The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 169 The previous runner-up
"Tsk~" Hu Chong curled his lip, "Fine, I won't say if I don't want to."

"Let's go, Hu Chong." Qiao Na reached out a hand and pressed down on Luo Mi's hand, slowly pulling it open from Hu Chong's collar, and said calmly, "After completing this mission, we should be able to be promoted to cadre."

"There's no need to say much to people who are destined to be ordinary members for life." She nodded to Lomi and pulled Hu Chong away.

"What an annoying bunch." Liu Chuang watched the two figures leave, his gaze involuntarily drifting to Luo Mi, who stood silently in place.

"Lomi, you and them..."

"Don't pry into the affairs of your seniors!" Lomi abruptly turned her head to the other side, a glint of light shimmering in the sunlight, making Liu Chuang fall silent.

"You...cried?"

"I didn't!" Lomi shrugged and stubbornly replied.

“You have!” Liu Chuang pressed down hard on Luo Mi’s shoulder, turning her back to him little by little. Looking at Luo Mi’s red eyes, he took out a tissue from his pocket and gently wiped the tears from her face.

"You're really not being honest at all."

"Even though you always tease me, secretly spend all our money, and always call me 'junior'..."

“But you said before, ‘From now on, we’re partners.’”

"I will never let those who bullied my partner get away with this!" Liu Chuang waved his hand forcefully into the air.

Lomi was silent for a moment, then suddenly stretched out her foot and stomped on Liu Chuang's foot. "Idiot junior, stop trying to show off in front of me!"

"Sigh~"

Liu Chuang gasped, clutching his foot and hopping around on one leg while screaming. Luo Mi took the opportunity to snatch the tissue from his hand, wiped the tears from her face, stared at him intently, and then chuckled.

"But you were quite handsome just now."

Liu Chuang paused in his one-legged hop, then put his foot down and chuckled, "Really? I think so too."

"Vanity." Lomi muttered softly, but the sadness in her heart gradually dissipated.

"Hey junior, do you want to know about my past?"

"Yes I do!"

Liu Chuang nodded emphatically, looking like a curious child.

Lomi beckoned to him mysteriously, "Come here."

Liu Chuang eagerly moved closer.

"A little closer~"

Liu Chuang moved even closer.

Lomi tiptoed closer to Liu Chuang's ear, took a deep breath, and then shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Then take your time thinking about it!!!"

Seeing Liu Chuang covering his ears and wearing a mask of pain, Luo Mi put her hands on her hips and laughed triumphantly.
-

"Qin Lang, is it over for you too?"

Upon arriving at the sixth arena, which is closest to the fifth arena, Qin Lang saw Cao Dongdong walking out towards him before he even entered the arena.

"Looks like you're done too." Qin Lang smiled. "How was the preliminary round?"

"Of course!" Cao Dongdong patted his chest confidently. "This mere preliminary selection was a piece of cake for this handsome guy... uh, is it being streamed live?"

Having received Qin Lang's affirmative reply, Cao Dongdong straightened his hair and flashed an official smile at Yu Zaozao's camera, saying, "The preliminary rounds were very competitive, and my opponents were all very strong. It's a great honor for me to advance smoothly, and I will continue to work hard to achieve a better ranking..."

"Pfft~" Yu Zaozao couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle, "Your expression changes so fast!"

"Basic stuff." Cao Dongdong chuckled, then suddenly remembered something and turned to Qin Lang. "Guess who I ran into on the field?" "Who?" Qin Lang raised an eyebrow.

He thought about it carefully, but he never expected to run into an acquaintance on the field at this moment.

"It's the one we met when we registered for the competition that day!" Cao Dongdong said, and when Qin Lang still didn't remember, he gave him another hint.

"That bald guy!"

"Oh! It's him!" Qin Lang finally remembered him. "How strong is he?"

“Although your reasoning is rather abstract, he really is as you said.” Cao Dongdong nodded solemnly. “Very strong!”

"This person is called Du Ziyan. He made a dish called 'Lion Crossing the Mountain' in the preliminary round, and the judges commented on it for a full ten minutes."

"I don't know much about that dish, but it looks very difficult to make."

Ok?
Qin Lang looked surprised.

The judges in the preliminary rounds had very limited time and wouldn't spend much time on any one contestant. Each contestant only had one or two minutes from presenting their dish to leaving the stage, yet they spent ten minutes praising them.

This alone speaks volumes about the quality of the other party's dish.

Besides, this is just a preliminary round. Under normal circumstances, the cooking at this stage shouldn't require the participants to use their best dishes, but rather to bring out some dishes that don't really showcase their skills.

For example, Qin Lang himself chose the most ordinary egg fried rice.

But the contestant named Du Ziyan chose a dish that was very difficult to make.

That basically leaves only two possibilities.

The first scenario involves a very cautious opponent, who uses all their strength even when hunting a rabbit.

The second type is that this "Lion Crossing the Mountain" is far from his limit.

“Du Ziyan…” Yu Zaozao frowned slightly. “This name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?”

She glanced at the comments and, after being reminded by them, showed a look of sudden realization.

"I remembered!"

"You know?" Qin Lang and Cao Dongdong quickly looked at her.

“Of course.” Yu Zaozao nodded seriously. “As you all know, the Tianhua Prefecture Youth Cooking Competition is held every three years.”

"That is to say, there was a cooking competition three years ago as well."

"In that competition three years ago, Du Ziyan, who was only fifteen years old, was far ahead of the competition, and fought his way from the preliminary rounds to the finals."

"In the end, he unfortunately lost to the champion by one vote and became the runner-up in that competition."

"If I remember correctly, the previous champion is now over twenty years old and can no longer participate, but Du Ziyan can."

At this point, Yu Zaozao couldn't help but sigh, "I haven't heard from him since that competition. I never expected him to come."

"But... I remember Du Ziyan having hair, right?"

"That would be terrible." Qin Lang's expression turned serious. "If nothing unexpected happens, the other party has worked hard and diligently studied culinary arts over the past three years."

"If he was this strong with hair, how strong would he be without hair?"

"Hey, hey, hey, your method of judgment is really abstract!" Cao Dongdong couldn't help but complain, then showed a worried expression.

"Qin Lang, can you win against an opponent like this?"

Du Ziyan, who won the runner-up title at the age of 15, is now 18 years old. How strong will she be?
He initially thought the other party was too arrogant, but now it seems that the other party really has the right to be arrogant!

(End of this chapter)