Chapter 1601 - This Bowl of Instant Noodles Is Delicious! (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The World God of Cookery Tournament had received worldwide attention. With the improvement of living standards, more and more people put their attention on food. Therefore, the world-class competition had attracted countless viewers, not to mention its prize money of up to one hundred million dollars.
All eyes were now focused on the competition venue as many cameras were filming the event.
Xiao Ai followed behind Bu Fang. Her legs were trembling. She was just a geeky girl who dealt with computers and data all day, and she had never seen such a major event before. For a moment, her heart was pounding fast in her chest. Yu Ge, on the other hand, was looking around curiously.
Bu Fang finished his cooking in less time than most chefs. After all, he was just cooking instant noodles, not some difficult cuisine.
The judges watched as he walked toward them. They had already tasted quite a few dishes, and they had shown their strictness as judges. Some of the dishes were simply disqualified after they were stirred with chopsticks by these judges. They did not even give these dishes a taste. Their fussiness had caused headaches for countless participants.
The panel of three hundred judges was not so picky. It was the five main judges. However, the main judges’ scores also accounted for most of the final scores.
There were many chefs in the competition, so there were many dishes. In theory, the judges would need to spend a long time tasting the dishes and give them scores. But in reality, the time they took to taste the dishes was much shorter than the time spent cooking them. The main reason was that these judges were too fussy.
For example, if they saw several noodles of different thicknesses in a bowl, they would eliminate it without giving the chef a chance to explain. They would even make decisions based on the length of the chef’s fingernails, the length of his beard, and the cleanliness of his face. Some chefs were eliminated straight away after the judges glanced at them.
The harshness of these judges was almost unbelievable. Some chefs burst into tears immediately after being eliminated because the comments they received were too harsh, especially those from the beautiful female judge. Her words were venomous to the extreme.
Dozens of chefs had already been eliminated. The five judges had only tasted about a third of the dishes that were served to them, while the remaining were eliminated by them just on the appearance alone.
When Xiao Ai saw this, she trembled even more fiercely. She had not expected the competition to be so cruel. She thought Bu Fang’s instant noodles would probably be eliminated before they were even brought to the stage. How could instant noodles be brought to the table of such high-level judges?
She was not the only one who did not think Bu Fang could make it. Everyone else thought the same. It was not that they did not have confidence in him. They just did not think his instant noodles could win the judge’s approval.
A bowl of instant noodles was placed before each of the five judges, and their reactions varied.
The fat woman was rubbing her fingers and admiring her nails—her eyes never rested on the noodles in front of her. The beautiful woman was taking a nap with her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling steadily. The monk from Hua was smiling, but he had a blank look in his eyes.
All of the five judges were too fussy.
“Instant noodles?” A male judge in a chef’s robe gave Bu Fang a look. He was speaking in substandard Mandarin. “In Sakura, instant noodles are also known as ramen. However, it is a dish unqualified to take its place in the higher circles. You’re a chef, yet you are brave enough to bring instant noodles to the judges’ table. If I were to describe your decision in a Chinese word, it would be courageous!”
His words seemed to be praising Bu Fang, but his tone was tinged with a hint of mockery. When he finished speaking, all the other judges around him snorted coldly, and the fat woman and the pretty woman refused to even look at Bu Fang.
What was the public enemy of women? Instant noodles! If they ate just one spoonful of instant noodles, they would surely have a few pimples on their faces tomorrow. They were here to be the judges of the World God of Cookery Tournament, not to make their faces grow pimples!
“Instant noodles? No, they are not instant noodles,” Bu Fang said indifferently, shaking his head and clasping his hands behind his back. “If this bowl of noodles were to have a name, it will be called… The Scheming Noodles.”
The Scheming Noodles? Xiao Ai and the chefs under the stage all looked at each other, and the viewers who were watching the competition on television were also dumbfounded.
“You keep bluffing! Let’s see what you can spin out of a bowl of instant noodles!” someone mocked. For a moment, everyone did not know whether to cry or to laugh.
Meanwhile, in a simple restaurant in Jiangdong, Liu Mu stared in shock at an expressionless face appearing on the screen of an old television set. “Bu Fang? What’s this kid doing at the World God of Cookery Tournament?”
The master chef came out of the kitchen. The two of them had calmed down from what had happened earlier, but they were still a little scared.
“The World God of Cookery Tournament?” The master chef froze, and he had a slightly dazed expression on his face. Even he did not think he was qualified to take part in this competition. However, when he thought of Bu Fang’s delicious sour and spicy shredded potatoes, he thought that Bu Fang might actually have a chance at winning.
“But the dish Bu Fang served up is a bowl of instant noodles! Who doesn’t know how to cook instant noodles? If it’s that easy, I can sign up for the competition too!” Liu Mu said, smirking.
“Instant noodles?” The master chef narrowed his eyes. With his knowledge of Bu Fang, this was definitely not an ordinary bowl of instant noodles.
…
The fat woman finally stopped looking at her fingernails. She smiled, her fat cheeks quivering a little, then said, “Take these instant noodles away. You’re eliminated.” She simply sentenced Bu Fang to death.
She would never taste the instant noodles even when someone threatened to kill her. Being a beautiful woman, how could she eat such junk food? The judges next to her also nodded, agreeing with her decision.
“You all haven’t tasted it yet…” Xiao Ai muttered in a small voice, standing behind Bu Fang. She did not think the instant noodles would get Bu Fang to the next round, but when the judges eliminated him without tasting them, she thought it was unfair.
“We don’t have to. Anyone with eyes knows that instant noodles are junk food,” said the fat woman, shaking her head.
“Remove these noodles from the table!” Even the pretty woman spoke up. They had no liking for Bu Fang’s instant noodles. Immediately, several waiters in white shirts and black vests standing behind the judges came up to remove the instant noodles from the table.
Bu Fang’s expression never changed. However, when those waiters were ready to take away his instant noodles, he said in a light tone, “Are you sure you’re not going to eat my dish? Well, you may want to move the fried egg to the side first.”
Bu Fang’s instant noodles were done in a very special way. From the surface, the whole bowl of noodles was completely covered by a round fried egg, which was beautifully fried, making the mouths of those who looked at it water.
The fat woman was getting impatient—she picked up a stainless steel fork and pushed the egg aside. The next moment, everyone around her was stunned. It was as if they heard a loud explosion, and then a sudden rush of air came out of the bowl and instantly put them in a trance.
1
One after another, beams of light shot out from beneath the egg, followed by a fragrance so rich that it made people’s hearts melt. The five main judges were stunned simultaneously—they were captivated by the aroma in an instant. It was unlike anything they had ever tasted.
Gulp.
The fat woman clutched her fork, stared blankly at the instant noodles in front of her, pursed her red lips, and swallowed. ‘I wouldn’t eat it for the life of me…’ The words of her vows she had just sworn echoed in her mind.
Slurp…