Chapter 426 - 163: Dishes? I Only Need One.

Chapter 426: Chapter 163: Dishes? I Only Need One.

"Everyone be quiet, let Changsha Stinky Tofu see what’s happening!"

The various culinary associations bantered on the surface, but were secretly jockeying for position. Every single one of them wanted to see their regional cuisine featured on the competition stage!

For a time, He Shuting and her team, despite being abroad, were so swamped they could barely keep up.

Following Su Chen’s instructions, they couldn’t offend these bigwigs, but they couldn’t make any rash promises either. In short, their job boiled down to three words: string them along!

This hectic situation lasted for a full three days.

「On the third day.」

The competition was set to begin at 8:00 AM.

Su Chen appeared in the hotel lounge at six in the morning.

"I don’t need to check the ingredients and seasonings, do I?"

Ling Shuyu replied, "I’ve already triple-checked everything. It’s all been handled exactly as you instructed. The three chefs have already done the necessary prep work, and everyone has sorted the ingredients according to your standards. We took everything to the competition venue yesterday afternoon."

Su Chen nodded. He could always count on Ling Shuyu.

"Alright, let’s all grab some breakfast and get ready to go."

On the way, Liu Ahbao took the opportunity when no one was looking to sidle up to Su Chen. "Boss, are you planning on making... *that*?"

Su Chen glanced at him. "You’re only half right."

Ah Bao froze. ’What the heck does ’half’ mean?’

With the competition just around the corner, Su Chen decided not to keep them guessing.

"Everyone has food they like and food they don’t. If you force someone to eat something they hate, how is that any different from committing a crime?"

"Exactly!" He Shuting exclaimed, waving her arms. "When I was a kid, my family would chase me around trying to make me eat meat! I hated it, so I refused!"

"But..." Zhang Li said, blinking, "Sister Shuting, I’ve seen you eat plenty of meat at the office..."

"Pfft!" He Shuting said with a dismissive wave. "The meat our boss makes is different."

Su Chen snapped his fingers. "That’s exactly it! Some people dislike a certain ingredient because they had a bad experience with it once—it was cooked in a way that didn’t suit their palate at all, maybe even to the point of making them feel sick!"

"So, our entry this time relies on a bit of a clever trick. I refuse to believe that with this many ingredients, there won’t be *something* those kids will like. Besides, and let’s be blunt about it, a person with an eating disorder is in a constant state of hunger; they just don’t realize it themselves."

Su Chen turned to face the group. "But have you ever had that experience where you weren’t hungry at all, but then you smell something and suddenly, you’re starving?"

Forget smelling something.

Just hearing Su Chen describe it was enough to make some of them feel like they hadn’t eaten breakfast at all; their stomachs were even starting to rumble.

"So, what we need to do is focus on the aroma! First, we have to use the aroma to awaken their appetites. Once they feel a little hungry, and they happen to see ingredients they actually like, who could possibly refuse to eat?"

After Su Chen finished, the car fell silent for a moment, followed by a burst of applause.

"Boss, you’re a genius!"

"Damn, it might sound like a brute-force method, but it feels like it’ll be super effective!"

"It has to work! It’s like doing multiple-choice questions when I was a kid. You just plug in every option until you find the one that works!"

Shi Qi was also stunned by Su Chen’s maneuver. "Boss, with this many ingredients, how many dishes are you planning to make? The committee only allows three, you know."

Su Chen laughed. "Not many. We’re just making one!"

The applause and laughter in the car came to an abrupt halt.

’One dish?’

Before anyone could ask more questions, the car had already stopped in front of the television station. A staff member led the group inside.

Ling Shuyu and the others went to the audience seating area, while Su Chen’s group of four was led to a dressing room.

There, Su Chen found a staff member.

"Excuse me, is there a dress code for the competition?"

Zhang Jiayi translated for him.

"Attire..." the staff member said uncertainly, flipping his ID badge over and over. "The only rule is that it must be clean and neat, and not contaminate the food. There are no requirements for a specific style of clothing."

"Oh."

Hearing this, Su Chen was relieved.

’The chef’s uniform issued by the committee is such terrible quality. It feels really weird to wear, almost... unsettling.’

Su Chen decided that if there were no special requirements, he’d just compete in his own suit!

’After all, when I first started the company, I thought I was about to make it big. These suits are all from major international brands!’

’They don’t just look good; more importantly, they’re incredibly comfortable!’

"So, Boss..." Zhang Jiayi, who had dutifully changed into her chef’s uniform, asked, "What exactly is this thing you had us buy for? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like it’s for cooking."

In her hands, Zhang Jiayi held a large megaphone.

The kind you see at street stalls selling fruit and whatnot.

"It’s definitely not for cooking," Su Chen said, grabbing a pen and scribbling on a piece of paper in the dressing room. "You speak what, seven or eight languages? Translate this into as many as you can. When the time comes, your job will be to read it out."

"Huh?" Zhang Jiayi took the piece of paper. "Is this to introduce our dish?"

"You could put it that way."

The words were barely out of Su Chen’s mouth when Zhang Jiayi glanced at the note, immediately crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it in her pocket. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Boss, I can’t do this! There’s no way!"

When Su Chen didn’t say anything, Zhang Jiayi looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Boss, do you have any idea how many of my relatives are gathered at my house watching the live broadcast today?! If I do this, I’ll become the family’s laughingstock!"