Two days later, the culinary competition to narrow down the top 100 to 50 officially began. With effective publicity and the prestigious title of "Number One Chef Under Heaven" personally inscribed by Emperor Kangxi, all the chefs who made it into the top 100 were truly talented.
The competition venue was newly built, not far from the food street. Eight large pillars supported a large area, and the judges were imperial chefs "borrowed" from the palace by Yinzhen.
Although the imperial chefs in the palace were a bit timid and their daily cooking was rather conventional, they were still quite skilled and could be appraised.
Of course, besides these formal judges, there are also "wild" judges like Yinzhen and Tong Cheng'er, who are only responsible for tasting the food and do not provide professional evaluations.
Because the food competition was so popular with Yinzhen, his brothers who were on good terms with him would occasionally come over to join in the fun, but they didn't show up; they all enjoyed the food in the private rooms.
"Try it."
Yinzhen and Tong Cheng'er were presented with special delicacies from different regions.
The competition to narrow down the top 100 to 50 participants was divided into three rounds: a pastry competition, a main dish competition, and a soup competition. The reason for the three rounds was that if all 100 people competed at the same time, the judges would be too busy to handle them all. It was much better to conduct the competition in batches.
When Yinzhen and Tong Cheng'er arrived, it was almost noon. Not long after they sat down, people started getting ready one after another, some faster and some slower within the allotted time.
Yinzhen and Tong Cheng'er didn't need to worry about so much, so after checking that the food was fine, Yinzhen started to invite his little princess to taste it.
The reason he came up with the idea of organizing a food competition was also related to Tong Cheng'er, because he wanted her to taste the local specialties.
Tong Cheng'er was very accommodating and tried almost every dish. They were all delicious. The chefs in the manor were all good and could cook dishes from all over the country, but they were still not as authentic as the locals' cooking.
I tasted them one by one, and undeniably, they were all very delicious.
"It's so delicious!!"
Yinzhen smiled and said, "As long as it tastes good, there will be plenty of opportunities to eat it in the future."
Tong Cheng'er was taken aback: "What do you mean?"
Yinzhen said, "After the competition, I have decided to rent out the shops in the food street to the top fifteen contestants for free for one year. They will have priority to renew the lease before the next competition. Shops in the capital are not easy to find. If we add a condition that the shops cannot be sublet, there will naturally be many people willing to stay in the capital and open shops."
Tong Cheng'er laughed: "You really do have a good business sense."
There are many dishes, even if you eat in batches, there are still quite a few. Each portion is not large, so if you try a little of each dish, you can easily get full before you know it.
After eating her fill, Tong Cheng'er lost interest in continuing to watch. She was somewhat interested in eating, but not so much in cooking.
Three more days passed, the culinary competition continued, and the new student quota for Qiqiao Academy was finalized.
Just like when the results of the imperial examination were announced, Tong Cheng'er also had notices posted to spread the word.
On the day the results were released, many people gathered around the notice board.
"Make way, make way, if everyone crowds together, the notice can't be posted."
...
After much shouting and urging, the staff of Prince Yong's residence finally posted the notice.
The notice had barely been posted when it was immediately surrounded by a dense crowd. There were quite a few people here to take the exam this time, it was no less impressive than the imperial examinations.
"Young Master, there are too many people to squeeze in."
After hearing what his servant said, and looking at the situation before him, Brother Liu realized that it was indeed impossible to squeeze in.
He was anxious, but what could he do if he couldn't squeeze in?
"No rush, take your time."
Anyway, the result is already out, it's a done deal. It doesn't matter whether you find out the result a little earlier or a little later, it just means you'll be a little more anxious.
His people couldn't get in, and neither could Brother Zhang's. As for Bian Lan, she was confident in herself and would wait until the crowd thinned out before checking the rankings; she wasn't in a hurry.
After about half an hour, the number of people around the notice board decreased significantly, and several people squeezed inside.
Brother Liu and Brother Zhang searched for their names from back to front, while Bian Lan planned to search for her name from front to back.
Bian Lan walked to the far right and started looking for names. She had only looked at the beginning and knew she didn't need to look anymore; she was the first one.
The name was even enlarged and written out, making it particularly eye-catching.
Since Liu and Zhang remained silent, and Bian Lan didn't say anything either, she was definitely happy. She didn't have to go back, and at least her life was temporarily safe. As for other things, she could worry about them later.
Thinking this, she started looking down, hoping to see if there were any names of her classmates. If there were, that would be the best. Studying with people you know is definitely more pleasant than entering a completely unfamiliar environment.
Furthermore, Liu and Zhang do possess some talent, and it would be ideal if they could study together.
I've finished reading the first column; there are no names for either of them.
I've finished reading the second column, and there are no names for either of them.
After reading the third column, there were no names for either of them.
...After reading almost ten lines, she suddenly heard Brother Zhang shout, "I'm on the list!!"
His tone was very excited.
Bian Lan smiled upon hearing this and continued reading.
After a while, Brother Liu spoke up, "I'm on the list too!!!"
His tone was very joyful.
Both of them were on the list, and now they turned their attention to Bian Lan.
Seeing the two of them looking at her like that, Bian Lan smiled and said, "I'm on the list too."
Brother Liu said with a smile, "I knew Brother Bian would be on the list. By the way, what number is Brother Bian?"
Bian Lan: "First place."
"What?! First place!!!" Liu and Zhang exclaimed in shock.
Although they acknowledged Bian Lan's talent, this was still first place. Everyone in the entire Qing Dynasty took the exam together, and she came in first place. This was no ordinary achievement.
They thought that even if they ranked well, it would be quite an achievement to be in the top fifty.
With such a good ranking as first place, he will likely be pampered and protected by his teachers when he enters school.
With Prince Yong's backing, Qiqiao Academy might even have Bian Lan's name on his radar.
Bian Lan: "What? Surprised?"
She was surprised, as first place was indeed unexpected. Of course, she was not arrogant because of this, after all, she had studied mathematics, physics and chemistry for so many years.
She was confident about the exam, but her handwriting wasn't particularly good after she transmigrated. Because she was used to writing in simplified characters and had the original owner's memories when she wrote, her handwriting was sometimes missing something.
Of course, what she wrote wasn't simplified characters; it was mostly misspellings.
She had tried her best to overcome this problem, but she still couldn't get rid of it because she had only been in this world for a short time.
All I can say is that the graders were very lenient.
It wasn't that Tong Cheng'er was lenient in her corrections; rather, her focus was on whether the student had a foundation in physics and mathematics. As for handwriting, that could be corrected later with further study. However, a paper with all answers correct was indeed very rare.
Brother Liu: "Given Brother Bian's abilities, it doesn't seem impossible."
Brother Zhang: "Brother Bian got first place during the selection process, so it's normal for him to get first place in the capital again."
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