Chapter 997 - : The Gap Appears (1/2)

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

“This squid tastes… this squid tastes…” Wang Xiang muttered repeatedly while chewing.

“Stop mumbling. Don’t talk when eating,” Zhang Yan said as he felt uncomfortable seeing Wang Xiang struggling to speak while eating.

“This squid tastes excellent,” said Wang Xiang as he finally swallowed the squid before speaking.

Nowadays, anyone who ate Yuan Zhou’s food would automatically gain a new skill: eating while speaking very clearly.

What Wang Xiang did earlier was an example of this. He could even talk, swallow, and reach out to fight for more food all at the same time.

That’s right. The judges were now fighting for food.

“That’s a given. Squids have always been delicious. Why else would it be my favorite food?” said Bai Xiaoxiao in satisfaction as he had just successfully snatched a tentacle.

“I have never been a fan of squid tentacles, but Yuan Zhou’s squid tentacles are truly worth eating,” said Zhou Shijie leisurely. His hands, on the other hand, were moving much faster than his mouth.

Zhou Shijie was after all a regular at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. Thus, he had long mastered the art of food snatching, able to maintain complete calm while doing it now.

As for Zhang Yan, as usual, he spoke less and spent more time eating instead. This was something he learned during the exemplary restaurant selection.

Therefore, he was presently silently eating without a stop.

“That squid seems to be very well received?” said Ao Pi. Although they couldn’t hear what the judges said, they could still see what the judges were doing.

“It’s understandable that one or two of his dishes will be well received. After all, he is so famous at such a young age,” said Chef Li calmly after throwing Yuan Zhou a glance.

“But they are nearly finishing the dish,” grumbled Ao Pi.

“Nothing weird about that. My mantis shrimp dish was finished as well,” said Chef Li proudly. When he saw that Ao Pi was still frowning, he added, “My sea snail dish was finished as well.”

“True,” Ao Pi finally calmed down and continued waiting for the judges to reach their verdict.

In this match, ten points could be awarded per dish, with Zhou Shijie and Zhang Yan both having three points each while Bai Xiaoxiao and Wang Xiang had two points each.

The maximum points a single dish could get was 10, and with a total of seven dishes, they could gain a maximum of 70 points. Toward the end, the one with the higher points would be the winner.

Yuan Zhou would usually make dishes that were smaller in portion yet incredibly delicious. That was out of consideration for the judges.

After all, this was a match and the judges were not only here for his food. He had to take into consideration his opponent’s dishes as well. Thus, he only made a portion large enough for the judges to get a taste of his dishes.

Thus, after the Eight Clawed Flaming Mountain was finished, even the onion pieces were cleared by the judges.

All four judges glorified their action by claiming that onions were healthy. Moreover, the flavor of the squid had permeated into the onion pieces. Them eating the onion pieces were part of the evaluation process. Thus, the onion pieces were finished.

Subsequently, when they saw that the plate was even cleaner than their faces, they started to feel awkward. Zhou Shijie was still the experienced one. His expression remained the same as he spoke.

“Next, let us taste the seafood alliance’s Flaming Squid,” said Zhou Shijie as he gestured at the assistant.

“Yes, I agree,” said Zhang Yan.

Bai Xiaoxiao and Wang Xiang also nodded as they waited for more squid.

“Please wait a moment,” said the assistant as she took out a lighter after serving the dish.

That’s right, the seafood alliance had also prepared a burning squid, but it was different than Yuan Zhou’s.

Their squid was skewered on a bamboo stick, with the squid’s head facing the bottom and wrapped with aluminum foil. The assistant poured some white liquor around the squid before lighting it up.

Instantly, the aluminum foil was ignited, causing a strong aroma of liquor to spread in the air.

“My turn,” said Liu Jie at the red counter confidently as he looked at his own work.

“What do you think, Head Chef Liu?” asked Chef Li with a smile when he heard that.

“Complete confidence,” said Liu Jie with a smile.