Chapter 242: Has She Admitted Defeat?

Chapter 242: Chapter 242: Has She Admitted Defeat?

After Nan Zhi’s personal livestream camera followed them as they left the school,

the main livestream camera, still focused on the school cafeteria, was left with only the sight of Lai Liang continuing his lesson—

In the latter half of the class, Lai Liang finally began to demonstrate himself.

He first had his assistant bring out his knife roll.

The knife roll was unfurled on the cutting board, and one gleaming silver blade after another appeared in everyone’s view, drawing gasps of amazement.

Lai Liang was very proud and casually mentioned how difficult it was to collect these knives, saying he had flown all over R Country, searching for master bladesmiths to forge these superb tools.

Over 10 minutes later, Lai Liang reluctantly ended his story and selected one of the knives.

Then, his assistant appeared again, this time carrying over a refrigerated container.

He opened it to reveal a full half-side of a tuna.

"This is one of the world’s most premium ingredients. In my restaurant, a single order of this tuna can sell for a four-figure price."

Lai Liang used the price to simply and clearly illustrate the value of this dish.

A four-figure price just to eat fish?

To the village elementary school children, these words were simply unbelievable.

They even took half a step back, looking at the fish with an almost reverent gaze.

Lai Liang waved his hand.

"Don’t be afraid. No matter how expensive, it’s still just food for people to eat. Next, I’m going to invite three students to come up and taste some tuna sashimi. Any volunteers?"

The children looked at each other, all a bit timid.

Lai Liang chuckled and shook his head, then simply picked three children from the front row.

Once the children had stepped forward and were standing in front of him, he didn’t rush. Instead, he performed a series of rituals: washing his hands and wiping his knife. The atmosphere grew exceptionally solemn.

The three students stood shoulder to shoulder, almost afraid to speak above a whisper.

It was a stark contrast to the happy, smiling little faces that filled the room whenever Teacher Nan taught a class.

Lai Liang didn’t see anything wrong with this. On the contrary, he believed this was true respect.

Another 10 minutes went by. His preparations were complete, and he finally began to cut.

Slice after slice of pink tuna appeared on the cutting board.

The children didn’t dare to reach for it.

It was Lai Liang who gestured with his hand.

"Use your chopsticks. Dip it in a little soy sauce."

The three children cautiously picked up their chopsticks and followed his instructions step by step.

For children who had never eaten raw fish before, the cold sensation in their mouths the moment they took a bite almost made them spit it out!

But thinking of the tuna’s price, they forced themselves to hold it in and swallow.

The children’s predicament made Lai Liang roar with laughter.

"Having a little trouble getting used to it? It’s fine, you’ll get used to it after a few more bites!"

The children did as he said.

And indeed, they slowly adapted to the texture of the tuna and began to taste its delicious flavor.

As a chef who had earned three Michelin stars, Lai Liang’s skills were naturally top-notch.

His ingredients and his craftsmanship were both of the highest caliber.

Unfortunately, the children still felt that these cold slices of fish weren’t as tasty as Teacher Nan’s fried chicken.

But they didn’t dare say it. When Lai Liang asked with a grin, "Isn’t it delicious?" they hesitated before nodding.

The atmosphere of the cooking class grew more and more harmonious.

Lai Liang had become the undisputed star of the cooking class.

The camera would occasionally pan over to Chang Mu in the corner.

However, she knew she was at the center of the storm and did her best to keep a low profile.

Many of the viewers who supported Nan Zhi had left with her.

Thus, the style of the bullet comments in the main livestream chat suddenly changed:

[I think this new Teacher Lai is really good. At least when it comes to teaching, he’s not losing to Nan Zhi at all.]

[Not losing to Nan Zhi? He’s clearly more professional, okay? Nan Zhi is just an amateur, after all. No matter how good her cooking is, people’s evaluation of her is based on her amateur status. A top-tier, three-Michelin-star chef like him is on a completely different level!]

[I always see people arguing about whether Michelin or the Gourmet Record has more prestige. Honestly, I just want to say, the latter is just our own little internal squabble. Michelin is the standard recognized across the whole world. When foreign tourists come to our country, who’s going to look at the Gourmet Record? They only look at Michelin ratings, okay?]

[The livestream chat is finally peaceful. Before, there were always Nan Zhi fans causing trouble, waving the flag of patriotism. Honestly, chefs in our country have this problem of "learning but not refining." The recipes passed down through generations are always the same old bag of tricks, which is why Japanese cuisine was able to come from behind and surpass us!]

[People who narrowly look down on foreign food are mostly people who have never traveled. They’ve never eaten the good stuff from other countries, so naturally, they assume everything from elsewhere is bad. That kind of mindset really needs to change.]

[Exactly! Some people, the moment they go abroad, frantically search for food from their own country. People like that are just pitiful. They’re only suited to spending their entire lives in their own homeland. Oh, and I’m not just talking about Hua Country people here, don’t get me wrong!]

[I don’t like people from R Country, but I have to admit their dedication to researching food. Like how some chefs spend their entire lives studying just tempura. To a lot of impatient people, that kind of thing is just unbelievable! But they actually do it, and they become world-famous for it!]

...

Similar arguments appeared not only in the bullet comments, but also in the comment sections and trending topics on major social media platforms.

Someone even took screenshots of Nan Zhi.

One was of her standing in a corner, a shadow falling on her shoulders as if it were about to crush her whole being;

Another showed her walking against the bustling, noisy crowd and out of the cafeteria, her figure looking exceptionally lonely from behind.

Both pictures made Nan Zhi look like a defeated person.

It got to the point where someone directly captioned the pictures:

[Has she admitted defeat?]

-

Had Nan Zhi admitted defeat?

At that moment, Nan Zhi was standing above layers of terraced fields, looking down at the breathtaking scenery.

As for the pitying voices on the internet? Or Lai Liang, who had stolen her thunder?

’Hilarious. I can’t even be bothered to think about them.’

This was the first time Nan Zhi had seen the terraced fields of Cuishui Village.

When they first entered the village, and later when they went to town, they had taken a different road, one where you couldn’t see such an unbelievably picturesque scene.

It wasn’t until now, seeing the deep and light greens spreading out before her in progressing layers, that she felt a visual impact that no one who wasn’t standing there could possibly imagine.

Nan Yi and Qi Zhang, seeing this for the first time as well, also had surprised expressions on their faces.

Qi Zhang let out a "Wow!", so excited he was jumping up and down on the spot, wishing he could just leap into the paddy fields and roll around.

Nan Yi was much more restrained than his little friend, but you could still see the delight in his eyes.

Fu Chao looked at the expressions on Nan Zhi and the two little ones and said proudly:

"What do you think? It’s a real feast for the eyes, isn’t it! I was stunned by this view the first day I came here, too! Even though I’d seen it in pictures before, seeing it in person is a completely different feeling!"