1980: Starting with Taking Over the TVB Cafeteria

[Period setting, food, rebirth, System, everyday life, celebrities] Hong Kong, 1980. After a brother-in-arms betrays him, a loyal gang boss is reborn in the body of a young chef from the mainland who wants to take over TVB’s canteen. Their memories merge. From then on, he puts down his watermelon knife and takes up a kitchen knife. In this golden age of Hong Kong cinema, he’s determined to give the hungry actors a taste of the mainland dishes that will blow them away! Boiled beef, Dongpo pork knuckle, dan dan noodles, fish with pickled mustard greens, twice-cooked pork, mapo tofu, kung pao chicken, fish-fragrant shredded pork, husband-and-wife lung slices, fish head with chopped chili, stir-fried pork with chili, lotus leaf blood duck, sea cucumber braised with scallions, braised pork intestines… Stir-fried, stewed, steamed, boiled, braised, simmered… A hundred dishes, a hundred flavors; every dish tells a story! From then on, TVB City has a warm harbor of its own. Actors come for a bowl of hot soup after a night shoot. Extras squat by the stove waiting for a boxed meal. Stars quietly ask him to make an extra portion to take back to the set. In this life, he leaves the underworld behind and devotes himself to good food. No fighting, just the warmth of the stove, human kindness, and healing. … “Within TVB City stands a canteen run by Chef Ling Yun. The aromas of his cooking draw actors and stars alike. Whenever filming breaks, leads and extras all line up for a meal. His soups are rich, his small dishes exquisite, and he even offers seasonal late-night snacks at affordable prices. His boiled beef and fish with pickled mustard greens, once rarely seen, are now celebrated as delicacies. After eating, no one wants to leave. They often gather to talk, and Ling Yun patiently comforts each and every one of them. Thus, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, everyone calls him the head of the family. From Anecdotes of Old Hong Kong: The Canteen Edition”