Chapter 59 - Live Judges Begin Scoring
Chapter 59: Live Judges Begin Scoring
The situation in the venue suddenly became chaotic. The emcee shouted a few words of “Please be quiet”, but it did not stop their protests.
The live-stream also became extremely lively. On the bullet screen, there was a crowd of onlookers who wanted to watch the show.
[It should be a script arranged beforehand, right?]
[An eight-year-old child. Why is he everywhere? He must have a supporter backing him.]
[Hurry up and start fighting!]
[Do you think they will raise pots and pans to hit people?]
[You are thinking too much.]
Suddenly, everyone in the camera calmed down. The director turned the camera to the judges’ seats.
It turned out that the judge sitting in the middle had stood up. The old man wore a luxurious coat with his silver hair tied up. He had a refined and dazzling bearing.
He explained in a low voice, “Millions of viewers are watching, yet you still insist on forcing us to reveal the reason. Then I’ll tell you, if you use immoral methods to compete in the competition, you will be removed from the list.”
The boss of ‘Take It Slowly’ became anxious and came forward, saying, “When did we use immoral methods!”
“Just now, before the competition started, you secretly hid the child’s ingredients and changed them into low-quality ones. Do you dare to say that you didn’t?”
As the old man spoke, he shot a glance at the backstage. The main director supported his chin with one hand and nodded helplessly at the staff. “Go ahead and play it.”
The recording of the surveillance cameras suddenly appeared on the big screen. The scene was in an uproar.
In the recording which had the audio playing, the chef of ‘Take It Slowly’ was seen to be looking around furtively. He even deliberately played dirty while Xu Le was not present.
They were hoping to get lucky. After all, in such a serious occasion, every minute and second was broadcast live, so it was impossible for them to personally investigate such an insignificant matter. But who knew that Old Master Song would come that day?
He was the main investor of the entire show, the judge with the most authority, not one of the most, but “the most”.
Old Master Song was born into a family of imperial chefs. When he was young, his great-grandfather had even been a royal chef in the palace. As a result, he had been influenced from a young age and was extremely picky and strict with the dishes. To be precise, after so many seasons of the competition, almost no dishes could enter his eyes.
This was also the reason why the main director didn’t dare to offend him. He knew that the boss of ‘Take It Slowly’ had lost face and would cause a conflict in the future. However, with Old Master Song around, no one dared to mess around immediately.
After they left the venue.
The competition continued. The dish in front of Xu Le was a combination of mutton and fish meat. It was steamed and roasted, and the craftsmanship was complicated. It could only be completed within the time limit if five or six people were working together.
The judges tacitly let Old Master Song have a taste first. Seeing his expressionless face, they started eating.
The fish meat was overcooked and had completely lost its freshness, while the mutton was only half cooked. If the two ingredients were brought out alone, it wouldn’t taste too bad, but when placed together, it was hard and overcooked, and the sauce was too sour. It was a complete mess.
Hence, the dozen or so judges all scored below five points (with 10 points being full marks). Old Master Song did not stand on ceremony and gave them zero points directly. This was a fatal blow to the team. The head chef was so anxious while watching them give the score that he was about to cry.
Old Master Song said sharply, “How can it be so easy to combine the Western and Chinese cuisine? The main reason why you guys failed was because you did not spend effort to study it. You just have to wait until the next round to get a good ranking from the 21 positions.”
“The mutton and fish conflicted with each other, so the texture was too bad.”
“If you can separate the frozen fish and mix it with mutton, it might be better. Next time, you must practice more and taste more. Don’t be too eager to come up with new innovation.”
“…”
The judges’ serious comments caused the atmosphere to drop to the freezing point. The host hurriedly came out and laughed. “Next up is our genius Master Chef, Xu Le from the eight-year-old cafeteria!”
The camera panned to Xu Le’s face, and the live comments flooded in.
“Him? He’s just a kid. There are so many people in front of him who had failed. He probably also can’t make it.”
“Those who commented above, don’t underestimate him.”
“To be honest, it’s just one failure after another today. Can the situation really start to improve from him onwards?”
“Being placed the first few probably won’t do any good.”
[Stir-fried Three Baldy] had already been served in front of the judges. They started to taste it with the chopsticks.
Zhang Tong couldn’t help but sneak over and say in a low voice, “Awesome! It’s another long-lost dish. Your parents are amazing. They taught you so much.”
It would be a lie if Xu Le said he wasn’t nervous. However, most of his attention was on Old Master Song. He asked softly, “How did his clothes become torn and tattered?”
He really looked like the vagabond he met last night.
He muttered to himself.
Zhang Tong looked at him with a strange expression and said, “That is a high-end custom-made. There are less than ten pieces in the world. One piece of clothing is worth that much!”
He gestured.
“Seven hundred?”
“No.”
“Seven thousand.”
Zhang Tong still shook his head.
Xu Le’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me that piece of clothing… is worth 70,000 yuan?”
He suddenly felt that the clothes were no longer ugly. It was a problem with his taste.
“That’s right. His ancestor was once a servant of the palace. He’s amazing.” Zhang Tong patted his shoulder and said, “You better be mentally prepared. Old Master Song’s words are very vicious. I have a colleague who almost became a mute after being scolded by him.”
Although Zhang Tong trusted Xu Le’s culinary skills, he was more afraid of Old Master Song’s eccentric temperament.
The judges were calmly tasting, but Xu Le was chatting with his peers. It was a stark contrast.
Someone in the live-stream started mocking him again.
[Is he filled with confidence or has he given up?]
[Lele, all the best! Your motherly fans are optimistic about you!]
[Don’t use the fans tactic. Why don’t you guys take a look? He just cooked a stir-fry dish. It’s so plain and white. It would be weird if it’s delicious.]
After the judges were done eating, they did not give marks as they did before. Instead, they turned to look at Old Master Song and discussed.
Finally, Lin Shuwei raised his card and gave a high score of “9”!
The crowd was in an uproar again. This was a result that had never been achieved before at the Expo. Everyone looked at Xu Le and saw him raise his head and smile. He was very innocent and cute.
They could not believe that such a young child could make such a good dish!
Lin Shuwei praised him in a flat tone, “The crab paste is fat, thick, and fragrant. The crab roe has retained its original savory flavor. There’s also a finishing touch, the fish lung of the barbequed fish. It should be marinated with raw flour first, then the residue from the top was removed, and then placed into the pot to be stir-fried. The taste is similar to the top-grade foie gras, delicate, soft, and elastic.”
“That’s right.” One of the judges echoed, “The combination of the three flavors is not out of place, and it is also exceptionally stunning. All kinds of similar yet different freshness exploded in my mouth. With small onions, ground radish, ground ginger, and other things, it cleverly covered up the remaining fishy smell..”