The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 479 Cooking Competition

"A cooking competition featuring string music?"

Qin Lang took the flyer and couldn't help but read it aloud.

"Yes, yes, that's it!" The old lady next to her patted her head, her tone suddenly becoming more excited, "I remember now!"

"Thank you for your help, Grandma," Qin Lang said gratefully.

"It's nothing, it's nothing!"

Just as the second square dance began, the old lady waved with a smile and returned to the group to dance with her companions.

As for the very hard-of-hearing old man, he stared intently at the movements of the others, and then awkwardly imitated their movements.

Turning his gaze away from the elderly people, Qin Lang turned to Cao Dongdong, who was handing him the flyer, and asked, "Where did you get this flyer from?"

"I picked it up from the ground," Cao Dongdong said casually, pointing.

Following the direction he pointed, Qin Lang indeed saw some flyers scattered on the ground, exactly the same as the ones in his hand.

"Let me see." Zhao Qian leaned closer with some curiosity, then quickly showed a surprised expression. "Is it a cooking competition organized by a non-governmental organization?"

“Yes.” Qin Lang nodded. “Generally speaking, competitions are organized or co-organized by associations. There aren’t many cooking competitions organized purely by non-governmental organizations because the rankings don’t have much prestige.”

"Besides that, there are some unusual things to note from the competition introduction." Qin Lang paused slightly as he spoke, "The competition format for this cooking demonstration is very well organized, and the prize money for the winner is as high as five million."

"All of this proves that this is a high-level event."

"But for such a competition, the entire process, from the preliminary rounds to the selection of the winner, has been compressed into a single day today."

“It is indeed illogical.” Zhao Qian nodded in deep agreement. “In a typical competition, there are several days between each round, during which time the advancing players are constantly warmed up to increase the discussion and attention of the competition.”

"Completing the entire competition in one day looks like handing money to the winner."

"It's unlikely to be a case of giving money away; the organizers must have other intentions, which is why they held the event." Qin Lang frowned and pondered.

"During the time when Zhenling appeared at String Sound Square, an unusual fireworks display took place there. The official explanation for this unusual fireworks display was that it was a warm-up for an unusual event..."

"Something about this looks very wrong."

"Why don't we participate in this cooking competition too?" Cao Dongdong said casually. "There's still an hour before the competition starts, and registration won't close until then."

"So we can still register now."

Instead of making wild guesses here, why not just participate in the competition? Maybe after winning, we'll know what the other side's purpose is?

Upon hearing this, Qin Lang and Zhao Qian exchanged a glance.

That makes sense!

Instead of guessing so much, why not just enter the competition!
"Alright, let's all participate together."

Qin Lang glanced at the registration address on the flyer and pointed to a competition stage that had already been set up on the other side of the square.

"Register over there."
-
"Ha~"

On the rooftop of a house not far from String Sound Square, Liu Chuang yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"I'm so sleepy..."

"Qin Lang actually set off so early."

"If it weren't for Xiao Pi secretly keeping an eye on us, we would have almost been shaken off by them." Liu Chuang couldn't help but let out a soft snort as he said this.

“If Qin Lang takes the rare spirit away when we’re not paying attention, we’ll be at a huge loss.” “Don’t worry.” Lomi sat cross-legged on the roof, resting her chin on her hand, and waved her hand dismissively. “Xianyu Market is only so big. The probability of finding two unclaimed rare spirits is extremely small.”

"If nothing unexpected happens, the rare spirit that Qin Lang is looking for is the one that those guys at the base were secretly looking for behind our backs a couple of days ago."

"Those guys at the base may be annoying, but their strength is undeniable. How could Qin Lang possibly capture a rare spirit that they haven't been able to catch in just a few days?"

"He went to two places yesterday, but he didn't find anything."

“You have a point.” Liu Chuang stroked his chin. “Speaking of which, the beach Qin Lang went to yesterday seemed a little familiar to me?”

"If I remember correctly, Meng Yan's team got into a fight with another team a few days ago, I think it was around there?"

"Mmm." Lomi rested her chin on her hand and nodded.

"Qin Lang should have some clues about Zhen Ling. The fact that he was able to find that place means that it has some connection with Zhen Ling."

"It seems that the fight between those two teams wasn't a simple conflict, but rather a fight over the rare spirit, and neither of them managed to capture it." At this point, Lomi grinned with a hint of schadenfreude.

"Let them fight like dogs, they deserve it!"

“That’s right, they didn’t catch them, so it’s our turn to benefit.” Liu Chuang grinned. “I have a feeling that as long as we continue to follow Qin Lang, we will definitely make new gains.”

"Alright, keep watching." Lomi waved her hand and tossed Liu Chuang a bag of food. "Here, breakfast."

"It smells so good..." Liu Chuang sniffed, grabbed the bag with one hand and wolfed it down without any hesitation, while picking up the binoculars with the other hand and looking towards the direction of String Sound Square.

"Pfft...cough cough cough..."

"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you." Lomi rolled her eyes and casually handed over a bottle of water.

But Liu Chuang didn't answer. He kept coughing and pointed exaggeratedly in the direction of the square, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Let me see." Lomi shoved the water into Liu Chuang's hand, then snatched the binoculars from him and looked at the square.

Immediately afterwards, she couldn't help but let out a gasp.

"I go!"

"Why did Qin Lang and the others go there?"

"I...I don't know." Liu Chuang took a big gulp of water to catch his breath. "When I saw them earlier, they were talking to those old people who were dancing."

"Who knew that he would turn around and actually go to participate in the competition?" At this point, Liu Chuang's expression suddenly became strange.

If I remember correctly, this match should be...

“Yes, you’re not mistaken.” Lomi nodded with a similarly strange expression.

The two looked at each other and then sighed simultaneously.

"What should we do now?" Liu Chuang scratched his head in frustration. "We can't just stand up and tell him not to go, can we?"

"Besides, even if we remind him, he won't listen!"

"Now, all we can do is pray that this guy didn't use any rare ingredients during the competition," Lomi said quietly.

"If he actually used it, and then got targeted..."

"Let alone whether we can follow him to catch that escaped rare spirit, we're afraid we won't even be able to complete our own mission."

(End of this chapter)