A Bite of Douluo Continent

Every dish I ate had the potential to easily be featured in a food review, yet that idiot Cao Pingzhi didn't give a single one a high score.

Yes, not a single one!

Even if only one dish made the list, he wouldn't be this angry. He had heard that the scoundrel had used his position as a food critic to skim money, but many commentators did this, so he just turned a blind eye, thinking it wouldn't affect the overall situation too much.

Food critics have always been like this: they don't make any business for six months, then when they do, they make enough to last them six months.

However, such serious dereliction of duty is enough to affect the credibility of food tasting.

Cao Pingzhi is a bastard!

Because of their own selfish desires and prejudices, they left without even tasting a single bite.

At this moment, Mu Liufeng couldn't help but wonder if his previous leniency towards the judges had been the right thing to do.

After finishing their meal, Mu Liufeng and Lin Lang put down their chopsticks at the same time, exchanged a glance, and then Mu Liufeng summoned Qin Yue again, "Little girl, what time do you close for lunch here?"

"One o'clock in the afternoon." Qin Yue didn't know why Mu Liufeng was asking this, but she still answered honestly.

"There's still time." Mu Liufeng took out an exquisite pocket watch from his pocket, glanced at it, and murmured to himself.

"I heard from Lin Lang that your restaurant also serves a type of food called hot pot?" Mu Liufeng pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Yes, it's on the second floor." Qin Yue nodded and pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor.

Mu Liufeng smiled slightly. "Can I go up and take a look?"

"Yes, that's fine. My sister works on the second floor. You can ask her for anything you need," Qin Yue said with a smile.

For some reason, the editor-in-chief of the food review personally came to Hanshi, which gave Qin Yue a premonition.

Could it be that there's still a chance for the food tasting to turn around?

"Lin Lang, sit here for a while, I'll go upstairs and take a look."

After saying this, Mu Liufeng went up to the second floor and slowly came down after a while, a thoughtful look on his face.

Walking up to Lin Lang, Mu Liufeng suddenly raised his head and said, "Call all the evaluators except Cao Pingzhi. The evaluation work here must be completed within one noon!"

"Okay, editor-in-chief." Lin Lang nodded and turned to leave the shop.

There's still plenty of time before the Cold Food Festival closes for business. I can go to the editorial department and come back; that'll be enough time.

Seeing Lin Lang leave quickly, Mu Liufeng took a deep breath, then smiled and looked at Qin Yue, "If it's convenient, could I speak with your shop's owner?"

These words sounded familiar, but Mu Liufeng said them with far more politeness than Cao Pingzhi, and Qin Yue felt inexplicably excited. "Okay."

...

Things took an unexpected turn. The editor-in-chief of the food review magazine came over in person, but he was very humble. He not only expressed his apologies on behalf of the magazine, but also promised to complete the rating of all the food at Hanshi by noon.

This also caused Qi Han's rapidly declining favorability towards food magazines, due to Cao Pingzhi, to begin to recover.

Perhaps Cao Pingzhi was just a bad apple spoiling the whole bunch?

On the other side, all the scorers were called away by Lin Lang in the name of the editor-in-chief, leaving only Cao Pingzhi sitting alone in the conference room. He was getting restless.

what's the situation?

Call everyone, except yourself?

Isn't this targeting a bit too obviously?

Cao Pingzhi's expression was uncertain, and he slowly crumpled the list in his hand into a ball.

What went wrong?

...

"The five of you will take turns rating the dishes on the first floor, and the rest of you will evaluate the eighteen kinds of hot pot bases, ingredients, and dipping sauces on the second floor. Is that alright?"

Mu Liufeng's eyes flashed like lightning as he looked at the crowd.

The group of judges, who were somewhat confused, hurriedly nodded in agreement, and Mu Liufeng's attitude softened a bit.

"Also, no food waste is allowed."

...

The release of a new food review magazine is a major event for countless food lovers.

On this day, the largest bookstore on Morning Star Street, Wan Shi Bookstore, hung up an eye-catching banner early in the morning that read "New Food Review for Sale". Countless gourmets walked into the bookstore and walked out with a brand-new copy of "Food Review", ready to take it home and read it as soon as possible.

Many eager foodies even started browsing right there in the bookstore.

The first page of the food review features a dish called hot pot, and its rating is...

10 points.

Full marks?

Food reviews have never included a dish with a score higher than 9.5, but this time there's a perfect score?

Countless people were astonished

The foodies then flipped to the second page, the third page…

Then they discovered an even more terrifying truth.

The top sixteen dishes on the food review list were all from the same restaurant.

Where is the Cold Food Festival?

On this day, many people in Xingluo City asked the same question.

...

Holding a copy of "Food Mirror," Qi Han blended into the crowd and quickly returned to Hanshi.

He glanced at the catalog and saw that all sixteen dishes from his restaurant were listed in the food review, dominating the top sixteen spots on the rating list. He couldn't help but smile.

"Ruyi, have you completed the timed mission?"

"It's done! It's done!"

As Ruyi spoke, the task interface appeared in front of Qi Han.

[Limited-time mission: Featured in Food Review (Completed)]

Task Rewards: Randomly dropped recipe x1 (claimable), 4 selectable 2-star recipe fragments (claimable), Soul Power Level +2 (claimable).

As Qi Han accepted the +2 Soul Power level without hesitation, a warm current flowed through his meridians, and his Soul Power grew even stronger.

I'm at level 29.

With one more level, Qi Han will reach level 30.

Qi Han then received the randomly dropped recipe and entered the system space.

Looking at the familiar turntable, Qi Han couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Beside him was a guy who was even more nervous than him.

"High star! High star! High star! High star!" Ruyi stomped her feet, looking at the spinning wheel with a nervous expression. Her cute little fists clenched tightly until the wheel stopped in the yellow area. Then her face fell. "Host, you must be from Africa!"

Qi Han's expression turned somewhat strange. "I always thought the spinning wheel was just a ruse, and that you decided what you drew."

"How could that be?" Ruyi shook her head. "That was really the result of the wheel spinning on its own. It has nothing to do with me."

Qi Han's face darkened even more.

So he really is unlucky?

Oh well, so be it if I'm unlucky.

Qi Han looked at his lottery results.

Two-star recipe – Three No-Stick.

Chapter 162 Cao Pingzhi's Fate

Sanbuzhan was originally a famous dish in the Qing Dynasty imperial kitchen. It is not only golden in color and delicious in taste, but also amazingly does not stick to the plate, chopsticks and teeth, hence the name "Sanbuzhan" (meaning "three non-stick").

Sanbuzhan is characterized by its bright yellow color, soft and thick consistency, resembling neither cake nor porridge, with a smooth and sweet taste, making it especially suitable for the elderly and young children.

Its ingredients are simple, consisting of nothing more than egg yolks, starch, white sugar, water, and oil. The cooking process is also not very difficult; it simply requires constant stirring and mixing, with oil added continuously during the stirring process, until the final result is a non-stick pan and non-stick spoon.

It's just... a bit of a waste of a chef's talent.

Because the entire stir-frying process takes about ten minutes and cannot be stopped.

However, for Qi Han, who already possessed strength approaching the third ring level, the process was not as difficult as he had imagined.

After glancing at the two-star recipe he had drawn, Qi Han shrugged and then claimed the last reward of the limited-time mission.

4 two-star custom recipe fragments.

Having four extra fragments at once meant that Qi Han could exchange for another new two-star recipe. However, he already had a plan in mind, and he quickly spoke up, "Ruyi, list out the drinks for the two-star recipes."

Starting with the small shop in Shrek City, diners kept complaining that everything was good during the Cold Food Festival except for the lack of alcohol.

Even at the new Xingluo City store, this situation was still quite common.

The people of Douluo Continent are known for their fierce and valiant nature, and many of them love to drink. In fact, quite a few diners bring their own alcohol to pair with the dishes served at the restaurants.

During the Cold Food Festival, it's time to add another type of alcoholic beverage.

"Okay." As Ruyi nodded in agreement, the two-star beverage category appeared before Qi Han's eyes.

This was the first time Qi Han had seriously examined the drinks at the two-star restaurant. After just one look, his expression suddenly became quite interesting. "Ruyi, why haven't I heard of any of these drinks?"

"Because most of these wines are brewed from rare and precious herbs or the fruits of plant-type soul beasts," Ruyi shrugged. "Otherwise, why would they be considered a two-star recipe?"

Good guy.

Qi Han scratched his head. "Then how am I supposed to know which wine is better?"

“Well…” Ruyi’s big eyes darted around, “How about you try a sip of each kind of wine?”

"Let's start with the first one then." Qi Han's face showed a hint of interest. These wines, which he had never tasted before, made him feel a ticklish sensation, as if he were being scratched by a cat's claws.

A small wine glass, about the size of a finger, appeared in front of Qi Han, with a wine that was emerald green with a hint of blue flowing inside.

Ruyi was right, it really was a bite-sized piece.