Chapter 376

Chapter 376: Yuan Zhou’s Face-slapping

“This is the soybean that is at the transition time of spring to summer rather than a pure spring soybean. About one-third of them are from that period.” Yuan Zhou brought out his judgement calmly.

“You are right, but I haven’t finished.” Chu Xiao turned his head, taking a look at Yuan Zhou, and then continued.

“Since this master has said that, I don’t say it anymore.” Chu Xiao just glanced at Yuan Zhou lightly, not intending to mention his name.

“This pot of bean sprouts has been handled by three people and all of them are girls. I suggest the females who touch the food ingredients not to use perfume,” Chu Xiao shrugged and then continued saying that.

He didn’t feel uncomfortable at all for Yuan Zhou’s interruption just now. After all, he would also correct it directly if he saw others giving wrong information.

“I’m done. That’s all.” Chu Xiao directly turned around and went back to his own position.

He would never admit that he might have made mistakes.

Nevertheless, Yuan Zhou was murmuring the different scents of the few brands of perfume silently.

“Speaking of which, these perfumes definitely have their own names. I seem to know very little of that.” Yuan Zhou knew the tastes of these perfumes, but he just couldn’t bring their names out.

He made up his mind inwardly and prepared to broaden his scope of knowledge after he went back. It was always good to know more.

Yuan Zhou was the fourth contestant, therefore he didn’t walk very far away.

“My luck today is surprisingly so good.” Yuan Zhou signed voicelessly, thinking that even such an unusual thing could appear when he saw the stuff on the plate.

On the plate was a flower and two leaves under it as the background, which appeared fairly beautiful.

“Loosestrife.” Yuan Zhou brought out the name with certainty.

“The vegetable is indeed seldom seen now. We are eating it far less nowadays.” The chairman of China Chefs’ Alliance stroked his goatee and said smilingly.

“Yeah. I tasted it once a few days ago and the taste was still fresh in my memory.” The middle-aged man, whose nameplate was reading Research Doctorate of Precious Ingredient Research, pushed his glasses upward and said earnestly.

“Little Dong, you are too young. How dare you are so bold to eat whatever you are interested in?” The chairman of the alliance said with a smile.

“You are right. I still like the processed ones. If not, it must be very fresh ones.” Judging from his words, the great gourmet was known to be picky about things.

“The vegetable is produced in Xin’an and the smoothest and most tender ones are from the upper reaches of Xin’an River. It’s a perennial herbal Asteraceae plant that likes warm surroundings. Its leaves are similar to the mother chrysanthemum, therefore it’s also named as the Stelpnolepiscentiflora. When it blossoms, the flower is small and white with a lustre alike to that of pearls. That’s why it’s named as the Loosestrife.”

Yuan Zhou was used to revealing the phenotypic traits of the vegetables according to the system’s introductions.

“What the hell is the matter with this guy? Isn’t he a chef? Why do I feel like he is actually a botanist?” The chefs off the stage discussed with a low voice.

“You are right. He’s not Chu Xiao. Is it really necessary for him to bring out even the scientific name of a vegetable?” A chef frowned and said slightly discontentedly.

He had decent reasons to feel dissatisfied. For Chu Xiao to speak like that was still acceptable as they had been used to his posturing ways and totally surpassed them. However, why could a person that suddenly appeared make a long-winded speech without any preparations?

Wouldn’t that indicate that they are quite incapable?

However, Yuan Zhou continued talking even before they finished their complaints.

“The vegetable in front of us looks beautiful and plump, but it isn’t grown in the wild. In this season, only the Guangdong area has the wild-growing ones. If it was transported here, it wouldn’t be so fresh. So the vegetable is produced from the greenhouse in the suburbs. These few plants of Loosestrife should have been planted in the middle, which brought such strong scent.”

“It is mostly used in Teochew cuisines. Nevertheless, I think there’s no need to cultivate it in water next time as it will lose the taste of soil.” Yuan Zhou said lightly.

“Sh*t. Both of them are like dogs. No, even the dogs don’t have that sensitive smell. Their noses are definitely not human’s.” The chef said speechlessly while looking at the mud on the roots of the Loosestrife.

The roots were caked full of mud. God knows how to judge it to be hydroponically grown.

The chefs below the stage were all stupefied.

“Old Lee, you finally got a pair of sharp eyes this time. He’s doing fairly well in revealing such an obvious pitfall out.” Xing Min switched on a new round of ridiculing mode.

“So you also got it?” Lee Yanyi asked back lightly.

“Of course. This old man also has sharp eyes.” Xing Min turned red and retorted.

“Ho Ho.” Lee Yanyi laughed with a sarcastic tone without saying any word.

“What do you mean, Old Lee? If you agree, we can have a contest personally today. I will let you know my failure last time was an accident.” Xing Min was instantly irritated. He rolled his sleeves and prepared to go up to him.

However, Lee Yanyi just sat there quietly as if to have nothing to do with it. He occasionally looked at the rostrum and then at Yuan Zhou, but kept away from Xing Min.

That attitude immediately irritated Xing Min. He jumped up right away and said with a loud voice.

“Damn it. You dare to look down upon me. Old Lee, you stand up. Let’s have a contest now.” Seeing Lee Yanyi not look at him at all, Xing Min took a few steps forward and prepared to beat him.

“Sir, look. The results are published.” His assistant revealed a helpless manner and had only to point at the front to divert his attention.

It turned out that the first roundof the contest had finished while the two old men quarreled. The chairman was declaring the candidates that were to take part in the contest the next day.

“No need to look at the results. It’s definitely Chu Xiao that was the most awesome.” Without turning his head, Xing Min prepared to fight against Lee Yanyi.

“Such a dim-sighted old fool!” Lee Yanyi took a glimpse at Xing Min with a gaze of dislike.

It was a manner of total indifference.

“Old Lee, you’d better state it clearly. Who is dim-sighted?” Xing Min said without a decent manner.

“You look for yourself.” This time, Lee Yanyi answered Xing Min with sympathy. He pointed at the front and signaled him to look at the result by himself.

“I’m looking. Undoubtedly, my apprentice is the best.” Xing Min muttered.

“Only an apprentice taken late in life.” Lee Yanyi added mercilessly.

“Even so, he is still a talented apprentice taken late in life.” Xing Min cared about that least as it was indeed true. However, he was still proud.

“Look at the results now and then talk to me.” Lee Yanyi humphed.

In the banquet hall, there was a projector on which the results appeared. Only three contestant chefs were qualified to take part in the precious ingredients identification for the next day, because these three people had a great gap with others.

Chu Xiao: 148 kinds

Yuan Zhou: 148 kinds

Fang Tian: 63 kinds

The remaining contestants could basically only tell 20 or 30 kinds. The gap was too great, therefore the judges chose these three people. Even among the three, however, the gap was also very big.

“The young man called Yuan Zhou was recommended by you?” Xing Min stared at Lee Yanyi closely.

“That’s right. He is just showing the most ordinary performance today.” Lee Yanyi revealed a faint smile on his solemn face and then said with a provoking tone.

“You just keep showing off like that. He definitely wouldn’t be able to tell a few precious food ingredients tomorrow.” Xing Min humphed and continued.

“What a pity that he is following you! If he studies something from me, I can guarantee he’ll be the next Chu Xiao.” Xing Min said affirmatively.

“Excuse me, but I have never studied from anybody.” Yuan Zhou who was passing by them suddenly said that.

Then, the two elderly men stood gazing at one another. With such a superb craftsmanship, he surprisingly had no teacher. Was he really more awesome than Chu Xiao?

…