearly couldn't hold back, grinning while not forgetting to tease back.

To be honest, having hosted shows for several years, He Jiong has met quite a few stars, and Zhou Yi's impression on him is relatively the most comfortable one.

After the production team told him that this episode of Happy Camp had invited Zhou Yi, He Jiong was actually quite worried at first.

For over a year, there have been many controversies surrounding Zhou Yi; some say he is arrogant and unruly, while many say he is polite and refined; the news is hard to distinguish between true and false.

Even within the industry, because Zhou Yi's rise was simply too rapid, and before becoming famous he had virtually no contact with the mainland entertainment circle, even He Jiong couldn't find any channels to inquire about Zhou Yi's inside story.

The various news he heard through the capital's school circle truly left He Jiong with his eyes wide open, like a small knife cutting his butt.

"Doesn't that show respect for He Laoshi?"

Zhou Yi happily poured He Jiong a glass of water: "After all, this is my first time on a mainland variety show, and it's live broadcast. I'm not very familiar with the process, so I'll have to rely on He Laoshi to cover for me on the show."

To be honest, when Qian Jiang told him that Happy Camp was a live broadcast, Zhou Yi was actually a bit stunned.

After all, in his memory, this show had always been pre-recorded, but who would have thought that the 2001 Happy Camp would be the most difficult type of variety show: live broadcast.

One can only say that Hunan TV is indeed worthy of its name; putting aside the various entertainment-related black marks that came later, their sense of smell is truly sharp.

"Live broadcast isn't actually that scary. Li Xiang and I will control the on-site rhythm, but the middle segments will be up to you to improvise."

"Do you have any talents you can freely display? If so, it would be a good chance for your fans to see another side of you."

He Jiong, whose hosting skills were long ago honed, was already an old hand at live broadcasts and asked specifically.

For the show Happy Camp, if a celebrity guest's personality leans extroverted and they are willing to show themselves, the hosts can better cooperate with the guest for promotion.

Those introverted stars who can't squeeze out ten words in three minutes are often the biggest headache for variety show hosts.

"Talents to display freely? I'm decent at soccer, does that count? Or playing an instrument?"

Zhou Yi, who knew the Happy Camp process very well, pondered his skill set; dancing would definitely be used during the opening and intermission performances, and playing instruments like guitar or piano was no problem.

"That works, but do you have a talent with more contrast? Or something more eye-catching. Like cooking, for example."

As a host who had seriously studied variety shows, He Jiong understood the effect on the program and truly wanted to help Zhou Yi shine.

Since his debut, Zhou Yi had the persona of a talented scholar; knowing instruments wasn't surprising, and knowing soccer had the Peking University Chinese Department repeatedly beaten to death on the internet and in newspapers, even drawing sharp commentary from national team player Fan Zhiyi.

These two could be displayed on variety shows, but ultimately they were a bit too conventional.

But cooking is something every ordinary person encounters; the famous Little Guo Tianwang cooking publicly on a variety show would definitely spark discussion.

It didn't matter if it tasted good or bad; as long as it didn't look inedible, He Jiong felt that he and Li Xiang could praise Zhou Yi's cooking to the heavens; whether it was salty or bland didn't matter.

"Sure, I'm fine with anything. You can prepare more dishes, and I'll stir-fry some noodles too. Later, we can share a bit with the fans on site as a fan benefit."

Hearing He Jiong's idea, Zhou Yi was quite surprised but agreed immediately, casually expanding on it, using Hunan TV's hand to turn the talent display time into fan benefit time.

This left He Jiong completely stunned.

That's interesting.

He Jiong, who also possessed extremely high variety show control talent, immediately thought of how excited the fans would be when they ate Zhou Yi's stir-fried dishes and noodles during the live broadcast.

However, doing so would require adjusting the time allocation between the various segments.

Sensing the topic potential, He Jiong also got excited; the two, in perfect agreement, immediately discussed the details of this fan surprise benefit segment.

At the end of the talk, He Jiong finally remembered another purpose for coming to see Zhou Yi today and extended a dinner invitation to him—

"The other two hosts of Happy Camp, Li Xiang and Li Weijia, will also come tonight; it's a good chance for everyone to get to know each other."

In the 2001 Happy Camp, He Jiong and Li Xiang were responsible for the studio, while Li Weijia handled outdoor segments and some studio work, directly pushing the show's ratings to the top five nationwide.

The tacit cooperation between the three was undoubtedly the variety show iron triangle.

"No problem, I'll definitely be there tonight."

Zhou Yi nodded.

After seeing He Jiong off, Qian Jiang, who had been listening nearby, gave Zhou Yi, who was stretching, a strange look: "Can you actually cook? And feed it to the fans?"

In the Taiwan region, Zhou Yi either ate out or had someone buy food for him; Qian Jiang had never seen Zhou Yi enter a kitchen once. If this went wrong, the trouble would be huge.

"Is it possible that I actually can cook, I'm just too lazy to do it?"

Zhou Yi grinned: "I'm known as the Little Kitchen God of Shangrao, okay."

"..."

At seven o'clock in the evening, Zhou Yi, who had dubbed himself the Little Kitchen God, feasted heartily at the restaurant where He Jiong was treating.

To be fair, the chef is indeed a chef; his skills are far better than mine.

Li Xiang and Li Weijia, seeing Zhou Yi for the first time, exchanged a glance, both seeing a bit of surprise in each other's eyes.

He really has no airs at all.

Originally, they thought He Jiong's praise for Zhou Yi in the afternoon was just polite talk.

"Zhou Yi, do you really have no taboo topics?" To be safe, Li Xiang asked again.

"If we really have to talk about it, Sister Xiang, I think the taboo topics about me are probably ones you wouldn't dare to bring up."

During the post-meal chat, Zhou Yi, full and satisfied, shrugged and teased: "As for rumors, they don't matter to me. In the year since my debut, the Hong Kong and Taiwan media have practically opened a three-palace-six-courtyard for me."

"Those who know clearly that I'm a human, but those who don't might think my kidneys have mutated."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Li Xiang finally couldn't hold back; while laughing, she couldn't help but tease back: "That can't be helped; who else but Zhou Yi you, who is so handsome and so popular."

PS: Three chapters left.

Because I'm afraid you'll say I'm not updating, I'm releasing one chapter first to stabilize morale.

The remaining three chapters are being written; once finished, I'll split the word count and release them together, probably around 3:30 AM.

I slept too long during the day, woke up in the afternoon, and now I can't sleep at night, lol.

Last time I posted a long chapter with a lot of characters, I got roasted for demanding too many Qidian coins for a single chapter... so this time I'll split up the word count and post it in parts after I finish writing.

(End of chapter)