Liu Chef was known for his good temper.
When his workplace urged him to retire, it was only to avoid paying the n+1 compensation.
Out of consideration for their past relationship, he didn't pursue the matter.
Now that Liu Chef had come to Starry Sky Kindergarten, spending every day with children, his temperament had become even better and gentler.
However, upon receiving the message passed on by Si Jing, he frowned.
He went to inquire about their master-apprentice relationship from other big shots in the industry, and it was indeed as the first person had told him.
Liu Chef, who was usually good-tempered and gentle, now wore a cold expression.
Previously, he had hoped that there might be some misunderstanding between the two.
If the misunderstanding could be cleared up, everything would be fine.
But now it seemed it wasn't a misunderstanding at all.
Si Jing simply didn't want his apprentice to do well, a realization that Liu Chef couldn't understand and which also sparked a bit of anger in him.
In the past, when people joked about blacklisting, he thought that in today's inclusive society, who could really have that much power?
Now he truly felt sorry for Jiang Xun.
According to his industry peers, Jiang Xun was a mild-mannered person with excellent skills.
That's why his master and master's wife had been keen on taking him as a son-in-law.
To think that such an honest kid would be pushed to this point.
Liu Chef suddenly understood why Jiang Xun had chosen to make a dish in the competition that he wasn't skilled at, but Liu Chef excelled in.
It was probably a gesture of allegiance.
Liu Chef immediately told Shen Wei about this matter.
Shen Wei said, "I understand. Do what you think is right."
Shen Wei's support gave Liu Chef the motivation he needed.
He then had someone relay a message to Si Jing, saying, "This won't do. They will still be ranked according to their performance."
He flatly rejected Si Jing's unreasonable request.
When Si Jing received the message, he was furious.
Although he wasn't very close to Liu Chef, they had mutual friends in their circle.
He never thought that Liu Chef, known for being such a nice guy, would refuse his request.
It was said that he angrily smashed several bowls at home.
...
The next day, another 10 people were brought in as online judges. There were two crucial competitions: one to narrow down from 200 to 100 contestants, and another from 100 to 50.
More people watched the live stream online. Despite it being a workday, somehow over a million viewers were online simultaneously, pushing the stream to the top of the live broadcast rankings.
The on-site dishes included ice cream, braised pork trotters, duck tongues, meatballs, and stir-fried vegetables.
In the minds of top chefs, it wasn't particularly impressive to create amazing flavors with high-end ingredients.
The real skill lay in making delicious home-style dishes.
Some people specifically wanted to record the reactions of the 10 online judges.
So Shen Wei asked He Lingfeng to create a program.
They added a permanent camera position within the large live streaming frame.
Viewers could click to see the lucky fans eating on-site.
They could also choose a picture-in-picture mode.
This allowed them to watch the chefs cooking while also seeing the judges eating in a small window.
It made the online fans drool with envy.
These 10 people were eating on behalf of all the viewers.
They looked like slim young girls, but they kept eating non-stop.
Even the internet viewers were curious, wondering if girls' stomachs were bottomless pits.
They seemed to have endless capacity.
But it still made the viewers' mouths water.
Especially the braised pork trotters, eaten with a dipping sauce.
The soft and tender pig skin and tendons, with the gelatinous soup, paired with a pot of spicy oil dipping sauce. Sprinkled with sesame seeds and green onions, the rich color after dipping made everyone salivate.
This was unfair.
Even though they weren't hungry, their stomachs were protesting furiously.
As if they had suffered a great injustice.
In the live stream comment section, people said, "I'm going to use 10 phones to enter the draw for the tasting seats. I refuse to believe I won't win."
"I've never been this excited even when passing by big streamers' channels giving away phones or grand prizes. These eating spots are really hitting my weak spot."
Just after posting the comment, they saw that the live stream had announced another draw for 10 lucky viewers for tomorrow.
They immediately sprang into action, sharing the live stream link with their group chats.
They asked their family members to help enter the draw to increase their chances of winning.
There were no restrictions on this prize; everyone could enter.
The viewers happily waited for the results, but after a while, the number of online viewers in the live stream reached 1 million.
The number of people entering the draw surprisingly exceeded 1.2 million.
"What are the odds?"
"Even buying a lottery ticket has better chances than this, right?"
The netizens' hearts sank.
Hoping to win a chance to eat there seemed less likely than Starry Sky opening a branch restaurant in the future.
So after this suggestion was made in the live stream, everyone started to enthusiastically respond.
When the results were announced, most people were indeed lamenting that they hadn't won.
After all, Starry Sky was known for pampering its fans.
As long as enough people voiced their opinions, there was bound to be a response.
As a result, the comment suggesting opening a branch restaurant received over 500,000 likes.
It firmly secured the top spot on the hot comments list.
