"Sure!"
The three judges raised their signs in unison, declaring that the dish from station A998 had indisputably passed the first round of the audition.
There’s no need to go into the discussion among the judges.
Ti rewound to fifteen minutes earlier.
"Beep beep!"
Xia Yu snapped the valve shut on the stove, ready to wrap things up when the phone in his pocket started to vibrate.
After all, it was just the auditions; the rules were nowhere near as strict as the elimination rounds in Sapporo, and nearly all the contestants were allowed to carry personal communication devices.
Now that he had a mont, Xia Yu checked the incoming ssage and imdiately frowned.
The sender was none other than Yan Qi.
The leader of the Dark World had sent just one sentence: "Co to Dragon Town Restaurant imdiately!"
Before Yan Qi returned to China, they had exchanged contact information, so Yan Qi having Xia Yu’s number wasn’t strange, but it was curious that Yan Qi would suddenly surface and send such a cryptic ssage just as Xia Yu returned to his ho country and climbed onto the competitive stage.
"Not right!"
Xia Yu mused, "Mr. Yan shouldn’t know about my participation in the New Year’s hunt, only that I’ve returned to the country."
His entry into the New Year’s hunt was sudden; even he had only found out on the flight back ho that Zhu Qing had made the decision for him. At first, Xia Yu thought it was the old man’s arrangent, but last night Zhu Qing had revealed the truth, that it was her personal decision and that the old man had not plotted any specific course for his trip back ho.
On one hand, there was the hunter’s honor which, in Xia Yu’s view, was optional and not particularly prestigious.
On the other, there was Yan Qi’s enigmatic summons.
Xia Yu made his choice with a pat on the head.
Just then, his cooking was also complete.
Thus, while the judges at the audition venue were evaluating his dish, Xia Yu had already joined Zhu Qing in a black limousine, speeding toward Tang’s Dragon Town Restaurant.
Unlike a century ago.
Today, with the Tang Family entrenched in Great Shanghai, branches of Dragon Town Restaurant could be said to be spread throughout the south.
However, what Xia Yu and Zhu Qing were heading to was the ancestral ho where the Tang Family got its start, the original Dragon Town Restaurant where the Tang Family’s forefather, Tang Sanjie, had once held the ladle of the renowned restaurant.
From one district of Shanghai to another, they traversed half of the tropolis.
"We’re here!"
Xia Yu stepped out of the car and looked up at the ancient stone archway before him, inscribed with three characters:
Tang Family Alley.
The so-called ’alley’ was in fact a market street. Over the centuries, the descendants of the Tang Family had spread their roots in Shanghai, building houses and bustling markets, establishing restaurants and tea houses; Xia Yu’s gaze went past the stone archway into a lively street market with a strong Chinatown style.
A sense of trance appeared in his eyes.
The Great Shanghai of this world was nothing like the Shanghai Xia Yu knew.
But even though history had changed, around two hundred years ago, Shanghai was probably nothing more than a desolate Bund, right? It was closely tied to urban developnt that the Tang Family could gather here and establish a little kingdom like Tang Family Alley.
"Tang Family Alley, Tang Family Bay, let’s go in and take a look!"
Xia Yu stepped across the archway.
The bustling market here, so different from the festive rrint on the other end of the city, was filled with dignity and grace amidst its prosperity, like an aged woman who had seen life’s affairs and was looking at you with a peaceful gaze that could calm the heart and smooth the ripples within.
The leafy old locust tree in front of a tea house, several buildings full of the grandeur of the Tang and Song dynasties, the flying eaves and bracket sets, and under the wall of an ancient house overgrown with ivy, a few small stools were set up with old n playing Go, wearing long robes...
The sight could not help giving Xia Yu an illusion of crossing through ti.
Thump!
His footsteps halted abruptly.
Xia Yu gazed steadily at the gleaming golden plaque hanging above the entrance of a large building.
"Dragon Town Restaurant!" he couldn’t help but say aloud.
Zhu Qing, observing the robed figures moving about or gathering in hushed whispers around the restaurant, raised her delicate eyebrows slightly and thought to herself, "How did Yu know there was sothing happening at Dragon Town Restaurant?"
anwhile, at the sa ti.
Inside the top-floor elegant pavilion of the old established restaurant, two elders of similar age were sitting across from each other at a tea table, neither speaking, simply savoring their tea while the aroma filled the air.
The doors to the elegant pavilion were open, and several other figures in black robes, whose identities were unknown to the Chinese Realm’s grandmasters, were whispering secretly.
"Has it been decided?"
"Of course! It was originally going to be a culinary competition held at the White Jade Tower, but for so reason, that old fox Yan Qi suggested to the boss and used his power as a leader of the Dark World to have a Loulin Ship sail from the Yangtze River towards the Huangpu River!"
"So, you’re saying the venue has been changed to the Loulin Ship, where the culinary duel will take place on such a competitive arena-like treasure ship?" a husky-voiced female grandmaster muttered, inhaling sharply.
"Xia Qing!"
A grandmaster looked up, and beneath the hood of his black robe were a pair of eyes filled with wariness, "This old guy, is he still not willing to let things go? We are all old now, we need to accept our age. We did make a mistake in the past. But the Xia Family must also understand that an innocent man is guiltless but bearing a jade incurs guilt. If the Xia Family hadn’t been too proud to stand up and clarify things before the disaster struck, why would things have escalated to that point?!"
Upon hearing this, at the end of the corridor, a figure in a black robe let out a faint scoff.
"How can I make you bow your heads and admit your mistakes if I don’t beat you?"
These words were in Yan Qi’s heart.
He shook his head, not wanting to listen any longer to these old fogeys who were obsessed with saving face, and clomped down the stairs.
As soon as he stepped out, his cell phone vibrated.
It was a text ssage, even simpler than the one Yan Qi had sent earlier.
"I’m here."
Seeing this ssage, a smile appeared on Yan Qi’s face, "It’s ti you witnessed a dragon-level culinary duel with your own eyes."
...
The perspective returns to the audition scene.
Whew!
Xu Liuyue waved to the cara and stepped down from the stage, drenched in sweat.
The first round of the A venue’s preliminary auditions had ended, and a hundred spots for advancent had been contested, God knows how much food the three judges on stage had tasted. There were quite a few good creations, but even more were diocre or simply unappetizing.
As soon as she stepped down, Xu Liuyue ducked into the rest area, swallowed so stomach dicine, and chugged down two glasses of purified water.
Then, without lingering, Xu Liuyue grabbed her handbag and headed for the door, planning to make a quick departure.
But just outside the door, she almost ran smack into Chen Zhen and Mu Nanzhi.
"Examiner Xu."
In Mu Nanzhi’s hand was a contestant information sheet, he pointed at it with a smirk that was not quite a smile, "You must know who contestant A998 is, right?"
Chen Zhen’s face was full of seriousness.
"Ah? You know already?" Xu Liuyue stopped in her tracks and sighed, her face portraying helplessness.
"If it was a scoring system, the culinary creation at station A998 would be firmly in first place, miles ahead of the rest. It’s only natural for us to be curious about the top-ranked creation, isn’t it? Don’t doubt our taste and judgnt. That level of cooking simply isn’t sothing the younger generation could achieve!" Mu Nanzhi’s voice grew serious.
Chen Zhen nodded, "Take Zhao Qi and Yang Man, for example. They perford excellently in this round, but in comparison to contestant A998, they’re not even in the sa league, not even close!"
Xu Liuyue massaged her forehead, "Well, if you know, you know. Anyway, that person doesn’t plan to hide their identity."
After saying that, she grabbed her bag and scurried away.
Chen Zhen and Mu Nanzhi watched as she quickly left.
"What should we do? Should we announce this batch of advancing contestants?" Chen Zhen asked.
"Uhm..."
Mu Nanzhi rubbed his forehead.
Once the list is made public, anyone with intentions could link the cuisine of contestant A998 to their na, and wouldn’t the creation be matched with the chef?
"Let’s ask the Official Execution Committee first!"
Mu Nanzhi replied with a wry smile.
The two examiners exchanged a wordless glance backstage.
From the current situation, no matter what, it seed the news of that young man’s return to the country would not be contained.
The unbeaten young champion of Chinese descent overseas, and a bunch of young talents from the Chinese Realm, what kind of sparks would fly when they collided?
"This year’s tournant, there will likely be major changes!"
"Isn’t that the truth?"
"Now I’m curious, who let such a lion into the sheep pen? Shouldn’t it have been isolated and dealt with?"
"Shush! The higher-ups must have decided already!"
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