Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 48: A dark horse who introduces himself, first ignites the battle for Xia Ming?

Inside the hotel

Xia Ming mobilized all the blood souls stored in his body to search for a blood gate to break through, but after circling around his body, he could not find a suitable breakthrough.

Left with no other choice, he could only attempt to break through his left eye, which seemed to be the easiest to penetrate. Although he failed to open the blood gate, he did accumulate a lot of soul power in his left eye. If a large amount of blood were added later, opening the blood gate in his left eye should not be a problem.

Xia Ming let out a long sigh of relief, then took a shower as usual, changed into some comfortable clothes, and went out.

He arranged to meet the graduate student at the banquet at a coffee shop near the hotel to chat about tomorrow's competition.

As for why the bald cook wasn't brought along, the conclusion is obvious.

In his eyes, the bald cook's abilities were barely at the bottom of the variety show, and if he hadn't joined Xia Ming's team in the previous round, he would most likely have been eliminated.

The bald cook was aware of this, so after hearing the rules, he hesitated for a moment and did not take the initiative to approach Xia Ming.

After all, Xia Ming had said that he brought the bald cook along mainly because the bald cook had lent him charcoal when the competition was down from 86 to 16.

Now that he has repaid his debt of gratitude, he is not used to relying on his teammates, so he has no reason to bring the bald cook along. However, if there are extra spots available in the end, he would not mind if the bald cook joined the team.

After all, compared to others, the bald cook was relatively more familiar with the area.
Xia Ming hadn't forgotten that everyone in this variety show except him was a potential opponent. As a disciple of the Demonic Sect, when you develop unreserved trust in someone, you're not far from destruction.

Thinking of this, Xia Ming recalled his junior sister's mistake, which she made when she was blinded by greed. He was determined not to make that mistake again.

Looking at the banquet graduate students, considering the contestants excluding "a dark horse" and Xia Ming himself, their hard skills should be among the top three, and their excellent control of oil temperature gives them a significant advantage in the "Snack Street Competition".

There are three key points to consider when choosing a food street.

Fragrant, fast, and economical!
After all, the people who go to the food street are most likely to be one of the following types.

1. Tourists from other places.

Second: Young white-collar workers who don't want to eat a proper meal but want to fill their stomachs with snacks.

Third: University or high school students living near the food street.

4. Couples strolling around the area.

Fifth: Some local residents who prefer traditional flavors.

Among these groups, tourists from other places are the most generous, white-collar workers value time more, students care more about the price, and couples prefer to go by first impressions, which means they like to join in the fun.

Finally, the residents who prefer the old-fashioned flavors are the most difficult to please, as they are demanding, have little money, and have a fixed selection of old stall owners.

In Xia Ming's mind, of the four types of people, the tourists were the easiest to deal with.

If you create something unique to your local area, you can attract a lot of people like that. Of course, you need tourists first.

Secondly, there are young couples.

If you make the food smell more fragrant and look more appealing, it's easy for someone to impulsively buy it, especially if their crush or girlfriend is standing next to them.

White-collar workers are more concerned about feeling full and the time it takes, since they have to go back to work after eating and can't wait too long.

As long as the taste is acceptable, that's fine; long queues are not their preferred option.

As for students, low prices and delicious food will be more popular. College students are okay, but high school students really don't have much money.

It's unrealistic and unfair for the show to invite a bunch of white-collar workers to a food street competition.

Therefore, Xia Ming guessed that the competition venue for the food street competition was most likely to be outdoors.

"So in this situation, besides competing with the contestants, do you also have to compete with other street vendors?"

Just as Xia Ming was pondering the key point, a dark figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

Xia Ming looked up and saw a "dark horse," and smiled at the sight.

"Why are you blocking my way so late at night instead of sleeping? Is there something you want?"

A black horse stared into Xia Ming's eyes for a moment, then slowly spoke. "Actually, I am from the Kang family, a renowned Cantonese cuisine family in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen area. My name is Kang Qin. My father, Kang Minshun, runs the oldest restaurant in our family. It's in a somewhat remote location, but it's always packed with customers."

"And my grandfather is Kang Junhui, you should have heard of him."

"Alright, I've told you everything I can. You, the 'Chuan-Yu Ice and Fire Chef,' are definitely not ordinary people. Tell me, which family's junior are you?"

Xia Ming blinked, and the black horse's expression turned extremely serious.

But he really didn't know who Kang Junhui was; at least in his memory, he had never heard of that name.

"Okay, wait a moment."

Xia Ming took out his phone and quickly searched, only to discover that Kang Junhui was actually a "Level 7" chef, hailed online as a master of Cantonese cuisine.

Although he failed to reach the "Hua 8 level" level, he amazed the nation with his "Crispy Chicken" in the Sino-foreign competition, and later became a chef at the "Old Beijing Restaurant", one of the holy places of Chinese cuisine.

He has served countless dignitaries, including the top official who ate his cooking and praised him for his "extraordinary skills."

Kang Junhui started with Cantonese cuisine, then integrated various regional cuisines, and finally developed his own style, which is often referred to as "Shuangyue" by later generations. In the new Cantonese cuisine, it is collectively known as the "New Three Yue" along with "Guyue" and "Yayue".

After reading the information, Xia Ming raised an eyebrow.

"You do have quite a background, but you may have misunderstood something. I'm just an ordinary barbecue restaurant owner, not as complicated as you think."

"impossible!"

Kang Qin was completely dumbfounded. You, the "Chuanyu Ice and Fire Chef," could win the competition even with a slacker like Bald Cook. Now you're saying you're just a nobody? Who would believe that?!

Xia Ming waved his hand, signaling him to calm down.

"I'm not kidding, he's just a complete stranger."

Seeing Xia Ming's appearance, even the black horse lost its temper.

"It's up to you whether you say it or not, wanna team up?"

Xia Ming chuckled and made a joke.

"You still want to be the captain?"

"I won't take the job this time, you can take it."

"Excuse me, but I don't think your tone sounds like you're asking for a favor!"

Upon hearing Xia Ming's words, a black horse also spoke up in an annoyed tone.

"Don't go too far! I've already told you everything, what more do you want!"

Xia Ming's lips curled into a slight smile.

"Just because you introduced yourself, does that mean I have to team up with you? What kind of robber logic is that?"

"I'm better than all of them! Really!"

"To be honest, I didn't notice."

Just as the two were locked in a tug-of-war at the top of the stairs, a girl in a JK uniform suddenly jumped out from around the corner.

"Wow, it's so lively! What are you all talking about? Why don't you tell me too?"

A black horse turned around and saw Lolo humming and shuffling over.

Just then, Xiao Hua slowly walked out from behind Xia Ming.

"What are you all talking about here? It's so lively, why don't you count me in?"

(End of this chapter)