CHAPTER 231: CHAPTER 231 ORIGINAL SIN 40

When Li Ming arrived, the people at Red Dust were gathered on the first floor having breakfast. Shuangshuang had gotten up early to prepare century egg and lean pork congee along with mushroom chicken congee, plus some pickled vegetables and two light stir-fried dishes. Though simple, the flavors were rich and aromatic.

Qiangqiang sat on Professor Zhang’s lap, holding a small bowl and eating happily. Over the past few days, a touch of blood had returned to Qiangqiang’s pale little face, making him look healthier.

As soon as Li Ming, the foodie, walked in, he headed straight for the dining table without waiting for anyone to invite him. After washing his hands, he picked up a bowl and served himself some congee, leaving the waiter standing next to the congee pot, ready to help, a bit stunned.

The waiter was someone Shuangshuang had hired earlier. Previously, there had only been two waitstaff at Shuangshuang’s place, mainly responsible for simple cleaning. Back then, there were no guests at Red Dust, so many areas didn’t need frequent cleaning, and the two were able to manage.

Later, when guests started coming to Red Dust, the two weren’t enough, so Shuangshuang recruited ten girls to work as waitstaff. Since then, Shuangshuang had been training these girls.

Shuangshuang was teaching them methods and techniques for dealing with various odd customers, which she had gleaned from her previous life in the hotel business, along with work postures. The main focus was to quickly get them used to working in long skirts.

Yes, Shuangshuang planned for all the waitstaff to wear ancient costumes, styled after traditional palace maid attire. The skirts were long but didn’t reach the ankles, to avoid dragging on the floor, and the tops had narrow instead of wide sleeves.

Their hair was tied differently on each side; those with long hair used their own, while those with short hair received two fake ponytails from Shuangshuang, each side twisted into a small bun with simple ornaments. Honestly, dressed like this, they looked quite playful, like little sisters from ancient times.

Originally, Shuangshuang planned to train them for a month before putting them to work, but as guests suddenly increased at Red Dust, particularly with Director Li Ming and his entourage arriving, Shuangshuang had to let these waitstaff start working early.

Li Ming’s entourage had quite a few vehicles—big ones, small ones, cargo trucks, and chauffeur-driven vehicles set up a formation outside Red Dust!

The big vehicles dropped off staff members, the small cargo trucks carried various filming equipment, Director Li Ming rode in a sedan, and the chauffeur-driven vehicle carried a large group of handsome men and beautiful women, all the hottest stars. But to Shuangshuang, who barely watched movies or TV dramas, not a single face was familiar.

The sudden influx of guests was the perfect test of the service skills of Shuangshuang’s waitstaff.

Shuangshuang herself wasn’t interested in stars, but these young waitstaff definitely weren’t as indifferent as Shuangshuang. Shuangshuang could clearly see several waitstaff’s eyes lighting up as the stars entered!

Still, thankfully, while some of the young girls got excited, they quickly calmed down. When greeting the guests, they didn’t act inappropriately, and the postures Shuangshuang taught them were properly maintained—perhaps due to a natural tendency to be more reserved around celebrities.

No matter the reason, these waitstaff, on their first day, managed to maintain a standard smile, offer attentive service, and refrain from being overly enthusiastic, which could be annoying.

Sister Wang, Sister Bai, Sister Mei, Zhao Ying, and Liu Ying all had their own businesses to attend to and could only stay at Red Dust until the evening before heading back, so Li Ming decided to film the scenes with their roles first.

During filming, Sister Wang, Sister Bai, Sister Mei, Zhao Ying, Liu Ying, and even Shuangshuang’s mother Feng Jinyan had simple tasks: dress in ancient costumes and walk past the protagonist while chatting and laughing.

In essence, these roles were originally played by extras; it’s just that Li Ming had a bit of an obsession with beauty and prepared beautiful costume props even for background characters, planning to shoot a movie where even the extras were beauties. This would definitely be a highlight when it aired!

In fact, while Shuangshuang hadn’t seen Li Ming’s movie in her past life, it had been promoted half a year in advance. The main selling point of the film was its "double beauty"!

First beauty: every scene was stunning and absolutely realistic, with no special effects. Second beauty: in the movie, even the minor background roles were filled with handsome men and beautiful women!

In this life, because Shuangshuang had founded a Red Dust, it sparked much inspiration in Li Ming. Originally, Li Ming’s concept involved the protagonist being chased and escaping into a valley, where they met a sheltered heroine living here with her family.

At the time, Li Ming’s idea was to construct beautiful and poetic bamboo houses where the heroine’s family would live hidden away, passing down fishing, farming, reading, and adopting the lifestyle of reclusive masters—abandoning the hustle and bustle to return to a pastoral setting!

However, after seeing Red Dust, Li Ming suddenly thought, why must recluses rely on fishing and farming? Those who can live in seclusion must be experts, and experts are people of capability, which implies they won’t lack money. If they aren’t short on money, why bother with hardship? The heroine’s family could live in a palace-like luxurious setting!

But this change did pose a problem—the heroine’s family required many extras to play her relatives. According to Li Ming’s viewpoint, these extras also needed to be handsome and beautiful, but handsome and beautiful people weren’t easy to find.

In this situation, no wonder Li Ming was thrilled and wouldn’t let go when he saw the beautiful guests at Red Dust—so many high-quality beauties right before his eyes, saving his aesthetic obsession a lot of trouble!

At the start of filming, everyone found it novel, but as Li Ming became increasingly picky for various reasons, continuously calling for retakes, after seven or eight takes, everyone began to feel exhausted. It’s worth noting everyone here was of high status, used to living in luxury, and even took cable cars up and down mountains as a norm; walking continuously for several hours was a hardship they hadn’t encountered in years.

Only Feng Jinyan seemed to fare slightly better; despite her privileged upbringing, she had faced the most hardships and didn’t find it too tiring. Sister Wang, Sister Bai, Sister Mei, Zhao Ying, and Liu Ying were all leading figures, known for standing by their word, and since they agreed to cameo in Li Ming’s film today, they wouldn’t go back on their word. Each of them gritted their teeth and persevered with the shoot.

But they were relatively fortunate, being extras without lines, merely needing to walk gracefully. Li Ming didn’t demand much from them, which was a relief compared to the lead actors who were scolded thoroughly.

However, watching the lead actress shedding tears and the lead actor’s face turning red from the harsh words, Shuangshuang began to feel nervous. She was about to perform cooking later, and though she wasn’t required to speak lines, the duration wasn’t short. If she made any mistakes, imagining Li Ming’s knack for criticizing people without using swear words that could make one wish to disappear into the ground, Shuangshuang shivered. Could she still back out now?