Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 50: Choosing the Yellow, Blue, and Red Triple Buffs - The Materials I Need Aren't in the "Recipe Library"
The voting process was uneventful. Looking at the members of the team, Xia Ming didn't even need to guess the result to know that he had been eliminated.

The only remaining question was whether he would form a solo team, but with the final numbers announced, that question was no longer in doubt.

Team One: Xia Ming, 9 votes.

Team Two: Wang Qingrui, 7 votes.

[Team Three: Dong Jiaqi, 7 votes.]

[Team Four: Lai Chi On, 5 votes.]

The number of votes basically reflects the strength distribution of each team. At least in other people's eyes, Xia Ming is the team that should be sent out the most.

But it was precisely because of this vote that the five newly formed teams became incredibly strong on paper.

The combination of Wang Qingrui, Dong Jiaqi, and Li Zhian is basically the best in the current competition.

But there's nothing that can be done. Even if someone wanted to manipulate the votes, weakening Team 1.5 would require the consent of the others.
Thus, the five teams with the strongest theoretical strength and the six teams with the weakest theoretical strength were determined.

The live stream audience started discussing the result.

[The Sichuan-Chongqing "Ice and Fire Chef" has failed; one against 15, he's practically eliminated!]

With only four hours to prepare, and three people working together, he couldn't even keep up with the food preparation alone.

[Serves him right. Who told him to be so arrogant before? Aside from Yang Yanbin, which of the resurrected chefs hasn't been criticized by him? This is what he deserves.]

[But this is a cooking competition! The Sichuan and Chongqing style "ice and fire" chefs are the ones who win, and that's the bottom line. I think it's just youthful exuberance, and there's nothing wrong with him acting this way.]

Just when no one in the live broadcast room had any confidence in Xia Ming, the production team brought him three letters of different colors.

To ensure fairness, the program will give Team Six, who only has Sichuan and Chongqing-style "Ice and Fire Chefs," one chance to choose a buff. The three envelopes in front of them represent three different buffs.

[Yellow (Big Buying Spree): You have a 300 more budget than others.]

[Blue (Final Reserve): You will have 2 more hours than others for preliminary preparations.]

[Red (Assistant Dummy): You have acquired a food preparation helper who can assist you with miscellaneous tasks during the food preparation period.]

Looking at the three envelopes in front of him, Xia Ming showed a thoughtful expression.

Theoretically speaking, these three buffs each have their own characteristics, but they also have hidden pitfalls.

First, there's the yellow one. Although it costs 300 more, it's not free. It's marked as cost, meaning that when calculating the final cost, others will have 1000 deducted, but Xia Ming will have 1300 deducted after taking this buff.

If this were a four-person team, Xia Ming would definitely choose the yellow option without hesitation, because in his mind there is no such thing as not being able to sell out.

But now he's all alone, and if the food preparation is complicated, it's hard to say whether he can sell out.

As for the blue color, in Xia Ming's eyes it was a sweet trap. Although he had 6 hours to prepare, the competition time was still 12 hours. That is to say, he would avoid the 12 noon to 2 pm period and instead work on the night shift from 0 am to 2 am.

It seems that without any competitors, he can develop wildly for two hours, which is definitely an advantageous option.

However, night markets vary depending on location. Some places are deserted at night, making it pointless to set up a stall, while others are bustling and thriving at night.

Essentially, without a published map of the food street, he had to rely on a stable lunchtime schedule to gamble on the street's popularity in the early morning.

Xia Ming doesn't like playing dice. Even if he does play, he only does so if he's certain he can roll a 6.

In this way, red becomes very appealing, and having an extra person to prepare the food can help relieve his stress. On paper, it seems like a very safe choice.

Xia Ming squinted slightly and exhaled.

"But none of these three options solve the core problem of the food street: 'preparation time.'"

Most food stalls in the food street are made to order, firstly to attract customers with their aroma, and secondly to build up a large customer base. After all, Xia Ming knew that making customers queue at the stalls wasn't necessarily because the chefs were slow; it could also be intentional.

If there are four people in the team, they can open two or even three outlets, which is equivalent to selling several items at the same time.

Although Xia Ming's name contains the character "Ming," he can't be in two places at once. He handles everything himself: introducing, producing, packaging, and charging. Even with Green Credit Payment, he's still very busy.

More importantly, if he prepares the dishes on-site, it will undoubtedly affect the number of servings sold, but if he doesn't make them fresh, it will be difficult to attract customers.

On the surface, things seem to have gone from being straightforward to being blocked from both sides.

Unless he increases the average order value or reduces food costs to increase profit margins.

The viewers in the live stream also started discussing which color Xia Ming would choose, and the production team even opened a poll for everyone.

55% of the audience chose red, 31% chose blue, and only 14% chose yellow.

Clearly, people are not optimistic about the option of increasing the cost budget.

Xia Ming pondered for a while before finally asking the production team.

"I need to pay for the ingredients and seasonings, but what about disposable lunch boxes?"

"The disposable lunch boxes are provided by the production team. They come in various sizes and there is no limit to the number. However, from an environmental perspective, we recommend that contestants try to save as much as possible."

Hearing what the production team said, Xia Ming smiled slightly. It was the same as what he thought. Although it was a snack street, the production team couldn't really make the chefs wash dishes.

Xia Ming looked up at the assistant director, muttering to himself.

"Attracting customers requires the aroma and flavor of freshly cooked food; drawing attention requires unique products; increasing profits requires raising the unit price or reducing ingredient costs; reducing labor costs requires simplifying the menu or sales process as much as possible; and controlling the budget requires making the best use of every penny and every ingredient."

"The five dimensions seem to conflict with each other, and we have to make choices, but as a member of the Demonic Sect, what I hate most is this kind of meaningless choice!"

As he thought about it, he stretched out his right hand and snatched the yellow envelope.

"Multiple-choice questions are something only the righteous path considers; I want them all!"

The other contestants present were also taken aback when they saw Xia Ming pick up the yellow envelope. Even Xiao Hua, who was originally his teammate, and Yan Xi, a graduate student, started to discuss among themselves.

"Little Flower, isn't this move by the Magic Chef a bit too risky?"

Xiaohua paused for a moment.

"He's only one person, so theoretically he absolutely can't keep up with the speed of the other teams' three people. If he doesn't give it his all and raise his ceiling, he might really have no chance."

Actually, Xiao Hua was secretly pleased at this moment. After Xia Ming left, the team was essentially handed over to her. Coupled with yesterday's creative ideas, it saved a great deal of time.

Unlike teams five and six, who were just separated and needed to discuss product selection again.

Just after Xia Ming received the budget, the radio announced that everyone's shopping had officially begun.

Just as the assistant director was about to turn and leave, Xia Ming called him back.

"Some of the ingredients I need may not be available in the 'recipe database,' so I'll have to trouble you to prepare them for me."

The assistant director turned around and looked at Xia Ming curiously.

What do you want this time?

Xia Ming smiled at the assistant director.

"Blood! I need fresh pig's blood, lots of fresh pig's blood!"

(End of this chapter)