160 – Absolute Soup

The grouping was done by drawing lots. Qin Mian was in the fourth group.

The first group was Wu Dewang, Zheng Xiangui, Zhao Xiang, and Zhang Shun.

In less than two moments¹, four waiters came out with four dishes and put them in front of Old Liu, Old Gu, and Old Wen.

The four vegetarian dishes were Coconut-styled Bamboo Charm, Garlic Purple Eggplant, Golden Silk Greenish Jade, and Spinach Egg Roll. The chefs who made these four dishes were all famous wine houses’ chefs. These four dishes were all extraordinary and had their own advantages. The Coconut-styled Bamboo Charm was made up of celery stems and green vegetable leaves as the coconut trees, tomatoes as the sand beach, and emerald green cucumbers with round vegetable balls in the center of the porcelain plate – the appearance warmed the heart and delighted the eye. The Garlic Purple Eggplant was bright in color and attractive in the aroma. The Golden Silk Greenish Jade was a cold dish of appetizing bean paste shredded bamboo shoots sprinkled with green coriander. The Spinach Egg Roll was small and delicate, just like an ornamental.²

After Old Wen commented on the appearance, both Old Liu and Old Gu nodded with approval.

Manman stood on Lei Tie’s thighs and watched from a distance. He said as though he evaluated them, “Not bad.”

Yuanyuan said, “Dad will be more amazing.”

Manman had confidence in his Dad, so he nodded in all seriousness, “En.”

After tasting the four dishes, Old Liu commented, “The Coconut-styled Bamboo Charm and the Golden Silk Greenish Jade have the most harmonious flavors. When you eat them, you can imagine the two chefs cooking in a smooth flow. This old fellow I, am sure they have at least ten years of cooking experience. The Garlic Purple Eggplant is also quite remarkable. However, the heat control was slightly over, which then unable to perfectly bring out the tasty flavor of the eggplant. The Spinach Egg Roll appeared fairly well-done, but perhaps the chef was nervous. Some spinach in the egg roll is still raw. Therefore, this old fellow, I, think that Coconut-styled Bamboo Charm and Golden Silk Greenish Jade pass.”

Old Gu and Old Wen seconded after having tasted the four dishes respectively.

Wu Dewang and Zheng Xiangui looked at Qin Mian.

Qin Mian cupped his hands in a congratulatory gesture to them with a smile on his lips, extremely calm.

The complacent look on Wu Dewang’s and Zheng Xiangui’s faces receded.

The waiters served the rest of the dishes to other chefs and the audience for them to taste at will.

The busybody people asked Wu Dewang and Zheng Xiangui and learned that both of them had indeed been chefs for more than ten years. Thus, they admired Old Liu even more [because he’d said so].

The second group soon entered the kitchen.

Another waiter put away the dishes and chopsticks used by the three judges and replaced them with the clean ones.

After the second and third groups were judged without a hitch, it was Qin Mian’s fourth group turn.

Whether it was the three judges, the contestants, or the audiences, they all paid more attention to Qin Mian. When Qin Mian entered the kitchen, they unconsciously watched his back and secretly guessed what dish he would make.

Not long after that, four waiters came out with four plates of dishes, namely, Pumpkin-tangerine Pancake, Fried Three Shredded Veggies, Mashed Potato Balls, and Woven Cucumber.

Pumpkin-tangerine Pancake was pumpkin made into an open-peeled tangerine. Fried Three Shredded Veggies was shredded carrot, shredded kelp, and shredded potato arranged into a circle with each color stood alone. Mashed Potato Ball was made of potatoes kneaded into round balls. Woven Cucumber was sliced cucumbers placed layer upon layer. These four dishes all paid attention to the appearance, arranged artistically.

The three judges did not evaluate the appearance but tasted them directly.

The three judges’ eyes changed slightly when they tasted the Fried Three Shredded Veggies. There was an inexplicable feeling that this dish must have been made by Qin Mian. It was made with the most ordinary ingredients, but it had an indescribable “fresh” flavor. Was this the special feature of Double Xiang House’s seasoning? It was very obvious that the dishes one usually ate in Double Xiang House had been tone down.

Old Gu nimbly made a decision, “Fried Three Shredded Veggies and Pumpkin-tangerine Pancake pass.”

Qin Mian and the Pumpkin-tangerine Pancake chef stood up, bowed to the judges with their hands folded in front, and sat down again.

Old Gu added, “If both chefs of the Mashed Potato Ball and Woven Cucumber have any objection, you can also taste the Fried Three Shredded Veggies and the Pumpkin-tangerine Pancake.”

Both chefs of the Mashed Potato Balls and Woven Cucumber were very confident in their cooking skills, so they naturally walked over, unconvinced [with the result].

The waiter handed them two pairs of clean bowls and chopsticks.

The rest of the contestants looked nervously at the two chefs.

After they had tasted the Fried Three Shredded Veggies, they went to taste their own dishes and said with some reluctance, “The Fried Three Shredded Veggies is good indeed.”

Zheng Xiangui and Wu Dewang also tasted the Fried Three Shredded Veggies and felt a little threatened. However, both of them had retained their strength and were still full of confidence in defeating Qin Mian.

Toward noon, the competition was suspended.

After lunch and an hour’s rest, the competition continued. After all, if everyone’s stomach was full, even if a top-quality wine entered their mouths, it wouldn’t taste delicious.

At the end of the day, Qin Mian, Wu Dewang, Zheng Xiangui, Zhang Shun, and Jin Chang’an were the top five in the vegetarian dish competition. The next day, they would have another final to decide their places.

The audiences fully enjoyed the feast of visuals and gustation. When they left Double Xiang House, they were still discussing all kinds of dishes they experienced today. They all decided to come back tomorrow.

The next day, more people wanted to enter Double Xiang House to watch the competition, almost blocking the street in front of Double Xiang House. Some of them pretended to join in the fun but actually wanted to get a pastry from Glimmer of Paradise Bakery. The Glimmer of Paradise Bakery would lose a lot if everyone was given a pastry.

All the contestants thought with schadenfreude to see Double Xiang House in trouble. Little did one know, not a moment later, four baskets of honey peaches came from Leisurely Farmhouse – as it turned out, the Double Xiang House’s management had already expected today’s situation.

Double Xiang House handed out a honey peach to each of those who failed to enter until all had finished. No one could find fault with Double Xiang House.

At dragon hour³, the competition began.

In addition to the small kitchen, each of the five chefs occupied a kitchen stove.

In less than three moments, five vegetarian dishes were brought out by the waiters.

The audiences stretched out their necks to look and guessed which dish came from which chef.

The reason why the chefs were not allowed to carry their own dishes was to avoid the prejudices by preconceived ideas of the judges and audiences. By letting the waiters served the dishes, the judges and the audience couldn’t match the chefs with their dishes.

The five vegetarian dishes were Pan-fried Tofu, Green Jade Full Hall, Absolute Soup, Mixed Vegies Jelly, and Crunchy Vegetarian Pancake.

The Pan-fried tofu was poured with yellow soy sauce, neat in appearance, and dotted with chopped red pepper and chopped scallions. Its rich color and aroma appealed to people’s appetite. The Green Jade Full Hall was actually lotus root balls and cowpeas that were arranged into a fan-shaped in fan-shaped plate. The Absolute Soup was very special. The whole bowl of soup had two colors: milky white on the left and lustrous green on the right, just like rivers Jing and Wei separated clearly. It was light in colors and smelled good. On the surface of the Mixed Veggies Jelly, one couldn’t see what it was made of, but each piece was transparent. Inside, one could see the fine carrot shreds and fine vegetable leaves, just like a natural fine jade, making people incomparably astonished. The Crunchy Vegetarian Pancake was obviously a vegetarian dish but was made into the color and aroma of a meat dish, which equally caused people to gasp in surprise.

Everyone suddenly understood something. Perhaps, this is the real strength of the chefs.

There was almost no sound in the lobby. Everyone was nervously waiting for the three judges’ comments.

Wu Dewang made the Mixed Veggies Jelly, which was his exclusive secret recipe. He thought that it was better than the Pan-fried Tofu, the Green Jade Full Hall, and the Crunchy Vegetarian Pancake, but he had no confidence to be better than Qin Mian’s Absolute Soup. It was hard to shape things like soup. Even the laymen knew that it was never easy to completely separate two different colors of soup. In the first place, Qin Mian’s seasonings were better than others, but now, his dish was better in appearance and technique, so one could imagine the result.

Zheng Xiangui thought that his Crunchy Vegetarian Pancake was better than the Green Jade Full Hall, the Mixed Veggies Jelly, and the Pan-fried Tofu, but he feared that it was slightly inferior to the Absolute Soup.

Nie Heng guessed that the most peculiar Absolute Soup was made by Qin Mian. He said with a smile to Lei Tie, “It seems that your Double Xiang House even has something to keep from us, the Diamond Members.”

Lei Tie dully said, “Double Xiang House has never forgotten to inform the Diamond Members when new dishes are launched.” That sentence implied that the Absolute Soup had not yet been launched.

Nie Heng had nothing to say in reply. He stared at the Absolute Soup, wishing so much to replace the three judges to taste it.

Old Liu, Old Gu, and Old Wen first looked at the five dishes and then nodded their heads. Then they picked up the bowls and chopsticks and tasted them separately. Every time they tasted a dish, they had to change a set of clean bowls and chopsticks to prevent cross flavor that could influence the optimum tasting.

Everyone attentively stared at the three judges’ expressions and noticed that they stared at the Absolute Soup for the longest time. Everyone knew then that the Absolute Soup was going to come out on top.

After Old Wen tasted the Absolute Soup, he couldn’t stop taking another spoonful. The Absolute Soup was the only dish that the judge took a second taste.

Sure enough, the three judges murmured for a moment before Old Gu announced the result, “Absolute Soup, first; Mixed Vegies Jelly, second; Pan-fried Tofu, third; Crunchy Vegetarian Pancake, fourth; Green Jade Full Hall, fifth.”

Old Wen brought the Absolute Soup directly in front of him and lifted the spoon. Old Liu quickly took the Absolute Soup away and handed it to the waiter.

“Can’t drink it anymore. We’ll continue to judge meat dishes later.”

If they were full, it would affect their comments on other dishes.

With a regretful look on his face, Old Wen looked at Qin Mian and said, “Boss Qin, after the competition, I’m going to stay in Double Xiang House for a few more days.”

Qin Mian cupped his hands with a smile, “It’s a great honor.”

Old Gu said, “Everyone, after resting for a time it took for an incense stick to burn off, we’ll have the meat dish competition.”

The waiters served the five dishes to other chefs and audiences.

Yuanyuan and Manman waved to Qin Mian. Qin Mian walked over and bent down to kiss each of them.

Lei Tie pulled Qin Mian to sit beside him.

The family of four gathered close and whispered to each other. Yuanyuan and Manman squirmed in their Old Dad and Dad’s arms and gave out melodious laughter from time to time.

The warm scene made many people envious. The people around Running Water Town had long ago stopped caring about the “Qin Mian and Lei Tie are both men” thing, so there was no one that did not envy their family and business.

Wu Dewang and Zheng Xiangui sat in the corner. The smiles on their faces were so fake they disgusted people, but their eyes, however, were occupied by shadows.

“Brother Zheng, if Qin Mian is in the top five in the meat competition, you and I will never get the thirteen spices and the eighteen delicacies recipes.” Wu Dewang spoke of their current predicament.

“Right.” Zheng Xiangui felt tired and spiritless. “Although I didn’t want to admit it, Qin Mian did have strength. Unless he doesn’t take part in the competition, otherwise, you and I can’t stop him from winning.”

Wu Dewang quietly made an obscure gesture under the table and lowered his voice, “Why not…”

Zheng Xiangui immediately shook his head and nudged his chin toward Lei Tie on the opposite side, “Have you seen Qin Mian’s man? Those eyes are like ice blades. Previously, he had stopped many of my colleagues’ ideas about Leisurely Farmhouse and Double Xiang House. I dare say that on the first moment you and I act against Qin Mian, he will make your life worse than death the next moment. I don’t want to gamble my life.”

Wu Dewang inwardly scolded him for being as timid as a mouse.

Zheng Xiangui took a sip of tea to refresh himself. “Now, I don’t expect to get those two recipes. Whether I get the second, the third, the fourth, or the fifth place, I can at least get my employer’s 600 silver taels back.”

Wu Dewang was still a little reluctant. His voice sounded grim, “I don’t believe he can actually get into the top five! Wait and see!”

Lei Tie raised his eyes, and his indifferent eyes flitted past Wu Dewang and Zheng Xiangui. When they returned to Qin Mian, they became calm and gentle. He handed Qin Mian a cup of tea.

“Wife, drink water.”

Done my quota. I’m taking a break and then do the bonuses.

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Footnotes