Chapter 63: Entering the Finals, Advancing to Top Five

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

He saw through that person with his sharp eyes and knew that he was not the one he was looking for.

After giving him a score of three points, he commented, “The smell of the meat has not been completely removed. There are still some hair on it. You should roast it with fire and clean it before stewing it.”

The reason why the other judges gave low marks was the same. They found it smelling, and the fat was too greasy.

Finally, it was Xu Le’s turn. He watched as the waitress brought the tray over. For some reason, he began to feel nervous. His fingertips clasped the hem of his shirt.

Lin Shuwei had a good impression of him, and had high expectations for him. He picked up a piece of duck meat, and the smell of several spices entered his nostrils. The skin was glistening beautifully with oil. Whether it was dried air, smoked, or braised, it was just right.

Old Master Song stared at the smoked duck for a long time with his aged eyes. He didn’t move his chopsticks and turned to pick up the side dish.

The watermelon skin was crispy, refreshing, and sweet. The taste was very light and would be help with degreasing when eaten with meat.

“Why did you think of making this dish?”

Old Master Song asked.

Xu Le did not know what the other party was trying to do. He knew that if he said something wrong, he would definitely offend someone. However, since he could not figure out what the other party wanted to know, he answered with sincerity and explained seriously, “I didn’t think too much about it. The duck meat tastes the best when smoked. I don’t really know how to cook roast duck, and I don’t have any ingredients for roast duck and rolls. I can only make this.”

Old Master Song nodded. All the judges had tried it, but he had never touched his chopsticks. Instead, he ate several mouthfuls of the stir-fried watermelon skin.

His juniors all looked at his expression and didn’t dare to speak directly. The atmosphere was at a stalemate for a moment as question marks appeared in the live broadcast room.

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It was Lin Shuwei who came out to save the situation. He took the lead and commented, “The texture of this dish is firm and delicate. The meat texture is a little like beef that has been braised. It’s very chewy. The only flaw is that the cooking method is not as large scale as those traditional restaurant’s, whereby the cooking process is complicated. Although there’s enough smoking, the unique dry fragrance from using wood to smoke is missing, but it’s already quite good to be able to achieve this.”

With that said, he was the first to score.

Nine points.

The rest of the judges also started to give out their scores. It was generally between seven points and eight points. In the end, only Song Deyue, who hadn’t touched his chopsticks, was left.

He was stunned for a long time before he said, “Before my wife left due to her terminal illness, she mentioned that she wanted to eat this dish, but before I could finish cooking and send it over, she left.”

Old Master Song played down his words, but it immediately made everyone understand his sadness. The host wanted to manage the situation but had nothing to say. He could only stare at the judges, hoping that nothing would go wrong.

Finally, Old Master Song picked up his chopsticks.

Before he could sink into the regret of time, the sensation on his taste buds pulled him back to reality.

The duck meat carried with it the fragrance of glutinous rice and sweet fruits. When chewed, the gravy was sweet and fragrant, and the meat felt firm. It was especially delicious and breathtaking!

Beautiful things always evoked good memories. The faint smile of his wife appeared in his mind. Old Master Song heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Not bad, very impressive.”

“Come here, kid.”

Song Deyue waved his hand at Xu Le and stepped forward with a smile. The two of them were separated by a table, and Xu Le’s height was just enough to rest his chin on the edge of the table.

Xu Le stood on tiptoe with a serious expression.

He did not know that his subconscious childish actions had made the judges burst into laughter as they looked at him warmly.

“You have a bright future ahead.”

“You’re indeed a great talent to nurture. After all, you have your parents’ superior genes.”

“Don’t give up cooking in the future.”

“Alright.” Xu Le said firmly, “I won’t.”

Old Master Song raised the sign with the number “10” on it.

Some of the peers present cheered. There were those who were happy, envious, and jealous.

Those who scored too low were not satisfied and shouted, “Is it really that good? I remember that no one has ever gotten full marks since the start of the Expo.”

“Did Old Master Song become muddle-headed? Why are you the only one giving full marks?”

“I don’t think it’s fair. There’s no conspiracy here, right?”

The effect of the show was immediately maxed out. The live stream viewers who had come to watch the delicacies became excited again, eager to watch more.

Old Master Song knew the tradition of the show. Even if the judges were extremely satisfied, they could only score 9 points and leave one point to show face to the others in the industry.

But that day, he only wanted to score full marks from the bottom of his heart. What dogsh*t rules and favors? At this age where he could do as he pleased, there was no need to care so much anymore.

The few judges were helpless against the other participants’ dissatisfaction. They even started to question the judges’ professionalism and evaluation standards.

Seeing the chaos, Old Master Song glanced at the remaining pieces of duck meat on his plate.

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He said to the troublemakers, “We are all professionals, so of course we know what’s going on. If any of you are unhappy, why don’t you come up and have a taste?”

Someone volunteered to step forward. He took the chopsticks and glared at Xu Le before stuffing a piece into his mouth.

He had just taken two bites when his expression changed.

A few more came up after that. After tasting one piece, they immediately quieted down.

Zhang Tong also walked up and expressionlessly stuffed the last piece of duck meat into his mouth, revealing a shocked and happy expression.

Xu Le was stunned to see him. “You too…”

“No,” Zhang Tong said, “I just want to try the taste of your cooking. It’s amazing. As expected of you, Little Master Chef.”

As stunning as ever.

After the troublemakers tasted the smoked duck, they silently returned to their original positions. Some of them even became embarrassed because of their rashness.

This made the audience even more amazed. How delicious could a smoked duck be?

After the advancement round, Xu Le entered the finals as expected. Once he entered the top five, he would be able to obtain the system reward as long as he continued to advance to the top three.

As soon as the live broadcast ended, the video of him making smoked duck became a trending topic. The uploader only casually recorded it without even adding a subtitle. As the public watched the comments on the bullet screen that changed from doubt to shock to admiration, it was also similar to the mood of the audience watching the video.

Xu Le’s legs were sore from standing. Before he went back to the hotel, he sat on the stool outside and rested for a while. When he saw the snacks placed at the entrance of the Expo, he casually took a serving.

It was the yogurt balls from Xinjiang. He hadn’t eaten it before, so he took a bite out of curiosity. He immediately grimaced in pain from the yogurt and couldn’t snap out of it for a long time.

“Give me one.”

A familiar voice sounded beside his ear. Xu Le was shocked and turned around to see Old Master Song sitting beside him.

“Sure.”

He gave one to the other party..