Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 142 Gourmet Cleaners? It's hard to imagine there weren't their inside agents in the arena! (Bonus Chapter for 4K Views)

"Wilding Hotel Lobby"

Dressed in casual clothes, Deng Fangqing and her best friend Wei Wei sat silently on the sofa, cursing Xia Ming in their hearts.

Her grandfather had told her to come and deliver a knife to Xia Ming, and at the time she thought, "Isn't that what I'm going to do?" and then she ran off.

I didn’t expect that! did not expect!

This time, her grandfather was serious. Even though he ran back to his home in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen area, he still called her in the end.

She could have sent someone else, or even just delivered it to the hotel, but her grandfather insisted that she come over, and even went so far as to send knives to their home.

Deng Fangqing was completely dismayed when she received the special express delivery box. She had finally gotten a day off today and had made plans to go shopping with her best friend early in the morning, but she never expected to encounter this problem just before leaving the house.

I really wanted to put it aside and send it over tomorrow, but Grandpa made a special video call, repeatedly telling me not to delay Xia Ming's match for no reason and to just give it to her directly, which made me a little annoyed.

Although she knew in her heart that what her grandfather said was true, the thought of meeting this guy who seemed a bit difficult to get along with still annoyed her.

Fortunately, his best friend "Wei Wei" said she could come with him and visit his brother as well.

"My brother is a judge there, so it's a good opportunity to help him out. I can even bring him some clean clothes!"

Since her best friend had said so, Deng Fangqing had no reason to refuse and thought she would finish the matter quickly and leave.

Xia Ming had already taken the elevator to the lobby. After looking around, he found Deng Fangqing sitting to the side.

"Hello, Miss Deng, it's so kind of you to make the trip all this way to deliver it."

Hearing Xia Ming's words, Deng Fangqing felt numb.
I was thinking to myself, "Don't you know why I came here? This is clearly your doing!"
But she couldn't say it directly at the moment, so she just raised her eyebrows slightly, gave a casual look, and then took out a packaged box from the side.

"I need to take the box back. Please check it to make sure there are no problems. If there are no problems, I have to go and do other things later!"

Hearing Deng Fangqing's tone, Xia Ming knew that the girl had been pressured into coming, so he didn't mind too much.

I sat down on the sofa and started inspecting the goods.
Wei Wei, standing to the side, was more curious about Xia Ming. Because of his brother, she paid special attention to this "New Chef Competition." Although she didn't understand it very well, she could still tell the basics of good and bad.

Having heard that Xia Ming was a culinary genius comparable to his brother, and finding that he was also to her aesthetic liking, she curiously went over to see what Deng Fangqing had given Xia Ming.

As Xia Ming was unfastening the latches on both sides of the suitcase, he saw a girl approaching.

I glanced at her subconsciously and noticed that she had a slightly longer princess cut haircut, was wearing a slightly fluffy little hat, had slightly heavy eye makeup, and a small bow pinned to her slightly full chest.

Judging from her style, she seems to be going for the sweet girl type, like those in Japan and Korea.
Upon closer inspection, her appearance is rather cute, a stark contrast to Deng Fangqing's intellectual and refined features.

Sensing that Xia Ming was looking at her, Wei Wei smiled and greeted him.

"Hello, my name is Wei Wei~ I'm Qingqing's classmate and best friend~"

Xia Ming nodded in response when Wei Wei greeted him.

"Hello, my name is Xia Ming."

"I know you, I watched your match~"

Wei Wei seemed very sunny and talkative, and Xia Ming felt that she was somewhat similar to Fang Xiao.

However, she might have a more approachable aura than Fang Xiao, and judging from her voice and overall demeanor, she would make people feel more favorable at first glance.

Since she was Deng Fangqing's best friend, Xia Ming couldn't remain silent, so he exchanged a few simple pleasantries.

Wei Wei seemed to sense the indifference beneath Xia Ming's smile, and smiled as she distanced herself slightly, which made Xia Ming think more highly of her.

Compared to Deng Fangqing, who is a bit arrogant, Wei Wei seems to be better at gauging the appropriate level of communication between people.

Simply put, she has very high emotional intelligence. This contrasts sharply with Fang Xiao.
Seeing that she had stepped back a little, Xia Ming no longer cared about anything else, opened the box, and took out the "Blood Taotie" first.

Xia Ming examined it carefully against the light and nodded. Deng Xiaowen's craftsmanship was as consistent as ever; the bone knife was exquisitely crafted, almost identical to the blueprint he had drawn.

While he was looking at the knife, Wei Wei also curiously looked at the sickle in Xia Ming's hand.

Although she doesn't know much about cooking, she is familiar with some basic tools because of her brother.

She had never seen a chef use such a strange knife before; to her, it seemed more like a specially made weapon for some kind of assassin than a chef who could create delicious food.

"This is interesting~"

With a slight smile, Wei Wei took in Xia Ming's profile, and at this moment she became even more curious about him.

However, she did not ask about the purpose of the knife, but simply watched quietly as an observer.

After verifying the first "Blood Taotie" knife, Xia Ming continued to verify the "Blood Hybrid".

Seeing him twist the cleaver into a huge arc, just like in martial arts novels, Wei Wei realized that the knife in front of her was actually a soft knife.

With a flicker of surprise in her eyes, Wei Wei spoke up.

Can a soft knife be used for cooking?

Xia Ming didn't have any ill feelings towards Wei Wei, and answered the question casually.

"It depends on how you use it. Some people can get used to it, while others just can't get it right no matter how much they practice."

"Hehe, you're pretty amazing!"

Wei Wei's smile seemed genuine, and Xia Ming also ended the conversation and looked away.

Deng Fangqing, who was standing to the side, was a little confused when she saw her best friend join in and start chatting with her.

She felt that Xia Ming was a despicable person and very cunning, not her type.

But now that Wei Wei was talking to him, she seemed a little strange.
"Ahem, Weiwei, um, where's your brother?"

Wei Wei glanced back at Deng Fangqing, then smiled and held up one finger, waving it.

"He should be here soon. I called him in advance."

After saying that, Wei Wei took out her phone, intending to ask Xia Ming for his contact information.

Just then, Wei Yan stepped down from the side. As a judge for the competition, he, like the contestants, was staying at the nearby Wilting Hotel.

He knew his sister's usual attire well, and when he saw a small hat peeking out from behind the vase, he guessed where Wei Wei was.

He smiled and walked around her, just about to reach out to say hello, when his hand froze in mid-air.

He saw his sister and her best friend, Deng Fangqing, sitting on a sofa.

Deng Fangqing sat in the middle of the sofa, and Wei Wei sat on her right.

Next to Wei Wei, a face he recognized was putting knives into his knife case, with an empty case beside him.

Through the gap formed by the box, Wei Yan noticed that his sister Wei Wei and Xia Ming were very close together, and his brows furrowed instantly.

"No, Xia Ming, what are you doing here!"

Hearing the voice, Xia Ming looked up and glanced at Wei Yan's face, recognizing him as the judge who had come to investigate with Yin Shengjiang earlier.

After thinking for a moment, I remembered that his name tag seemed to say "Wei Yan".

Wei Yan, Wei Wei.
It was obvious that the girl next to him was most likely either his sister or his cousin, otherwise he wouldn't have asked such a question. Xia Ming smiled as well.

"I think it's Judge Wei Yan. I'm just here to pick up something, I'll be leaving in a bit~"

Wei Wei looked up when she heard Wei Yan's somewhat anxious tone.

"Brother, you're here~ Come and sit down~"

As she spoke, she handed her phone to Xia Ming with her other hand.

"Xia Ming, can you add me on WeChat? Then we can hang out together!"

Xia Ming looked at the phone that was handed to him and blinked. He could clearly feel a faint killing intent emanating from Wei Yan.

He glanced at Wei Yan, then at Wei Wei, and shook his head with a smile.

"Let's talk about it another time if there's a chance. If not, you can always ask Ms. Deng."

After saying that, he put the two boxes away and then stood up and placed the empty box in front of Deng Fangqing.

"Ms. Deng, thank you for your trouble. This is an empty box; please take it back. See you next time!"

With that, Xia Ming picked up his knife case and started walking out.

Wei Wei looked at Xia Ming's back and felt a little regretful. She could tell that if Wei Yan hadn't come over, she would most likely have already added Xia Ming's contact information.

Feeling his sister's gaze, Wei Yan's brows furrowed slightly.

He wasn't a sister-obsessed brother, but out of a brother's desire to protect his sister, he didn't want Wei Wei and Xia Ming to get too close.

Xia Ming is indeed a very capable chef with unlimited potential for future achievements. But putting that aside, he is also a person with a slightly cold personality, an arrogance in his bones, and an extremely meticulous mind.

He knows his sister very well. Although she has high emotional intelligence, she is still quite naive and sometimes trusts others too much.

In his view, Wei Wei was no different from a brainless fish in a pond in front of Xia Ming. If Xia Ming wanted to deliberately get close to her, she would only suffer.

Moreover, he learned from others that Xia Ming had some issues with his lifestyle and had been very close to many female customers when he ran the shop. Therefore, as her brother, he certainly did not want his sister to associate with such a person.

If Xia Ming knew that Wei Yan thought this way, he could only laugh. He hadn't recruited Wei Wei; she had come to him of her own accord.
Seeing Xia Ming leave, Deng Fangqing breathed a sigh of relief. After Wei Wei handed the clothes to Wei Yan, she picked up her suitcase and suggested that Wei Wei go shopping.

Wei Wei had just been pulled aside by Wei Yan and muttered a few words to him, and she was not very satisfied with her brother.

She felt that she just wanted to get to know him, but Wei Yan was being a bit too aggressive.

However, she didn't say it directly to her brother, but only spoke up after she and Deng Fangqing went out and walked around the garage.

"Qingqing, it seems like you have some issues with Xia Ming~"

Deng Fangqing sighed.

"Don't even mention it. I don't know what kind of spell he cast on my grandfather, but he was so eager to take advantage of me."

"I admit he's a great cook, but he's a jerk and a scheming person. I don't like him!"

Wei Wei didn't mind what Deng Fangqing said.

"Qingqing, if you don't like it, why don't you give me your contact information?"

Upon hearing Wei Wei's words, Deng Fangqing was also taken aback, and then a trace of confusion flashed in her eyes.

She admitted that she had a problem with Xia Ming, but when she suddenly heard Wei Wei ask for Xia Ming's contact information, she hesitated.

After a long pause, she shook her head.

"Never mind, let's go shopping instead, let's ignore him!"

Hearing her words, Wei Wei became even more curious.
However, she didn't show it; she just kept Xia Ming in mind and thought she would have another chance to get to know him.

At this moment, Xia Ming didn't care about Deng Fangqing and Wei Yan's attitude. After returning to his room, he assessed the blood soul in his body and then considered whether he should refine the blood of the sword first.

Just then, there was a knock on his door.

"Is anyone inside? I'm a housekeeper at the hotel. Do you need any supplies changed today?"

Hearing what was being said outside, Xia Ming glanced at the room and thought that he could indeed get some more toothpaste or something, so he prepared to get up.

But before he had taken more than a few steps, he smelled a faint, familiar scent.

"Something's wrong!"

He frowned slightly, feeling that he had smelled this scent somewhere before.
So he activated his Blood Eyes with all his might and was shocked to find two clusters of "life force" lurking at the entrance.

Judging from the relative heights of the two "vitality" cores, it should be a woman standing behind them, pushing a cart.

Inside the stroller, there was either a child or a man who looked like a dwarf.

Obviously, no hotel housekeeper would bring a child to work.
Even if they did, they certainly wouldn't bring a child out to knock on a customer's door.

In an instant, two figures popped into Xia Ming's mind.

"Which group of [Gourmet Cleaners] were involved in the last attack on Miao Zeyang?"

At the doorway, the woman silently gazed at it. She had vaguely heard footsteps, which led her to conclude that someone must be inside.

Strangely, the footsteps stopped after a moment, with no response and no sound coming from inside.

As a member of the "Food Cleaner," she was already trying to figure out if she had been exposed.

"It doesn't make sense. The scent, the words, the clothes, the time—there's nothing wrong with any of it. How could we have been discovered like this?"

She suspected that Xia Ming probably didn't want to talk to anyone and thought that if he kept quiet, the cleaning lady would leave on her own.

So she knocked on the door again. After all, Xia Ming was quite valuable now. If they could ensure that he couldn't participate in the competition under reasonable circumstances, they could get "20". If it affected his competition, they could get "8" afterwards.

By any measure, it's far more valuable than the previous "Miao Zeyang".

Unwilling to give up, she waited a little longer and finally sensed that something was wrong.

With a furrowed brow, she suddenly pushed the cart and ran towards the cleaning room on that floor.

But just as she sprinted out, a large number of security personnel had quietly surrounded her.
Upon seeing the security guards appear, the woman panicked slightly. She found a place to abandon the car, kicked it twice, and then started running.

Of course, what she didn't know was that she had already been locked onto by the hotel's AI camera. The Culinary Association wasn't stupid; having chosen this hotel, how could they not have arranged thorough security?

Getting in is easy, but getting out is not so simple!

Inside the room, Xia Ming looked at the red "Emergency Call" button on his wristband and smiled.

"It seems the organizers anticipated unexpected situations, but it's only the round of 64 to 32."

"This group of people already dared to infiltrate and act right in front of their superiors."

"If things continue like this, I find it hard to imagine that there aren't any spies left behind by these people during the competition."

(End of this chapter)