Chapter 114

Chapter 114: Chen Ran's Scheming

The system was also quite angry.

Having left the somewhat polluted air of the broadcast hall, Chen Ran carefully examined the task issued by the system.

Even the wording seemed quite angry!

"Keep firmly in second place," this phrasing made it clear that the system didn’t want Chen Boduán to advance from the group.

Indeed, according to the show's competition system, if Chen Boduán were to show up, Chen Ran felt that being stuck with such a person in the closed competition for the next few days would suffocate her.

But she was alone—how could she keep Chen Boduán in second place?

From the tasks issued by the system so far, most were tasks she could accomplish. There had never been a task beyond her ability.

The system was like the most patient teacher, guiding her step by step along this path.

While Chen Ran was standing still, deep in thought, someone suddenly patted her on the back and handed her a paper cup.

"Ran Ran, here's your milk tea!"

Wan Jiaxin had specially come over.

"Thank you!"

Chen Ran took the cup, which was warm to the touch, inserted a straw, and took a sip. "I’m heading back now to prepare for the competition in two days."

Wan Jiaxin nodded and, lowering her voice, whispered, "The show team might focus on filming the interaction between you and your uncle... Ran Ran, be careful."

Such a natural hook, the show team would never miss it!

Chen Ran patted Wan Jiaxin's shoulder. "Don’t worry, I won’t let him advance."

Looking at Chen Ran's figure as she turned to leave, Wan Jiaxin couldn’t help but silently scream in her heart: Ran Ran is so cool!

After a small squeal, she felt a bit confused.

Based on her understanding of Chen Ran's cooking skills, if only one person from each group could advance, Chen Boduán would undoubtedly be eliminated in an instant.

But, without knowing the strength of the others, how could Chen Ran ensure that Chen Boduán didn’t advance?

She quietly took a photo of Chen Ran’s back and posted it in the "Lion's Head" fan group.

This group consisted of more seasoned Chen Ran fans, who knew each other well, so they spoke more casually.

She quickly typed out what Chen Ran had just said, expressing her doubts.

"Cool! Ran Ran is so cool!"

"If it were a martial arts contest, I’d get it, just injure him first and let others pick up the slack."

Tang Yang's comment made everyone break into a cold sweat.

Wang Zhaoshan couldn’t help but speak up: "Chen Ran is really much more confident now. Back when she was cooking in the Shu family’s banquet, she even asked me if she was really suited to be a chef..."

Compared to that quiet Chen Ran, the one who dared to speak her mind now was the one he truly wanted to see!

This careful, diligent Chen Ran, he only worried that she wouldn’t be confident enough; he never worried about her being overly reckless.However… he couldn’t figure out how Chen Ran was going to ensure that Chen Boduán wouldn’t even get second place in this competition.

Soon, the competition list for Group A was announced. It must be said that the draw order was actually favorable for Chen Boduán.

In Group A, there were only three chefs from the "Famous Chefs List." Apart from Chen Ran and Chen Boduán, there was also one female chef.

The group competition had fourteen chefs competing on stage at the same time, which was bound to be different from the usual format, otherwise it would take too long and wouldn't be very interesting.

The whole competition was broadcast live, with thirty-seven public judges responsible for tasting the dishes. The two chefs with the highest scores would advance.

Chen Ran's fans were anxiously watching the TV, while intensely discussing in their group chat.

"Why is this behind-the-scenes footage so long?"

"This TV station is something else! Look quickly, Chen Ran's jump onto the stage was so graceful!"

"Indeed... even if Chen Ran doesn’t become a chef, she could come learn martial arts from me!"

"That won’t work, what would you feed me then?"

"Alright, stop! It's starting!"

Once the behind-the-scenes footage ended, the host quickly introduced the competition rules.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the Group Stage of the 'Two Capitals Culinary Competition.'"

"As you can see, our contestants are already neatly lined up at the entrance. Inside our competition venue, a dazzling array of ingredients has been prepared..."

"The countdown has begun! After the countdown, everyone will start fighting for the ingredients! Then, they will use the ingredients they grab to prepare a dish. Once the dish is ready, they will present it to the judges for tasting..."

"You can see, as soon as the countdown ends, the chefs are already rushing in to grab ingredients!"

Chen Boduán stood confidently, waiting for the countdown to end.

After reviewing the list of group stage competitors, he felt sure of himself. Even without using the culinary god’s recipes, there was no chef here better than him.

Moreover, there were two spots to advance, so no matter what, he was sure to get one of them.

As soon as the countdown ended, he was the first to dash out!

During the countdown, he had already started choosing his dish.

It had to be said that Chen Boduán was a bit scheming.

Having worked at Zhìwèi Zhāi for so many years, hosting countless officials and dignitaries, he was quite good at reading people and handling situations.

He had quickly scanned the judging panel and noticed that many of the judges were young, with a lot of northerners among them.

In such a situation, he decided to choose a savory dish: Guō Bāo Ròu (Sweet and Sour Pork).

A sweet and sour, deep-fried dish was bound to be popular in such a setting!

As he rushed to select his pork, his peripheral vision noticed that Chen Ran was also coming over!

What’s going on?

In the Lion’s Head group, Wang Zhaoshan suddenly became excited and sent several voice messages in quick succession. However, with the tension in the air, no one could spare the time to notice him.

Once everyone had finished grabbing ingredients, the show team started the countdown for cooking. Only then did Zhu Chénchén, who had been holding his breath, finally have time to open Wang Zhaoshan’s voice messages.She dared to say, this was the first time she had heard Wang Dàyè so excited! His voice was even louder than the time he attended her "graduation banquet."

"I know! I know how Chen Ran is going to ensure Chen Boduán won’t get selected!"

"I really admire her!"

"She’s going to make the exact same dish as Chen Boduán! In a situation where the dishes are the same, and there’s a comparison group, the judges' scores are bound to be higher for one and lower for the other!"

"Chen Ran is really so clever! This girl will definitely become the next Heavenly Chef in the future!"

The fan group was buzzing with guesses, and the host, Bai Jing, was also guessing in his mind.

Earlier, when he came to the venue to familiarize himself with the surroundings, he bumped into Wan Jiaxin and immediately recognized her.

Wasn't this the intern who had brought him a lunch box before?

Upon learning that the chef who made that lunch box was also on-site, Bai Jing couldn't help but pay more attention.

Especially since the producer had specifically informed him that there was some tension between the two contestants in this group, and he needed to emphasize the contrast.

However... why wasn’t Chen Ran cooking?

She had the exact same ingredients as Chen Boduán, but she placed the meat on the chopping board and didn’t move it, standing with her arms crossed, motionless, just watching what Chen Boduán was doing.

"This contestant seems very calm, still observing... Let's take a look at the other contestants."

Chen Ran was still observing.

She only saw Chen Boduán select a piece of pork and quickly picked out the exact same piece of meat.

Now, she had to wait and see what he was going to make.

Watching Chen Boduán take the knife to cut the meat, then start mixing it with cornstarch and heating the oil, Chen Ran was sure—he was making Guō Bāo Ròu.

Chen Ran picked up her knife too!

Gradually, the cameramen noticed as well—these two were making the exact same dish!

Even Bai Jing noticed it, and fans in the group also realized that Wang Zhaoshan’s prediction had come true!

"Chen Ran is really bold and skilled... This means her cooking time will be much shorter than Chen Boduán’s."

"Yes, even though the dishes are identical, she’ll finish them in less time than Chen Boduán, serve the judges first, and ensure that her dish gets a higher score while Chen Boduán’s score is lower!"

"Too strong... but she’s still a bit slower than Chen Boduán right now!"

Everyone knew that the process for making Guō Bāo Ròu included frying first, which was an unavoidable time-consuming step.

Chen Boduán had already started double frying the meat, while Chen Ran had just begun the first round of frying.

Moreover, there was another difficulty in this competition: the number of dishes couldn’t be too few. If there weren’t enough, there wouldn’t be enough for all 35 public judges to taste.

Chen Boduán glanced at Chen Ran and snorted coldly in his heart.

He realized this girl was trying to set him up, so he sped up his own cooking.

Soon, the fried meat slices were added to the pan for stir-frying. However, since the pan was a bit small, he had to stir-fry in two batches.

This plate would be done soon, and he could then move on to the second batch.At that moment, he heard the entire audience gasp in surprise!

Chen Boduán looked up, and his movements couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

He immediately realized that Chen Ran was using a more advanced cooking sauce technique for her Guō Bāo Ròu.

However, this wasn’t the reason the audience and judges were gasping. The real reason was that Chen Ran was actually operating two pans at the same time!

She held up a bowl filled with cooking sauce in one hand, letting the amber-colored liquid pour down high.

At the same time, she forcefully tossed the Guō Bāo Ròu from the first pan into the air, then set the first pan down to toss the Guō Bāo Ròu from the second pan into the air!

Meanwhile, the Guō Bāo Ròu in the first pan landed, and she repeated the flipping action!

Even Bai Jing started getting excited: "Masterful! Everyone has seen flipping the pan, but I’m sure no one has seen two pans being flipped simultaneously!"

With this continuous motion, by the time Chen Ran’s two batches of Guō Bāo Ròu were done, Chen Boduán’s second batch had only just gone into the pan!

A waiter came over to pick up Chen Ran’s dish and delivered it to the judging table. The fan group, which had been quiet for a while, immediately started flooding the screen with messages.

"Unbelievable! I’ve eaten Chef Chen’s food many times, but this is the first time I’ve seen her cook!"

"Flipping the pan is already amazing, but flipping two pans at the same time!"

"I hereby declare, Chef Chen has won!"

Chen Ran breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her Guō Bāo Ròu placed on the judging table.

At that moment, Chen Boduán’s dish had just finished cooking.

She turned her head and glanced at Chen Boduán’s somewhat dark expression, then gently put down the spatula.

Eliminating Chen Boduán was just the first step. She would definitely take that spatula back!