The weather in Beijing in May is even more unbearable than the sweltering heat in Chang'an. As soon as I got off the plane, I was hit by waves of heat, and it wasn't until I got into the car that the heat around me subsided a little.
"I don't know what the organizers were thinking. The venues they chose for the finals were all hotter than the last. Is this a competition of cooking skills or a competition of heat resistance?"
I remember my master organized us younger generation to watch the recording of the previous "Chef Showdown." Good heavens, the New York City finals were held outdoors! Those contestants almost fainted from the heat. Oh, and by the way, there was actually a sous chef who fainted on the spot; he was laughed at for a whole year.
As soon as Li Ning got in the car, he started complaining, which made Cui Qingli, who was driving, unable to resist gloating:
"Then you'd better be careful this year. If all else fails, prepare some extra Huoxiang Zhengqi Water (a traditional Chinese medicine for heatstroke). Grandpa will definitely record the finals so we younger generation can watch it repeatedly."
Junior nun, I heard you went into seclusion again recently? It's alright, don't worry. You're still young enough to participate in the next round!
Logically speaking, Xu Milu has been in the industry for less than three years, and she has also been learning to cook from Cui Shengguo for a short time, so she does not meet the requirements for the competition at all. However, the competition has been reformed, and in addition to the fourteen contestants from other regions around the world, two more contestants have been selected from online live voting this year.
"I'm not nervous, but I'm a little worried that this time the competition system reform might cause some problems."
Xu Milu didn't even look up, her hands tapping rapidly on her phone screen, her thumbs flying across the keys as they slid down at an incredible speed, dazzling the viewer.
"The Bald Eagle World Chefs Association has changed the competition time again and again. If there are any more changes, the competition may not be able to be held."
"The official explanation for the delay in this competition is that a member of the Bald Eagle World Chefs Association questioned the fairness of the competition results, which is why an internal investigation has been underway."
I've been cutting radishes so much these past few days that I feel like throwing up just looking at them. I hope nothing else goes wrong—"
Li Ning looked horrified.
He was completely unaware of the intricacies involved, and naturally had no idea why the bald eagle and the Chinese government had been unable to finalize the venue for the finals.
"Probably not. The tournament schedule has been released. The qualifiers are on May 11th and 12th, the qualifying rounds are on the 13th, the finals are on the 14th, and after the champion is crowned, the 15th will be an exhibition match."
Cui Qingli took a moment to turn her head and interject:
"I heard that the athletes have been checking into the hotel one after another. Even if there are any problems, they have to wait until the competition is over? If there really are problems, the Bald Eagles athletes can't all withdraw from the competition, right?"
"Who knows?"
Xu Milu shrugged and casually locked her phone.
"Anyway, we'll deal with whatever comes our way. There are so many world-class chef competitions, so there's no need to get hung up on this one. My master just sent me here to learn and observe..."
Although Xu Milu was confident in her abilities, she was not so blind as to believe that a novice chef who had been learning to cook for less than three years could win such a world-class competition.
There are countless cuisines in the world, and Chinese cuisine alone has eight major cuisines, each with different schools. She is only just beginning to learn, honing her skills with her extraordinary physical strength and memory. She is far from being able to learn the core of Shandong cuisine from Cui Shengguo.
"Junior Sister, this year, just like the previous years, we will first hold a preliminary round. Fourteen contestants from each country will compete in pairs. Those who pass will enter the qualifying round to continue the competition. Finally, three contestants will be selected to participate in the final round, along with two contestants selected online."
Li Ning fiddled with his phone, reading out the competition schedule and rules to her word by word:
"The preliminary and qualifying rounds of the first two days are not relevant to us. It's not until the final on the 14th that you and Bai Bao'er from the Bai family will participate as 'challengers' selected through online auditions—"
The list of favorites for this year's championship has been released: Jack B. Brown of the Bald Eagles, Andre Adams of Canada, Sayuri Mishima of Japan, and Guan Wenyan of the Guan family. Wow, it's a battle of titans!
Because of the rat spirit Bai Tuan'er, Xu Milu couldn't help but feel a natural fondness for Bai Bao'er. She also remembered the gossip that Li Ning had gathered before:
"Didn't they say that Guan Wenyan could create new recipes at the age of fifteen? We should be able to see his original dishes this time, right?"
"I don't know..."
Li Ning shook his head and continued to look through the competition information sent by the organizing committee:
"During the preliminary and qualifying rounds, each contestant must complete the preparation of three dishes within a specified time. After completion, twelve judges on site will score the dishes, and the contestant with the highest overall score will advance to the next round of the competition."
It's estimated that this year, like previous years, will involve one named dish, one self-selected dish, and a creative dish made with randomly chosen ingredients. The competition theme won't be revealed until the day of the competition, which will likely be quite limiting for the Guan family.
At this point, Li Ning shoved his phone in front of Xu Milu and tapped on the photos of other competitors on the screen:
“Junior Martial Aunt, you need to be careful of Jack from the Bald Eagle and Sayuri Mishima from Japan. In the last competition, the two sides made a deal. During the random selection of ingredients, both sides took away the most important oil and salt. Fortunately, our Chinese chefs used fatty meat to render oil and jellyfish to render salt, so they didn’t cheat.”
"You can do that?"
Xu Milu was somewhat surprised:
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