Chapter 25：Extremely hungry. (2/2)

I separate the white noodles and divide them equally between two bowls.

I arrange the freshly cut vegetables which were prepared by Charles earlier as beautifully as I can on top of the snow-white vermicelli.

The contrast between the vibrant greens, oranges, purples, reds, and whites are gorgeous.

”Charles, how are the deep-fried Vietnamese spring rolls? You're almost done right?” I yell out loud, just so I can make sure he'll hear me without having to turn around.

He shouts back to confirm. So I start chopping up the remaining coriander, peanuts, and spring onions as garnish.

I turn one of the stove's knobs to ignite the burner again. I put it on high heat and get the lemongrass pork ready.

I've already made sure that by the time we assemble this, the entire dish will be completed just as the buzzer goes off.

After a few minutes, barely visible smoke rises from the pan; indicating that it's hot enough for me to sear the lemongrass pork to add some more color and sheen to it.

Time passes by quickly and before we know it, a loud and medium-high pitched sound reminds us we're no longer allowed to do anything else to our dish.

A staff comes by to pick up our taste-test dish so they can hide the Ghost Pepper caviar within it.

I breathe a sigh of relief and I'm just SO glad that everything's over.

”... That was really crazy, huh?” Charles looks at me with a tired expression. His forehead is a little bit misty from the sweat.

I reply, ”Tell me about it.”

Not long after, the staff sets 3 bowls on the table, all perfectly arranged in almost the exact way we did it.

We both decide on the left bowl.

Charles picks it up and mixes it before he takes a bite. The moment he gets a taste of the slightly smokey lemongrass pork, salad, and rice vermicelli - it almost seems as if he's frozen in shock.

”... Did we really make this...?” He slowly turns his head towards me.

”Hmm...? Is there something wrong with it?!” I ask him in a panic.

”I think it's better if you try it yourself... Here, you go!” His eyes sparkle as he passes the bowl to me.

In my excitement, I grab a huge forkful of everything and plunge it into my mouth.

However, the joy of being able to taste such a heavenly combination of wonderful flavors never came.

Instead, I spit out everything that was in my mouth and search for water like a crazy person!

”OH NOOO!! It looks like Team Charles-Therysia has chosen the bowl with the Ghost Pepper! They, unfortunately, will not get any points for this.”

I roll my eyes and curse my luck, yet again as I wipe the side of my mouth. Everything that touched that stupid chili is a little bit inflamed now.

Welp. I guess that 'someone' up there doesn't love me enough.

Grabbing another glass of water, I gulp it all down and attempt once again to get a taste of our work.

It goes well and I'm actually able to appreciate it this time around.

We both decide that it is an 8.5 and write it on the sheet that was given to us earlier. The staff member hung around since earlier and we pass it off to them.

* * * * *

The emcee immediately seizes the chance as soon as the results for the other team's taste-testing comes out.

”Looks like Team Jett-Ren has successfully avoided the chili trap we set! They will receive 0.5 points for this!”

”Team Charles-Therysia currently has 0, will they be able to guess their rating right?! We'll find out now, shall we?”

Walking across the stage, the host goes to where the panel of judges is sitting.

...

”Let's start with Team Charles-Therysia's Vietnamese Lemongrass Pork Rice Vermicelli Bun's rating. They voted their dish an '8.5'.”

”Do you think they guessed it right? Or are they wayyy off the mark?!”

”So what's the final verdict, my dear judges?” In an almost teasing tone filled with anticipation, the announcer shoots off his query without any hesitance.

The judges hold out a large cardstock paper with '8' written on it in black with a broad felt-tip marker.

He slaps his thigh loudly as he sees the score. ”OHHHH...! That's SO close! I wonder about the other team though!”

”Team Jett-Ren has voted an '8' for their version of Beef Salpicao with buttered carrots and green peas with a side of garlic fried rice. That sounds absolutely delicious! But what do the judges have to say about this?!” The emcee turns around, meeting the panel's eyes.

Not a moment too soon, another white dense cardstock is being held above one of the judge's heads, with a number '6.5' written quite boldly.

As if no one expected this at all, an awkward silence falls onto the crowd.

After a few minutes of basking in astonishment, people begin to talk among themselves.

What starts as murmurs at first, quickly become louder and more hostile in nature.

Everyone's clearly upset by the results.

Ren, who was mostly 'out' of it for almost this entire challenge, rose up to the occasion. ”Aplishment.”

No one talks for about 20 seconds. In the deafening silence, someone starts to clap slowly. Soon, everyone follows the person's lead. Encouraging them to be more supportive instead of the opposite.

The host jokes a little about what just happened. ”Wow! Ren! You're amazing! I'm almost speechless, to be honest! No question that you have the power to charm anyone's pants off.”

”Now that that's been resolved, there's one more thing left to do.” The man who has been holding the microphone the entire time continues, ”Since Team Jett-Ren failed the last half of this challenge, it means BOTH groups are STILL tied!”

”As I've mentioned in the past, both groups can either split the money OR do another challenge as a tie-breaker.”

”There will be stricter rules this time around so it'll definitely be the last challenge. So... what do you guys say? Choose wisely!” The host eyes us with a meaningful look.

Without a second's delay, all of us make eye contact with each other and come to an unspoken conclusion.

”We would like to split the money.”