Chapter 374: Greed Caused by Dependence
"Oh! It's the shredded pork with green peppers."
"That's definitely the idea of home cooking. Bai Tao is still rich. I thought there were so many people auditioning, and their skills were so uneven. A vegetarian dish would be the worst, and scrambled eggs at best." Yun Yongyuan nodded. "Did many people pass?"
"By the time I left, almost half of the people who had finished the exam had passed. There was still a small amount that hadn't been completed, so I don't know how they would have fared in the end. The level of their work was indeed quite mixed, but there were still some good ones who received unanimous votes from the judges."
"Then how many votes did you get?" Wan Yuyue asked quickly.
Zhao Xiaojing was about to answer when she saw Wan Yuyue's pot out of the corner of her eye and her face darkened. "You can eat this dish by yourself at noon."
"Oh!" Wan Yuyue hurriedly took the food out of the pot.
"You, you lose yourself as soon as you see Junior Sister Mirror! You even forget to move the pot. You don't waste food like this even when she's not around. Are you addicted to being scolded?" Yun Yongyuan also felt the same confusion as Zhao Xiaojing.
"You are the one who is addicted to being scolded. I have someone to support me, so I can use my creativity." Wan Yuyue shrank her head and muttered softly as she began to wash the pots and spoons.
Zhao Xiaojing was speechless, but then she thought about how this was the biggest hidden danger, and now that it existed only because she was in the store, wouldn't she be able to focus on the competition? She felt relieved. "I'm leaving now. Just do your thing!"
"Hey, wait a minute..." Yun Yongyuan realized that Zhao Xiaojing had already left the kitchen. He could only look at Zhao Xiaojing's back with a sad look, "I haven't told you about my dishes yet..."
Zhao Xiaojing walked quickly, avoiding the chattering cleaning staff, and went all the way to the hall next door which Geng Mingyan and her colleagues had already cleaned. She found a quiet corner to sit down and quietly summoned the system while looking at her phone.
She hadn't looked at the system's reward yet because the car was too crowded, but she had been thinking about it all the way.
[Main quest completed]
[Main Mission: Sign up for "Fresh Chef Competition" and advance through the auditions.]
【Congratulations on winning a 5000 yuan cash reward! 】
Gone? Zhao Xiaojing was stunned. She checked the system notifications and her backpack, but found nothing except the SMS notification of the 5,000 yuan payment.
Although five thousand yuan is not a small amount, Zhao Xiaojing couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. With the rematch approaching, she thought the system would provide additional help and give her some things to improve her strength.
But think about it, this is just the preliminary audition, 5,000 yuan is already very generous, I was greedy and became dependent on the system during this period.
If you just win the audition and then rely on the system to help you in your future promotion, then what's the difference between you and your previous life?
Moreover, the system had already given me something as incredible as a virtual space. Although practice was entirely up to me, how could I achieve the progress that comes with so much practice alone? The system had already given me enough, and the rest was something I should have worked hard for. I was actually disappointed when I first received the reward. Why was I going backwards?
Zhao Xiaojing felt extremely ashamed again.
[Host, you are quite talented. Although the system provides a virtual space with a flow rate 120 times slower than real time, practicing alone day and night in this vast space is still quite boring and lonely. Even ordinary people would find it difficult to endure such long and repetitive hours. Being able to spend hundreds of hours a day in this space is itself a skill. Please do not underestimate yourself.]
Feeling Zhao Xiaojing's strong emotions, the mechanical voice of the system came from his mind.
"...Okay, system, thank you." Zhao Xiaojing was touched and wanted to laugh at the unexpected comfort from the system.
This was probably the longest time the system had spoken to him about something irrelevant, and it was the system, not Xiaozhi. Although Xiaozhi was also a product of the system, he was usually more eloquent and would occasionally fool Zhao Xiaojing.
Obviously, this kind of comforting thing should be more suitable for Xiaozhi, but Xiaozhi is a store assistant and only appears when problems related to the store arise.
"Jingzi, you are here. Come and eat. The meal is ready!" Su Yuchen poked his head out of the door and shouted to Zhao Xiaojing.
"Coming!" Zhao Xiaojing responded quickly, and her mood, which had been a little turbulent, suddenly became brighter.
"Junior sister, how about my fish-flavored shredded pork?"
"Junior sister, please give me your evaluation of my eggplant."
"What are you trying to eat, Sister Mirror? How was the competition this morning? Tell me about it!"
"Yeah, Sister Mirror, what level are you in now? When will it be broadcast on TV?"
"This is the audition, we haven't even reached the final round yet! When is the next competition, sis?"
"Sister, when are you going to cook? Their cooking isn't as good as yours. I've been eating for a few days and it's still the same..."
"Xiao Wu, put down your chopsticks! You are not allowed to eat!"
"Put it down! Don't eat the food we cook anymore! If you do, you're a dog!"
As soon as Zhao Xiaojing sat down, everyone started asking questions one after another. Before Zhao Xiaojing could answer, the group chat was quickly refreshed and switched to the next topic. Even though the twelve people were dining at two tables, the scene was still as lively as usual.
Zhao Xiaojing had gotten used to it, smiling as she ate her food. Well, the chicken was alright, but the stir-fried and crispy kidneys were a bit underwhelming, and the pig throat wasn't quite there either. The whole dish was odd, and it seemed Wan Yuyue was just being too extravagant again.
"Brother Nie, which dish did you make?" Just as Zhao Xiaojing was enjoying her meal, a pair of hesitant and uninterrupted gazes fell on her. Zhao Xiaojing looked up and saw that it was Nie Xiuqi, the only silent one among the twelve people as always.
As soon as Zhao Xiaojing looked up, she immediately understood that this was a request for evaluation and advice, but there were too many people and it was too noisy, so it was difficult to speak.
Fortunately, there was only Yun Yongyuan between Nie Xiuqi and Zhao Xiaojing, so he could hear what Zhao Xiaojing said.
"Chicken with pork intestines, Kung Pao chicken, and Maoxuewang."
As expected, Zhao Xiaojing was already familiar with Nie Xiuqi's cooking style so much that she could find problems with the three dishes without the need for an evaluation module.
"The chicken with pork intestines doesn't have enough ginger flavor. Senior Brother Nie, you don't like ginger, so you should add a little more ginger when you taste the dish yourself and find the right flavor. You've corrected the amount of ginger in the ginger and scallion sauce, but when making these other dishes, you still subconsciously use less. Other dishes are fine, but when making chicken, you can't do without ginger."
Nie Xiuqi took a look at the chicken with fat intestines and nodded seriously and sincerely.
"Speaking of the Kung Pao Chicken, the deep-frying part was still a little undercooked. That can be fixed with more practice. After all, you started by overcooking it and are now improving.
As for the Maoxuewang, aside from the ingredients not being of very high quality, you actually made it quite well.”
"Thank you, boss." After quickly reviewing the three dishes, Nie Xiuqi had nothing else to say and simply expressed his gratitude in his usual awkward manner.
"You should call her Junior Sister! If you call her Boss, doesn't it seem like we are being special and disrespectful to her?" Wan Yuyue patiently corrected her for the 10086th time.
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