Republic of China, 1928: Starting from a Wonton Shop

The room fell silent upon hearing this.

"good!"

Someone in the crowd shouted first, and then cheers came like a tidal wave.

"Manager Li is so generous! This method is fair!"

"That's real skill! Relying on no one but the taste!"

"Dongxinglou! They've already laid down their cards, do you dare to accept them?!"

Yan Desheng was furious. Looking at Li Chunsheng's confident eyes, he felt a strange sense of panic. But he was already in a dilemma. If he didn't accept, it would be an admission that he had been making trouble and that he was afraid!

"Take it! Why wouldn't I take it!" Yan Desheng gritted his teeth. "I refuse to believe those peasants can't tell the difference! My cooking is authentic imperial style! A hundred times better than yours!"

Although Sun Dehai felt it was somewhat risky, he had no other choice but to nod reluctantly, "Alright! We'll do as you say! Let the people be the judge!"

"Great!" Li Chunsheng clapped his hands. "In that case, everyone, please wait outside for a moment!"

The crowd in the hall began to recede like the tide. Mei Lanfang and others also rose with great grace and went to the private rooms on the second floor to avoid the crowd, leaving only Chairman Yu Deshun in the center of the hall as the sole witness.

Soon, the huge lobby of Dongxinglou became empty, with the doors and windows tightly closed, leaving only two stoves and two chefs facing each other.

"Let's begin," Chairman Yu said in a deep voice, glancing at his pocket watch.

The stove fire roared up again.

This time, Yan Desheng was truly risking his life. Large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, his eyes were fixed on the oil pan, and he even held his breath. He used all his best skills, making each cut with care and striving for perfection. He was burning with anger, a wicked fire that was determined to crush Li Chunsheng.

On the other side, Li Chunsheng appeared unusually calm. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and adjusted himself to his best state.

Yan Desheng was filled with distracting thoughts and anger.

But Li Chunsheng only had this dish in his mind.

Heat oil in a wok.

Yan Desheng's food was already in the pot, and with a loud bang, flames shot into the sky.

Li Chunsheng wasn't in a hurry; he was waiting for the wisp of smoke rising from the oil noodles to become a straight line.

It's now!

"Splash!"

Add the ingredients to the pot and heat the oil over high heat!

The spatula in Li Chunsheng's hand was spinning rapidly.

One second, two seconds!

Out of the pot!

Almost simultaneously, two steaming, fragrant plates of stir-fried double crisp were placed on identical white porcelain plates.

Chairman Yu stepped forward with a serious expression. He took out two small slips of paper from his sleeve, stuck them on the bottom of the two plates respectively, made marks on the paper, and then rearranged the positions of the two plates.

"This dish is dish A, and this dish is dish B." Chairman Yu pointed to the two dishes. Apart from himself, no one knew which dish was made by whom. "Gentlemen, you may leave."

Li Chunsheng and Yan Desheng exchanged a glance and then retreated behind the curtain in the kitchen.

Yan Desheng's hands were trembling slightly. He leaned against the wall, convinced that he had performed flawlessly this time and that the wild boy could never surpass him.

The door opened.

The onlookers who had been waiting outside poured in like a tidal wave.

"Alright! Everyone, quiet down!" At Chairman Yu's signal, Da Hu stood on the table, holding a gong, and banged it loudly. "Now we'll begin the blind jury! We need twenty-one judges! Whoever thinks they have a good tongue, come up here!"

"I'll do it!"

Count me in!

"I'll try some too!"

Countless hands were raised in the crowd.

To be fair, Da Hu and one of the employees from Dongxinglou made the selection together.

The final twenty-one individuals were a diverse group, representing all sorts of professions.

There were rickshaw pullers, the owner of a nearby silk shop, a schoolteacher, and even a chubby little boy with a sweet tooth.

"Everyone knows the rules! Each person gets a pair of chopsticks. Try a bite from each of the two dishes, and whichever one you like best, put the red beans you have into the small bowl in front of that dish!"

Twenty people sat around the table, looking at the two plates of tempting dishes.

The rickshaw puller swallowed hard. He was the first to get on. He picked up a piece of yakiniku (a type of Chinese yakiniku) and chewed it.

"Hmm, crispy, and quite fragrant." He nodded. The taste was indeed good, much better than what he usually ate.

Immediately afterwards, he picked up another piece of meat from plate B, and his eyes widened as soon as he put the meat in his mouth.

There is no harm without comparison.

The dishes on plate A were quite good, but compared to plate B, they seemed a bit dry and tough!

Without saying a word, he threw the red beans in his hand into the bowl representing plate B.

The second was the manager of the silk shop; he was a connoisseur of fine food.

He carefully tasted both dishes, his brow furrowing slightly before relaxing. Pointing to dish B, he said, "This dish is cooked slightly better than the other; this is the real deal of 'Oil-Fried Double Crispy'!"

He also placed his bet on plate B.

The third, the fourth, the fifth...

As the voting progressed, the difference in the number of red beans in the two bowls widened.

The bowl representing plate A contained only three or four beans.

The bowl representing plate B already has more than a dozen red beans, so it seems that even if everyone else throws their votes into plate A, victory is assured!

Behind the curtain in the kitchen, Yan Desheng stared intently at the two bowls through the gap, his face growing paler and paler. Of course, he could tell which dish he had made.

"Impossible, this can't be," he muttered to himself. "What do those peasants know? Do they even know what 'cooking time' means?"

Sun Dehai stood behind him. He didn't know which plate belonged to their Dongxinglou, but looking at Yan Desheng's expression, his heart sank little by little.

Finally, all twenty-one votes were cast.

President Yu stepped forward and counted the red beans in front of everyone.

"Plate A, five red beans."

"Plate B, sixteen red beans!"

This is an absolutely overwhelming victory!

"Who made which game? Reveal it now!" someone in the crowd shouted impatiently.

President Yu took a deep breath, slowly picked up the bowl full of red beans, held it high, and took out the small note stuck to the bottom of the plate.

Everyone held their breath.

The note clearly read: Li Ji!

"Second round! Winner! Li Ji Restaurant, Li Chunsheng!" Chairman Yu's booming voice echoed in the lobby.

"good!!!"

There was thunderous applause.

"Manager Li actually won!"

"Dongxinglou has really messed up this time! Let's see if they can keep their promise! I heard they're going to publish an apology!"

"Really? But I think Dongxinglou probably won't make a fuss about it in the newspaper; they can't afford to lose face!"

"Who knows! Let's just watch the show!"

Amidst the deafening cheers, the curtain in the kitchen was slowly lifted.

Yan Desheng stumbled out, looking as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

He walked to the table, his hands trembling, picked up a piece of tripe he had made himself, and then picked up a piece made by Li Chunsheng.

Put it in your mouth.

After chewing only twice, Yan Desheng's chopsticks fell to the ground with a clatter.

Two streams of tears flowed down his oily old face.

Sun Dehai's face turned ashen, and he slumped into a chair. It was all over. The Dongxinglou brand had been smashed to pieces today.

Li Chunsheng also came out at this moment. He remained calm as he looked at Yan Desheng in front of him.

"Master Yan," Li Chunsheng said softly, "Actually, your skills are fine, and the timing is perfect."

Yan Desheng raised his head, staring blankly at him, but said nothing.

Li Chunsheng pointed to his chest. "The difference is here. When you were making this dish, you were thinking about how to beat me. You had distracting thoughts in your mind."

"When I made this dish, all I thought about was how to make it taste the best, how to do justice to the ingredients, and how to do justice to the people who eat it."

Li Chunsheng turned around and faced the crowd:

"The art of cooking lies not in competitiveness, but in the warmth and comfort of everyday life. Ingredients are not inherently valuable, and diners are not inherently superior or inferior. With dedication, even a bowl of wontons can be incredibly delicious. But if you lose your heart, even the finest ingredients will taste bland!"

[System notification: Task completed!]

[Congratulations, host! You have defeated the head chef of Dongxinglou Restaurant and become famous throughout the capital!]

[Reward: Reputation Points +10000!]

[Due to his overwhelming performance, he has been awarded a special title: Commoner Chef God! (Wearing this title will increase diners' favorability by 20%)]

[Bonus Special Rewards: Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, and Hunan cuisine; random dishes from these three cuisines will be unlocked.]