Daddy, Come Home For Dinner!

Chapter 877: Chapter 877: No Objection to Assuming the Worst

If that’s the case, then what’s the use of having a branch manager?

Lu Chenghong and the others didn’t know that Zhuang Mingyan also knew Zhao Gushen, nor did they know Zhuang Mingyan’s thoughts about Zhao Gushen.

They just thought she was an ordinary representative.

Originally, this matter didn’t need to be reported to Zhao Gushen.

Adding in the fact that they didn’t know about Zhuang Mingyan’s little troubles, it caused the current situation.

Now, it’s obviously unrealistic to pull Zhuang Mingyan down.

There are so many spectators present, and it’s a live broadcast, it’s impossible to be so playful.

Li Xiaoyun took a deep breath and said, "Let’s just hope she can’t find fault with Xiao Fei."

However, although Li Xiaoyun said so, she didn’t actually hold onto such hope in her heart.

If Zhuang Mingyan truly had a conscience and a sense of shame, she wouldn’t be pestering Zhao Gushen and coming to be a judge.

She hadn’t mentioned it out of fear of worrying the kid.

Actually now, Zhuang Mingyan couldn’t help but say, "Now I have reason to suspect that Zhuang Mingyan became a judge specifically because of Xiao Fei."

Giving Ye Fei low scores, Li Xiaoyun thinks this is certain.

Whether she intends to make Ye Fei bow down using her position as a judge.

Taking the opportunity to boss Ye Fei around, acting condescending, it’s hard to say.

Yet Li Xiaoyun doesn’t mind at all interpreting Zhuang Mingyan with the greatest malice.

Anyway, Zhuang Mingyan is no good person.

"Alright, welcome Miss Zhuang," An Haiyin went on stage again to say.

"Well then, judges, please take your seats at the judging panel," An Haiyin said.

The six judges returned to their judging panel. freewēbnoveℓ.com

Zhuang Mingyan’s gaze remained fixed on Ye Fei.

Upon learning Zhao Gushen was married to Ye Fei, Zhuang Mingyan thoroughly investigated Ye Fei.

She learned Ye Fei was a food blogger, also participating in the cooking competition.

Heard she’s even a favorite candidate for the championship.

Netizens are keenly expecting her to join the International Cooking Competition.

Zhuang Mingyan never imagined, Zhao Gushen ended up finding someone so unpresentable after all his searching.

Does she fantasize about gaining fame through competitions?

Thus, she insisted on being a judge.

She just wanted to see how Ye Fei’s skills truly were.

For this occasion, Guo Wenbo, the usual dominant force in the competition, unusually remained silent at the judging panel.

Handing over the lead role entirely to An Haiyin.

"Next, we proceed with the first round of the competition, soup dishes," An Haiyin said, "Soup can be considered as the appetizer for our Chinese cuisine. Whether in a restaurant or at home, there’s always a bowl of soup during meals."

"I’m not very clear on other things, but drinking a bit of soup before meals can lubricate the intestines and is beneficial for the stomach," An Haiyin said, "As the saying goes, drink soup before meals. It’s been a long-standing habit of ours."

"Now, please open the top drawer on your right-hand side," An Haiyin said.

Ye Fei and others heard that and opened the drawer to look.

Inside were tomatoes, onions, potatoes, garlic, beef, lamb, and labeled fresh processed fish, not frozen.

Including four types: carp, perch, Basa fish, and sole fish.

"Additional seasoning, as usual, can be freely chosen in the ingredient room," An Haiyin said.

"However, unlike before, participants had only one chance to enter the ingredient room in previous competitions," An Haiyin said.

"This time is different; everyone can enter an unlimited number of times," An Haiyin said.

"No matter when or how many times, it’s allowed."

"The first-round soup competition lasts for 1 hour," An Haiyin said.

"Next, we’ll count down from 10," An Haiyin said, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The competition begins!"

Ye Fei took the opportunity while An Haiyin spoke to briefly ponder what soup to make.

She already had a rough idea in mind.

As the start signal sounded, Ye Fei didn’t immediately rush into the ingredient room but first worked on processing the ingredients she already had at hand.

Since An Haiyin mentioned that today there’s no limit on trips; entering the ingredient room can be anytime, no need for haste.

Not only Ye Fei, but other contestants also didn’t rush in.

Everyone shared the same thought: there’s no need to anxiously dash into the ingredient room right away.

In a rush, things could easily be overlooked.

Going back and forth takes time too.

With only an hour, making a broth wouldn’t be suitable.

There’s insufficient time, resulting in a lack in taste and effect.

Ye Fei clearly understood.

It’s undeniably good to excel in five dishes, but achieving perfection in all is extremely difficult.

Others might do it, but Ye Fei felt she couldn’t exceed expectations and win first in every dish.

Previously, the competition included only one dish a week.

This week’s time, or competition day, only required focusing on that single dish.

But today’s situation differed.

Though the competition doesn’t limit dishes by cuisine.

It does limit ingredients.

Unaware of the requirements before today, it was only revealed on-site that five dishes need preparing.

Bear in mind, restaurant chefs work with teams, repetitively testing and refining new dishes before launching them.

A week is incredibly short, insufficient actually.

But since this is a competition and not a restaurant rollout, the demands aren’t as high.

Yet requiring instant creation of eye-catching dishes within these brief minutes on-site.

Doing one barely possible, doing five is entirely not.

At least Ye Fei knew she couldn’t.

High-pressure competitions and limited time meant only allowing herself merely two or three minutes for contemplations.

These few minutes must guarantee utmost productivity.

Since spectators’ noise and nearby surroundings easily distract.

The site pressure is truly overwhelming.

In such conditions, maintaining focused thought over a single matter is challenging.

Thus, Ye Fei seized the chance to think during Guo Wenbo and An Haiyin’s speech.

Important points would be interspersed in their talk.

She couldn’t miss them, leading to frequent distractions to listen.

It naturally consumed quite a bit of time.

Ye Fei, using this time, decided for today’s five dishes, not expecting each one to stand out.

Ensuring at least two stand out would suffice.

The remaining three should strive for excellence without mistakes.

Concentrating mainly on envisioning two dishes.

To that extent she could still manage.

The first dish being soup, serving as an appetizer, to ease intestines yet not filling enough to hamper appetite for subsequent dishes.

So aside from excluding time-consuming broths, soups packed with too many ingredients should be ruled out as well.