The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 548 The Smile Gradually Disappears
Although squirrel mandarin fish is generally cooked with mandarin fish, through long-term evolution and improvement, many other fish besides mandarin fish can also be used to make this dish.

It's just that it won't be called squirrel mandarin fish anymore, but squirrel fish.

Grass carp can also be used to make squirrel fish, satisfying the craving for sweet flavors.

Therefore, the other party's request for this dish was practically a freebie for Qin Lang.

Qin Lang deftly prepared a squirrel-shaped fish dish using grass carp, and presented it to the third diner, who was eagerly awaiting its arrival.

"Please enjoy."

"Great!" The third diner was overjoyed and carried the dish to the dining area. He hadn't tasted it yet, but it looked so festive that it whetted his appetite and made him want to take a bite right away.

But before he could even pick up his chopsticks, two figures had already sat down on either side of him. They were a middle-aged man with glasses who was already incredibly hot and a beautiful young woman.

"Handsome, how about we take turns trying it?" The middle-aged man with glasses pointed to the unfinished black duck stew. "This is my black duck stew."

"Me too!" the girl said with a grin. "I also have some fish scale jelly later. If you let me try your dishes, I'll share some with you later."

Upon hearing this, the third diner was immediately intrigued. He glanced at the equally appetizing black duck hot pot and pushed the squirrel fish forward.

"make a deal."

Soon, exclamations of praise rose and fell among the three.

"I was just about to be overwhelmed by the spiciness of the braised duck, so this sweet squirrel fish is just the right thing to do!" The middle-aged man with glasses laughed heartily, finally no longer sweating from the spiciness.

"I never expected that sweet fish could be so delicious." The third diner exclaimed in amazement, then picked up a piece of black duck and put it in his mouth. "The taste of this black duck is also very strange. It tastes sweet, but the aftertaste is very spicy."

"I think this chef's dishes are all delicious, and he easily satisfied all three of our demanding requests," the pretty young woman suddenly said. "That shows his culinary skills are quite remarkable!"

"How about we specifically target his customers and then share the food with each other?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man with glasses and the third diner exchanged a glance.

It sounds... kind of interesting.
-
"We've found Qin Lang's location."

In a quiet corner of the square, Liu Chuang, after disguising himself, spotted Qin Lang's familiar figure in the distance and quickly looked at Luo Mi beside him.

"Didn't you say you had prepared a surprise for him?"

"What should we do next?"

"What's the rush?" Lomi calmly finished her food. "Fill your stomach first. Opportunities to eat delicious food for free like this don't come often."

As she spoke, she let out a burp and placed the bowl on the table.

"The chef's cooking skills were just so-so."

"You're eating so heartily even though it's so-so?" Liu Chuang muttered under his breath.

"What do you know? Wasting food is shameful!" Lomi glared at Liu Chuang, then wiped her mouth and stood up. "Alright, let's get started."

Liu Chuang immediately stopped worrying about the chef's skills and showed an excited expression, "Tell me, what do you want to make?"

“I am ready…”

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Chuang saw Luo Mi take out a stack of papers with printed text on them, and he swallowed the words he was about to say. "What's this?"

"Kukuku~" Lomi revealed a smug smile, "These are 108 difficult problems that have stumped chefs, personally compiled by this genius beauty."

"No one in this world could possibly pass all 108 challenges completely. If we distributed these challenges..."

“Then the elimination rate for this food marathon will increase significantly,” Liu Chuang began, but then looked puzzled. “But what does this have to do with Qin Lang?”

“Of course it’s related.” Lomi put her hands on her hips. “As far as I know, the third event of the food festival should still be in preparation.”

"After all, based on previous years, the food marathon alone can last for about half a month, giving them plenty of time to prepare for the next part."

"If the food marathon ends early, the preparation for the third event will have to be accelerated, and the association will not have enough manpower to do other things."

At this point, Lomi paused slightly.

"This will make us safer and allow us to do things that we couldn't do openly in the past."

“For example…” she clenched her fist tightly, “…grab Qin Lang’s precious spirit!”

Liu Chuang's eyes lit up, and he gave Luo Mi a thumbs up, "Great job!"

"I never imagined your preparations had such a profound meaning."

"I thought you just disliked Qin Lang and wanted to make things difficult for him..."

"How is that possible!" Lomi jumped up and slapped Liu Chuang on the forehead. "Foolish...foolish junior, you could never understand your senior's plan!"

“Let’s go, we’ll distribute these problems now.” Lomi took out a doll headgear, put it on, and said, “Let’s go!”
-
Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Qin Lang took out the fish scale jelly, which had been boiled for an hour, filtered, and then refrigerated for two hours to set. It had turned into a transparent white jelly.

After cutting it into small pieces, season it with millet peppers, soy sauce, salt, sesame oil, and vinegar. A fresh, fragrant, and smooth cold dish is ready.

"The fish scale jelly is ready."

"Yay! My fish scale jelly has finally arrived!"

The beautiful young woman, who had been waiting for three hours, excitedly approached, eagerly scooped up a piece and put it in her mouth. She savored the salty, fresh, sour, and spicy flavors, praising it while feeling a little reluctant to leave, before heading towards the crowd not far away.

She ate and drank at the fish scale jelly stall and got to try different dishes from other diners. Now it's time for her to pay off her debts.

Seeing everyone enthusiastically sharing the fish scale jelly, Qin Lang smiled wryly.

He had noticed long ago that the diners who had tasted his dishes hadn't gone far, but were secretly gathering together. Qin Lang only needed to observe them for a moment before he could guess what they were up to.

Therefore, he intentionally increased the portion sizes of the dishes he cooked for diners afterwards.

At least, so that each of these diners can have a taste.

"We just served ten customers." Qin Lang glanced at the reception record, then looked at the next customer who came forward. "What dishes would you like?"

"Let me think about it..." The young man who stepped forward said he would think about it, but he took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and slowly unfolded it.

Did they come prepared?
Glancing at the densely packed small characters on the paper out of the corner of his eye, Qin Lang couldn't help but chuckle.

Soon, the young man seemed to have an idea.

"I want a dish cooked with watermelon!"

Qin Lang: “?”

The smile faded.

(End of this chapter)