Era: You're asked to cook a home-style dish, but you cook Wellington.

Police officers rushed into the venue one by one. The first two to enter pinned the gambling king to the ground and snatched the packet of white powder from his hand.

"Don't move!"

Police officers who arrived later showed their identification and began checking the scene one by one.

The gambling king's face was pressed completely to the ground, and his body was locked, so he couldn't move and could only watch helplessly as Shata regained his senses.

His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Gao Yang.

"You did this!"

Gao Yang slowly walked up to the gambling king, looked at the gambling king's face that was distorted with anger, and shook his head.

"It wasn't me. I don't know what happened."

Just then, he felt someone pat him on the shoulder.

Turning his head, he saw Gu Jingzhou walking down from the platform at some point and patting him on the shoulder.

"Gao Yang, you did a great job this time. You didn't dodge when the accident happened, but instead stopped Shata. Otherwise, the situation would have been more complicated. You are indeed someone they have high hopes for."

Gu Jingzhou had a kind face, and his eyes showed undisguised admiration when he looked at Gao Yang.

Then, he looked at the gambling king, his smile vanished, and his eyes turned cold.

"From the moment I learned you were in China, I arranged for people to wait for you to walk into my trap. I never expected you to actually come."

"Gambling King, Gambling King, I've gone to great lengths to catch you, how could I let you escape?"

Gu Jingzhou seemed like a completely different person, like a wolf eyeing a sheep, his eyes filled with a bloodthirsty desire.

The gambling king glared fiercely at Gu Jingzhou. If looks could pierce through holes, Gu Jingzhou would be riddled with wounds by now.

"You orchestrated all of this!"

He squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth.

Gu Jingzhou raised an eyebrow.

"Otherwise what? Do you really think I didn't notice that Shata is one of your people? Do you really think I don't know that Shata is being controlled by you? After all these years, your methods haven't changed."

As soon as he finished speaking, the audience was shocked.

"What?! Shata is actually controlled by the gambling king? That's too tragic."

"Yeah, that's why I was wondering why Shata was acting so strangely. Turns out they used some special methods."

"People like this are causing chaos in our country and should be severely punished."

"Punish severely, punish severely, punish severely..."

A cacophony of cries erupted, culminating in a resounding and unified shout of "Severe punishment!"

As Shata watched all this, his body trembled uncontrollably.

"Really? Am I dreaming?"

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Ever since she was sold to the gambling king by human traffickers, she has endured inhuman torture every moment for many years.

There are no emotions, no freedom, and no consciousness of one's own.

Every day, she would wake up in that dark little room and be forced to be injected with drugs and forced to hone her culinary skills day after day.

As she watched her sisters dwindle in number, she was filled with fear, afraid that she would be the next to disappear.

She had thought about escaping, but as soon as she had that thought, the gambling king would find out, and she would suffer inhuman punishment.

Recalling these memories, Shata's body trembled even more violently.

She squatted on the ground, holding her head, her chin bobbing up and down.

Seeing that her mental state was really not right, the police sent someone to take her to the hospital in advance.

The gambling king was held down by two police officers. The moment he saw Shata leave, he realized that he had no chance to turn things around.

He bit his lip hard with his teeth, and the veins on his neck and forehead bulged.

"Gu Jingzhou, you just wait, don't give me a chance to kill you."

The gambling king's tone was fierce.

Before he could finish speaking, two police officers pressed down on his shoulders, telling him to behave.

"Kill me? Come on, I'm standing right here, do whatever you want."

Gu Jingzhou was in a great mood, stroking his beard as he looked at the gambling king.

"But before that, you'd better stay at the police station."

"Walk!"

Once the identity of the last audience member was verified, the two police officers took the gambling king away. He remained obedient throughout, showing no sign of resistance.

Gao Yang stared at the gambling king's retreating figure, his heart unable to find peace for a long time.

I never expected there would be this hurdle in the competition. This world is just too complicated.

"Alright, let's go. We haven't declared you the winner yet."

Gu Jingzhou's words interrupted Gao Yang's train of thought.

The two returned to the high platform.

Gu Jingzhou picked up the microphone.

"Ahem, everyone, although there was a little incident just now, and player Shata is not here right now, I still have to make an announcement."

He looked at Gao Yang.

The winner of this match is...

"Gao Yang!"

Gu Jingzhou's voice, transmitted through the microphone, resounded throughout the entire venue.

Inside the venue, thunderous applause erupted.

The recent scandal involving the gambling king had everyone on edge, but now all their tension has turned into cheers for the victor.

Gao Yang stood on the high platform, facing the camera and all the audience.

A confident smile spread across his face, devoid of ostentation or boasting, revealing only his self-affirmation of his culinary skills.

Nangong Lian, sitting in the audience, pouted and clapped while saying sourly, "It's my turn to perform this afternoon, and I'm sure I'll get the same feedback."

His words made Nangong Hong, who was standing next to him, burst out laughing.

"Oh my, I can't take it anymore, this is hilarious! Your opponent is me, your older sister. You'll have to practice more if you want to win."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Lian glared at her sister with annoyance, her face as black as soot at the bottom of a pot.

His sister was right. Even though they were both geniuses in the Nangong family, in terms of cooking skills, he was really outmatched by his sister.

"This is boring, so incredibly boring!"

Nangong Lian covered his ears and screamed.

…………

Outside the venue, in a private room at the Yicheng Hotel.

"Damn it, this gambling king is so unreliable. He even dared to boast to me that he would definitely win, but he still got taught a lesson by Gao Yang."

Qin Wanshan grew angrier the more he thought about it, and smashed the cup in his hand on the ground.

The cup fell onto the thick carpet, but it was completely unharmed.

Seeing this, he became even angrier and kicked the cup far away.

"That Liu Jianye is no good either. He took the money and did nothing. He had the nerve to say he had a very high status in the catering industry. It turns out he was just trying to fool me."

"President Qin, please don't be angry. I'm here for you, aren't I?"

Zou Li stood to the side, a smile plastered on his face.

When he heard that Qin Wanshan had so many backup plans, he was initially a little flustered.

If these people successfully stop Gao Yang, then there will be nothing left for me to do. At that time, all the resources and money will be gone.

Now that the gambling king is in jail, Liu Jianye has no status anymore.

If I can defeat Gao Yang in the competition, then all of these will be mine.

Zou Li's little eyes darted around, and he could hardly contain his smugness.

Qin Wanshan calmed down a bit, put his hands on his hips, turned to look at Zou Li, and breathed heavily.

"Alright, if you can beat Gao Yang, the reward will be doubled!"