CH 23

Early in the morning, Langyue was holding her phone and continuously refreshing it. At exactly ten o’clock in the morning, the competition between Time Moon Hotel and Three Thousand Food House was officially starting. As a loyal fan of Time Moon Hotel, Langyue was looking forward to this live broadcast.

In Langyue’s view, there was no suspense in this competition. Anyone with a brain would know that Time Moon Hotel would win against Three Thousand Food House.

Moreover, the official notification from Time Moon Hotel stated that the chef from the Orc branch would be participating in this competition. This news made Langyue excited to the point where she couldn’t sleep all night. She estimated that other loyal fans of Time Moon Hotel were just as excited as her because, after all, it was the chef!

The countless delicious dishes created by the chef were the most revered existence in the hearts of Time Moon fans!

Normally, ordinary people like them would never get to see the chef, but because of this live broadcast, they could not only see the chef but also witness the process of cooking!

How could they, as Time Moon fans, not be excited?

Restless, Langyue shouted in the Time Moon fan group, and after shouting, along with other fans, she waited anxiously until ten o’clock.

“Hello, everyone. I am the manager of Time Moon Hotel’s Orc branch. It’s exactly ten o’clock in the morning now, and the owner of Three Thousand Food House and the chef from Time Moon Hotel’s Orc branch are both ready. The competition will focus on the four disputed dishes: stuffed cabbage, crispy meat, braised pork, and spicy diced chicken. There is no time limit, and there will be ten guest judges as referees.”

“…Please take a look. The ten guest judges were randomly selected from the internet. The selection process was publicly announced on Time Moon Hotel’s official account, ensuring transparency. The basic rules have been introduced, and now I declare the competition officially started!”

As soon as the manager finished speaking, Bai Xianzhi and the chef behind the two silver tables in front of the camera started to move.

At the beginning of the competition, Bai Xianzhi and the chef were cleaning the cookware. The viewers noticed that Three Thousand Food House had expanded its space significantly. The outer area that could only accommodate six small tables suddenly increased several times. There was also a large display board behind the two chefs. It seemed that the space had indeed been expanded; otherwise, the display board wouldn’t fit.

“The Space Overlapper” technology is so amazing. The viewers in the live chat room started discussing.

At this moment, Bai Xianzhi focused solely on cooking. For him, these four dishes were incredibly familiar. Not to mention how many times he had cooked them during his time at various restaurants, even after taking over Three Thousand Food House, he had cooked them more than a hundred times. He could even make these dishes with his eyes closed.

So before he started, he might have been a bit nervous facing billions of online viewers, but once he started, his state instantly returned to normal. There was nothing he could do about it; he was just too familiar with the dishes. He couldn’t even feel nervous if he wanted to.

With a swift motion, Bai Xianzhi cut the streaky pork, which had a combination of lean and fat, into uniformly shaped cubes. He placed the meat in a bowl and heated the pan, pouring in oil and tossing in star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves, three types of spices, to stir-fry until fragrant. Then he added the meat and ginger slices, skillfully stir-frying until the edges of the pork had a slight char. He scooped it out and added oil to the pan again to start making caramel.

On Bai Xianzhi’s left was the head chef of Time Moon Hotel. His movements were not slow either. At the moment, he was sautéing the spices, and his actions appeared quite skillful and stylish. However, when compared to Bai Xianzhi beside him…

In fact, the two of them were indeed being compared side by side, so some viewers in the live chat room raised their doubts.

【”Is it just me? Why do I feel like the owner of Three Thousand Food House is more skilled?”】

【”Yeah, I feel the same way. The chef’s movements alone look quite practiced, but when compared to the owner of Three Thousand Food House, it seems like there’s still something lacking…”】

【”Seems like it, maybe the chef is older and not as nimble with his hands?”】

Indeed, the chef from Time Moon Hotel’s Orc branch had graying temples, making him appear much older than the youthful and vigorous Bai Xianzhi. It seemed plausible, so the viewers chimed in.

【”It should be like that. When a person gets older, their hands and feet definitely aren’t as agile. It’s normal for him to appear slower than the owner of Three Thousand Food House.”】

【”Yeah, and this competition is about whose taste is better, not about speed. So, being fast doesn’t prove anything. The final taste is what matters the most!”】

The viewers had found their own reasoning and stopped discussing the speed and skillfulness of the actions. They once again turned their attention to the two individuals on the screen.

By this time, Bai Xianzhi had already simmered the braised pork in the pot. After covering it with a lid, he seamlessly took out another piece of streaky pork from the side, used a cleaver to cut it into strips, placed it in a bowl, and added ginger slices, white pepper powder, Sichuan pepper powder, cooking wine, light soy sauce, sugar, salt, and a little corn oil. After stirring everything evenly, he set it aside to marinate.

During the waiting period, Bai Xianzhi minced a piece of meat and placed it in a separate bowl. He diced the stems of the cabbage, wood ear mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms, added various seasonings, mixed them thoroughly, and let them marinate.

He took out four chicken legs and cleaned them. With a knife in hand, he smoothly deboned the chicken legs, each bone cleanly removed. He repeated the process for the other three chicken legs. Meat was meat, and bones were bones.

Bai Xianzhi’s technique was extremely beautiful. The chef beside him was still mincing meat, and the knife in his hand was not the same as the one Bai Xianzhi held. It resembled a Western-style chef’s knife on Earth, suitable for cutting vegetables but not as adequate for chopping meat.

So the viewers in the live chat room raised another question:

【”To be honest, the owner of Three Thousand Food House feels extraordinary. I think he looks more like a chef than the chef himself.”】

【”Especially when he was deboning the chicken legs. So fast! So skilled! I never imagined that chicken legs could be deboned that quickly and cleanly!”】

【”The knife in his hand is strange and big. It looks completely different from the ones we use, but it seems very useful!”】

【”The chef has already switched knives three or four times, while the owner of Three Thousand Food House is still using the same knife, and yet he’s so fast. Is it because of the person or the knife?”】

Just as the viewers became intensely interested in the kitchen knife in Bai Xianzhi’s hand, he had finished preparing all the ingredients. After stuffing the cabbage rolls and placing them in the steamer, he took out a third pot, poured in oil, and heated it to seventy percent hot. Using chopsticks, he carefully lowered the pork coated in starch into the pot. The white starch tumbled and gradually turned darker in the hot oil. Once it was fried to a golden brown, he scooped it out. With the oil temperature raised, he returned the crispy meat to the pot and fried it again for a dozen seconds before removing it. The golden and crispy meat was then arranged on a white plate.

At this point, the aroma of the braised pork emerged. Its rich and mellow fragrance wafted through the expanded space of the “Space Overlapper.” The ten guest judges sitting off-camera were restless, as they had eaten very little this morning to maintain their sensitivity to food. Now, with their stomachs growling, they smelled the incredibly aromatic braised pork, and their mouths almost watered.

One of the judges salivated and murmured in the direction of the two contestants, “I wonder who cooked such a fragrant dish?”

“It’s the owner of Three Thousand Food House!”

A resolute voice came from beside the judge. He turned to see a blue-haired man sitting next to him. Perplexed, he asked, “How can you be so sure?”

The blue-haired man sneered and glanced at the chef. “Just look at how flustered the chef looks compared to the calmness of the owner of Three Thousand Food House. Even a blind person can tell who’s more skilled!”

The judge followed his gaze and indeed saw the chef from Time Moon Hotel still steaming the cabbage rolls. He seemed to notice the movement of the owner of Three Thousand Food House and accidentally burned his hand with the hot water. He hurriedly put his hand under cold water to cool it down.

Meanwhile, the owner of Three Thousand Food House next to him was confidently stir-frying the chicken leg meat. Even from several meters away, one could feel the exceptionally high temperature of the oil in his hands. The oil obediently behaved and didn’t splatter a single drop.

The comparison between the two was apparent.

“Hmph, what’s the use of being fast? Fine work requires time. Cooking is an art, and I can tell that the fragrance is definitely coming from the chef’s side!”

This was a female judge on the other side. She raised her chin disdainfully and glanced at the blue-haired man.

The blue-haired man sneered, “Some people are blind even at such a young age. Their sense of smell is also damaged.”

The female judge glared at him. “You!!”

“Hmph!” Lin flipped his hair and turned his head, ignoring her completely, focusing on watching Bai Xianzhi cook.

Just as Bai Xianzhi finished stir-frying the spicy diced chicken and waited for the braised pork to simmer, the chef began cooking the spicy diced chicken. In less than half an hour, both sides would have their dishes ready. Both the viewers in the live chat room and the on-site judges were filled with anticipation.

At that moment, Lin’s phone rang, and as soon as he opened it, he heard the voice of the family head in his ear.

“Lin, where are you? I’ve already finished the inspection, and the doctor is waiting for you.”

Lin’s eyes widened. He had forgotten something. Today was the day for his regular physical examination! As a third-generation elder of the Feng family, despite looking young, he was actually four hundred years old, a proper elderly person! Every year on this day, the Feng family arranged for doctors to conduct physical examinations for the family head and himself. It was such an important day, and he had actually forgotten about it!!

As soon as the silver-haired man took his seat, the other nine guest judges instantly closed their mouths. They felt a strong aura enveloping them and dared not speak. qaq

Ten minutes later, the chef finished stir-frying the spicy diced chicken and turned up the heat to reduce the sauce for the braised pork. On the other side, Bai Xianzhi had already served the braised pork with the reduced sauce.

Sharp-eyed viewers noticed something here:

【”Oh my, did you guys realize that the chef and the owner of Three Thousand Food House used the exact same steps for each dish?”

【”Found it! Although they completed each dish at different speeds, their operating procedures were completely identical! No differences at all!”】

【”It’s confirmed, definitely imitation! The techniques and steps for the four dishes are exactly the same. It’s as if they were made from the same recipe. Who would believe it’s not imitation?”】

【”Now we just have to wait and see whose flavor is better. I believe no matter how much they imitate, they can’t surpass the original in terms of taste, even if someone’s speed seems faster.”】

【”Yes, honestly, the chef is indeed a chef. The stuffed cabbage rolls and spicy diced chicken look much more delicious than what I had before!”】

【”The color of the dishes prepared by the chef looks so appetizing!”】

Then, a viewer suddenly commented:

【”Are you guys serious? Look at the color of the dishes prepared by the owner of Three Thousand Food House. It’s obviously much better than what the chef at Time Moon Hotel made!”】

After seeing this comment, many viewers turned their gaze to the four dishes in front of Bai Xianzhi. The cabbage rolls were glazed with a rich sauce, the crispy meat was golden and crunchy, the spicy diced chicken was bright red, and the braised pork was coated in a thick, glossy sauce. The trembling braised pork in front of the camera made the viewers feel as if their own hearts were also trembling.

They struggled to avert their gaze and looked at the four dishes prepared by the chef, and then the online community said, “…”

【”Well…”】

【”Um, it seems like the dishes prepared by the owner of Three Thousand Food House actually look more delicious.”】

【”It feels unreal. The dishes made by the chef do look good on their own, but when compared… sigh, could there be a reversal in the outcome?”】

【”It’s impossible. I won’t deny that the color of the dishes from Three Thousand Food House is quite appealing, but taste, sometimes it has nothing to do with appearance.”】

【”Sigh, why discuss so much? Let’s wait for the judges to taste and find out.”】

With all eyes on them, the camera shifted to the ten judges. Each dish was divided into ten small portions and placed in front of the judges. After tasting a dish prepared by each contestant, they immediately placed their vote in front of the dish they found most delicious. The four dishes were quickly sampled, and the staff from Time Moon Hotel announced the voting results in front of the camera:

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls: Three Thousand Food House – 8 votes, Time Moon Hotel – 2 votes

Crispy Meat: Three Thousand Food House – 9 votes, Time Moon Hotel – 1 vote

Spicy Diced Chicken: Three Thousand Food House – 6 votes, Time Moon Hotel – 4 votes

Braised Pork: Three Thousand Food House – 10 votes, Time Moon Hotel – 0 votes

Total votes: Three Thousand Food House – 33 votes, Time Moon Hotel – 7 votes

The significant gap in the voting results caused a commotion among the viewers in the live chat:

【”Oh my! Is this for real? Three Thousand Food House won? How is that possible?”】

【”I don’t believe it. How could Three Thousand Food House win? Were these ten judges bribed?”】

【”Hey, you upstairs, have some dignity. Both the judges and ingredients were provided by Time Moon Hotel. How could Three Thousand Food House bribe them? With telepathy?”】

【”Damn, plot twist! Three Thousand Food House actually won! So who imitated who?”】

The viewers were in chaos. If Time Moon Hotel had won this competition, they would have readily believed that Three Thousand Food House imitated them. But now that Three Thousand Food House won, even though the general rule is that the loser imitates the winner, it was Time Moon Hotel that lost. Could there still be imitation in this case?

Not only were the viewers in the live chat confused, but even the judges and staff from Time Moon Hotel present at the scene felt extremely awkward. How should they announce the results? If they said Time Moon Hotel imitated, the manager was confident that these four dishes were prepared by the head chef of the main branch. If they said Three Thousand Food House imitated, the results clearly showed that they won.

The manager originally had great confidence in this competition. He never considered the possibility of his hotel losing to the infamous Three Thousand Food House, so he hadn’t thought about how to deal with a loss. But now, his hotel had indeed lost.

His mind was filled with disbelief. How could this happen?

The manager responsible for announcing the results stood there in front of the camera, stunned, while the other staff members dared not speak. The atmosphere fell into silence and embarrassment.

1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ”