Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 113 Three Lucky Treasures: Bai Heng, the Former 17th Place Winner in the New Chef Competition (3K First Update)
Xia Ming raised an eyebrow as he looked at Qian Youdao, who was dressed in pristine white.

More than 8 people participated, with more than 1 participating each day. The venue was divided into more than 200 groups, with at least 5 preliminary selection rooms.

With a probability of less than 1 in 40, encountering it is indeed quite a coincidence.

"What a coincidence, Brother Qian is here too."

Qian Youdao didn't stand on ceremony and led Xia Ming toward where he was sitting.

"Yes, it is quite a coincidence. Come on, let's not stand on the registration road, let's go chat over there."

Xia Ming glanced at the somewhat enthusiastic Qian Youdao, his eyes flickered for a moment, and then he smiled and walked over to the side with him.

I don’t know if he was the only one from his group to advance, but in this corner, there was no one else besides him.

Guan Chongyun frowned as he watched the two walk to the side.

He felt like he'd seen this boy somewhere before, but couldn't quite place him.

Just as he was pondering this, he sensed someone standing next to him.

"Guan Chongyun, you don't not know Qian Youdao, do you?"

Upon hearing the prompt, Guan Chongyun raised an eyebrow.

Chien Yu-Tao, a native of Taiwan, is a "Gold Medal Winner of the Junior Culinary Competition," "Champion of the High School Group of the Taiwan Culinary Competition," and "Third Place Winner of the Taiwan International Culinary Challenge." He even defeated "Level 5" Taiwanese chef Tsai Tzu-Ya.
I heard that he has a whole wall of medals at home, so he's definitely a competitive player. The greater the pressure, the stronger he becomes. Guan Chongyun even watched some of his match videos before he came.

"How would he know Xia Ming? Is Xia Ming from the TV station?"

Qiao Ruoning rolled her eyes at him, wondering if there was something wrong with his head.

During the interview just now, Xia Ming clearly stated that he is from Sichuan and Chongqing. What, can't you understand human language?

Qiao Ruoning had originally planned to come over and get to know him, but she didn't expect Guan Chongyun to seem a bit dull in real life. She didn't like dealing with dull people, so she turned around and found a quiet corner to sit down.

I plan to go over and get to know Xia Ming and Qian Youdao after they've chatted for a while.

Xia Ming, who had been pulled aside by Qian Youdao, started chatting with him.

It turned out that after Xia Ming left that day, Qian Youdao, based on Xia Ming's experience, challenged again the next day.

The theme this time is [chicken].

Based on his experience, Qian Youdao immediately thought of a Hakka dish.

Chicken stuffed in pork belly

At this point, Qian Youdao smiled.

"At the time, I originally wanted to tamper with the gap between the pig's stomach and the chicken, but after one experiment, I found that it was completely impossible."

"So I adapted the famous dish 'Four Treasures,' deboning a small pigeon, stuffing it with some slightly salty cold fried rice, stuffing the pigeon into a duck, and stuffing the duck into a chicken, ultimately creating a 'three-treasure' pattern."

"Because it is completely deboned, Miss Deng has to use a knife to first untie the string binding the chicken, and then untie the duck and pigeon in turn."

"Upon opening the last part, she found steamed fried rice inside. The fried rice was only slightly salty after being soaked in the soup, but when drunk with the light soup, the taste was not too strong."

"But thanks to your groundwork, Brother Xia, Miss Deng will definitely try this dish again after we change the plate."

"At this moment, Miss Deng noticed that the soup had become a little saltier than before."

As Qian Youdao finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Xia Ming, his eyes filled with a hint of provocation and anticipation.

Xia Ming narrowed his eyes slightly, then smiled and spoke.

"So she would think that it was because after she turned the fried rice out of the pigeon's belly, the saltiness of the fried rice spread into the soup."

"So she either had to eat some of the fried rice herself, or take some of the fried rice out of the container."

A glint of light flashed in Qian Youdao's eyes.

"As expected of Brother Xia, you're amazing! Now that you guessed this, do you know how I cleared the game?"

Xia Ming smiled at Qian Youdao, then pondered for a moment before speaking.

"It should be scallions, right? In my memory, the side dishes for the Four Treasures are shiitake mushrooms and greens. This extra scallion must be from a hidden compartment!"

After hearing Xia Ming's words, Qian Youdao smiled, his eyes showing a mixture of appreciation and excitement as he looked at Xia Ming.

It was as if the magician and the audience had been secretly admiring each other after the magician had planned a brilliant magic show that no one in the audience could see through, except for one person who had figured out the secret.

"Brother Xia is truly amazing. If you were guarding this gate, my new sword would be useless."

As he spoke, Qian Youdao patted the box next to him.

Xia Ming looked in the direction he was looking and found that his suitcase, like his clothes, was pure white.

The overall design is mostly plain, except for a carefully designed logo on the front. After looking at it for a while, Xia Ming finally recognized that it was the character "道" (Dao) after being "deformed".

Qian Youdao looked at Xia Ming with some emotion.

"Actually, I originally wanted to make two knives, but Grandpa Deng said the deadline was too tight and he would only make one." "I heard that after I left, Miss Deng canceled the project, saying that her schedule was full."

"It's all thanks to Brother Xia's willingness to share his experience with me, otherwise I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to get this knife~"

Xia Ming just smiled when he heard Qian Youdao's words.

If this guy knew that he had asked Grandpa Deng Xiaowen to make nine knives in one go, resulting in one of his knives not being made, I wonder if he would still be able to thank him.

Just as Qian Youdao was about to move on to another topic after this matter was settled, Qiao Ruoning walked over in a very open and generous manner.

"Hello, my name is Qiao Ruoning. May I sit here for a while?"

Qian Youdao glanced at Qiao Ruoning curiously. He rarely came to the mainland, so he didn't know Qiao Ruoning at all.

Seeing this, Qiao Ruoning smiled and introduced herself as having been in the same group as Xia Ming, adding that she was quite good at recognizing people.

Upon hearing the words "recognize people," Qian Youdao turned his gaze to Xia Ming.

Xia Ming also became interested in what Qiao Ruoning had to say, so the two exchanged a glance and then nodded.

Seeing this, Qiao Ruoning moved a chair over and placed it next to Xia Ming, then gestured for the two of them to look towards the entrance.

“I just took a look, and after excluding some passersby and people who have already left, I recognized four people who are somewhat famous.”

"First is Guan Chongyun, wielding a 'masked heavy sword.' Although it's not his most frequently used one, its size is still astonishing."

"Guan Chongyun is the successor of the Da Dao Mian (a type of noodle), so he is naturally extremely skilled in noodle dishes. In addition, he is also skilled in Shaanxi cuisine, some Shandong cuisine, and a little Sichuan cuisine."

"According to the information I have, he is usually not very talkative, a bit quiet, and his skills are very solid but he lacks creativity."

When he heard that there was a lack of creativity, Xia Ming raised his eyebrows slightly, but did not say anything.

After finishing talking about Guan Chongyun, Qiao Ruoning moved on to the next person.

"That short, good-looking guy over there with black hair wearing a light gray T-shirt is called Qin Liansi. His mother is from the Island of the Rising Sun, and his father is from China."

"The knives he uses are quite ordinary, just normal Japanese knives. He is personally more skilled at cooking fish, and his methods include stewing, grilling, and steaming."

"By the way, he has participated in the New Chef Competition for two consecutive years, and his best result is the top 200."

Qian Youdao and Xia Ming were listening at first, but when they heard that it was the top 200, Qian Youdao fell silent.
Upon seeing this, Qiao Ruoning instantly understood that he was not interested in the people in this ranking.

Xia Ming, however, was still listening attentively, seemingly unconcerned about his ranking.

Seeing this, Qiao Ruoning thought for a moment and then continued her introduction as she had previously stated.

"Then there's that girl over there with gray hair. Her name is Bai Heng. Her hair isn't dyed; it's naturally gray from a young age."

"She's from Hunan province and knows Hunan cuisine very well, but I heard she mainly focuses on creative dishes now. By the way, she started her own shop when she was 18 and now has more than 170 million followers on Douyin."

"She is the third star contestant in this room besides Qian Youdao and Guan Chongyun. This is her third time participating in the New Chef Competition. Her best result before was 17th place. I have competed against her. She is very strong, strong in all aspects."

Upon hearing that the best score was 17, Qian Youdao's eyes lit up instantly.

It's important to know that the "New Chef Competition" doesn't only award prizes to the first-place winner.

In the past, the top 50 participants received a reward, but this year, due to the large number of participants, the reward has been adjusted to the top 200.

Although everyone came here aiming for the championship, it's not fair that too many people should leave empty-handed.

For example, Bai Heng's 17th place ranking, according to previous years' standards, would at least have earned him a decent set of kitchen utensils or some pretty good recipes.

Afterwards, Qiao Ruoning introduced a boy named "Li Yuan". This boy came from Anhui cuisine and worked as a "wandering chef" for a while. Several masters had a high opinion of him, but because he had never participated in any competitions, they did not know his specific abilities.

After listening to her words, Qian Youdao and Xia Ming nodded, and then the three of them chatted casually for a while.

Midway through, Qiao Ruoning asked Xia Ming if his father was Xia Yitian, which Xia Ming denied.

Seeing that his expression didn't seem fake, Qiao Ruoning simply changed the subject.

As noon approached, Xia Ming left first, saying that he had finished his exam and needed to go home for lunch.

Qian Youdao originally wanted to treat him to dinner, but after thinking about it, Xia Ming declined, saying that he was waiting for a friend.

Ultimately, their relationship was nothing more than a business transaction, far from being good friends.

Watching Xia Ming's departing figure, Qian Youdao narrowed his eyes slightly. At this moment, in his mind, Xia Ming had become an opponent who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

As for Qiao Ruoning, her eyes were filled with more doubt. After all, with such a powerful person suddenly appearing out of nowhere, her little database of information would need to be updated.

"Xia Ming's cooking skills are definitely not something an ordinary home cook could achieve; he must have a master chef."

"But apart from Xia Yitian, there are almost no other people with the surname Xia in the upper echelons of the culinary world. If he is a disciple of a master chef, it would be too secretive for him to only show his face now."

"And I just saw that he actually participated in a variety show before the 'New Chef Competition' and even won the championship. That doesn't make sense for someone hiding something."

"How strange. I'll ask my senior sister when I get back today. Maybe she knows something?"

(End of this chapter)