One could tell that it was very down-to-earth just by looking at the name.
Of course, apart from these common local snacks, there was also a special ‘unpopular snack group’. Some of the rare local snacks competed with each other.
In fact, when it came to local food, stinky tofu should have a name. However, considering that the competition venue was a closed area the smell would not be easy to dissipate, the organizers rejected the few outstanding vendors of stinky tofu with tears in their eyes in order to ensure that the local food competition would proceed smoothly.
The ingredients for these snacks had been selected in advance, and the vendor could choose them based on his own needs and habits. The difference in taste of the final product was mainly in cooking skills and fire control.
Of course, as long as it was a selection, it was impossible to be 100% objective and fair. After all, everyone’s taste and preferences were different.
However, the way the judges and audience gave marks together ensured the fairness of the competition to the maximum. In the end, the food that was selected would definitely be more suited to the general taste.
The camera turned to the vendor after the host introduced the rules and judges of the competition.
Each vendor could make a simple self-introduction of about twenty to thirty words.
All of a sudden, various dialects across the country began to chime in, one after another. The effect of the program was explosive.
This was a luxurious hotel in Beijing. There was a red carpet on the floor, and even the tables and chairs looked luxurious.
The vendors who came were all dressed in formal chef uniforms and wearing tall chef hats. They looked very formal, but their images were ruined when they opened their mouths.
It was quite difficult on the two hosts as well. They would have laughed out loud if not for their professionalism.
This competition exuded a sense of absurdity from head to toe. There was also a hint of magical reality.
The vendors were finally done introducing themselves.
The competition officially began.
The vendors got into their positions. Once the host gave the order, the timer on the screen started ticking!
The stall owners were very skilled. They scooped a spoonful of mixed grain flour and poured it onto the pancake maker. Then, they pushed it in a circle with a wooden spatula. After the skin changed color slightly, they cracked an egg on it…
This step was not complicated. Almost everyone present had seen it many times, but the methods of these vendors were slightly different. The amount of seasoning, the heat of the pancakes, and so on were all different.
The audience waited patiently as they watched the stall owners perform.
For some reason, the atmosphere became tense.
Chapter 823 - : Pancakes Selection
At the same time, in Jingzhou…
Pei Qian was in his office as well. He read the various department’s work reports from time to time while watching the Street Food Contest live-stream.
The first group was the pancake group. The vendors were progressing differently. Some of them had just finished flipping the dough, while others had already started sprinkling bits and pieces of green onions on it. While everyone was very skilled, there would still be a difference.
“I’m actually watching the live-stream of making pancakes. I feel like this scene is a little ridiculous.”
Pei Qian could not help but complain.
The audience slowly increased, and the bullet screen comments became denser as he watched the situation in the live-stream.
“What the hell is this! A group of people dressed so formally, and yet they’re selling pancakes?”
“There are actually judges for pancakes? That’s too magical!”
“The world is huge, there are all sorts of strange things! This is actually a Street Food Contest? Will there be spicy hotpot, scallion pancakes, and fried chicken?”
“The organizer is the Cold-Faced Lady? Is this a publicity stunt? Hey, wait, isn’t Cold-Faced Lady already dead?”
“Rumor has it that Tengda has taken over? I wonder if it’s true.”
There were more and more people in the live-stream.
The live-stream of the Street Food Contest did not have a particularly good recommendation spot, but there would naturally be a lot of traffic after it was hung in the living area. It greatly aroused the interest of netizens, be it the title of the Street Food Contest or the content of the live-stream, making them unable to leave after entering.
This was too interesting. He had never seen it before!
Someone discovered that the account in the live-stream was “Cold-Faced Lady”. This was an account that Meng Chang had specially registered to promote Cold-Faced Lady previously.
Many people did not continue to pay attention to the follow-up of the Cold-Faced Lady. What’s more, Pei Qian did not deliberately flaunt this matter. Thus, most people did not know that the Cold-Faced Lady had already been taken over by Tengda. They were still puzzled. Didn’t they say that the Cold-Faced Lady was already bankrupt? How could they still have the money to organize such a competition?
However, most of the audience did not think too much about this since their attention was quickly attracted by the delicious pancakes.
This time, the cameraman was also specially hired. There were several cameras that switched back and forth. Some were in charge of filming the expressions of the judges, some were in charge of filming the movements of the vendors from a distance, and some were filming the appearance of the pancakes at close range.
One by one, golden pancakes were laid out. Some were wrapped in thick sticks, while others were thin and crispy. The golden outer layer also had brown crispy skin, black sesame seeds, and light green onions. It looked very tempting.
A row of staff carried a tray to the pancake stand. This tray was specially made with many small compartments. Each compartment corresponded to a vendor’s serial number.
The vendor cut the pancake into many small pieces, placed a piece on each staff’s tray, and placed it on the corresponding small slot.
After the staff walked around, the trays were filled with all the vendors’ pancakes. They were brought directly to the judges and audience for them to taste.
Of course, the vendors had to continue to make pancakes to ensure that every audience could taste it because there were more people in the venue.
The first to taste it was naturally the judge specially invited by the program.
The judges had chopsticks and other cutlery in their hands. They picked up a piece of pancake and put it into their mouths, tasting and chewing carefully. They recorded the flavors of the corresponding pancake in a small notebook beside them, took a sip of mineral water to remove the taste in their mouths, and then continued to taste the next one.
When the judges were almost done, the host handed the microphone to each judge and asked them to express their opinions.
At that moment, the audience was still tasting the pancakes.
The judges evaluated while the audience tasted. It could be used for explanation to a certain extent.
Of course, if the audience felt that the judge was wrong, they could also stick to their own views.
The judges and audiences could be very subjective when tasting the pancakes. They could only judge the pancakes they thought were delicious and not comment on the other pancakes. They could even decide which one to eat based on the looks of the pancakes.
That was because reviews of delicacies were subjective to begin with. Delicacies were also particular about appearance, fragrance, and taste. If they did not look good, there was a high chance that they would not be liked.
There was no choice. After all, this was a world where looks mattered.
In short, the rules were fair. They had to depend on their own ability to emerge from the competition.
The judges knew what to do and began to speak after tastin
g it.
“I think booth number three pancake is very good. The skin is crispy, and a bite of it leaves a fragrance. The cooking method is closer to the traditional method, but there are some personal innovations in it.”
“I think No. 7 is not bad. It’s mainly because the sauce and various ingredients for the side dishes are very particular. However, the sauce was not overbearing, it would allow one to taste the mixed grain noodles to the greatest extent. It would give people a refreshing feeling. At the same time, it would fit the dietary habits of modern people who need low calories…”
The judges began to express their opinions and judge the pancakes from different angles.
If a certain stall owner’s pancake received good reviews from the judges, the emcee would interview the stall owner and ask him to briefly introduce the unique methods and secrets of his pancake. It would be considered as a further attempt to pull votes for himself.
In the end, the judges and audience would press the voting machine and vote for their favorite pancakes. The summarized scores in the backstage would automatically show the results according to the weighted rules, and the best pancakes would be selected based on the scores from high to low.
…
Pei Qian subconsciously gulped as he watched the live-stream.
It actually looked quite tempting!
The photographer took close-up shots of the pancakes, and the sound of the pancakes making sizzling sounds was very appetizing.
The number of viewers in the live-stream increased.
“Holy sh*t, it looks so delicious! Am I hallucinating?”
“It’s quite formal. Luxury hotels, uniform chef uniforms, judges’ comments… These should all cause some psychological hints.”
“Psychological hints are definitely only one aspect. However, these vendors’ skills are definitely not bad! I might not be able to eat them but look at their method of making pancakes. The color and texture of the pancakes are definitely not bad!”
“Of course, this Food Competition selects the most outstanding vendors from all over the country. They are all slightly famous locally. There might even be those popular snacks that can only be eaten after queuing for a long time. How can their skills be bad?”
“I’m so envious, I really want to eat it!”
Most of the viewers in the live-stream had only entered because they were curious: they were all food from roadside stalls selling things like pancakes. How could they let the judges decide?
However, many viewers were already treating it as a proper food program. They were even eager to try it and even wanted to order a pancake to try.
Of course, it was useless to think about it. After all, the pancakes that most people could order would definitely taste far worse than those on television.
The number of viewers in the live-stream began to increase rapidly, and the bullet screen comments became even denser!
The living area was originally an area on the live-stream platform to show what was popular now. Food was also the eternal topic of people’s attention.
The Street Food Contest was not only interesting but also down-to-earth and professional. It was also a food program in the living area, so it quickly attracted a large number of viewers!
It might be Monday afternoon, and the entire website was slightly more deserted but this meant that there were not many major streamers and not much high-quality content.
The officials soon noticed this as well. Seeing that the Street Food Contest was so effective, they immediately transferred a lot of resources to the front page!
“…I didn’t notice it for a while. Why is it so popular?!”
Pei Qian looked around casually. He had just flipped through the work reports of the various departments. When he returned, he saw that the number of people in the live-stream had doubled!
The popularity of the live-streaming platform was increasing. Obviously, the official platform was pushing for resources.
Pei Qian could not help but feel shocked. “There are so many people watching Monday afternoon? Don’t you guys have to work?”
“Or are they all secretly watching it at work?”
“They’re all talents! It’s a pity that I can’t contact them and recruit them to Tengda.”
Pei Qian instinctively panicked. No matter what it was, as long as it had something to do with popularity, nothing good would come of it.
However, on further thought, Pei Qian thought that it would be best if the Competition did not become popular. However, even if it did, it would not affect him much, right?
Pei Qian had already informed the judges not to brag about the Cold-Faced Lady and not direct consumers to the stall to spend money there.
Even if there was popularity, it would dissipate after the competition ended. What was there to worry about?
After some thought, Pei Qian decided that there was no need for him to worry. Thus, he continued reading.
…
After the competition for the pancake group ended, it was time for the competition for the scallion pancakes, grilled squid, and roasted gluten.
The judging process was exactly the same. No one knew the final results. It all depended on the judges and audience’s taste.
However, they could still make a difference although they were simple and common roadside snacks.
After all, there was a saying that one should not use one’s hobbies to challenge the profession that others relied on for a living.
There were so many small vendors in the country. All of them woke up early and worked till late at night to sell snacks to make money. They would make hundreds or thousands of servings everyday. Those which did not taste good would have been eliminated long ago.
The participants this time were all famous vendors from all over the country. They were one in a hundred, and each of them had their own unique skills.
In other words, it was nothing but hands-on familiarity.
The competition took a long time because it was divided into many groups. All the audience had to eat it. Coupled with the judges’ comments and the stall owner’s self-reports, the time quickly passed.
From 2 PM all the way till 6 PM.
It was almost time for dinner and many people had already knocked off. The live-stream for the Street Food Contest had also reached a peak!
The bullet screen was almost filled with bullet screen comments.
Next was the selection of the Roasted Cold Noodles Group, followed by the selection of the rare local snacks, and finally the overall review.
The overall review segment was to compare the ratings of the different types of snacks and find the top few rankings of the different types of snacks to help the vendors win trophies and prizes.
The audience who were still in the live-stream were basically waiting for the overall review segment to see which stall owner would be the last to laugh.
Chapter 824 - The Spectator Mistook the Script
Meng Chang was the one who arranged for the ratings of the cold noodles to be placed in the second last segment with a selfish intent.
The only reason Meng Chang organized this Street Food Contest was to market Cold-Faced Lady.
Putting the ratings of the cold noodles at the back would leave a deeper impression on the audience. However, it would not be appropriate to place it at the end. That would be too obvious.
Putting it in the second-to-last order with the last to appear as rare local snacks. That would ensure that the audience would not be too disgusted and would have a deep impression of the cold-faced lady. At the same time, the judges would brag about the cold-faced lady’s roasted noodles. Compared to other cold noodles, it would strengthen the impression that the cold-faced lady’s roasted cold noodles had the best taste.
That was all tricks.
However, Boss Pei had already seen through Meng Chang’s trick. The ratings for the cold noodles would definitely not develop like the script he had written.
Soon, the stall owner
s of the Cold-Faced Noodles were ready, what was different this time was that the chef of the Cold-Faced Lady was also cooking on the spot and competing with the other stall owners.
The camera panned to the Cold-Faced Lady’s chef. The audience in the live-stream instantly rebelled.
“Holy sh*t! I was caught off guard!”
“This is an advertisement for Cold-Faced Lady! I’ve been f*cking watching it for hours!”
“So you were waiting here. I was wondering why the Cold-Faced Lady had nothing better to do than organize this competition. It was to advertise for herself…”
Many viewers realized what was going on the moment they saw the Cold-Faced Lady participating in the competition.
It turned out that there were so many food stalls set up just to serve as a contrast for the cold-faced lady!
Many viewers felt disappointed and left the live-stream.
The key to this competition was fairness and justice.
It would be too disgusting if they squeezed out the most outstanding competitors in the end.
Many viewers had already foreseen the upcoming script. They felt that it would be meaningless to continue watching, so they all left.
In fact, according to Meng Chang’s original plan, as long as the program was recorded and edited, the audience would not be so disgusted.
However, the situation was completely different now that it was live-streamed.
The number of people in the room dropped by thousands in an instant when Pei Qian saw the Cold-Faced Lady appear. What’s more, it continued to drop. He could not help but be overjoyed.
Great!
At first, he had been worried because the room was too popular. Now, everyone has left!
The competition continued.
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