But the master maintained his playful nature despite his dignity, sometimes gently elbowing the chubby old man next to him, and sometimes sneakily tripping the bald old man on the other side.
It seems he really enjoyed hanging out with Leopard Print Auntie.
After a series of tedious steps, including leadership speeches and guest addresses, the 2022 Young Chefs Cooking Competition at the Fishing Platform State Guesthouse was officially underway.
In the live broadcast room, the fans were quite speechless about the previous proceedings.
"Can we just fast forward to the competition?"
"What era is this? Still following these old procedures, can’t they change it up?"
"It’s finally starting! If it doesn’t start soon, I’m going to watch some girls shake their hips. Much more interesting than this."
"Upstairs, show me the way! Where are these hip-shaking girls?"
"Kind sir, share the link, and may you be blessed with a peaceful life!"
"Stop asking. Damn, that’s a dude! He was live-streaming shirtless while gathering seafood at the beach yesterday."
"Seriously? Send me the live stream link privately, I beg you!"
While everyone was discussing, the contestants entered the venue.
There were fifty contestants in total. The first round would eliminate twenty, the second round fifteen, and the third round seven. The remaining eight contestants, along with two from a revival round, would advance to the top ten. From there, they would compete for the top five, top three, and ultimately, the championship.
Lin Xu had already figured out the competition’s format. The first three rounds appeared to be tests of Basic Techniques. Only those who reached the top ten would be able to cook at the stoves, which explained why there were only ten sets of kitchen equipment on site.
As he arrived at the venue with the crowd, a system notification sounded in his mind:
"Host has entered the cooking competition, triggering side mission: [Win The First Place]. Please utilize your culinary skills to become the champion of this cooking competition. Upon completion, you will be rewarded with one Special Item Experience Card and one draw for a Perfect Level White Boiled Dish."
(Special Item Experience Card: Allows the host to experience special items for a duration of ten minutes.)
Wow! Those rewards are quite generous!
Lin Xu, who had originally planned to just gain some experience, instantly felt motivated to compete.
Seeing all these benefits, he decided he would go all out to win the championship.
In Wu Kexin’s live broadcast room, while fans were discussing, the camera shifted, and they saw a familiar figure.
"No way? Boss Lin is also here?"
"He’s not from the Fishing Platform, how can he participate in a Fishing Platform competition?"
"Fun fact: Boss Lin was appointed as a culinary consultant for the Fishing Platform a few days ago."
"Wow, Boss Lin is awesome!"
"Can I see my lady boss then?"
"You upstairs, Cao Zei, scram! The lady boss is mine, Aman’s!"
At the competition venue, Lin Xu stood before a prepared cutting board.
Soon, a man in his thirties walked in pushing a cart. On it were two large plastic baskets: one filled with various kitchen knives, the other with different ingredients.
He pushed the cart to a table that held tools leftover from setting up the venue, such as cutting machines, impact drills, and polishing machines.
Chief Judge Geng Lishan stood up and announced, "The first round is a display of Knife Skills. Contestants, please select one kitchen knife and one ingredient within ten minutes. Use them to demonstrate your Knife Skills. Alright, the competition starts now!"
What? It’s starting just like that?
Those contestants who had just gotten into position rushed frantically towards the two plastic baskets.
Ten minutes wasn’t a lot of time, nor was it too little. They needed to quickly grab a usable kitchen knife and an ingredient suitable for showcasing their culinary abilities to best demonstrate their Knife Skills.
They swarmed around the two plastic baskets, packed several layers deep.
But soon, cries of dismay rippled through the crowd:
"Why are all these kitchen knives’ edges curled?"
"They even have big notches! How can anyone use these?"
"Can we use our own knives? These ones are completely unusable."
"Without a decent knife, we can’t demonstrate our Knife Skills!"
"What kind of brain-dead idiot came up with this competition rule?"
"Has the Fishing Platform fallen this low?"
By the time Lin Xu squeezed through the crowd, only one rusty kitchen knife remained in the basket. Its blade was curled upward, with a large notch in the middle.
And in the other basket, only a box of Lactone Tofu remained, an ingredient notoriously time-consuming to cut.
Whoa! What a start...
Lin Xu frowned, looking at the kitchen knife in his hand. Suddenly, he remembered the knife-sharpening Technique Dundun had helped him draw a few days ago.
Should he try to sharpen it first? But no matter how incredible the knife-sharpening Technique was, it couldn’t possibly fix a blade curled up like an egg roll.
He glanced at the cutting machine on the adjacent table. A sudden idea struck him...