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

Liu Jianye, standing on the platform, felt as if his heart had skipped a beat. He quickly glanced around and, seeing that everyone looked normal, regained his composure.

Offstage, Gao Yang's movements became increasingly nimble. He filtered the clam chowder twice and set it aside, while the mushrooms remained tender and delicious under the low temperature.

He chopped a small amount of onion, stir-fried it with mushrooms, and then set it aside. He used clam chowder to thicken the sauce at the bottom of the pot and added some light cream to enhance the creamy flavor.

The broth bubbled and gurgled, with tiny bubbles rising around the edge of the pot. The aroma of milk and the freshness of clams complemented each other, making the rich flavor of the mushrooms even more pronounced.

He added small pieces of butter, and as the oil melted, the soup thickened, turning from a pale yellow to a slightly brownish-red.

"It's done."

Just as Gao Yang was processing the Arctic clam, a series of rebuttals came from the high platform.

"I object to Zou Li passing the preliminary round. His barbecue is too simple. It's impossible to make it taste like this without using expensive ingredients."

Xu Qinyun looked at the roasted meat with a blank expression, as if it were garbage.

"I don't think such simple dishes fit our cooking philosophy. If good ingredients are all it takes to win a competition, then I could get the best seafood in the world, make sashimi, and still pass the preliminary rounds."

Xu Qinyun's voice was not quiet, and most of the audience noticed the argument. The judges who realized what was happening also pointed their cameras at them.

"Look, they're arguing over there! What's going on?"

"It seems that Zou Li handed the judges the simplest grilled meat, which angered them, and they wanted to reject him from the preliminary round."

"Who is Zou Li? Never heard of him. Is he very powerful?"

"I don't know, I've never heard of it. His barbecue looks so-so to me."

The audience's comments, one after another, all reached Zou Li's ears.

Zou Li's face turned bright red, but he couldn't say anything. After all, he was far inferior to the judges in front of him in terms of seniority and influence.

Liu Jianye, however, kept singing a different tune.

"Who said that? If something exists, it has meaning. We didn't set any rules for the preliminary rounds, nor did we say that contestants couldn't bring high-quality ingredients. He's capable, and he brought his own ingredients, so why shouldn't we let him advance?"

Liu Jianye refused to budge an inch, looking utterly heartbroken.

"Moreover, the finest ingredients often require only the simplest cooking methods. Zou Li's roasted meat is well-seasoned and cooked to perfection. At first glance, you can see that the innermost part of the meat is still pink and tender. How can such a promising talent be eliminated just because the cooking method isn't fancy enough?"

In fact, Liu Jianye knew very well that Zou Li's cooking method was indeed unpalatable. There was nothing special about it; he just marinated the meat, put it on the fire to roast, and then served it.

There's nothing we can do about it; Qin Wanshan paid the money.

The key point is that there's a lot of money involved, enough for me to squander for quite some time.

Gu Jingzhou's lips curled up slightly. As clever as he was, how could he not understand Liu Jianye's meaning? It was obvious that he had taken the money.

He didn't point it out, but just quietly watched the two begin their game.

However, it was clear that Xu Qinyun couldn't win an argument with Liu Jianye, and her nose became crooked with anger.

"If I say no, then no. You can forget about it once I've passed this test. If we set this precedent, there'll be no point in competing anymore. We'll just have to see who has the best ingredients and who can get the best supply."

As the last note faded, Xu Qinyun could no longer stop her voice.

In an instant, the audience saw the plate of barbecue, and the camera even gave it a close-up.

There was a lot of discussion on the field.

"I think he should be promoted. He's a chef; all he needs to do is cook the ingredients and make the dishes taste good. Why worry about so much else?"

"Who said that? As a chef, isn't he afraid of being criticized for serving dishes like this in a competition? With his skills, even my grandma could do it."

"Then let you breastfeed?"

There was a great deal of discussion, and the noise from the audience even drowned out the judges at one point.

Zou Li stood on the stage, unsure whether to stop or leave, feeling extremely awkward.

He looked at the arguing judges with a dark expression, then at the contestants below the stage, feeling extremely resentful.

"Yes or no, that means yes or no. What does this mean? What are we doing?"

Xu Qinyun looked at Gu Jingzhou.

"Mr. Gu, you be the judge, we all trust your decision."

Liu Jianye also looked at Gu Jingzhou, but Liu Jianye's expression was far less relaxed than Xu Qinyun's.

All eyes instantly turned to Gu Jingzhou, and the noisy arena fell silent as everyone watched Gu Jingzhou's decision.

Xu Qinyun looked resolute, certain that Gu Jingzhou would stand by her side and uphold the bottom line of the cooking competition.

She looked at Liu Jianye with an arrogant expression.

As a judge who decides the life or death of a restaurant, how could she not know the chef's bottom line? How can this kind of grilled meat with only ingredients be better than the skills of the masters?

Liu Jianye's fingers tightened slightly, his face forcibly maintaining a righteous and confident demeanor, but inwardly he felt a faint panic as he stared intently at the most senior veteran judge.

All the pressure fell on Gu Jingzhou.

Gu Jingzhou slowly raised his hand and gently pressed it down, signaling for silence.

His gaze was calm, first falling on Zou Li's plate of roasted meat.

The roasted meat was glistening with oil, crispy on the outside and tender and pink on the inside, with a few drops of dark brown sauce adorning the bone-white porcelain plate. To be fair, this dish was indeed quite beautiful.

He glanced at Xu Qinyun and Liu Jianye, who were locked in a fierce confrontation, and slowly sorted out his thoughts, weighing the pros and cons before finally speaking.

"Ingredients are the foundation, techniques are the backbone; the two have always complemented each other and are indispensable."

Gu Jingzhou's voice was deep and resonant, echoing throughout the entire arena.

"Therefore, I believe that Zou Li can pass the preliminary round."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire audience erupted in uproar. Some couldn't believe their ears and cursed the rigging of the affair, while others nodded in satisfaction.

"Mr. Gu, this..."

Xu Qinyun clearly wanted to say something, but Gu Jingzhou interrupted her every time.

Gu Jingzhou shook his head at her.

Xu Qinyun then slowly sat down, looking like a wilted flower, listless.

Throughout her life, she was fearless in the face of power. Under her leadership, countless restaurants operated by capital went out of business, while countless entrepreneurs who had nothing built up countless restaurants.

The pen in her hand only offers the most truthful evaluations, and her mouth only speaks of the most objective issues.

But today everything was ruined, ruined by a piece of grilled meat, which completely shattered her conscience.

As Zou Li watched all this, his face turned from black to white.

He was really scared to death; he almost thought he was going to die, but it turned out to be okay.

"It must be because Boss Qin bribed him with a lot of money."

He muttered to himself, let out a long sigh of relief, and was about to pick up the plate and walk off the stage.

Just then, a calm voice rang out.

"Good morning, judges. I am Gao Yang. My dish is finished. Please give me your feedback."