Chapter 530: Chapter 529: Official Announcent of the Food Wars
“Beep beep, beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep…”
The doorbell echoed in the silent kitchen at night.
The boy, who was sitting stiffly in the chair like a statue, slowly opened his eyes, and his scattered gaze gradually gathered.
Click, click!
He twisted his neck to loosen his muscles. The communication with the Chef God Space this ti had lasted a bit long, from morning to night, where an hour outside equaled a day in the fantasy space. Coming out, he felt sowhat dazed. Xia Yu rubbed his cold cheeks, went to the faucet at the cooking station, and splashed his face with cold water, trying to expel the dazed feeling from his mind.
The doorbell kept ringing, and Xia Yu relaxed his eyebrow and went to open the door.
A maid with an urgent expression bowed at the kitchen door: “Master Xia Yu, President Dojima just called from the competition venue, requesting your imdiate presence for the official press conference…”
Pausing, the maid slightly raised her head to look at Xia Yu’s young face and whispered, “There’s also the matter of the food duel. The officials want you to cooperate with their press conference. Half an hour ago, the two teams for the A and B zone finals were decided.”
Press conference?
Xia Yu couldn’t help but be stunned, finally rembering Zhu Qing and Dojima Yin’s reminders from this morning.
He covered his face, thinking he was probably late!
“Nakamura Aya seems to have proposed so excessive food duel conditions…” the maid’s voice carried a trace of anger.
“Oh?”
That sounded interesting.
Back in the bedroom to change clothes, as he went downstairs, an official vehicle of the competition was already waiting below the villa. The driver, wearing the red official uniform of the Execution Committee, sat unsmiling, staring ahead.
Bang.
Closing the car door, Xia Yu sat in the back seat. As the driver stepped on the gas, a middle-aged man in the passenger seat turned to greet him, “Chef Xia, hello, I am Secretary Sanjing Taku from the Sapporo Tournant Committee.”
“Hello, Secretary Sanjing.”
“As for the speech for the press conference, you can use it as a reference, there’s no need to stick to it.”
The middle-aged man respectfully handed over a printed docunt.
Xia Yu took it and flipped through it casually. It was rely a script for the press conference, given that it’s a major international event. There’s always a strict set of procedures to follow. However, these procedures held little restraint for a star chef who had entered the finals. Even Secretary Sanjing had to cautiously discuss with Xia Yu, which showcased the difference in their statuses.
Putting down the docunt.
“Secretary Sanjing, let’s talk about the food duel press conference instead.” Xia Yu chuckled lightly.
“What’s the situation with Tiqie Ji over there?”
ntioning the food duel, the middle-aged man’s forehead instantly began to sweat, eyes filled with expectation and excitent.
Stirring up a food duel in an international competition, from the perspective of the Execution Committee, was entirely free publicity. Therefore, from the top to the bottom of the committee, they uniformly welcod the food duel.
“Chef Tiqie has already drafted the food duel conditions. Please take a look first.”
Secretary Sanjing handed over another printed docunt.
This ti, as Xia Yu browsed through it, his eyebrows knitted tightly.
“Using the outco of a food duel to decide the A zone champion?”
Other than that condition, there wasn’t much to say, but this one left Xia Yu secretly astonished. He raised his eyes calmly, glanced at the secretary in the passenger seat, and asked nonchalantly, “Secretary Sanjing, what is the stance of your committee?”
The middle-aged man was already pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, growing more excited as they neared the press conference hotel. Swallowing hard, Sanjing Taku observed the young chef’s expression, noticing no obvious signs of anger or happiness, indicating that there was room for negotiation.
Using a zone champion as a wager for a food duel, such a high-stakes gamble would undoubtedly generate buzz and attention, right?
The heat!
Though Sanjing Taku was an outsider, a spectator, he was filled with fervor at this mont.
Cough.
He wiped more sweat away. Sanjing Taku continued to wipe his sweat.
“The higher-ups don’t intend to intervene in the food duel,” Sanjing Taku carefully said. “Your food duel with Chef Tiqie will be jointly supervised by IGO and the Gourt Association, with two copies of the food duel docunts held by these international organizations.”
Oh?
Xia Yu’s gaze sharpened.
Could it be that his food duel with Tiqie Ji implicated the grievances between IGO and the Gourt Association? This didn’t seem like good news. Xia Yu never wanted to be drawn into the whirlpool of institutional conflicts.
Sapporo Chiyoda Hotel.
This five-star hotel was one of the officially designated accommodations for the competition. During the event, it was packed with renowned chefs, celebrities, and dignitaries watching the competition from all over the world. The finals’ press conference was also held in the hotel’s spacious lobby.
“They’re here, they’re here!”
“Chef Xia has arrived!”
“Hurry up—”
A business vehicle slowly approached, and stationed at the entrance, the reporters wielding long guns and short cannons suddenly sward like bees, surrounding the car the mont it stopped, making it nearly impossible to move. Security personnel had to work hard to carve out a path with a human wall.
Click.
As the backseat door opened, there was an onslaught of shutter sounds, with blinding flashes interweaving.
The young man got out of the car, montarily dazzled by the strong light, raising his hand to shield himself.
“Chef Xia, can you talk about the food duel in three days?”
“Chef Tiqie has submitted a food duel application to the competition officials. Can you talk about the duel conditions agreed upon by both parties…”
The noise was deafening around him.
A security departnt chief stood in front of the young man, surveying the surging crowd of reporters with a sharp gaze.
“Chef Xia, follow —”
The chief said, and Xia Yu pressed his lips and followed, ignoring all reporters.
Finally making it into the hotel’s lobby, there was a proper press area, with rows of chairs neatly arranged in front of the stage, filled with people.
A quick glance at the seats nearby, as well as the second floor of the lobby, revealed a black sea of people. The originally spacious space had an oppressive, suffocating feeling.
On the stage, all four participating teams from the A and B zone were in place, except for the Far Moon team missing Xia Yu.
When Xia Yu took the stage, the entire room gave him their attention.
“Finally, Chef Xia didn’t arrive late!”
Chiyoda Aichi, the host of the press conference, patted her chest, visibly relieved and jokingly said. Her gesture elicited a low chuckle from the lobby.
Indeed, he wasn’t late. The press conference was scheduled to begin at 8 PM sharp, and it was now just past 7:50.
Xia Yu stepped onto the stage, whispering with Zhu Qing, Dojima Yin, and Saito Chiyokuro about the food duel conditions. Shortly, the Executive Chairman of the Tournant Committee arrived, a man in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair.
The conference proceeded according to procedure. The chairman made the opening remarks, and then Chiyoda Aichi earnestly introduced the four teams advancing to the finals.
After half an hour, they finally reached the food duel segnt.
“Ahem!”
The Executive Chairman began, “We have communicated with Chef Tiqie and Chef Xia. Upon getting clear opinions from the participants, the Tournant Committee has decided—”
“The food duel shall proceed!”
Wow!
As the official announcent ca out, the roar instantly emanated from the hotel, echoing through the night sky of Sapporo. anwhile, countless viewers watching the news broadcast likely cheered excitedly.
“We invite the two food duel contestants!”
Hearing this, Xia Yu and Tiqie Ji stepped forward, standing confidently in front of the caras.
“We also invite the overseers from IGO and the Gourt Association!”
Thus, the representatives of the international culinary institutions made an entrance.
The IGO overseer surprisingly was Shinohara Shigetaro, while from the Gourt Association, it was an enchanting woman in a red dress.
“That woman, nad Catherine, is a supervisor personally appointed by the head of the Gourt Association.” Shinohara Shigetaro smiled, clapping as he stepped up to Xia Yu and whispered to him.
Xia Yu’s heart tightened.
“Don’t worry, I’ve also received directives from the president,” Shinohara Shigetaro winked. “We are rely supervising each other to ensure that neither side engages in underhand tactics in the food duel. You can confidently duel with Tiqie Ji!”
The four teams in the finals today did not include the IGO’s Neon Departnt team; evidently, they were eliminated.
However, Shinohara Shigetaro showed little loss from the defeat, appearing spirited in front of the caras.
…
The food duel was officially announced, but the conditions of the duel were of even greater focus.
The short press conference ended, sparking fierce discussions both online and offline, as the tense atmosphere of the food duel spread to many places.
Backstage, a battle over the food duel conditions was just beginning.
“We can’t agree!”
Inside Far Moon’s soundproof room, Roland Chapele said in a deep voice.
Tiqie Zongwei, cross-ard, concurred, “From this food duel condition, it’s clear they’re afraid, lacking confidence in defeating our team. So they’re taking a desperate risk, hoping to wager the half-zone championship on a food duel!”
“This gamble is too crazy!” he stated emphatically.
Xia Yu also calmly contemplated.
A preliminary draft of the food duel docunt was spread open on the table in front of him.
Item one:
The duel to be contested, Party A is Far Moon, and Party B is the Gourt Association Research Institute.
1. Party B hopes the A zone’s overall champion is determined by the food duel outco, and the winner will bring victory to the team.
2. Party B’s food duel contestant Tiqie Ji will put up 5% of the Far Moon Group’s shares as a supplentary stake.
3. Party B hopes Party A’s food duel participant will wager additional forbidden ingredients as a supplentary stake.
Three conditions, clearly stated.
The conditions on the Far Moon side were blank; the team was stuck on the first condition, struggling to reach a unified opinion.
“5% of the Far Moon shares?”
Xia Yu thought inwardly, “Where did Tiqie Ji get Far Moon shares from, perhaps stripped from those giants in the Board of Directors?”
The fact that the opposing side dared to clearly state it ant they weren’t afraid of defaulting.
This condition was tempting!
At the very least, Xia Yu was tempted.
Do not underestimate these 5% shares. As he knew, the ‘Far Moon Kingdom’ besides the Tiqie main family holding tightly over 40% of the shares, the remaining shares were divided among the ten giants of the Board of Directors. So giants held nearly 10% of the shares such as Kasuga Shigeru and Kikuchi Musashi, but most giants had shares around 5%.
Undoubtedly, winning the food duel to obtain 5% of the ‘Far Moon Kingdom’ shares would imdiately make Xia Yu a mber of the Far Moon Board of Directors.
Then, the third betting condition was intriguing.
“They’re after my ingredients?”
Xia Yu felt a chill run down his spine, and anger rose within him.
From this subtle yet unignorable condition, it showed the ‘Gourt Association’ research faction’s greed.
Using forbidden ingredients openly in an international competition, he indeed beca a target!
Whether it’s ‘Gem at’ or the mysterious egg liquid, ‘Gourt Association’ those crazy researchers were probably thrilled to the point of mania.
Far Moon’s discussion reached an impasse.
anwhile, in the Tiqie Mansion, Capital City.
Late at night.
An old man in traditional clothing sat composedly beside his family’s pond, holding a fishing rod, with a strand of silk line sunk into the water without a float. His eyes seed half-open, half-closed, occasionally glancing at a phone on a low table nearby, clearly waiting for a call.
“Beep beep beep…”
Finally, the silence was broken as the old man smiled while answering the call.
“Xia Qing, you indeed called.”
“Haha, Xianzuowen, you old fox, are you fishing like Jiang Taigong?”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
“That’s not right, Xianzuowen. You should be more anxious. Whether your granddaughter can be saved depends on this ti, otherwise her mind will be burdened, and she’ll find it difficult to grow into a pillar of the Tiqie family.”
Tiqie Xianzuowen smiled faintly, countering, “Your Xia Family also needs other pillars, one tree does not make a forest!”
“Well then, we need to have a good talk…”
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