NOVPUBChapter 826: 825
Chapter 826: 825
The China-America King of Chefs competition is undoubtedly a very professional culinary reality show, so professional that even the semi-finals required a rehearsal in advance. Four days after Jiang Feng and the others were notified to check the competition venue and finances, the production crew notified them again to rehearse on site.
At the same time, the date of the semi-finals was also set, December 8th, a day that sounded very auspicious. The competition duration was also very long, a full twelve hours, which meant the contestants could make any dish they wanted, whether it was simmering stock or freezing the ingredients before cooking. There were no drawbacks except that the length might be too torturous for the judges and staff.
It’s worth mentioning that unlike other variety shows, the semi-finals and finals didn’t have an audience, since a cooking competition doesn’t require audience votes or feedback and applause. Too many people and too much noise on site might affect the chefs’ state of mind during the competition, as some chefs need a relatively quiet environment to calm down and create their dishes.
All the contestants and judges would attend the rehearsal before the competition, which was the last chance for everyone to get to know and familiarize themselves with their opponents before the race. Before that, Jiang Feng had spent three hours boning up on information about his opponents, only to realize that there were, in fact, connections between the four restaurants that had advanced to the semi-finals.
The relationship between Taifeng Building and Top Floor Restaurant goes without saying; to describe them as lifelong enemies would be no exaggeration. If Beiping chefs were asked which two restaurant owners were most likely to come to blows, their first reaction would definitely be Top Floor Restaurant and Taifeng Building, and then Top Floor Restaurant and Eight-treasure House.
The two restaurants that advanced from the American competition region were Peng Changping’s own restaurant, Chinese Food Restaurant, that is, a Chinese restaurant. The contestants were Peng Changping’s penultimate apprentice, Zhou Shi’s senior, Peng Changping’s son-in-law, and two of his apprentices. In a sense, they were all familiar faces to Jiang Feng, even though they had never met.
As for New York Light, there’s no need to say more. It was Chef Arno’s former employer, which had not made any personnel changes after Chef Arno’s departure. The four competing chefs were all former underlings of Chef Arno, having served in that position for many years. They were the kind of loyal underlings who would shake if Chef Arno sneezed and might accidentally use the wrong seasoning if Chef Arno said “shit.”
The lineup of judges was also quite impressive, Xu Cheng, Peng Changping, and two well-known American food critics.
Here, one can’t help but digress a bit. It’s already December, the last month of the year, and the results of the Master Chef rankings have not yet come out. There are already rumors that Chef Arno made the long journey to switch jobs to Beijing to block Xu Cheng, to make him rank himself as the second on the Master Chef list.
In such a situation, that Xu Cheng could still afford to suppress other concerns to come judge the competition and not worry about the Master Chef rankings, only goes to show that the King of Doves is truly worthy of his title.
But regardless of how the judges discussed, the contestants’ first full meeting was very pleasant.
Especially among the judges, who were all old acquaintances. The two American judges, one slim and stern called Henry and another plump with a kind, smiling face called David, both had very common and ordinary names. Other than common names, the only similarity was their age; both were not young and had somewhat graying hair.
David, who was clearly familiar with Xu Cheng, didn’t even exchange pleasantries upon seeing him at the competition site but directly asked, “Xu, it’s already December, why haven’t the Master Chef rankings come out yet? They should have been published by this time any other year.”
Having been the King of Doves for so many years, Xu Cheng handled such prompt inquiries with ease, “If they haven’t come out, it’s certainly because there’s still controversy. Rest assured, the rankings will definitely come out this year.”
“Controversy?” David’s plump face was full of distrust toward Xu Cheng, “Not to criticize you, but you’ve really become lazier over the past two years. In previous years, even if you were reluctant to write, you would still produce an article every one or two months. Look at you this year, you’ve only written one, and last year you wrote several columns.”
“Good articles always need time to develop, and it’s not anytime you can produce a high-quality food review, is it? Do we need to make food reviews like some of today’s critics, turning them into commercial advertisements or motivational pieces?” Xu Cheng had his own set of theories. He was the one with the money, the boss, and he wasn’t in a hurry, so no one could rush him.
While the judges were mingling, the sixteen contestants had already roughly figured out their camera positions. Actually, this rehearsal was very simple; they just needed to know and understand the direction of each camera position so that they wouldn’t get lost looking for it when they went on stage and introduced themselves.
Of course, if they really couldn’t find the camera position, it wouldn’t matter; the cameras would find them, and they would be featured at the right moment.
The director had the contestants walk through several times to determine the best spots and, after a few more instructions, considered the rehearsal finished. The judges’ side was a bit more complicated, but all four of them had extensive experience on shows and had good camera presence, so there were no major issues.
Once the rehearsal was over, everyone could leave. Chef Arno was almost the first to rush back to the restaurant as soon as the rehearsal ended. To those unaware, it might seem as though he was the one in debt to Rolan, not the other way around. In terms of dedication, Chef Arno truly had nothing to prove.
Over at Taifeng Building, to better prepare for the semi-finals, Wang Xiuli directly granted them a big holiday. Although it was a holiday, only Sun Maochai actually rested, while Wu Minqi and Sun Jikai were dragged by Jiang Feng to figure out how to apply the method of Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon to Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup. This was tough on both Wu Minqi and Sun Jikai.
When the three of them were originally studying the thickening method of the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, Jiang Feng’s cooking skill, although better than theirs, was not much better, and the three were able to barely maintain the same level. Now, Jiang Feng’s culinary skills had far surpassed the other two, with different realms and levels of thinking, and Wu Minqi and Sun Jikai often struggled to keep up with Jiang Feng’s train of thought in their discussions. Nevertheless, they were still willing to spend a significant amount of time every day studying with Jiang Feng.
Because they really could learn a lot.
Even though learning was tough, exhausting, and even made me wonder if I was a fool at times, the progress was really fast.
Sun Maochai said a few words to the three of them before he took his leave, as he had other engagements today and couldn’t stay around for too long. Jiang Feng and the others didn’t immediately return to Taifeng Building to continue their research on thickening sauces because they wanted to stay behind to exchange a few words with the chefs of the Chinese restaurant. Although Jiang Feng wasn’t their relative, junior, or old friend, there was a kind of wonderful connection which made it proper, both emotionally and logically, to greet and chat for a few moments.
During the dress rehearsal, the two groups weren’t standing together, so it was difficult to greet each other across the distance. But after the rehearsal, they absolutely had to say hello.
“Master Sheng,” Jiang Feng said with a smile as he approached Peng Changping’s son-in-law, Sheng Ming.
It was a twist of fate that Peng Changping, recognized as the world’s number one Chinese cuisine chef, had descendants who, though impressive in their own fields, showed no particular talent for cooking. On the other hand, his son-in-law Sheng Ming, who was also his apprentice, had inherited his skills. Now, Sheng Ming took care of the culinary matters at the Chinese restaurant, while Peng Changping’s son handled the management side.
Sheng Ming, having done his homework beforehand and seen Jiang Feng’s photo, knew about his relationship with Peng Changping and responded enthusiastically, “You… don’t be so formal, just call me Sheng Ming. Lately, my father-in-law often talks about you. You truly have an impressive bearing, a young talent indeed.”
Clearly, Sheng Ming had spent too many years abroad and wasn’t too fluent in his mother tongue anymore. While speaking, he would unconsciously try to mix in English words, then forcibly hold back, resulting in somewhat muddled thoughts, and Jiang Feng could see this confusion.
After a few pleasantries, another of Peng Changping’s apprentices joined in the polite conversation. Following a few difficult minutes of talking, just when Jiang Feng thought he could end the niceties and happily return to Taifeng Building to continue studying sauce thickening, Sheng Ming finally said what he had wanted to say from the start.
“I don’t know if you’re free this evening, but if you are, we could have dinner together. My uncle has been wanting to meet you these past few days,” Sheng Ming said.
“Uncle?” Jiang Feng said, then it dawned on him that Sheng Ming’s uncle must be Qin Guisheng.
Didn’t Qin Guisheng break his leg? How come he’s also come to Beiping?
Jiang Feng thought about it carefully, realizing that Qin Guisheng’s accident must have happened quite some time ago, by which he should have fully recovered by now.
“Yes, my uncle is Qin Guisheng, you must know of him,” Sheng Ming continued. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
Jiang Feng nodded but was still a little confused.
Qin Guisheng was known for his temper, a fact that Jiang Feng had keenly understood during a previous meal at Yun through the account of Zhang Zhiyuan. It could be said that whether in his youth or now, Qin Guisheng’s temper had not changed; he was direct and acted on impulse, unable to and unwilling to hold back.
Given Qin Guisheng’s temperament, if he truly wanted to meet, he wouldn’t have waited until now after arriving in Beiping a couple of days ago—he would have asked Peng Changping to arrange a meeting right after landing.
This is what Jiang Feng thought and what he asked.
Sheng Ming didn’t conceal the truth and shared frankly, “My uncle actually wanted to see you right after landing, but he had just recovered from his leg injury and was still feeling weak. The long flight took its toll, and he went to rest in the hotel immediately upon arrival.”
“He thought he’d feel better after a day’s rest, but he couldn’t acclimate to the new environment and struggled with jet lag. After staying only one day in the hotel, he went to the hospital, and it was only this morning that he was discharged.”
So eager to meet Jiang Feng right after being discharged, it was clear how urgent it was.
Jiang Feng: …
Who would have thought, Qin Guisheng, a native of Beiping, would have difficulties adjusting after many years upon returning to Beiping.
“No problem, having dinner with Master Qin is my honor,” Jiang Feng replied with a smile.
