Food: Randomly set up stalls, even the little guy is drooling.

Lu Feng was wearing an Ultraman mask.

"Pfft..." A female contestant next to her couldn't help but chuckle softly, then quickly covered her mouth, her eyes full of surprise and curiosity.

A guy across from me chuckled, his voice not loud but clear enough, "Heh, he's pretty good at making a scene."

Everyone has a childhood. Ultraman, spanning decades, remains one of the most beloved characters among children today.

Hu Xi was stunned. "What's he up to? Wearing a mask during the competition, does he think he's participating in 'The Masked Singer'?"

Wang Sheng then remembered that his master had said Lu Feng was a bit strange. Now it seemed that he was indeed a little bit strange.

"Trying to attract attention," Wang Sheng sighed. He didn't want to admit at all that he and Lu Feng were both contestants sent from the Xingcheng competition area.

Luckily, no one recognized Lu Feng, otherwise they would have really crawled into the hole with him.

"Could he be doing this to attract customers?" Hu Xi analyzed seriously from the side. "If someone walks over there, wouldn't it immediately attract the attention of diners?"

"That's quite a clever trick." Wang Sheng chuckled. He naturally looked down on such methods. "Everyone says that food should be visually appealing, fragrant, and delicious. But he just added a visual effect."

"These days, you can't attract people without some kind of gimmick?" Wang Sheng's disdain was almost overflowing. In his heart, he was still dissatisfied with his master's choice.

Some people looked at Lu Feng with disdain, thinking, "He probably knows he's in a bad position and his skills aren't up to par, so he can only resort to charlatanry to grab attention."

Even Cao Jianjia frowned slightly when she saw the unusual Ultraman mask.

The host on stage also found it amusing. When Xie Zong called him and said that a contestant had requested to participate in the competition masked, the organizing committee still agreed.

Although such behavior is easily equated with unprofessionalism in such a serious competitive setting, as many people have guessed, these days, having traffic is always better than having no traffic, and having topics is always better than having no topics.

Ordinary diners may not be able to discern the subtle differences between dishes.

Lu Feng seemed oblivious to the reactions around him, his expression beneath the mask remaining unchanged.

If you can't change the system's requirements, you have to adapt.

As for the way others look at you, they've been giving you strange looks since the very first day you set up your stall.

He adjusted his mask to make sure it didn't obstruct his vision or breathing.

Then, he began kneading the dough, immersing himself completely in the dough before him.

The surrounding noise receded quickly, like the tide.

He felt as if he had returned to the kitchen of Xie's Steamed Buns, where he had spent a month, a place that felt both strange and familiar.

I could almost hear Jie Badan's rebuke again.

"Pay attention! Feel it with your heart! Kneading dough isn't about brute force!"

"Every ear of wheat is different, so how can you expect all flour to be the same?"

"You have to be good at waiting, waiting for the steam to cook the buns to the perfect consistency."

"The key to making good filling lies in the blending process; if you're even slightly off, the meaty smell will come out."

"The pleats on the bun must be even and skillful..."

As my fingers touched the cool, damp dough, the muscle memory formed from thousands of pounding sessions instantly returned.

Lu Feng's movements are fluid, steady, and rhythmic. Each steamed bun he makes is a near-perfect replica, from its shape to its weight.

He was completely absorbed in his work. He was simply making steamed buns, just as he had when he was learning from his master, just as he had when he was preparing to set up his stall every dawn, completely focused.

Time slipped away quietly in this focused state.

The air inside the venue was tense, like a bowstring. Most of the contestants' buns were already in the pan, and rising steam filled the entire venue.

"clang!"

The announcement at exactly 8 o'clock resounded throughout the entire venue.

The three entrance gates opened simultaneously.

Thousands of citizens had already lined up outside, and as soon as the door opened, a crowd surged in like a tidal wave.

Wow! So many stalls! I can't even take it all in.

"It smells so good! It's making me dizzy with the aroma."

The venue was filled with a wonderful fragrance, like a symphony, a full-on olfactory bombardment.

Diners could see snow-white, fluffy steamed buns, paper-thin soup dumplings, and crystal-clear Cantonese shrimp dumplings...

There are also ramen, dan dan noodles, hot dry noodles, knife-cut noodles, rice noodle rolls, stir-fried beef noodles, wontons, shumai, steamed dumplings, pan-fried dumplings, crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, scallion pancakes, barbecued pork buns... and even baked buns from the border regions.

The stalls were filled with a dazzling array of products, each one a mini-stage where every participating pastry chef became the star, showcasing the ever-changing world of pastries with their own hands.

The stalls at the entrance are where the largest crowds gather, with most people drawn in by the delicious food right at their doorstep.

Gao Mian, a man with a crew cut, stood in front of his pancake stall. He first scooped a spoonful of batter into the center, then used a bamboo dragonfly to push it outward from the center, forming a thin, round pancake under the high temperature.

The white batter gradually turned pale yellow. Gao Mian deftly spread an egg on it, then pushed it further, adding another layer of golden yellow.

The moment it's sprinkled with chopped green onions and sesame seeds, it seems to come alive, releasing a burst of aroma that blends the scent of eggs and wheat, making your nose tingle.

Gao Mian's movements were swift and skillful, far surpassing those of street vendors. With a single flip, the other side of the pancake was already golden brown, without a trace of burnt smell.

He brushed on a layer of his secret sauce, then added crispy crackers and fine ham.

The moment the tortilla is rolled, the crisp, crackling sound, mixed with the heat, infuses all the aroma into the tortilla.

"This is it! It smells amazing!"

"Queue up! This pancake looks authentic!"

The diners were practically rooted to the spot by the aroma, and after tasting the samples, they quickly formed a queue at Gao Mian.

With a sense of confidence, Gao Mian spread the pancakes, cracked the eggs, brushed on the sauce, and rolled them up with increasingly smooth and fluid movements, his confident smile becoming more and more obvious.

He glanced briefly at the directions of several so-called direct-entry recommended players and curled his lip.

It wasn't that he looked down on Cao Jianjia, Lu Feng, and the others. How could a recommended contestant not have some skills?

But everyone knows that there are always shadows beneath every regulation. What is supposed to be a talent recommendation channel is often occupied by those who want to take shortcuts, while those who should be recommended don't receive recommendations, and those who have no skills end up getting a prestigious title.

This is a similar situation. As long as you can participate in the competition, even if you were a fake genius girl before, even if you are eliminated here, as long as you compete with many geniuses, then you are real.

That's why everyone's criticizing and mocking them. After all, no one is a completely blatant villain.

Gao Mian was secretly pleased with himself. No matter what, he had several times more customers than the other side at the start, so the advantage was in his hands.

In stark contrast to the bustling atmosphere at the entrance area, the east and west sides of the venue were deserted.

The venue is so big that it would take at least five minutes to walk from the entrance to Lu Feng's stall. Not to mention all the delicious food along the way. Lu Feng shook his head helplessly. A hellish start, another hellish start.