Chapter 528: The Contest

Chapter 528: Chapter 528: The Contest

Of course, she couldn’t understand a thing. But it was precisely because she didn’t understand that she thought her daddy sounded great and was so amazing!

Anyway, the little darling didn’t care. Daddy was the best!

Morse was surprised. He looked Jiang Liu up and down.

"Yes. Mr. Fu Yuan here beside me is your primary opponent for the competition."

"Alright, let’s get started then," Jiang Liu said in Chinese.

Morse switched from English to Chinese as well. "I presume you’re clear on the rules. You propose a dish, and Fu Yuan will compete against you. Then, Fu Yuan will propose a dish, and you’ll compete against him. The person who proposes the dish provides the main ingredients, but you must bring your own seasonings."

"The judges I’ve invited will be here shortly. Also, Mr. Jun previously agreed to let me livestream the event. Mr. Jiang, I trust you have no objections?"

"None. Let’s just get started," Jiang Liu said flatly.

He didn’t want to waste too much time on this. Better to get it over with quickly.

Besides, the man he was competing against hadn’t even bothered to look him in the eye. Jiang Liu couldn’t be bothered dealing with such a nose-in-the-air type. It was all so tedious.

"Honey, will it be okay?" Jun Qingmeng asked, tugging on Jiang Liu’s hand worriedly.

"It’s nothing serious. Just watch," Jiang Liu said. He then gestured with his hand. "Shall we head to the kitchen and check the facilities?"

Jun Xinghe had set him up with a whole range of equipment, all high-end appliances used in five-star hotels.

Fu Yuan’s expression was impassive. He strode into the kitchen, glanced around, and said, "This will have to do. May I ask... Mr. Jiang, what do you propose for our competition?"

The moment he spoke, all eyes turned to Jiang Liu.

Jiang Liu said casually, "Let’s just do hot and sour soup. That shouldn’t be a problem, right? If you don’t think that’s appropriate, I can pick something else."

"Heh." A muscle in Fu Yuan’s cheek twitched. He took a deep breath. "No need. Hot and sour soup happens to be one of my signature dishes. You’d better be careful, Mr. Jiang."

Jiang Liu, of course, was not intimidated.

He simply took out the fresh, ordinary ingredients he had prepared and handed them to Fu Yuan for inspection.

Morse had already set up the streaming equipment and started the broadcast.

He had announced the date of the competition to his fans on Douyin two days prior, with the goal of building hype for Fu Yuan.

The moment the stream went live, more than two thousand viewers flooded in.

"Has it started?"

"Hahahaha, Old Fu is back to crush some noobs! Last I heard, he destroyed that famous Sichuan chef, Yu Guoguang, right?"

"Yu Guoguang my ass. ’Number one in Sichuan cuisine’? The guy had no damn clue what his own level was."

"This time is even more ridiculous. Who’s this guy? Never seen him before. Has Old Fu learned to start picking on easy targets now?"

"Damn it, you guys know who that is? That’s Jiang Liu from South City! I’ve had his steamed buns, they’re super delicious!"

"Steamed buns??? The guy above me has something wrong with his head."

"Hahaha, a Sichuan cuisine competition, and his opponent is just some young guy? We can start celebrating early. I’m sending Old Fu a gift to show some support."

Most of Fu Yuan’s fans had never heard of Jiang Liu. After all, Jiang Liu only had a little over a million fans, most of whom were from South City and Jing City.

However, Jiang Liu’s fans were very loyal.

The head of Zhu Getting entered the shop, leaning on a cane. Beside him were a beautiful foreign woman and several famous food critics from Hua Country.

"Elder Mr. Zhu, how has your health been lately?" Jun Xinghe, who was also in the main hall, came over warmly to help support him.

The group had already come out to the main hall. The rules stipulated a blind tasting, so they weren’t allowed to watch. This was to prevent any cheating.

Fu Yuan himself had been the one to suggest it, a clear sign of his confidence.

"*Cough.* I’m still kicking. Your daughter is quite something," Elder Zhu said casually, settling into a chair and resting both hands on his cane.

"Haha." Jun Xinghe gave an embarrassed laugh.

Lately, it seemed he was constantly basking in his daughter’s reflected glory.

Not only had his business ventures been smooth sailing, but he had also collected quite a few favors.

"Have they started the competition inside?" the pot-bellied judge, Sun Chao, asked.

He had high hopes for Fu Yuan. As for this Jiang Liu, he had indeed heard of him but wasn’t particularly impressed.

’A young man who switched careers midway. Nothing worth seeing there.’

"They’ve started. The first dish is hot and sour soup," Jun Xinghe said.

"Hot and sour soup??"

The judges, including the one from abroad, almost burst out laughing.

’How could a dish like that show any real difference in skill? Doesn’t it all taste the same?’

’Besides, it’s a Sichuan dish, which should be Fu Yuan’s specialty. How could he possibly lose?’

「Inside the kitchen.」

Only Jiang Liu and Fu Yuan remained.

Fu Yuan, expressionless, casually picked up a kitchen knife from the table. He glanced at it, his heart filled with disdain, and commented offhandedly, "Very mediocre. The most common kind you can find."

Jiang Liu’s knife was just an ordinary one, and he had never bothered to replace it.

’He didn’t see the need. In his eyes, the only difference between an ordinary knife and a good one was that one wasn’t as durable as the other.’

Jiang Liu said nonchalantly, "If you don’t want to use it, feel free to use your own."

"I see," Fu Yuan nodded. "I’m not quite used to this kind of knife."

The livestream viewers:

"What are they talking about? I can’t hear anything."

"Old Fu is saying the kid’s knife is so crappy he’s embarrassed to even use it. How shameful."

"I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts. What kind of amateur hour is this? Can’t he be more professional?"

"I already looked him up. The guy competing against Old Fu has a Douyin account too. The name is ’World’s Second Best Eatery’."

"Going to check it out."

"??? The hell, he actually has over a million followers? What the fuck, any random schmo can get over a million followers these days? Must have bought them!"

Without further ado, the two began the competition.

The judges outside couldn’t see anything. Morse had even given them a signal jammer, worried that Jun Xinghe might try to pull some strings and compromise the competition’s fairness.

Inside the kitchen,

Fu Yuan took an assortment of transparent bottles and jars out of his briefcase.

He asked with a smirk, "Want to use my seasonings? If you use your own, I’m afraid that ten-percent chance of winning you had will drop to zero."

The moment he said that, the fifty thousand viewers in the chat exploded with laughter.

Jiang Liu was speechless.

"I’ll be fine with my own seasonings."

He was very confident in the seasonings provided by the Gourmet Album.

A hint of mockery gradually appeared on Fu Yuan’s impassive face.

He said nothing more and lowered his head, immersing himself in his cooking.

The two of them stood back to back.

Fu Yuan could be seen elegantly and skillfully whisking eggs, then adding high-quality pepper and wild pepper powders he had acquired through special channels.

These had to be added only after the eggs were whisked to a certain consistency; otherwise, it would be difficult to flavor them evenly.

A bright red tomato was placed on the cutting board. With a flash of his knife, Fu Yuan diced it into fine cubes in just five seconds, with barely any juice spilling.

His knife skills left the livestream audience stunned.

Jiang Liu, in contrast, was hunched over, slowly and meticulously preparing his ingredients.

Livestream chat:

"The difference in skill is already obvious. What’s the point of even competing??"

"I feel like he’s on the same level as my girlfriend. At least Old Fu’s knife work is a pleasure to watch."

"What a clown. And this guy has over a million followers? Damn, I feel bad for Old Fu having to deal with this."

"I hear this guy’s pretty popular in South City. I’ll have to go find some fault with his cooking when I have the time. Man, I really want to eat Old Fu’s Sichuan food. My mouth waters every time I watch him cook!!"

Most of the audience was already starting to get bored.