Chapter 171: Shorthanded

“Actually, it’s not enough to restore the cost. If we don’t consider the labor costs, the Three Prawn Noodles can be further upgraded, but the cooking method will be more complicated.”

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Xu Le commented lightly.

Li Shengsheng put his elbow on his shoulder and said with a smile, “I’ll also go to the venue to vote for you in the finals.”

“Mmm.”

Xu Le smiled politely and thought to himself, ‘You can’t even tell which one was made by me. You’re talking nonsense again.’

He turned his head to look at Li Shengsheng and felt as if he had returned to a few years ago when they were in university. The two of them had their arms around each other’s shoulders as they swaggered around.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t even reach the shoulder of Li Shengsheng now.

There were gains and losses. After thinking for a while, Xu Le did not feel that it was a pity and secretly started thinking about the finals.

They strolled around the night market from beginning to end. The few of them took a walk to digest their food. As they walked on the road by the river, the evening wind blew against their faces with a hint of coolness. The river water sparkled under the moonlight.

Lu Yuxi’s eyelids gradually started to droop. She was so sleepy that she was almost feeling dizzy. “Let’s go back. I’m so tired that I can’t open my eyes.”

“Sure.”

Li Shengsheng reached out and hailed an oncoming taxi. He stuffed Lu Yuxi into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt for her. Then, he jumped into the back seat with Xu Le.

“It’s on the way anyway. The driver can send you back first before sending me back.” Li Shengsheng clung to him and blinked. He said with sincerity, “Little kid, did we know each other in the past?”

Xu Le looked at him as if he was retarded.

“Mmm, alright, I remembered wrongly.” Although Li Shengsheng was awkward, he still refused to give up. “We know each other now. I heard that your culinary skills are super good. Can I go to your house for free meals next time?”

Xu Le nodded and said, “Anything.”

The atmosphere in the car was quiet. Lu Yuxi’s even breathing could be heard from the front row. She was clearly snoring. Li Shengsheng glanced at Xu Le with a thoughtful expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I just feel that you’re very similar to my previous friend. No wonder Lu Yuxi has such a good relationship with you.”

Li Shengsheng was from the same school as him, so it was normal for them to have a few common friends. Xu Le snorted in his heart and thought to himself, ‘These guys are really disloyal. They knew the school belle back then and didn’t introduce her to be my friend. That way, he could have met Lu Yuxi earlier.’

Thinking that Lu Yuxi was about to leave after the competition ended, Xu Le pretended not to care and asked casually, “I heard that she’s already married.”

“Shh.” Li Shengsheng covered his mouth with his hand and looked at the sleeping Lu Yuxi in the rearview mirror. He lowered his voice and said, “How could that be? She had a crush on a close friend of mine before. Later, tsk, my friend had an accident, so she announced to the public that her husband had died.”

Looking at Xu Le’s gradually widening eyes, Li Shengsheng waved his hand and said, “Don’t tell her that I told you. This matter is too complicated. I can’t explain it in detail.”

After explaining, the two of them fell silent until the car stopped at the destination. He shook Lu Yuxi a few times before waking her up.

“We’re here. Let’s go back to sleep.”

“…Alright.”

Lu Yuxi held the car door and walked out. She returned to the room arranged by the production team in the exhibition hall with Xu Le. Li Shengsheng gave the driver his address and prepared to go home. He sat in the car and looked at their backview. Suddenly, he clicked his tongue in frustration and muttered, “How can they look so similar?”

The next day, Xu Le stayed in his room and entered the system with his eyes closed. He practiced one dish after another. The gold coins he earned every time the audience and the customers in the shop left behind good reviews had already formed a long string of numbers, so Xu Le did not have to worry about the cost of the recipes at all.

The countertop in the system was smart and convenient. As soon as he reached out, the dish that was not yet perfect was immediately disposed of and replaced with new ingredients.

Xu Le took a deep breath and patiently lowered his head to carve the tofu.

Time passed extremely slowly in the system. After practicing dozens of dishes in one go, only a short while had passed.

At this moment, the staff knocked on the door and brought lunch over. When Xu Le was cooking in the system, he tasted every dish, causing him to not be hungry at all.

However, based on the previous day’s experience, even if he refused, the other party would still force him to accept the food, so he tacitly agreed.

He opened the insulated lid. On the plate were braised prawns, blanched broccoli, three fresh vegetables, and other simple home-cooked dishes. Xu Le was thinking that this was not Chen Yeqi’s style of dishes. He opened the last lid and looked at the famous dish from Shunde. It was brewed fished and he fell into deep thought.

The complexity and difficulty of this dish was very well-known. It required the skin of the fish to be peeled off one by one by hand. Then, the fish meat would be chopped into pieces and fried before the cook restored the appearance of the fish. The meat was tender and crispy, and it was exceptionally delicious.

Xu Le tasted a piece of fish. Be it the texture or the appearance, it was almost perfect. If Chen Yeqi had such a powerful chef by his side, why didn’t he let him participate in the competition? The only possibility was that the person who made this dish was the Master Chef.

As he was thinking, Zhang Tong hurriedly pushed the door open and entered. “Did you eat the braised fish?”

“I’ve already tasted it.”

Xu Le calmly handed him his chopsticks. “Do you want some?”

Zhang Tong’s pupils trembled as he stared at the dish and said through gritted teeth, “That’s the dish I’m known for. It is made using my exclusive secret recipe.”

He had never leaked it out. Even his disciples did not know. Why did the food delivered by the hotel taste exactly the same as what he made?

Zhang Tong did not dare to think further. Xu Le glanced at him and understood everything. He said, “It was made by that Master Chef.”

Zhang Tong clenched his fists. Apart from disbelief, there was more anger in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, “When the finals end, I must meet him properly.”

“Mmm.”

Soon, they arrived at the finals. After the previous round of modifications, the kitchen’s layout was more convenient with a logical workflow. Similarly, the stage lights and cameras had been adjusted so that the big screen was clearer.

The moment Xu Le appeared, everyone cheered.

According to the rules of the program team, the finals were divided into two rounds that day. There were a total of 10 hours, and they had to cook for the 400 members of the public and judges present. Although there were many people participating in the online voting, it could only be considered as popularity votes. 1,000 votes were equivalent to one member of public’s vote on the spot and 10,000 votes were equivalent to one judge’s vote, and they were all voting with real names. Even if there were a large amount of people voting, it would not help much.

Each chef could bring along five assistants. The original plan was the same as last time, with Xu Zhexian as the additional assistant. However, when Xu Le, Zhang Tong, and Li Qing all went on stage, Xu Le’s parents were nowhere to be seen.

Zhang Tong asked in a low voice, “What happened? Let’s hope nothing goes wrong at the last minute.”

“Lele,” Xu Zhexian went on stage, panting. “Your mother scalded her hand just now. I just sent her to bandage it.”