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

A disdainful smile appeared on Nangong Qu's face.

"Gao Yang, come on, you're still putting on a brave face even though the patriarch praised me so highly. Aren't you going to give up?"

"Or are you saying you don't believe the patriarch's words at all, and don't believe in the Nangong family's love for food?"

His words instantly made Gao Yang the focus of the entire room.

The members of the Nangong family in the audience were buzzing with discussion, and even those who were about to leave stopped and turned to look.

Their eyes were full of hostility as they looked at Gao Yang.

Nangong Qu's move was good; he praised Gao Yang before the evaluation even started, instilling a preconceived notion in Nangong Ming and the others. This would significantly influence whether Gao Yang's lion's head meatballs were truly delicious or not.

Gao Yang frowned almost imperceptibly, looked at Nangong Qu, and said seriously:

"Every dish has its own flavor, and whether it tastes good largely depends on the taster's subjective experience. You probably couldn't handle eating very spicy Hunan cuisine."

"Furthermore, you don't need to flatter me. Since I've chosen to compete with you, I'm going to see it through to the end. No matter how high your praise is, I will still present my own work."

"Finally, if I may be so bold, I don't think I'll lose, because your lion's head is, in my opinion, utter garbage."

Gao Yang paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces before finally settling on Nangong Qu, and he parted his thin lips to kiss her.

"That's complete garbage."

He spoke so calmly, as if he were a computer, without a trace of subjectivity, that everyone was stunned on the spot.

For a moment, the entire room fell silent.

Everyone blinked, as if their brains had crashed, not yet realizing the meaning behind Gao Yang's words. Instead, Su Wanqing was the first to curl her lips into a smile, her eyes sparkling with infatuation.

"What did you say?!"

Two seconds later, Nangong Qu reacted and, upon hearing Gao Yang's humiliation of him, was instantly overcome with rage.

"Say it again!"

"I'm following the ancestral rules of the Nangong family. Every step and every detail is exactly the same as in the recipe. How dare you, a mere outsider, slander my Nangong family!"

"If you don't kneel down and apologize today, don't even think about leaving this house!"

Nangong Qu's eyes widened in fury, and he couldn't help but rush forward and grab Gao Yang's collar.

Behind him, dozens of members of the Nangong family slowly walked over, their brows furrowed with anger.

They looked at Su Wanqing, then at Gao Yang.

"I know you guys are very powerful outside, but this is the Nangong family, and we have to follow the rules."

"How dare you act so presumptuously in the Nangong family? Aren't you afraid of going back with an arm or a leg missing?"

"Brothers, stop wasting your breath on them. These people have insulted my Nangong family and cursed my ancestors. Now, let them go down and apologize to our ancestors."

In an instant, the crowd was enraged, and some of the hot-tempered ones had already grabbed a stick, waiting for the order to strike the men.

Qian Liu quickly stood up, dragging his still-recovering body, and stood behind Gao Yang with a few of his underlings, his sharp eyes scanning the crowd below.

"Patriarch Nangong, is this how you treat your guests?"

Not far away, Su Wanqing watched this scene and made a casual remark.

"If you continue with this attitude, it will be difficult for our cooperation to continue."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Qinglang was overjoyed.

He wasn't thinking about any cooperation; living a good life like this was better than anything else.

"Boss Su, you can't say that. It was clearly your people who provoked us first."

"As you know, the Nangong family values ​​ancestral traditions very much. We wish we could offer incense to our ancestors thirty times a day. Now he has insulted the Nangong family and the recipes passed down through generations, so we have no way to persuade him."

Nangong Qinglang's eyes were full of smugness, and he was even playing with the beaded string.

He understood that if he pushed things this way, the collaboration would fall through.

But to his surprise, Su Wanqing's next words shattered his beautiful illusion.

"But what I heard was that Gao Yang's words were only saying that Nangong Qu's cooking was garbage, without denying the Nangong family's recipes or insulting the Nangong family."

"So, if Nangong Hong said Nangong Qu's work was garbage, then isn't Nangong Hong also insulting the Nangong family?"

All eyes fell on Nangong Hong, making her feel somewhat at a loss.

Su Wanqing gave her a reassuring look, and then said.

"But as far as I know, Nangong Hong also inherited the Nangong family's recipes and is quite famous for her imperial cuisine. Is that also a provocation?"

Upon hearing this, Nangong Qinglang paused, his hand holding the beaded string stopped, and he looked at his brothers, then at Su Wanqing, speechless for a moment.

"this……"

Su Wanqing understood that her questioning had already silenced everyone, and all she needed to do was strike while the iron was hot.

"Moreover, I think Gao Yang is right. The lion's head meatballs made by Nangong Qu are indeed garbage."

"boom!"

Her words were like a thunderclap in a calm night sky, leaving everyone speechless.

"You, you, you!"

Nangong Qinglang pointed at Su Wanqing, the words stuck in his throat, unable to come out for a long time.

His face was flushed, and he clutched his chest as if he would faint at any moment.

The situation off the field was not good either, with the two sides locked in a stalemate and the conflict escalating.

Although Qian Liu had principles and weapons, he understood that his side was there to cooperate, and that once blood was drawn, the cooperation would definitely break down.

Meanwhile, Nangong Qu was getting increasingly agitated. Under the influence of his companions' twisted words, some of the hot-tempered ones, with red eyes, were about to strike him with a stick.

Just then.

"Stop it, all of you!"

A tremendous sound swept across the entire venue, carrying an undeniable pressure as it passed over everyone.

The members of the Nangong family gradually came to their senses. Out of respect for the family head's authority, they stood still, though their expressions still held resentment as they glared at Gao Yang and his group.

Gao Yang chuckled softly, looked at Nangong Qu's face, which was contorted with anger, and slowly shook his head.

"You wanted to know why I called what you made garbage, right? You'll find out in a minute."

After saying that, he didn't give Nangong Qu time to react and turned to look at Nangong Ming and the others.

"Please try my braised lion's head meatballs."

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Nangong Qu snorted coldly.

"Fine, let's see how you handle this later."

On the stage, Nangong Ming held a dinner knife in his hand, looked at the lion's head, and swallowed hard.

Having been immersed in the culinary arts for many years, his hands were trembling slightly at this moment. Compared with the lion's head meatballs made by Gao Yang and Nangong Qu, there was not much difference in color, plating, or consistency. It was difficult to judge which one was better by the naked eye.

He gently sliced ​​down with the knife in his hand, making a smooth cut, but some of the particles inside seemed to be a little larger.

"Try them all."

At this moment, he was also a little worried. If Gao Yang's cooking wasn't as good as Nangong Qu's, then all of this would be a joke, and all the subsequent cooperation would be in vain.

What should I do? Should I deliberately say that Gao Yang's cooking is delicious later?

Seeing his brother's expression, Nangong Qinglang immediately adopted a confident demeanor.

With a smile, he gently picked up his chopsticks, took a piece, and put it in his mouth.

He's just a peasant, not worthy of being presented in a respectable manner.

He slowly bit down with his teeth.

The next instant, it felt as if an electric current had passed through his brain.

"What?!"