Chapter 306: Chapter 306: Concede Actively

Translator: 549690339 |

However…

His gaze shifted, sweeping over the Dean, Mrs Dean, Shopkeeper He, the master chef of Extreme Taste Restaurant, and Fan Jia. He locked eyes with each of them for a moment, his gaze profound.

“All right, let’s taste Chef Niti’s dish next,” he announced.

Chef Niu had prepared a dish called “All Birds Return to the Nest,” made primarily from shrimp and pork, shaped into little birds. Nine of these birds surrounded the central nest on the plate.

Everyone received half a bird. After tasting it, Yang Ye made a broad stroke with his pen, scoring it a nine on the paper.

The Dean, Mrs Dean, Shopkeeper He, the master chef of Extreme Taste Restaurant, and Fan Jia also gave it a nine.

The five people he chose gave it a nine.

The five people that Yang Wang chose gave it a ten.

He let out a sigh of relief.

Out of twenty people, eleven were leaning towards Qiao Xiaomai. Following this trend, Qiao Xiaomai was sure to win.

He let his guard down while Yang Wang’s expression darkened.

With this turn of events, Chef Niu, whom he had brought all the way here, was bound to lose.

He didn’t care about the Hot Spring Villa, what mattered to him was Qiao Xiaomai herself.

After reviewing all he knew about Qiao Xiaomai in his mind, his brows furrowed, he spoke, “Wait a moment, Fourth Brother, both Miss Qiao and Chef Niu demonstrate superior skills. I suggest that I join as a judge as well.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Ye’s eyebrows raised, “Is that necessary, Third Brother?”

With Yang Wang joining, there would be twenty-one judges.

Of those, eleven sided with Qiao Xiaomai and ten with Chef Niu. So, Qiao Xiaomai would still win.

The key in this competition was that out of the original ten judges, six of them sided with Qiao Xiaomai.

“Third Brother, as for the ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall,’ I don’t believe anyone would dare to score it a nine while undermining their conscience,” Yang Ye added.

Even though everyone has different tastes, this dish was incredibly flavourful and overpowering.

He’d noticed earlier that the judges had involuntarily taken deep breaths, seemingly trying to take in more of that enticing aroma.

Having exhibited such behaviour, but then giving a score of nine after tasting the dish was something he would not tolerate.

Yang Wang’s face turned extremely sour.

Sitting beneath the high platform, he was not a man to care about earthly pleasures, however, he found himself involuntarily taking deeper sniffs of the dish earlier.

He couldn’t control it, he was acting on instinct, his brain commanding his body.

Realizing the unfavorable situation, he proposed a change in the voting rules.

But he never expected Qiao Xiaomai to be such a great cook.

Before the competition, he had talked with all the judges except Yang Ye, Dean, and Mrs Dean in lofty terms, urging them to judge fairly, but that was merely superficial.

Anyone whose head is on straight should understand his implied meaning.

That’s why when Yang Ye suggested adding ten more judges, he had readily agreed without hesitation.

Yet much to his dismay, three people completely missed his hint: Shopkeeper He, the master chef of Extreme Taste Restaurant, and Fan Jia.

It was because of these three people that the current situation had him in a fix.

What should he do now?

Feeling restless, his gaze landed on Qiao Xiaomai again.

Qiao Xiaomai stood on the high platform, her eyes downcast. Her face, devoid of makeup, rivaled the glow of dawn against snow. Her exceptional features and fair skin made her even more enchanting than the dolled-up noble ladies in the Capital City.

Wrapped in a coarse linen dress was a fair-skinned and beautiful woman. This sight was too tempting, striking a chord deep within his heart.

She was just a village girl.

Her beauty was no less than that of the noble ladies in the Capital City.

Her culinary skills were so good even he had to admit it.

Her temperament was so fiery that she dared to attack him with a knife.

These three qualities simultaneously embodied in a village girl, blending together perfectly.

Almost instantly, he made a decision.

He spoke, “Fourth Brother, if Chef Niu loses in this competition, I will send word immediately to clear out the Hot Spring Villa..”