Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Zhong Qingzi was so offended by it that she would forego giving a score at all. The atmosphere at the studio became awkward.
Many food lovers know that foie gras is the most fashionable dish in Western food.
However, what those lovers of small animals abhorred the most was eating animals and their organs. They equated it to cruel killing.
And Xu Xiyan just happened to offend them today.
At the side, Shen Mengyuan’s heart was filled with glee. Thanks to this dish, her aunt would never give Jing Xi a score, and then Jing Xi would inevitably be eliminated in this round.
She waited to watch the good show that was about to unfold. She wanted to see how Jing Xi was going to be eliminated from this round and get ousted out of the game.
At this time, Xu Xiyan picked up the microphone and looked directly at Zhong Qingzi who was sitting at the judges’ table. She asked her, “Mrs. Zhong, you’ve said it yourself just now that you admit that my dish is creative. I would like to ask this now: if I’d used something else other than foie gras as my cooking ingredient today, how would you score me?”
As a proud supporter of animal welfare, Zhong Qingzi said scornfully, “Based on the creativity of your dish, I can give you 9.5 points. However, if you use foie gras, I can only give you 5.9 points—or rather, 0 points.”
“Thank you for your answer, Mrs. Zhong.”
Not only did Xu Xiyan not display any feelings of discouragement, but she began to explain boldly, “In truth, before making this dish today, I specially visited Mrs. Zhong’s official website. I know that Mrs. Zhong is an animal protector and I personally agree with Mrs. Zhong’s enthusiasm for animal welfare. Everyone should protect animals and should not kill them indiscriminately. Therefore, when cooking, I especially replaced foie gras with a substitute ingredient. This substitute ingredient is a common household ingredient and everyone has eaten it before—it is our most famous Ztanese tofu.”
Tofu?
Everyone was incredulous after listening to her words—especially Mr. Fu Qiang, who had just tasted the dish just now. He immediately exclaimed, “How could it be tofu? Didn’t I say I’m a food connoisseur with a keen tongue? But I could taste that it is obviously foie gras!”
“If everyone does not believe me, can I ask Mr. William to help identify it?”
Xu Xiyan looked at Mr. William. Mr. William explained with a smile, “Indeed when I had the first bite, I thought it was foie gras as well. But after tasting it carefully again, I found out that it is not foie gras. It tasted even more delicate than foie gras. I didn’t expect it to be Zstanese tofu. I can only say that this dish is really amazing! I want to change my score just now—I’m giving you 10 points.”
William erased the 9.9 points he had written just now on his board, then wrote a score of 10 for the beautiful and creative star chef.
Zhong Qingzi felt as though she had been given a slap on the face in front of the public. Her face turned dark.
Never in her dreams would she have thought that Jing Xi would use tofu instead of foie gras, giving this French dish an ultimate taste—and yet she could not tell it was tofu at all.
It would be very embarrassing if the public got wind of this. How could she claim herself to be a food expert?
Zhong Qingzi looked back at the stage at Jing Xi, hatred flashing across her eyes. She could only blame herself for underestimating her, as she had completely not expected Jing Xi to be so cunning—the woman had actually taken advantage of her weakness.
She had seized the fact that she was a supporter of animal welfare and deliberately made foie gras. Wasn’t this a trick to get back at her?
How dare you, Jing Xi!
Zhong Qingzi was fuming with anger inside, but she did not show it on her face.
Several other judges had also given Jing Xi a high score of 10 points. Everyone was now waiting for her score.
Xu Xiyan asked calmly, “Do you still mean what you said just now, Mrs. Zhong?”
…
