“Xu Le.”

Xu Le quietly observed the situation. Chen Yeqi sat down opposite him and said very straightforwardly, “I’m the producer of the Master Chef Competition.”

A cold glint flashed across Xu Le’s eyes. Very quickly, he pieced together the clues in his mind. He raised his hand to stop the man from continuing. “If the ingredients can be supplied to the first store, yet a mishap happened for the second store, especially on the day of its opening, I think it’s because Mr. Chen must have a close relationship with them.”

“That’s right! You’re really smart.”

Chen Yeqi smiled and did not hide his purpose of coming here. He said, “Little kid, you’re a smart person. Then I’ll be frank. As long as you agree to participate in the competition, we’ll contact the supplier and immediately provide you with the ingredients you want. Not only will it help you open your business smoothly, we can also promote you on the platform.”

“I appreciate your kindness.”

Xu Le’s gaze was cold as he rejected coldly, “But there’s no need. I won’t participate.”

It was obvious that there was a big trap waiting for him. Otherwise, Chen Yeqi wouldn’t force him.

Since coercion didn’t work, Chen Yeqi said amiably, “We were rude, but it was because we were afraid that you wouldn’t participate, so we came up with this plan. Little Master Chef, how about this? As long as you are willing to go, the appearance fee will be 50 times more. Is that okay?”

Xu Le grinned.

Just as Chen Yeqi was about to relax and thought that the kid in front of him would give up because of the money, Xu Le unexpectedly said sarcastically, “If I can afford to open such a big store, Mr. Chen, do you think I’m someone who lacks money?”

Xu Le was furious. This person was obviously trying to stir up trouble. He couldn’t fight him head-on, so he crossed his arms and said, “Mr. Chen, please give up. I will not participate.”

“Hmph, I’ve seen the video of your previous match. You lost to Chen Xian from the Eight Alley… You don’t have much capability either. Maybe you’re afraid of losing and don’t dare to participate!”

Chen Yeqi tried to use a provocation technique.

Xu Le didn’t enter the kitchen for a long time, which made the customers anxious. Someone urged, “When will the first meal be served?”

“Yeah, I’m already the 80th on the queue. Can I have even eat this before lunch?”

Xu Le glanced at Chen Yeqi and ignored him. He said to the customers, “Everyone, don’t worry. I will make sure everyone eats on time today.”

Chen Yeqi tried all sorts of methods, but he couldn’t make Xu Le agree. He was shocked and angry at the same time. He gritted his teeth and said, “Brat, you have such an arrogant attitude. You don’t even have any ingredients. How are you going to feed the customers?”

“Coming, coming!”

Outside the door, Lu Yuxi came in with a huge shopping bag in each hand. When she put down the ingredients, her palms were already bruised.

She tossed her hair that was stuck to the side of her face and panted, “Let’s start cooking first. The boat will eventually come to a stop.”

Chen Yeqi glanced at the ingredients. He knew that it was not enough. He rolled his eyes in disdain. He was certain that Xu Le would suffer that day. After leaving a sentence of “come find me when you’ve thought it through”, he turned around and left.

“Who is that? He has his nose in the air, his attitude is really bad.”

Lu Yuxi complained and Xu Le said, “Go and process the ingredients first. Ignore him.”

“Okay.”

Tomato egg soup, Kung Pao Chicken, Stir-fried shredded pork, Braised pork, Pot of Chicken Soup, Stir-fried beef, Stir-fried prawns… All the ingredients for the dishes were ready. Lu Yuxi tidied herself up, but her brows were still furrowed.

Worried, she said, “It’s far from enough. I really feel bad towards you.”

She had promised Xu Le so confidently last night that there would be no problem.

“I don’t have time to let you self-blame.” Xu Le cut the vegetables skillfully. Amidst the rhythmic clattering, he said calmly, “The more critical the situation is, the more we can’t be anxious. At this time, we should think about how to resolve the crisis before our reputation is ruined.”

Lu Yuxi could only calm down after some time. She picked out the ingredients according to the order and assisted Xu Le. When she saw him swaying the iron wok, she said, “I’ll go out and buy more…”

“No need.” Xu Le interrupted her. “I’ll get someone to help. You just have to serve the meal later. Don’t mix it up.”

“Okay.”

After stir-frying six to seven servings of stir-fried pork, Xu Le quickly filled the plate while Lu Yuxi scooped rice and was in charge of plating and serving the dishes.

The two of them cooperated very well, but after serving 20 tables, the ingredients were all finished.

“Your meal.”

Lu Yuxi put down the plate and smiled politely. The influencer in front of her did not appreciate her kindness and ordered arrogantly, “Get me a cup of water. Oh right, look at your food.”

“Is there a problem?”

“I just ordered a fried chicken thigh. It’s from the video tutorial you posted online. Why isn’t it served yet?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. We didn’t prepare all the ingredients today. Please wait for a moment. It will be served soon.”

Lu Yuxi looked at the six or seven plates of dishes in front of him and said, “You can eat first. Later, we’ll give you an extra serving of Mango Sago Dew.”

“That’s more like it.” The live-streamer said to the camera, “My fellow viwers, let me test the water for you first. I’ll try these dishes and see if it’s delicious. Maybe the taste is all a lie… In my opinion, there’s a high chance that there will be a failed dish at today’s opening. Until now, they haven’t even prepared the ingredients. Which restaurant would have such a situation?”

Lu Yuxi turned around and rolled her eyes in anger.

In the kitchen.

Xu Le closed his eyes and entered the system space. Although there was an endless supply of vegetables and utensils in the space, he could not bring them to reality. As he hesitated, he suddenly heard the cold mechanical voice of the system.

“Congratulations, host, you have successfully activated the system side mission.”

“Eh?”

Before Xu Le could react, a transparent crystal board appeared. There were two options and the upper left corner indicated his gourmet points.

“Host, you can choose whether to activate the mission or not. Use your gourmet points to exchange for fresh vegetables at the market price.”

Xu Le looked at the gourmet points and the price of vegetables in the system. He reckoned that if he bought all the vegetables today, his points would be depleted and he could not buy any more recipes. No matter how he looked at it, it was a losing deal.

“Then how do I earn it back?”

He did not know how long he would have to wait for the system to arrange the mission.

“Easy.”

The system beeped and Xu Le looked towards the direction of the sound. He saw that the customers in the restaurant were full of praises after tasting a mouthful of soft and tender pig trotters. After a series of beeping sounds, the gourmet points were added to his inventory.

“+5 points. ”

“+12 points. ”

…

Xu Le immediately understood and said, “As long as they think it’s delicious, I can get gourmet points?”

“That’s right, but if anyone dislikes it, you’ll have to pay double.”

“Sure.”

Xu Le was very confident in his carefully selected ingredients and culinary skills and immediately agreed.

When Lu Yuxi entered the kitchen again, she was stunned by the dazzling array of ingredients.