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

"Qingqing, choose the first option, hand-drip coffee!" Qi Lei suggested.

Before the rules were announced, none of the three expected that coffee latte art would be included in this competition.

Lan Qingqing has only been exposed to coffee for a short time, and is mainly in the stage of learning the basics and practicing hand-drip coffee.

For challenging projects like latte art, she had only ever watched Qi Lei do it from the sidelines; she had never actually made a finished product herself.

Lan Yujuan thought for a moment and offered a different suggestion:

"Or, how about having Qingqing participate in the third activity: blind tasting?"

"Looking at the previous groups, their blind tasting results were generally mediocre; it mostly depended on luck."

"Qingqing has always been lucky; she can guess a few questions correctly."

"The first two items are the key to differentiating scores, and Manager Qi and I will strive to get full marks in the first two items."

Qi Lei agreed with the suggestion.

"Okay, let's arrange it that way!"

The key point is that both of them know the quality of the coffee that Lan Qingqing makes.

To score over 80 points in the semi-finals is an exceptional performance!

Under normal circumstances, if Lan Qingqing's brewed coffee can consistently score 60 points, that's considered pretty good.

Moreover, after reviewing the situation, all three of them were very clear about the following:

During the semi-finals, Lan Qingqing was able to make coffee quite well mainly because she had a good grasp of rhythm and timing.

This sense of rhythm and timing came from having two teachers by her side, guiding her step by step.

However, during the finals, the three of them were responsible for different events, and Lan Qingqing had no one to watch with.

It's already quite impressive that she can brew coffee independently.

As for latte art, that's not something you can master overnight.

Then, just when Lan Yujuan and Qi Lei had reached a consensus, Lan Qingqing raised her hand and voiced a different opinion:

"I object!"

I won't choose either the first or the third option.

"I'll try the second option: latte art."

Before the two could object, Lan Qingqing raised her hand and continued:

"I can't explain it right now, but please believe me one more time!"

"Although I don't know what kind of latte art I can make."

"But I know very well that I'm definitely not cut out for hand-drip coffee or blind tasting!"

"Especially the blind coffee tasting; I tried it while sitting in the audience when the other contestants went on stage, and I just couldn't do it!"

"If I had to pick ten out of thirty coffee beans and name their corresponding varieties, origins, processing methods, etc., I'd probably get zero points."

Lan Yujuan and Qi Lei exchanged a glance and decided to respect Lan Qingqing's choice:

"Okay, let's do it your way!"

The first event in the finals: hand-drip coffee.

Qi Lei, representing No. 8 Half-Mountain Hidden Cafe, makes his official debut.

The 15 teams that made it to the finals were divided into five groups of three to compete against each other.

On the stage, three control panels were placed side by side, with Qi Lei, number 8, standing in the middle.

Along with contestant number 8, contestants number 7 and 9 also took the stage. Lan Yujuan had never heard of either of the two coffee shops.

"You mean table number 8 is Qi Lei? The champion of last year's national coffee competition?"

"No doubt about it, it's him!"

Lan Yujuan and Lan Qingqing stood side by side at the edge of the stage, quietly waiting to go on stage.

Suddenly, I heard people talking about Qi Lei from the waiting area not far away.

"But how come I remember that champion Qi Lei had a head of dreadlocks and looked really unique?"

The short-haired, buzz-cut boy on stage looked clean and neat, like a college student who hadn't graduated yet...

"We'll know whether it's true or not when the results come out!"

The champion's hairstyle might change at any time, but their coffee-making skills will definitely remain top-notch.

"But then again, that guy in the middle with the buzz cut (number 8) actually looks pretty handsome..."

Hearing their discussion, Lan Yujuan couldn't help but feel curious as well.

So he moved closer to Lan Qingqing and asked in a low voice:

"Qingqing, do you know why your master suddenly changed his hairstyle out of the blue?"

"Could it be that he's in a relationship?"

During the preliminary and semi-final rounds, Qi Lei's hairstyle was still the same as before.

When we met today, I noticed that Qi Lei had cut his long hair.

She had been preoccupied with something, and Qi Lei, sitting beside her, had mostly kept his head down and remained silent, so she hadn't had a chance to ask.

Lan Qingqing blinked, leaned close to Lan Yujuan's ear and whispered:

"During the semi-finals, he overheard two girls gossiping behind his back, saying that his hairstyle was too sloppy and that he didn't look professional at all."

"Looking at his appearance, even the coffee tastes bad. Such a slovenly team shouldn't have made it to the finals."

"When my master heard this, I could tell his expression was off."

"I remember his hair was perfectly fine when he left work yesterday."

"It's strange, really. He got his hair done in just one night, I wonder where he went?"

After listening, Lan Yujuan roughly understood. "No wonder..."

However, Qi Lei's hairstyle was exactly the same as his roommate's.

She guessed that it was most likely Qi Lei who asked his roommate to help him with the tidying up.

Despite sporting a new hairstyle, Qi Lei maintained an incredibly consistent performance on stage.

Watching Qi Lei make coffee with the background music playing is a real treat!

Every move is meticulously executed, with a smooth rhythm.

Especially the way Qi Lei looked at the coffee in his hand; it seemed to be full of affection and appreciation.

Even from afar, before you've even tasted it, you can almost smell the aroma of coffee, making you eagerly anticipate it.

In contrast, the contestants number 7 and 9 next to Qi Lei, although skilled in their movements, were clearly a level below Qi Lei when standing in a row.

Just as the coffee on the stage was about to be ready, one of the bolder contestants quietly moved behind the judges' table.

Then, in a voice that almost everyone around could hear, she smiled and offered her suggestions:

"Judges, after you finish judging, could we share the remaining coffee?"

As soon as this suggestion was made, the other contestants around him echoed it:

"Exactly, the beans we used today were good; it would be such a waste to throw the rest away!"

"Let's all share a taste and see just how far we are from the champion!"

Of the three contestants on stage, only Qi Lei had ever won a championship.

Clearly, his peers had figured something out and started staring at the pot of coffee in his hand, which the judges hadn't even had a chance to taste yet.

The chief judge, after hearing this, readily agreed and immediately smiled, saying:

"OK!"

"However, there is one thing: we can only share the leftovers with everyone after the judges have tasted them and given them their scores."

The other contestants all smiled and agreed, "No problem, it's settled then!"

Standing to the side, Lan Qingqing watched her colleagues' enthusiastic support and felt a surge of warmth in her heart.

So this is the allure of being a champion!

Lan Yujuan stood to the side and whispered:

"In fact, every barista who made it to the finals this time has won awards in various competitions to varying degrees."

"But people are always like this, they frantically idolize the first place, but few remember the second place."

"But if someone comes in first place and can't even make it to the finals, even if he provides a full cup of coffee, not many people will want to drink more, not even a sip."

Lan Qingqing stood to the side, her fists clenching tightly as she whispered, "But I haven't even gotten any ranking yet..."

Lan Yujuan patted her on the back and encouraged her, "You'll have it after this competition!"

"No matter how successful they are now, they all started from scratch and got here step by step."

"If they can do it, then you definitely can too!"

As the two were talking, three pots of freshly made coffee, already on a tray, were being carried by three volunteers toward the judges' table.

The volunteers present today were all beautiful young women with good figures and faces, wearing cheongsams and high heels.

As the three of them lined up and walked toward the judges' table, they all wore professional and appropriate smiles.

The results were about to be revealed, and Lan Qingqing was getting more and more nervous.

"Sis, do you think my master can get first place today?"

Lan Yujuan appeared calm, but her heart was pounding wildly. "If nothing unexpected happens, they shouldn't have asked..."

Before Lan Yujuan could finish speaking, an unexpected event occurred.

The volunteer in the middle, who was holding the coffee made by Qi Lei (number 8), was suddenly bumped by a spectator who rushed over to take a picture.

"Ah! Coffee!"

With a gasp from the pretty volunteer, the tray in her hand tilted, and the pot of coffee on it flew out of her hands.

The pretty volunteer reached out to help, but was a beat too slow.

The others were even further away, making it impossible to save them in time.

Lan Yujuan's heart sank. If this pot of coffee spilled, the outcome would be dire.

Just as she was about to give up and accept defeat, a nimble figure flashed before her eyes.

"Wow! She caught it?"

"Who is that girl? She's incredibly agile!"

In an instant, Lan Yujuan was both surprised and delighted, never expecting that she would retain her score in this section!

She looked closely and was even more surprised to see that the person who rushed over to catch the coffee pot was actually Lan Qingqing, who had been standing next to her just moments before!