Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 259 The Modified Menu, Food Bloggers Assemble! Who Says the Free Gifts Are Fixed Dishes? (Second Update)

Just as Kang Xincheng decided not to modify the menu, Xia Ming modified it for the first time amidst the confusion of many netizens.

"Lemonade" has been replaced with "Bergamot" and the price per cup has increased to 5 yuan.

The "Pig Blood Curd Set Meal" and "Seafood Set Meal" have been replaced with other dishes.

Boiling water and cold water were both removed.

Finally, Xia Ming's menu is as follows.

Standard Menu

[Blood Thrilling (NT$1088)]

【Jade Tofu (1088 yuan)】

【Cchrysanthemum-shaped Glass Cup (NT$666)】

【Two-color yellow croaker jelly (NT$188)】

【Stir-fried Blood Tofu (NT$128)】

【Berberis Water (NT$5)】

*Note: Except for lemonade, all other dishes come with rice, which you can add as you like.

[Gift Menu]

[Spend over 300 yuan and receive a free "Hidden Dish A"]

[Spend over 888 yuan for a single person and receive a free "Hidden Dish B"]

[Spend over NT$1688 for a single person and receive a complimentary "Hidden Dish C"]

When netizens saw Xia Ming's new menu, their eyes practically popped out of their sockets!
"Hey buddy, now that the reviews are getting good, you're starting to rip people off?"

No, no, no, you can't snatch things as fast as my brother Xia. After seeing this price list, all I want is a lemonade.

["Lemonade" was Xia Ge's last line of defense; wow, this price just goes from affordable to high-end.]

[I've received enough positive reviews, time to start harvesting the韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting investors)!]

[No, shouldn't the chef's ability to sell a dish at its fair price be a matter of skill? The 188 yuan yellow croaker jelly is clearly a great deal. How do you know the other dishes aren't worth that price?]

Whether it's worth it or not, I don't understand, but I do understand the composition of this "hidden dish." Simply put, the lowest tier, A, requires purchasing "two-color yellow croaker jelly" + "stir-fried blood cubes," which is clearly designed to rip you off.

[It's no longer important. With the best reviews, Xia Ming's profits will definitely be good. Coupled with this price, surpassing Bai Heng is only a matter of time.]

Bai Heng has also changed the menu, but the prices aren't as outrageous as Xia Ming's. It's clear she's planning to go all out until the end of the competition!

[Stop criticizing Xia Ge. Kang Xincheng sells a refreshing salad for 160 yuan, why don't you guys mention that now?]

[That guy's a real character. I thought he could at least hold his own against Xia Ming at level 7, but it turns out he's at the bottom.]

Zheng Zeqian has also changed the menu; he's raised prices!

Many contestants have raised their prices!

Just as netizens observed, after the first and second rounds of trials, 54 of the 6 balance was spent.

In other words, if the remaining 480,000 yuan quota is divided equally among the four groups, the average amount per person would be 600 yuan.

If the third round of diners' spending does not exceed this price, then the snowball effect will only grow larger and larger as time goes on.

It's even possible that a group of diners might be holding vouchers worth over 1500 yuan.

To avoid the negative impact of such an incident on themselves, most chefs opted to raise their prices.

Of course, some chefs with prices between 100 and 200 are now in a dilemma. Since they didn't benefit from the first two rounds, now that they are on the later part of the menu, they need to consider whether to raise prices to make a profit or maintain the original prices to stabilize customer flow.

Just after everyone had raised the price like never before, the banquet hall door was pushed open.

The people who came in this time were dressed in different clothes and had different expressions, but they all carried equipment in their hands.

Some people were holding "cell phones", some were holding "mirrorless cameras", and some were holding "action cameras".

Through this simple action, the identities of this group of people become quite clear.

"A food blogger? Or just an internet blogger?"

Just as Xia Ming was squinting to confirm their specific classification, netizens had already learned the group's identities through the announcement next to the live stream. [Chef's Hall Reception Competition]

Round: Round 3

[Foodie: 200 food bloggers at various stages (from 8 partner professional video platforms)]

[11 people have over 200 followers across all platforms]

[26 people have over 100 followers across all platforms]

[49 people have over 60 followers across all platforms]

[68 people have over 10 followers across all platforms]

[46 people have fewer than 10 followers across all platforms]

[Voucher Amount: 350 yuan]

Just as netizens were shocked by the sudden influx of so many bloggers, some finally started to recognize familiar faces.

[It's "mayonnaise"! He hasn't updated his blog and instead's here acting as a public judge!]

[“Mayonnaise” is just an entertainment blogger; his videos are completely unhelpful, just for fun. See that fat guy? “Tang Renjie,” that’s the real internet celebrity!]

Is that "Jiuyue"? I think I saw "Jiuyue"!

[“South Alley” is standing in that corner, wow, deliberately hiding to the side, preparing to throw a surprise, huh!]

[I think I saw "Uncle Bing" (a nickname for a famous Chinese actor), he's here too???]

I saw "Cheng Fei" (a nickname for a dog), hmm, this dish probably won't be enough for him!

[“Casual” is here too. Doesn’t he only review buffets? Does he even understand what’s on the menu here?]

[I understand. Compared to the previous group of diners, these food bloggers are much harder to fool. Some of them can genuinely detect problems with the food.]

[I don't think I saw Sui Wubai! Isn't he an internet celebrity? He definitely meets the requirements!]

Are you kidding me? They're big enough to fill the judging panel, are you suggesting we "warm up as the head coach?"

Speaking of head coaches, do you remember Wei Xiang's song "Time Difference" from a while back? It was really well-sung; even head coaches can get on the field!

I looked around and recognized about half of them. They all have a lot of fans, but not many are true professionals. People like "Tang Renjie" and "Liu Yong" are very famous, but their actual skill level is questionable. "Repan Gao" and "Kakashi" weren't there, though it's possible they'll be later.

Wait, there are rules too???

Just as netizens were searching for familiar bloggers among this group, all the contestants and viewers in the live stream simultaneously received a message.

In the third round of the Chef's Hall reception competition, the audience judges received two hearts (positive reviews) and an extra bomb (negative review).

[If a contestant's dish has aspects that diners find unsatisfactory, diners have the right to give that dish a negative review.]

Negative reviews will negate any positive reviews a contestant initially received. If a contestant starts with zero positive reviews, negative reviews will still be recorded as negative points.

[We urge all contestants to be focused and careful in preparing their dishes.]

Upon seeing this rule, Bai Heng gasped, realizing that she might have set the price of her dishes too low.

As time goes on, her physical strength is greatly depleted, and quality control is prone to fluctuations.

In contrast, Zheng Zeqian slept two hours more than others at the start of the day, and now, facing this group of food bloggers, he showed no signs of fatigue.

"If you want everything, you often end up with nothing. I'm telling you, in a 12-hour competition, there are definitely many opportunities."

"Look, here it comes! Good review~ Bad review~"

"Without eating well and sleeping well, how can you maintain peak energy?"

Thinking of this, Zheng Zeqian suddenly remembered Xia Ming.

"Of course, Xia Ming is an exception. Looking at these sales figures, cleaning up the water glasses must be exhausting for him. Doesn't he ever get tired?"

Xia Ming, who was in the kitchen, didn't care about the so-called "bad reviews" at all; he didn't think that such a thing would happen to him.

What he needs to think about now is what exactly is it that makes these food bloggers so amazed and eager.
He could easily add these items to his "gift menu" on the fly.
“I labeled it ‘Hidden Dish A’ on the menu, but I never said that.”

"A is a fixed dish."

(End of this chapter)