The beauty opposite her was breathing unsteadily, but she held back with the utmost self-control.
On the surface, she and her assistant were cooking in an orderly manner.
Her breathing became unsteady when she saw Xiaoxi and the others start wrapping zongzi, a sudden emotional fluctuation that occurred.
Based on Xiaoxi's rich experience and her sensitive constitution for cultivating immortality, that fluctuation was actually a strong killing intent.
The fox's tail is showing; we'd better be careful, Xiaoxi thought to herself.
Soon, she and her second brother finished wrapping the zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), put them in the pot, and they were steamed in five minutes.
The three dishes my second brother made have an exceptionally strong and penetrating aroma.
He and Xiaoxi were originally sitting at the upper end of the stream, and the fragrance reached all the contestants.
Xiaoxi and the others didn't do it on purpose, but the contestants' Dao hearts were all somewhat unsettled when they smelled the fragrance.
Many people have made it to the finals, but their mental fortitude is still lacking.
The aroma alone was enough to make the judges closest to the contestants itch with desire.
They reminisced about the first round, when the brother and sister were in the competition area, enjoying the food with unbridled abandon, and just thinking about it made their mouths water.
Finally, after they had endured the time allotted for food preparation, all the contestants began to put their dishes into the flowing stream.
The first thing served was the snacks. To make it easier to rate them, Xiaoxi had already peeled off the Jiangnan-style rice dumplings one by one and placed them in small dishes. Each of those crystal-clear rice dumplings was small and cute, making you want to devour them in one bite.
Chief judge Zhang Zhe sat at the head of the judging panel. When he saw the rice dumpling floating by, he immediately scooped it up and opened his mouth wide to put it in his mouth.
With a "pop," Zhang Ze felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand as the rice dumpling fell into a crevice in the rocks by the stream.
He was startled; it turned out that a chopstick flying from a distance had stopped him from eating the zongzi.
"The rice dumplings are poisonous!"
Xiaoxi called out and stood up.
Her shout seemed to startle the stream, causing it to stop flowing. Everyone present was stunned, and some people's hands, which were about to reach for food in the stream, froze in mid-air.
"What happened?" Zhang Ze stood up, rubbing his aching hand.
"These zongzi were clearly made by you and your brother. Would you poison something you made yourself?"
Xiao Xi did not answer his question. Amidst the gasps of the crowd, they discovered that Xiao Xi was already standing behind the Korean beauty.
That's incredibly fast.
Xiao Xi twisted the beauty's hand behind her back, picked up her name tag and looked at it. "Your name is Han Jiaren. Tell me! Why did you poison her?"
The beauty immediately burst into tears, crying out, "I didn't! I didn't do it! Why are you accusing me?"
Her tearful appearance made every man present feel a pang of heartache.
Even for a victim like Zhang Ze, the scales tipped in favor of Han Jiaren.
"Ye Xiaoxi, don't be ridiculous. This friend from South Korea is here to compete; she couldn't possibly poison us."
Zhang Ze's expression was very unpleasant. His good impression of Xiao Xi from that day had completely vanished.
The scene immediately fell into whispers, and it was clear that the scales of justice were tipping in Han Jiaren's favor.
From a perspective, this is a final competition, and those who make it to the finals are people who truly have a great love for cooking and regard it as a lifelong and noble pursuit.
How could they possibly poison someone? Besides, this is an international event; are they trying to ruin their own future?
Xiao Xi forcefully shook off Han Jiaren's hand; her fair wrist was already bruised from being pinched.
"Hmph, don't pretend to be weak!"
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