Chapter 310: Chapter 195: May our lives blossom against the wind like this flower! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]_3
This young man’s Yangzhou Fried Rice is truly exceptional, and I didn’t get enough of those Steamed Rice Flour Silver Strips earlier. I really want to find an opportunity to try them again. After some thought, he decided to first get the audit done. Then, when it came time to issue the license, he’d coincidentally reach out to Lin Xu. Thinking this, he couldn’t help but let out a laugh. For Old Liu, to satisfy his cravings, to actually be using such tactics on a young man... If this got out, those old friends would probably laugh their teeth off, right? But there was no helping it; who could blame him for loving gourmet food?
Shaking off the thoughts, he saw that the contestants had finally stopped crowding around Lin Xu, boasting and chatting casually. Lin Xu had already finished straining the soup and was now wrapping the meat purée used for straining in cloth, suspending it in the soup pot.
Well, well! He even knows how to "wake up" the soup? Many chefs don’t know this step, yet this young man knows it. No wonder he can recreate lost dishes.
Then he saw Lin Xu set up a wok with oil. This made him a bit surprised.
This... Why use a wok with oil? Could it be that he isn’t making Chicken Bean Curd? If he were making Chicken Bean Curd, by now he should have the Clear Soup boiling and be pouring the prepared Chicken Meatball into the pot, where it would quickly float up like bean curd. But now he’s actually using an oil wok!
Liu Zhengyu’s curiosity was instantly piqued. He stopped playing with his phone, sat in the judge’s seat, and quietly watched Lin Xu’s operation.
「On the consultants’ side.」
Seeing Lin Xu set up the oil wok on the stove, Qiu Zhenhua said, "It’s Qingshui Furong, as expected. The other day, Old Xie made it in front of me; his steps were exactly the same as Lin Xu’s."
The moment Guo Weidong heard this, he immediately frowned. "Xie Baomin, you’re too much! You said you’d trade your Qingshui Furong for my roast suckling pig, but you didn’t call me to watch when you made the dish."
Song Dahai said, "That guy even planned to trade his Qingshui Furong for my Pot Stew Giant Yellow Croaker."
"And me! Last time he planned to exchange his Qingshui Furong for our Building 9’s signature charcoal-grilled Beef Tongue."
"He also wanted to trade for our Building 5’s Bamboo Shoots Furong Soup."
The group of executive chefs chattered, only then realizing that Xie Baomin had actually traded one Qingshui Furong for the signature dishes of all the buildings.
Isn’t this too much? What would happen once Building 2 incorporated all the other buildings’ signature dishes? And they’d end up with Qingshui Furong they couldn’t profit from, because those dishes weren’t yet allowed to be served to regular customers at the Fishing Platform and were reserved for foreign guests.
Xie Baomin helplessly pursed his lips. "You guys can learn other dishes too; everything in Building 2 is open to you, alright?"
Dammit, even if it’s all open, it’s useless! Most of the dishes in Building 2 are banned, and for those sold in the restaurant, each building has similar dishes, so there’s no need to learn them. We’ll never trade dishes with this scoundrel again! Otherwise, we’d definitely be taken for a ride.
After a round of criticizing Xie Baomin, everyone went back to watching the competition.
By now, Lin Xu had already fried the Furong Chicken Slices, soaked them in hot water, and was currently using his kitchen knife to cut out petals.
Wu Kexin stood beside him and asked in a low voice, "Can I film these steps?"
This dish was clearly original, so she needed to ask before taking close-up shots, not to cause any trouble for Lin Xu.
As he worked, Lin Xu said, "You can film. Very few people’s Knife Skills can match mine anyway."
These words instantly set off a frenzy in the live broadcast room.
"Boss Lin rarely says this kind of thing; he must be really enjoying himself today!"
"Up to now, I still can’t tell what dish this is, let alone what the final result will be, but I’m just so excited because I feel like I’m witnessing a miracle!"
"Me too, me too! I feel like Boss Lin is about to pull off something big!"
"Gotta say, Boss Lin’s Knife Skills are really good. With one cut, a complete petal comes out... wait a minute, a petal?"
"Earlier, Huo Yifan asked what dish he was making, and he said ’Boiled Cabbage.’ Could it be that the cabbage leaves are made out of Furong Chicken Slices?"
"Think bigger! Maybe he turned the Furong Chicken Slices into a lotus flower!"
"OMG! Can’t wait!"
Netizens were looking forward to it with great anticipation. The audience below, including Shen Jiayue and others, was even more eager.
Chen Meijuan gripped Lin Hongqi’s hand tightly, fearing her son might make a mistake. Han Shuzhen also hugged Dundun tightly, whispering softly into the little one’s ear, "Dundun, you’ve got to bless your daddy for his success, okay!"
After Lin Xu finished making the chicken slices, he took a cup with a slightly wider opening and tucked the petals into it one by one. He stuffed four layers of petals in total and also added a cluster of stamens in the middle. Once he was done, he placed the cup upside down in the center of a white porcelain plate. When he lifted the cup, a perfect flower bud appeared on the plate.
Although the dish was not yet complete, the audience and fans below couldn’t help but burst into applause, cheering for Lin Xu’s magical skills. Lin Xu then took a cotton string and tied it around the middle part of the flower bud.
After finishing these tasks, he checked the time; the competition was nearing its end. The other contestants had also finished their dishes. He reheated the Clear Soup and poured it into a kettle.
When the competition was about to end, he carefully carried the white porcelain plate to the judges’ table for tasting and cautiously poured the reheated Clear Soup into it. The hearts of the on-site audience and netizens were in their throats. They were all waiting for the flower bud in the middle to bloom. However, after Lin Xu poured the Clear Soup, the flower bud didn’t move at all.
"What’s happening? Is it a flop?"
"DAMN, DAMN, DAMN! I’d rather my boss live ten years less than see this dish fail!"
"Everything was so perfect before; how could there be a mistake at the last step?"
"What’s going on? I’m so anxious!"
"Boss Lin, hurry up and do something! Why is there no movement?"
The on-site audience and judges also looked anxious. What went wrong? Why did it flop? If the flower doesn’t open, then this dish won’t be perfect and won’t score high!
"Old Shen, what’s happening here?" Han Shuzhen didn’t dare to watch, fearing her son-in-law hadn’t done well.
Shen Guofu tried to steady his breathing. "Stay calm, everyone stay calm. Even if this dish is ruined, we can’t let Xiaoxu feel pressured."
Shen Baobao clutched Chen Yan’s hand tightly, her palms slick with nervous sweat.
「Just then.」
Lin Xu picked up the microphone on the table, turned it on, and said to the audience below and the live camera, "Hello everyone, I am Lin Xu."
Bullet comments flew across the live stream.
"Oh no, he’s not going to concede, is he?"
"My tears are welling up! Hurry up and fix it, please don’t concede!"
"Exactly! While there’s still time, hurry up and fix it!"
"OMG! I can’t bear to watch!"
"I can’t watch either; I’m ready to flip my phone onto the table."
The comments poured in.
Lin Xu continued to speak, "Tomorrow, I will be engaged to the girl I love the most. All this time, I haven’t spoken proper words of love to her, and I even owe her a confession."
Shen Baobao’s mouth fell open; she hadn’t expected Xiaoxu to bring this up.
The fans also hadn’t expected Boss Lin to be getting engaged to the boss lady tomorrow. But if you’re going to get engaged, get engaged. Don’t just concede like that!
"Today," Lin Xu went on, "taking advantage of my master’s creation, the Qingshui Furong, I want to say to her: Yueyue, whether we are poor or rich, I will walk with you hand in hand. I hope our life together will be like this flower, blooming against the wind!"
Having said that, he snapped his fingers towards the flower bud on the table.
In the clear-as-water soup, the flower bud cracked slightly, and the white petals began to bloom, one after another...