"Sasha, is camera position one ready?"

"I'm fine on my end, Brother Li."

"Da Yang, when you switch the camera later, don't zoom in on my junior aunt's face, and don't use any beauty filters, or the food colors will change and look weird."

"Okay!"

"Xiao Sun, you just observe in the live stream and kick out anyone who tries to stir up trouble."

Li Ning looked serious, exuding an air of authority and confidence, as if he wished he had more hands, fearing something might go wrong during today's live broadcast.

Xu Milu, who was going to participate in the online audition, was quite relaxed, peeling and eating oranges on the side.

She wasn't wearing makeup today, just a white sweatshirt and blue jeans, with her hair tied in a neat ponytail, looking nothing like a chef in charge of cooking.

Since there was no space at home to set up a camera, she simply gave her rice and food shop a day off and used the restaurant's live-streaming cooking as an opportunity.

Xu Milu has been formally learning to cook for less than three years, so she is not qualified to participate in the preliminary rounds of the God of Cookery competition. Therefore, she has to think of another way.

Coincidentally, this year coincides with the reform of the Chef God Competition. In the China region, in addition to the fourteen chefs selected through the normal competition process to enter the finals, the program team will also conduct an online audition, and the two chefs with the highest popularity will enter the finals.

Today she participated in the first round of auditions, where a thousand contestants cooked dishes live. The top 100 contestants based on click-through rate and viewer retention rate will advance to the second round of elimination. The second round of elimination will select 14 contestants to go to the Beijing competition area for live selection. The two winners will be able to directly enter the final of the Chef God Competition and have the opportunity to exchange culinary skills with foreign star chefs.

"Little Martial Aunt, don't be nervous. Just perform at your normal level. Although this year's Chef God Competition added an online audition, the participants are either those who were eliminated in the preliminary round and want to find a chance to enter the final, or celebrities arranged by the organizer to attract traffic. There are no really strong people."

Li Ning seemed even more nervous than when he was competing himself, constantly giving Xu Milu instructions. Even Cui Shengguo, who was sitting and drinking tea, couldn't stand it anymore.

"Are you lecturing your daughter like that? Your junior aunt is much more reliable than you, you good-for-nothing. With what she learned from me, it would be a real problem if she didn't make it to the finals!"

Li Ning immediately said with a bitter expression:

"Isn't that right? There aren't many people in our generation who are around the same age as Junior Aunt, and she's the youngest among them. My master told me to take good care of her before he went back to Beijing. How could I dare to disobey?"

Xu Milu's fingers were incredibly nimble; she made only a small slit in the orange and peeled it whole in a few swift movements. She glanced at Li Ning and bluntly exposed his little scheme:

"Come on, don't think I don't know you made a bet about this. Qingli told me that you bet with Guan Wenmo from the Guan family that I would definitely make it to the finals of the Chef King Competition—how much did you bet?"

Choi Seung-guk was so angry he was puffing out his beard and glaring.

"You little brat, instead of learning good things, you're betting on this? You'd be better off peeling a few radishes. Look at your knife skills, the radish flowers you cut look like they've been chewed by a dog! I'm ashamed of you if word gets out!"

"Oh, Master, that bastard was saying bad things about Junior Sister in the group chat, calling her an outsider and petty. He said some really nasty things, and even said that Junior Sister only became your disciple by luck. How can I tolerate that?"

Li Ning quickly defended himself:

"Guan Wenmo's brother, Guan Wenyan, is also participating in this cooking competition, which is why he's so arrogant. I just wanted to let my junior aunt curb Guan Wenmo's arrogance and, incidentally, give our Cui family cuisine some prestige!"

"Does your junior aunt need you to make her look good?"

Cui Shengguo's expression softened somewhat, but he still said irritably, "These next few days you'd better take good care of your junior aunt's logistics, no slacking off—"

He turned his head and immediately put on a completely different expression, smiling as kindly as an old chrysanthemum:

"Dami, don't be nervous. Just like when you cook, it's a preliminary competition. Nowadays, netizens are very discerning. They can tell at a glance who cooks well and who doesn't. Don't worry, you can cook with confidence. You have a mentor to back you up. Don't be afraid."

Xu Milu knew that this was the old man's way of telling her to rest assured and participate in the competition without worry, and that if there were any behind-the-scenes maneuvers, he would be there to cover for her.

She nodded, took the white apron from Li Ning's assistant, Sasha, and confidently said:

"Master, watch closely! This is also a way for you to see the results of my seclusion during this period!"

She not only has a superhuman memory, but also an advantage that others don't have. She serves all kinds of guests every day in the Journey to the West world. It's no exaggeration to say that some head chefs in big hotels don't even have as much experience as her.

"Good! That's ambitious! Your master has high hopes for you!"

Cui Shengguo gave a thumbs up, then turned and whispered in Li Ning's ear, winking and making faces, displaying a playful old man's charm.

"Quick, how much did you buy? Buy me a copy, bet it all on your little aunt winning!"

Li Ning: "..."

Master, do you have to be so obvious about your change of expression?!

"Hurry up, I don't believe that the old man from the Guan family doesn't know about your junior aunt's participation in the competition this time."

Choi Seung-guk's face was beaming with smugness.

"So what if his grandson can create his own dishes at fifteen? My little apprentice only studied cooking for two years before he went on to compete in the King of Chefs competition! Your junior apprentice aunt Cui has already mastered seventy or eighty percent of the Cui family's knife skills, she's more than qualified to participate in this competition! I'll use the money I win to treat Old Man Guan to boiled eggs, and he'll stop bragging to me! Who doesn't have a ancestral master who's blessed with good fortune?!"

You've learned 70-80% of it in less than two years?!

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!