[Genshin Impact]: I can become stronger by cooking.

These two steps are precisely the "opening the heavenly gate and pushing the Kan Palace" techniques in facial massage.

Afterwards, her older sister, Peruvieri, continued her massage, kneading the Jingming acupoint, pressing the Sibai acupoint, and rubbing the temples...

After going through the whole process, Chao Ke felt refreshed and clear-headed.

She gently grasped her sister's hand and rubbed against Ke, feeling the generous cushioning padding of Peruvelle.

"Are you feeling a bit more relaxed?"

"Yes, with my sister's massage, I feel much better."

"There's no need to put too much pressure on yourself about some things; just do what you believe in."

"Moreover, from a broader perspective, by curbing Marcell's Les business, you are saving more people."

Chao Ke nestled in her sister's arms, enjoying the comfort from her loved ones.

Standing behind Chao Ke, Peruvier hesitated several times, but ultimately did not ask about the perfume scent on Chao Ke.

She simply pulled Chao Ke up from the chair and said, "Let's go home."

"Ah."

On the way home, Chao Ke told his sister about his afternoon experience.

"Sis, do you know who I ran into this afternoon when I was taking a walk along the coastline to clear my head?"

"Who?"

"The god of Fontaine, the water demon Fucarus."

"Oh? It's that person."

"Yes, I'm telling you..."

Under the moonlight, this harmonious scene is truly beautiful.

----------------

The next day, Chao Ke got up early and made breakfast in the kitchen at home.

Meanwhile, Peruvieri sat at the dining table, flipping through the various newspapers of Fontaine, checking the day's news.

By combining the daily news with the intelligence gathered by the House of Hearths, Peruvieri was able to uncover many interesting things.

"Tsk, so that's how it is..."

"That makes sense now."

Peruvieri had a look of realization on her face, and she pulled out a few newspapers from the table and put them together.

"Sis! Dinner's ready!"

Chao Ke came out carrying a plate of "Kou San Si" (a dish of shredded vegetables) in one hand and a basket of freshly baked bread in the other.

"Ah."

Peruvée nodded, got up and went to the kitchen to scoop out a bowl of thoroughly cooked millet and mixed grain porridge.

On the breakfast table, there was porridge and dishes in the style of Liyue, along with bread in the style of Fontaine.

Although it's a mix of Chinese and Western elements, making the combination seem somewhat incongruous, that doesn't detract from its deliciousness.

Freshly baked baguettes are not hard; on the contrary, they are slightly soft.

Gently break off a portion of it, then place a piece of "Kou San Si" (a type of shredded vegetable) on the bread with your chopsticks and put it in your mouth.

Ham, poultry, and bamboo shoots provide a rich flavor and texture, while the baguette, as their carrier, lays a solid foundation for this flavor.

It's worth mentioning that her older sister, Peruvieri, can use chopsticks, a skill thanks to Asahi's years of close personal training.

After enjoying a delicious breakfast, Peruvieri got up and put the plates into the dishwasher in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Chao Ke, who was in charge of cooking, could comfortably lie on the sofa and relax.

This can be considered a tacit understanding between the siblings: if one of them cooks, the other will clean up the dishes.

Today, when her sister was taking the tableware to the kitchen, she specifically gave Chao Ke a word of advice.

"Look at those newspapers I specifically pulled out of the table!"

Chao Ke was taken aback and looked at the dining table.

However, my older sister took out a newspaper, folded it all up, and placed the information she wanted Chao Ke to see in the most conspicuous position.

Chao Ke picked up the stack of newspapers and examined them closely. This was...

"The First Food Awards of the Fontaine Catering Industry Alliance?"

Chao Ke was quite interested and began to read them one by one.

After cleaning up the dishes, Peruvieri wasn't in a hurry. She sat quietly to the side, waiting for Chao Ke to take a closer look.

After a while, Chao Ke put down the stack of newspapers.

"Phew, this match is interesting, and the hype is quite grand."

The "First Annual Food Awards of the Fontaine Catering Industry Alliance" event was also featured in three influential newspapers: Steambird, Chef, and Entertainer Weekly.

In addition to the Steambird Newspaper, the event also occupied the front page of the other two newspapers, demonstrating that the publicity for the event was very well done.

The rules for the competition are roughly as follows.

Every restaurant in Fontainebleau can send one chef to participate in this competition.

This year's selection competition will go through three rounds of screening.

In the first round of selection, the judges were the residents of Fontainebleau.

All participants must prepare dishes using ingredients and cooking utensils provided by the organizers within the venue designated by the organizers.

All residents of Fontainebleau who purchase tickets to sample the food will receive three recommendation tickets made of a special material to vote for their favorite contestant.

Ultimately, the first round of selection will determine 16 contestants who will advance.

The second round of selection is to choose 3 out of 16, and the judges are composed of 50% residents of Fontainebleau and 50% of the judges appointed by the organizer.

The final round of selection, based on the second round, determined the champion, runner-up, and third-place winner.

However, the judges for the third round were 100% appointed by the organizer.

The judging panel, appointed by the organizers, consisted of Ove, the acting editor-in-chief of *Steambird*, and two senior reporters; the editor-in-chief, senior editor, and senior commentator of *Chef*; a senior reporter from *Entertainer Weekly*; and...

Ten members of the Fontaine Restaurant Industry Alliance.

The theme of this year's [Fontaine Catering Industry Alliance First Food Selection] event is—Fried Food!

Chapter 128 The Unsettling Undercurrents Behind the Evaluation [Bonus Chapter]

[Bonus chapter for the generous donations from our valued readers. Thank you all for your support and love for this book.]

Chao Ke put down the newspaper in his hand and met his sister's mushroom-shaped eyes.

"So, are you interested in this activity?"

"The theme of fried food is quite suitable for your [Jia Zi Wei Restaurant], why not give it a try?"

Peruvéli recounted the story with great interest.

Chao Ke coughed lightly.

"Sis, let's not talk about whether I'm interested or not yet. I need to correct a mistake you made earlier."

"What is wrong?"

"You shouldn't say my [Delicious Taste Restaurant], you should say ours."

Chao Ke earnestly stated, "My sister has a share at [Jia Zi Wei Restaurant]."

Peruvieri smiled. "Alright, I was wrong, sister. Let's continue our previous topic. Are you interested in this competition?"

Chao Ke pondered for a moment and then spoke.

"I am very interested, and quite interested at that."

"However, I feel that this competition format has a definite whiff of being predetermined."

"Especially in the final third round, the judges' panel was dominated by people from the Fontaine Catering Industry Alliance. I had a feeling they were trying to pull a stunt."

Peruvieri chuckled, "It would be strange if there weren't some shady dealings in this kind of selection process with designated judges."

"I can even guess which restaurant will win the final round."

Chao Ke was stunned. "Are they really going to go this far? Holding a competition just to promote a restaurant?"

Chao Ke finds it hard to comment on this behavior of making dumplings just for a dish of vinegar.

"This matter is quite a coincidence, and it is even deeply connected to you."

Peruvé explained.

"According to intelligence from our people, the Fontaine Catering Industry Alliance itself is planning to hold a food competition."

"Furthermore, the original event plan was more equitable, and the intention was to hold a grand food festival."

"However, external factors have seriously interfered with the decision-making of the [Fontaine Catering Industry Alliance]."

"A senior executive at Fontaine saw Donatello's report on [Delicious Restaurant], and is probably aware of your concept of chain operation, and quite approves of it."

"As it happened, he had a son with exceptional culinary talent..."

Having already made her sister's point so clear, Chao Ke naturally understood her situation.

No wonder my older sister specifically emphasized this competition to me; it turns out the core objective of this competition was to target my own "Delicious Restaurant".

It was a calculated scheme, hidden beneath a veil of intrigue.

Even though he knew about their conspiracy in advance thanks to the mansion's influence in the intelligence community.

That's fine too, [Jia Zi Wei Restaurant] will still have to face a lose-lose situation.

If [Jia Zi Wei Restaurant] does not participate in this selection, not only will the title of [Feng Dan Ting Catering Industry Alliance Certified - No. 1 Fried Food] be given to someone else.

Moreover, this store that plagiarized our chain concept will gain massive exposure, which will seriously affect the future expansion of [Jia Zi Wei Restaurant].

However, if [Jia Zi Wei Restaurant] couldn't swallow this insult and chose to participate in the competition...