Chapter 792: Chapter 791: Lend a Hand

“These are…”

Sniffing the fresh vegetable aroma wafting from the porcelain bowl, the middle-aged bald examiner Mu Nanzhi and the relatively younger Chen Zhen were both, faces filled with astonishment.

“Porridge!”

Xu Liuyue was quite intrigued as she examined the food in the bowl and uttered one word.

Porridge!

And that word, through the microphone, spread in all directions.

A bit of commotion ensued.

“Yes, porridge!” The female chef nodded.

“Why did you decide to make porridge with ‘granular flour’?” Xu Liuyue asked.

Hearing this, the female chef smiled and said, “Because this ‘granular flour’ is already in the shape of rice grains. Apart from the shape, granular flour is also made from grains, and it’s correct to make porridge from grains, right?”

After presenting her work, she visibly relaxed and faced the judges and cameras with ease.

“How interesting!”

Mu Nanzhi reached for the tray, picked up a porcelain bowl, and examined it closely, soon his eyes showed a moment of realization. He lightly pointed to the flake-shaped, multicolored ingredients in the bowl, “These are all… flour?”

“Flour?”

The other male examiner, Chen Zhen, had a slight change of face as he took a spoon, scooped up some from his bowl of “porridge,” and tasted it.

Instantly, the rich aroma of the noodle dish and a faint scent of milk began to emerge in his mouth.

The first impression upon tasting was not astounding, but the male examiner’s expression turned perplexed. As he chewed and ground with his teeth, the strange, colorful flake ingredients and “granular flour” mingled and broke apart, the male examiner’s facial expression suddenly revealed a different kind of surprise.

“A bowl of porridge full of childlike fun!”

After a moment, Chen Zhen looked up at the camera and praised.

“Hm?”

“Childlike fun?”

It seemed as if a term had sparked an inspiration in Xu Liuyue. She suddenly grabbed a bowl and spoon, holding the bowl with her left hand and the spoon with her right.

Whoosh!

The spoon stirred the wonderful porridge-like substance in the bowl.

Therefore, the focused camera captured the irregular flake ingredients swirling and mixing with the boiled white granular flour inside the white porcelain bowl.

This scene was as if the porcelain bowl contained a colorful ribbon inside it.

This colorful ribbon was so lively and intangible in its charm.

At the same time.

Mu Nanzhi slowly tasted the “porridge” and with just this first spoonful showed a refreshing smile towards the camera, “For kids, colorful and bright foods are the most attractive.”

Accompanying this comment, the camera swept over the crowd at the venue.

It wasn’t just the children whose eyes sparkled and fixed on the screens; many women too were captivated by the colorful ribbon in Xu Liuyue’s hands and couldn’t look away.

Chen Zhen continued, “Color and shape may seem to be just about appearance, but if you can achieve harmony inside and out, if a chef’s skill and heart truly harmonize the food, then the artistic conception of cooking begins to take shape.”

Xu Liuyue also had a few sips of the porridge before putting down the bowl and wiping her mouth with a napkin, nodding in admiration to the female chef, “Tell us more about it.”

The female chef then explained with a slight blush to the camera, “Actually, my ‘Butterfly Porridge’ is not complex. Granular flour is the main ingredient as dictated, but using just one ingredient makes it difficult to create an exciting recipe. So, I introduced many natural ingredients, all of which are vegetables, such as tomatoes and carrots. Then, using a juicer, I turned the diced vegetables into juice, which has natural coloring, and then mixed the vegetable juice with the flour to create the colored dough…”

Hearing this, the audience let out a collective “Oh” of amazement.

The audience finally understood why the originally plain porridge had so many irregular little stars in it.

“Quite a clever solution, with rich colors corresponding to a variety of vegetable and fruit flavors, the entire bowl of porridge is no longer bland inside and out. And if you can also imbue the right ‘Heart of Cooking,’ the so-called ‘childlike Butterfly Porridge’ would truly live up to its name.”

Zhu Qing clicked his tongue in appreciation from the audience and gave a thumbs-up to the female chef on stage, “Worthy of the descendant of the Yang Clan from the Dark World. The Yang Clan is renowned for its knife skills in both the Dark and Light Worlds, and this Yang Clan woman is being modest. Her cooking hasn’t even showcased her strongest suits. Oh, it’s only the first round of preliminaries, who would reveal their trump cards?”

Clang!

Another loud gong sounded, and the female host exclaimed excitedly, “Here it comes!”

“The first success in advancing to the next round in the preliminaries has appeared!”

The camera focused on the chairperson.

Xu Liuyue, Mu Nanzhi, and Chen Zhen, the three examiners, all held up their placards, on which was a square Chinese character:

OK!

“Thank you.”

The female chef Yang Man bowed, her eyes filled with joy.

She was about to leave the stage but was stopped by Xu Liuyue, “Wait, Chef Yang, I saw your personal information, are you currently working as a preschool teacher?”

Yang Man was slightly startled and then responded with a smile, “To be more precise, an infant nutritionist.”

Somewhere on the stage, Xia Yu was utterly baffled.

A chef is a chef, yet why would a hunter bring up other occupations so specifically?

Had he known Yang Man came from the Dark World and that an important heiress of the Dark World was shining bright in the infant food sector and concerned about the growth of the next generation, he would definitely be shocked and exclaim—

What the heck, the Qing Dynasty has fallen?

…

The sight of a thousand people hunting was too magnificent to frighten Xia Yu.

No matter the atmosphere, Xia Yu focused solely on his own culinary world.

A pot was perched on the stove, billowing with smoke, it seemed to contain some kind of broth.

However, another stove was fitted with steaming baskets.

Although professional stoves didn’t have the same magical malleability as charcoal flames, they had the advantage of stability, requiring less effort and easier to control. Xia Yu used the stove’s flame to vigorously steam the piled-up bamboo baskets in front of him!

Turning back to observe the cooking counter, the “granule flour” delivered earlier by the staff had already vanished into the ether, all of it utilized in the cooking process.

So then.

Was the “granulate flour” in the broth pot or in the steaming baskets?

Xia Yu chuckled darkly: “It’s a guessing game with a prize!”

Meanwhile.

Zhao Qi wiped the sweat from his brow, clicked off the stove valve, picked up a flat pan, and dumped out all the clams that had just opened, leaving only about half a bowl of the juice.

He would use this half bowl of clam juice to concoct a sauce.

So, the sauce mixed with the “granule flour” simmering in the deep pot.

“Shrimp broth!”

“Shrimp meat!”

“And clam meat!”

After several bouts of busyness and finally finishing with a sweaty head, Zhao Qi let out a silent breath, reviewing the previous cooking process in his mind, “Very good, no mistakes, perfect!”

As he plated the dish, his ears caught a light ‘ding’ sound.

At that moment, a pearly granule of flour shot from afar in a parabola, accurately landing in the deep pot where he had just prepared the granule flour.

Zhao Qi looked over in astonishment, just in time to see Xia Yu waving at him from his nearby kitchen counter.

In the midst of a thousand people competing, with staff moving around chaotically, the scene was quite messy, and moreover, the cameras were all diverted to the prodigious youths presenting their works, Zhao Qi thus brazenly approached the front of Xia Yu’s kitchen counter.

“Need something?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a tray was thrust into his hands. Xia Yu patted Zhao Qi on the shoulder, “Pal, do me a favor, it’s a piece of cake.”

“Huh?”

His forehead was covered in question marks.

Zhao Qi looked at Xia Yu, then down at the tray in his hands.

A sealed porcelain pot, three sets of bowls and spoons.

That was all on the tray.

The porcelain pot hid a heat source, prompting Zhao Qi to marvel silently: “Inside there’s…”

The thought frightened him.

“You don’t mean to say…”

His words were cut off, as Xia Yu, still grinning, placed an extra kitchen counter card – A998 on the tray, “Now it’s all good, the numbers match!”

With that, he nudged Zhao Qi on the back.

“Thanks in advance!”

Zhao Qi was utterly dumbfounded until the emcee’s exclamation resounded through the venue.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, contestant number A990 seems to be ready to present his dish, do you all remember him?”

A990?

Isn’t that me?

With his head down, Zhao Qi walked back to his own kitchen counter.

Then, Zhao Qi, holding a tray in each hand, immediately became the center of attention in the venue.

He alone understood what he was feeling at that moment.

“I really am…”