After he put the buns and peas on the steamer, Zhong Xiang began to wring the dough that was filled with various vegetable juices. The vegetable juices produced the colors light red, light green, and light yellow. When he shook the handle, the colorful macaroni was showed to everyone.
The chefs who were still stretching and shaping the dough with their hands complained after seeing that. They felt like Zhong Xiang was being unfair, bringing out that new contraption.
The soup that he needed was stored in Shao Xing wine jars and when he opened them, the strong delicious scent floated in the air, attracting a lot of people.
“That soup smells so good, what’s in it?”
“I heard that the Second Young Mistress of Jing An Marquis mansion invented a new dish for His Majesty called Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. I heard that it was also stored in Shao Xing wine jars…”
“I’ve seen my master make that dish. This isn’t that. It smells similar but it’s not the same…”
While the soup was reheating, Zhong Xiang took the cake out that he made earlier. He first cut the cake horizontally and applied a kind of jelly-like thing on the cross-section before stacking it again. He then rolled up a foil, filled it up with cream, and started decorating the cake with it.
Little Jing recognized it immediately. “Yaoyao is that the cake you sent as a present to my mother?”
“Yes, but that was the first version. The cake that Zhong Xiang is making now has been improved,” Ye Jiayao said.
The first one she made was pure cream which would be too greasy if they were to eat a lot of it. The cake that Zhong Xiang was making has orange jelly in the middle to give some freshness.
Zhao Qixuan said, “It looks very delicious. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste it when you sent some to us. I didn’t even get the chance to smell it!”
“I haven’t had it yet either!” Xia Chunyu complained. His mother and little brother have tasted it and yet, him, the husband, was deprived.
Ye Jiayao shot him a teasing look and whispered, “If you eat too many sweet desserts, you’ll grow thick in the middle.”
Xia Chunyu sat up straighter, puffing his chest. He would never get fat, he exercises every day. He whispered back, “You’ll grow thick in the middle even without eating desserts.”
Ye Jiayao turned red and she glared at him. The dumb donkey merely smiled at her and said, “Watch the show, watch the show.”
Zhong Xiang was finished with an hour to spare.
One by one, the other competitors started finishing their dishes too.
Everyone looked nervously at the judges.
The judges were all required to judge the noodles first, but all five of them were attracted to the new pastry on Zhong Xiang’s table. With all the tasteful decorations on it, it looked like an exquisite painting.
The five judges were masters of pastries, especially the three from the imperial kitchen, but that pastry was new to all of them.
The judges discussed amongst themselves and finally decided to taste the cake first.
The cream was sweet and smooth, and the cake sponge was melt-in-your-mouth soft. The hint of freshness and tartness from the jam was also a very pleasant surprise.
Every judge gave his first pastry a perfect score.
The audience was surprised by the full marks. This was a very rare phenomenon in the previous competitions.
Zhong Xiang also could not believe the result. He knew this cake would cause a sensation, but he didn’t expect the full marks.
The judges reluctantly put the cake down and moved on to his next pastry, a pea flour cake called “Pea Yellow”.
This pastry was a fairly common thing to make, but Zhao Qixuan made his in the shape of a flower and it was half crystal with red beans on it, making it look really attractive.
The judges have made plenty of Pea flour cakes in their careers, but they could never make this look. That alone gave Zhong Xiang additional points. What sealed the deal for him was how good it tasted. It was the right texture, the right amount of sweetness, and just perfectly moist.
Again, the five judges gave him full marks.
This time, everyone reacted. No one has ever received two full marks for their pastries before and the audience was wondering just who this chef was.
The three-colored macaroni earned another full mark with its vibrancy and smooth taste. The soup also earned another full mark because it was just too delicious.
Ye Jiayao may have looked calm but she was very agitated on the inside. Didn’t they say that full marks were hard to achieve? What does this mean? Was Zhong Xiang going to win?
Zhao Qixuan heard the full marks and exclaimed, “I want to try all of that!”
Little Jing wanted to have a taste as well, but he knew that this wasn’t all made by Zhong Xiang. Sure, he was a great cook, but Little Jing knew that this kind of innovative and delicious dishes was all invented by Yaoyao. She must’ve taught him these dishes for the competition.
When Zhong Xiang’s four full marks were announced, everyone was shocked. He was the first person to receive such high scores. There was no doubt that he’d be the winner.
Even as the judges tried the other contestants’ dishes, no one besides Zhong Xiang received four full marks
When the host announced Zhong Xiang as the winner, the audiences cheered.
Although they did not have a chance to taste his dishes, the look and smell alone of what he produced was enough to have them excited.
The chefs in Jin Ling looked at the smiling woman sitting near the podium. From the icy drinks to ice cream mooncakes, to Buddha Jumps Over the wall, she has created legendary dishes/drinks time and time again. They knew that she had a hand in all the dishes that her colleague presented today as well as his training for the competition.
With the Second Young Mistress of the Jing An Marquis mansion and Zhong Xiang at the helm, Heavenly Residence is invincible.
Zhong Xiang took the certificate and the gold medal handed to him in a daze. The most he dreamed about was winning the third place. He never imagined that he would actually win this whole thing.
When he turned to look at the Second Young Mistress, the way she smiled proudly at him made Zhong Xiang emotional.
In the early days, when she was still Li Yao, when she promised to help everyone become rich and famous chefs, he thought she was just lying. It wasn’t until she took them to private banquets, and started teaching them new things, did he believe her.
She planned everything for him in this competition. She invented the dishes, taught him the step by step on how to do it, and supported him at every turn.
He owed this victory to her.
“The top three finalists will be eligible to work for the imperial kitchen and become an Imperial Chef,” the host announced.
Suddenly, Zhong Xiang spoke up, “I’m sorry, but I want to continue working in Heavenly Residence.”
Ye Jiayao, along with everyone else, was shocked.
Was he serious? What’s wrong with him? Wasn’t this his goal? Ye Jiayao was so confused.
