Chapter 41 Village Star

  Under the gaze of thousands of mountain villagers, a group of old foodies swarmed up and started competing with Yang Cai for food. What's the identity of the judges, what's the old revolutionary veteran, what's the man's demeanor? In front of delicious food, all go to hell!

  That one plate of Sanmei tofu was barely enough, and each person could only have two or three bites before it was gone. Several old men smacked their lips, savoring the aftertaste with eyes closed in bliss: "Delicious..."

  Yang Cai is right, this plate of Sanmei tofu is truly worthy of being the best flavor in the world. The difficulty lies in that when Huangya White and authentic Taian water tofu blend together, they don't destroy each other's flavors. When you take a bite, the original fragrance explodes in your mouth with distinct layers. After fully inducing saliva in your mouth, it finally blends into a wonderful flavor that has both the sweetness of vegetables and the rich bean fragrance...

  And then this flavor just emerged, the delicious milk soup carefully filtered with Taian water in Sanmei tofu came afterwards, dispersing it again, dividing it into three different flavors, rolling back and forth on the tip of the tongue, making people's mouths water and their hearts itch.

  This is the world's most flavorful work, it's hard to find a chef who can make this dish sublime through extreme knife skills, stir-frying skills, and fire control skills, making this dish transform from rotten to magical, entering a realm close to 'Tao'.

  Return to simplicity and authenticity, seeing mountains as mountains, yet still not lacking in magnificent changes.

  This kind of sublimation actually made the humble cabbage and tofu, which were originally not comparable to mountain delicacies and seafood, become the only unique flavor in the eyes of these old gourmets, and they all felt a sense of "eating Hong Jun's dishes in the morning and dying in the evening is also okay".

  This Hong Jun is naturally referring to Master Hong. Only at this moment, Hong Tie Niu, this old scoundrel with extremely good acting skills, still doesn't know that he already has such a high position in the judges' hearts.

  Even if he was just a simple and honest countryman, he knew that this time he had made a name for himself.

  Because several judges ate too ugly, a plate of tofu was snatched clean, and one old man even picked up the plate and licked the remaining soup dry. The old man next to him didn't grab it, stomped his feet, clutched his chest, and complained with a red face for half a day.

  But Master Hong didn't have Zhou Yi's worries, instead he was a bit pleased. This simple mountain village chef had never been so popular in his life, looking at those astonished, admiring and even adoring eyes, Master Hong felt a little proud, Xiao Zhou said what is this called? Acting cool? Hmm, it really feels great.

  "Really thanks to Little Zhou, otherwise I, Hong Lao Liu, would never have had so many beautiful girls staring at me... even the red-dressed miss from the city is looking at me. Dad, mom, this time I've made you proud..."

  Although it wasn't achieved through his own abilities, Master Hong was still very grateful to Zhou Yi. If not for Zhou Yi, this small-time figure would probably never have become the center of attention for the masses in his lifetime.

  "Xiao Hong, can I ask you something?"

  Old Gu was increasingly pleased with Chef Hong. If his granddaughter didn't already have a boyfriend and Chef Hong wasn't slightly older, he would have considered marrying her off to this 'genius' chef: "Did you prepare the Huangya Baihe and Tai'an tofu used in this dish yourself?"

  "Yes, this is what a good chef should be able to do."

  Master Hong is now more and more addicted, just like taking some kind of medicine: "Doesn't Mr. Gu think so?"

  "Well said!"

  Gu Zhiwei nodded repeatedly: "I really didn't expect that I would meet the modern-day Master Chef in Yunshui Mountain! This Sanmei tofu dish, whether it's the selection of ingredients, knife work, fire control, or flavor enhancement, its demonstration of skill has already approached the realm of 'Tao'. I think it should get a perfect score, what do you all think?"

  Nature is perfect...

  Several old men and Yang Cai all nodded, without any objection. If the competition hadn't ended yet, considering their identity as judges, these foodies really wanted to ask Master Hong if he had any leftover ingredients and could make another dish of Sanmei tofu?

  Not full yet.

  "Uh—dishes from Liu Lilou Village and Shangxia Zha Village can be served now..."

  Gu Zhiwei was also momentarily excited, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he gave a perfect score, but forgot that Kong Deming and the others hadn't even served the dishes yet. Yang Cai and Chang Aiguo surprisingly didn't raise any objections. But this made Kong Deming and the others feel awkward. Should they serve the dishes? Yunshui Village had already received five perfect scores, going up would be embarrassing; not serving the dishes? That wouldn't only be embarrassing, but also lose face.

  Fortunately, Gu Zhiwei reacted quickly and hastily called out "serve the dishes", giving the three chefs a way to save face.

  Including Kong Deming, the three chefs all gritted their teeth and brought up the dishes. The outcome was no longer in doubt, now it was just a matter of going through the motions, and then they could be free. Dragging it out any further would be pure torture.

  The judges wanted to give the three chefs some face, especially Kong Deming, who had a good relationship with his master and others like Gu Zhimi. But this was a difficult task, as after eating Zhou Yi's three-beautiful tofu dish, even Kong Deming's three dishes, which he had put all his effort into making, tasted bland to them, leaving no desire to take another bite.

  Kong Deming's nine-turn large intestine and Tang Bao's double crispy were each tasted by several judges, as for the three-water tofu, it was considered to be made in a mediocre way. With jade in front of them, who would want glass marbles? The judges just used their spoons to dip into the soup and taste it, then...then there was no then.

  "Honorable judges, there's no need for scoring, I've lost this match..."

  Kong Deming gritted his teeth, turned around and glanced at Master Hong: "Kong has learned a lesson. Master Hong, the green hills will remain unchanged and the clear waters will flow forever. Kong will definitely work hard to improve his culinary skills and come back to seek your guidance again." After finishing speaking, he slightly bowed to the five judges and then turned around and walked down from the stage.

  "This young man must have watched too many TV dramas?" Master Hong sneered, but somehow Kong Deming's words sounded like he was reciting lines from a script.

  "We also admit defeat, Master Hong's high kitchen, admirable!"

  The two chefs from Shangxiazhai Village saw Kong Deming and both conceded, what's the point of persisting? Rather than waiting for the judges to score, it's better to concede directly and save face...

  "Fellow villagers, the result of this vegetable dish competition has been decided. Since the chefs from Shangxiazhai Village and Liulilou Village conceded on the spot, we five judges unanimously declared that the champion of this dish is... Yunshui Village!"

  "Has he won? Hong Lao Liu has actually won!"

  Although she had mentally prepared herself, Li Yuanfang still found it hard to understand how Master Hong's culinary skills could suddenly become so extraordinary. But never mind, as long as he can thoroughly crush the arrogance of Liu Lishan Village and seize the Fengshui of Yunshui Mountain, that would be a good thing, and it would be considered a repayment to their fellow villagers.

  "Hong Lao Liu, Hong Tie Niu! Incredible!"

  The villagers of Yunshui Village were boiling over, shouting out Master Hong's name, crazily like a group of star-chasers.

  At this moment, a village star named Hong Tie Niu slowly rose, but no one knew that the person who released this star was silently blaming himself: "Master Hong, sorry, your life will be very difficult to calm down from now on...... However, your acting skills are so good, you should be able to handle it, right?"

  Looking at Master Hong who was thrown up and down by the villagers of Yunshui Village several times, Zhou Yi now only hopes that he can keep his promise and seal his mouth.

  Otherwise, you'll be in trouble. Although the chef is not someone who can affect the fate of the country, even if people know that this dish was made by him, it's no big deal. But thinking about the eating habits of those old men, Zhou Yi couldn't help but shudder. Hopefully, Master Hong is a man of his word and won't betray himself and bring those old gluttons again...

  PS: Thanks to brother 'Fang Tianyu' for his urging and reward, thank you for your support all along:)

  Well, this intense battle of wits has finally come to an end, and it's about time too. Next up, we'll be returning to our usual carefree days, which I'm sure you all will enjoy, hehe:)

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