Era: You're asked to cook a home-style dish, but you cook Wellington.

Following the triumphant first victory, the second match quickly began.

"Mr. Gu, who do you think will win this match?"

Xu Qinyun smiled, opened her folding fan, and covered her face, which was about to burst into a smile.

As luck would have it, the two siblings from the Nangong family had good luck and drew a pair, so this match was a duel between the Nangong family members.

Gu Jingzhou looked at the siblings below the stage, and a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

"These two siblings are the backbone of the Nangong family. I never expected to run into them here."

Xu Qinyun also laughed and said, "Yes, I even made a special episode for these two siblings. Their skills are indeed strong. Most chefs would probably have to admit defeat when facing them."

Liu Jianye remained silent.

There's really nothing to say about him. During his tenure, he spent most of his time making money, and he genuinely didn't know the siblings.

However, no one cared about his opinion.

Everyone turned to look at the two control panels in the middle of the room.

At this moment, Nangong Hong was wearing a pure white chef's uniform, her red hair was tied into a neat high ponytail, and a few strands of hair in front of her forehead fluttered in the wind.

At this moment, her face was clean and neat, and her whole person was like a blade, revealing her sharpness.

Nangong Lian kept complaining to him from across the room.

"What kind of luck is this? How did I end up drawing her?"

From a young age, Nangong Hong displayed extraordinary culinary talent, even surpassing her peers at one point.

Nangong Lian is indeed very strong and has excellent talent, but he was suppressed since childhood and is actually a little intimidated in front of his sister.

The two of them took out the ingredients at the same time.

It was a plump duck, and the two of them were making the same dish—Imperial Eight Treasure Duck.

"Nangong Hong, although you are my older sister, I will not let you win this competition today."

Nangong Lian pointed at his sister opposite him, the fear in his eyes disappearing, replaced by a strong fighting spirit.

He had been suppressed by Nangong Hong for too long. Today, he submitted proof that he, Nangong Lian, was no worse than anyone else.

Nangong Hong's expression also turned serious.

She knew her brother's skill level better than anyone else. She had to go all out in this match; if she held back, they would definitely lose.

Their eyes met, and they both saw a determination to win in each other's eyes.

Gao Yang stood in the audience, arms crossed, watching the two with great interest.

"Steven, who do you think will win between these two?"

A slight smile appeared on Steven's lips.

"As far as I know, Nangong Hong is stronger than Nangong Lian. His control of the heat and his handling of ingredients are deeply rooted in the Nangong family's tradition."

"But Nangong Lian seems unconvinced. He's been tinkering with something lately, practicing diligently behind closed doors. Maybe he'll bring us a pleasant surprise."

On the field, the two attacked simultaneously, but their styles were completely different.

Nangong Hong's movements were precise and steady; she held the duck firmly with her left hand and took the razor with her right.

The blade cut along the duck's neck, moving back and forth inside the duck with light and skillful movements, without breaking the skin at all. In just a few minutes, the whole duck was deboned.

"See, that's real skill."

"Indeed, I'd never heard of her before. She's so young, I thought she wasn't very skilled. But now it seems her basic skills are no worse than those of so-called veteran masters."

"Looks like this is going to be interesting."

Discussions arose one after another, and the audience watched with admiration for the girl.

It's not surprising that the audience doesn't recognize them. The Nangong family originated from imperial chefs. After the downfall of the Manting, the entire family went into seclusion in the north and rarely came to the south.

At this moment, Nangong Hong was continuously stuffing materials into the duck's body.

Glutinous rice, lotus seeds, longan, dried scallops, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts—every ingredient is chopped neatly and uniformly. Watching her cook is a visual treat.

Meanwhile, Nangong Lian on the opposite side became increasingly unrestrained in his movements.

His boning knife glided across the duck's body, nearly piercing the skin with each stroke, making the audience wipe the sweat from their brows.

Next, he stuffed the duck with the filling.

Unlike Nangong Hong, he didn't cut the ingredients into uniformly sized pieces, nor did he put them in gently. Instead, he just tossed them into the duck's belly and did it hastily.

"Holy crap, what kind of technique is that? Isn't he afraid of tearing the duck skin?"

"I've never heard of or seen anything like this before."

"Can he really beat his sister if he keeps going like this?"

The audience's chatter grew louder, but Nangong Lian remained completely unaffected.

As he filled the container, he glanced at Nangong Hong across from him, his fighting spirit growing ever stronger.

"Sis, if you lose to me today, you're not allowed to cry when you get home."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Hong scoffed.

"Little brat, how could you think I would lose to you? Have you forgotten that we've had three hundred matches, and you lost every single one of them?"

"But you, don't cling to me and act all cute after losing this time, and don't expect me to coax you."

Nangong Lian's ears suddenly turned red. She looked at her sister and gritted her teeth.

"You've gone too far! How dare you expose my shameful secrets in public!"

Nangong Hong chuckled lightly: "Your strength is lacking, is that my fault?"

Gao Yang, watching the siblings bickering, couldn't help but find it amusing.

Despite being such a serious occasion, they acted like they were cooking at home, with neither side willing to give way.

The judges on stage all had smiles in their eyes.

"This brother and sister are truly a pair of bickering lovers."

At this moment, Nangong Lian was hit where it hurt by his older sister, so he simply stopped talking and became even more focused on his actions.

His method may seem rough, but it actually contains a secret. When the eight-treasure duck is more than half full, he deliberately leaves a gap and secretly adds a few crushed dried tangerine peels and soaked goji berries.

He then carefully sewed up the incision on the duck's neck with cotton thread.

At this time, Nangong Hong's Eight Treasure Duck was also stuffed. The siblings took it out of the pot at the same time, one simmering it over a low flame and the other cooking it in a rich broth. Although it was the same imperial Eight Treasure Duck, the two had their own ideas about cooking it.

Following the ancestral methods of the Nangong family, Nangong Hong placed the whole duck in water with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine, and simmered it over low heat.

Her movements were gentle, her eyes incredibly focused, as if afraid that the slightest mistake would ruin the entire duck.

Nangong Lian, on the other hand, took a different approach, first frying the surface of the duck until it turned slightly yellow, and then pouring in the broth that had been simmering overnight.

He added a little rock sugar to the soup to remove the duck's fishy smell and to make the dish more mellow.

Time passed slowly, and the entire venue was enveloped in the sweetness of the duck.

This dish takes so long to cook that many people's stomachs are growling with hunger.

The audience wanted to get up to get something to eat, but were afraid of missing the exciting part, so they could only endure the aroma while feeling restless.

"This smells so good, I really want to take a bite."

"I'm truly impressed by these two; they both made the duck taste so delicious! It's making my mouth water!"

The audience protested.

However, the protest was ineffective.

On the judges' panel, Gu Jingzhou looked at the two children below the stage with a gratified smile.

"Both of the Nangong family's children are outstanding. Hong'er adheres to tradition and refines every step to perfection, while Lian'er dares to innovate. They are the future of the catering industry!"

The moment he finished speaking,

Below the stage, the brother and sister sitting in their chairs looked up at the same time, their eyes meeting.

"It's done!"