Chapter 40: The Number One Flavor Under Heaven

  Compared to the villagers and several judges, Kong Deming and other chefs were even more shocked. The knife sound was like music, and in the culinary world, it was an eternal legend. It is said that when Pao Ding cut the cow, the knife passed through the cow's bones, making a melodious sound, which made many musicians ashamed. Even Kong Deming, a top-notch chef, the famous "Little National Kitchen", had always been skeptical of this legend, thinking it was just an exaggeration by later writers and impossible to achieve in reality.

  The sound of the knife coming out of the cloth wrapping, light and gentle like a wild goose sweeping across the forest, heavy and solemn like a golden hammer striking a drum, swift and fierce like a large army invading, slow and steady like an old horse lying in wait. But just as it seems to be changing between light and heavy, dynamic and static, it still manages to maintain an uninterrupted rhythm; it's as if there is an orchestra hidden inside the cloth wrapping, under the command of an excellent conductor, combining high and low pitches perfectly, composing a world-famous melody.

  "Such craftsmanship might really be able to turn Sanmei tofu into a magical dish..."

  The dishes haven't even been made yet, let alone tasted by the judges, but they've already stolen the show. Kong Deming is a strong warrior who has seen the world, but those two top chefs from Shangxiazhai Village have already started to lose hope.

  "The sword has been sheathed, yet the lingering sound still echoes on, revealing that the one who wields it is still in a state of ease and mastery..."

  Gu Zhiwei nodded slowly, his face becoming even more solemn. Unbeknownst to him, the old man was about to bump into the fabric partition when Yun Cangming reached out and pulled him back: "Old Gu, you're getting carried away..."

  "Oh, yeah... I forgot myself."

  Old Gu's anger has dissipated, his fire has been extinguished. At this moment, Coach Hong's rough and unrefined image is more lovable to him than any youthful idol or charming young man. If the competition weren't still ongoing, he would have rushed into the arena, pulled out this young man, and pressed him onto his own "Big Lu Cai" battle chariot!

  Just then, a strange fragrance wafted out from inside the cloth wrapper...

  "This is it!"

  The old man was taken aback at first, and then his face changed drastically.

  The fragrance emitted from the cloth wrapper is completely different from the common fragrances of freshness, sweetness, cleanness and meatiness, it can even be said that they are worlds apart!

  Because this fragrance has a layered scent, just like the authentic Jinmen Da Ma Hua, each layer has its own distinct flavor, never mixed or interfering with each other.

  It started with a faint tofu aroma...... That was the absolute original flavor of bean fragrance, just like in the tofu house, when the first batch of tofu is cooked through, that kind of rushing original fragrance. But even if you run to the tofu house, it's only at the moment when the first batch of tofu comes out that you can feel it, and once the bean flavor becomes strong, this feeling, as if it were a first love, will also disappear.

  The tofu aroma that wafted out of the steamer basket was like a lingering melody that lasted for nine days, leaving even the top food connoisseurs who claimed to be the best in the world unable to help but swallow their saliva...

  "Cuckoo."

  Yang Da Mei, standing outside the curtain with her chest out and buttocks raised, looked on with a red face, subconsciously covering that tempting little belly of hers.

  Too embarrassing.

  The star of the Zhou Nan Daily, a public figure and darling of the masses, the dream girl of many young, muscular men, whether married or unmarried, has shamefully growled with hunger? And her voice was so loud that it startled the two silly men who were always hovering around her, one of whom suddenly exclaimed: "Sister, are you hungry? I'll get you a bowl of noodles!"

  "I won't eat!"

  Yang Yang's face flushed with a layer of red mist, and he fiercely glared at this bald-headed man.

  What followed was a sweet and refreshing fragrance. Gu Zhiwei and the others suddenly felt as if they had entered a vast white radish garden, with an extraordinary and unconventional feeling that made these old guys who had been drifting in the soft red for half their lives let out a sigh of relief, feeling extremely comfortable and relaxed in their hearts.

  "Yellow teeth white?"

  Those old men were all experts, and their noses were even more sensitive than those of hunting dogs. So they immediately smelled out that this was the best accompaniment to Sanmei tofu - Tai'an Huangya White, a top-grade white vegetable. As early as the Tang and Song dynasties, this was something that could only be seen at imperial banquets.

  Although Yunshui Mountain is rich in water and soil, the "Feicui Green" it produces is also a top-grade Chinese cabbage. However, compared to Huangya White, there is still a big gap.

  Now several old men just can't figure it out, the dishes prepared by the village for the chefs are all locally produced emerald green, where did Hong Tie Niu get this yellow and white?

  "This is what a truly good chef looks like!"

  A truly top-notch chef will always try to collect the best ingredients and preserve them in various ways. At this moment, Master Hong is such a chef in their eyes. To quote a popular phrase, this is called 'professional consciousness of professionals'! It's an essential quality for becoming a top-notch chef.

  They naturally couldn't think of it, this is actually the power of Zhou Yi, transforming genetically modified food into healthy green food, can't even directly transform 'emerald green' into yellow teeth and white? Even Master Hong, who was right next to him, thought that Zhou Yi had prepared these materials in advance.

  As a wonderful clanging sound of pots and pans arose, the fragrance of tofu and vegetables was perfectly combined, wafting with the wind, enticing countless mountain villagers to drool, several old men looked at each other, knowing that this dish was a success.

  "Swish swish swish——"

  Several old men suddenly became agile and quickly returned to the judges' table, otherwise when the curtain opened and let Hong Lao Liu see that several judges were watching, they would lose all face.

  At this time, Kong Deming and the others had almost finished their three dishes. After all, they had started working long before Zhou Yi mixed into the crowd, and now they were just finishing up.

  Under He Da's hosting, the villagers returned to their seats one after another. Zhou Yi naturally reappeared beside Zhu Xiaohua and others.

  Zhu Xiaohua was still unaware of what his friend had just done, and continued to tease him: "Old Three, have you found the gap? The flavor of Master Hong's cooking is much stronger than your fish soup!"

  "That's it. Otherwise, how can others participate in the competition?" Zhou Yi chuckled and said: "Return to your seat, let's see what the judges say."

  "What more can be said? Even a fool can tell that the aroma of this dish by Master Hong is unique, and Kong will definitely lose."

  ***

  The mysterious curtain slowly opened, and out came the majestic Hong Dashi, with his head held high and chest out, as towering as a mountain peak, like a green pine on top of Mount Tai.

  He was seen holding a plate of golden tofu, dotted with countless "beautiful jade", walking towards the judges' table. The strange aroma emanating from the dish stimulated the judges' sense of smell and taste, while also causing Kong Deming's face to change greatly.

  He had just heard the sound of a knife and smelled the aroma, he already felt that something was wrong, but still had a thread of luck. At this moment, seeing the dish, Kong Deming knew that he was likely to be defeated.

  What are the nine turns of the large intestine, and the soup explosion of the double crispy? It's just the mountain road eighteen bends soup explosion of the absolute world double pride, but I'm afraid it can't compete with this small plate of three beautiful tofu.

  According to the rules of the competition, who goes first and who goes last should be decided by the judges, at least according to the chef's seniority. But Master Hong didn't even ask and was the first to present his dish, and surprisingly no one raised any objections. Kong Deming had no say in the matter, while several elderly judges were completely captivated by this dish and had long forgotten what was called rules.

  As for Yang, the beautiful girl, several old men had already demonstrated their gentlemanly spirit and pushed the three-flavor tofu brought by Master Hong to her first. She wanted to pretend to be reserved but her stomach didn't agree.

  So almost without hesitation, Yang Da beauty picked up the spoon and quickly scooped a spoonful of three-beautiful tofu into her mouth.

  "Boom!"

  A never-before-experienced pleasure, a flavor that couldn't even be imagined in dreams, as if exploding, completely wrapped around her slender fragrant tongue that made countless gourmets envious and at the same time made countless men's souls dizzy...

  "Mmm... it's so delicious!"

  Yang's beautiful face suddenly turned red, and the fine sweat beads on her forehead, which was as white as jade, instantly seeped out. Her mouth was praising, but those watery big eyes were staring at this dish fiercely, as if afraid of being robbed.

  "Delicious, truly the best in the world! The most delicious in the world! Hmm... all of this is mine..."

  Like a little girl protecting her food, Yang Cai pulled the plate into her arms, and Lan's chopsticks flew out of her hands like lightning. In the blink of an eye, she had already eaten over a dozen mouthfuls, and nearly half of the three-flavor tofu was gone.

  "Hey, Xiao Yang, we're also judges? Let me have a say too!"

  Several old men saw that something was amiss and, no longer caring about their dignity, hastily grabbed their spoons and squeezed over.

  It's first come, first served; if you don't grab it, it'll be gone...

  PS: Thanks to brother 'Fang Tianyu' for his encouragement and reward, thanks to brother 'Lao Shi Ren 88' for his reward.

  Thanks for everyone's support, we are number one! First place on the newcomer chart of the whole station!

  This first place is yours, is yours, and still yours! Without you, light or darkness means nothing.

  As usual, today should be the third watch celebration, but... will it be tomorrow? Today's light is very lazy, and I stayed up late watching the rankings yesterday.

  Who made me write about a lazy protagonist, this...this is experiencing life, isn't it?

  Hehe, just kidding. Tomorrow at 3am, thank you everyone!

  Today is voting day:) To all idle people:)