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Chapter 230 - 230 Starving Him to Death
Chapter 230 - 230 Starving Him to Death
Chapter 230: Chapter 230 Starving Him to Death
Translator: 549690339
The competition officially began.
On Bai Zhi’s side, two maids were enlisted to help with stoking the fire and cleaning the vegetables.
On Qiao Xiaomai’s side, she had Tong Sanlang.
The four dishes and a soup she intended to make were Braised Pork, Sweet and Sour Pork, Sour and Spicy Fish, Hot Oil Cucumber, Soybean Pig’s Trotters Soup, and cake.
Braised Pork was easy, she had made it many times. Secretly substituting the water in the bucket for the water from her storage space, she covered the pot and let Tong Sanlang simmer it over low heat.
As for the Sweet and Sour Pork, she searched through both the original owner’s memory and the menus of Jiji Winehouse at Zuixian Building, but found no trace of this dish. Thus, this dish could be considered an innovation.
The Sour and Spicy Fish was made with her pickled cabbage from her storage space, which she had personally pickled before, and was extremely tasty.
The Hot Oil Cucumber utilized the chilli oil from her storage space, but since there were no chillies here, she filled a clay pot with the oil, without a single piece of chilli skin or seed appearing.
The Soybean Pig’s Trotters Soup was something she had cooked many times before, and it would surely be delicious if she swapped out the water with that of her storage space.
The last remaining thing was the cake.
There was no oven here, not even a flat-bottomed pan, but that was no problem. She could make it with a frying pan, though it wouldn’t look as good as one made in an oven. It would resemble a thick egg pancake.
However, the taste was the same and would no doubt wow these country folks who were used to red bean and green bean cakes.
Qiao Xiaomai was deft and focused. Bai Zhi was the same on her side.
Her cooking abilities had been honed under the tutelage of the chef from the Imperial Kitchen, resulting in dishes that were an equal mix of attractive colours, tempting scents, and excellent flavour.
In order to definitively defeat Qiao Xiaomai, she had chosen to use only the most expensive ingredients. Her four dishes were: Sea Cucumber Braised Chicken and Bamboo Shoot, Clear Stewed Bear Paw, Braised Civet, Steamed Abalone, Clay Pot Shark Fin Soup, and Pine Nut Lily Crisp.
Items that Qiao Xiaomai, with her poverty-stricken background, could never dream of affording, let alone cooking.
Surely these delicacies were enough to crush Qiao Xiaomai’s pork and fish dishes.
However, in spite of this ironclad certainty, what was the deal with the rich aroma wafting over from the other side?
The two stoves were quite a distance apart, stationed on opposite sides of the elevated platform. Yet, somehow, the appetizing aroma from Qiao Xiaomai’s dishes seemed to squirm its way seductively into her nostrils.
This was not merely her imagination. The judges and scholars sitting below Qiao Xiaomai’s side were whispering amongst themselves ceaselessly. In particular, Yang Ye: several times, he looked as if he were about to ascend the platform to see what Qiao Xiaomai was making.
However, he was restrained each time by Dean Gu next to him. As judges, they had to remain impartial.
Such biased behaviour would not be appropriate.
Denied, Yang Ye had no choice but to wait patiently.
Seeing this, Bai Zhi’s heart brimmed with even more hatred.
Accompanying this hatred was a sense of unease.
Impossible, how is this possible?
The ingredients Qiao Xiaomai had brought out were, at best, very common; yet, after her manipulation, why were they giving off such an enticing aroma?!
Her ingredients were clearly the most top-grade and pricey; even her methods were the highest standards of cooking in Daqi. Why was she losing to Qiao Xiaomai?!
Was she about to lose?
Was she about to lose to a little village girl?
Where would that leave her, and her reputation?
She hadn’t brought so many people over to witness her, the noble county princess, lose against a tiny country bumpkin!
Her teeth bit in, involuntarily clamping down on her lower lip as she looked at the judges seated below.
It seemed she would have to play her county princess card…
Fear revenge all you want, just write Qiao Xiaomai’s name down anyway!
Now that she had a plan, her panicking heart finally calmed down and said, “Ye, my dishes are ready.” She raised her hand to wave at Yang Ye.
At this time, Qiao Xiaomai had also finished and she waved at Yang Ye and said, “Your Highness, my dishes are ready too.”
Upon seeing this, Yang Ye, who had been waiting impatiently, finally stood up. At last, the moment had come.
He was starving!