Chapter 92 - The Farewell Dinner
After saying these harsh words, Yin Fenghua left the set and did not reappear for the next few days. Everyone was very anxious, wondering if his threat to file a lawsuit for damages was for real or not.
However, Yuan Ge didn't appear to be distressed. He calmed everyone down and used the last few days before Chinese New Year to continue filming other scenes, mainly because he didn't want to lose morale by stopping work, and more importantly because the only way to find the mysterious "Rong Qiuchen'' again was for the crew to continue filming at the Rong Mansion. Yuan Ge made up his mind that no matter what kind of trouble Yin Fenghua would cause, as long as the film "Qingqing'' was to continue, he would definitely replace the male lead! And the most suitable person for the role had to be that little porcelain-bumping loony boy!
After work that day, Yuan Ge received a call from Chow Mingrun inviting the entire cast and crew to a hot pot dinner tonight.
"What's going on?" Amélie looked incredulous, "I haven't seen Boss Chow for days. I guess he must have been burned out because of the Yin Fenghua business. I don't know how he wanted to handle the whole thing, but I didn't think he was in any mood to invite us to dinner even if he was not angry. But now, not only did he invite the whole cast and crew, but he chose that big, expensive "Dong Lai Chang" restaurant! Given how stingy he usually is, he should have ordered takeaway from his congee bar even if he wanted to treat us to a New Year dinner!"
"Fat Chow said that today is the last get-together before the New Year and we'll stop work tomorrow. Aren't you all going back home for the Spring Festival holiday?"
Seeing Yuan Ge's breezy attitude at Chow Mingrun's invitation, Du Jinghai couldn't help but worry, "You are too optimistic, I'm afraid. If you ask me, I wouldn't be surprised if this meal is going to be a farewell dinner … "
"A farewell dinner?!"
Waylon, Stephen and Chestnut were all a bit dumbfounded when they heard What Du Jinghai said. They had only just signed their contracts and become actors; was Dragon Dreams going to close up shop so soon?
Each with their own worries, dozens of people stepped through the doors of Dong Lai Chang Hot Pot restaurant, one of the most famous traditional restaurants in Beijing, and filled the place up at once. Fortunately, Chow Mingrun had booked in advance, otherwise there would have been no chance to find an empty table at this time of day. After arranging for the general crew members to be seated downstairs, he pulled the company's key players directly upstairs to a large private room with two tables.
Du Jinghai looked at the situation and couldn't help but make a dejected face at everyone, which clearly meant, "See, a farewell meal, just like I said."
"Come, come, come! Hurry up, all sit down please. You guys are really taking your time. I was getting hungry while waiting for you guys! Leaving me alone in a hot pot restaurant is so inhumane! It's torture to smell it but not be able to eat it!"
Surprisingly, Chow Mingrun was in high spirits. When he saw the crowd entering the room, he greeted them, standing up to welcome them as if they were his precious clients. He put his partners and main cast at one table and the lighting, props, make-up, set and editing crew at another.
"Fat Chow, what's the deal today? Instead of eating at your congee bar, you brought us here for an expensive hot-pot banquet. Do we have the budget for it?"
Noticing that Chow Mingrun was wearing a designer suit today - a rare occasion that he actually looked like a big boss, Du Jinghai became even more suspicious and couldn't wait to bring out the questions in his mind.
"Today is the farewell dinner. You have all worked so hard since the inception of our little start-up Dragon Dreams, but I haven't treated you all to an authentic Beijing hot pot experience. That won't do! Just look at how good the ingredients are at this restaurant! Tender five-month-old lamb! Look how good the knife work is …" said Chow Mingrun as he picked up a plate of thinly sliced lamb and stood the plate up on its side without the lamb falling apart, "Look at the way the lamb is arranged! Look at this traditional knife work! Look at how thin each slice is! "
The crowd did not care about the lamb, their attention was focused on the words "farewell dinner".
When Chow Mingrun saw that everyone was staring blankly, not looking excited at all, he was quite puzzled, "What's wrong with you all? The pot is boiling, waiting for the lamb to go in. Why don't you sit down and enjoy it?"
"Fat Chow, you said, uh, farewell dinner? …"
Chow Mingrun couldn't understand what Du Jinghai was talking about and replied, "That's right, it's a farewell dinner. It's only a few days before New Year's Eve, aren't you going back home to Anhui for the New Year? Amy is going back to Canton, Chestnut is going back to Hebei, and Wei Lun's home is in Dalian … I have a good memory. Only Stephen and Yuan Ge are local to Beijing and don't have to fight the Spring Festival travel rush[1], definitely the luckiest of us all. I've already booked a flight back to Xiaoshan the day after tomorrow. Alas! I have to be on time every year to spend New Year's Eve with my wife's family."
"So you don't mean to dissolve the company?" Du Jinghai asked uncertainly.
"Dissolve the company? How could it be dissolved!" Chow Mingrun had the waiter open beer, wine and various spirits and said with a big grin, "Dragon Dreams is going to soar from now on! We're on our way to becoming the top of show business!"
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[1] Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun, is a period of travel in China with extremely high traffic load around the time of the Chinese New Year. The travel season in China usually begins 15 days before New Year's Day and lasts for around 40 days.. It has been called the largest annual human migration in the world.