Chapter 413 - 161: Reluctantly Stepping In to Help

Chapter 413: Chapter 161: Reluctantly Stepping In to Help

Liu Ahbao downed the milk in his glass in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and declared, "I’m going to find Boss Su again! He’ll definitely have a solution!"

Surprisingly, just as Liu Ahbao was walking out of the contestants’ hotel, he ran into Su Chen and his group downstairs.

"Boss!!!"

Su Chen held up a hand. "Alright, alright. Hand over the passes."

If Su Chen had been hesitating the night before, then this morning he had made a firm decision: he had to participate in this competition!

The moment Su Chen opened his eyes that morning, he discovered that on the system panel in his mind, in addition to the main quest he had already accepted, a side quest had unexpectedly appeared!

This was a rare occurrence.

The last one, the Chinese Cuisine Collection, had been a huge help to him. And the reward this time was enough to make Su Chen’s mouth water.

[Detected that the player has established a goal they deeply believe in: becoming the champion of the World Cooking Competition.]

[Side Quest: Every chef worthy of being called a culinary master must possess honors beyond the reach of ordinary people. Please assist Liu Ahbao in completing the competition and help him win the championship of this World Cooking Competition.]

[Quest Reward: Chinese Famous Snacks*1]

If the Chinese Cuisine Collection was the inheritance of a thousand years of Huaxia’s fine dining culture, then the Chinese Famous Snacks was undoubtedly the culinary wisdom of the common folk, accumulated over that same millennium!

Some of these snacks were created by accident, while others evolved slowly through the crucible of time.

The famous dishes of various regional cuisines might change from place to place, but when it came to snacks...

The whole point of Changsha stinky tofu is that it stinks. If anyone dared to make it fragrant, the entire country would be up in arms!

So, after seeing such a reward, Su Chen accepted both the second main quest and this side quest almost without a moment’s hesitation.

Hearing Su Chen’s confident and domineering words,

Liu Ahbao excitedly grabbed Su Chen’s hands. "Boss! Really? Are you going to compete with me? This is great! What are we going to make?"

Su Chen thought for a moment. "I don’t know yet."

The excited look on Ah Bao’s face vanished instantly.

’Is he messing with me?’

After getting the passes, Su Chen kept one for himself, gave one to Zhang Heping, and finally gave one to... Zhang Jiayi.

Many people were baffled by his choice of Zhang Jiayi.

But Su Chen thought it made perfect sense.

"Doesn’t she speak seven languages? When we’re on the floor, she can translate whatever the other contestants and judges are saying for us in real-time. She’s definitely worth a spot on the team!"

Although it made sense, Liu Ahbao couldn’t help but feel that something was a little off.

However, Su Chen’s next sentence completely broke Ah Bao.

"Besides, as long as I’m here, it doesn’t matter who else is on the team. They’re all useless anyway..."

Hearing this,

Ah Bao watched his boss’s retreating figure with a complicated expression.

’This is so infuriating!

But why can’t I think of a comeback?!’

Ling Shuyu’s eyes, however, twinkled.

’That familiar feeling is back...’

After using the passes and following Liu Ahbao to complete a series of procedures with the organizing committee, Su Chen, Zhang Jiayi, and Zhang Heping each received a pure white chef’s uniform from the committee.

"I really don’t want to wear this thing!"

But there was no choice. It was a competition rule that everyone had to wear the uniform, as it was printed with the sponsors’ names.

After changing their clothes and getting their credentials, the four of them appeared in the contestant preparation area, while the rest of their group went to the audience seats.

The competition venue wasn’t particularly large. It was a purpose-built set constructed by the local television station inside one of their recording studios.

After all, the competition’s main sources of revenue were from television and online broadcasts.

Besides, selling tickets for the live event was completely unrealistic. With competitions often lasting seven or eight hours, even the judges would sometimes doze off or leave to eat.

Let alone the audience.

In the center of the studio were twenty-four workstations, each spaced a little over a meter apart.

Directly facing the workstations were the six judges’ seats. Behind them was a massive screen that displayed live feeds from the director in the control room.

The other three sides were filled with audience seating, with roughly a hundred seats in total.

At the host’s signal, contestants from all countries began to walk to their designated workstations.

"The host is announcing the rules for the finals. The theme is creative desserts, the main ingredient is eggs, and there’s a time limit. It must be completed within six hours."

You had to admit, bringing Zhang Jiayi was the right choice. No matter how fast the host spoke, Zhang Jiayi was able to perfectly translate her words for Su Chen and the others.

She was even doing a much better job than the automatic translator on the stage.

"The committee will provide the specified ingredient, which is eggs, as well as some basic ingredients like rice, flour, and oil. All other ingredients must be prepared by the contestants themselves. They’re also allowed to bring ingredients from their home countries."

Hearing this, Su Chen turned his head to look at Ah Bao. "You didn’t tell me about this."

Ah Bao was dumbfounded. "It’s just... I didn’t know what we were going to make, so I didn’t know what ingredients to prepare!"

’Crap!’

Su Chen shot him an annoyed glance. "So, you’re telling me we have no ingredients at all?"

Ah Bao said pitifully, "That’s not... entirely true. We can still pick some ingredients from the area provided by the committee."

’Great, just great...’