"PFFT, this guy is so pitiful, actually picking a box of Lactone Tofu."
"With so little time and such a poor-quality knife, choosing Lactone Tofu is practically asking for trouble, isn’t it?"
"He had no choice but to go with the Lactone Tofu since it was the only thing left."
"Somehow, that makes me feel a bit better."
"Me too, let’s see how this guy performs."
A few contestants who were just there to participate all laughed upon seeing Lin Xu holding the knife and the Lactone Tofu.
If it were any other time, Lactone Tofu would be an exceptional choice to showcase Knife Skills. After all, Wensi Tofu is so famous. If cut properly, it could certainly impress. But now, with the knife edge as curled as a twisted dough stick, choosing Lactone Tofu seemed a bit...
Everyone was ready to watch a spectacle when they saw Lin Xu place the knife on the table next to him. He then picked up the portable cutting machine on the table and started cutting at the curled edge of the knife.
Sharpening the blade back to its original form, given how it was curled like an egg roll, posed some difficulty for Lin Xu, even though he had mastered Excellent Level knife sharpening techniques. But cutting off the curled part and re-edging the blade was still easy for him. This was because it was included in the Excellent Level knife sharpening techniques.
In Wu Kexin’s live broadcast room, the fans were stunned by Lin Xu’s move.
"Holy cow! What is Boss Lin trying to do?"
"Metalworking during a cooking competition, did you enter the wrong field, bro?"
"Is he about to pioneer a ’welding culinary’ school?"
"Boss Lin: ’Cooking while welding a big iron gate, just for fun!’"
In the live broadcast rooms of other media and streamers, many were curiously watching this scene.
"Did this guy come here to cause trouble?"
"Using a cutter at Fishing Platform, isn’t he afraid the armed police will drag him out?"
"This looks so fun, the other contestants are all flabbergasted."
"Didn’t the preview say there’d be a surprise at the competition? Is this the surprise?"
"I’m from the neighboring broadcast. This Boss Lin, he has a very beautiful girlfriend and also owns a restaurant..."
"Upstairs, please, I beg you, tell me the name of the restaurant."
"Same, I want the restaurant name too! I, Cao Aman, am definitely in!"
"Me too, me too (rubs hands together)."
A bunch of Cao Zeis just managed to derail the tone of the live broadcast room.
「At the competition venue.」
Guo Xinghai was lucky. Being close to the plastic basket, he managed to grab the only Carp while everyone else was scrambling for knives. Among all the meat ingredients, fish is relatively good for showcasing Knife Skills. Evenly cut slanted slices of Carp, butterfly slices as thin as cicada wings, and flat slices suitable for rolling – they all exhibit the exquisite craftsmanship of Knife Skills. However, these techniques require a good knife to achieve, and the knife Guo Xinghai got was slightly curled at the edge. Forget the complex slices; even removing the flesh from the fish was out of the question.
What was he to do now?
Just as he was worrying, he saw the young chef from building No. 2, who had picked his knife and ingredients last, actually cutting a knife with the cutting machine.
The blade was already curled. Wouldn’t cutting it with the cutting machine make it completely unusable?
However, he soon found himself at a loss for words. Because after Lin Xu cut off the curled part, he immediately switched to a polishing machine and began grinding the edge of the knife. First, he ground off the rough edges of the cut, then angled the machine to forge a new edge, and in passing, polished off the rust on the knife’s surface – much faster than slowly grinding off the rust with a whetstone.
「At the judges’ table.」
Geng Lishan watched Lin Xu’s operation with interest. Others, upon receiving their knives, either questioned the selection or complained, but this young man didn’t hesitate to pick up the cutter.
Just this courage and ability alone put him far ahead of the other contestants. He had to score him highly. He absolutely had to give a high score.
What’s more, this contestant had chosen the ingredient that awarded the most points: Lactone Tofu.
Geng Lishan recalled that he himself had personally selected the ingredients in the baskets. These included relatively simple vegetables to cut, slightly more complex meats, and various soybean products, all linked to points. Ingredients easy to cut started with low base points; only by creating something truly special with them could one score well. Conversely, difficult ingredients started with high base points, where even a basic presentation could earn a high score. Among all of them, Lactone Tofu was the most challenging.
Geng Lishan felt that as long as Lin Xu’s Knife Skills were passable, he would give him full points for this round. It was rare to see young people who were not only clever but also willing to tackle tough challenges.
As Lin Xu was polishing the rust off the knife with the polishing machine, he saw "Little Guo" from building No. 10, Guo Xinghai, approach with a knife as well. But he didn’t use the cutter; he was waiting for the polishing machine. His knife’s curl was lighter, and a little polishing would allow him to keep using it.
"Do you need to use this?"
"Yes, I plan to sharpen my knife. Is this how it’s done?" Guo Xinghai was completely unfamiliar with the polishing machine.
Lin Xu didn’t hold back any secrets and said with a smile, "Just grind against the part that’s near the edge, and angle the polishing machine slightly to reach the edge. Don’t tilt it too much, or you’ll curl it to the other side."
As he spoke, he picked up a few of the whetstones lying next to him and began to choose from them. These stones included a 400-grit for forming an edge, a 6,000-grit for fine sharpening, and even a 10,000-grit for polishing. The ’grit’ of the whetstones refers to the roughness of their surface. A lower grit number means higher efficiency, while a higher grit number makes sharpening more time-consuming.