Chapter 927: Saliva Chicken

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The evaluation committee had already started yet Yuan Zhou had only received the cheers of encouragement from the system. Of course, the system did not tell him who were the advisors for the day.

However, Yuan Zhou did not care too much about that. After all, he was sufficiently capable to deal with this competition. He had no doubt about that.

“Compass, why is nobody calling me to go be the advisor today?” Wu Hai asked as he stood at the door, stretching his head out like a dog looking out from a cage.

“Because my restaurant might be one of their destinations today,” Yuan Zhou said with a confident tone.

“They will be coming today? A huge crowd will be attracted. This won’t do. I need to queue up earlier so I get a chance to watch from near later,” Wu Hai said as he immediately stood up and looked around.

“There is an hour until lunchtime,” Yuan Zhou said, somewhat speechless by Wu Hai’s behavior.

“Only one hour? Time to line up!” Wu Hai nodded seriously and then he stood there waiting for real.

“He sure is energetic,” Yuan Zhou felt like he could no longer understand the thoughts of this painter. He then started preparing his ingredients.

Today, he was going to complete the mission. It had been a long time since he had completed a main mission. With the good luck charm given to him by the grandma, he would definitely succeed.

Then again, he should make preparations earlier.

And thus, Yuan Zhou prepared within the restaurant while Wu Hai stood outside the restaurant waiting. In a way, this formed a harmonious scene. This was also the scene the evaluation committee saw when they arrived.

“Someone is already here this early?” Hu Yue asked in astonishment when he saw Wu Hai.

“This place is always crowded,” Lee Yanyi said as if that was completely normal.

“I suppose that’s because the restaurant is too small.” Zhang Yan looked around and said, “Has he never considered expending? His restaurant is really too small.”

“Because his restaurant is small, other stores have a breathing space.” Lee Yanyi countered, “If he expands, I reckon it won’t take long before your association is flooded by requests from Sichuan Cuisine chefs to ban his restaurant.

Lee Yanyi was quite imaginative. He should consider dabbling in writing.

Zhang Yan merely nodded. He did not intend to bicker in front of the camera. Furthermore, although he did not like those with natural talents, as the Sichuan Cuisine Alliance’s chairman, the appearance of a good Sichuan Cuisine chef was still something that brought pride to him.

He merely disliked Zhou Shijie as a person, that was all.

“Yes, we will know after eating,” Hu Yue tried easing the tension.

“Even without eating, I can give this restaurant 10 points,” Zhou Shijie said with a smile.

“Although that brat has too many rules and is not an endearing person due to his expressionless face, there are definitely no issues with the taste of his food,” Lee Yanyi first complained before agreeing that Yuan Zhou should get full marks.

“You are being biased.” Zhang Yan said, “We are the evaluation committee. We can’t side against any restaurant just because we know the chef there. If we do that, what’s the point of this event?”

With Lee Yanyi and Zhou Shijie giving full marks before eating, how should other restaurants compete?

“I know this restaurant is your nomination, but you don’t have to be so biased, right?” Hu Yue was also speechless.

Even the advisors were feeling helpless.

One of the advisors today was Zhao Xin from Shu Restaurant. As for the reason he was one of the advisors, it was because the judges found out about the private exchange between Shu Restaurant and Yuan Zhou’s restaurant in the past. It would be interesting to get someone who had an exchange with this restaurant before to see if he could give them any fresh opinions.

“Chairman Zhou is truly biased. I need to eat carefully and give a proper opinion,” Zhao Xin thought resentfully. It would seem like he had not learned from the past.

historical

The other advisor was Ma Cheng, the sous-chef of Sichuan House, the restaurant nominated by the magazine. This was also a long-established restaurant.

Initially, he was prudent against Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. After all, Yuan Zhou was too popular in Sichuan and he was still so young. But after hearing the words of Zhou Shijie and Lee Yanyi, his impression of Yuan Zhou dropped.

It would seem like Yuan Zhou was one who relied on connections to reach where he was. If that were the case, it would be very unfair for his restaurant.

“Ten points before eating? That is too excessive, right?” Ma Cheng muttered inwardly. After all, his restaurant was also one of the participating restaurants.

As for the cameraman, he turned and looked at the crew cut guy with an astonished expression. He was trying to ask if this part should be edited out.

“Why would the chairman say something like that?” The crew cut guy was getting anxious. The chairman’s choice of words were too direct. It would reflect poorly on the organizers as well.

“It’s fine. This will make things interesting,” Director Gu said indifferently. He had been tagging along since yesterday.

“No editing. Film seriously,” said the crew cut guy with a nod.

“Biased or not, we will know after eating. Quick, go queue up. Otherwise, we won’t be able to eat later. By the way, everyone has your identity card on you, right?” Zhou Shijie asked with a smile. He did not seem to mind that everyone was questioning him. Rather, he reminded everyone that to queue here, they needed their identity cards as well.

He seemed to have full confidence in Yuan Zhou. This old man was truly very supportive of Yuan Zhou, to the point he was not afraid of spoiling his reputation as a chairman.

While they were busy talking, two other people were already queuing up behind Wu Hai. And thus, all six of them would be able to be the first batch of customers to enter.

As for the filming crew, they kept tagging along all the way. Of course, at this time, the people from the Queuing Committee came up to negotiate with the crew cut guy.

The content of their discussion involved how to not disturb the other customers. Fortunately, both sides were able to quickly reach an agreement.

The crew would try their best to maintain a low profile when filming and the Queuing Committee people would be in charge of maintaining order to avoid anyone from disturbing the filming. This was something the crew-cut guy grateful to get. With that, the pressure on him would lessen.

“The first 12 customers, you may enter the restaurant now,” Zhou Jia’s voice rang out. The first 12 customers poured into the restaurant.

The six from the evaluation committee were part of this as well.

“These people sure are passionate,” Hu Yue said as he stood in the restaurant while arranging his suit. He scanned the restaurant and found that the decorations were refined and the restaurant did not appear crude despite its tiny size.

“Indeed,” Zhang Yan nodded. He suddenly felt like he was squeezing into a wet market filled with a crowd.

“You will get used to it if you come more,” Lee Yanyi said as he took a seat calmly.

“That’s right,” agreed Zhou Shijie who was also used to this.

The other four scanned the restaurant before taking their seats as well.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Yuan Zhou stepped forth and greeted them.

The six seats were specifically left empty by the other customers. These were the seats of the curved long table directly facing the kitchen. Yuan Zhou was standing in the kitchen, right in front of them.

“Little Yuan, serve the three dishes you have prepared,” Zhou Shijie said.

“If they don’t taste good, you can consider shutting down your restaurant,” Lee Yanyi was as harsh with his words as ever.

He looked completely different from when he was praising Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.

“Don’t worry. There won’t be any problems,” Yuan Zhou nodded seriously.

“Let’s start, then,” Zhang Yan said after studying Yuan Zhou.

“We will be troubling you, Boss Yuan,” said Hu Yue politely.

“We will be troubling you,” Ma Cheng and Zhao Xin said as well.

Yuan Zhou nodded and said, “Ok, please wait a moment.”

Zhao Xin had purposely walked on his toes so as to attract Yuan Zhou’s attention. However, Yuan Zhou did not spare him more than a glance. This infuriated Zhao Xin so badly he nearly cried there. No, wait, this was somewhat of an exaggeration.

In fact, Yuan Zhou was not surprised by Zhao Xin’s appearance. To be precise, for him, it did not matter whoever it was.

“The first dish is the representative of Sichuan Cuisine, a cold dish, the Saliva Chicken,” Yuan Zhou introduced and turned to start preparing the meal.

“Saliva Chicken? Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine preparation method? Isn’t that too risky?” Hu Yue shook his head.

Even a person who couldn’t cook like him knew that Chengdu School of Sichuan Cuisine was the most traditional of Sichuan Cuisine, and it was also one that did not specialize in spiciness. An example would be Kung Pao Chicken that was suitable to the taste buds of the general masses.

It was a different story with Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine. This was a cuisine originated from Shancheng district and specialized in dishes that were so spicy and numb that one would lose the sensation of their taste buds, an invigorating type of spiciness. It was so spicy even many locals of Sichuan could not stand it. How could such a cuisine be promoted to the masses?

“Tsk. I’m already worrying about my chrysanthemum,” said Hu Yue¹.