Chapter 871: Chapter 870: Legacy (End of main text) Chapter 871: Chapter 870: Legacy (End of main text) “Ladies and gentlemen in the audience, you can now see Taifeng Building’s contestant Wu Minqi suddenly heading towards the ingredient area–it looks like she’s selecting ingredients. Let’s see what she’s got. First, she’s picked up a few oranges; now she’s making her way to the seafood section, choosing fish. Alright, everyone can see contestant Wu Minqi has selected three fresh live fish. Eggs, and she’s moving on to the vegetable area…”

“Strange, is there a problem with Taifeng Building’s dishes? Why has contestant Wu Minqi suddenly picked so many ingredients? Just now, the camera operator focused on Jiang Feng, and looking at contestant Jiang Feng’s expression, it seems there is no problem with Taifeng Building’s dishes–he looks calm. Okay, he’s looking at contestant Wu Minqi and nodding to her, apparently giving his approval for her ingredient selection, which might be Taifeng Building’s brand-new tactic. It’s worth mentioning that contestant Jiang Feng and contestant Wu Minqi are a couple, and as a team, they obviously have more synergy than the other chefs.”

From the moment Wu Minqi began selecting ingredients, the newly switched commentator was as if injected with chicken blood, incessantly talking about Taifeng Building’s contestants, completely ignoring Rolan who was strenuously stirring batter.

After Wu Minqi returned with the ingredients, she and Sun Jikai started making fish balls, while Jiang Feng opted to first stir-fry the fresh vegetables to whet his appetite.

“Taifeng Building’s latest strategy is indeed puzzling, with contestant Jiang Feng suddenly abandoning the broth he had been carefully tending to, instead opting to cook vegetables. Could it be that this plate of vegetables is meant to be added to the broth? This is quite a novel cooking method, unheard of. Alright, everyone can see that the plate of greens contestant Jiang Feng is cooking is now done. Let’s see how he’ll deal with this plate of vegetables.”

“He’s tasted a bit, probably to try the flavor. He’s added another chopstick of greens but didn’t eat it; he’s walking towards contestant Wu Minqi, he… he’s feeding Wu Minqi the greens?!”

“He’s started eating himself?!”

“He fed contestant Wu Minqi another bite?!”

It wasn’t just the commentator who was baffled, all the live audience and viewers were bewildered.

For the contestants of Taifeng Building to start eating during the competition wasn’t newsworthy; it wasn’t something the audience hadn’t seen before. But for the competition to suddenly turn into a display of affection partway through was a bit much. If you’re going to eat, just eat–why share that with everyone else?

The commentator was, after all, a professional, and he quickly continued as if he had not said any of those previous comments, resuming commentary on the dynamics of each contestant on the floor. But he didn’t know that the stir-fried vegetables were just the beginning.

Jiang Feng then stir-fried a serving of fish-flavored eggplant.

He stir-fried a large plate of noodles.

Four Phoenix Eggs.

As for why there were four Phoenix Eggs, Jiang Feng thoughtfully prepared three servings for the friends and family in the first three rows–one serving per row, so that each person could have one.

The whole audience erupted in excitement, and Han Guishan wept.

The audience in the back thought that the Phoenix Eggs were for everyone. They all craned their necks, eagerly anticipating Jiang Feng to make the next batch. However, Jiang Feng didn’t do anything else but went back to tend to the broth.

The broth was almost ready.

The Jiang’s Ginseng Soup was about to start being prepared.

An unbearably long two hours.

The term ‘unbearably long’ is relevant to the live audience, who thought they were in for the enjoyable segment of eating, only to find out that not only was there no food to eat, but the culinary process on stage was also not exciting. All the chefs were just circling around the pots; Chef Arno continued to stir the thick soup.

There were 5 hours left in the competition.

This was the most boring, least interesting, most discouraging part of the competition, and also the most likely to make people drowsy during the mid-stage.

But it was also the stage where Jiang Feng had planned to showcase his skills.

During this period, the Jiang’s Ginseng Soup was simmering gently on the stove and didn’t require his attention. The sea cucumber and abalone soup had finally entered its last few hours of finishing touches, and it didn’t need Sun Maochai to keep constant watch, only occasionally adding some new ingredients.

There was even less to say about Wu Minqi and Sun Jikai–they didn’t have anything to do and just needed to sit by and watch.

Everyone was at leisure, everyone had plenty of time to engage in activities unrelated to the competition.

For instance, making some signature dishes that could excite the entire audience and also have some visual appeal.

“Qiqi, could you help me grab some ingredients? Old Sun, I remember there are squabs in the ingredient area; go get five whole squabs and debone them.” Jiang Feng had decided to start slacking off.

“You’re going to make Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, now?” Sun Jikai didn’t know Jiang Feng’s plan, and upon hearing that he was going to make Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon under these circumstances, he was so surprised that he forgot to manage his expression.

“We’re idle anyway, leave the five stoves for the porridge to you. Anyway, you’re familiar with all the previous steps, Old Sun. I’ll just be in charge of the final thickening.” Jiang Feng said with a smile.

Sun Jikai seemed to understand. Jiang Feng wanted to make Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, but he didn’t only want to make Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon.

“You’re not thinking of making something else on top of that, are you?” Sun Jikai now only worried that Jiang Feng, getting carried away with making other dishes, would neglect Jiang’s Ginseng Soup and botch it.

“I also want to make six portions of Sweet and Sour Yam.”

Sun Jikai breathed a sigh of relief, that was simple, not laborious, and would be done quickly.

“Five portions of chicken wrapped in leaves.”

Sun Jikai nodded, that was also simple and not too labor-intensive.

“Three portions of Shafu Roast Chicken.”

Sun Jikai: ???

Before Sun Jikai could speak, Jiang Feng continued.

“Two portions of glutinous rice lotus root, six portions of braised pork, five portions of chopped pepper fish head, ten portions of steamed eel, six portions of Yun Chicken, five portions of bi-colored shrimp, three portions of pigeon swallow nest, and if there’s still time, we’ll see if we need to make other dishes based on the situation.”

“Oh right, pick out three more squabs for me to process along with the others.”

Sun Jikai: ??????

Sun Jikai felt that he wasn’t just full of question marks on his face, but he himself was a question mark, with so very many questions.

He was sure Jiang Feng had gone mad.

What for? Was it necessary? What about the competition? Some respect, please?!

Although Sun Jikai thought that Jiang Feng was most likely mad, considering that Jiang Feng was now ranked sixth on the Famous Chef Record, even higher than Sun Maochai, Sun Jikai chose to stay silent and went with Wu Minqi to the ingredient area to pick out squabs.

“I think you should persuade Jiang Feng. Even if he’s confident now, he shouldn’t… make so many dishes.” Sun Jikai felt he still had to say a few words.

With five hours left until the end of the competition, under normal circumstances, the evening shift from preparing ingredients to the end takes five hours. Making these dishes would certainly be more than enough.

But that doesn’t mean it’s reasonable to make these dishes at a serious culinary competition final.

It’s simply too unreasonable, too arrogant, too inflated, more arrogant than all of Chef Arno’s appearances on variety shows combined!

“I believe in Fengfeng,” Wu Minqi said, heading towards the vegetable area to pick out the vegetables Jiang Feng had just listed.

Sun Jikai had no choice but to go pick out squabs.

“You really want to make that many dishes?” Sun Maochai didn’t oppose the idea, since he saw from the last simulation yesterday that Jiang Feng would certainly have more than enough time to make Jiang’s Ginseng Soup and Jade and White Cabbage in 12 hours; he just felt it was unnecessary.

If Chef Arno did something to show off his skills like this, he might not be surprised, but Jiang Feng’s usual demeanor had given him the impression that Jiang Feng wasn’t the type to show off his culinary skills on such an occasion.

“From time to time I want to do something extravagant,” Jiang Feng chuckled, “especially on such an important occasion.”

After all, at a previous similar occasion, he had grabbed the microphone and shouted “Wu Minqi, I like you” in front of everyone.

It was because the judges at the time had pressured them.

Wait, the judges.

Jiang Feng looked towards the judges’ seats and, sure enough, all four judges were propping up their heads, staring boredly at the stage. Xu Cheng was the first to notice Jiang Feng looking at them and locked eyes with him, his gaze filled with grievance and hunger.

During the meal distribution earlier, the staff hadn’t served the judges but had given each judge a boxed lunch during the lunchtime slot. However, the cheap boxed lunches prepared by the program team paled in comparison to the congee from Taifeng Building and the garlic bread from the top-floor restaurant. The four judges had reluctantly and listlessly nibbled at their boxed lunches, eating hardly a few bites.

By this point in the competition, all four of them were weak, pitiful, helpless, hungry, and still wanting to eat.

Heaven knows how much Xu Cheng wanted to stop the staff and have a taste first when he saw Jiang Feng asking the staff to serve the Phoenix Egg to the friends and family section.

He really wanted to eat something, even the noodles that Jiang Feng had sauteed before.

Jiang Feng gave Xu Cheng a knowing look, indicating that the next dish would definitely include a bite for him. After double-checking that Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup was fine and could be left unattended for a long time, he went to the ingredient area to select the main ingredients.

Some ingredients could be processed by Wu Minqi and Sun Jikai on his behalf, but it was best to handle some ingredients himself.

The three from Taifeng Building all headed to the ingredient area, which didn’t catch the commentator’s attention.

This commentator thought he had seen through the chefs of Taifeng Building; they were all bluffing. Heading to the ingredient area now must mean they hadn’t been satisfied by their meal and wanted to make something for themselves to eat–he would not be fooled.

Soon the commentator realized he was wrong.

With Sun Jikai, Wu Minqi, and Sun Maochai all working together to prep ingredients for Jiang Feng, the speed of serving dishes was incredibly fast.

The first batch consisted of six servings of Sweet and Sour Yam.

Using the method of deep-frying sugar in oil to make six servings of Sweet and Sour Yam, one pot after another without stopping, not only was it fast and efficient, but it also showcased great culinary skill.

In other words, it was extremely entertaining to watch.

Even if the entire audience was laymen who didn’t understand, they could still tell that this technique was cool and completely different from the usual method of making Sweet and Sour dishes.

Especially when one plate of Sweet and Sour Yam was served to the judges, and the remaining five plates were served to the audience, starting from the last row and moving forward, the entire audience was almost boiling over with excitement. Many of them stood up, inhaling deeply in their excitement, and some even couldn’t help but let out soft cheers.

They were close to applauding.

All the eyes of the audience in the front rows were following the steaming Sweet and Sour Yam in the hands of the staff, looking backward in unison, craning their necks as if the stage was at the back.

The first audience member in the back row to receive the Sweet and Sour Yam was almost moved to tears; he hadn’t expected that such a poor seat would give him the chance to first taste the freshly made, hot Sweet and Sour Yam.

He was so touched that if the audience in the competition were not just for show and could vote, he would have given Jiang Feng all his votes on the spot.

This lucky audience member stood up.

With disposable chopsticks leftover from eating the boxed lunch at noon, his excited and shaking hands grasped a steaming hot piece of Sweet and Sour Yam, pulling it away vigorously.

The long sugar strands, glistening and shining under the lights, were mesmerizing.

The most dazzling element was the small piece held by his chopsticks, the pale yellow yam still steaming a warm mist.

In that moment, the piece of yam became the center of attention for the whole scene. The cameraman even gave it a close-up.

Just as the staff was about to bring this lucky audience member some cold water, he couldn’t wait any longer and stuffed the scorching yam into his mouth, almost bouncing off his seat from the burn. Despite that, he stubbornly chewed and swallowed it down, with an expression of pain and happiness.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, including the second lucky audience member in front of him holding a plate of Sweet and Sour Yam, the lucky audience member at the back row let out a deeply emotional, vigorous, and very loud exclamation, “Delicious!”

“It’s so delicious!”

“Just a bit hot.”

“Why don’t they start serving from the first row!” Jiang Jiankang looked eagerly behind him, his voice filled with longing, even though he couldn’t see the dishes clearly at all.

Even without a reminder from the staff, this lucky audience member quickly passed the Sweet and Sour Yam in his hand to the person next to him.

With so many people in the audience, the fact that he got to taste a piece was already incredibly lucky; he couldn’t be greedy.

Once they got the answer they wanted, all the viewers who were turned around focused back on the stage, staring intently and with longing.

Jiang Feng was still cooking.

Not only was he cooking, but he was also doing it very quickly.

After presenting each dish, he would glance at the Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup to ensure there were no issues before returning to the stove to continue cooking.

Chicken in a bun, glutinous rice with lotus root, braised pork, chopped chili fish head, steamed green eel…

Jiang Feng followed the sequence he had previously mentioned, cooking dish after dish at a speed that left people astonished.

The quality was also astonishingly high.

The staff began serving from the back row, moving forward, and the audience members cooperatively took one bite of each dish before passing it on, allowing each dish to make its way down the rows.

The commentator was dumbstruck; for a long time, he even forgot to commentate and just remembered to swallow his saliva.

The online audience could only see the picture, but he was on-site, able to both see and smell the aromas.

The online viewers watching the livestream were also dumbstruck.

Those who had just woken up on the other side of the ocean to watch the live broadcast were completely stupefied.

They had never seen a food competition like this–a competition that didn’t feel like a food competition, yet was unexpectedly captivating.

Super captivating!

Not only was the cooking captivating, it was incredibly so; even watching the live audience eat was captivating. Not only did it look good, but it also made them feel hungry.

Many viewers salivated while watching and instinctively opened their takeout apps, only to find that the damned app only had options for braised pork and chopped chili fish head, with the latter being exorbitantly expensive.

No matter how expensive, they had to order; no matter how poor, one must not skimp on food; no matter how tough life gets, one must not deprive the taste buds.

The Phoenix Egg was one of the last batches to leave the kitchen.

Due to the bird’s nest needing time to soak, the Phoenix Egg was served much later than the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, with just over 40 minutes left until the end of the competition.

There were only three portions.

Jiang Feng no longer had time to cook other dishes.

This was the last batch of his non-mainstream dishes.

Next door, Chef Arno’s two dishes were almost ready; one was a stew made from a soup he had carefully cooked for ten hours, and the other, made from ingredients indiscernible from the soup remnants that had been stewed to bits.

One soup used two ways, a rarity indeed.

The last three servings of pigeon swallow, Jiang Feng didn’t distribute to the audience like the previous dishes, instead, two servings were sent to the judges by the staff and one was left for Wu Minqi to eat.

“Qiqi, I remember you haven’t tasted my pigeon swallow yet, have a try,” Jiang Feng handed the pigeon swallow to Wu Minqi and glanced back at the screen to check the time, realizing it was time to keep a close eye on Jiang’s Ginseng Soup to avoid missing the perfect moment for thickening the sauce.

“Master Sun, Sun Jikai, would you like to eat?” Wu Minqi turned her head to ask the two.

Both shook their heads, indicating their disinterest in the pigeon swallow flavored like dog food.

Wu Minqi could only enjoy this luxurious pigeon swallow alone.

“Look at how considerate our Feng is, even the last dish he didn’t forget to let our Qiqi have it,” Mrs. Wu said with a smile that couldn’t be suppressed.

“Humph,” Wu Hanxue snorted with insufficient confidence, “All these things are just flashy nonsense.”

“Wasn’t the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon delicious?” Mrs. Wu gave Wu Hanxue a sharp glance.

Wu Hanxue immediately fell silent.

Though the first three rows of relatives and friends hadn’t tasted the S+ Level Sweet and Sour Yam, they got to eat what was theoretically the most valuable dish from this batch, the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon. Even though each person only had one bite, compared to the difficulty of reserving it days in advance with no guarantee of availability, this bite was already quite a steal.

This was enough to earn Jiang Feng high praise from those who were not familiar with him.

Like Mr. Lu.

Like Grandma Ji Xia.

Mr. Lu’s decision to watch the competition was spur-of-the-moment. During the boring first few hours, he even regretted coming, but the half of the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon he tasted in the latter half made him feel extraordinarily fortunate and even somewhat inexplicably proud.

Only today did he begin to understand why his grandfather considered owning Taifeng Building to be the highlight of his life.

“Taifeng Building is indeed extraordinary,” Mr. Lu sincerely exclaimed.

“Yes,” Lu Sheng, as the owner of Yonghe House, nodded in agreement without any hesitation, “It’s truly remarkable.”

Ji Xue, Ji Xia, and their grandmother sat in the best seats in the middle of the third row. Ji Xia and Ji Xue had been telling their grandmother plenty of praiseworthy stories about Jiang Feng these past days, yet their storytelling couldn’t compare to the reality, shock, and persuasiveness of today’s few dishes.

“Xiaxia, your master is really an outstanding person,” Grandma Ji Xia remarked as she looked at Jiang Feng on stage.

Ji Xia nodded vigorously in agreement, “Master is super amazing, everything he cooks is delicious!”

“So Xiaxia also needs to become excellent to be worthy of your master,” Grandma Ji Xia said with a laugh as she touched the head of Ji Xia, who was somewhat puzzled at the moment.

On the other hand, Wu Minqi was tasting pigeon swallow.

Although the competition was nearing its end and everyone was in the midst of finalizing their most important closing tasks, it seemed a bit inappropriate for her to leisurely enjoy food. However, with delicacies before her, ingredients so rare, and most importantly, the pigeon swallow being a token of affection from her boyfriend, it would be wasteful not to eat. Wu Minqi had no choice but to continue eating untimely.

While eating, Wu Minqi suddenly became distracted.

She suddenly remembered some very blurry memories.

She recalled a time when she was very young, so young that she still needed to hold her mother’s hand while walking, so young that she used to wear two short pigtails high on her head, so young that it seemed like her earliest memory related to her mother taking her out to eat.

These were memories that had blurred almost to the point of being forgotten, memories that she had struggled to recall before.

Wu Minqi seemed to hear her mother’s voice in her memory.

“Qiqi, this spicy dumpling is for mommy to eat. You’re still too small, it’s very spicy, so you can only have one, okay?”

Memories began to fade, but the flavors became increasingly clear.

She finally knew what the taste was that she had been searching for.

Simple, common, ordinary–the unique taste that had made her experience and fall in love with spiciness for the first time.

Wu Minqi looked towards the audience, where Mrs. Wu and Wu Hanxue were also watching her.

Mrs. Wu smiled warmly at Wu Minqi, and Wu Hanxue also revealed a rare encouraging and affirmative smile.

Wu Minqi returned a radiant and happy smile.

“Qiqi seems very happy.” Mrs. Wu raised her phone to capture Wu Minqi’s smile.

“Mhm.” Wu Hanxue smiled and nodded.

Wu Minqi finished the Pigeon Swallowing Swallows.

There were only 20 minutes left in the competition.

Jiang Feng began to thicken the sauce for Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup.

He was well aware that this was the most crucial and important step for this dish for him, the preceding dozen or so hours were all for this moment, the moment when the sauce was poured to bestow the dish with its true soul.

He had succeeded many times before.

But he was still somewhat nervous.

He started.

Thickening the sauce.

The dish was ready.

[Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup S+ Level]
Jiang Feng breathed a long sigh of relief and couldn’t help but glance over at the neighboring cooking station.

Chef Arno’s progress was almost exactly like his, with the braised dish entering its final stage. Chef Arno had spent nearly 11 hours to make a pot of broth that was almost purely meat, yet the braised dish to accompany it was completely vegetarian.

Potatoes, carrots, Chinese cabbage, and a series of other common and unremarkable vegetables one might expect to find in a stew, incomprehensible.

Chef Arno’s second dish was as mysterious as Jiang Feng’s Golden and Jade Cabbage; to others, Jiang Feng’s second dish was currently just a pot of soup still warming on the stove, and they definitely wouldn’t guess that Jiang Feng was about to prepare fried cabbage.

For now, all that could be seen of Chef Arno’s second dish was the dregs left after straining the broth, giving no clue as to what could be made from these remains, even more baffling than the pot of braising vegetables on the stove.

Chef Arno made the first move.

He put the dregs into a pot and began to stir-fry intensely, on high heat, constantly tossing and stirring.

Jiang Feng also made a move.

He began to fry the cabbage.

A drawn-out cooking competition suddenly became thrilling in the last few minutes.

Nobody knew what they were preparing. The only two elderly people in the audience who did know what Jiang Feng was making were stunned. They knew what Jiang Feng was about to do, yet they couldn’t believe he was actually going to do it.

Jiang Feng began to pour the soup.

Chef Arno began to sprinkle spices.

Jiang Feng began to touch up the lard.

Chef Arno began to reduce the sauce.

The dish was ready.

Time was up, the competition ended.

Suddenly, an audience member started clapping, and like waking from a dream, the entire venue erupted into incredibly enthusiastic applause.

Mixed in was Wang Hao who was cheering as if he were a fish slipping through muddy waters.

“Feng is amazing!”

Four dishes were presented to the judges’ panel.

Completely different dishes, yet somehow similar.

The often overlooked four judges at the panel finally became the focus of the entire venue.

Everyone began to taste the dishes, each with a very serious expression, possibly deliberate, with the intention of not letting the audience discern their true thoughts. Each dish was tasted in only two bites, a mere sample; after tasting, they just nodded, rinsed their mouths, and then tasted the next dish.

The expressions of the four judges made everyone very anxious.

Especially when it came time to score, and not a single person made a move to write, which made everyone even more nervous.

The judges seemed to be in a quandary.

The audience became impatient.

On the contrary, the two main contestants, Jiang Feng and Chef Arno, appeared very calm.

Jiang Feng was certain of himself, as was Chef Arno.

The four judges were still hesitating, and the two judges from across the ocean with less influence began to cast pleading looks towards Peng Changping and Xu Cheng.

The two were also looking at each other, clearly hoping the other would make the decision.

Everyone was hesitating, to the point where the production crew began to get anxious and started gesturing to the judges to hurry up and give a result, as the broadcast time for American TV was almost up.

Although the viewership was still good, there really wasn’t enough time.

Suddenly, Chef Arno raised his hand.

The crew whispered instructions to him through his earpiece, turned on his microphone, and allowed his voice to be heard by the entire audience.

Chef Arno spoke in Chinese.

“I would like to taste Jiang Feng’s dishes.”

All four judges were taken aback, but it was Peng Changping who reacted first, nodding his head, indicating that Chef Arno could come forward to the judges’ table for a taste.

The camera quickly switched to Chef Arno.

Chef Arno walked up to the judges’ table, took a new pair of chopsticks from the crew, placed the spoon in an empty plate, and reached out with the chopsticks towards the Jade Cabbage.

One bite.

Two bites.

Chef Arno scooped up a spoonful of Jiang’s Ginseng Soup.

One bite.

Two bites.

Like the four judges, Chef Arno took two bites of each dish.

Then he took two bites of his own two dishes.

He fell silent.

Chef Arno’s silence had even Jiang Feng feeling puzzled on stage–could the quality of both their dishes be so close that no one could judge a winner?

After nearly a minute of silence, Chef Arno finally spoke, “I lost, you win.”

The crowd was astounded.

At that moment, in front of the TV screens across the ocean, who knows how many of Chef Arno’s die-hard fans were covering their mouths, holding their heads and yelling, “Oh, my God!”

“It’s hard to decide the winner based on the dishes, but I lost.”

Chef Arno looked towards Jiang Feng, “You are younger than me, and your dishes are on par with mine. I lost.”

Applause rose like a tide, wave after wave, lasting almost 40 seconds before it gradually subsided.

This applause was a congratulation to Jiang Feng for winning the match, and at the same time, a salute to Chef Arno’s gracious concession.

Although the result of this match, deserving to be called a duel of the century, was not announced by the judges, the fact that the opponent conceded defeat willingly seemed to be more convincing than the verdict of the four highly respected judges.

The production team had prepared a very attractive and exquisite championship trophy, gleaming brightly.

Taifeng Building had won, Jiang Feng had won.

Peng Changping, holding the trophy, walked to the center of the stage, to the front of the four people from Taifeng Building, to Jiang Feng.

Wu Minqi, Sun Jikai, and Sun Maochai all moved back in perfect unison, leaving this glorious moment to Jiang Feng.

Peng Changping handed out the trophy.

Jiang Feng took it.

A passing of hands.

One old, one young.

An exchange of the old and the new.

As if it was the inheritance of an era.