Chapter 366: Chapter 366: Dragon’s Whiskers
With the host’s surprised exclamation echoing, waves of gasps arose from the audience who were watching Qin Lang’s movements on the big screen.
Far from diminishing after these outbursts, the gasps seemed to intensify.
Under countless stares, Qin Lang’s hands danced with a strange rhythm.
Moving in tandem was the dough, which had just been unwrapped from tire cling film, fully awakened after a sufficient rest period.
No, referring to it as dough now might be a bit of a misnomer.
Under Qin Lang’s deft movements, a lump of dough that he pulled from the mixture was quickly stretched into a long strip. Then, with a crisscross movement of his hands, where the ends met, he stretched it again.
Once, twice.
In just a few breaths, what was once a thick strip of dough became a bundle of handmade noodles, very similar in thickness to the ones we see every day.
Seeing Qin Lang’s large arm movements, and even the trembling motion in between, everyone in the audience found themselves holding their breath, fearing that the thin-looking noodles might break.
But not only did Qin Lang’s movements not stop, instead, they seemed to intensify. The noodles, also thick, seemed to be just the beginning.
A fold, and another pull.
The thin noodles exceeded the reach of Qin Lang’s fully extended hands, moving like a spirit snake in the air. Under the slow motion and close-up shots displayed on the big screen, everyone could see the unusual thinness of the noodles at this moment.
It should be over, right?
As countless people in the audience held their breath, dreading that their breathing might break the noodles, they couldn’t help but have such thoughts.
But Qin Lang’s movements told them there was still more to do.
Yet another fold, another pull!
After being stretched beyond the limit of his hands and enduring another pull, the noodles became so thin that they seemed to break if blown too hard.
Everyone took a sharp breath when they saw Qin Lang still casually dancing the noodles. The contest fell into an unprecedented silence, as if everyone had forgotten to cheer and clap, even forgotten to breathe.
A thought inevitably surfaced in everyone’s minds.
This time, it must be over, right?
“…Incredible!” The host took a deep breath, suppressing his awe, and couldn’t help but sigh, “The skill to stretch the noodles to this extent is worth its weight in gold.”
“I’m already looking forward to the delicacy Qin Lang will cook with these noodles… He’s not done yet!!!” The host exclaimed in surprise, interrupting his own words as he saw Qin Lang’s hands folding again.
At the same time, gasps and cries erupted from the audience. The sound of seat backs clashing against cushions filled the room, and countless people stood up from their seats!
They clenched their fists and stared hard at the boy on the big screen, who was slowly stretching the noodles.
His speed was clearly slower than before.
Could he succeed?
Would the noodles break?
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qin Lang completed his final pull.
The big screen showed a close-up slow-motion shot, magnified dozens of times, revealing the noodles’ hair-like thinness.
The numerous noodles overlapped, forming a dense, tassel-like veil on Qin Lang’s hands. As the final pull ended and the noodles began to dance lightly, the entire audience erupted in thunderous cheers and applause!
“Masterful techniques!!!”
The host screamed as loudly as possible, “Before us all, Qin Lang has shown techniques that leave us in the dust, the taste of a delicacy cooked with such thin noodles is unimaginable!”
Indifferent to the roaring cheers from the outside world, Qin Lang glanced outside the kitchen and guessed that his performance must have shocked many people.
A calm smile appeared on his face.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
If the locals were resistant to pasta, he would use something else to attract them, thereby temporarily distracting them from the issue with the pasta.
Under the transparent mode, he had a great choice.
And that was to show off his skills.
At this moment, Dragon Beard Noodles was the standard answer.
Snipping the little dough in his hand, he rolled the finished Dragon Beard dough into balls and placed them in clean noodle soup bowls for later. Qin Lang then pulled out a second lump of dough and began his routine again.
With as many as thirty judges in the arena, even though each portion didn t need much, it all added up to a large amount. The preparation of Dragon Beard noodles demanded not only skill but also physical strength.
Fortunately, Qin Lang’s body benefited from the power of the Star Vein and was more than capable of supporting him.
For the audience, they hadn’t yet recovered from the shock when they saw Qin Lang start stretching the noodles again. Suddenly, gasps and applause erupted from all directions.
“The portion of noodles that Qin Lang just finished was divided into five noodle soup bowls, which means he will need to repeat the same steps for the next ones!” The host noticed and exclaimed, “That’s terrifying!”
The difference between not making a mistake once and not making one every single time, anyone could understand.
In the senior judge seats, the thirty senior judges looked at each other.
“Such a noodle dish appearing in the scoring round of a city-level cooking contest…” one of the senior judges couldn’t help but shake his head, “The other contestants must be in despair, right?”
“After all, he is the champion of the Youth Group of the Leaping Fish Banquet, this young man from Tianhua State has an extraordinary culinary level,” another judge nodded seriously, then chuckled, “It seems we’re in for a treat this time.”
“I still have some reservations about pasta,” another judge admitted frankly, “But if it’s this dish from Qin Lang, I think I would be very willing to try it.”
The judges exchanged whispers. Although their opinions differed slightly, each expressed anticipation for the final form of Qin Lang s dish.
Time ticked away as Qin Lang quickly finished the fifth set of Dragon Beard Noodles. Now, there are twenty noodle soup bowls arranged in four rows on the countertop, each containing a bundle of Dragon Beard noodles.
And the thin-as-hair Dragon Beard noodles in his hand would be divided into five more portions.
Despite it no longer being a new sight, each time Qin Lang successfully finished the final step of getting the Dragon Beard noodles ultra-thin, the audience’s applause and cheers were as enthusiastic as the first time.
A soft “ding dong—” was drowned in the deafening cheers and applause, hardly noticed by anyone.
A contestant, full of confidence, emerged from his competitive standard kitchen pushing his kitchen cabinet car. Upon hearing the loud cheers, he was overjoyed and quickened his pace.
He was the first one out, these cheers and applause were for him!
He would have a significant advantage in the upcoming scoring competition! However, the contestant’s expression soon turned perplexed.
He realized that nobody, including the host, was looking at him!