The fifth update,
...
Afanti nodded in agreent, and with that, the competition officially comnced.
"Please make the announcent!"
Qin Fang imdiately gestured to the host on stage, who had been left hanging awkwardly for quite so ti, to proceed.
"Good, good, good... I now declare that the final contest begins! One round will determine the winner..."
Finally, the host was able to speak.
Since Qin Fang had appeared onstage, the host had been as still as a piece of wood, not daring to so much as fart.
There was no helping it, since he recognized Qin Fang.
When Fang Feixue first opened, he had been dragged there by a friend, only to encounter such a scene. He truly admired and feared Qin Fang.
Being able to get on well in the entire Ninghai Underground World, respected by big shots from both sides, was not sothing ordinary people could achieve.
Not to ntion, he had significant influence in legitimate circles as well; all the heads of the city police were present at the event, and later on, provincial governnt officials arrived too, even Secretary Tang made an appearance. This wasn't soone he could afford to offend.
On the other hand, Afanti being from an ethnic minority made things difficult. There's a common saying in Dragon Country: "Foreigners first, then officials, ethnic minorities third, and Han Chinese last."
Ethnic minorities are challenging to deal with; even if they cause trouble, matters will be handled quietly. These people could brazenly stab soone with a knife and still not necessarily face any consequences.
At that mont, seeing Afanti glaring furiously at Qin Fang, as if harboring a deep hatred, the smallti host didn't dare bare his teeth.
It wasn't just him. Even the judges above, after receiving a hint, didn't dare to speak carelessly anymore.
With the host's official announcent, the competition was now sanctioned.
Afanti represented himself. After leaving Baiyu Lake, he had set up his barbecue stall—a self-employed venture. Competing here, he couldn't secure an official spot for his stall; he had to vie with fellow villagers. Naturally, he couldn't co up with a na like a hotel or restaurant.
Qin Fang, on the other hand, represented Fang Feixue.
Relatively speaking, Fang Feixue had now beco quite well-known. Despite the short ti since its opening, business had always been booming, especially with their special "Seven Orifices Exquisite" dish, which required a long advance reservation. Dream on if you think you can just walk in and get a seat.
If you think of using your high official status to push through, I'm sorry, please leave imdiately, unless you're the Party Secretary of Jiangnan Province.
In any case, after several days of publicity, Fang Feixue had beco completely famous in Ninghai, especially known for its exquisite signature dishes.
There were even so star-rated hotels that sent people to learn or "borrow" techniques; so even tried to poach staff, but they had no choice but to depart as disappointed as they arrived.
But back to the matter at hand.
This contest might not represent much, but neither Qin Fang nor Afanti wanted to lose.
Afanti aid to defeat Qin Fang, while Qin Fang, aside from defending his title, also sought to secure a championship for Fang Feixue, which would give them an advantage in the upcoming Elite Competition.
The contest began, and the contenders started to select their ingredients.
In this sort of winner-takes-all match, competitors would usually choose what they were best at. For instance, after taking a look, Afanti promptly chose a lamb leg.
While the lamb leg wasn't very thick, it was much sturdier than chicken or duck legs, presenting greater difficulty in barbecuing and thus a test of the barbecue master's skills.
Of course, if not for ti constraints and the venue's limitations, Afanti might have opted for an even more challenging whole lamb roast, which only true masters could skillfully manage.
Qin Fang looked on with a faint smile and, not bothering to choose for himself, saw that Afanti had selected a lamb leg and casually picked one up too.
This move imdiately drew unanimous applause from the audience.
It wasn't for any reason other than fairness: using the sa materials, the quality and outco of the contest could be easily judged. This also minimized the possibility of judges manipulating the results, though such chances were slim.
Qin Fang wasn't in a rush to start; instead, he watched Afanti seriously for a while, carefully observing every move he made, timing and quantity of each seasoning he added, and his control over the timing of each flip.
However, the result left Qin Fang slightly disappointed. Afanti had significantly improved his barbecue skills since the last ti Qin Fang had defeated him.
The past few months must have been spent in serious practice and contemplation, so his skill level had seen a considerable increase.
If Afanti's barbecue skills were at Beginner Level cooking with over 90% proficiency before, then now he had reached over 20% at the Interdiate Cooking level.
This already constituted a qualitative leap, no wonder Afanti was brimming with confidence.
Back when Qin Fang defeated him, it was approximately when Qin had just stepped into interdiate cooking, while Wen Yi had also just entered interdiate cooking not long ago, with a proficiency of only 5%.
This presented a very direct comparison; there was no doubt that in the realm of barbecue mories, Afanti completely outclassed Wen Yi.
However, his interdiate 20% compared to Qin Fang's interdiate 97%, the gap was so vast that it was even much larger than the one between Afanti and Wen Yi.
By this point in the competition, Qin Fang already knew the outco, and there was really no need to continue.
After so thought, Qin Fang placed the lamb leg over the charcoal and started roasting it. That spot wasn't very big, not even big enough to flip the at, but Qin Fang still went about his business, changing the fire when necessary, sprinkling seasoning when needed, brushing oil when appropriate...
About three minutes later, this piece of lamb already began to emit a faint aroma.
And really, the organizers this ti were indeed quite sensational, having actually prepared a small trophy for the winner of each individual category, now resting on the podium.
And now that the competition had reached this juncture, the ultimate winner would be one of the two, Afanti or Qin Fang. Whoever won, the trophy would belong to them.
Qin Fang was truly domineering, tossing the finished lamb leg onto the plate without even glancing at Afanti, and strode directly to the podium. Under the gaze of the host, judges, and hundreds of audience mbers present, he grabbed the trophy and headed straight for the competition's exit.
As for Fang Feixue's people, they hardly had any hesitation; under the leadership of Tang Feifei, Xiao Muxue, Wen Yan, and Wen Yi, these four beauties, they followed Qin Fang's footsteps and quickly vanished.
All onlookers were imdiately dumbfounded, having never seen such a bold and powerful contestant who took the trophy and left even before the results were announced.
What was this all about?
A contestant took off with the trophy?
Everyone was gobsmacked, weird thoughts popping into their heads, as such an incident had never occurred in any competition before.
"Damn, what's going on?"
"The trophy is gone before the competition is over; are the organizers idiots?"
"..."
Yet, it wasn't Afanti, the other competitor, who first made a fuss, but the audience below. They were waiting to see the most exciting part of the event, and even to try the barbecued dishes from both sides before they could make an accurate judgnt in their minds.
This was also to prevent any shady dealings with secret agreents, but the turn of events caught them entirely by surprise; the competition was over before it barely started.
Even the awarding ceremony had been skipped.
Watching Qin Fang's assertive departure, taking the trophy with him, Afanti's first reaction was astonishnt, followed by anger, but then he beca sowhat puzzled.
He simply gave up on the lamb leg that was still roasting and headed over to Qin Fang's barbecue stand.
Picking up the still undercooked lamb leg, which had only a portion just barely cooked, not even one-tenth of the entire piece, Afanti was completely stunned just looking at that one-tenth, lightly sniffed the aroma, then gently bit a little.
This change imdiately drew the attention of many spectators, and judges and hosts on the stage noticed it too, their eyes all focused on Afanti's face.
As the lamb at entered his mouth, there wasn't much change in Afanti's expression—just subtle chewing a few tis, then swallowed the bite of lamb.
"I lost..."
The once three-ti barbecue champion, the expert who was nearly invincible this season, had only tasted a single bite of his opponent's barbecue and calmly dropped this remark, then headed towards the exit without hesitation, disappearing without a trace...
Spectators and judges were dumbstruck once again, looking at each other, completely befuddled about what had just taken place.
"Instant knockout! A one-hit wonder..."
Many were amazed to discover that the earlier brash and arrogant young man had used just one move to instantly defeat his opponent, not even bothering to compete anymore and simply taking the trophy and leaving.
Before they were busy cursing the organizer, calling Qin Fang too arrogant, now they understood that it wasn't Qin Fang's arrogance, but rather his true strength that made him consider it a boring match, one with a foregone conclusion from the beginning.
If that was the case, there was no suspense in the competition's outco; why waste ti staying there? Might as well take the trophy and leave...
Perhaps these spectators liked the feeling of putting themselves in Qin Fang's shoes; thinking from his perspective, they imdiately felt it was the natural thing to do, thinking if it were , I would have done the sa...
And so, Fang Feixue beca famous, not only for winning the competition but for possessing such overwhelming strength. With Qin Fang's move, Fang Feixue suddenly acquired a lot more fans! (To be continued. If you like this work, welco to Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndation tickets, monthly passes, your support is my greatest motivation.)
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