Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 140 Kindness breeds greed and avoids trouble; two clowns on the scene! (Unranked, first update of 3K)
As the warm, smooth fish soup entered their throats, the judges' expressions changed drastically.

Compared to others, they understand their own situation better.
Except for the judge on the far left, who was slightly better off, the other judges all had "mild burns" on their tongues at this moment.

Just like someone suddenly drinking boiling water or a mouthful of hot porridge, this level of burn can heal on its own within 1 to 2 days without any aftereffects.

But at this moment, their senses were collectively weakened, and the fish soup, which was originally perfectly seasoned, now tasted rather bland to them.

They were well aware that this was due to Xia Ming's "imitation abalone".
However, none of them could pin the blame on Xia Ming.

According to the rules, when serving dishes, contestants should minimize their actions, except for necessary operations related to cooking.

Furthermore, contestants are not allowed to proactively communicate with the judges, try to build relationships, or actively introduce their dishes verbally.
Similarly, no matter how delicious the food is, the judges cannot comment, disturb the other contestants, or whisper to each other and influence the other judges' judgment.
These rules were originally established by the competition organizers to ensure fairness.

Xia Ming followed this rule perfectly; aside from showcasing the dishes, he didn't make any unnecessary gestures towards the judges.

As for the burns, it can only be attributed to the judges' misjudgment of the dish, and more to the judges' carelessness.

To say that Xia Ming deliberately used a sauce at the right temperature to cover up the fish soup filling hidden in the fish meat, and that he had a subjective intention to make the judges' tongues burn, is untenable.

After all, no one says that soup dumplings have to be dipped in hot vinegar.
At this moment, all five judges were caught in a dilemma. In a normal competition, they would most likely have communicated with the organizers to try to replace some judges.

However, this is a nationwide live broadcast. If you replace the judge at this moment on the grounds that "the judge's tasting ability has declined due to personal reasons," it will bring another problem.

How can we ensure that the five new judges adhere to the same standards as the previous judges? Will this affect the scores of other contestants?

It's important to understand that judges have their own personal biases, which is part of the exam questions. In such cases, it's necessary to change judges, especially when the previous judge's score happens to be the highest.

Even if it passes the review, netizens will still have objections to the result.

The five judges were now in a dilemma. Giving a score directly wouldn't be very accurate, and replacing the judge would have a negative impact.
Xia Ming, who witnessed this scene, smiled slightly from below the stage.

"Whether it's a human or a demon, they all seek profit and avoid disaster. When faced with a problem they can't solve, they'll consider the gains and losses."

"Now that we've reached this stage of the competition, Qian Youdao is the last contestant. Will he sacrifice some of his own reputation to uphold absolute fairness, or will he prioritize his own safety while offering some appropriate compensation to the contestant?"

"I believe most people will make their own judgments."

Xia Ming was certain that the judges wouldn't dare to restart the competition because some contestants had gone to compete in other categories. If the competition were restarted, it would affect more than just one venue.
In a live broadcast, this could be considered an accident.
It was obvious that the judges weren't stupid; after considering all the options, the four judges who were more seriously injured began to observe.

Seeing that the person sitting on the far left wasn't looking around but was lost in thought, they seemed to understand something.

Compared to the judges who have basically lost their ability to judge, the judge on the far left should be in a slightly better situation.

At this moment, the judge who was in slightly better condition became the key to the score.

The judge on the far left felt the gazes of the other judges and became even more conflicted.

He could tell the soup was very well made, but the problem was that even if he could imagine what the soup would taste like with a stronger flavor, he couldn't visualize the layers of flavor.

Flavor profile is called "layers" precisely because several flavor sensations can be clearly perceived in batches, and the quality of the combination directly determines whether the layers are excellent.

Like music, flavor profiles have fixed patterns to follow, but also wildly imaginative creations.

What sets some dishes apart from others of the same type is their creativity!

Creativity, of course, is beyond imagination. After all, the judges aren't mind readers; how could they know where the contestants were focusing their efforts?
Therefore, under these circumstances, the judge had no choice but to set aside the flavor profile and make a comprehensive judgment on the dish from other perspectives.

From this perspective, no matter how much skill is required to make "fish soup", it will never be as impactful as Xia Ming's imitation abalone!
His score could only be lower than Xia Ming's.
As for comparing Shuai Qixing and Shuai Qixing, the judges felt that the two had different focuses in their cooking.

However, considering their own circumstances, the judges will definitely compensate Qian Youdao with points if there is no significant difference in performance.

So, he managed to score a score based on a combination of guesswork and a balanced approach.

【92 minutes】

The judge sitting next to him understood what was going on when he pressed the score button.
As a result, the other judges gave scores of [93], [91], [91.5], and [92.5] respectively.

In the end, Qian Youdao got 460 points, which is 7 points less than Xia Ming's 467 points.

Thus, Xia Ming took first place, Qian Youdao took second place, the judges finished scoring, there were no live broadcast incidents, and no need for a temporary pause, everyone was happy!
The worst off was Shuai Qixing, who was in first place for the entire competition, only to be kicked by Xia Ming and Qian Youdao in the end.

After waiting for ages, instead of finding anything funny, they became the funny ones themselves – a pure clownish act.

Qian Youdao, who was kept in the dark, was not discouraged by the result!

As a competitive chef, he is not afraid of failure at all!
In his view, all the scenery in life will become his experience, and every failure can make up for it. This loss to Xia Ming is nothing.

Even if he doesn't win the "New Chef Competition," it doesn't really matter.
Life is a long journey, and as long as he can maintain a state of high pressure, he will naturally go further.

Xia Ming, on the other hand, was not surprised by this result at all.

Qian Youdao was no match for him, and he hadn't initially planned to go to such lengths to cripple the judge's tongue.

The demons aren't stupid; if they can just sweep through, who would bother with strategy?

But Fang Xu attacked first, sacrificing himself to cause trouble and directly provoking Xia Ming. Xia Ming has a temper too.
In the end, Xia Ming remained the winner of the match, and Qian Youdao remained the runner-up. From the result, nothing changed.

The only change is that Fang Xu, who was originally likely to be in third or second place, ended up in eighth!

After 40 minutes of fiddling around, 2 stars came in and 2 stars left.
He assembled a group of far-sighted strategists, then sat at a table with Shuai Qixing, forming a poker table with the two kings and queens—it was absolutely chaotic.

Seeing this result, Fang Xu was a little dumbfounded. Based on his behavior when scoring, he now suspected that the judges might have a problem with their tongues.

But he couldn't say.
Because the judges aren't stupid either. If he makes a big fuss, the first thing that will happen is that his deliberate collusion will be exposed.

If he hadn't spoken up, the chief judges might have turned a blind eye and tacitly approved of his behavior as part of the assessment. But since he spoke up, it's uncertain whether Xia Ming will leave or not; he will most likely be the one carried out first.

He came to plot against Xia Ming, not to actually self-destruct with him!

If he doesn't make it into the top ten this year, he'll have to wait another year. Who knows if a Li Ming, Zhou Ming, or Cai Ming will emerge next year?
The greatest characteristic of a smart person is that they can weigh the gains and losses. Now that his scheme against Xia Ming has failed, Fang Xu has to turn his attention to his own interests.

So, even though he was unwilling, after seeing the result, he picked up the knife box, turned around, and left the room.

He wasted 40 minutes, his plan failed, and now he has to find a few unlucky guys to make up for it.

Despite his burning anger, Shuai Qixing couldn't bring himself to argue with Xia Ming or utter any threats in front of the camera. In the end, he could only grit his teeth, accept the situation, and leave with his knife case.

Qian Youdao didn't go out; instead, he gave Xia Ming a thumbs up and walked over to him.

"Brother Xia, you are even more amazing than I imagined. To be honest, I used to think there was no difference between the mainland and Taiwan."

"Now it seems that I was the one who was narrow-minded!"

Xia Ming glanced at Qian Youdao, then smiled.

To be honest, people with this kind of resilience are not very common. If he were in the Nine Provinces Continent, he could easily become an outstanding inner disciple of the righteous path.

Moreover, he is disciplined enough, and his family is wealthy and well-connected. Xia Ming may not need friends, but he does not reject business partners.

"You're not bad either. Everyone says you get stronger when facing stronger opponents, and I've seen it for myself."

With Xia Ming, whom he considered a rival, acknowledging the situation, Qian Youdao smiled.

"We still lost. Alright, everyone's gone, let's go out too."

After saying that, Qian Youdao went back to pack up the box, and then walked out of the competition room with Xia Ming.

While in the corridor, Qian Youdao casually asked Xia Ming a question.

"I wonder how much of your strength Brother Xia displayed in that last match?"

Xia Ming lowered his eyes slightly.

"Six or seven out of ten."

Upon hearing this answer, Qian Youdao was slightly taken aback.
Six or seven points? By his standards, if Xia Ming wasn't lying, then his current strength should be almost at the "Hua Level 6" level.

A "level 6" student in the "unrated" category is beyond being considered a genius.
He's a prodigy, a chosen one, the quintessential protagonist.
At this moment, backstage in the judges' room.

After hearing Xia Ming's words, Yin Shengjiang, Tan Zhifeng, and You Zhangwen silently turned their gazes toward Wei Yan.

After a long pause, Tan Zhifeng spoke softly.

"I remember that when Wei Yan won the championship, he was probably only at the level of a regular 'Hua 5'."

You Zhangwen chuckled as he recalled the tone in which Wei Yan had asked him about his brother earlier.

"Pretty much, but the regular 'Hua 5 level' is slightly inferior!"

Yin Shengjiang, always eager for a good show, nodded in agreement.

Wei Yan was completely stunned. He was arrogant, not stupid. He could definitely tell when the three of them were teasing him.

"No, Brother Jiang, Brother Tan, Brother You, you just believe him?"

Yin Shengjiang nodded.

"Of course! He even modified the fish with such fancy cuts, what else can't we trust!"

"Can you do that with that fancy knife now?"

Wei Yan froze. Everyone knew that among his various basic stats, seasoning was his strongest and knife skills his weakest. He could handle ordinary squirrel-shaped cutlery without a problem, but that thing...
Even Tan Zhifeng might not be able to cut so quickly and neatly.
This is truly a ghost story!

Clenching his fists, Wei Yan looked at Xia Ming on the screen, a fighting spirit rising in his heart!
"Good, good, good. This kid is arrogant enough. Next time I have the chance, I must fight him!"

"Let him see, this senior isn't just a name without substance!"

(End of this chapter)