Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 185 Celebrity Chefs Need Agents as Partners, What Do You Think of Me? (Bonus Chapter for 2K Players)

"A private chef club in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen area"

Xia Ming, Zheng Zeqian, Qian Youdao, and Qian Yourong sat together, ordering food and chatting.

"Brother Xia, you've got this championship in the bag! 100 points! How are the other contestants in the New Chef Competition supposed to compete now?!"

Zheng Zeqian casually shrugged.

"How can we live? We'll just stop living. If we have Xia Ming's strength, we should get the points according to the standards. Isn't that reasonable?"

Qian Youdao glanced at him and chuckled.

"Zeqian, are you saying you have 8% of Brother Xia's strength?"

"What a joke, everyone knows that scores are a curve! I got 80 points, Xia Ming got 100 points, I'm at most 0.7 times Xia Ming."

"Not bad, you know your place!"

Listening to Qian Youdao and Zheng Zeqian teasing each other, Xia Ming smiled slightly, but his mind was on other things.

Backstage, his father called him to celebrate his growth and then bluntly said that he had gotten a sum of money from a rich woman to invest in Xia Ming's restaurant.

"Son, this money is more than enough for you to open a high-end restaurant anywhere in China. How about that? Your dad treats you well, right?"

To be honest, Xia Ming was a little shocked when he heard the amount of money.

That's several million! How rich must this woman be to casually take it out like that?

After all, in his view, he, as a master counterfeiter, was currently in the stage of living off a rich woman, and it took him a lot of effort to fool a wealthy woman into investing millions.

After thinking about it, he still didn't want it.

The main reason is that he doesn't plan to open a shop, and if he were given the money directly, he wouldn't mind taking it.

Upon hearing that Xia Ming wasn't planning to open a shop, Xia Minhui laughed and asked if Xia Ming wanted to become a "celebrity chef."

Xia Ming did have this idea, but he was very curious about how his father knew about it.

"Oh my, you have no idea, I'm watching your competition abroad with a rich woman."

"The rich woman has many business friends. I don't really understand what they're saying, but at least there's a translator!"

"I've heard them say that many people like you choose to become 'celebrity chefs,' saying it's very popular overseas."

"I have money, I have free time, I only work two days a month, and I travel around the rest of the time!"

"Your father doesn't know anything about this. I just listened in and learned a little bit."

Xia Ming nodded in agreement. Although it wasn't entirely accurate, he did need the identity of a "celebrity chef" in order to hunt legally without any burden.

Before the competition, he consulted Qiao Ruoning about this issue more than once.

According to Xia Ming's current understanding, the biggest difference between a "celebrity chef" and an "internet celebrity chef" lies in whether they have an "agent" or a "management team".

The former's "agent" basically plays the role of a secretary. Not only does he have to run around with the chef, but he also needs to be proficient in law, speak multiple languages, and have connections with variety shows or local TV stations.

A "brokerage team" is a group of multiple people, similar to an "agent".

Compared to agents, they also need to take on additional responsibilities such as public relations, online promotion, event coordination, and video editing.

It can be said that an "excellent chef agent" can support an entire team all by himself.

Take Tan Zhifeng for example. His agent, Mika, is the best overseas agent in China. The two have been working together for 18 years and are already very close.

Mika's wife was even introduced to him by Tan Zhifeng.

Take Sui Wubai as another example. He had some problems with his "management team" before, and now he is going solo with his former assistant "Xiao Li".

His management team knew for certain that there was "Little Li" and a relative of "Little Li".

Xiao Li usually takes care of everything, almost like an "agent".

As for his relatives, they only served as assistants in photography and post-production editing when Xiao Li occasionally needed to appear on camera.

According to Qiao Ruoning, Sui Wubai's low online income is also due to the fact that he does not accept any advertisements related to cooking itself (he can accept advertisements for kitchenware, but not for restaurant reviews or teaching apprentices).

"Celebrity chefs have extremely stable incomes, while online celebrity chefs are still in the development stage and haven't found a particularly good monetization model besides restaurant visits."

"Of course, taking on private chefs is a different matter."

Just when Xia Ming thought his father was just asking casually, he was surprised to find that the rich woman's company happened to have a partnership with a well-known "agent" company in China.

He can help Xia Ming find an absolutely reliable "agent". "Male or female, tall or short, fat or thin, you can go and see for yourself."

Looking at the address and phone number his father sent, Xia Ming was a little confused.

According to his recollection, his father was already a decadent old man, yet he still managed to hook up with a wealthy woman with connections and influence at his age.

Either you were really good back then, or your body is still in great shape after all these years.

Otherwise, it doesn't make sense.
Xia Ming had actually considered whether Xia Minhui had some identity he was hiding from him, but he couldn't analyze the problem at all by just communicating by phone.

Since the tickets are free, it's definitely worth going to see them. Although the agent costs a lot of money, he can also help Xia Ming solve a lot of problems.

For example, he doesn't need to find blood suppliers himself, nor does he need to wait foolishly for variety shows to approach him.

He can learn about contracts, but he will find it difficult to fully understand the legal details of the specific terms in a short period of time.

Therefore, he accepted Xia Minhui's offer and planned to visit the "Agent Company" called "Chuyi" in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen area tomorrow.

Just as he was pondering this, Qian Yourong took the initiative to start a conversation with him about chefs.

Interestingly, she also said that she could introduce Xia Ming to the best "agent" company in the Taiwan area.

In terms of experience, this company is more established than "Chef's Choice".

Xia Ming politely declined the offer.

The main reason is that he wasn't that familiar with the Qian family yet, and given his father's connections, choosing someone else wouldn't be a wise move.

After being rejected, Qian Yourong didn't ask any further questions. She simply left Xia Ming's contact information after the banquet, saying that they would keep in touch, and then left with Qian Youdao.

As for Zheng Zeqian, the Chefs Association hopes he will join, but he is still considering whether to go, so he is currently staying in a hotel.

Xia Ming was also asked, but he declined. Upon hearing that he wanted to become a "celebrity chef," Yin Shengjiang recommended that he communicate more with Tan Zhifeng.

"Old Tan is very famous overseas. You can talk to him if you don't understand something."

Xia Ming nodded. He had indeed made an appointment with Tan Zhifeng to visit the Dahu District in a few days.

However, before that, he still needs to go to "Chef's Wish" to check the situation.

"The next day, in the afternoon"

Xia Ming looked at the five agents in front of him with a headache.
In his imagination, the agent not only had to meet the previous requirements, but also had to be good at cooking.

"If one day I need you to find a raw material or a process, and you don't understand it, I won't be able to communicate with you!"

Xia Ming's idea is not wrong, but this has always been the case in this industry.

The agents are either former celebrity agents or graduates of media or law schools.

"Chef's Choice" also has restaurants that are around the "Hua 1 level" level, but they are not only expensive, but their professionalism is also questionable.

The reception manager of "Chef's Delight" was also helpless. If someone in their industry really has high culinary skills, they either choose to go solo or climb to a higher branch.

Although Xia Ming is a "Level 4 Hua" and the champion of the New Chef Competition, he still receives a lot of attention.

But before his potential is realized, no one can be sure whether Xia Ming's talent is just a flash in the pan. Agents at the "Hua Level 2" or above basically won't talk to Xia Ming.

Moreover, "Chef's Wish" does not have any agents with a chef level of "Level 2" or above.

Seeing this, Xia Ming was also helpless. He really had this concern. Since "Cooking Intent" could not satisfy him, he could only think of asking Tan Zhifeng.

But just as he stepped out of "Chef's Delight", he received a call from Qiao Ruoning.

Qiao Ruoning invited him to meet at a coffee shop, saying she had something important to discuss, and Xia Ming thought about it and went anyway.

Upon arrival, the two exchanged a few pleasantries.

Qiao Ruoning then stopped keeping her in suspense.

"I heard you're looking for an 'agent' who understands the law, is a good cook, can communicate with local TV stations, and has access to chef information~"

"Hmm, do you have any good recommendations?"

Upon hearing Xia Ming's words, Qiao Ruoning smiled slightly, then revealed her signature little tiger teeth.

"What do you think about me?"

"???"

(End of this chapter)