A Bite of Douluo Continent

Why are there so many new dishes?!

...

Shrek City Food Association.

This is an association spontaneously organized by Shrek's food-loving enthusiasts, somewhat similar to an interest group.

Because this association does not allow any food establishments to join, and only food lovers can become members, it is able to be fair and impartial most of the time.

This association is also the organizer of every Shrek Food Festival.

Normally, this association is more like a decoration, and its significance is only realized at this time of year, which comes once every three years.

With only seven days left until the triennial Shrek Food Festival, the Food Association is bustling with activity again after a long absence.

In a spacious conference room, dozens of figures sat. At the head of the table was a short, stout figure wearing a loose white robe. His round face was wrinkled, and he looked ordinary, even somewhat comical. But everyone who faced him had a hint of reverence in their eyes.

If Qi Han were here, he would recognize this person's identity at a glance.

After all, Qi Han was deeply impressed by this person's extraordinary appetite.

Divine Bull Douluo, Elder of the Sea God Pavilion, Xuan Ye.

In Shrek City, any organization is managed by a strong individual who graduated from Shrek Academy and is willing to stay in Shrek City. This is how Shrek Academy, as an institution of learning, maintains order in the city.

Originally, as a relatively niche and leisurely organization, the Shrek City Culinary Association did not need to have a senior member; a Soul Saint or Soul Emperor would have been sufficient.

However, Xuan Ye had a real passion for food and was quite interested in the Food Association, wanting to join in the fun.

After all, the elders are all quite leisurely.

Since Xuan Ye took the initiative to join the Culinary Association, it was only natural that the association would be handed over to him for management.

"Ahem." Looking at everyone, Xuan Ye coughed lightly, "It's been a long time, everyone."

As soon as he said this, a burst of laughter came from below.

The last time these people gathered was three years ago at the previous food festival.

It has been a long time indeed.

"Without further ado, there are still seven days until the food festival starts. Let's discuss the specific implementation plan for this year's food festival."

After he finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to the person sitting at the lower end of the table.

The members of the Shrek Food Association come from all walks of life and have their own expertise. In previous years, the food festival was completed through the collective wisdom and efforts of everyone.

The person everyone's attention was focused on was a middle-aged man who looked refined and cultured. He was a high-ranking executive at Douluo Bank, skilled in management. Therefore, he was responsible for drafting the plans for each food festival, and others would then provide feedback and make revisions.

Seeing everyone's gaze turn to him, the middle-aged man gave a helpless look that said, "I knew it was me again." He then took out a pre-prepared proposal from his bag and distributed it to everyone. "I've already prepared this year's proposal. Take a look and see if there are any problems."

The other members chuckled and began distributing the plan, reading it carefully.

Soon, the conference room was filled with the sounds of discussion, interspersed with laughter.

Chapter 278 A Food Festival with Modified Rules for the Cold Food Festival

Inside the meeting room, members of the Shrek City Culinary Association were having an enthusiastic discussion when a voice suddenly rang out, "Um... if nothing unexpected happens, the most popular dishes at this year's food festival will probably be the dishes from the Cold Food Festival, right?"

As soon as he said this, a deathly silence fell over the surroundings.

Xuan Ye, sitting at the head of the table, now had a rather strange expression on his face.

Indeed, every dish served during the Cold Food Festival met the requirements for participating in this food festival.

And the delicacies served during the Cold Food Festival…

To say that every dish in the Cold Food Festival surpasses all other participating dishes might be an overstatement, since the Douluo Continent itself is not entirely devoid of excellent cuisine.

However, if there is one dish that can be considered the most beloved by diners, everyone present will naturally think of the dishes served during the Cold Food Festival.

Putting aside the other dishes, the three purple-label dishes that have just been launched are unmatched by any other cuisine.

Anyone with a functioning tongue knows how to choose.

Therefore, upon hearing this member's words, the other members, for some reason, suddenly lost some of their enthusiasm for the intense discussion about the food festival's rules.

With the Cold Food Festival being held this year, the outcome is pretty much clear.

It's estimated that the competition for diners' favorite dish will turn into an internal battle among the three purple-label dishes.

“Well… a few days ago I took my family to Xingluo City for a trip to watch the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, and we also tried the Hanshi branch in Xingluo City.” Another member couldn’t help but speak up at this moment.

"In that branch, besides the dishes that are already available for the Cold Food Festival, there is also a magical way of eating called hot pot. It can be said to be all-encompassing, and different diners can choose different ingredients to cook..." Seeing the extremely curious expressions on everyone's faces, this member simply gave a detailed introduction to how to eat hot pot.

Not many diners know about hot pot, and when they heard about this dish they had never seen before, they were once again amazed.

This hot pot... it sounds even more amazing than the purple-label dishes.

After all, even the best dishes cannot overcome the limitation that everyone has different tastes, but hot pot can satisfy everyone, whether they like vegetarian or meat, spicy or not. In this respect alone, it is no exaggeration to describe it as all-encompassing.

“And…” the member added, “Everyone knows about Xingluo City’s food review magazine, right?”

Most of the diners present nodded in agreement. They had heard of the food review magazines that had been popular in Xingluo City for a long time.

"Boss Qi's Cold Food Festival dishes have topped the charts in the latest issue of a food review magazine, with all of his dishes occupying the top sixteen spots..." After saying this, the member glanced at everyone silently and then fell silent.

Everyone's expression turned strange.

Although the Shrek Food Festival only awards one dish as the most popular among diners, which is the festival's champion, it only announces the top ten.

Although the dishes ranked second through ninth are far less well-known than the first-place dish, they still represent an excellent opportunity for promotion for the dishes participating in the food festival.

A question that none of the people present had ever considered before suddenly appeared in their minds after hearing what this member said.

What if... the top ten spots are all taken by Hanshi?

“Well… I have a suggestion.” After a moment of silence, the refined middle-aged man pushed up his glasses, his expression slightly troubled. “Let me make it clear beforehand that I am also a regular customer of Hanshi Restaurant, and this suggestion is not made with any personal motives.”

After making that statement, he continued, "Could we limit each restaurant to a maximum of nine dishes participating in the food festival?"

The list records the top ten, with each restaurant having a maximum of nine dishes participating, thus naturally preventing the possibility of one restaurant dominating the top ten.

There is a restriction that dishes that have participated in the food festival before cannot participate again, so restaurants that have participated in the food festival before rarely offer so many dishes.

After all, a new dish that makes it to the food festival must be one of their masterpieces.

In other words, restaurants that launch a large number of new dishes at a food festival are only new stores that have opened within the last three years.

There are other new stores like this in Shrek City besides Hanshi.

However, among them, only Hanshi has the strength to dominate the top ten.

Therefore, the suggestion made by that refined middle-aged man was only detrimental to the Cold Food Festival.

No wonder he made it clear before offering his advice that he had no ulterior motives.

Even so, many of the attendees showed obvious dissatisfaction on their faces. They were all longtime diners of Hanshi (cold food) and had a good impression of it.

This even included Xuan Ye, who was sitting at the head of the table.

Xuan Ye's expression turned slightly serious. "Qin Fang, this suggestion is very detrimental to Hanshi Restaurant, but it has almost no impact on other restaurants. I believe you made this suggestion without any ulterior motives, but it is clearly not in line with the principles of fairness and impartiality of the food festival."

Qin Fang, the middle-aged man who had made the suggestion, looked slightly distressed upon hearing Xuan Ye's words. "Your Majesty, Divine Bull..."

"Within the association, he is called the president."

"Okay... President, if we don't impose restrictions on cold food, have you considered what other restaurants might think?"

"What do you mean?" Xuan Ye frowned, somewhat confused by Qin Fang's meaning.

Qin Fang gave a wry smile. "The original intention of the food festival was to gather delicacies from all over the continent, select the most popular dishes, and continuously encourage chefs to innovate and improve. We did not give any substantial rewards such as money. Instead, we aimed to make the top ten dishes famous. All the participating restaurants' original intention was simply to make their own dishes more famous."

Although this statement may seem somewhat pragmatic, it is the truth. After hearing this, Xuan Ye nodded slightly.

"There's something I haven't told you yet," Qin Fang paused, "Ten days before each food festival begins, the registration for dishes opens. This time, the registration started three days ago, but the number of dishes submitted is 70% lower than in previous years."

"Because they were worried that the Hanshi Festival would dominate the voting and that a large gap in votes between them and the Hanshi Festival would damage their own dishes, making it a thankless task, many restaurants that participated in previous years did not register at all this year..."

"If this situation continues, the authority of the Shrek Food Festival will be greatly damaged, because the Shrek Food Festival has always claimed to be a gathering place for the delicacies of the entire continent. If the number of dishes participating is significantly reduced compared to previous years, it will probably be difficult to continue to hold it."

Xuan Ye's expression was rather unpleasant. He remained silent for a moment before speaking softly, "Will limiting each restaurant to a maximum of nine dishes solve the problem?"

"Everyone knows that it's not difficult for Hanshi to dominate the rankings. This is a compromise between the two sides. Hanshi can't dominate the rankings, but it also gives other restaurants a chance to enter the top ten. Although they may only be able to compete for one spot in the top ten, they are no longer hopeless. Under such circumstances, they will still choose to participate." Qin Fang was very clear about the mentality of the other restaurants.

"But... how should we negotiate with Boss Qi?"

"Sigh..." Xuan Ye sighed softly, "Very well, I will swallow my pride and go talk to Boss Qi myself."

Chapter 279 Qi Han, the Reasonable One (Bonus chapter for Ning Meng Jiang, the fifth helmsman of this book!)

Business was operating smoothly on the afternoon of Hanshi Festival.

After tasting the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, the four women all expressed their love for the dish. They even liked it more than the chopped chili fish head.

What girl could resist such tangy, sweet but not greasy, and crispy fish?

There's no such thing as good or bad!

As night fell, when Qi Han saw the four women off, he was surprised to find an acquaintance standing in front of Hanshi Restaurant.

"Senior Xuan Ye?" Qi Han greeted him, then said, "Are you here for a meal? But our shop is already closed."

"Uh...no." Xuan Ye shook his head, a hint of embarrassment on his face. "I've come here to make a request."

Is it the Sea God Pavilion that wants to see me?

Because Qi Han only knew this one aspect of Xuan Ye's identity, he immediately made this guess.

He nodded thoughtfully, "Then please come in and sit down, let's talk."

After Xuan Ye sat down, he brought over two glasses of water and sat opposite Xuan Ye. "Senior Xuan Ye, is it about something related to the Sea God Pavilion?"

“No, that’s not it.” Xuan Ye shook his head. “It’s like this: because I love to eat delicious food, and I have nothing to do in my spare time, I’ve taken on the position of president of the Shrek City Culinary Association.”

Shrek City Food Association?

Senior Xuan Ye is actually the president of that association?

However, considering this senior's easygoing personality and love of food, it doesn't seem out of place at all.