Chapter 791: Chapter 790: The Female Fan on Stage

“Trend!”

Elsewhere, numerous senior figures from the Chinese Realm also affirmed the designated ingredients for the auditions, which grasped the current trend and stood at the crest of the wave, resonating with the contemporary era.

With the rapid development of culinary technology, research, and food production techniques, more and more ingredients are destined to break traditional understanding and chef conventions. How to become acquainted with and to utilize these high-tech materials had become a challenge facing the younger generation.

When a staff member brought over some ingredients, Xia Yu, quite curiously, pinched one, sniffed it, and crunched it in his mouth.

“Pure flour!”

Xia Yu nodded secretly, “It’s very pure, with no nutritional additives like vegetables or cereals. Essentially, they’re just noodles with an odd shape. Approaching it from the perspective of children’s food isn’t a bad idea, but isn’t confining it this way a sign of a lack of confidence in one’s culinary skills?”

“The true value of an ingredient is determined by the chef!”

“I say I can make a dish that matches the aesthetic taste of the general public, suitable for all ages!”

His words were as precious as gold.

Thus, a sea of ingredients began to emerge in Xia Yu’s mind.

Starting with the most basic fats, Xia Yu considered, “I’ll use extra virgin olive oil…”

And when it came to the actual cooking segment involving the control of the heat, many ideas kept surfacing.

“The granular flour definitely needs to be boiled, from 10 to 20 minutes.”

“If it’s treated like a type of noodle, could it possibly be simmered in a broth?”

While meticulously building a gastronomic kingdom and unfolding the cooking steps, Xia Yu appeared composed, his pace neither hurried nor slow.

However, due to the selection of a thousand participants, the scene was too spectacular, and the broadcast cameras couldn’t provide a close-up of every cooking station. Thus, Xia Yu’s performance only caught the attention of the observant, his screen presence falling far short of the first batch of protagonists who were frequently featured.

…

“Cooking time, 2 hours!”

“One hundred advancement spots!”

“That means, out of this first round of the one thousand participants’ auditions, only a hundred can break through and enter the next round. Although there is a losers’ group, the candidates who fail the auditions still have a chance to make a breakthrough, but who wouldn’t want to secure an advancement advantage early on?”

At the judges’ table, two male judges next to Xu Liuyue whispered to each other.

Xu Liuyue nodded in agreement, “Choosing one hundred out of a thousand seems not too low of a rate, but considering that all the contenders here represent the crème de la crème of the younger generation, the intensity of the competition is beyond imagination!”

“Look—”

The middle-aged gourmet judge, slightly balding, pointed towards a nearby cooking station.

There, a young male chef was rapidly cooking.

He used a frying pan to toss the “granular flour,” which resembled tiny white pearls of rice, as they tumbled in the pan.

White wine!

Seeing the young chef roast for a while before suddenly grabbing a bottle of wine to pour in the seasoning, including the head judge Xu Liuyue, all three were astonished, “What’s the purpose of roasting these grains? Why use white wine?”

The camera timely gave a close-up of where the judges were looking.

“Ah!”

Elsewhere outside, Yuan Yun, hailing from the distinguished Jinling family, pointed at a huge broadcasting screen set up in the plaza and said to the small group from Zhao’s Vineyard behind her, “Zhao Qi has been found!”

In the frame, the young chef who continued to use a small knife to peel shrimp shells and heads, wasn’t it Zhao Qi?

However, Zhao Qi’s appearance from yesterday had changed; now, on stage, he was dressed in a traditional chef’s uniform, his hair covered by a hat, yet his eyes still sparkled sharply.

“What’s he doing with shrimp shells and heads?!” Onlookers watching the broadcast were greatly puzzled by Zhao Qi’s cooking process.

Yes.

Only the shrimp shells and heads were used, leaving the tender shrimp meat untouched.

Moreover, Zhao Qi had slightly washed the shrimp shells and heads before stir-frying them with oil, ginger strips, and minced garlic. Within a few minutes of lighting the fire, when Zhao Qi confidently pressed down on the shrimp shells and heads with a spatula, a sizzling sound erupted along with a bright, seafood-infused red oil, spreading a dense fragrance like a volcanic eruption.

Boom!

The essence of freshness formed a tidal wave, sweeping across the venue of a thousand people. In an instant, whether they were examiners or passersby, everyone was hooked by the rich aroma.

Then, Zhao Qi took some water and poured it into the pan.

Seeing this, a clear round of applause came from the examiner’s seats, and the head examiner, Xu Liuyue, clapped and praised, “I get it now!”

“We get it too!”

The deputy examiners, a balding middle-aged man named Mu Nanzhi and another named Chen Zhen, exchanged looks filled with admiration.

However, just when Zhao Qi had undeniably become the star of this round of preliminary selections in group A, he suddenly paused, turned his head slightly towards a kitchen station some twenty or thirty meters behind him, and cast a curious glance.

This little detail was overlooked by many.

But Xu Liuyue noticed it.

“At such a crucial moment in his cooking, he’s distracted by someone else? Who is it?” Xu Liuyue raised an eyebrow and followed Zhao Qi’s gaze. Oh!

She abruptly choked.

The face was extremely familiar, almost too familiar.

Is it him?

It seemed like…

Xu Liuyue suddenly looked down, feeling her heart pounding in her chest, her blood rushing to her head, and a strange excitement causing her great alarm.

She was a culinary star adored on the screen.

However, beyond her identity as a star, Xu Liuyue was also a chef from Min Yue region, informally known among her close friends as the Queen of Min Cuisine. Her signature dish, “Buddha Jumps Wall,” had won her admiration and drooling appreciation from many directors in the industry, capturing their taste buds and securing roles through sheer skill.

As a chef and someone from within the industry, Xu Liuyue naturally paid close attention to the international competition in Sapporo.

Therefore, she adored the major contributor who had almost single-handedly led the Far Moon Team to victory by winning the “Jade Dragon Pot” at the international competition.

To put it simply, Xu Liuyue had become a fervid fan, a die-hard follower—she had closely followed Xia Yu’s feats after the Sapporo competition and had registered on Facebook, Weibo, and even a Japanese Twitter account to follow him. If that wasn’t proof enough, what about the crazy shopping spree a fortnight ago at Xia’s Farm Mall, where she still had many uneaten snacks and fruits stocked at home?

“Could it be, when did he come back to the country? I might have mistaken…”

Just as Xu Liuyue’s feelings oscillated between nervousness and excitement and she was about to closely confirm, clang!

The event staff struck the gong.

“The first one to finish has appeared!” An excited shout electrified the atmosphere of the venue, amidst a tsunami of cheers and a barrage of close-up shots, and it was a female chef in her twenties submitting her dish to the examiners.

She was attractive not in a breathtaking way, but there was a kind, gentle quality about her, and her smile radiated a likability that warmed the heart.

Xu Liuyue was interrupted and therefore turned her attention to the porcelain bowl on the table.

Huh.

She raised her eyebrows in slight surprise.

What should have been plain, milky-white grains had been turned into a vibrant, colorful display by the female chef. At first glance, one might think it was a box of assorted vegetables, such was the strong visual impact.

However, upon closer examination, it was not hard to notice that the provided grain particles were still there, and the multi-colored elements were from additional, small, irregular-shaped ingredients.

“These are…”