Chapter 415 - 161: Reluctantly Stepping In to Lend a Hand

Chapter 415: Chapter 161: Reluctantly Stepping In to Lend a Hand

Next was making the pastry skin.

Using all-purpose flour this time, he mixed in a small amount of lard and water, kneading it repeatedly. Once it formed a dough, he began to slam it over and over on the countertop!

Slam it a few times, then knead it vigorously!

Slam it a few more times, then knead it repeatedly again. This was all done to make the dough more supple.

He set the finished dough aside to rest for five or six minutes.

"Here comes the hardest part..."

’The process for making a Lotus Crisp involves a petal-like skin wrapping around a stamen core. During the frying process, as the lotus petals bloom, the stamen inside also unfurls wantonly. The stamen is spherical.’

’But this magnolia blossom... That’s right, the pastry Su Chen was making now was a magnolia!!!’

The magnolia is a very common flower in Xia Country. In some cities, they are planted along the roadsides, and when they bloom around February and March, a sweet fragrance fills the streets.

This flower’s stamen is yellow, which was why Su Chen chose to make a magnolia—he could use egg yolk.

The shape of the stamen was what gave Su Chen a headache.

’Cylindrical!’

"I could make the flower first, then graft the stamen into its core..."

This was the first solution Su Chen had thought of.

But the drawback of this method was obvious. It felt like a magician showing the audience his hidden card.

"As for plan B, it’ll take a few more tries."

That was to form it all at once, relying on pure skill so that the pastry would take its final shape the moment it was deep-fried.

After Su Chen had been practicing continuously for sixteen hours in the training room, plan B still hadn’t succeeded. But it didn’t matter; there was still time.

Back in reality, having expended a massive amount of energy, Su Chen immediately fell into a light sleep.

Seeing Su Chen completely still, as if he had fallen asleep the very instant he finished his last sentence...

Ah Bao was stunned. Zhang Jiayi was stunned. Zhang the Second was stunned.

In the audience, everyone from Delicious was stunned!

"Why did the boss go up there to sleep? Did he not sleep well last night? Even if he didn’t, he can’t just sleep here!"

"Whoa! Brother Ah Bao is so anxious he’s breaking out in a cold sweat, but the boss can actually sleep through it. He really is the boss, amazing!"

It wasn’t just them who didn’t understand. On the competition floor, a few other contestants noticed Su Chen’s situation and were equally baffled, but they were too busy to spare it any thought.

The six judges on site were also whispering among themselves.

"Why is the contestant from the Xia Country division just standing there motionlessly?"

"One of them is even sleeping... What is the meaning of this?"

"Is he protesting against us?"

You couldn’t blame them for thinking that. A spotless workstation, three bewildered people, and one person sitting there asleep.

Looked at that way, it really did have the air of a protest by simply giving up.

From the audience, boos rained down.

"I thought I was going to see some magical Eastern cuisine, but this contestant just came up and asked for a chair. How ridiculous!"

"He really seems to be asleep! My God... he actually fell asleep during a global live broadcast?"

"He’s not just going to boil an egg, is he? That would be hilarious..."

"This contestant from Xia Country must be too nervous, so he wants to take a nap to calm down."

Fortunately, aside from Su Chen’s bizarre behavior, the actions of the other contestants on the floor were relatively normal.

The team from Australia, in particular, had four people spraying a layer of liquid milk chocolate onto an egg-shaped mold.

But what the audience found truly outrageous was that after spraying, the four contestants actually placed a thermometer on it. It was unclear what temperature they reached...

...but the four of them suddenly cried out in exaggerated surprise, then immediately applied another layer of liquid white chocolate!

After a few more steps, they ended up with a very thin, curved chocolate shell. No one knew what it was for, but it certainly looked exciting to the audience!

Meanwhile, the contestants from France were using a very delicate tool to cut a serrated edge into an eggshell.

They then poured out the egg liquid, whisked it evenly, and repeatedly passed it through a sieve. Many people seemed to have already guessed what they were trying to make.

Seeing that most of the contestants were proceeding more or less as expected, the Xia Country team, by contrast, had three members standing behind a chair, restless with anxiety.

But the contestant sitting in the chair remained as still as a log, sleeping soundly as if the outside world had nothing to do with him!

"Can Boss Su actually do this? I remember he said before that he doesn’t like this kind of competition. Is he just throwing the match because he doesn’t want to participate?" Liu Shengnan could barely watch anymore.

He Shuting frowned, her lips pursed. "It’s all Ah Bao’s fault for springing this on him. If he had called ahead to explain the situation, the boss would have had at least some time to prepare! He probably has nothing prepared, but he couldn’t refuse without making Master Lu lose face, so that’s why he’s acting like this."

The others could only sigh.

Just then, Ling Shuyu looked at Su Chen on the stage and said softly, "You’re all wrong."

Feeling everyone’s gazes turn to her, a slight smile played on Ling Shuyu’s lips. "You don’t know Boss Su."

"And you do?" Bai Xiaobo retorted.

Ling Shuyu’s cryptic, half-smiling expression was rather unsettling to look at. They only heard her say airily,

"The boss is particularly fond of a certain lifestyle: feigning weakness before revealing strength."

"Whenever something happens, he always puts himself at a disadvantage first, even in a situation where many people look down on him!"

"Then, just when everyone has given up all hope in him, he suddenly makes his move and turns the tables completely."

Xiaobai hissed, "So what’s the point of all that?"

Ling Shuyu’s expression gradually grew complex. "Because that way, showing off is much more satisfying."

Hearing this explanation, the others were all speechless.

But on second thought... it seemed like that was exactly fucking right!

Little did they know.

This was the conclusion Ling Shuyu had reached after collecting all of Su Chen’s most epic show-off moments that she had personally witnessed, and analyzing them day and night!

It was only after reaching this conclusion that Ling Shuyu had completely given up on trying to learn from Su Chen, because that shit was fucking impossible to learn!

You were either born with it, or you’d never learn it in this lifetime.

"So you’re saying that when everyone else is showing off their awesome skills, our boss will just open his eyes, and with a flick of his wrist, present some mind-blowing creation that completely crushes everyone?" Zhang Li asked, tilting her head.

Ling Shuyu nodded silently.

’Boss Su?’

’Heh, I know him all too well!’