Chapter 26: An Unexpected Encounter

  After a while of fooling around, everyone was getting a bit hungry. Yuzhu looked at the wall clock and said, "It's already 7:30, let's go out for dinner."

  "Alright, I'm starving!" Everyone agreed.

  Everyone put on their outerwear, wrapped themselves in thick scarves, and went downstairs to get into the small car they had borrowed earlier, which was driven by Li Zhen. They slowly headed east, chatting and laughing along the way, until they arrived at the Jiangnan Xiaoyao Pavilion area without realizing it.

  After getting off the car, they parked it in a nearby parking lot and walked into an unassuming barbecue restaurant. Everyone found a relatively secluded spot to sit down and immediately called over the server to start ordering dishes in order of age. Since they were at a barbecue place, they had to order some meat dishes - Lee Hyori ordered pork belly, Yoo Joo-hye ordered spare ribs, Lee Jin ordered black pork, Lee Jin ordered plum blossom meat, and Jang Sung-kyu casually ordered a plate of beef. Each dish was quite generous in portion size, but with Jang Sung-kyu being the big eater that he is, the four women didn't have to worry about not finishing their food and wasting it. Additionally, each person also ordered a bowl of naengmyeon (cold buckwheat or starch noodles) to help digest the meat and get rid of the greasy feeling in their mouths after eating barbecue.

  Soon, the side dishes such as salt, bean powder, salad, chili sauce, steamed eggs, lettuce leaves, green peppers, and kimchi were served. Lee Hyori couldn't wait to grab a green pepper and start eating it. As soon as she took a bite, she felt an intense burning sensation, but she calmly swallowed it down and praised, "It's really refreshing!" Then, she encouraged others to try some too, even trying to feed one to Zhang Chengyuan sitting next to her.

  Yu Zhuo Huan, Li Zhen and Cheng Youli had known her for a long time and knew her little tricks, so they just watched Zhang Chengyuan without intervening. Zhang Chengyuan, completely off guard, took a big bite of the green chili pepper, chewed it a few times, and suddenly felt the spiciness rising to his head, making a bitter face and saying: "Hao Li sister, why is this so spicy, are you fooling me!"

  The four girls immediately burst out laughing and bent over. Lee Hyori laughed for a while, then hastily picked up a glass of water and poured it into her mouth. It turned out that she had also been unable to bear the spiciness and was just enduring it to watch the show. Now that the goal had been achieved, she drank water to relieve the spiciness. The considerate Lee Jin also handed a glass of water to Jang Sung-won to drink.

  At this time, various fresh meats were also brought up, and the aunt of the service staff lit the grill. Because there were a lot of guests at this time, Auntie didn't have time to cut the meat into slices for them, so this task was done by Zhu Huan, who had the highest culinary skills and was best at taking care of people. By rights, Zhang Chengyuan, the youngest and only male, should be doing such rough work, but who let the scene be dominated by women? Zhang Chengyuan would naturally receive special treatment from Fin.k.l.

  Everyone was getting more and more into it, and they all felt that being able to sit together tonight and fill their bellies, as well as exchange thoughts with each other, was a rare and pleasant thing. Because they were eating out, the good drinker Lee Hyori considered that drinking would affect everyone's image, so she rarely didn't propose toasting to add to the excitement.

  Just as they were eating, three men in their thirties suddenly appeared, all around 180cm tall, with sturdy builds; one wore glasses, had an ordinary appearance but was elegant and refined; one had a standard physique, was somewhat handsome but not quite a pretty boy. As soon as they saw the three men, Lee Hyori and others immediately stood up and respectfully greeted them: "Senior Jung Hu-dong, Senior Liu Zai-shi, Senior Li Hui-cai, hello!"

  Although Zhang Chengyuan didn't know the three of them, he still followed the four girls and bowed to greet them, and the three unexpected guests also smiled and accepted. After all, there was an age gap between them, with Fin.K.L's oldest member Lee Hyori being about 7 years older than Jang Hyuk's youngest member Lee Hwi, and the three of them having debuted several years earlier than the girls. It was only natural for the girls to treat them with respect.

  Jiang Hudu, Liu Zaishi and Li Huicai are all newcomers to the hosting scene in recent years. Although they are called newcomers, they have actually been in the industry for at least six or seven years. It's much harder for MCs to make a name for themselves compared to singers or models. Good TV shows usually have a fixed spot, and these spots are often taken by veteran MCs. Newcomers typically start from small roles and work their way up through hard work and building connections over time before they can finally make a breakthrough.

  Even if they have managed to make a name for themselves after much hardship, they still cannot be compared to movie stars or popular singers, and their status in the entertainment industry is not high. This is due to the relatively low overall status of the variety show world at present. Who would have thought that Korean variety shows are still unable to break out of Asia like TV dramas and pop music, becoming a major force in Asian culture?

  Jiang Hudong, Liu Zaishi and Li Huicai have gained a certain status in the entertainment industry after struggling for a while. They have hosted some popular shows over the past two years and have collaborated with Fin.K.L many times, getting along well and chatting easily, so they came over to chat when they ran into Fin.K.L by chance.

  Three big men sat down, squeezing Fin.K.L's four members and Zhang Chengyuan to the opposite side of the table. Liu Zaishi said: "It's not easy to see you all in normal times."

  Gang Hu-dong said: "I also heard that Fin.K.L, except for Ock Joo-hyun, don't like to go out and hang around, so how did they end up coming out to eat together today? And even running into this store?"

  Lee Hyori said, "What's wrong with this store? We heard from a few seniors at the TV station that the roasted meat here is very authentic and tastes great, and the price is also reasonable, so we came to try it."

  Li Hui Cai smiled and said, "Don't you know that this store is opened by Tiger Dong's agent? I think the seniors at the TV station must have known about this place because of Tiger Dong's promotion. Am I right, Brother Tiger?"

  Jiang Hudu smiled and said: "I was just talking nonsense!"

  "Hey! You're still saying it's not, but Hui and I were just about to go eat Italian food, yet you dragged us here to eat meat. Why didn't we choose somewhere else? And why did we have to come to this place of all places? Honestly, do you have a stake in this restaurant or something?"

  Jiang Hudu angrily said: "You just praised the meat here as delicious, now you dare to complain about me? From now on, I will never eat or drink with you again!"

  Liu Zai Shi and Li Hui Cai didn't respond, instead enthusiastically starting a conversation with Fin.K.L. After a while, Liu Zai Shi suddenly asked: "Hyo-ri, what do you call this handsome little brother?" With Zhang Cheng Yuan's appearance, temperament, and closeness to Fin.K.L, the three big men noticed as soon as they came over, but didn't dare ask rashly, so they chatted for a few sentences before bringing up Zhang Cheng Yuan.

  The four women looked at each other, and Lee Hyo-ri replied: "This is our younger brother, named Jang Sung-won, very close to us. Sung-won, have you met the three seniors?"

  Zhang Chengyuan heard this and stood up, formally bowing and greeting: "Three seniors, hello! My name is Zhang Chengyuan, please take care of me from now on!"

  Li Hui Cai said: "This little brother, oh, Cheng Yuan younger brother, I seem to have seen you somewhere before?"

  "He had previously filmed an advertisement with Jang Dong-geun sunbae, that Nong Shim Shin Ramyun advertisement that started airing half a year ago."

  "Oh, it's that Zhang Dong-ge's 'brother', no wonder he looks so familiar. Who would have thought that Sung-yuan is actually the brother of Fin.K.L?"

  Seung-yoo said, "Senior, Seong-won and Jang Dong-geun senior have no relation whatsoever. He's just our younger brother."

  "Ah, yes, yes, you're Fin.K.L's younger brother, which makes you our younger brother too! Zhang Chengyuan, since we're all in the entertainment industry, it's only a matter of time before we collaborate. Let's shake on it!" Kang Taedong stood up and shook hands with Zhang Chengyuan, followed by Liu Zaishi and Lee Hwi, who did the same. Whether it was out of respect for Fin.K.L or because they saw potential in Zhang Chengyuan, all three wanted to genuinely befriend him.

  Zhang Chengyuan naturally did not dare to slack off and became even more respectful in his demeanor. The four of them, including Lee Hyori, also expressed their gratitude to the three of Jiang Hudu.

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