Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Tachibana Ryoko also picked up the wine glass with emotion and handed it to Xia's father.

"Ahem, last time we drank together, you didn't have the word 'Zi' in your name, and you didn't wear lipstick or a dress..."

Father Xia touched him with a complicated expression.

In his memory, his impression of Tachibana Ryo was still that of a muscular man in a black suit, a big gold chain, and chest hair bursting out from the collar of his shirt.

But I didn't expect that in the past 20 years, everything has changed.

"Actually, is this a friendship that is so hard to describe..."

"The life trajectories of the two presidents are really unpredictable."

Horie Tsubasa and Hoshina Hanami were frozen at the table by the shocking conversation between the three people that contained so much information, and could only smile stiffly with dark lines on their foreheads.

"Oh my, you three are really something. The food hasn't even been served yet, but you're already drinking."

Mother Xia rubbed her forehead helplessly.

"By the way, isn't it Xia Jun who's treating us today..."

"Hasn't he come back yet?"

Looking around and not seeing Xia Fan, Xing Ming Hana couldn't help but ask.

"Xia Fan? He has been in the store the whole time..."

After taking another big sip of cold beer, Higashino Yoshihide pointed behind him with a happy expression.

"Kid, your friend is here, at least say hello."

Father Xia raised his head and shouted towards the open kitchen.

"Ah, are Hanami and the squad leader here?"

"Sorry, sorry. I was cooking just now and it was too noisy in the kitchen. I didn't pay attention at all."

The curtain of the open kitchen was lifted, and Xia Fan, wearing a white chef's uniform and a headscarf, poked his head out.

"What, it's actually Xia Jun who's cooking?!"

"One person? Can you handle it?"

Horie Tsubasa and Hoshina Hanami walked up to the bar in surprise and stood on tiptoe to look into the kitchen.

I had been hearing noises in the kitchen and thought it was the chef from Xia Fan’s restaurant busy, but I didn’t expect it was Xia Fan himself.

"Xia Fan is now somewhat successful and the family debts have been paid off. This is all thanks to everyone's help."

"He said he wanted to host a dinner to express his gratitude. Naturally, it had to be a 'family dinner' of the highest standard in Dragon Country, and he had to cook the meal himself."

Mother Xia added more wine for the group and explained softly.

In the kitchen, Xia Fan, dressed in a chef's uniform, looked more handsome and capable, unlike his usual student-like look.

I saw him stir-frying the ingredients with skillful movements. He didn't even need to look at the seasonings when he got them. It seemed as if the whole kitchen was under his control.

"Good, good skillful movements..."

“Just like a professional chef!”

The two girls were stunned by the smooth and fluent movements of flipping the pan and sliding the spatula.

"Don't look at me like this. Since junior high school, I have been doing odd jobs in the kitchen after class every day..."

"I already know my dad's specialties by heart."

Xia Fan smiled indifferently, and a portion of sweet sweet and sour pork came out of the oven and was placed on a plate on the serving plate.

"Well, this kid hasn't touched the spoon much in the past two years, how come his cooking skills have improved?"

After bringing the plate of crystal clear sweet and sour pork to the table and taking a closer look at it, Father Xia nodded in approval.

"Please take a seat first. The dishes have been prepared and we are waiting for everyone to arrive. They will be ready in ten minutes..."

Xia Fan skillfully prepared the pot, controlled the fire, added a lot of oil, and started to stir-fry the second dish...

He also took advantage of the opportunity to serve out the "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" that he had been cooking in the morning.

Although he was a good student since childhood, his father had made him work as an "illegal child laborer" in the kitchen in the past few years in order to help supplement the family income and cultivate the second generation of "Wynn Chinese Restaurant".

Although his father did not allow him to enter the kitchen after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, with the support of [Naked Body] and [Shed Puppet], Xia Fan's strength and movement accuracy are incomparable to before, and he is more adept at cooking.

"It would be embarrassing if I didn't do anything, so I'll come and help!"

Horie Tsubasa hurriedly brought the dishes to the table before Xia's mother could.

"And me...I'm coming too!"

Xing Minghua realized after seeing this that there was no food to serve, so she could only take the rag to wipe the table and set the table for dishes.

"These two kids are clearly here as guests, really..."

Mother Xia had nothing to do for the moment and could only watch them busy with a smile.

Peking roast duck, mapo tofu, West Lake vinegar fish, Dongpo pork, Cantonese roast meat...

With Xia Fan's busy and orderly movements, stacks of exquisite Dragon Country classic dishes soon filled the long table.

"Wow, so rich... Did Xia Jun make all of this by himself?"

Xing Minghua's eyes widened and tears flowed from the corners of her mouth.

"It feels like Xia Jun is better at cooking than the girls."

Horie Tsubasa bit his lower lip unwillingly.

District 11 has home economics classes starting from kindergarten. Most girls have the habit of making their own bento or even giving them away as gifts, so their cooking skills are not bad.

And those full-time housewives focus on the richness of their husbands and children's lunch boxes, and study cooking skills day and night.

But the level of this "home cooking" is far from enough compared to Xia Fan's "commercial cooking skills" which comes from this family tradition.

Chapter 269 Win?

2024-07-13

"Come on, come on, cheers!"

“Good luck with your debut!!!”

"I wish you the most popular talent show!"

“I wish you good health!”

Soon, several people sat around the square table, and the juice and beer glasses clinked against each other.

Although the dishes cooked by Xia Fan could not be said to be masterpieces of the master class, they were still delicious and worthy of the identity of the second-generation chef of "Wynn Chinese Restaurant". Everyone ate with gusto.

"Come to think of it, are Xiao Hanami and Xiaoyi also artists like Xia Jun?"

After they got a little familiar with each other, Xia's mother smiled as she picked up food for the two girls, as if she was feeding her own daughters.

She and Xia's father are foreigners who came to District 11 as adults to make a living. Their cultural circle has remained in Longguo for many years. No matter whether it is TV series, movies or news, they all watch them in Longguo language.

Therefore, to the entertainment industry in District 11, they are the real “outsiders”.

Although they have always heard Xia Fan say that he is filming commercials, writing songs, guest-starring in TV dramas, and is now participating in some talent shows, his parents actually have no idea what exactly he is doing.

"I... I'm not as good at everything as Xia Jun. I'm just a newcomer who just debuted... I can only achieve this little bit of success now, thanks to Xia Fan's help..."

"Ms. Horie is the truly amazing one..."

Hoshina Hanami swallowed the Peking duck in her mouth and explained timidly, but when she thought about how Horie Tsubasa didn't seem to be active publicly as a voice actor, she stopped herself from talking.

"I have been using the stage name 'Kurokawa Tsubasa' and have been active as a singer and voice actor. If I have the opportunity after graduation, I would like to continue developing in this field."

Gently putting down his chopsticks, Horie Tsubasa said calmly.

"Oh?"

Xia Fan glanced at her with some concern.

This seemed to be the first time that Horie Tsubasa admitted his identity as "Kurokawa Tsubasa" in front of other people.

There was some huge change in mentality here that he was unaware of.

"Pfft... Wh, what... Miss Horie, is she the popular voice actor who's been so popular recently?!"

"The one who sang Xia Fan's song 'Red Lotus', Kurokawa Tsubasa, was it you?!"

When Yoshihide Higashino and Ryoko Tachibana heard about this for the first time, their eyes widened into the size of bells.

"Damn Blade" was released last month and has grossed over 20 billion yuan, ranking third in the box office history of Region 11.

The popularity of the theme song "Red Lotus" remains strong and continues to dominate the top of major music charts.

As the popular voice actor of the original singer of this song, Kurokawa Tsubasa, although not well-known among the general public, is a hot star in the two-dimensional circle. It is said that several animations and movies that are being prepared have invited her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a voice actor who doesn't do public activities, so Xia-kun and Hanami have been keeping it a secret for me and haven't told you before."

Seeing that the two presidents looked like their brains were at a standstill, Horie Tsubasa calmly explained.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, if the contestants of the previous 'Campus Singer Contest' knew that the group that won the championship included the 'Queen of Variety' Kurokawa Tsubasa, they would probably die with hatred in their hearts, right?"

After taking a sip of cold beer to calm himself, Higashino Yoshihide sighed softly.

"No, now Xia Jun's identity as a 'Seven Star International Trainee' is enough to convince the students."

Horie Tsubasa gave Xia Fan a teasing look.

"Oh yeah, speaking of the talent show, you, boy, agreed to give it a rub, but you used too much force without permission!"

"Do you know how much trouble this has caused me? After the last theme song was broadcast, S Company actually secretly contacted the top management of B Company and wanted to buy out your agency contract from me..."

"But they don't know that you, a little trainee, are a monster music producer 'incarnated'. How could Bethesda be willing to let you go?"

Speaking of this, the slightly drunk Higashino Yoshihide reached out and pressed Xia Fan's neck.

"You may say that, but Uncle Dongye, aren't you secretly trying your best to help me get votes?"

Xia Fan shrank his neck and retorted.

"That's wrong. Although I used my connections within the Burning Department and got you a lot of votes this time..."

"But according to my investigation, most of the votes were obtained by your fans who call themselves 'Summer Disease' through spontaneous team building..."

"You really can't underestimate the power of rotten girls..."

Dongye shook his head and burped with emotion.

"By the way, Mr. Xia, I heard from the grapevine that after the recording of the performance, the international trainees almost all lost as a group?"

When talking about the talent show, Tachibana Ryoko also started gossiping.

This time, for the "Idol Birth Festival", because of the previous "unknown leak of the first stage live shot", the production team has upgraded the confidentiality measures, and even the behind-the-scenes footage of the shooting has not been leaked during the recent recording.

Therefore, before the latest episode was officially broadcast, no one knew the details of the first performance.

"It's okay. Even if you don't win the popularity votes and fall off the rankings, don't be discouraged."

"With the popularity gained in the first few episodes, I should be able to make it to the second performance. I have already exceeded my 'debut mission'."

"I've said before that in this kind of talent show, which is used to shady manipulation, if you stay for too many rounds, the companies and production crews behind you will probably be forced to use all kinds of shady manipulation to mess with you, and you'll be at a disadvantage..."

Higashino Yoshihide patted Xia Fan's shoulder indifferently.

In his opinion, if Xia Fan lost the popularity votes in the competition, he would definitely fall out of the top of the rankings.

Without the popularity of the topic and the "head effect", it will be difficult to convert passers-by fans as efficiently as before and maintain the growth of votes.

"Well, with Xia Jun's current popularity, if he writes a debut song for himself later, he will definitely get better results..."

After hearing what Tachibana Ryoko said, Horie Tsubasa, who was familiar with the rehearsal situation, naturally thought that Xia Fan's program was ultimately lost because of his teammates' "drag down" and spoke softly to comfort him.

"That's right, Xia Jun is also a great actor. If you need to promote any of your works in the future, I will definitely help you with all my strength!"

Xing Ming Hanami also clenched her fists and cheered Xia Fan on.

"Well...thank you for your concern...it was our first performance, and we lost miserably in the international trainee group..."

"But after this performance... my popularity... should still be at number one for now..."

After taking a bite of the food, Xia Fan spoke haltingly.

Because of the confidentiality agreement they signed, trainees cannot leak any relevant content before the program is officially broadcast, so after he participated in the recording of the previous few episodes, he never told Higashino Yoshie the details.