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

"This is impossible, this is absolutely impossible!"

Nangong Qinglang stared in horror at the lion's head in front of him, and, still not believing it, picked up another piece with his chopsticks.

Instantly, the bright juices of the lion's head meatball burst in your mouth, mingling with the aroma of scallions and ginger, filling every crevice of your oral cavity.

The braising sauce was reduced to a thick consistency, and its gelatinous texture caused all the flavors to stick to the oral mucosa, lingering for a long time.

The lean meat absorbed the flavors and the oil from the diced fat, creating an explosion of aroma in the mouth. With a perfect ratio of six parts lean to four parts fat, it was neither greasy nor tough. Every chew was a completely different experience.

"So, everyone, which one is better, my lion's head meatballs or Nangong Qu's?"

"Or rather, should I get out of the Nangong family?"

Gao Yang smiled and looked at Nangong Qinglang with a playful expression.

Nangong Qinglang then came to his senses and suddenly opened his eyes.

He looked at his hands, somewhat incredulous.

"What's wrong with me? I'm completely immersed in it!"

He turned to look at his brother, and they both saw the same shock in each other's eyes.

They tasted this flavor when they were young.

That was because their great-grandfather was still alive. As the most skilled chef in the Nangong family, he personally cooked this braised lion's head meatball for them.

It's a flavor that follows the ancient methods perfectly, a taste secret etched deep into your blood.

Since their great-grandfather passed away, they had never tasted this flavor again. Until now, the dish Gao Yang made tasted exactly the same as the one from back then. If it weren't for the large time gap, he would have even thought that Gao Yang had brought out the dish his great-grandfather had made.

He swallowed hard and looked at the braised lion's head meatballs.

Awe, greed, enjoyment... a variety of emotions surged in his eyes, finally turning into a soft sigh.

"How is it? How is it?"

Nangong Qu watched this scene with barely suppressed madness on his face.

The look on your face means it must taste awful. Just wait and see how I make fun of you later!

His gaze fell on Gao Yang and Su Wanqing.

The other disciples of the Nangong family were also undecided.

"Do you think this tastes good or bad? What does that expression mean?"

"Hey, what are you thinking? Are you saying this outsider's cooking is better than Nangong Qu's? You're dreaming! Nangong Qu's cooking follows the ancient methods perfectly. Besides those few, who can compare to him?"

"I think so too. I'm afraid the patriarch is also thinking about how to say it in a way that will save face for this Boss Su."

Little did they know, every single word they said reached Nangong Ming's ears.

A trace of sorrow flashed in Nangong Ming's eyes.

These disciples of the Nangong family were completely focused on that ancient recipe book, believing that everything in the recipe book was the best.

Little do people know that to fully showcase the dishes on the recipe, one must have one's own understanding of the ingredients and a solid foundation of skills—these are the things that are most easily overlooked.

He looked at his younger brother.

"You tell me."

Nangong Qinglang nodded, then stuffed another lion's head into his mouth and stood up straight facing the crowd.

He looked at Nangong Qu in front of him, then at Gao Yang, his expression extremely complex.

"Kid, your cooking is really delicious, even I'm ashamed of myself."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Nangong Qinglang slowly uttered these words and then turned his head to one side.

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Nangong Qu, who was waiting for the reward, was momentarily stunned.

"No, you mean my cooking isn't as good as Gao Yang's? How could that be!"

"Is there something wrong with it?"

He took a step forward, pressing himself against Nangong Qinglang. Seeing that his most respected elder was ignoring him, he turned to look at Nangong Ming.

"Master, tell me, this is fake, isn't it?"

His voice trembled violently, his tone full of pleading.

"I have strictly followed the ancestral rules of the Nangong family. How could I possibly lose to an outsider? I am the genius of the Nangong family!"

Seeing Nangong Qu like this, Nangong Ming felt a little bad, but he knew that he had to give himself a heavy blow in order to rebuild himself.

He spoke softly.

"Young Qu, you didn't lose unjustly."

"Compared to what you make, Gao Yang's lion's head meatballs are more in line with the ancestral recipe; that's the true flavor of the Nangong family."

"What?!"

"Did I hear that right? This outsider actually beat Nangong Qu, and he even made the authentic Nangong family flavor?"

"How is this possible? The recipes of the Nangong family have never been shared with outsiders. How could an outsider have made them?"

"There must be something fishy going on, otherwise how could Nangong Qu have lost!"

The Nangong family members in the audience stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what they were hearing from their patriarch.

"If you don't believe me, try it yourself."

Nangong Ming sighed and handed Nangong Qu a pair of chopsticks.

Nangong Qu took the chopsticks, looked at the lion's head meatball in front of him, and swallowed hard.

From the outside, Gao Yang's dish looks exactly the same as his. So why can he win? Why does his taste authentic?

He picked up a piece of lion's head meatball and put it in his mouth.

In an instant, he felt his mind go blank, a dense current of electricity flowed through his brain, and the sensation called deliciousness flowed from his mouth to his limbs and bones, as if every corner of his body was relaxing.

Although he considered himself to have learned the most authentic imperial cuisine of the Nangong family, he had never tasted such delicious lion's head meatballs. His genes told him that the most authentic lion's head meatballs of the Nangong family tasted just like this.

In an instant, all the color drained from his face, and he staggered back two steps, completely unable to believe that what he was seeing was real.

"This...this is impossible. You're not a member of the Nangong family, how could you make such authentic dishes?"

His eyes were wide open, staring intently at Gao Yang.

Gao Yang smiled gently.

"As you can see, I have never learned the Nangong family's recipes. I learned all the cooking processes by following your steps."

"However, I noticed many mistakes in your preparation process, such as directly stir-frying the spices, so I just corrected them."

"As for the taste, I have never actually tasted the most authentic lion's head meatballs from the Nangong family. I just think that making them this way would make them taste much better."

Gao Yang spoke lightly, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

As his words fell silent, the entire room fell into dead silence.

At this point, even the most foolish person could see that Gao Yang possessed genuine martial arts skills, and his strength far exceeded their expectations.

"I lost."

Nangong Qu's face was ashen, his eyes were vacant, and he kept muttering to himself.

"Young Qu, not only that, while your method of handling ingredients is certainly not wrong, Gao Yang's method is even more refined."

"For example, the diced fatty pork, I saw that Gao Yang cut it to the exact same size, and it was mixed into the minced meat very evenly, which you never noticed."

"These details accumulate one by one, and the final result is completely different."

"It is precisely his understanding of ingredients and processes that allowed him to almost perfectly replicate the braised lion's head meatballs."

"In this respect, neither your master nor I can compare to Gao Yang."

He paused, his eyes softened, and he reached out to gently stroke Nangong Qu's head.

"So, kid Qu, you didn't lose unjustly."

"But it's okay to lose this time. There's a long future ahead. As long as you learn humbly and maintain a good mindset, you will eventually reach the level of a master."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Qu lowered his head in shame and bowed to Gao Yang, saying, "Master Gao, thank you for your guidance. I am convinced."

Gao Yang waved his hand and walked back to Su Wanqing's side.

Su Wanqing glanced around, and when her gaze fell on the members of the Nangong family, none of them dared to meet her eyes.

She looked at Nangong Ming and smiled.

"Patriarch Nangong, now we can have a proper discussion about cooperation, right?"

Nangong Ming patted Nangong Qinglang's shoulder and returned the smile. His goal had been achieved, and the rest would fall into place naturally.

"Of course, please come in."

However, at that moment, a sudden change occurred.

"Wait a minute, it should be our Xiao family that is cooperating with the Nangong family."