I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

In the audience, Yu Shen and others burst into laughter, some even laughing so hard that tears streamed down their faces.

"Hahaha...tearing clothes off and beating someone to death, Li Heizi is simply the most ruthless person in Jiangcheng's catering industry!"

"This guy is seriously amazing! I'm totally impressed!"

"Hey, look at the director's face, it's turned green! I bet he's never seen a champion lose like this in all his years in the industry."

"And that 5 yuan coupon that can be used for purchases over 10000 yuan, is that a promotional scheme that even a human could come up with?"

"As expected of Li Heizi, he can even come up with such a ridiculous event."

"......"

Just as the group was laughing so hard they were doubled over, Lu Qianshan said something in a low voice that was like a bucket of cold water poured over their heads.

"You can still laugh?"

"Li Heizi is quite funny, but have you ever thought about it? With him doing this, it's hard for the new store not to be a hit."

The laughter stopped abruptly.

The smiles on their faces visibly faded away.

"Oops! You're laughing too hard!"

"We were so busy watching the show, if this guy becomes famous, what will we eat then?"

"Is there any way to stop him? Or is it too late to rush onto the stage and strip him naked?"

Everyone shook their heads; none of them had any good ideas.

Their original intention in reporting Zhao Yunlong was to suppress the popularity of Shaxian snacks, allowing them to remain a niche group of victims and enjoy the delicious food of Shaxian in peace. However, Zhao Yunlong unexpectedly became a hot topic, and their attempt to suppress Shaxian's popularity failed for the first time.

Fortunately, the controversy surrounding the landlord's termination of the lease suppressed the popularity of Shaxian. It was thought that this would calm things down for a while, but Li Heizi himself went back into the fray and participated in the competition. He even pulled off a big stunt, performing a "clothes ripped off" move in front of the media and audience.

Even if they wanted to suppress the hype, they couldn't; it's just too difficult.

Just as the anti-gangster alliance was wailing in despair, the farce on stage was finally coming to an end.

After realizing what was happening, the directing team in the audience began frantically trying to regain control of the situation.

"Cut the camera! Quickly cut the camera! Don't film him!"

"Film the judges! Film the audience! Film close-ups of the medals! Stop letting that outfit steal the spotlight from the main frame!"

"..."

The cameramen frantically pushed the crane and cut shots, trying to avoid giving the new champion too much screen time.

It's no wonder they reacted so strongly. The Jiangcheng Famous Chefs Invitational Tournament has sponsors who spent real money to sponsor the competition. Yet, the most prominent guy on the champion's podium is the guy who opened a Shaxian restaurant. Isn't that a complete reversal of the natural order?

Therefore, they can only give as few shots as possible; otherwise, once the video is released, the sponsor will definitely demand an explanation from the program team.

After an emergency camera switch, the director yelled into the walkie-talkie again.

"Photoshop out all his clothes in every subsequent shot! Replace them with the standard chef's uniform, not a single hair on his head can be left!"

"But director, he has too many shots! Close-ups of the champion, award ceremony scenes, interview segments... If we edit them all out, the workload will be too much, and it will be very easy to give away the mistake."

"Even with a heavy workload, we still have to Photoshop it!"

"More money! We'll increase the budget! You have to Photoshop him out! Otherwise, you'll steal the spotlight from the client, how am I supposed to explain that!"

"Yes! Arrange it immediately!"

"Also, cancel the interview segment; let's stop him from talking on camera."

"But according to the procedure, the champion should have a five-minute interview."

"Let the host finish quickly; just ask a couple of questions and that's it!"

"........."

While chaos erupted on the director's side, Li Zhibai on the awards stage remained completely oblivious.

He was wearing his medals and holding his certificate, smiling and waving at cameras in all directions.

Many mainstream media outlets in Jiangcheng were present at the scene. He conservatively estimated that this wave of news exposure in Jiangcheng would reach hundreds of thousands to millions of times, not even counting the traffic exposure brought by the broadcast of the competition video.

Normally, a local guy of this caliber would cost at least several hundred thousand yuan, but his cost was just a custom-made T-shirt for 30 yuan.

This is a huge profit!

Finally, with a combination of coaxing and deception from the host and staff, they managed to get Li Zhibai, the living father, off the stage.

Li Zhibai, beaming with pride, walked off the stage with his medal and certificate. Just as he reached the exit, he bumped into Su Su. Upon seeing her, he immediately pointed to the gold medal on his chest and said smugly, "Sister Su Su, did you see that? Champion! Your mentor is the champion!"

Su Su should have been happy to see her master win the championship, but her feelings were actually very complicated. She was even hesitant to greet acquaintances.

"Master, you...you're probably going to be trending in Jiangcheng tomorrow."

"Trending on social media is great! I'd love to be trending; it's free stuff!"

"Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"

"It's Li Zhibai who died, what does that have to do with me, the boss of Shaxian?" Li Zhibai said casually.

Su Su: "..."

That makes so much sense; she couldn't even refute it.

Just then, a staff member passed through the passageway and saw Su Su. His eyes lit up immediately, and he asked:

"Hey, aren't you that...that...cheer at the 'Delicious Oh My Gosh' restaurant?"

Su Su immediately covered her face, her neck turning bright red.

Master! I want my tuition refunded!

If you're going to call GG, just call GG, why are you dragging me into this?

How incredibly embarrassing!!!

............

Fortunately, Fang Guoping, Zhou Yun, and several other chefs came over and greeted Li Zhibai, which gave Su Su an excuse to go get the car and leave first.

Chef Fang glanced at the GG shirt Li Zhibai was wearing, his lips twitched, and he congratulated him, "Master Li, congratulations, you truly deserve it."

The final dish, "Plain Red Dust," truly made him accept his defeat wholeheartedly.

Using the same winter melon ingredient, his dish only resembled it in appearance, while Li Zhibai's dish surpassed it by at least one level in terms of texture, flavor, and complexity.

Li Zhibai was unusually modest: "Just lucky, that's all."

Then Zhou Yun took the initiative to come over and congratulate Li Zhibai, and even took a group photo with Li Zhibai, because he thought the other party's clothes were quite interesting.

After everyone left, Li Zhibai found a secluded corner, and with a thought, summoned the system panel.

After a whole day of running around, I almost forgot about the important thing.

Now that you've won the competition, shouldn't you unlock the third Food Heart?

Ding!

The system notification sounded in my mind.

[Congratulations, host, on winning the championship in a local culinary competition with considerable influence.]

[Task Evaluation: Although the process was filled with unscrupulous self-promotion and mental torture of the audience, the host's culinary skills truly crushed all opponents, making this championship well-deserved.]

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained 1 Shard of Sharpness.]

[Current number of Edge Shards: 3/3, which meets the requirements to unlock the third Gourmet Heart.]

The third Gourmet Heart has been unlocked.

Li Zhibai instantly perked up.

Finally unlocked! It wasn't easy!

He now desperately wants to reach into the system panel and take out the reward himself.

The first two times he unlocked the Heart of Gourmet, the dog system gave him a +1 to physique and some kind of Sharpness Fragment. It was incredibly stingy. This time, it should at least give him something substantial to be worthy of his efforts over the past few months, right?

[Rewards settled.]

[Reward 1: A set of legendary knives.]

Holy crap!!!

Li Zhibai almost jumped up on the spot when he saw the first reward, even more excited than when he was tearing his clothes on stage.

These are legendary knives!

The legendary knife he had been longing for for so long has finally appeared!