Xu Qinyu looked at the stunned and impressed expressions on everyone's faces and said with a smile, "This pastry is called 'National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance,' and it has a milky and sweet aroma. The other pot has pepper and numbing pork flower rolls, also known as 'Human Fireworks.' It has a pepper and numbing flavor, which is quite refreshing, and the rich aroma of the meat filling and pasta."
She just briefly introduced two kinds of pastries, and everyone was already drooling.
Xu Qinyu's pastries were the first to come out of the pot, because when she was making "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance", the other chefs almost all stopped what they were doing and watched her make one peony flower after another. It was not until she came up and started steaming these peonies that the chefs came back to their senses and started busying themselves with their own work. So at this moment, Xu Qinyu's pastries were the first to come out of the pot.
When the kitchen helpers brought the plates of "peony flowers" and steamed buns to the judges.
The judges were first attracted by the gorgeous peony flower. It was so beautiful that they were reluctant to eat it. In the end, all the judges ate the flower rolls first. Xu Qinyu called the flower rolls "worldly fireworks". Compared with the peony, the flower rolls really have the flavor of worldly fireworks.
After the flower rolls were put into the mouth, the aroma of meat mixed with spicy flavor filled the mouth. The dough for making the flower rolls was very well-risen, fluffy, soft and a little chewy, with a rich noodle aroma, and not a sour or hard taste at all. With this spicy meat filling and the fragrance of green onions, several judges could not help but eat one bite after another. Soon, one flower roll was finished, but they still felt unsatisfied and wanted to continue eating.
Even the most ordinary steamed buns made by this little chef taste different. They are really delicious and there is nothing wrong with them.
The pepper and numbing flavors prepared by Xu Qinyu are just right, slightly numbing and slightly spicy, which most people can eat.
There were still a lot of these steamed buns, so Xu Qinyu put about ten of them in a food box and would go downstairs to give them to Zhizhi, Yunlan, and Lianhua later.
After the judges finished eating the steamed buns, they looked at the large steamer in front of Xu Qinyu. They knew that she had steamed too many steamed buns and wanted to continue eating, but they were too embarrassed to ask for more. So they could only continue to select other peonies.
Looking down at the peony in front of me, I couldn't bear to destroy its beauty, so I could only tear off a petal. It was full of milky aroma and light sweetness when I put it in my mouth, and the dough was also a little chewy.
The crowd watching below couldn't help but feel regretful and reluctant when they saw the judges tearing off the petals of such a beautiful peony.
Only after the judges had eaten the entire peony did the feeling of reluctance gradually dissipate.
After the judges have finished eating, they will naturally select people from the crowd to taste the food.
This is also the place that the people below are most looking forward to.
Ten people were quickly chosen, but someone in the audience said, "Ms. Xu has made a lot more 'National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance' and 'Human Fireworks', right? Can you pick a few more people to try and rate them?"
Everyone was really envious of the food Xu Qinyu made.
This was the first time the judges had encountered such a situation, but they finally agreed. After all, the people's ratings were not included in the total score, so they just wanted to have a taste of it.
Xu Qinyu then had the remaining peony milk steamed buns and flower rolls distributed, but the flower rolls in the food box remained untouched.
Almost everyone chose to eat the flower rolls first, and Mudan was reluctant to touch them.
The flower rolls were fragrant. Someone ate them and said, "Delicious, absolutely delicious! I've never eaten such delicious flower rolls before. The wives at home should learn how to make flower rolls from Miss Xu. How come Miss Xu can make ordinary flower rolls so delicious?"
"Yes, it's really delicious. Hey, there's only one, and it's gone in a few bites. I want more."
"I can't bear to eat these peony flowers..."
"Me too……"
Because it is a cooking competition, the cooking methods of these dishes are open to the public and can be learned by anyone.
Even if these people were reluctant to eat the peony flower buns, they would eventually tear off a petal. After tasting the rich milky flavor, they no longer felt reluctant and ate the entire peony flower in big mouthfuls.
In the end, everyone gave full marks.
The judges were no exception, and they couldn't find any fault with the noodles, whether in taste, shape, color, aroma or taste.
Not only the peony flower buns, but even the flower rolls are particularly beautiful, with uniform sizes, like small flowers.
When the judges gave full marks, the crowd below couldn't help but cheer.
Xu Qinyu also smiled, and finally took the food box downstairs and returned to her friend and Lianhua.
The three of them blushed with excitement. Yang Zhizhi said happily, "Qinyu, you are amazing!"
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "You must be hungry. There are still some steamed buns left. You can eat them to fill your stomachs. You can go back for dinner later."
There are five hours in a day, so only twenty players can participate in the mid-game each day, and it takes a total of five days.
The three of them each took a steamed bun and prepared to eat, but they found that the people around them were staring at the steamed buns in their hands. In the end, they were too embarrassed to eat them and passed the steamed buns to the people around them. "We had something to eat at noon, why don't we all try these steamed buns together?"
He didn't even feel comfortable eating the lotus flower that he ate the most, so he gave the steamed bun to someone else.
Xu Qinyu naturally felt embarrassed to eat any of it, so she distributed all the steamed buns in the food box.
Finally, the crowd took the steamed buns with a smile and congratulated Xu Qinyu. Many of them also wished her the victory in advance. Everyone could see that although the young lady was young, her cooking skills were very good. No matter whether it was the red or white dishes, there was nothing wrong with her before, and there was sure to be no problem at the end.
Some people around me are reluctant to eat these steamed buns and plan to take them home for their children to try.
By the time the remaining chefs had finished their scoring, it was already dark, so they all went home.
The average highest score of the other 19 chefs was only 90.
In the next few days, Xu Qinyu stopped going to the city to watch the competition.
It was not until the fourth day that she went there again with Lianhua and Zhizhi. This time, the chefs who would advance to the final round would be announced. She was among them, as were nine other chefs, including Kong Kun.
After the final list is announced, there will also be a day off for the judges to prepare the ingredients.
For the final round of the competition, three dishes, one soup and steamed rice need to be prepared. The chefs can decide on the three dishes and one soup they want to make, write down the necessary ingredients, kitchen utensils and seasonings, and hand them over to the judges, who will then prepare the ingredients.
Xu Qinyu wrote down the ingredients, seasonings and kitchen utensils she needed, submitted them to the judges, and then returned to the outskirts of the city.
The next day, Xu Qinyu continued to be busy in the restaurant.
Early in the morning of the third day, Xu Qinyu, Lianhua and two good friends drove a carriage to Raozhou City.
They had just finished breakfast. It was still early in the morning. As autumn came, the weather was a bit chilly, especially in the morning. They all wore thin cloaks. When they arrived at the place and there were more people, it would become hot again, so they could take off the cloaks.
It only takes a quarter of an hour to get from the restaurant to the prefectural government office by horse carriage.
The road was a government road, and there were groups of people walking into the city, all of them were villagers from nearby.
On the way, Xu Qinyu's heart skipped a beat for some reason. She thought it was because she didn't sleep well last night.
She had some dreams last night, so she wasn't in a very good mood. She planned to catch up on some sleep during the half hour she was in the city, but for some reason, her heart skipped a beat and she couldn't fall asleep. She simply opened the curtain a little and looked outside.
There was a stretch of road with reeds on both sides. It was autumn now, and the reeds were lush and white fluff was floating around.
Xu Qinyu was thinking about her fourth brother.
She was not worried at all about the last cooking competition today. She had the utmost confidence in her cooking skills.
Not long after her fourth brother left, she missed him a little. She wondered when his business would end. In fact, the family was no longer short of money, but her fourth brother was a man and he always wanted to start his own business. She would not stop him. If possible in the future, she could actually get him a caravan, so that she could make some food and ingredients that could be stored for a long time and transport them to the south for sale. She could also get some ingredients and specialties that were only available in the south.
Just as she was thinking about it, Lianhua suddenly lifted the curtain in front of her and looked at Xu Qinyu with a serious expression.
Xu Qinyu was stunned for a moment, not knowing what Lianhua meant by suddenly turning around. Lianhua pointed at the curtain that Xu Qinyu had lifted a little, and gestured to Xu Qinyu. Xu Qinyu immediately understood what Lianhua meant, that she wanted her to lower the curtain.
Xu Qinyu's heart skipped a beat, and she had a bad feeling. She quickly lowered the curtain and mouthed silently, "Lotus, what happened?"
Yang Zhizhi and Xu Yunlan were completely confused. Yang Zhizhi was about to ask Lianhua what was going on, but Xu Yunlan probably realized something was wrong, so she quickly grabbed Zhizhi and made a hushing gesture. Only then did Yang Zhizhi cover her mouth and nose and stop talking.
Lotus looked at the three people seriously, and finally took out three daggers from her arms and threw them into their arms.
When Yang Zhizhi saw the dagger, her face turned pale. Xu Yunlan was fine. Her father, Xu Kongmu, knew some martial arts, and she also practiced it secretly. So she was not so scared at this moment. She picked up the dagger and stuffed it into the arms of her two friends.
Xu Qinyu knew that Lianhua was skilled in martial arts, and she must have known that something was wrong outside. There must be an ambush targeting her specifically?
Or Zhizhi and Yunlan?
Because Zhizhi and Yunlan are the daughters of County Magistrate Yang and Xu Kongmu, and they are afraid that they have enemies, so they target their daughters.
But Xu Qinyu still felt that it must be related to her, and she happened to be on her way to the city for a competition.
Her mind skipped a beat. Could it be that this cooking competition was the reason? Someone was targeting her because they didn't want her to win?
This was the first time she encountered such a situation. Her face turned slightly pale and she clenched the dagger in her hand.
After Lotus threw in three daggers, she turned around and felt under the seat. She didn't know what she touched, so she lifted the curtain and threw it in. It was three leather gloves, but they were not ordinary leather gloves. There was a secret hidden on them. There was a small mechanism on the gloves. Lotus gestured for them to wear them on their hands. After wearing them on their hands, they would know how to use this thing. After putting it on, there was a mechanism in the palm of their hands. As long as they pressed it, some hidden weapon should be launched.
Yang Zhizhi's face was pale and she put on the leather gloves tremblingly.
Xu Qinyu, aside from a momentary shock at first, had regained her composure. She quickly put on her gloves and felt for the mechanism on her palm. She leaned over to Yang Zhizhi's ear and whispered, "Zhizhi, there's a mechanism on your palm. If anything happens, or someone approaches you, just trigger the mechanism. Aim at their chest or head."
Yang Zhizhi nodded tremblingly again.
Xu Yunlan was like a newborn calf that was not afraid of a tiger, and her expression did not change at all.
Just as the three men put on their gloves, suddenly an arrow shot through the curtain and nailed into the carriage inside. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The three men's faces changed and they hurriedly crouched down.
Then Xu Qinyu felt a shock in the front of the carriage, and the sound of weapons colliding came from outside, as well as Lianhua's shout.
Xu Qinyu knew that the three of them had no martial arts skills and would not be able to help Lianhua if they went out now. As long as they could take care of themselves, it would be the best idea.
Xu Qinyu had no idea what was happening outside. She just stared at the car curtains and doors, intending to press the mechanism on her palm as soon as someone came in. If anyone else got close, she would stab them with a dagger.
She kept telling herself not to be afraid.
It was unclear how much time had passed, perhaps only a short while, when I could hear the screams of passing villagers, "Yes, there are bandits! Hurry, run!"
There were also men's cries of pain, muffled groans, and curses: "How come this bitch's martial arts are so high? That person didn't say that one of them has martial arts skills. Damn it, don't fight her. The rest of you can go to the carriage and kill the bitches inside."
Upon hearing this, Xu Qinyu clenched the dagger.
Yang Zhizhi was so scared that she almost cried, with tears in her eyes, but she did not retreat. She firmly grasped the dagger in her hand, while Xu Yunlan directly protected the two of them behind her.
Soon, footsteps were heard outside, and the carriage door was hacked open, but no one rushed in. Instead, a man screamed in pain, "Damn it, this horse actually kicked me!"
Immediately afterwards, someone else rushed over and seemed to chop the horse's butt with a knife. The horse pulling the carriage outside let out a sharp neigh.
"Damn it! This horse is injured but it's not frightened and runs away. It's a good horse. If it kills someone later, remember to bring the horse back."
After she finished speaking, someone leaned forward. It was an ordinary-looking man. Xu Yunlan didn't hesitate at all. She raised her palm, aimed it at the man's head, pressed the mechanism in her hand, and a hidden weapon shot out and hit the man's forehead. The man's eyes widened, a drop of blood flowed out from his brow, and he fell backwards.
"Third brother!" someone roared outside.
It was Xu Yunlan's first time killing someone, and her face couldn't help but turn pale.
Two more people rushed in. This time, the three people in the carriage couldn't help but raise their palms and press them towards the two people who rushed in. Three more hidden weapons were shot out. Two of them missed the target. One of them was only injured in the arm and waist, and was still able to move. He showed a ferocious expression, stared at Xu Qinyu, and stretched out his hand to grab her.
At this moment, Xu Qinyu was certain that these people were coming for her.
The three of them raised their daggers and stabbed at the same time. For some reason, the man's movements were a little slow, and he was stabbed by them. Then black blood flowed from the corners of his lips, and he fell headfirst into the carriage, looking like he was poisoned.
After that, two more people rushed over and were dealt with by the three of them. The noise outside gradually quieted down. Suddenly, a head popped over. The three of them were about to press the mechanism on their palms, but found it was Lianhua, and her face was covered in blood.
Lotus wiped her face and showed her big white teeth to the three people, "Don't worry, it's me, Master. I killed all these people. You are safe now."
Xu Qinyu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her limp hands and feet clung to the carriage window frame as she glanced outside. There were at least a dozen people lying there, some already dead. A few others lay on the ground, showing signs of struggle as they tried to crawl towards the reeds. Lianhua stepped forward and stepped on the back of one of the men's hands. "Behave! If you try to escape again, I'll kill you too!"
The man's hand was stepped on and he let out a ghostly howl.
Xu Qinyu and Xu Yunlan helped themselves down from the carriage. Both of them felt weak in the knees and almost fell down when getting off.
Yang Zhizhi in the carriage was huddled tightly in a corner. She was the most timid person and didn't dare to get off the carriage. She just huddled there with her eyes closed and trembling.
After getting off the carriage, Xu Qinyu also saw the scene outside. It was a bit tragic. Many people were beaten to death by Lianhua. There was blood all over the ground. The remaining two or three people who were not dead had almost no strength to struggle and lay on the ground howling.
The person who was shot in the center of the eyebrows by Yunlan's hidden weapon had the blood flowing out of his eyebrows turned black. It should be because the hidden weapon was coated with poison.
There were people passing by who were terrified at the sight and wanted to turn around and run back to the village. Xu Qinyu hurriedly said, "Everything is fine now. Please ask my sisters-in-law, aunts, and brothers to help report to the authorities in the city."
We are only halfway to the city.
The villagers also recognized Xu Qinyu. "Are you the owner of Xu's? The young lady who participated in the cooking competition in the city?"
Xu Qinyu nodded, "That's right, please help me report it to the authorities."
Seeing that these criminals were indeed unable to move, everyone felt relieved and planned to go together to the city to help Xu Qinyu report to the authorities.
After the villagers trotted away, Xu Qinyu looked back at the carriage. There were a lot of bloodstains on the carriage. There was also a black horse with a knife on its butt, and it was bleeding a lot. Xu Qinyu felt distressed when she saw it, and went over to unload the carriage at the back.
Seeing this, Xu Yunlan and Lianhua hurried over to help unload the carriage. Xu Qinyu patted the horse and said, "Lie down and rest for a while."
The horses driving the carriage were not afraid of being injured. The horses were frightened and ran around. Even if the women in the carriage were not killed by these bandits, they would easily get into trouble because of the frightened horses running around.
Xu Qinyu remembered that this horse was also brought back to her by her fourth brother. She would usually take time to go to the stable to feed the horse herself. Now that she saw it injured, she felt heartbroken.
Seeing this, Lianhua went over and moved a wooden box out from under the carriage seat. When she opened it, she saw that it was full of various wound medicines, liquor, and needles and thread, which should be used for first aid.
Lianhua was also very skilled at these tasks. She first used strong liquor to help wash the wound on the back of the horse's buttocks.
The horse moved uneasily. Xu Qinyu hurried over to touch the horse's head, smoothed its mane, and said gently, "It's okay, don't be afraid. This is to heal your wounds."
The horse then calmed down. Lianhua washed the wound on its buttocks with strong liquor, sprinkled it with medicine, and took needle and thread to sew up the wound.
Lianhua was very skilled at this job and comforted Xu Qinyu, "Master, don't worry, it's fine. The wound isn't deep and hasn't hurt the bone. Just sew it up for a few days and apply medicine three times a day. It will heal soon and won't have any problems in the future."
She recognized it. It was His Highness's horse. Like His Highness, it was very steady. If it were any other horse, it would have been frightened and ran away. That was why she dared to leave her master and the others in the carriage.
Xu Qinyu felt relieved after hearing this.
Zhizhi, who was in the carriage, also mustered up the courage to get down. When she saw the corpses and bloodstains on the ground outside, she couldn't help but ran to the reeds and vomited. Xu Yunlan went over with a kettle to take care of Zhizhi.
Xu Qinyu was no longer so frightened at this moment, but she felt a little nauseous when she saw the broken limbs, corpses and blood on the ground.
They had no choice but to wait for the officials from the city to arrive.
Xu Qinyu tried her best not to focus on that. She asked Lianhua, "Lianhua, are they coming for me?"
Lianhua nodded. "They should be. They're not very good at disguising themselves. They're waiting on the road as pedestrians, but their expressions are completely off. They also have knives visibly strapped to their waists and backs. I spotted them right away. They're just a bunch of worthless bandits, probably bandits from the mountains or on the water. They don't have any advanced martial arts skills, so don't worry, Master. If they come over like this, I can beat a hundred of them alone."
Xu Qinyu frowned and thought, these people were obviously bribed by someone to harm her, and they didn't want to leave any of them alive, they just wanted her life.
Could it be related to this cooking competition? Someone doesn't want her to win, so who could it be?
Several people waited on the roadside for half an hour, and finally a yamen runner came on horseback. He was a little surprised to see the scene. After asking a few simple questions, he took the bodies of the bandits back to the yamen first, and also carried the other three or more bandits back.
Xu Qinyu still had to participate in a cooking competition, so she couldn't go back to the yamen with the yamen runners. She just asked, "My lords, can you wait until I finish today's cooking competition before going to the yamen?"
Yang Zhizhi and Xu Yunlan followed up, saying, "We also know how these people committed the crime. Would it be feasible for us to go to the government office with a few officials to cooperate with the investigation?"
The yamen runners also recognized Xu Qinyu and knew that she was the most famous young cook in Raozhou City recently, so they were naturally willing to do so. "Okay, let's go back to the city first."
Even the injured black horse was temporarily led back to the yamen by the officials.
However, by the time Xu Qinyu arrived at the competition venue at the prefectural governor's mansion, it was already very late. The final cooking competition had already started for two quarters of an hour, or half an hour.
The judges were initially wondering why Xu Qinyu hadn't shown up at this hour, but when they saw her arrive, dusty and a little bloodied, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Miss Xu, did anything happen on the way? Now that you're here, let's get started. We've already prepared the ingredients and utensils you requested, so we should still be there in time."
It was the last competition of the day, and there were only ten people left. They were given two hours, or four hours, to prepare three dishes, one soup, and rice, which was plenty of time.
Fortunately, the competition rules didn't include a rule prohibiting participants from continuing due to being late. However, some people were still dissatisfied and couldn't help but say, "Miss Xu is already two quarters of an hour late, how can she still continue the competition? If so, aren't the rules too lax?"
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