It's just cooking a dish, how did it become the main character in a game?

three days later.

Baiweilou, kitchen.

"Da da da..."

With a rhythmic chopping sound like horseshoes, Nan Xu swiftly chopped the green peppers on the cutting board, instantly transforming them into neat and even thin strips.

Another flash of the knife, and the high-quality pork tenderloin followed in the footsteps of the green pepper.

Then, Nanxu took out salt, light soy sauce, cooking wine, starch and egg white, and mixed them with the shredded meat.

"—Sizzle!"

Heat oil in a pan, add the marinated shredded meat, and stir-fry quickly. Once the meat changes color, remove it from the pan and set aside.

Leave some oil in the pan, add minced ginger and garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the green peppers and stir-fry briefly, then add the shredded pork and stir-fry evenly together.

In just a few minutes, a plate of brightly colored shredded pork with green peppers was ready, and the enticing aroma made one's mouth water.

"Stir-fried pork with green peppers, please enjoy."

Nan Xu handed the plate forward and smiled slightly.

Xiao Zou sniffed, revealing an expression of rapture.

He picked up a piece with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and his eyes lit up: "Delicious!"

Luo Qinzhu tasted it and nodded with a smile: "The shredded pork is tender and the green peppers are crisp. You've cooked this shredded pork with green peppers to perfection."

"As for the knife skills and seasoning, they were executed perfectly."

Chef Li exclaimed, "This dish of shredded pork with green peppers has reached the level of a ninth-grade chef... Young people these days are truly remarkable."

[Ding! Experience points +587!]

[Ding! Experience points +1688!]

[Ding! Experience points +1254!]

Upon hearing the system notification, Nan Xu simply smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliments, but I still have a long way to go."

  

In the past few days, while practicing his knife skills and cooking techniques, he also gained a lot of experience points by having everyone taste his dishes. However, this small amount of experience points could no longer stir any waves in his heart.

However, if he repeatedly had several people taste the dish, the experience points gained would gradually decrease, so in the end he only managed to get a little over 20,000 experience points.

He invested these experience points into "Fire Refining Palm", "Frost Condensation Finger" and "Long Eyes and Flying Ears Skill", and now, all three cooking skills have been upgraded to level 3.

His fire control and seasoning skills also improved through continuous practice, breaking through the LV10 threshold and reaching LV13 and LV16 respectively.

Now, he is fully prepared to take the ninth-grade chef qualification exam.

Nan Xu was just about to pick up a piece of her own shredded pork with green peppers and see if there was anything she could improve.

Then he discovered that the shredded pork with green peppers in the plate was empty.

Looking up, I saw Xiao Zou putting the last bit of shredded meat into his mouth.

Seeing Nan Xu looking at him, Xiao Zou smiled awkwardly: "Brother, your shredded pork with green peppers tastes really good, I couldn't resist..."

Nan Xu returned a smile: "It's okay, didn't we agree to treat you to a meal? Consider it a treat."

Upon hearing Nan Xu's words, Xiao Zou immediately made a bitter face: "Brother, you said you'd treat me to a meal, and this is what you're going to make me eat?"

"This stir-fried pork with green peppers is delicious, but isn't it too ordinary?"

"Just kidding." Nan Xu smiled. "After I become a ninth-grade chef, I'll come back and cook you a delicious meal."

With that, Nan Xu stood up, carefully tidied up the kitchen utensils, and walked towards the door.

"Chef Luo, Chef Li, it's almost time, I should get going."

"Okay." Luo Qinzhu nodded, encouragingly saying, "Don't feel pressured, you'll definitely be fine."

"We're waiting for your good news!" Master Li said with a grin.

Nan Xu waved and walked out the door.

In an instant, his eyes hardened.

He's here for the ninth-rank chef assessment!

……

At the entrance of Baiweilou Restaurant.

Wang Yi watched with a gloomy expression as Nan Xu strode away. He knew that was the direction of the Food Criticism Bureau.

After hesitating for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, he walked out the door.

After walking through several alleys, he stopped in front of an old shop.

As I pushed open the door, the waiter lazily raised his head.

"What is it?"

"...I want to see Mr. Jiang."

Wang Yi tossed out a token and spoke in a hoarse voice.

The waiter's expression changed slightly, and his tone became serious: "Please wait a moment, I'll go and inform them."

He walked towards the inner hall, and after a while, he came back.

"The sir invites you in to talk. Please come with me."

Wang Yi followed the waiter into the inner room, and then the door was quickly closed.

Looking at the middle-aged man in brocade robes before him, Wang Yi's expression became even more respectful, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

Although this person is only a collateral member of the Jiang family, he represents the will of the entire Jiang family and is definitely not someone I can afford to offend.

After all, the Jiang family patriarch has an excellent relationship with the current emperor and practically wields absolute power in Huizhou. Even within the entire Great Xuan Dynasty, they are a force to be reckoned with.

"Mr. Jiang," he said, bowing his head, "that kid went to take the ninth-grade chef exam. Now... is the perfect time to execute the plan."

Mr. Jiang sneered: "Ha, a mere brat has scared you to death? The patriarch said that guy is insignificant."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yi's heart sank.

He insisted, "That kid is ultimately an uncertain factor. If we want to seize Baiweilou, the fewer uncertain factors, the better."

Mr. Jiang shook his head, his expression inscrutable: "With a temperament like yours, how can you possibly be fit to be the head chef of Baiwei Restaurant in the future?"

Wang Yi clenched his fists, but did not reply. He simply lowered his head even further.

Then, Mr. Jiang changed the subject:

"However... what you said is not wrong. The patriarch also said that this matter is of great importance and cannot tolerate the slightest accident."

He stood up, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Although it was more than half a month ahead of schedule, it was inevitably a bit rushed, but the necessary preparations are almost complete."

"The plan can begin."

……

Standing before the vermilion gate, Nan Xu looked up at the gilded plaque.

"The Food Review Bureau... Finally, I've come here again."

The Food Appraisal Bureau is a subordinate agency of the "Food Treasure Pavilion," the official culinary institution of the Great Xuan Dynasty. It is mainly responsible for appraising chefs' ranks and notarizing culinary competitions.

In his past life, he had dealt with this organization quite a bit.

Nan Xu walked into the courtyard, where dozens of candidates were already waiting for the assessment. Most of them looked nervous, while a few looked calm.

He glanced around but didn't see any familiar faces, so he gave up the idea of ​​chatting with anyone, leaned against the corner of the wall, and focused on circulating his internal energy to conserve his strength.

After a while, an official slowly walked out of the examination room.

"The Ninth-Rank Chef Assessment is about to begin. Please proceed to the examination area."

Upon hearing this, the candidates immediately became serious, lined up, and headed towards the examination area.

Nan Xu followed the group and stepped into the spacious examination room.

As soon as he entered, he looked around. He saw very complete facilities and ingredients, and there were enough stoves for hundreds of people to use.

His gaze then focused on the three examiners sitting at the end of the examination room—the culinary judges.

The man on the left was a refined gentleman with a scholarly air. He was wearing a blue long gown, and the nameplate in front of him read "Gao Wenjie".

The person on the right is a capable female chef with a name tag that reads "Zhou Yan".

And the person in the middle... even Nan Xu was stunned the moment he saw him.

The man was dressed in official robes, with a dignified expression and an air of righteousness about him.

The nameplate placed in front of him clearly read "Ding Baozhen"!