Chapter 364: A Phone Call
"Even I, as a layman, can taste that the food is made by the gods, it’s...too...too delicious!"
"The exact same dish, but a hundred times tastier than the one earlier!"
"This is marvelous, how did they do this? Can someone please explain? We only know that it’s delicious, but don’t know what the trick is! Where’s the journalist just now? Explain quickly!"
"Right! Give us a professional review!"
With the crowd’s urging, the experienced food journalist tasted the food with a somber face but he did not say a word. He then shushed them, closed his eyes and said, "Don’t say anything, I have to remember this taste! This is a once in a lifetime chance!"
This journalist was really not exaggerating as a few other journalists and food bloggers seemed like they were in the throes of pleasure as well as they chewed their food.
In the corner, Xiao Tao’s face was full of happiness, "Ahh! This tastes so good! I also really want to know how is this so delicious?"
Lisa looked at the truffles in the plate, and said, "Firstly, the culinary method used is different. The two masters crafted this simple dish almost perfectly.
"The second reason would be the difference in where the food is sourced from. Just as you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, the food source is also an important step in the culinary process. If I’m not wrong, the truffles in this dish come from the best truffle harvest region of Alba. Nicknamed 'The Fruit of God', you can only harvest so little each time so it's extraordinarily expensive. You just have to take in the essence of it, and then you will now know how amazing they are after cooking it…"
Xiao Tao widened her eyes, "No wonder it’s so delicious! Oh my! I feel like I’m eating gold!"
She looked at Lisa full of admiration, "Sis Lisa, you know so much!"
Lisa smiled, "Because I quite like to cook myself, I do some research regularly. I can make some for you next time but I’m afraid that you won’t eat my cooking anymore after eating the master’s dish!"
"No way! It’s Sis Lisa’s personal handmade dish, it wouldn’t be the same!"
…
As Lisa explained, people around were listening as well. They had a moment of sudden realization and they waited for the journalist’s confirmation.
The food journalist nodded, "It seems like Ms. Lisa knows her stuff! No wonder her admirer invited these two masters today.
Aside from Tzuyu, Kim Mingyu, and Fang Ya’s group, everyone enjoyed the dinner tremendously.
Kim Mingyu looked really unhappy. Tonight’s celebration dinner was supposed to be for Tzuyu. In the end, the spotlight shifted to Lisa because of the mystery admirer.
Kim Mingyu looked at Tzuyu out of the corner of his eye and saw that she had a very gloomy look on her face.
But Kim Mingyu could understand that anyone would have been upset. It was a once in a lifetime proposal but now all the romantic preparation had gone to waste.
Shortly, Kim Mingyu gritted his teeth and made a decision. He quietly walked to a secluded corner and made a phone call.
…
"Father, this is the situation right now so I’d like to have you ask Uncle He for help. If not, Tzuyu and I…" Mingyu explained.
Kim Mingyu did not have a jolly expression on his face and it seemed like the tone of voice from the other end of the phone was unkind
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Chapter 365: Tonight Belongs To You
On the stage,Tzuyu was staring at Mingyu with a grin as she could easily guess the purpose of his phone call.
There was indeed a master in the Kim family these few days - the founder of China’s best eatery, Green Lotus. He had prepared meals for ministers from Great Britain, France, and Germany before, and he was born into a family of renowned chefs. He had been achieving astounding results since he was young. But in recent years, he kept a low profile and rarely showed himself to the public.
A top chef like him actually had deep connections with the Mingyu family. It was also only because of He Xin that Mingyu was able to invite William Fee.
Kim Mingyu did not even think about it before because of He Xin’s status but the situation now left him with no choice but to ask his father for a favor and request for He Xin’s assistance. It was not just about Tzuyu, but it was also for Kim Mingyu and the Kim family’s honor.
After a while, Mingyu regained his smile, and Tzuyu was relieved as well.
Looking at Kim Mingyu’s expression, he probably got it settled with his father. Only someone like Mingyu’s father would be able to invite someone of He Xin’s status. Kim Mingyu’s father studied overseas when he was still young and he was classmates with He Xin. It seemed that he helped He Xin quite a lot, so it only took a word from Mingyu for He Xin to help out for the sake of his father.
If He Xin came here, he might not be on par with Danial’s culinary skills, but his status and influence was not limited to just cooking…
Quickly, Kim Mingyu went back to Tzuyu, and smiled gently, "Tzuyu, don’t be angry anymore. In just moments, there will be a bigger surprise. Uncle He Xin will be here to make some dishes for you personally!"
Tzuyu pulled a surprised face as she shook her head and said, "My dear Oppa, what are you doing? Why would I be angry? It is one of the few nights that my sister can enjoy herself. I don’t want to compete with her or even fight with her for anything. I’m satisfied as long as I'm with you!"
Hearing what she said, Mingyu hugged her tight in his arms and his tone became even gentler "Tzuyu, I know that you don’t like to fight with other people but tonight is your night. I won’t let anyone steal your spotlight. I think Lisa won’t as well. We’ll just have her put up with this for once!"
Mingyu sighed secretly, thinking about some time before this that he neglected Tzuyu and put her through a lot because of Cui Caijing’s incident. This was the girl he promised to protect forever. For such an important night, he wanted to make her happy…
In the end, Tzuyu nodded obediently, glanced over to Lisa who was still tasting the dishes, and let out a cold laugh thinking that Lisa had no right to fight with her!
...
Tonight’s banquet was more lively than usual with crowds of journalists surrounding the hotel but the hotel had provisionally hired extra security and blocked off uninvited guests.
At the moment,Lisa was having a conversation with Mr. Danial, revolving around the topic of the sources of food and cooking methods. Mr. Danial was very kind and equipped with his years of expertise and experience, he patiently answered Lisa’s questions one by one.
"Thank you, Mr. Danial. You’re the best!" Lisa happily expressed her gratitude.
"If not for the fear of objection from my peers, I might have taken you in as my student!" Mr. Danial said laughingly. Clearly, he liked this newfound friend who was passionate about cooking as well.
As Lisa was about to say something, a loud, cold "Hmph" spread across the hall.
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Chapter 366: The Start Of War
"Hmph! You lot are just blindly worshipping foreign ideals! What’s so good about these dishes? It’s not even half as good as our ancestors'! Our Chinese food has a broad and profound historical background and has originated so long ago. Any one of our eight-dish series can instantly put these foreigners to shame!" Fang Ya declared coldly on the stage.
Her words were too harsh and a guest started rebutting, "Uh, pretty lady, you can’t put it this way. Sure, our food is awesome, but Country F is famous for their food culture as well. Simply put, we each have our own advantages!"
"That’s because you have not tasted the best of Chinese cuisine before. Otherwise, you wouldn't possibly say something like that!" She stared at Lisa in disdain and continued, "It’s because of people like you lot who’ve been blindly worshipping foreign ideals that our ancestors' culture and history have fallen! You don’t support your own country’s creations and support other country’s stuff instead! Shallow, extremely shallow! Not just shallow, you’re an embarrassment!"
In the corner, Lisa squinted her eyes. Without even needing to think, she knew that Fang Ya would not be able to come up with something like that herself, but with Tzuyu behind Fang Ya…
As expected, knowing Tzuyu, she would not be contented with the way things were going.
As OS’ surprise had been revealed, Lisa was not afraid anymore. She had no mental burden now, so she was just enjoying her food relaxingly, and watched them fretting over nothing...
The atmosphere was terrific at first. Who expected Fang Ya to suddenly spurt out something like this, causing the situation to be awkward?
The faces of the two foreign chef masters, in particular, who were fluent in Chinese, darkened when they heard what Fang Ya said.
"Tonight is a celebration dinner! We were shooting an ancient Chinese series! Why hire foreign chefs? What a joke!" Fang Ya continued to taunt.
Tzuyu had a superior expression and laughed coldly at Lisa.
All of this was part of her plan. What was next would be seeing Lisa become the target of humiliation, and wait for the arrival of China's top chef master, He Xin, then everything would be complete.
Tonight would still be perfect!
Eventually, some people started to agree with Fang Ya’s words, "Actually, Miss Fang Ya makes sense. The top chefs of our country are just as great so they won’t lose to the two foreigners at all! Take Mr. He Xin for example. As the founder of our country’s top eatery, Green Lotus, he has been invited by several country’s leaders, which makes evident that our chefs are great as well, not losing out to the westerners!"
"Not just He Xin, there’s also the legendary Mr. Cai Fengxian too. His ancestors were all royal chefs who served the former emperors, until now. Through years of experiences and improvisation, his skills are superb...he has even prepared dishes for the Queen of England once, and in return, received a great token of honor!"
"Right, Mr. Cai Fengxian sure is a legendary icon in the world of chefs, but you can’t invite him at all. There is no way, so there’s no point in talking about it. Even inviting Mr. He Xin would be extremely difficult.
"I don’t think so, the romanticism of the Western world is something that the Chinese culture lacks!"
"Nonsense! The Westerners are all cold and fancy, they do not have the human touch of the Chinese culture!"
...