At Wuyou Media.
Li Mengqing sat behind her desk, facing eight young men and women. These were her subordinates from the styling department she was in charge of.
Their usual job was to create innovative looks for the company's influencers and streamers across various departments.
With an icy expression, she began assigning tasks to the eight subordinates before her.
After laying out the upcoming work schedule and waiting for them to leave her office, she immediately opened WeChat, then blocked and deleted the short-video supervisor.
"Sister Qing's expression just now was terrifying!"
"I know! Who knows how Group Seven pissed off Sister Qing. They're in for a hard time now."
The tasks Li Mengqing had assigned weren't about anything else; they were specifically aimed at Group Seven, which was managed by that short-video supervisor.
She specifically instructed them to serve the people in Group Seven well from now on and to work hard on improving their aesthetic sense and skills.
On the surface, there was nothing wrong with her words, but no one was a fool. The tone of Li Mengqing's voice was cold enough to freeze hell over.
...
Meanwhile, Gao Yuan and Lin Wanyu had already arrived at Wanxiang City.
The two headed straight for the Sony store.
Gao Yuan had a background in e-commerce, after all. Although he primarily focused on management and overall business development strategy, he still knew a thing or two about common photography equipment.
He went right to a saleswoman and explained that he needed a camera for shooting short videos, specifically requesting a Sony ZV-E10 body and a Sigma 35mm f/1.8 lens.
His old company's live-streaming studio used this exact camera and lens setup. It produced remarkably high-definition content with a slight beautifying effect.
The saleswoman immediately confirmed that they had both the camera body and the lens in stock and brought them out for Gao Yuan to inspect.
Gao Yuan was surprised that the store actually sold lenses from other brands. He bought the complete set on the spot. The store even threw in a tripod. He also picked out some lighting equipment, spending a little over 10,000 yuan in total.
「On the way back.」
The two passed a Huawei store. Gao Yuan remembered that his Huawei P30 Pro, which he had been using for three or four years, was starting to lag, and its storage was running low.
He went in and bought the latest top-of-the-line model with 1TB of storage, making another splurge.
Since they were already at Wanxiang City, they couldn't be bothered to go to another supermarket and just bought the ingredients they needed at the Ole supermarket.
Gao Yuan saw that the pork belly looked excellent today. It wasn't too fatty—perfect for making braised pork. He bought a piece to use the next day.
In the seafood section, he bought some fresh shrimp and a yellow croaker—that was two dishes right there. Then he grabbed some vegetables, as well as some peas and corn kernels for fried rice.
Finally, he picked up a box of fermented rice wine, concluding their supermarket trip.
Throughout their outing, the two of them really resembled a sweet, loving couple. 'The life he had desperately pursued but could never attain had somehow been realized so easily after he gave up on pure love.'
'It was more than a little ironic, but that's just how reality is. You never know if the next moment will bring a pleasant surprise or a nasty shock.'
「Back at home.」
Gao Yuan first contacted a photographer from his old company. They had a video call to get the camera equipment set up and adjusted properly. He then wrote down every step of the process and what footage needed to be shot.
First step, he started steaming enough rice for two people in the rice cooker. The main course for tonight would be Gao Clan Fried Rice.
The other dishes would be braised shrimp in oil and stir-fried romaine lettuce with fermented black beans, plus a steamed yellow croaker and hot and sour soup, which together would make for a sumptuous dinner.
The meal Gao Yuan was making tonight wasn't from any particular regional cuisine. Instead, it was based entirely on the three of them's preferences, leaning more toward home-style cooking.
Next, he cleaned the yellow croaker and the shrimp, recording some footage. Then he prepped the ingredients for the hot and sour soup, recording footage of that as well.
With all the prep work done, all that was left was the actual cooking. Since none of the dishes required long stewing or braising, he decided to wait until Li Mengqing got off work to start.
This way, not only could the three of them enjoy a freshly made dinner, but it also wouldn't interfere with Gao Yuan gathering his video content.
Of course, Lin Wanyu took pictures of all this and sent them to their little three-person group chat. After seeing them, Li Mengqing immediately replied, "@Two, hurry up and register a new account. Get the profile set up."
Seeing Li Mengqing's message, Gao Yuan realized he hadn't prepared an account yet.
His previous account was over four years old, and he'd skewed the algorithm completely. The short videos he was shown were nothing but scantily clad women and girls in black nylons. It was hardly suitable for posting this kind of wholesome content.
So, he used a different phone number to register a new TikTok account. Since he wasn't planning on monetizing the videos, he didn't bother with real-name verification.
After he registered the TikTok account, Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing started discussing names and profile pictures in the group chat.
"I think 'An Uncle's Dinner' sounds pretty good."
"I prefer something more direct, like 'A Big Shot's Dinner.' Future updates could also lean toward more refined, fancy dinners."
"..."
Gao Yuan looked at both names they suggested. Comparatively, he leaned more toward Lin Wanyu's suggestion, "An Uncle's Dinner."
That name had a nice touch of persona to it.
Sure enough, the next moment, they both tagged him, asking which name he preferred.
Gao Yuan thought for a moment and typed three words into the group chat: Mr. Gao's Dinner.
This name highlighted his surname, had more of a persona than "Uncle," and also had a hint of "Dinner with Buffett."
As for the profile picture, Lin Wanyu eagerly volunteered to take it herself.
She had him put on his Zegna suit and styled him all over again.
It was just after four o'clock. The afternoon sun was no longer so harsh and was casting a warm, sunset-like glow through the window and onto the living room sofa.
Wearing a black mask, Gao Yuan sat half-reclined on the sofa, his right leg crossed over his left, his calm gaze directed out the window.
CLICK!
Lin Wanyu had perfectly captured the moment.
After transferring the photo to the computer, they both looked at it on the screen, extremely satisfied.
While taking the photo, Gao Yuan had intentionally channeled a confident, domineering CEO aura. Even with the mask on, his eyes and posture revealed him to be a successful man in a high-level position.
Opening Photoshop, Gao Yuan made a few minor color adjustments, then sent the final image directly to the Utopia group chat.
Upon seeing the photo, Li Mengqing couldn't help but send a thumbs-up emoji.
After setting the TikTok account's name and profile picture, Gao Yuan opened the profile editor and wrote a sentence in the bio.
"A beautiful life begins with recording and sharing delicious dinners!"
At this point, the only thing left to do for his TikTok profile was the background image.
Gao Yuan had an idea for the background image as well. It would simply be a shot of him, wearing an apron, carrying a dish out of the kitchen. They would have to take that picture later while he was cooking.
This would also better fit the overall culinary theme of the account.
DING! DING!
His phone chimed with two notifications. Gao Yuan saw that his TikTok account had two new followers. One was named "I'm a Little Fairy," and the other was "Clear Skies After Rain."
Gao Yuan could guess from the names alone that they were Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing.
Sure enough, Lin Wanyu sent a message in the group chat: "I'm Chef Gao's very first fan, you know!"
"No one's fighting you for it!"
Although that's what Li Mengqing said, she was, in fact, Gao Yuan's second follower.
Gao Yuan used his personal account to follow the new one and followed them back.
And so, the "Mr. Gao's Dinner" account now had three followers and three accounts it was following. Perhaps in the future, there would be a few more mutuals.