A Bite of Douluo Continent

It's not impossible for Ming Tingque to use certain means to suppress Tianxingzhai, but the other party hasn't done so in recent years. As for why the other party hasn't done so, the reason can be traced back to the founder of Tianxingzhai a hundred years ago, who was Wu Henian's great-grandfather.

Wu Henian's great-grandfather was such a skilled chef that even the head chefs of Ming Ting Que were no match for him. Seeing Wu's great-grandfather sweeping all before him and about to challenge Ming Ting Que for his culinary skills, Ming Ting Que could no longer sit still.

The two sides sat down and negotiated. In the end, Wu's great-grandfather withdrew from the food competition, saving face for Ming Tingque. In return, Ming Tingque promised never to use any means other than cooking skills to target Tianxingzhai.

The Ming Tingque is backed by the royal family, and breaking a promise would damage the royal family's reputation, so the other party has kept its promise all these years.

However, neither Qi Han nor Ming Tingque made any promises. Given the current conflict between them, the consequences of losing the food competition are predictable.

As the door of the Cold Food Festival shop opened and diners flocked in, Wu Henian's eyes were filled with regret.

Let's see what gives Qi Han the confidence to accept the food competition.

If his cooking skills are truly excellent, there might still be a chance for things to turn around.

As for the victory of Hanshi over Mingtingque...

Do not make jokes.

Chapter 509 Wu Henian's Changes in Mindset (Bonus Chapter 11/12 for Pipa Boss's Donation)

After waiting in line for about half an hour, and as the diners in front of him finished their meals, it was finally Wu Henian's turn.

"Welcome! This is the seat." Meng Yun greeted them warmly, while Wu Henian smiled and nodded, following behind Meng Yun while carefully observing the interior structure and environment of Hanshi Restaurant.

The decoration is quite nice, and the layout of the store is also commendable. Although the store is not large, the layout is reasonable, and each seat has enough space, so it does not cause any discomfort.

Silently commenting on the menu in his mind, Wu Henian finally sat down and looked at the menu on the table in front of him.

"Please take a look at the menu first, and let me know if you need anything," Meng Yun explained politely.

"Okay, I might need to look at it for a while. You go and attend to the other guests first." Wu Henian smiled slightly and picked up the menu.

He was in a much better mood now than before, and the reason was simple: while queuing, Wu Henian had already smelled the aroma of various delicacies wafting out from inside the Hanshi Restaurant.

Because the aroma was a mixture of various dishes, Wu Henian couldn't accurately judge the taste of the dishes served during the Cold Food Festival. However, he could roughly tell that the dishes would definitely not taste bad.

So he put aside his worries about the Cold Food Festival for the time being and decided to try the dishes first before making any plans.

A menu is the most important thing for a restaurant. With this menu in his hand, Wu Henian can have a clearer understanding of the situation of Hanshi (a type of traditional Chinese food), so he needs to look at it carefully.

Meng Yun nodded and turned to greet the other diners, while Wu Henian slowly opened the menu.

"It's exquisite." Wu Henian was surprised when he just opened the catalog page and took a quick look. The paper inside the menu felt very good. With Wu Henian's knowledge, he couldn't even tell what kind of paper the menu was made of. However, when he saw the dishes and their prices on the catalog page, the surprise in Wu Henian's eyes quickly turned into astonishment.

This...this price?

Just by looking at it, it's clear that most of the dishes are priced in gold soul coins, with the most expensive dish costing as much as one hundred gold soul coins. Even Ming Ting Que, which prides itself on its elegant style, would never dare to sell such expensive dishes.

If I remember correctly, the most expensive dish at Ming Tingque only costs around thirty gold soul coins.

Are diners willing to accept such prices?

Wu Henian looked up with some curiosity at the other diners in the dining area. He saw that they were all engrossed in eating, seemingly oblivious to the high price of the dishes.

It seems they can all accept this price.

Immediately afterwards, Wu Henian's eyes lit up slightly.

If two restaurants have different prices, and the more expensive one has worse food, no one will go there.

Since the dishes at the Cold Food Festival are more expensive than those at the Mingting Palace, yet they still manage to attract court officials there, does this mean that the dishes at the Cold Food Festival taste better than those at the Mingting Palace?

The moment this idea surfaced from the depths of his mind, he felt a sense of disbelief.

The kitchen of Hanshi Restaurant is semi-open, and Wu Henian can clearly see that there is no one else in it. The only chef is Qi Han, the owner of Hanshi Restaurant. How can such a young man in his twenties make such delicious dishes?

Thinking about this, he became even more curious about the dishes served during the Cold Food Festival.

Starting from the table of contents, Wu Henian slowly flipped through each subsequent page of the menu. He was deeply impressed by everything, from the instructions on how to use the new chopsticks to the detailed descriptions and beautiful pictures of each dish on each subsequent page.

These new cutlery pieces seem to be more convenient and quick to use? And they can even free up one hand.

So menus can be accompanied by pictures?

He had heard that a Soul Master in Mingdu had apparently developed a Soul Tool that could capture images. Could it be that these exquisite pictures were captured using a similar Soul Tool and then printed on the menu?

For a moment, Wu Henian was tempted.

If Tianxingzhai also created its menu in this format, allowing diners to see what the dishes look like while browsing the menu, it might actually improve its business.

Interesting. I clearly came here to learn about the Cold Food Festival, but now it seems like I'm here to learn from them.

He couldn't help but feel a bit amused and exasperated.

Gu Yi?

Wu Henian's gaze suddenly fixed on a certain dish, and he murmured softly, "Beef, fruit, vegetables?"

As a judge, he was already aware of the themes of the three food competitions, and now he had discovered a dish on the menu that met the requirements.

Tomato and beef brisket.

With a sudden inspiration, he continued flipping through the pages with great interest, and soon his gaze fell upon another dish.

Crab-stuffed orange.

Moreover, during the process of browsing, Wu Henian discovered several dishes that fit the theme of vegetables.

So... for this food competition, there are corresponding dishes for each theme of the Cold Food Festival?

This is good news. Having dishes prepared in advance will naturally make it easier to cope with the competition for food.

After reviewing all the dishes, Wu Henian slowly closed the menu, suddenly feeling more confident about this year's food competition at Hanshi Festival.

This is incredible, considering that before entering the Cold Food Festival, he thought it was absolutely impossible for the Cold Food Festival to win.

But at this moment, Wu Henian felt that it might not be so easy for Ming Tingque to win.

"Hello, I'd like a tomato beef brisket, a crab-stuffed orange, a cucumber salad, and a bowl of white rice." He waved to Meng Yun and quickly gave her his order.

"Okay." Meng Yun finished writing and turned to walk into the kitchen.

The three dishes Wu Henian chose were the ones he believed Qi Han might use to compete in the food competition.

Of course, that may not be correct.

If they guessed wrong, it would mean that Qi Han's dishes would be better than these three, and their chances of winning would only be higher.

Therefore, using these three dishes to predict the probability of winning the Cold Food Festival competition is a relatively safe choice.

Wu Henian didn't have to wait long before his dishes were served one after another. Looking at the exquisite dishes that were even more tempting than those on the menu, Wu Henian swallowed hard and picked up his chopsticks to taste them.

...

As Wu Henian left the Cold Food Festival, rubbing his stomach with one hand, his expression was quite interesting.

He felt incredibly fortunate that he had refused to compete with Hanshi in the food contest.

At the time, Wu Henian refused Qi Han's food competition out of consideration for not discouraging Qi Han, but unexpectedly, Wu Henian himself benefited in the end.

After eating the dishes served at the Cold Food Festival, Wu Henian had absolutely no confidence that he could win the competition with the Cold Food Festival's food.

If they lose, Tianxingzhai will truly be doing all the work for Hanshi.

Where can you find a young person in their twenties with such good cooking skills?

Simply outrageous.

Immediately afterwards, Wu Henian expressed his anticipation for the upcoming food competition the following day.

He was certain that Ming Tingque had no idea of ​​Hanshi's strength; otherwise, Zhao Yangfan wouldn't have willingly come up to his doom.

I wonder if Zhao Yangfan will regret it after he learns of Hanshi's true strength?

Chapter 510 "It's hard to please everyone" (Bonus chapter 12/12 for the loquat boss's donation)

Zhao Yangfan said he really regretted it.

If given another chance, he would never initiate a food competition with Hanshi.

However, he quickly realized that he had no choice in the matter.

It was His Majesty's will to have Mingtingque and Hanshi compete for food, so even though he knew Hanshi's strength in advance, this competition had to take place.

In other words, he didn't even have a chance to regret it.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yangfan's expression turned even uglier.

Looking at the three Ming Ting Que chefs standing in front of him, Zhao Yangfan hesitated for a moment, then looked at one of them, "Chef Song, are you sure the dishes for the Cold Food Festival are this delicious?"

“I’m sure.” The somewhat stocky Chef Song nodded. He was the one who disguised himself as an ordinary customer at Hanshi during dinner. At this moment, Chef Song’s expression was quite solemn. “Regarding the beef theme, our secret-recipe beef tenderloin, which we are preparing to compete for, is slightly inferior to the opponent’s tomato beef brisket. If the opponent’s dish is not tomato beef brisket, then this gap will widen.”

The secret-recipe beef tenderloin dish was developed by Chef Song himself, so his statement is obviously believable.

"As for the fruit theme..." Chef Song glanced at the rather thin chef beside him, "I ate a dish called Crab Stuffed Orange. That dish was made with oranges and crabs, and there were some cooking methods in it that I couldn't figure out. Compared to the Lotus Fruit Flavored Fish we prepared, Crab Stuffed Orange... there's a huge difference."

Upon hearing this, the thin head chef immediately became displeased. "Old Song, you said your secret-recipe beef tenderloin was slightly inferior, so why is my lotus-flavored fruit fish so much worse? Honestly, am I any less skilled than you in cooking?"

"Alright, alright." The chef who hadn't spoken until the end suddenly pulled the thin chef aside. "Old Hong, don't shout. You know Old Song's personality. He's definitely telling the truth. Besides, although your lotus-flavored fruit fish was delicious, it's true that the fruit flavor didn't fully blend with the other ingredients. If we go by Old Song's previous description, then the crab-stuffed orange dish must be very special."

"Hmph." Chef Hong snorted coldly and said sullenly, "I'll see what kind of rubbish that young man in his twenties can make tomorrow."

After Chef Hong finished complaining, Chef Song continued, "As for vegetables, Hanshi Restaurant doesn't have any pure vegetables. They basically cook vegetables with various meats together. I'm not sure what kind of dishes they will bring out."

After saying that, Chef Song looked at the chef who had tried to smooth things over earlier, "Old Jin, your vegetables are the best among all of us, what do you think about that?"

"If the opponent is as you described, they will probably bring out a dish that cooks vegetables and meat together tomorrow?" Chef Jin scratched his head, a relaxed smile appearing on his face. "If that's the case, I should be able to win this match."

"I have successfully researched and developed that Jade Dew."

Ok?

Upon hearing Chef Jin's words, the other two chefs' expressions immediately lit up with joy. "The Jade Dew research was a success?"

“That’s right, just two days ago, I could use this dish for this food competition.” Chef Jin said with a hint of confidence.

He also has every reason to be confident.

When this chef was the royal chef in the Sun Moon Palace, he was in charge of cooking all kinds of vegetables. He had a secret to cooking vegetables that was different from others, so the vegetables he cooked were even more delicious than meat. During his time as the royal chef, many nobles in the palace who did not often eat vegetables even fell in love with vegetables because of him, which shows his superb cooking skills.