Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

Jin Ye's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

After a long pause, he waved to the host next to him.

The host, trembling with fear, only spoke up to announce after receiving a signal:

"The Golden Chopsticks Token is in effect; Shen Qing has advanced!!"

A loud shout pierced the sky, and the dust settled.

Everyone was shocked and puzzled. They couldn't understand why an ordinary tiger-skin egg would trigger the Golden Chopsticks Token.

"This Lady Shen has made it into the top 40! I can hardly believe my eyes!"

"In my opinion, this Madam Shen might actually have something going for her. This is the second time already; those are golden chopstick tokens!"

"Perhaps there's some connection between Madam Shen and Mr. Qingci..."

"What's going on?! I'm so anxious! I wish I could go up and try it too!!"

"..."

There were all sorts of opinions among the people present, and everyone felt that this year's food competition was exceptionally exciting, much more so than the previous ones.

In previous cooking competitions, judges might only bring out the golden chopsticks token in the third or fourth round, and some judges might not even bring out the golden chopsticks token at all during the entire competition.

This year, wow, they had one in the first round and another in the second round, and they both used the same woman.

That's absolutely outrageous.

Apart from Mr. Qingci and Mr. Fang, all the other judges had dark faces.

Amidst the stern faces of the group, Mr. Qingci and the others shared the plate of tiger-skin eggs.

Of course, they also left Guo Tiancheng with two left.

The game must continue.

But with Shen Qing's dish of tiger-skin eggs leading to the discovery of the Golden Chopsticks Token, the other contestants were in a less favorable position.

The audience members present were all talking about Shen Qing and the plate of tiger-skin eggs.

Situ Liang walked into the audience with a smug look on his face.

Quite a few people made bets with him just now.

"Shen Niangzi won. When are you going to do handstands? You still have to say 'I'm a big idiot' a hundred times!" Situ Liang said slyly.

He won't let this matter pass by so easily.

Fortunately, Madam Shen is capable and resourceful; otherwise, he would have been the one doing the handstand.

"Just kidding, just kidding..." The person who had led the handstand earlier chuckled awkwardly.

He never imagined that the Golden Chopsticks Token would reappear.

I'm speechless.

"A joke? If Madam Shen loses, will you still say it's a joke?" Situ Liang sneered.

No doubt, a crowd will gather around him to watch him do a handstand.

"A bet's a bet, don't be such a coward!"

At this moment, Yan Wenli, who was standing nearby, also spoke up: "Making a bet and then not admitting it—that'll get your fingers chopped off in a casino!"

"Upside down! Upside down!!" someone shouted from the side.

"Do a handstand, hurry up!!" the audience shouted.

There was no one watching the game in the stands anymore; everyone was making a fuss about making those guys do handstands.

No one dislikes watching a spectacle. The people watching the game didn't have any particular stance; they just wanted to enjoy the excitement.

Now that they have the opportunity to see others make fools of themselves, they are very excited.

"Handstand, handstand!!"

"A bet's a bet!"

"Hurry, hurry!!"

"......"

The cheers from the audience grew louder and louder.

On stage, Li Zhesheng is holding his carefully crafted pomegranate egg, which is being evaluated by the judges.

Unsurprisingly, it passed unanimously.

But the shouts around him made him feel a tightness in his chest.

As a descendant of a family of imperial chefs, he was always the center of attention on such occasions, attracting everyone's attention and exclamations as soon as he stepped onto the stage.

But today, all the attention is no longer on him.

Today he served pomegranate eggs, a dish that only appears at palace banquets.

The process is extremely complicated.

To prepare a whole egg, first make a small hole at the tip, pour out the egg liquid, stir-fry the egg liquid with diced sea cucumber, shredded dried scallops, minced ham, and diced winter bamboo shoots, then pour it back into the eggshell, seal it, and steam it until cooked.

The most difficult step is filling the egg. If you're not careful, the eggshell will break and all your efforts will be wasted.

Normally, such an extremely difficult dish would surely amaze everyone and become material for storytellers.

But today, nobody pays any attention, nobody cares what dishes this descendant of a family of imperial chefs actually made.

For the first time, Li Zhesheng felt ignored.

"Upside down!!"

"Hurry up!"

The cheers from the audience continued.

Those who had made bets with Situ Liang eventually succumbed to the pressure and went to the wall.

A row of people resignedly stood upside down, heads to the ground and feet to the sky, chanting incessantly:

"I'm a complete idiot."

"I'm a complete idiot!"

"I'm such a fool!!"

"..."

The other audience members counted the number of repetitions for them:

"one!"

"two!"

"three!"

"..."

No one was paying attention to the competition on stage.

Jin was furious; his eyes looked like they could spit fire.

He couldn't understand how a perfectly good food competition had turned out like this.

"Hurry up!" he shouted to the host next to him.

He simply couldn't sit still any longer.

The host quickly sped up the process; contestants went on stage, judges raised their placards, and the whole process seemed to be on double speed.

The second phase of the dietary competition ended hastily.

Fortunately, by this time, the audience had finished counting to one hundred, and the handstand was over.

The host began announcing the format for the third stage of the competition:

"Ladies and gentlemen! The second stage of the competition has ended, and we have selected forty finalists."

"Now, let's announce the format for the third stage. The third stage will be a one-on-one competition. Each contestant will draw lots to determine their opponent, and seven judges will evaluate and select the winner. The winner will advance, and the loser will be eliminated!"

"This round of competition tests the contestants' skills. There are three stages, which test the contestants' knife skills, heat control, and seasoning skills."

"The basic ingredient for this round of competition is tofu!!"

After hearing what was said, Shen Qing understood that this round mainly tested the contestants' basic skills.

A good chef must have a solid grasp of the three fundamental skills: knife skills, heat control, and seasoning. Only with a solid grasp of these fundamentals can one create delicious food.

Shen Qing was not afraid of any of these three competitions.

You have to understand that before she transmigrated, she was a five-star chef, and her basic skills were as solid as could be.

"Now, the contestants can draw lots to choose their opponents. There are forty lots in the container, each marked with a number from one to twenty. Contestants who draw the same number will be opponents!"

The host brought out a large divination box.

"The draw is random, and the opponents are also randomly selected, which ensures the fairness of the competition to the greatest extent possible!"

After that, a gong sounded, and the contestants stepped forward one by one to draw lots.