Chapter 863: Chapter 862: Liu Ying (Part 2)
"Did I lose?"
Liu Ying was stunned.
On the other side, upon hearing Xia Yu speak, Liu Lan couldn’t help but tremble all over. He lowered his head slightly, adopting a respectful posture instinctively.
A middle-aged man, showing such respect to a teenager who’s about the age of his son, clearly recognized the figure of Demon King Xia Yu and had a clear understanding of his culinary skills.
Liu Ying didn’t notice that when Xia Yu stepped forward, her brother Liu Feng, as well as Liu Jing, all looked at him with the kind of reverence one shows to Mount Tai.
Xia Yu was about six to seven meters away from the dining table and hadn’t tasted the ramen or Mapo tofu on it yet. Why was he so sure about judging the outcome? The reason was simple. Firstly, he had super vision. Every tiny detail during the cooking by the two was within his grasp.
Secondly, the difference in culinary skill levels put him in a high position, giving him a bird’s eye view, with a very clear perspective.
He first pointed towards Liu Lan’s Mapo tofu and praised:
"A dish honed through countless refinements!"
"You’ve mastered everything perfectly, from the first taste of fragrance to the sixth taste of crispness, without any mistake. It’s clear you’ve thoroughly understood the cookbook and made some small improvements of your own..."
Xia Yu smiled.
He enunciated carefully when it came to the improvements.
Feeling flattered, Liu Lan asked, "Did you notice?"
"Of course!"
Xia Yu approached the dining table, picked up a pair of chopsticks, and pointed out a fresh green garlic shoot among the sizzling red oil tofu with interest, "Tell me, why did you treat garlic shoots as a separate ingredient, adding them only when plating? The original recipe clearly calls for simmering garlic shoots with tofu and sauce, achieving the ’color’ of Mapo tofu with green for the shoots, white for the tofu, and red for the sauce."
Liu Lan saw the faint smile at the corner of Xia Yu’s mouth and had a sinking feeling, realizing Xia Yu had already seen the trick.
Coughing, Liu Lan took the opportunity to showcase his skills in front of the young audience. Of course, winning praise and approval from Demon King Xia also excited this honest chef, "Garlic shoots actually cook easily, with leaves having a feature of not turning yellow or mushy during simmering. But if you want to maintain the freshness of the shoots, I think it’s better to separate this step, turning it into an independent process. As for why they’re added only when plating, that’s related to the ’timing’..."
Timing.
Xia Yu nodded and sent the small garlic shoot into his mouth with chopsticks, biting down with a fresh and crispy texture, not sticky as when overcooked.
"So, this is the result of countless refinements... control!"
As he put down the chopsticks, his gaze turned to Liu Ying, who was silent yet defensive. Xia Yu blinked, "And that is what you’re lacking!"
Liu Ying crossed her arms and snorted at him.
That unfamiliar look was clearly saying: Hey, who are you?
She didn’t recognize this revered Demon King, and Xia Yu was at a loss.
"Little Ying..." Her brother Liu Feng was getting anxious behind her, his forehead already covered in sweat. Liu Feng knew his sister had been secluded recently, focusing solely on developing new dishes and hadn’t paid attention to this year’s tournament, so how could she recognize the new champion?
"Tell me, what exactly do you mean by control?"
Liu Ying stared at Xia Yu, her eyes fearless, "You’re quite eloquent, aren’t you? Then please, explain it specifically using words."
Explain "control"?
"Hmm..."
Xia Yu, amused, pointed at her ramen, "If I were making this bowl of noodles, regarding seasoning, salt, I’d use about one-third less than usual, green onion, I’d reduce by half, and garlic, I’d peel an additional one, yes, and there’s diced shiitake mushrooms in the ingredients, right? This ingredient seems to have a slight conflict with the bowl’s ’treasure,’ so to highlight the theme of the treasure, too much would not work; just two or three pieces to give flavor to the broth would suffice."
Treasure? Liu Lan was perplexed.
Zhu Qing, however, chuckled and nodded. As Zhu Qi’s descendant, though her taste was weak, she possessed a ’super sense of smell,’ relying on scent to judge Liu Lan’s and Liu Ying’s dishes. She, too, believed that Liu Lan’s refined dish easily secured the win.
Liu Ying, too, listened in bewilderment.
An odd fellow who hadn’t tasted her ramen explicitly pointed out its ingredients, and even scarier, he offered improvement suggestions in detail down to the amount of seasoning!
What puzzled Liu Ying the most was how her "treasure," placed in the bowl, was so easily seen through.
She had spent nearly a month immersing herself in researching a new dish, hoping to achieve a glorious victory with its core "treasure," but her inner deflation was unmentionable now.
Liu Ying pursed her lips unhappily and said, "Why should I believe what you’re saying?"
"Anyone can be a smooth talker!"
The brat clearly pouted, but from her flickering eyes, you could tell she was secretly memorizing Xia Yu’s suggestions.
Xia Yu waved his hand, "Follow my advice, and make another bowl now!"
"Then you can eat and compare the two bowls of ramen yourself, and we can talk afterward."
With that, Xia Yu and Zhu Qing left the kitchen together.
Liu Ying was at the table, her face alternating expressions.
"Dad, Demon King Xia, he..."
The chubby Liu Jing crept up beside his father Liu Lan, glancing enviously at Liu Ying, looking up at his father’s eyes filled with visible hope.
He was seeking guidance.
Liu Lan understood, smiling bitterly internally.
Even for him, looking at the stunned Liu Ying, his eyes were full of envy and complexity.
Brother Liu Feng watched his sister, his face filled with urgency; his heart was practically on fire.
Sister!
He wanted to lean into his sister’s ear and shout—That’s Demon King Xia, do you know Demon King Xia?
Why not quickly grab a pen and notebook and neatly record the Demon King’s advice, it might become a family heirloom.
...
They left the kitchen and returned to the sitting area in the main hall.
"I wonder what got you interested in mentoring a little brat?" Zhu Qing teased, her finger circling the rim of the teacup, clearly curious about Xia Yu’s attitude towards Liu Ying.
As she spoke, she puffed her chest out deliberately, pressing her fully developed rounded assets against the table edge, creating folds in her blouse, "I’ve heard it’s three years minimum, up to life imprisonment..."
Xia Yu’s face turned black, "Oh, come on!"
"I’m really not into lolicon!" he protested.
Zhu Qing just chuckled; after all, there were no outsiders in the hall. She kept a graceful and tempting posture, glancing seductively, "Moreover, are you sure a little brat will take your guidance?"
Xia Yu slightly straightened up, "I sincerely hope she listens."
Before Zhu Qing could ask why, he casually said:
"Aunt Qing, don’t you think that if I want to restore Juxia Building to its former glory, the Liu family name would be indispensable? Otherwise, rebuilding Juxia Building and having the Liu family disappear, what would be the point?"
Now Zhu Qing was truly taken aback.
What, restore Juxia Building to its former glory? Entering Juxia Building and acting as head chef seemed not too difficult for Demon King Xia.
However, having the Liu family continue to manage Juxia Building raised the difficulty to a hell level.
Zhu Qing broke into a sweat, "Yu, you’re not joking, are you?"
"This situation is murky; by all means, don’t get involved!"
Xia Yu was gazing towards the kitchen.
"I hope she is the one I’m looking for, but if she can’t accept suggestions from others, especially when it comes to cooking and culinary matters, if she acts stubbornly and without humility..."
An hour later.
The sound of footsteps softly approached.