The story begins in Food Wars, when Alice took him home.

"Today's fishing grounds are handed over to the young people. I want to see Hui shine."

The first uncle to stand up stood with his hands on his hips, a hearty smile on his face, looking at Tadokoro Megumi as if she were his own daughter.

However, my own daughter isn't that cute.

"Really."

Tadokoro waved her hand, somewhat moved, unsure of what to say to express her feelings.

"She seems to be admired by those rugged older men. Tadokoro Megumi has so many secrets. I wonder how many points she'll get in the end."

Looking at Tadokoro Megumi's retreating figure and the rugged middle-aged men in front of her, Hojo Miyoko, who had already finished cooking, thought to herself.

As expected of a talent personally selected by Teacher Bai Yuan, his potential is truly extraordinary!

"Then, Tadokoro-kun, please hurry up and get on board."

Seeing Tadokoro Megumi exchanging pleasantries with the older men, and worried that it would take too long, Sasaki Yua urged them on, as she also wanted to leave work early and go home to rest.

"Sorry, I'll be right there."

The sudden sound interrupted Tadokoro Megumi. Remembering her unfinished match, Tadokoro Megumi turned around and prepared to go over.

"Go, Megumi, show us everything!"

The older man patted Tadokoro Megumi on the shoulder, his eyes full of encouragement, and the others nodded to her as well.

Tadokoro Megumi is a child they watched grow up. They've been by her side since she was little. Although she's not their biological child, she's no different from one.

Most importantly, Megumi Tadokoro is humble and polite. Even when she's with older men, she's willing to chat and laugh with them, which makes her very likable.

"This is a whole lamb hot pot, which uses all the ingredients from the lamb."

Tadokoro Megumi said, her hand pressed against her chest.

The idea for this dish predates the whole lamb shumai. After learning that Bai Yuan was making whole lamb shumai, she was pleasantly surprised that her idea coincided with that of Teacher Bai Yuan.

At the same time, he became more determined in his ideas, and after continuous adjustments and research, he finally created this whole lamb hot pot.

"Lamb hot pot, a casserole dish with lamb as the main ingredient."

The plump old man patted his belly, picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and looked at its rich color with a hint of contentment on his face.

"Speaking of hot pot dishes, fishermen in Ibaraki and Fukushima prefectures love to make fish hot pot. I tried it once, and it tasted very good and was very comforting."

This must be a whole lamb hot pot made using the same method as fish hot pot, right? It brought back memories of that time.

"Whole lamb hot pot?"

Looking at the dish in front of her, Senpyo Orie also scooped up a spoonful of soup, with a piece of mutton in the spoon, and put it into her mouth.

"Comfortable"

"I see! The lamb liver is chopped into small pieces, then miso and sake are added to make a sauce, and then various spices are added to make the flavor even richer."

With their eyes closed, they felt as if they were back home, as cozy as snuggling into a warm fireplace on winter's day, surrounded by the rich and robust aroma of the whole lamb hot pot...

Chapter 174 This isn't just muddy and impassable; this is the road I came from!

"It seeps into the body and soul, it's truly an addictive delicacy!"

"The smooth texture of lamb liver, paired with the unique flavor of spices, is surprisingly well-suited to make the lamb dish even more delicious!"

"But how should I put it, this dish really feels very human and warm."

The plump old man spoke while exhaling hot air, his eyes filled with nostalgia, as if he were a child, with his family gathered together, eating hot pot and singing songs.

"The main ingredients are lamb belly, lamb skin, and lamb tripe..."

There are also chrysanthemum-shaped pumpkins, Tachikawa burdock root, and red-veined radishes.

Looking through the ingredients in front of him, the tall, thin man read them aloud based on his knowledge. Surprisingly, he recognized all the ingredients.

"That's right, all of them are ingredients from my hometown. In order to bring out their full flavor, I've tried many methods."

It was later discovered that chopping lamb liver into small pieces allowed the freshness of the vegetables and the flavor of the spices to blend together beautifully, creating an unparalleled delicacy.

I've always wanted you all to taste the flavor of my birthplace, and this is a dish I've created.

Tadokoro Megumi spoke earnestly, her eyes burning with passion as she looked at the judges, including Chihiro Orie, as if telling them how much effort she had poured into this dish.

The middle-aged men in the audience were in tears, clearly moved by Megumi Tadokoro's words. This was their Megumi!

It was worth it for them to put aside their work and rush to Totsuki to cheer her on.

"Let's start scoring."

Looking at the whole mutton stew that they had devoured, Senpyo Orie said to the fat old man next to her, and the expressions of the others also became serious.

"What?! Xiaohui's cooking only gets a score in the teens?!"

The first light came on, score 18.

This number enraged a hot-tempered old fisherman who stood up and berated the judges, but was restrained by a middle-aged man next to him, leaving the old man helpless.

"So, the total score is 100 points for all five of them, old man."

"Well done, as expected of our Xiao Hui!"

The middle-aged man clenched his fists and couldn't help but cheer when he saw the high score given by the judges. Other audience members were also watching intently.

Tadokoro Megumi looked at the judges on the stage, her fists clenching slightly.

Although she didn't think her grades would be bad, she still felt nervous before the results came out. The judges who kept her in suspense were really malicious!

The scoreboard in front of the second judge lit up, causing the audience to hold their breath and stare intently. The next judge, Chihiro Orie, gave her a score of 18.

The remaining two lights also lit up at the same time, namely 18 and 19.

Total score: 92 points.

Ranked second.

"Ninety points! Another one scoring over ninety!"

"That's amazing! I never expected another dark horse to emerge at the last minute!"

"I never expected this unknown guy to suddenly jump to second place. This is really big news."

The crowd erupted in uproar as they watched the name surge to second place and the scores following it. Everyone stared at Tadokoro Megumi with utter astonishment.

There are just too many shocking facts happening today.

First, all the transfer students, led by Zhang Chen, achieved excellent results, crushing the group from Totsuki Academy to advance. Then, an unknown student forcefully took second place.

Absolutely brilliant!

"Teacher Bai Yuan, I did it."

Looking at the score in front of her and listening to the cheers of the audience behind her, Tadokoro Megumi's eyes welled up with tears. In her hand, she held a talisman that would bless her with academic success. It was given to her by her family and was the driving force that supported her before she met Bai Yuan.

Thinking back to before she left for the far moon, her parents encouraged her, everyone saw her off, and everyone was looking forward to her going to a wider world.

But she disappointed them.

For three years in junior high school, I was always at the bottom of the class.

Every time her mother asked her how things were going in Totsuki, she wanted to tell her mother countless times that she wanted to go home, but when the words came out, a stubborn smile would appear on her face, and she would say that everything was normal.

But I shed tears alone in the dead of night.

Later, she met the man who would change her life.

Noticing Shiro Awaken watching her from the audience, Tadokoro Megumi flashed an extremely bright smile, as if to tell him that she had done it.

No matter how muddy her past may have been, she shines brightly on stage now!

"But if that's the case, and the eighth-place score is the same, shouldn't we hold a live vote?"

Suddenly, someone asked this question.

At the same time, everyone's attention was focused on the large screen in the sky, where the names of Mito Ikumi and Mimasaka Subaru were flashing.

This means that the audience needs to vote to select one person to advance.

"There was even this part..."

"Tie scores are quite rare in previous years."

"But it's said that the audience will choose, so how exactly will they choose? Is it a vote?! But we haven't even tasted the food, so how can we vote..."

After the rules were clarified, the audience below immediately started discussing among themselves.

Since they haven't tasted the dishes prepared by the contestants, they naturally don't know who to vote for. Are they just going to choose whoever they like the most?

It's not impossible, but this is too frivolous!

"The two of you will make the dish again, and the staff will divide it into 21 small portions and distribute them to the audience in the first two rows for the final vote."

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, Bai Yuan's voice suddenly rang out, drawing everyone's attention to him as he stepped forward.

"Who is this guy?"

The audience was filled with questions.

"Teacher Bai Yuan."

When Bai Yuan jumped down from the stands and stood on the field, all the students bowed slightly and respectfully called out his name.

"No need to be so polite. In short, let's start a new round of cooking using the method I just described, and let the audience be your judges."

Bai Yuan waved his hand, not liking all this formality; he just wanted to know the final results of the advancement.

Subaru Mimasaka is skilled at imitation and replicating other people's dishes. It's unclear whether he'll be competing alone this time or if he'll be participating as someone else.

"They've actually moved on to the voting stage. Looks like we need to get a little more serious."

Looking at the figure that everyone was watching in the crowd, Mimasaka Subaru's eyes were deep, and then he took two steps forward: "I am willing to accept this scoring method."

“I can accept that.”

Mito Ikumi naturally wouldn't refuse Shiro's request, especially since she didn't think she would lose. She looked at Mimasaka Subaru with a fighting spirit on her face.

"Then let's get started."

After they finished speaking, the two returned to their respective cooking stations. Bai Yuan found a secluded spot to sit down and calmly observed everything before him.

"Who is that guy? How come he settled everything as soon as he arrived? And he seems to have a lot of prestige among the students."