After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

Lan Yujuan frowned upon hearing about the newly added theoretical competition segment.

"A competition like this requires a theory test? That's outrageous!"

"They didn't mention it at all when I registered."

Qi Lei opened a small camping table, then placed the boxed lunch on it, saying as he set it up:

"When planning the event, the organizers probably just wanted to create a project to liven up the atmosphere in the mall and add some fun."

"As for the contestants, whether they are professional or not is completely unimportant."

"But now that online live streaming is popular and has a greater influence, the organizers naturally want to make it more like a proper event."

"I reckon that starting from the semi-finals, the organizers wanted to use some methods to weed out non-professional contestants and improve the quality of the competition."

Lan Yujuan nodded in agreement. But at the same time, she also offered her own analysis.

"However, I don't think we need to worry too much about the semi-finals."

"The finals are tomorrow, and we can't possibly eliminate all the nobodies. We still have a chance to make it to the finals."

"The real hellish difficulty will come in the finals."

At this point, Lan Yujuan paused for a moment before lowering her voice and saying:

"Furthermore, I suspect that the organizers have already decided on the top three in this final."

"Unless there is a particularly outstanding dark horse, no matter how the other groups perform, the result will be the same."

"Participating in a competition depends on both skill and luck. Let's aim to reach the finals, and not think about anything else for now."

Lan Qingqing sat down next to him, opened the boxed lunch and took a bite of the food, which only added to her frustration.

"I'm not really thinking about winning the award right now. My main concern is that this afternoon, when I go on stage, I won't know anything and I'll embarrass myself online..."

The boxed lunch was simple, consisting of four dishes and rice, but the portion was quite large. The dishes were: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, braised pork, bok choy with mushrooms, and hot and sour shredded potatoes.

"Good heavens! How could four simple home-cooked dishes taste so bad?" Lan Qingqing is usually not a picky eater, but today she really couldn't swallow them.

At the crucial moment, Chen Mo took out an exquisite food box from the side and laid out the dishes prepared by the housekeeper.

Lan Qingqing's eyes widened. The moment she opened the lunchbox and smelled the aroma, she started swallowing hard.

"Oh my god, it smells so good!"

Lan Yujuan couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's eat together!"

The boxed lunches provided at noon were already somewhat unpalatable.

Adding to the aroma wafting from Lan Yujuan's table, the other contestants nearby were practically drooling with envy.

Faintly, one could hear the other contestants around them getting up and saying:

"Never mind, I'll just go make myself a cup of instant noodles!"

"The supermarket downstairs has bread. I'd rather eat bread than this awful stuff!"

The group was already hungry and was enjoying their meal.

The feeling of happiness was even stronger when I was surrounded by other contestants!

"Eat well, let good luck come your way, and strive to make it to the finals this afternoon!" Lan Qingqing said, clenching her fist.

The comfort of delicious food gave Lan Qingqing a boost of confidence.

However, just then, a new team entered the venue with their items and passed right by them.

One of the people who was standing nearby overheard Lan Qingqing's words and burst out laughing, his attitude clearly unfriendly.

"You've been learning coffee for a month, and you still want to make it to the finals?"

"If you could win just by luck, what would be the point of having professional athletes who train hard?"

"Do they really think the upcoming matches are just child's play?"

Lan Qingqing started learning coffee from scratch, and all in all, it's only been about a month.

But people are always like this: the more they lack something, the more they care about it.

She was instantly enraged when she heard the sudden, malicious sarcasm and condescending attitude of the unfamiliar barista next to her.

"Smack!" He put down his chopsticks, turned around, and said resentfully:

Do I know you?

"How did you know I've been learning about coffee?"

"How capable do you really think you are?"

Hearing the commotion, the surrounding people all turned their gazes in this direction.

Lan Yujuan also turned around and glanced at the newly arrived team behind her: three men and two women, all wearing dark brown aprons with the "Mountain Top Coffee" logo.

The team leader was a boy who looked a few years younger than me and seemed vaguely familiar.

But the one who spoke rudely and deliberately provoked Lan Qingqing was a girl about the same age as Lan Qingqing, who looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old.

"Who are you? What's it to me!" the little girl scoffed.

"In the preliminary round this morning, your group, number six, went on stage to make coffee, and more than 300,000 people watched online."

"The comments section is going crazy, saying that there was a slacker later on. When grinding coffee beans, his hands were shaking so badly that he was trembling like he had Parkinson's disease, like he was swaying like a leaf."

The little girl got to the funny part and couldn't help but turn around and laugh out loud.

The others around also joined in the laughter.

"With your skill level just now, if you had studied for a few more months, you would have completely disgraced your teacher."

Upon hearing this, Lan Qingqing's face flushed red, she bit her lip tightly, and tears were about to well up in her eyes.

No one knows better than herself how nervous she was when she went on stage during the preliminary round.

If the other party is talking nonsense, she can still act unreasonably and throw a tantrum.

But now, what the other party said is true, and you can even see the full replay online.

Even if she were stupid, she would understand one thing: if she said anything more now, she would only become another laughing stock.

The opponent's strength may not be that great.

But at the very least, they should be better than themselves.

So, Lan Qingqing decided to grit her teeth and swallow her anger.

Lan Yujuan sat to the side, originally wanting to see how the little chili pepper would respond when someone came to cause trouble.

Unexpectedly, Little Chili seemed to have her vital point controlled and actually had to swallow this humiliation?

Seeing the other party's arrogant attitude, and with none of the other four people in the group willing to speak up for them, he was immediately furious.

But although she was angry inside, she spoke politely and even forced a smile:

"So what if my hands are shaking? As long as the coffee tastes good!"

"It's understandable that newcomers are a little nervous when they first compete on stage."

"This, on the contrary, shows that the baristas participating in the competition have a heart of reverence and pure innocence."

"Some people may have been in the industry longer and have a wider range of knowledge. But they still don't know what the coffee they brew will taste like, or even if it's edible."

The young girl, having been directly contradicted, looked embarrassed and was clearly on the verge of a breakdown. She retorted angrily:

"What I just said was simply the truth!"

"What, just because she's not capable enough, she won't let others comment on her?"

Lan Yujuan's smile faded slightly, and she said coolly:

"Could it be that you think the judges' comments just now were biased?"

"Our group advanced in sixth place. You suspect there was some kind of shady dealing, that the organizers manipulated things behind the scenes?"

The little girl wanted to argue, but the person leading the group at the mountaintop coffee shop clearly couldn't stand it anymore and quickly gave his companion a look.

Before the young girl could say anything more, another female barista stepped forward and persuaded her to step aside.

"Zhang Dan, keep your mouth shut and don't cause trouble..."

Then, the man leading the group stepped forward to smooth things over, smiling faintly:

"I'm sorry, my junior sister is just straightforward and doesn't mean any harm."

Lan Yujuan rolled her eyes at the hypocritical man. "Why didn't you do this earlier?"

"If he's really that good, how about we arrange a match after the competition to have a friendly spar?"

After saying that, he turned away and ignored him.

Although the Half-Mountain Retreat Cafe has just opened and there aren't many people, she and Qi Lei are not to be underestimated when they dare to take this business.