The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 416 What a waste of a fish
"Free arena?"

Upon hearing this, Di You was taken aback. "That's not simple. Normally, any competition between culinary delights would fall into the same category to ensure that the same set of standards could be used to judge who is better."

"Since there are no restrictions in the free arena, the standards for judging the culinary skills of the challenger and the defender become more stringent."

After saying that, Di You scratched his head and suddenly smiled, "But I believe that if you, Qin Lang, go on stage, you will definitely be able to successfully defend your title!"

"I hope so." Qin Lang nodded with a smile, not making any absolute statements. After all, Du Ziyan was also present, and there might be other culinary experts he didn't know participating as well.

"Zhao Qian, what about you?"

“Me?” Zhao Qian shrugged. “I’ve inquired. Each round of the culinary challenge has requirements on the portion sizes of the dishes. In addition to the judges on the stage, ten lucky audience members will be randomly selected for each round to taste the food as well.”

"So, I plan to sit in the audience and see if I can be selected as a lucky audience member to sample the food you guys make."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but smile helplessly.

Those who are family know their own situation; her culinary talent is actually not that high, at least not as high as her fighting talent.

Cao Dongdong at least has desserts that she is good at, but she doesn't seem to be particularly good at anything. Even if she manages to win the challenge with one or two dishes, it will probably be difficult for her to defend her position.

So, it's better to just be a spectator and freeload.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to cheer you on when Du Ziyan faces you," Zhao Qian said with a smile.

Zog and Fatima, standing to the side, nodded in agreement, clearly having decided to remain spectators and not participate.

"Alright." Qin Lang nodded, and was about to say something when he suddenly heard a voice coming from behind them.

"So this is where you are. I've finally found you."

"Sasha?" Di You looked in the direction of the voice and saw Wei Sasha walking towards him with a smile. He was immediately surprised. "Weren't you busy with the Lan Jin Garden matter?"

"Since you're participating in today's culinary competition, of course I'll join in the fun," Wei Shasha said with a smile. "As for the Lan Jinyuan matter, let my dad handle it for now."

"Why, you don't welcome me?"

"How could that be?" Di You shook his head, both amused and exasperated.

Although it had only been a day since they last met, he felt somewhat guilty upon seeing Wei Shasha again because he had helped Qin Lang and the others investigate the truth behind the legend.

"The arena battles have already begun, let's hurry to our chosen arenas," Qin Lang suddenly spoke up, coming to Di You's rescue.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Di You nodded emphatically. "Sasha, you've come at the perfect time, just in time to cheer me on!"

"Dream on." Wei Shasha rolled her eyes, but followed Di You toward the fish delicacy arena.

"Let's take action too." Qin Lang patted Cao Dongdong on the shoulder. "Keep it up!"

After saying that, he led the two Food Spirits straight toward the Free Arena.

Each arena is divided into two enclosed standard cooking units and a judging panel. The challenger and the defender must complete their cooking within half an hour and then submit their dishes to the judges for evaluation.

The winner will ultimately be determined by a vote of the judges.

As the only one of the twelve arenas that does not restrict themes, the Free Arena has received the most attention from the very beginning.

By the time Qin Lang reached the bottom of the arena, the two standard cooking sessions on the arena had already entered the thirty-minute countdown.

The first ring duel has begun.

The winner of this round will become the temporary champion of the free arena, awaiting challenges from other challengers. After glancing around, Qin Lang's gaze fell on the judges' panel.

Five judges sat on the judging panel. The youngest looked to be about thirty years old, while the oldest had white hair.

However, those who were appointed as judges for this culinary competition by the Royal Chef Association must have real talent and skills.

As Qin Lang observed his surroundings, the audience around him were whispering among themselves about the ongoing ringmaster battle.

From them, Qin Lang quickly learned the identities of the two competitors. One of them was named Wang Man, who was said to have won fourth place in the previous Mingjing Prefecture Youth Cooking Competition.

The other is Yang Hua, a young spirit chef who is quite well-known in Lanqiu City.

Judging solely from seniority, the former seems to have a better chance of winning.

Just before the cooking time ended, the two emerged from the cooking unit almost simultaneously, pushing food carts filled with prepared dishes.

"Both chefs have finished cooking at the same time!" the host announced loudly. "Now, please welcome the audience members with numbers 11, 24, 31... to the stage. Congratulations on being selected as the lucky audience members for this round!"

"Lucky viewers may not have the right to vote, but they can still enjoy the dishes prepared by the two chefs!"

As soon as he finished speaking, cheers erupted from below. Ten audience members who had drawn numbers excitedly went on stage, waiting to taste the food.

Meanwhile, the staff quickly presented Wang Man and Yang Hua's dishes to the five judges and displayed them simultaneously on the big screen.

The first dish presented was Wang Man's.

The dish he cooked was a fish dish. In the milky white fish soup, a piece of fish cut into the shape of a flower floated quietly, and it was garnished with some scallions and pickled radish shreds.

"White Jade Fish Soup, please try it." Wang Man's face was full of confidence as he casually gestured for the judges to taste it, without even glancing at Yang Hua standing to the side.

Next up were Yang Hua's dishes.

It was a stir-fry dish, with tender green and white chives cut into finger-length pieces, and nothing else.

"The dish I made is stir-fried chives," Yang Hua said calmly.

Upon hearing their words and seeing the comparison between their dishes, the audience below the stage immediately began to whisper among themselves.

A simple plate of stir-fried chives is something even non-spirit chefs could easily make. How could it possibly compare to another dish that looks quite difficult?
Only Qin Lang and a few other discerning individuals glanced at Yang Hua, who seemed rather taciturn, with some surprise after seeing the two dishes.

If I'm not mistaken, he should be the winner of this match.

"I choose Yang Hua."

One of the judges, who had finished tasting the food, spoke first.

Next came the second, third, and fourth.

The crowd erupted in uproar, and Wang Man, who had been quite smug before, suddenly became serious.

He was fourth place in the previous Mingjing State Youth Cooking Competition, how could he easily lose to an unknown guy?
"How can it be?!"

He couldn't help but exclaim, "Why did you all vote for Yang Hua? Is his stir-fried chives really that delicious?"

"How dare you ask?" The last to speak was the white-haired old man. He glared at Wang Man before speaking.

"You've cooked this fish like this, what a waste of a fish!"

(End of this chapter)