There aren’t many knife skills needed for making the filling—mainly just mincing meat and chopping scallions, ginger, and garlic. But since this is a gourmet-themed project with a touch of the supernatural, there will be plenty of special effects added in post-production to give the food an extraordinary aura, like making it glow and so on.

Therefore, even the process of mincing meat and such will be enhanced with camera effects and a bit of exaggeration.

Soon, both camera crews began filming simultaneously.

Originally, the assistant director was in charge of filming Ethan Brooks, but now Director Clark had taken over, claiming that filming Ethan Brooks gave him a greater sense of accomplishment.

The filming process went smoothly. The shots of mincing meat, chopping scallions, ginger, and garlic were quickly done. For kneading the dough, they captured several close-ups and full-body shots. Soon, it was time for the main scene.

Director Clark, who was ready for a one-take shot, looked focused, his expression more serious than ever.

But Ethan Brooks was already a seasoned actor who had appeared in many productions. Calm and composed, he followed the process for making soup buns without rushing or panicking, repeating it once, then again, until after the fifth time, the director called it a wrap.

Next came the judges’ commentary segment.

Each judge gave their feedback on the two contestants’ soup buns, giving Ethan Brooks a decent evaluation, then lavishing high praise on the third male lead, and finally announcing that the third male lead had won the competition.

After that, they filmed Ethan Brooks’s disappointed expression after losing the competition, and then reshot a scene with the third male lead, where he stepped forward and sincerely said, “Your culinary skills are superb; I am truly not your equal.”

Then the director called “cut,” and the scene was done.

There really wasn’t much acting required for this part. A minor supporting role is just that—easy and simple to play.

“Congratulations, Mr. Brooks, your scenes are finished. Thank you for your hard work.” Director Carter personally came over to greet him, smiling as he handed over a red envelope.

The envelope was quite thick, probably containing several thousand yuan.

“Thank you, Director Carter.”

Ethan Brooks didn’t stand on ceremony, accepting the envelope and expressing his thanks.

After a few polite words about getting together for a meal sometime, the two parted ways, each going back to their own work.

Director Carter was, of course, very busy.

But Ethan Brooks wasn’t idle either.

He went to the dressing room to change out of his costume, then found a random corner to sit down, pretending to drink water and rest. In his mind, he called out, “System.”

“Congratulations, host, for wrapping up the role of 【Wu Yongguang】 in 【King of Chefs】!”

The system’s voice sounded in his mind, cool and tinged with a hint of electronic tone.

“The host may extract this character card... Ding! Detected that this web film has 【Low Investment】, 【Low World-Building Completeness】, 【Low Character Depth】, 【Low Character Recognition】, 【Medium Host Performance】, 【Medium Host-Character Integration】...”

This time, it wasn’t just a string of “low”s.

“The system cannot effectively extract this character card. Instead, a random skill card from this character will be drawn. Would you like to draw now? Yes/No.”

Among them, 【Performance】 and 【Character Integration】 had already become “medium,” indicating that the system believed Ethan Brooks’s portrayal of William Moore was up to standard.

Of course, this might also be because the role was just too easy.

“Yes, draw.” Ethan Brooks answered with anticipation.

“The system is randomly drawing a 【Wu Yongguang】 skill card...”

“Ding.”

A crisp, pleasant electronic sound like a blessing gem dropping rang out.

“Congratulations, host, you have obtained the skill card—【Chinese Pastry】.”

“Chinese Pastry?”

Ethan Brooks was slightly taken aback.

He had originally thought he’d get a soup bun skill, but unexpectedly, it was 【Chinese Pastry】, a skill with such a broad scope.

He focused his mind: “View skill card—【Chinese Pastry】.”

“Swish!”

A white skill card appeared in his mind.

Card Name: 【Chinese Pastry】

Card Quality: 【White】

Skill Level: 【One Star】

Card Description: 【After equipping this card, the host will gain the skill—【Chinese Pastry】. When the host learns or makes Chinese pastries, there will be additional proficiency and effect bonuses.】

That’s it?

The description was very simple, nowhere near as complex as 【Divine Sense】.

It seemed that even though both were white cards, this 【Chinese Pastry】 was still quite different from 【Card Control】 and 【Divine Sense】.

However, the latter two cards had taken him a long time and a lot of effort to obtain, while this 【Chinese Pastry】 came very easily—altogether, it had only taken a little over two hours.

Anyway, since he still had an empty skill card slot left, Ethan Brooks didn’t think too much about it. He just equipped it and left it at that, then returned to the crew to watch John Grant act.

John Grant played the male lead’s mentor behind the scenes. He and the antagonist were once fellow disciples, both students of the male lead’s grandfather, with all sorts of grudges and entanglements passed down to this generation.

It had to be admitted that Brother Grant’s acting skills far surpassed those of Ethan Brooks. Even the smallest gesture or glance was spot on, while the male lead, who also had formal training, couldn’t quite keep up with Brother Grant’s rhythm and ended up looking a bit dull by comparison.