Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 100 Trapped in the Paradox of Exam Questions, Qian Youdao's [Milk Balls] (4K Bonus Chapter)

"fish?"

Xia Ming narrowed his eyes as he watched the dozen or so competitors gradually disperse.

Literally speaking, Mr. Deng's test questions were not difficult, and were even somewhat simple, as they did not specify the type of cooking or the style of the cuisine.

According to the girl's description, she had been staking out the spot for five days, but failed every day.

In five days, only two people successfully entered the hospital; the rest failed.

Xia Ming certainly wouldn't just believe the girl's side of the story, so he decided to observe for himself.

"Anyway, there's no set time, so it'll probably continue until evening."

There's no quota listed here, so to some extent, it means anyone who meets the requirements can participate.

So instead of rushing to choose fish, he went around to a nearby supermarket, bought some food and a few bottles of water, and then sat down in the shed next to the courtyard.

The other competitors also gave Xia Ming a few disdainful looks when they saw his nonchalant attitude.

"This guy doesn't think he'll get anything by knocking on the door after we leave, does he?!"

"Although I admit that the rule is very strict, Ms. Deng is very disciplined. All the tastings were conducted outside, which is absolutely fair."

"But this woman's diet is too bland. Even the monks at the temple know to add more salt so they have more energy!"

“It’s different. She’s worried about Grandpa Deng. He’s already in his eighties and his health is not what it used to be. The doctor must have told him to eat a light diet. Otherwise, how could a normal girl not be able to eat anything strong?”

"I don't know about other places, but it's hard to say about Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Some places there are really not spicy at all."

"Never mind, I'm going to get through this door today!"

Just as the competitors had all left, a figure heavily wrapped up by a burly man suddenly walked towards the entrance.

Xia Ming raised an eyebrow and saw a young man and a young woman standing among a group of burly men wearing black sunglasses.

The man is handsome, and the woman looks gentle. Their faces and eyes are somewhat similar, so they are probably siblings.

At this moment, the boy seemed a little dissatisfied with his group of bodyguards.

"Seriously, do you guys even have brains? Surrounding me like this, are you afraid people won't realize I'm the young master?!"

Upon seeing this, the bodyguard captain quickly replied.

"Young Master Qian, this is the master's order. He originally said you shouldn't come in person, but you insisted on coming!"

The boys were speechless.
"It's my business if I come here, it's none of your business! Get out of here, just leave the three strongest behind me to guard, the rest of you squat on the side."

"What era are we living in? It's like we're back in Kowloon City. This is the mainland, who would recognize me here! You idiot!"

After hearing what the boy said, the bodyguard was in a dilemma, and in the end, it was the girl next to him who spoke up.

"Let's listen to the wise one and retreat first."

The bodyguard captain nodded quickly when he heard the girl speak.

"Okay, miss, we'll disperse now."

As he spoke, he had a group of bodyguards stand in a row, then selected three of them and told the others to disperse to the side.

Qian Youdao's expression softened slightly upon seeing this scene.

"Sis, it's only when you speak that things really matter!"

Qian Yourong nodded.

"Alright, the gate is over there, remember to be polite~"

"Don't worry, do you think I don't understand such basic principles?"

As he spoke, Qian Youdao straightened his clothes, then took out a letter from his pocket, walked to the gate of the courtyard, and knocked on the door a few times very politely.

"Hello, is this Mr. Deng's house? An old friend has come to visit, please allow me to see you."

After a while, the gate to the courtyard opened a crack, and the girl Xia Ming had seen before peeked through the crack at the two siblings, "Qian Youdao" and "Qian Yourong," standing at the gate.

"Whose old acquaintances are you?"

Qian Youdao's eyes lit up slightly when he saw the girl's appearance, and he became even more polite.

"In the Tai District, the Qian family, Miss must be Mr. Deng's granddaughter, Deng Fangqing."

The girl glanced at "Qian Youdao" twice, then nodded.

"That's right, I am Deng Fangqing. Since you claim to be from the Qian family, do you have any proof?"

"Qian Youdao" smiled and handed over the envelope. Deng Fangqing touched it a couple of times and pulled out a bank card with numbers written on it.

"What do you mean?"

"Qian Youdao" chuckled.

"This is just a small gift, nothing more."

Seeing this, Deng Fangqing shook her head, then took the paper out of the box, threw the envelope and card back at "Qian Youdao", and closed the door.

"If you're a true friend, you'll naturally be allowed in. Don't try to take shortcuts!"

Looking at this scene, "Qian Youdao" scratched his head.

"Sis, there really are freebies available!"

Qian Yourong didn't say anything, but she knew in her heart that her younger brother was too well protected by the family, and most of the time he still used the "splurging money" approach.

Ordinary people might give him some face because of the money, but this trick won't work if he encounters someone who doesn't lack money.

However, since her trip to the mainland was for training purposes, even though she knew it might not be a good idea, she didn't say anything to remind him, just to teach him a lesson.

Seeing that his sister didn't speak, Qian Youdao simply smiled and waited quietly.

Not long after, the courtyard gate was opened again, and Deng Fangqing returned the letter to Qian Youdao.

"Grandpa said you can't just walk in; you have to follow the rules!"

Qian Youdao was taken aback.
Rules? What rules?
Deng Fangqing pointed to the letter.

"I've put the rules in the letter. Bring food next time."

After saying that, she slammed the door shut.

Qian Youdao looked at the letter in his hand, then opened it with a puzzled expression, and found that there was indeed an extra piece of paper inside.

After glancing at it a few times, a hint of amusement suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"Interesting. Is this kind of thing still popular in mainland China? An entrance exam? I don't think I'm afraid of that!"

As he spoke, he glanced at the character "fish" on the wall, then turned around and confidently led the others away.

Xia Ming watched his departing figure for a moment, then went to the door and knocked. After about ten seconds, Deng Fangqing opened the door somewhat impatiently.

"What is it now? Hmm, is there something you need?"

Seeing that it wasn't Qian Youdao at the door, she quickly changed her tone.

Xia Ming glanced at Deng Fangqing and found that she was the kind of standard Chinese beauty he remembered: an oval face, crescent-shaped eyebrows, gentle eyes with slightly upturned corners, small and rosy lips, and Hanfu that was not clearly of any particular style, but rather some kind of fusion design.

At this moment, her eyes still held a trace of lingering irritation and anger.

After glancing around briefly, Xia Ming said that he had been introduced by "Xie Tingfeng," but as he expected, the name Xie Tingfeng clearly didn't carry much weight in this small courtyard.

So he settled for second best and asked Deng Fangqing for a copy of the rules.

As the courtyard gate closed again, Xia Ming glanced at the rules from the nearby carport.

It was almost exactly the same as what the girl described earlier, and she even talked about it a bit more than what was mentioned above.

After fully understanding the situation, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Based on these requirements, this question isn't difficult."

Judging from Xie Tingfeng's description, Mr. Deng is over 80 years old and still engaged in physical labor such as "forging" in Sichuan and Chongqing, so his tastes must have been very strong when he was young.

Based on the average person's physique, as people age, their sense of taste almost always deteriorates.

Therefore, Mr. Deng's requirements for the taste of food must be much stronger than those of ordinary people.

However, this contradicted the doctor's orders, and Deng Fangqing herself preferred light food, so the two had completely different tastes.

But there are actually other possibilities in this matter; at least six or seven solutions came to Xia Ming's mind.

The problem is that if only one or two people are trying to get in but fail, he can think that the competitors are too stupid.

But there were more than a dozen people standing at the door before, and judging from their familiar manner, they had probably been there for more than a day.

Those who unjustly assume others are fools are often the fools themselves.

"Therefore, the summary above is probably just the surface of the exam questions; the actual assessment should be much more difficult than this!"

Since it's only morning, Xia Ming has plenty of time to gather clues; being impatient is not his habit.

Xia Ming stayed at the entrance until about 11 o'clock, when he saw Deng Fangqing ask the workers in the courtyard to set up a fenced area for queuing.

Near the courtyard, a large sunshade was erected. The sunshade was open on all four sides, and a table was placed in the center. On the table were many ancient books. Deng Fangqing sat at the table, reading the ancient books while enjoying the breeze from the fan, waiting for the young chefs to come and serve the dishes.

Judging from her relaxed and carefree demeanor, an unsuspecting passerby would most likely think Deng Fangqing was holding a book signing event.
Just as she finished setting up the table, Xia Ming's nose twitched slightly.

He smelled a salty, savory, and sweet aroma, and turned his head to see a young man confidently bringing over a bowl of fish soup.

After walking through the somewhat winding queue area at the entrance, he placed the food in front of Deng Fangqing.

"This is my family's special tofu and fish stew, Miss Deng, please try it~"

Deng Fangqing looked at the fish, picked up a soup spoon, took two sips of fish soup, ate a piece of fish, and then shook her head.

"It's too salty, Grandpa can't eat something this salty."

The young man was clearly a first-timer and was somewhat anxious. He argued that his dish wasn't salty at all and was just to a normal person's taste, but Deng Fangqing seemed used to this kind of situation and didn't say much, simply having him sent away.

Xia Ming nodded upon seeing this scene; at least from the current situation, it was not different from what he had expected.

Not long after the boy left, two girls arrived.

The first girl made a clear fish soup, and the taste clearly met Deng Fangqing's requirements. After carefully turning the fish and fish soup over a few times, Deng Fangqing asked someone to change the plate.

Seeing this, the girl's expression became somewhat unnatural, and she looked a little flustered holding the returned plate.

Sure enough, the fish was brought out shortly afterward, with the explanation that Old Master Deng didn't like it.

Xia Ming naturally understood what the girl was doing.

"The plate is specially made with inconspicuous holes at the bottom. First, concentrated chili oil is poured into it, and then the holes are sealed with glutinous rice paper."

"As the fish soup heats up, the glutinous rice paper gradually melts, allowing for a two-layer seasoning process, from light to salty, achieving a subtle transformation."

A similar technique is the "bottom salt" that Xia Ming used before. Essentially, the core of both methods is to create a time difference and change the taste of the dish under natural conditions.

It was obvious that Deng Fangqing had learned her lesson in this matter, so she immediately had the plate replaced.

No matter what kind of utensil it is, or how ingenious its design, simply changing the plate can completely destroy it.

In contrast, the second girl's dish was simple and straightforward.

She brought over a dish of spicy-looking Mao Xue Wang (a Sichuan dish), while repeatedly saying that it wasn't spicy at all and that she wanted Deng Fangqing to try it.

Faced with this situation, Deng Fangqing didn't listen to her at all and directly judged the dish to be substandard.

The girl argued a few words after seeing this comment, but ultimately turned and left.

However, Xia Ming noticed that the boy behind her in line looked rather grim.
Xia Ming sniffed the air and, after noticing the fishy smell in the boy's bowl, snorted.

"Such a trick? But the problem is, they're not deliberately lowering the standards for Mr. Deng because they eat spicy food; they simply don't eat spicy food at all!"

"Even if you're going to cooperate and set a trap, others have to be willing to fall into it. After all, Deng Fangqing is just giving her personal perspective; she's not a food critic who has to take a bite before she can give her opinion."

That's right, this girl must have been a plant hired by the boy later, who wanted to suppress Deng Fangqing's sense of taste with the extremely spicy Maoxuewang (a Sichuan dish), causing her to experience a taste deviation.

Then, by taking advantage of the queue, they try to get away with the saltier dishes.

Now that his strategy is flawed, he naturally cannot pass it.
After the boy was the girl who had talked to Xia Ming before; this time she made honey-glazed fish.

The intense sweetness of the honey made Deng Fangqing feel a little numb. She picked at the honey with her chopsticks, and without even tasting it, she was carried away.

Xia Ming raised an eyebrow.

"So, it must be a condition like diabetes that prevents the intake of too much sugar."

"Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty—only sour and bitter remain."

Just then, another boy came over and brought over sour fish soup. The soup was clear and bright with a lingering sour taste. Deng Fangqing looked a little intoxicated, which showed that the boy had indeed prepared the soup very well.

Even after the food was brought into the courtyard, Grandpa Deng inside was still not satisfied.

Xia Ming thought about it for a moment and concluded that Old Master Deng probably just didn't like sour food.
Then another person came to make bitter fish, which completely stunned Deng Fangqing, and she spat it out as soon as she put it in her mouth.

Xia Ming smiled when he saw this.

"The old man is really single-minded; he just wants something salty and spicy. Deng Fangqing also prefers a light taste and doesn't like bitter foods. With all these factors combined, it's indeed a bit tricky."

Just then, a figure that Xia Ming found somewhat familiar appeared at the intersection.

Qian Youdao approached Deng Fangqing with an exquisite lunchbox in his hand and took out a plate of snow-white fish balls from it.

"Ms. Deng Fangqing, these are our district's specialty, milkfish balls. Please enjoy!"

(End of this chapter)