Chapter 1240: A Peaceful Home Front

Chapter 1240: Chapter 1240: A Peaceful Home Front

"From the preliminary training to the entire competition period, all expenses will be covered by Changping," Ye Huasong said. "Whether you’re on the Defending Team or the expedition team. During the competition, the Defending Team will stay at Changping—your room and board, as well as the cost of practicing dishes on campus, will all be completely free."

"For the expedition team, all costs of flying with the team to various countries, the fees for contacting and renting venues, and all expenses for the ingredients needed will also be borne by Changping."

Everyone, especially the students from outside Changping, hadn’t expected this. Clearly it was an international event, so by rights they should be going out as national representatives.

Yet the costs were being paid by Changping.

In fact, what they didn’t know was that all this was really about major corporations competing for their status on the international stage.

Changping holds a seat in the International Chef Association, and the teams from other countries are likewise sponsored by various corporate groups.

Changping isn’t just giving without getting.

It can also use this kind of competition to recruit outstanding chefs from both China and abroad, and gradually expand its own influence.

Moreover, Changping is in charge of organizing the domestic contestants and at the same time is the main sponsor of the national team.

From the team uniforms to the advertising boards around the arena, all of it serves as excellent publicity.

"All costs related to the competition will be covered by Changping, so correspondingly, while you’re on campus, you must also abide by Changping’s rules."

"Changping is taking care of all your expenses, but that doesn’t mean you can run wild on campus. I won’t say much about Changping’s own students—they all know the rules here. For contestants from outside the school, someone will come in a bit to explain the dos and don’ts on campus specifically for you."

"But rest assured, the requirements aren’t many, and they’re not harsh. They’re all things you ordinarily would have no trouble following." If you follow the rules and have basic civility, it really isn’t hard.

"Changping students may leave first. The rest of the contestants, please stay for now," Ye Huasong said.

The people from Changping left first.

They did feel a bit like they were being treated differently.

But everyone also knew that what had been said wasn’t wrong.

The students of Changping had long since learned the school’s rules.

Besides, they had never imagined that even their private practice sessions would be covered by Changping.

They had assumed that coming to compete, there would inevitably be some extra expenses they’d need to shoulder themselves.

But from the way Ye Huasong was talking, it actually sounded like they wouldn’t have to bear a single cent.

At this moment, a young man who looked about twenty-five or twenty-six walked in.

"Hello, everyone. I’m Xu Junjian. From today on, I’ll be in charge of logistics for the team. If you have any questions in daily life, or need any help, you can come to me," Xu Junjian said.

He handed out a thin booklet to each person. "These are the rules you need to follow while at Changping. They’re the same rules the students of Changping have to follow. In fact, they have to abide by even more than this."

"What you’re seeing now is just part of what they have to follow in their everyday lives," Xu Junjian said. "At the entrance to the student apartment area, the general regulations of Changping are posted up in full. In addition, there’s a dedicated section on Changping Academy’s official website introducing all the academy’s rules and regulations. You can go online to verify them as well."

"During this period, the school has arranged student apartment housing for all of you on campus. The accommodation level is the highest tier used by Changping students. The system for allocating apartment tiers is also explained in the booklet I’ve just handed out."

"Your apartments are top-tier single-occupancy loft units, fully equipped with kitchen and bathroom facilities," Xu Junjian explained. "For meals, you’ll be just like the students of Changping: you can eat at the student cafeteria. I’ll hand out meal cards to each of you later. You can scan the QR code on the card to bind it directly to your phone, so you won’t have to carry a physical card when you go out. All three meals every day are free."

"In addition, the teachers will analyze each of your culinary skill levels, and set up a special training class for contestants. During this period, they’ll teach you, organize practice sessions, and arrange mock competitions and so on."

"In your spare time, if you want to practice on your own, the school’s practice rooms will also be open to you. You can take any ingredients you need freely, with no extra charge. The specific terms are explained in detail in the booklet, and this clause is especially important. I hope you take it seriously and read it carefully."

"If anyone violates these rules, even if you are contestants, whoever breaks them will be kicked off the team. So you must take this seriously."

"You can go through the specific rules on your own, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask me," Xu Junjian said, then wrote his phone number on the whiteboard at the front. "This is my mobile number, and you can also add me on WeChat by searching this number."

"Now, please come with me. I’ll take you to see the apartments."

Everyone followed Xu Junjian, but instead of going straight to the apartments, they first took a look around this building and the teaching buildings along the way, visiting a few classrooms and getting a simple overview.

Only at the end did they arrive at the apartments.

When they saw how the apartments were set up, they couldn’t help thinking, no wonder the people from Changping spoke with such confidence.

Just providing all this to them for free meant Changping was spending quite a lot.

And they couldn’t help feeling envious of the students of Changping.

All of them had already graduated from culinary schools.

After graduation they went into restaurants to learn in the kitchen, and, if they were lucky, took a master as their teacher.

After all, anyone capable of standing out here wasn’t ordinary. Their respective masters were all powerful figures, widely renowned in the culinary world.

But still, those who managed to rise to this level were already, or at least were on the verge of becoming, successful.

Most people, after graduating from culinary school, go into a restaurant and start from miscellaneous work at the back of the kitchen, slowly working their way up step by step.

Or else they open a small restaurant of their own.

Turning out dishes that suit the general public’s taste.

And all of that is just for the sake of making a living.

Whereas for the people of Changping, from the moment they enter the school, it’s a completely different story.

Everyone immediately felt like ordinary students touring Peking University or Tsinghua University.

While Xu Junjian was still guiding them around, the people from Changping had already withdrawn, but they hadn’t dispersed.

This time, including Ye Fei’s group of ten, plus the five who had won in the external selection matches, the remaining nine were all third- and fourth-year students of Changping.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone was here now, Tian Pengpo and the others introduced them to Ye Fei.

"Your skills are really strong. How come you decided to stay on the Defending Team?" Yu Zeming asked.

"Defending Team means we’re responsible for holding our ground here, making sure the opponents can’t break through. That’s very important, so I want to do my part here. I’ll try my best to become a shield they can’t break. That way, our teammates competing abroad can also feel at ease."

"Having a secure backline is important too," Ye Fei said.

Mount Akina nodded. "This is exactly what the principal and the two Judges were talking about—doing everything we can to keep foreign teams from winning badges. That way, we can fight up front with peace of mind."