The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 510 Identity exposed?
"And then, that guy called Brother Long just abandoned you?"

Upon hearing Qin Lang's report, Lin Ping, from the Public Security Management Office, frowned deeply.

"Yes." Qin Lang nodded. "He said that Meng Chang would contact me in the next day or two, and that he would be in charge of my next assessment."

“This time, I should be able to meet Meng Chang.” As he said this, Qin Lang’s face showed a hint of anticipation. “There is hope that we can find out the location of the base.”

"It's not that simple." Lin Ping shook his head. "The other party didn't say how many assessments would be required, which clearly indicates they intend to keep dragging it out."

"Given the current situation, the probability of the Rare Treasure Hunting Team accepting a new member at this time is extremely low. They will most likely wait until the base relocation is completed and things have stabilized before accepting you as a new member."

"After all, this way, the other party can use the guise of assessment to get you to do many things that they cannot do at this stage."

“This…” Qin Lang frowned upon hearing this. “Wouldn’t I be doing their work for free?”

"Not really." Lin Ping shook his head. "Through your contact with the other party, we can also deduce some information about them."

"For example, according to what you said before, Meng Chang should be the main person in charge of that base, while the person called Brother Long has a lower status."

"The other party did not show up in person at first, most likely because the situation was urgent and they needed to stay at the base to take charge, and did not have the energy to deal with you."

"After Brother Long saw that information and confirmed that the base was temporarily safe, he immediately sent Meng Chang to contact you."

"This proves that the information was useful."

"The other side did indeed lower their guard slightly as a result."

"And this bought us more time."

"In addition..." Lin Ping paused slightly, "it's not entirely impossible to quickly locate the base."

"Is there any way?" Qin Lang couldn't help but ask.

"Put on a show." Lin Ping smiled. "The security management team will work with you from the inside to put the other side in a situation where they have no choice but to take you back to the base."

"As for how to put on this show..." Lin Ping paused, "I haven't thought about it yet. I need to wait until Meng Chang contacts you before I can decide."

Qin Lang nodded thoughtfully.

Just then, a sudden ringing broke the silence of the office.

All eyes turned to Qin Lang's waist, and Qin Lang's expression quickly became tense.

The phone rang at that moment…

He glanced at the caller ID, and sure enough, it was Meng Chang!
"Put it on speakerphone and keep quiet!" Lin Ping said in a low voice, then gestured for Qin Lang to answer the phone.

Qin Lang took a deep breath and pressed the call button to connect and put the phone on speakerphone.

The next second, Meng Chang's laughter came from the other end of the phone, "Qin Lang, as expected of the young man I recognize, you have completed Long Yu's assessment so quickly."

"Brother Long's test was indeed very difficult; I barely managed to complete it," Qin Lang quickly said. "Mr. Mengchang, what will my second test be?"

"No rush." ​​Meng Chang smiled, then changed the subject, "Qin Lang, you've been hiding quite a few things from me!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Lang's heart clenched, and the expressions of everyone else in the office also turned serious.

Has it been exposed?
Has Meng Chang already seen through Qin Lang's intentions?

Everyone began to wonder where things had gone wrong. Qin Lang, his face tense, cautiously asked, "Mr. Mengchang, is there something I'm hiding from you?"

"Don't you have any?" Meng Chang retorted. "If I hadn't investigated, I wouldn't have known you were the champion of the Tianhua Prefecture Youth Cooking Competition!"

Upon hearing this, a soft sigh of relief filled the office.

This gave everyone quite a shock; so that's what it was all about!
Qin Lang's expression relaxed, and he smiled as he spoke, "Mr. Mengchang, you misunderstand. I am not someone who likes to constantly talk about past achievements. Besides, this is not Tianhua Prefecture, but Mingjing Prefecture."

"I thought not many people would know about that match."

“I understand, I understand,” Meng Chang said with a smile. “However, after watching your cooking process in the cooking competition, I noticed something very interesting. It seems that you… had been exposed to rare ingredients before?”

Qin Lang's heart was like a roller coaster, soaring to the clouds, only to sink again.

Oh no, he forgot about that!
In the final showdown between myself and Du Ziyan, I used premium ingredients, specifically premium chicken and premium rice!

The match recordings are publicly available and can be downloaded and viewed on the official website.

During the process of being recruited by Meng Chang, I showed a strong desire for rare ingredients. But now that he has discovered that I have been in contact with rare ingredients, will he become suspicious of me because of this?
Thinking of this, Qin Lang had a sudden inspiration and quickly said, "Mr. Mengchang is indeed very perceptive. I did use rare ingredients before, but it is not appropriate to publicize such things. I am worried that other spirit chefs will covet them."

"The reason I want to join the mutual aid organization is because I have too few kinds of rare ingredients, so I need to exchange them with others."

"I genuinely want to join a mutual aid organization!"

The other person was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I can feel your determination."

“I can understand the matter of concealing rare ingredients.” Meng Chang paused slightly at this point, “However, since we’ve brought this up, I have something I’m quite curious about.”

"Did you control the rare spirits, or did you control the acquisition channels for rare ingredients through other means?"

Qin Lang was taken aback when he heard the question.

He was unsure how to answer.

At that moment, Lin Ping quickly wrote the four words "a precious spirit" on a piece of paper and waved it in front of Qin Lang.

With Lin Ping's prompting, Qin Lang quickly spoke up, "I control a rare spirit that can obtain chicken ingredients. As for the rare rice used in the previous competition, it was obtained by exchanging it with another friend."

"I see." Meng Chang said with a smile, "Now that our chat is over, we can start talking about your upcoming assessment."

"I have sent you the time and address for the assessment."

"See you then."

After saying that, Meng Chang hung up the phone.

Meanwhile, at the hunting team's base, Meng Chang excitedly waved his arm, "Just as I expected!"

He had felt that the name Qin Lang sounded familiar before. After Qin Lang passed Long Yu's test, he investigated carefully and found that Qin Lang was the champion of the Tianhua Prefecture Youth Cooking Competition and had been listed as a target by the organization.

After some probing, the other party indeed acknowledged the existence of Zhenling.

"Qin Lang, Qin Lang, you're destined to be with our treasure hunting team!"

(End of this chapter)