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

???

Everyone present was stunned; they felt as if their ears had gone awry.

Kong Lingxian, in particular, stared wide-eyed: "What did you say?"

"I'm not participating in the final round of the competition."

"What do you mean by not participating? Why aren't you participating???" Kong Lingxian shouted in anguish.

Shen Qing was speechless. Not participating meant not participating, so why couldn't this person understand human language?

Moreover, whether she participates or not seems to have nothing to do with the person in front of her.

"I don't need to participate in the food competition anymore; today I have to sell spicy strips," Shen Qing said coldly.

Kong Lingxian frowned and looked to the side. There was indeed a small cart with a large jar on it, and he didn't know what was inside the jar.

It should be what's known as spicy strips.

"Listen to me, selling spicy snacks has no future. You still need to participate in the culinary competition. Only by achieving a good ranking in the culinary competition will you have more opportunities, be able to enter better restaurants, and make a name for yourself in the art of cooking!"

Kong Lingxian was speaking with great earnestness; he never imagined that one day he would have to persuade his opponent not to give up the game.

That's absolutely outrageous.

Shen Qing nodded: "You're right."

Kong Lingxian's eyes lit up, thinking he had persuaded Shen Qing, but the next moment, he heard Shen Qing say the following:

"However, I really don't need to participate in the food competition anymore."

She was very sincere and didn't tell a single lie.

The system task is complete; she no longer needs to participate in the food competition.

Kong Lingxian: "..."

Goodness, they're completely impervious to reason.

What will he do then? If Madam Shen doesn't participate, how can he win?

Even if he wins first place in the food competition, he won't be happy.

"Perhaps...you should reconsider." Kong Lingxian's eyes held a pleading look, and he said anxiously, "You should participate. If you participate, I'll give you one hundred taels of silver!"

Shen Qing: "..."

Does she look like a greedy person?

"No need," she said coldly, then lowered her head to set up her stall.

Kong Lingxian could tell that Shen Qing was determined.

In the end, he could only walk back to the field dejectedly.

Suddenly, everyone present started discussing it:

"Good heavens, it's such a pity that Madam Shen isn't participating anymore; she's lost first place!"

"It's not that Madam Shen lost first place; it's that the food competition lost Madam Shen."

"Kong Lingxian said a lot, but he couldn't change Madam Shen's mind. To be honest, Kong Lingxian is really a good person."

"The remaining contestants must be happy. The first one withdrew, and they have another chance."

"Madam Shen must have gotten bored; if the competition continued, she would definitely be number one."

"I don't know why, but even though Madam Shen withdrew from the competition, I think she's even more amazing now!"

"..."

The judges on stage were also dumbfounded.

They thought something had happened to Shen Qing and were trying to delay the competition, but they didn't expect him to simply not participate.

The other judges didn't seem to mind, but they felt it was a pity that Shen Qing lost first place.

But Master Jin was furious.

He funded the food competition, and Shen Qing was his favorite to win first place. He had even planned future collaborations.

But then this happened at the very last moment.

Shen Qing, who had the best chance of winning first place, withdrew from the competition. This was simply a food competition that looked down on him.

"Spicy strips for sale! Spicy and numbing strips, fragrant spicy strips!!" A loud shout rang out.

The voice was not Shen Qing's, but that of Situ Liang, who had come along with him.

Shen Qing has been running his stall for so long, but he has never shouted out his wares.

Suddenly, all eyes were on Shen Qing's stall.

"Spicy strips? They're yesterday's spicy strips!!!" a kid shouted.

Shouting, he rushed to Shen Qing's stall.

"I want spicy strips! Spicy strips!!"

He hurriedly untied the money pouch from his waist, and with a whoosh, all the loose silver and copper coins were dumped onto Shen Qing's stall.

"Exchange all this money for spicy strips!!"

Shen Qing couldn't help but laugh.

She was deeply impressed by this young man; yesterday, he even boasted that he would ask his family to buy her a house.

The pile of silver coins that was just poured out must have been at least one or two taels of silver.

I wonder which wealthy family's child he is.

"Spicy strips are 30 coins a serving, and each person can only buy one serving~" Shen Qing said with a smile.

"Huh?" The kid's face immediately fell. "How can one small piece be enough to eat..."

Thirty coins for a small root?

Shen Qing herself was shocked; this kid dared to dream of it, but she dared not sell it.

"One serving is half a jin," Shen Qing explained. "Since you're the first customer today, I can make an exception and sell you two servings."

"Two portions equal one pound!!!"

The kid was overjoyed and jumped up.

A pound of spicy strips!

He only ate a little bit yesterday, but today he's actually going to eat a pound! He can't even imagine how happy he'll be later!

Shen Qing accepted the boy's sixty coins and deftly wrapped two jin of spicy strips into an oil paper bag.

The boy took the oil paper package, eagerly opened it, grabbed a stick, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Hiss~"

"Delicious, so delicious!"

The little boy ate until his mouth was covered in oil, and his hands and clothes were also covered in oil.

Everyone present was tempted upon seeing this.

Judging from the way this kid is eating, he's practically a born loser of spicy snacks.

Suddenly, the audience all flocked to Shen Qing's stall.

"I want one!!"

"I want spicy strips too!"

"Queue up! Hurry up and join the queue, or there won't be any left!"

"..."

The scene became chaotic, and the audience below no longer wanted to watch the food competition on stage; nothing was more attractive than spicy strips.

Shen Qing was not surprised by this situation at all.

For this spicy snack task, the system did not restrict the location of the stall.

Choosing to set up a stall next to the food competition was her own idea.

Because one hundred viewers tried the spicy strips yesterday, they will definitely choose to buy her spicy strips today.

There's no worry about not being able to complete the task.

The judges on stage were getting restless.

God knows, they also wanted to queue up to buy spicy strips.

Fang Shanren swallowed hard, but finally couldn't resist and sneaked off the stage to join the queue.

Mr. Qingci turned his head and saw that Fang Shanren's seat was empty.

I glanced in the direction of Shen Qing's stall.

"Um......"

He made his decision.

So he secretly slipped off the stage.

Even the renowned gourmet Mr. He couldn't resist the temptation of the spicy strips. He disregarded everything else and rushed off the stage.

The remaining few were also tempted, but they all had some kind of business relationship with Master Jin.

They couldn't disregard Mr. Jin's feelings.

After all, Jin Ye's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.