Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 244 A fan's fierce protectiveness earns Jing Ran's Wagyu beef shumai a score of 1?! (Second update)

[No, what exactly are the scoring criteria for this Bai Susu?]

She acts all arrogant, like she thinks she can get scores just because she wants them.

[It seems her family has a lot of influence in the culinary world!!!]

[It's obvious, her family needs to be quite wealthy to afford this kind of extravagance!]

[Couldn't it be that Xia Ming's cooking was so delicious that it impressed her and earned her a perfect score?]

Stop talking nonsense. Go take a trip on Douyin and come back. See if any food blogger says her ratings are objective!

[No, if everyone's saying that, how did she even pass the Huazhong University of Science and Technology Level 8 exam?!]

According to the blogger, she's an incredibly skilled cook; her cooking style is as unrestrained as she is as capricious as she is as wild.

【I believe you as a ghost! 】

[This is no exaggeration. Do you know that chef from the TVB region? It's Liu Yifan, the one who was a judge on shows like "Top Chef," "Celebrity Chef," and "Flavorful Taste." He's the former executive chef of the Heiwa Hotel, the tough guy who can eat braised pork intestines without batting an eye.]

[I know him. He's the chef from the TV station who treats the contestants like dirt. He was even on "Shining Chef" recently. I remember he has some scandals. Wait, weren't we talking about Bai Susu? How did we suddenly get onto him?!]

He is Bai Susu's apprentice.

Holy crap!

[Holy crap!]

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

The era in which Bai Susu was active is too far removed from some people's memories, so many people have no concept of her.

But Liu Yifan is different. This guy is known as the "most scathing chef". No matter which variety show he participates in, he basically treats the contestants like grandsons and scolds them.

Despite being only a "Level 7 Hua" (a term referring to a high-ranking official in China), he has already established a solid fan base through his own style on cooking variety shows.

Indeed, he and Bai Susu did have some relationship, but the information collected by netizens is incorrect. He only asked Bai Susu for the recipes for four or five dishes, so the two were not really master and apprentice.

After all, everyone in the Culinary Association knows that Bai Susu doesn't accept male apprentices.

Even so, it's clear that Bai Susu's cooking skills are quite reliable.

But a good chef doesn't necessarily mean a good judge. Bai Susu's scoring has always been very subjective, which is something that netizens have all noticed.

Otherwise, if another chef had given it a score of 10, netizens wouldn't be so surprised.

Just when netizens thought Bai Susu was just making a fool of herself again based on her senses...
The scores from the other judges, however, completely shocked everyone!
[Bai Susu: 10 points]

[Yin Shengjiang: 10 point]

Tan Zhifeng: 10 points

[Cheng Xieyun: 10 points]

[Tong Song: 9.9 points]

Cao Fujun: 9.7 points

Ding Yongxing: 10 points

As the score appeared on the screen, the live stream fell into an eerie silence.

The previously chaotic barrage of comments was erased as if with an eraser, leaving only a blank space.
Some of the contestants below looked up and froze in place.

"What the heck??? A perfect score!!???"

"What the heck? Is this how you play games? Seven judges, five of them give perfect scores?? What's the point of this competition? I might as well go home and take care of my kids!"

"I finished cooking your sticky rice in 18 minutes, and I could tolerate that! After all, you're young and quick. But are you serious about this score?"

"I have a feeling that this Xia Ming guy isn't using the same scoring system as us! Could it be that his maximum score is 15 points?"

While the contestants were still reeling from the shock, netizens also came to their senses.

This is outrageous! It's practically a perfect score!

[Just two small, unremarkable shumai, and they still got a perfect score? Did Xia Ming bribe the judges?]

[Are you kidding me? Do you know how much it costs to bribe so many judges?]

[It's definitely not the judges' fault. There's something fishy about that dish. Just look at the judges' expressions now, like they're under the influence. I seriously suspect that Xia Ming made the "Squid Ink Fried Rice Noodles" from the anime "Master Chef".]

[Don't talk nonsense, upstairs! You need to provide evidence if you say someone left cigarette packs!]

Stop making baseless accusations. There are three security checks to enter the stadium. Forget about cigarette packs; I once forgot my cigarettes in my pocket, and they found them and checked me for 20 minutes on the other side!

[I told you long ago that Xia Ming was invincible! Now you believe me!]

Xia Ming, Xia Ming, I love you~ just like a mouse loves rice!

[Xia Ming, Xia Ming, charge forward! We'll be there for you every step of the way, and together we'll reach the pinnacle of the culinary world!]

Holy crap, the fan support team is here! Who are they?

As Xia Ming's fan club entered the scene, the live stream was flooded with comments in a short period of time.

In the group where Xia Ming hadn't posted a single word since joining, his fans started "protecting" him in their own way during the live stream.

It's not really necessary.
After all, Xia Ming's strength doesn't require fans to help him fight back or silence his critics. Going too far might even damage Xia Ming's public image.

They only made a small initial charge before the group's administrators pulled everyone back.

They could understand, since the group was created at the end of the "New Chef Competition," and not everyone had the opportunity to send comments during the "Extreme Wilderness Kitchen" episode.

This time, the group moved to China, marking the first time the members had officially taken action to "protect their own."

Thanks to the support group's surge, many netizens have come to their senses.

If only one judge gave it a high score, it could be attributed to personal taste, but now so many judges are giving it high scores.
This implies that Xia Ming's dish has a potential ceiling that exceeds the competition itself.

As for those who questioned him before, it felt like they were specifically there to smear Xia Ming.
After all, it's too chaotic for "smoke shells" to appear in a nationally recognized competition.
Of course, Xia Ming was unaware of the little incident that had occurred in the live broadcast room. Having achieved his goal, he put away the plates and returned to his stove under the somewhat conflicted gazes of the judges.

Watching his retreating figure, Cao Fujun's eyes twitched inexplicably a few times.
He had a bad feeling as soon as the score was displayed.

"I didn't expect even Bai Susu to give it a perfect score. It seems there's something about this dish that I don't know about."

Because they woke up later than the others, he and Tong Song didn't fully understand how to eat the dish.

They assumed that others had similar senses to theirs, so they gave this score with the mindset of leaving room for the judges to give a fair score.

In contrast, Ding Yongxing was smarter. He read a certain possibility from the complicated looks in the other judges' eyes, so he gave him 10 points.
Xia Ming, sitting in the audience, didn't seem to have much of a problem with not getting a perfect score this round.

Because from the very beginning, he had never placed any hope on Bai Susu!
"It's unreasonable that a judge who scores based solely on their personal senses would give me a perfect 10."

Xia Ming wouldn't let any opportunity to gather information slip by. He was like that when Bai Susu gave him an 8.9, and he's still like that now that she's given him a 10. He watched as Bai Susu's gaze towards him changed from disdain and indifference to its current fervor and curiosity.

He secretly pondered which link in the chain had gone wrong.

"Could it be that they've finally had a change of heart this time?"

"Impossible. Old habits die hard. Even if you show Bai Susu the facts, she might not back down, let alone change her subjective feelings."

"Unless, by accident, I step on the spot she cares about most."

Because the information was incomplete, Xia Ming was unable to determine exactly where the effect came from.

"Forget it, there's no match today. When we get back, I'll have Qiao Ruoning dig into it. There's definitely something going on here!"

Just after Xia Ming stepped down, the contestants behind him also presented their dishes one by one.

Having just witnessed Xia Ming's "sensory-opposite cuisine," the judges were momentarily speechless.

Therefore, the requirements for the contestants' shumai are very strict.

Five people came up in a row, and the best one only scored 38 points.

During this period, the lowest individual score in the "Hua 5 Level" competition was achieved.

[Bai Susu: 0 points]

When the next number appeared, the middle-aged contestant's body went limp.

He never imagined that he would get 0 points in a qualifying match.

As for the reason? Bai Susu certainly wouldn't say it directly.
But Yin Shengjiang, who was standing to the side, saw it all clearly.

"The chef was making Xia Yitian's signature creative shumai, but he didn't do it very well."

He gave it a symbolic 4 points, but to his surprise, Bai Susu gave it 0 points.

To be honest, he thought it was a bit ridiculous for Bai Susu to be a judge, but it was the decision of the Culinary Association, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The thought of having to lead the team with Bai Susu to participate in the upcoming "exchange competition" gave him a headache.

"I may never have looked forward to Xia Yitian's comeback as much as I have at a time like this."

"I hope he'll suddenly appear during the exchange match, otherwise I'm not sure I can keep this crazy woman under control."

"The Island of the Rising Sun, Hokkaido"

Xia Yitian looked at Wen Zhixia with a serious expression.

"An exchange match? I'm definitely going!"

Wen Zhixia's face was as cold as the snowman outside.

"Do you want to go back to see Bai Susu?"

"What are you talking about? Don't you know what kind of person she is? Can she compare to even half of your gentleness, virtue, beauty, and intelligence?"

Hearing Xia Yitian's words, Wen Zhixia blushed slightly.

"I'm not actually that great~ hehe~"

Just then, Wen Zhixia's phone rang.

She took a look, and her pupils dilated slightly.
"Take a look at this message one day!"

Xia Yitian raised an eyebrow, took the message casually, glanced at it, and then narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Ouch. Hitting something like this gives me a headache."

"Wen Zhixia, it seems we need to change our flight path slightly; we might really miss this exchange competition."

Upon hearing that Xia Yitian had decided not to participate in the exchange competition, Wen Zhixia's entire demeanor warmed up.

"Okay, I'll arrange your flight right now!"

Seeing Wen Zhixia start to get busy, Xia Yitian turned his head to the side.

The snow was still falling outside the window. Looking at the snowman outside, Xia Yitian smiled.

"Unfortunately, your old man also wanted to come back, but the invitation from 'King of Chefs' is more valuable than the exchange competition."

"Let's wait a little longer. I hope Bai Susu won't cause you any trouble next time we meet."

Whether Bai Susu will cause trouble for Xia Ming remains to be seen, but for now, she has already brought endless trouble to the contestants.

Fifteen people in a row failed to score more than 4 points against her.

For this exam question, the score is a bit too low.

It wasn't just Bai Susu; the other judges also gave generally low scores in this round.

After so many contestants competed, apart from Xia Ming who ranked first with 69.6 points, the highest score so far is only 39.7 points.

Although none of the favored seeded players took the stage, the scores clearly looked a bit off.

Just when everyone was wondering if there was a problem with one of the processes...
Jing Ran confidently brought her "Wagyu shumai" to the judges' table.

Because Jingran performed quite well in the previous round, the judges' expressions softened slightly after seeing his cooking.

"Is the skin made from the diaphragm of beef? That requires a high level of skill to grill."

Yin Shengjiang glanced at Jing Ran, then picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth; the others did the same.

Just as netizens were anticipating the judges' reactions, Xia Ming rubbed his nose with a smile.

"Butter~ Sigh. Of all the choices, choosing butter is definitely bad luck~"

As soon as she finished speaking, Bai Susu's expression on the judges' panel suddenly changed. Then, she glanced at Jing Ran with a hint of anger, picked up the scoring device next to her, and began to operate it.

This action left Jing Ran completely bewildered.

"What's going on? Is there something wrong with my cooking? That can't be, I tasted it!"

Just as he and the netizens were somewhat bewildered, the score she gave Jing Ran suddenly appeared on the screen behind Bai Susu.

[Cooking Contestant: Jing Ran]

[Judge: Bai Susu]

Score: 1 point.

"?????"

(End of this chapter)