Chapter 1235: Showing Off

Chapter 1235: Chapter 1235: Showing Off

Just standing over there makes people especially nervous.

Especially when it’s time for him to taste and comment—if he doesn’t say anything, you can’t help wondering if what you cooked isn’t good.

You’re scared that if anything is done poorly, he’ll be dissatisfied.

Yet even facing those two, Zhao Guoxian can still keep their momentum suppressed.

Despite his youth, standing between the two of them, he doesn’t look out of place at all.

With Guo Wenbo and Ye Huasong taking Zhao Guoxian as their leader, Zhao Guoxian’s presence doesn’t look weak in the slightest.

Watching him, no one feels there’s anything undeserved about Zhao Guoxian’s status.

"No problem." Zhao Guoxian agreed straightforwardly. "Here, I’ll set some rules."

"As judges, even if each of us only takes a single bite, one dish still might not be enough for all 23 people here to taste it." Zhao Guoxian said.

"During judging, if any contestant here disagrees with the judges’ evaluation, feels the dish doesn’t deserve such a high score, you are completely free to raise an objection and come up to taste it yourself."

"Whoever has doubts, speaks up, and comes to taste." Zhao Guoxian said. "Does that sound acceptable to everyone?"

"You don’t need to have any concerns. This is exactly how Changping operates." Zhao Guoxian smiled. "Our academy has always run on a competitive system. Every month we update the student strength rankings, and we welcome the students in the back any time to challenge those ahead. If they succeed, the rankings are readjusted."

"So our school’s students have never feared any challenge, and they’re not afraid to voice their opinions or raise their doubts." Zhao Guoxian said, his words and expression full of pride in the students of his academy.

Even Tian Pengpo, Mount Akina and the others were wearing proud expressions.

Zhao Guoxian wasn’t wrong; they’ve never been afraid of any of this.

Not like Wu Qingling—earlier he was pretty arrogant, but once he was actually told he could raise doubts, he chickened out a bit and even asked the judges’ opinion first.

Wu Qingling also picked up on it—Zhao Guoxian was clearly speaking up on behalf of Changping’s students.

"Now, all contestants who are going to compete, go behind your cooking stations and get ready." Zhao Guoxian said.

Everyone hurried to pick a station and took their positions.

"According to the rules of the International Cooking Competition, the cuisine the two pairs of contestants compete in must be third-country cuisine, to avoid situations that favor one side." Zhao Guoxian explained.

For example, if Hua Country were competing with Gaul and the match was Chinese cuisine or French cuisine—

That would definitely favor one of them and be unfair to the other.

So they directly choose a third country’s cuisine to be as fair as possible.

"To help you get used to this rule quickly, starting today, what we’ll be practicing is foreign cuisine." Zhao Guoxian said. "Because during the competition period, you won’t get any chance to cook Chinese cuisine."

"For the next match, the subject of the competition is not restricted—at least for this round, other than Chinese cuisine, you can choose any other category of cuisine you’re good at." Zhao Guoxian said. "There’s only one requirement: it has to be a hot dish, a main course."

"On their way here just now, the fifteen contestants already familiarized themselves with the surroundings. The ingredients room is right next door, I’m sure you all know that. Next, you have fifteen minutes to go to the ingredients room and freely select any ingredients you need."

"It’s 15:13 now." Zhao Guoxian glanced at his watch. "By 15:30, you must all be back behind your cooking stations. Any contestant who’s late cannot come back to cook and can only watch the match. You won’t be eliminated, but your score for this round will be zero."

"Alright, everyone head to the ingredients room and make your choices." Zhao Guoxian said.

No one dared to waste time; they rushed over.

Especially the external contestants—because this isn’t their home turf, they feel uneasy.

So they charged ahead particularly fast.

They dashed in front, while Ye Fei and the others stayed unhurried.

Because they often come over from the self-study room to research dishes.

They’re very familiar with the layout of the ingredients room next door: which area holds what, where each ingredient is, so there’s no need to rush.

Ye Fei went to pick ox tongue, and then some seasonings.

This dish is something she saw in a Japanese drama, "Tokyo Grand Hotel."

Of course, the show didn’t film the detailed cooking process and recipe.

But Ye Fei still studied it frame by frame in the drama and tried to recreate the dish.

She had Zhao Gushen and Xiao Mo taste it, and the feedback was excellent.

Ye Fei and the others already had a clear recipe in mind, so their targets were specific.

Even though they went in later, they picked very quickly and were back behind their stations early, waiting for the match to start.

In contrast, the external contestants weren’t exactly like headless flies—

But the ingredients room is huge, with everything you could think of; it’s more stocked than the restaurants they work at.

Once they walked in, they wanted to grab a bit of everything, almost didn’t want to leave.

They went in first, but ended up coming out slower than Ye Fei’s group.

Luckily, they all still made it back before 15:30.

"Now, begin!" Zhao Guoxian said.

Everyone immediately started working.

Seeing them start, Zhao Guoxian spoke as he watched: "Cooking time is one hour."

A few people’s hands paused; they looked up at Zhao Guoxian. "You didn’t say that before?"

"I didn’t, but haven’t you given yourselves a time limit in your own minds? Since it’s a competition, you won’t be given too much time—you should know that." Zhao Guoxian said. "Did you really think that if I didn’t say anything, you could stand here cooking for three or four hours?"

"During competition, all sorts of unforeseen situations can pop up. So today’s match isn’t just to give you an initial ranking; it’s also a test of your ability to adapt."

Guo Wenbo followed up: "Don’t look down on Changping Academy’s students just because they’re young, and assume their experience and strength are beneath yours."

"Haven’t you noticed? None of Changping’s students raised any objections to the principal’s requirements just now, and they’re still calmly making their preparations. That’s because they’ve already set themselves dishes that are suitable for competition and leave enough time to prepare, rather than trying to make something as complicated as possible."

"For this match, what matters is winning, not just showing off your skills." Guo Wenbo said coldly.

Hearing that, several people instinctively glanced around.

Sure enough, they saw Changping’s students all with their heads down preparing, not a single one looking surprised.

And there weren’t too many ingredients on their stations, which showed that their dishes wouldn’t be overly complicated.

Wu Qingling was unconvinced in his heart, only thinking this is just these students’ home turf, so they’re used to it.