Chapter 1473: Li Dashao

The contestant also felt that what this little judge, whom he had looked down upon, was saying actually made some sense.

"I'm sorry." The voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum.

"What did you just say?" Zichen said deliberately: "The voice is too small, I didn't hear it clearly."

"I think you're looking for a beating!"

The contestant wanted to make a move again, but Zichen reminded him: "Don't you want to know the reason anymore?"

So, the fist he had raised again was lowered.

Everything that happened between the two of them left the people off-stage unable to understand.

What's the situation?

They had clearly started fighting, yet they returned to normal so quickly.

What are these two doing?

Zichen picked up the microphone in front of him, turned it on, and announced the answer: "I didn't give a pass because of the name of this dish. It was a perfectly good braised pork knuckle, but you insisted on renaming it 'Elder's Joy.' It's true that the elderly have poor teeth and like to eat soft, mushy food, but the fat and cholesterol in pork knuckle are too high. You made it so delicious that one could finish a whole plate without realizing it, and it's not good for the elderly to eat too much of it..."

Before Zichen finished his explanation, the venue erupted in thunderous applause.

Including the contestant himself, he clapped desperately, convinced and impressed!

Because a judge had rejected this dish, this contestant missed out on the finals.

However, every judge still had one resurrection vote in their hands; whoever this vote was cast for would have their competition eligibility restored.

Zichen cast his resurrection vote for the contestant he had personally eliminated just moments ago—Li Dashao.

Li Dashao had already packed his things and was preparing to go home, but when he suddenly received the decision from the judging committee that he could return to the competition, he was incredibly excited.

"Thank you, thank you!"

He grabbed the staff member's hand, kept thanking them, and then asked: "Excuse me, which judge gave me the resurrection vote?"

The staff member's reply exceeded his expectations: it was Sheng Zichen who had given him his only resurrection vote!

Li Dashao couldn't figure it out; he had eliminated him first, and then given him the resurrection vote?

Isn't this like a Xiazi lighting a lamp—a waste of wax?

He wanted to find Sheng Zichen to ask for clarification, but he had no chance at all because the next round of the competition was about to start immediately.

In the remaining matches, Li Dashao was very smooth; he defeated all his opponents and won the championship throne!

The champion receives a fifty-thousand-yuan prize and a trophy provided by the Gourmet Festival, but just as Gu Zhihao was about to present the award to him, Li Dashao made an unexpected request!

He proposed that he didn't want the prize money and wanted to compete in culinary skills against the judge, Sheng Zichen.

This request was very unreasonable; under normal circumstances, it shouldn't be agreed to, as it went against common sense.

A contestant challenging a judge is clearly questioning the judge's level. If the judge accepts the challenge, winning is expected, but if they lose, it means their skills are inferior. A gourmet judge whose culinary skills are not as good as a contestant's, while not necessarily a disgrace, doesn't sound good when talked about.

But Zichen agreed.

"Fine, I agree. How do you want to compete?"

The rules were set by Li Dashao.

Li Dashao didn't hold back either, saying: "How about this, we each make two dishes, Fried Ice Cream and Sweet and Sour Live Carp. If you beat me, I will be convinced by your evaluation of me. If you lose, you must retract the red card you gave me."

Sheng Zichen:...

He had already explained it clearly just now, yet he was still brooding over the red card matter.

Gu Zhihao wouldn't have it; he darkened his face and said to Li Dashao: "If you are dissatisfied with the judge, you can choose to withdraw from the competition. Don't make irresponsible remarks here. This is Chen Family Village, not your shop; you can't just do whatever you want!"

"So what if I'm dissatisfied with him? So what if this is Chen Family Village?"

Li Dashao had a quick temper and a loud voice. When he started shouting without a microphone, everyone could hear his dissatisfaction: "I don't care where you say this is. What the hell is Chen Family Village? I was invited by the Gourmet Association. I only look at skill, I don't care who you are. He's only in his teens, why is he qualified to be a judge at the Gourmet Festival? I think there's a shady deal here..."

Li Dashao had an explosive temper and started arguing right then and there.

Gu Zhihao was the Village Chief; could he let an outsider run wild on his own turf?

He prepared to call the Security Guard to throw the person out, but just at this moment, Zichen stopped him in time: "Master, don't argue with him, just wait for me to beat him."

When Zichen called Gu Zhihao "Master," the expressions of the people at the judges' table changed.

The judges who came today all held a place in the gourmet world and were all clear about Gu Zhihao's background.

Gu Zhihao was the only successor of the Gu Family cuisine.

Although the Gu Family cuisine had disappeared from the jianghu for decades, the legends of the Gu Family cuisine still existed in the jianghu!

Back when the Gu Family cuisine was all the rage, other culinary schools had to step aside. It was only after the Gu Family cuisine vanished that the lively scene of other culinary schools blooming in a hundred flowers occurred.

It was precisely because of the Gu Family cuisine's signboard that Gu Zhihao was able to invite so many big names in the gourmet world to be judges.

But some of the participating chefs knew, and some didn't; they decided to participate in this competition entirely based on the fame of the judges.

Those who were not clear about Gu Zhihao's background included Li Dashao.

He didn't even know who Gu Zhihao was, so naturally, he wouldn't think his apprentice was very impressive.

Zichen called the host "Master"; not only did others hear it, but he heard it too.

Li Dashao snorted coldly and mocked: "I said there was a shady deal here, and sure enough, there is. The Village Chief's apprentice is a judge; it really is true that having someone in the imperial court makes it easy to be an official..."

Zichen ignored his mockery; he changed into a snow-white chef's uniform, stood in front of the workstation, and laid out his knives on the table.

Once an expert makes a move, you know if they have the skill.

The pure cowhide knife roll was opened, and the knives were lined up in the roll. The eyes of all the chefs and judges present, including Gu Zhihao, lit up!

What kind of knife set was this?

Before they were even taken out, one could feel bursts of chill just by looking at the handles. They were purely handmade and of great value.

"Kid, that's a nice knife. How about we make a bet?"

Li Dashao hadn't thought much of Sheng Zichen at all, but he had his eye on this set of knives!

He wanted to bet his prize money against Zichen's knife set, but Zichen didn't give him the chance and refused directly: "No betting."

"Are you afraid? If you're afraid, just admit defeat, so you don't look ugly when you lose later."

"I'm not afraid, but I don't gamble; I don't participate in any form of gambling."

Li Dashao still wanted to say more, but at this moment Gu Yuxin also walked over dressed in a chef's uniform and retorted to Li Dashao: "Are you here to compete in culinary skills or to compete in talking? How can a grown man be so talkative? When exactly are we starting?"

"Yo! The little lady has quite a fiery temper, huh? Let's start now, but what are you coming over here for?"

Gu Yuxin rolled her eyes: "I am Sheng Zichen's assistant; don't tell me you don't need an assistant to make these two dishes?"

He actually did need one.

These two dishes were not projects that could be completed by one person.

Li Dashao's assistant was a bit younger than him, but judging by the thickness of his wrists, he was also a veteran who had been in the kitchen for many years.

Looking at Zichen's side again.

The two of them, like a golden boy and jade girl, were both very good-looking; if they were walking on the street, they would be very pleasing to the eye, but appearing at a chef competition, they seemed very out of place.