Translator: Xiong_Guoqi Editor: Cat Who Cooks
At 9 a.m. on the 10th of Jan, Yuan Zhou put on his Han Chinese Clothing which was suitable for cooking and directly went to the floor where the meeting place was via elevator.
After a sound of “Ding”, the door of the elevator was automatically opened. And a lot of people were crowding by the door.
Only then did Yuan Zhou find that two red carpets were extended from the elevator to the entrance of the meeting place and there were red carpets at both the front door and back door.
The meeting place looked both gorgeous and dignified. At both sides of the red carpets were crowds of people. All of them were cameramen that carried various cameras and reporters.
They were scattered at both sides of the red carpets and constantly took photos of the chefs that walked into the main hall. The flashing of lights was very strong.
“Hoo…”, Yuan Zhou subconsciously straightened his back and walked across the red carpets into the entrance of the main hall solemnly, looking neither right nor left.
The inside was more exaggerated. While the meeting place appeared quite empty yesterday, it was now occupied by cameras and reporters at the corners and in the middle.
As the exchange meeting hadn’t officially started yet, the chefs were all being interviewed. They were scattered across the hall in twos or threes.
At the same time, Zhou Shijie was greeting the Japanese guests with the help of Zhong Lili while many reporters were crowding around them.
The majority of the reporters were there.
Just when Yuan Zhou looked around, a crowd of reporters came over to him.
“Hi, are you Chef Yuan? I heard that Chairman Zhou is very satisfied with you and you are the youngest chef in this exchange meeting. Is that so?” A female reporter came up to him and asked a very long question.
Yuan Zhou hadn’t had time to answer her when another reporter asked him.
“Chef Yuan, what dish are you prepared to cook today for the exchange of pointers?” Reporter B straightforwardly reached out the microphone to Yuan Zhou.
“Your background is said to be very mysterious. Who did you learn from, Chef Yuan?” Reporter C asked.
“Chef Yuan, what are you prepared to do regarding the Japanese chef, Dashi Xiujie’s, challenge?” Reporter D also reached out his microphone toward him and asked solemnly.
“Dashi Xiujie specifically invited one of the best food tasting experts to challenge you. Chef Yuan, what kind of dish are you prepared to cook?” Reporter E asked again. The repeated questions made Yuan Zhou want to knit his brows. When he saw the cameras, however, he still managed to refrain from doing that for the sake of his image.
“Thank you for your interest. I’ll treat this exchange meeting seriously,” Yuan Zhou answered seriously and solemnly.
However, he couldn’t help muttering, “What challenge are they talking about?”
That’s right. Dashi Xiujie had told the reporters explicitly that he came to learn cooking from Yuan Zhou today, of which Yuan Zhou had no idea.
Of course, his tone was full of provocation. Tengyuan didn’t say anything at the side while Chairman Masheng nodded his head smilingly to show his consent toward Dashi Xiujie’s words.
That was the reason why so many reporters came over to ask Yuan Zhou about the provocation.
This matter had always been known to Zhou Shijie, but he felt it unnecessary to inform Yuan Zhou. And others who knew about this matter didn’t know that Yuan Zhou had no clue about this matter, either.
As a result, the main character didn’t even know what was going on.
“Chef Yuan, are you saying that you are very confident of responding to Dashi Xiujie’s provocation?” The first female reporter asked Yuan Zhou with a piercing tone.
“Chef Yuan, can you confirm that you are able to defeat Dashi Xiujie?”
“Could you tell us how you are going to handle his challenge?”
“Chef Yuan, what dish are you going to cook to cope with his challenge? Can you tell us in advance?”
“Dashi Xiujie is known to be good at cooking eel and he’s said to be good at other fish dishes too. Chef Yuan, how are you prepared to handle his challenge?
The questions of the reporters didn’t cease because of Yuan Zhou’s answer. Instead, they still asked quickly and anxiously.
“That depends on what he wants to eat,” Yuan Zhou said concisely.
When he answered them, Yuan Zhou saw Chu Xiao walk into the main hall from his peripheral vision. Then, the reporters headed in crowds towards him as if they were sharks that had smelled the scent of blood.
“Chef Chu, I heard Mr. Tengyuan specially came for you this time. What dish have you prepared to show him and are you confident in defeating him?
“Chef Chu, what do you think of Tengyuan’s visit this time?”
“Chef Chu, what dish are you prepared to cook this time?”
“It’s the third time that Chef Chu is attending the exchange meeting. Do you feel anything different this time?”
“Chef Chu, will Mr. Tengyuan’s visit make you change your strategy of cooking today?”
The reporters that surrounded Chu Xiao were twice as many as those around Yuan Zhou, which made Yuan Zhou feel puzzled.
“Is he more handsome than me? It can’t be.” Yuan Zhou thought that with puzzlement. He was in a dominant position in both appearance and attire.
“No one can affect my decision,” after saying that, Chu Xiao walked towards Zhou Shijie immediately.
And Yuan Zhou was also awoken by Chu Xiao while he was thinking deeply on the serious subject of who was more handsome.
“Chef Yuan, let’s go,” Chu Xiao stopped when he passed by Yuan Zhou and greeted him.
“Um.” Yuan Zhou looked at Chu Xiao up and down and behaved as if nothing was on his mind.
Dressed in an official pure white chef’s uniform, Chu Xiao was giving out a sense of determination and high-spiritedness, which made him look quite capable and impressive.
Whereas Yuan Zhou was wearing the Han Chinese clothing with his back straight and upright and his expression solemn and earnest. He appeared to be both composed and confident.
“Chairman Zhou,” Yuan Zhou and Chu Xiao greeted almost at the same time.
“There you are. Come here. Let me make an introduction.” Zhou Shijie turned his head and revealed a relaxed look. Then, he turned his head back and started to introduce them.
“You have most probably met Chairman Masheng before. And this Professor Tengyuan teaches Chinese food culture and Chinese language in Japan.” When Zhou Shijie introduced Chairman Masheng, he looked relaxed and vivid. When he mentioned Tengyuan who appeared as sprightly as a middle-aged man, however, he used the word “professor” and he also became more solemn.
“Hello.” Yuan Zhou’s attitude had already been toughened in the face of his customers. He looked calm and greeted them lightly.
After all, he had no idea of whom Tengyuan was. Even if he knew this person, it made no difference to him. After all, he was quite confident in his own craftsmanship.
“Nice to meet you, Tengyuan Jiayuan.” Chu Xiao straightforwardly neglected Chairman Masheng and greeted Tengyuan at the side.
“Nice to meet you, too. I have long been expecting to eat Chef Chu’s craftsmanship. It seems that I finally have a chance,” Tengyuan answered him smilingly
“Certainly.” Chu Xiao nodded his head.
“I was told that this Chef Yuan’s craftsmanship is also marvelous. Hopefully, I can have the honor to eat your dishes,” Tengyuan asked Yuan Zhou courteously. He spoke Chinese fluently and smoothly and he could even use Chinese idioms.
“Sure.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head without any additional courtesy.
“I hope Mr. Yuan doesn’t let this Jiayuan down this time.” Tengyuan just smiled and said nothing. Contrarily, Dashi couldn’t help jumping out from the side.
This time, however, Yuan Zhou didn’t say anything, either. He just looked at Dashi Xiujie like that.
Dashi Xiujie became indignant immediately and said again when he found Yuan Zhou showing an indifferent expression.
“As far I know, Mr. Yuan is from the inland and presumably, can hardly see saltwater fish during normal times. I guess that you are not good at cooking them. But never mind, I can grudgingly taste the river fish. Therefore, could you please show us your excellent craftsmanship so that I can learn from you?” Dashi Xiujie had only learned Chinese these few days.
Though he said that awkwardly, Yuan Zhou could still tell the provocation contained in it.
Yuan Zhou nodded his head and said seriously, “Of course you can. Seldom do you have an opportunity to come to China and you do need to study carefully.
