A few minutes will pass quickly.
The vast majority of people managed to get their hands on the ingredients, whether they actually got what they wanted is another matter entirely.
Something is better than nothing.
Having ingredients at least guarantees that a dish can be made.
Whether the judges are satisfied or whether the taste is good is another matter entirely.
Seeing that many people were preparing to return to their seats, Ma Jiang also mingled in the crowd and followed them back.
However, unlike the others, he showed no intention of grabbing anything throughout the entire process.
He simply followed quietly among the crowd, appearing completely harmless.
The three minutes will be up soon.
Wu Zhengchuan spoke loudly into the microphone.
"There are 15 seconds left, everyone hurry up, otherwise it will all be invalid."
Upon hearing this, everyone on the field immediately took steps and rushed out of the field.
They were afraid that the ingredients they received would become ineffective due to exceeding the recommended time.
Ma Jiang was no exception; he followed the crowd and left the venue.
As the battle for ingredients was about to end, the audience began to observe who had grabbed the most.
"Look at last year's champion, Tang Haohan, he used his physical advantage to snatch a huge amount of ingredients."
"He's really amazing. I just saw him squeeze in so tightly that no one else could get through. He can take whatever he wants."
"Being tall is really an advantage. Look at those who are short, they don't have a chance to shine at all."
"I looked closely, and most of those who grabbed the most stuff were tall and strong. It seems that physical strength is an important part of power."
"The most pitiful are the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled; they return empty-handed, with nothing at all."
"Just say that fat guy from Lu Rong's team. Just name him. That fat guy is the most useless. He just stood by and watched the whole time. He didn't even have the courage to try. Who gave him the courage to go on stage?"
"Hehehe, I'm talking about him. He's hilarious. He didn't even dare to grab anything the whole time. He was just standing in the middle of the group and I had no idea what he was doing. Was he just going through the motions?"
...
Then, the three minutes were up.
Everyone left the food-grabbing area and returned outside.
Ma Jiang was no exception, slowly walking towards the direction where Lu Rong and the others were.
As time went by, some were happy while others were sad.
Those who grabbed the most items couldn't stop smiling.
Those contestants who managed to grab few items, or even nothing at all, looked worried.
Many of the contestants even cried.
They never imagined that the first match would end with them having no ingredients to cook.
But a competition is a competition, and reality is often cruel. This world is all about the survival of the fittest.
This is true even in the culinary world.
As Lu Rong and Ma Jiang got closer, they discovered that Ma Jiang, who had previously been empty-handed, was now holding a chicken.
It's a whole old hen that's already been killed, plucked, and cleaned.
Upon seeing this, Lu Rong was overjoyed.
This is one of the ingredients that Lu Rong just asked Ma Jiang to snatch, and it's also the most important one.
As long as you have chicken, even if you don't have the rest, you can at least make a dish.
They won't end up empty-handed, with nothing at all.
Otherwise, we can't expect the judges to eat nothing.
Once you have the necessary tools, everything else becomes easier.
However, this is not the end.
At this moment, Ma Jiang was only five or six meters away from them. Lu Rong looked closely and saw that in addition to the whole chicken in his left hand, he was also holding a large bag in his right hand.
And there's quite a lot in this package.
It's all in bits and pieces, but it looks like there's a lot.
Not only Lu Rong, but everyone else also saw what Ma Jiang was holding and were overjoyed.
"Hahaha, when did Deputy Ma manage to snatch all this stuff? I didn't even see it." Xu Fei had no idea how it all happened.
At this moment, he was no longer worried at all.
Of course, it wasn't just Xu Fei; the same applied to everyone else.
Just a moment ago, Ma Jiang was at the very back of the crowd.
He followed the crowd out afterward.
There was no fighting or snatching throughout the entire process, so where did he get these ingredients from?
No one could possibly figure it out.
Only Zhang Weiguo showed a knowing smile.
Upon approaching Lu Rong, Ma Jiang immediately handed him a whole chicken.
Xu Fei acted quickly and immediately took the chicken.
Then he took out another bag.
Inside were scallions, ginger, garlic, chili peppers, yams, and a few sour papayas.
This sour papaya is different from regular papayas; it's sour, and its shape is similar to a fruit, about the size of an apple.
It is a unique fruit in the southwestern region. It is usually green, but turns golden yellow when fully ripe.
It also has a very enticing fruity aroma.
But since it's called sour papaya, it does indeed taste sour.
This is the dish Lu Rong wanted to make today.
Sour papaya and old hen soup.
This is a very appetizing dish, which Lu Rong just redeemed from the top-tier recipe book.
From the moment he saw the ingredients inside, Lu Rong noticed the rare sour papaya.
I doubt anyone would want this, but this sour papaya is one of the key ingredients for making sour papaya and old hen soup.
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