"Even if I answered yes, so what? The result is that my fault finding ended up with my whole body being hurt."
Chu Shangli leaned over and pressed the switch of the oven. The explosion-proof light illuminated the neatly arranged molds in the oven.
The aroma of chocolate has begun to fill the air.
"What a shame—if we don't compete, there's no point in showing off my special skills because it's not worth it. Looks like I'll have to ask for two boxes later and put the baked cakes in them as dessert for tomorrow."
"Huh?" Bai Xiaoqian asked in surprise, "Chu...Luo Dongxia, aren't you planning on sharing the batter with everyone? I just noticed you prepared a pretty large amount of batter. If you divide the baked cake into quarters or eighths, that should be enough for the onlookers to enjoy, right?"
"Indeed—but, it's not very big to begin with. If you divide it into four or eight equal parts, each person can only eat a little bit. Licking their lips and smacking their lips is meaningless, isn't it? Moreover, when the quantity is insufficient, people will be full of anticipation for the food because of the concept of 'scarcity'. Before their taste buds are fully stimulated and awakened, they will have already swallowed it, and then they will not be able to evaluate it fairly." Chu Shangli snapped his fingers: "It's like eating sweet pudding or bran cakes without any seasoning on an empty stomach. To the human tongue, they are both equally sweet—"
Chu Shangli sniffed. "Actually, the concepts of 'delicious' and 'not delicious' depend not only on the chef's skill and the quality of the ingredients, but also on another crucial factor: each person's sense of taste and the state of mind in which they consume the food. Eating is a means of survival, so when hunger reaches a certain level, the instinct of life and the nervous system will distort the sense of taste to keep people alive."
Chu Shangli's eyes shifted. "So I didn't plan to just prepare these from the beginning. I planned to prepare enough for everyone, even enough for those who hate sweets and chocolate to get tired of eating them all at once and never want to touch them again. This way, I can demonstrate my abilities outside of the instrument, so that people won't say I relied on the Maillard reaction and the first sight of delicious food to curry favor. However, now that I've won the competition, it would be a waste of materials and energy for me to go to the trouble of preparing the rest—"
If I had this free time, I might as well go review with my friends. Although I may seem like a big slacker, even though I don't come to school every day, I haven't fallen behind in my studies. It's not that I volunteered to compete with you guys, but you guys took the initiative to provoke me. Why should I contribute a formula for nothing?
"Did you originally want to publish the recipe after cooking?" Feng Ruye pushed up his glasses.
"My main job now isn't a chef, but a student, so even if I reveal it, it's no big deal—I could, but there's no need. Everyone can see it; it's just sugar, cocoa powder, butter, and chocolate syrup. The ingredients are readily available, meaning the recipe was transparent from the start. If you want to know the quantities, the camera is always on, so you'll see them when you replay them. It makes no difference whether I reveal it or not—I used to have the advantage of having different equipment, but now I don't have that anymore."
At most, I’ll just reveal one or two more secret tricks, and then it will be completely public—"
"But, given the current situation, isn't it the same as being completely public?"
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