I'm Done with the Elite Marriage - Chapter 44

If it weren’t for Huo Lianghan reaching out, Zhou Youling would have completely forgotten about his previous suggestion to record a short video. During this time, Zhou Youling had accepted an interview with a newspaper, mainly focusing on introducing the Food and Color restaurant.

Nowadays, Food and Color has become the most popular restaurant in Nanzhou City. Every young local knows about it, and even people from neighboring cities come to visit it. Honestly, at first, Zhou Youling didn’t understand why her restaurant became so popular, thinking it was just sheer luck. Later, she realized it was partly due to the solid foundation laid by the original establishment.

The restaurant’s predecessor was highly sought after for its Chinese-style decor, becoming a hotspot for social media influencers and a must-visit location. However, the restaurant struggled to retain customers due to the lack of distinctive flavors in its dishes. After taking over, Zhou Youling made some minor reforms, replacing the original Kitchen Supervisor with more motivated young talent. At the same time, she ensured that the dishes produced by Food and Color were on par with the standards of other restaurants.

With the dishes meeting quality standards and the restaurant having unique features, the rise of Food and Color seemed inevitable. Furthermore, the restaurant gained immense popularity after being recommended by “Gourmet Chronicles,” a blogger with millions of followers, who highlighted the charming boss, boosting its fame significantly.

Speaking of “Gourmet Chronicles,” one must mention Huo Lianghan. Nearly two weeks had passed since Huo Lianghan last visited Food and Color, and he grew anxious waiting for Zhou Youling’s call. Thus, he had no choice but to visit the restaurant again.

This time, Huo Lianghan made his intentions clear and brought along his short video production plan to present to Zhou Youling. Zhou Youling was surprised to see the plan, as she had assumed Huo Lianghan was merely speaking casually and hadn’t taken it seriously. She didn’t expect him to come with a detailed shooting plan.

Huo Lianghan was sincere, but he seemed somewhat uneasy in Zhou Youling’s presence. Zhou Youling sat quietly in her chair, flipping through the folder with a serious expression on her face.

Sitting across from her, Huo Lianghan adjusted his glasses several times, feeling as if he were submitting a thesis for a professor’s review. When Zhou Youling finally put down the folder, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, our filming will take place at Food and Color, primarily focusing on your restaurant. You’ll need to choose a slightly complex signature dish, and we’ll base a series of shoots around it…” Huo Lianghan explained.

Zhou Youling listened quietly and, noticing his pause, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Huo Lianghan rubbed his head and said, “The way you’re looking at me makes me feel a bit embarrassed.”

Zhou Youling chuckled, “I won’t eat you.”

Huo Lianghan shook his head and continued his introduction to Zhou Youling.

Actually, everything he introduced was clearly outlined in his shooting plan.

Zhou Youling appreciated his sincerity and curiously asked, “Did you create this plan all by yourself?”

Huo Lianghan nodded, “Yes.”

“And the filming? Is that also just you?”

Huo Lianghan nodded again, “Yes.”

“What about post-production editing?”

Huo Lianghan hesitated, “That’s me too.”

Zhou Youling marveled, “You can handle all that by yourself?”

Fearing that Zhou Youling might doubt his capabilities, Huo Lianghan explained, “I started filming and editing on my own back in college. At that time, my skills weren’t mature, and editing a three-minute video took me three days. But now, as my skills have improved, I can edit a video under ten minutes in just a day…”

Of course, the short films Huo Lianghan talked about were crafted with the utmost precision, not just thrown together haphazardly.

This meticulous approach is one of the reasons why he managed to grow the ‘Gourmet Chronicles’ account to millions of followers.

Zhou Youling couldn’t help but be moved by Huo Lianghan’s earnestness and agreed, “Alright, I’ll cooperate with you.”

Huo Lianghan was momentarily stunned, then stood up to shake hands with Zhou Youling, “When are you available? Let’s set a date for filming.”

Zhou Youling replied cheerfully, “Anytime works for me.”

She had complete control over her schedule now, free to do as she pleased.

“Then, how about tomorrow? The filming might take a while; we’re planning for two days. Is that okay?” Huo Lianghan asked.

Zhou Youling laughed, “I’ll follow your lead.”

…

Time flew by quickly.

Early the next morning, Huo Lianghan arrived at Food and Color with his equipment.

Given the restaurant’s bustling business, filming during operating hours wasn’t ideal. So, Huo Lianghan and Zhou Youling agreed on an early morning schedule. Luckily, the weather was perfect, with clear skies for the next two days, which was great for filming.

The filming process was quite straightforward. Huo Lianghan handled the camera, while Zhou Youling naturally went about her tasks according to the script.

This time, instead of focusing on a single dish, they chose to showcase a table of homestyle dishes.

In the morning, the camera followed Zhou Youling to the market. What seemed like ordinary footage was transformed by Zhou Youling’s beauty into something extraordinary.

Huo Lianghan understood well that audiences often seek out beautiful things.

Zhou Youling, being an experienced cook, was particular about her choice of ingredients. Even when she was Fu Xunzhou’s wife, she loved visiting markets. Nanzhou City had three large markets where you could find anything from land and sea.

Today’s homestyle meal was a seafood feast.

Nanzhou City was coastal, so seafood was familiar to most locals. However, for many inland folks, selecting seafood was a skill.

In the footage, Zhou Youling smiled as she haggled with vendors, speaking in terms only an expert would understand. Even Huo Lianghan, behind the camera, was captivated by her demeanor.

Zhou Youling forgot she was being filmed, acting completely naturally.

After selecting ingredients at the market, Zhou Youling returned to the restaurant to start cooking.

Capturing the cooking process on film often requires more than one take. To achieve exquisite dynamic images, it’s necessary to repeatedly find the most suitable shots.

Huo Lianghan initially used a continuous shot, capturing every moment from Zhou Youling preparing, washing, and cutting the ingredients, to the final cooking process.

To his surprise, these shots needed no editing; simply watching them felt like viewing a finished masterpiece.

The first day of shooting was completed, and the second day was spent adding details and reshooting parts that hadn’t turned out well.

This filming was much simpler than Zhou Youling had imagined.

Most of the time, Huo Lianghan acted like an observer, offering no comments, merely following her rhythm with his camera. Meanwhile, several other cameras were set up, capturing Zhou Youling from almost every angle.

While cooking, Zhou Youling often forgot she was recording footage. She was so focused and dedicated, thinking only of making the meal for Old Master Fu, ensuring nothing went to waste.

In less than a week, Huo Lianghan presented the finished product to Zhou Youling.

Honestly, Zhou Youling was completely unfamiliar with such things.

The ten-minute short film, enhanced with editing and music, left her stunned by her own appearance on screen.

“It looks pretty good,” Zhou Youling exclaimed with delight after watching it.

Huo Lianghan nodded, “I think it’s really good.”

Unable to resist, Zhou Youling watched it again, and with a touch of vanity, said, “I look so beautiful.”

Huo Lianghan chuckled, “You are quite beautiful.”

For days, he had been editing the footage day and night, and each time he watched Zhou Youling in the clips, his heart would involuntarily race.

Zhou Youling patted Huo Lianghan’s shoulder, “Alright, I’ll leave everything to you. I trust you.”

“I won’t let you down.”

After thorough confirmation, Huo Lianghan released the video on his Weibo and several other video platforms.

Shortly after the video was posted, Huo Lianghan’s Weibo received an overwhelming response, something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“First time being so close! I’m in love!”

“Is this a fairy cooking?”

“So relatable, yet it feels so beautiful.”

“I need all the info on this fairy within ten minutes.”

“Looks delicious!”

At that moment, Zhou Youling had no idea that this seemingly casual short video would bring unexpected changes to her world.

That day, Zhou Youling called a car to go home, as she usually did. Her only regret was not having learned to drive, planning to get a license after having a child.

The vehicle stopped at a red light, and snowflakes began to fall. The driver in the front seat exclaimed, “Wow, it’s snowing tonight.”

Hearing this, Zhou Youling looked up in surprise and quickly rolled down the window to gaze outside.

But her first sight wasn’t the falling snowflakes; it was the car parked beside her. It was the car she often rode in when she was with the Fu Family. Fu Xunzhou had specially bought it for her and assigned a driver who was always ready whenever she went out.

Now, Fu Xunzhou sat quietly in the back seat of that car. As their eyes were about to meet, he slowly raised the car window.

Yet, she still caught a glimpse of his eyes.

She used to say his eyes were beautiful, but seemed too cold. Like a deep pool, or frozen ice. He had jokingly said he looked forward to her warmth. Back then, they had just married, trying to get along, trying to love.

Zhou Youling paused, feeling a slight stir in a corner of her heart.

The red light turned green.

Both cars started moving, one turning left, the other going straight.

At this intersection, they were finally heading in different directions, never to intersect again.

“This is the first snow of the year in Nanzhou City,” the driver remarked.

Fu Xunzhou hadn’t forgotten that Zhou Youling loved snow.