The cold noodles were cooked very quickly. The staff also delivered special trays to the judges and audience.
The judges looked at each other and started tasting.
The bullet screen comments in the live-stream could no longer be seen.
“Black screen! Strong protest!”
“Heh, there’s no need to look. Cold-Faced Lady is definitely the first. Anything else is fine.”
“From the looks of it, the judging panel will greatly appreciate the cold-faced lady’s taste. The chef will speak with emotion, and the host will advertise the cold-faced lady…”
“Sigh, it was a good competition. Everything was going well in the beginning, but it ended up like this.”
“Alright, alright. Stop advertising. Hurry up and skip to the next segment. I want to know which snacks are there in the rare local snacks.”
The viewers in the live-stream already thought that the judges were going to brag.
However, they had all guessed wrong, and it was a huge mistake!
The first judge took the microphone and began to evaluate the roasted cold noodles in front of him.
“All in all, I think booth number six’s cold noodles tasted the best.”
“Booth number six’s roasted cold noodles have traditional sweet and sour taste. Compared to other cold noodles with sour and sweet taste, its greatest characteristic is that the amount of seasoning used is very precise. It can be said to be just right.”
“Sweet and sour roasted cold noodles should have more vinegar instead of sugar. That’s because the high temperature of the iron plate would cause the vinegar to dissipate. At the same time, it would make the cold noodles taste even more flavorful. If you put too little, there would be no sour taste, only sweetness. The taste would completely change.”
“The amount of seasoning added must be matched with the timing on the ironing board. Otherwise, the texture and taste of the cold noodles would be different. Therefore, to me, the taste of the roasted cold noodles from booth number six is the best.”
“As for booth number one’s cold noodles, which is Cold-Faced Lady’s cold noodles, I think there is a problem with the amount of seasoning used: there is too little vinegar. I guess that they did not take into account the high temperature of the iron plate and affected the taste of cold noodles.”
Immediately after, the second judge started speaking.
“I agree with the first judge. The cold noodles served by booth number six is indeed very good, but I think booth number three’s cold noodles taste better.”
“I specially observed the cooking process of all the vendors. Everyone was spraying water on the surface of the noodles while roasting the cold noodles. That’s right. That’s because the right amount of water can make the skin soft and tough. The texture would be better. The timing and volume of the water being sprayed on by booth number three’s vendor is just right. Therefore, booth number three’s roasted cold noodles is the best in terms of texture.”
“As for the Cold-Faced Lady’s roasted cold noodles, I don’t think it’s very bad in terms of texture, but it’s not outstanding either. It gives people the feeling that it’s just average and doesn’t have any obvious memorable characteristics.”
The judges commented one by one.
What surprised the audience in the live-stream was that the “awkward bragging” that everyone had expected did not happen.
These judges’ comments highlighted one point. They were nitpicking and did not show any mercy!
Many viewers only realized that there were so many tricks behind the simple roasted cold noodles after hearing the judges’ comments.
The temperature, heat, the amount of water sprayed during the process, the amount of condiments… Any slight deviation would affect the final product’s taste.
According to the judges, the Cold-Faced Lady’s roasted cold noodles was obviously not done to the extreme. Compared to these experts who roasted the cold noodles, it immediately paled in comparison.
This undoubtedly answered the question that had been debated online: Was the roasted cold noodles served by the cold-faced lady actually delicious?
The answer was that it was not awful, if it was compared to the roasted cold noodles at roadside stalls which had a huge change in taste, it might indeed be more delicious. However, it was not as delicious as Meng Chang made it out to be. It was still worlds apart from the realm of the so-called God of Roasted Cold Noodles.
In the end, Cold-Faced Lady’s roasted cold noodles did not perform well in the selection. Her overall score was almost at the bottom.
Objectively speaking, this result was rather bad. Cold-Faced Lady’s roasted cold noodles did not taste that bad. The main reason was that everyone of the judges singled out the Cold-Faced Lady to criticize. This had a certain impact on the audience and caused Cold-Faced Lady’s rating to be very low.
The host felt a little awkward and looked at Qi Yan.
According to the original process, there would be an interview with the Cold-Faced Lady Chef after the results were out. They would briefly praise the Cold-Faced Lady’s unique cooking method and publicize it.
In the end, the script had completely changed. The Cold-Faced Lady’s rating was at the bottom. How could they interview her?
Wouldn’t it become public flogging if they were to interview them now?
Qi Yan quickly waved her hand, gesturing for the host to skip this segment and continue walking.
The host was quick-witted. He immediately understood and entered the next stage of the rare local snacks.
Compared to the previous teams, the unpopular snack teams looked rather strange. They were all very rare street snacks.
Take the Whirlwind Potato for example. Its raw material was an entire potato. It was cut into a spiral-shaped thin slice with special knife skills. After being strung together with bamboo skewers, it could be lengthened to 30 centimeters without snapping. It could be eaten after being fried in the oil pan and sprinkled with sauce. It looked very good.
Another example would be fried bananas. They would be wrapped with flour or bread dough outside the bananas. They would be golden in color, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was very delicious.
Apart from that, there was also fried yogurt, rice wrapped in chicken wings, and seaweed rice cake. All of them were unique.
There were naturally no unified rules since they were rating different types of food. The scoring depended on the taste of the judges and audiences.
…
The live-stream had already entered the next stage, but the bullet screen comments were still discussing the roasted cold noodles.
“Huh? I guessed it wrong?”
“Isn’t this an advertisement for the Cold-Faced Lady? In the end, not only did they not advertise, they were actually criticized?”
“Am I seeing things? This is a competition organized by Cold-Faced Lady, right!”
“They spent money to organize a competition to scold themselves? That’s too awesome!”
“What the hell is going on? I’m going crazy…”
The viewers were all dumbfounded. They did not understand what kind of script this was.
Why did Cold-Faced Lady organize this food competition?
It would have been acceptable if they had wanted to advertise their roasted cold noodles. However, not only did they not do any advertisement, they even criticized their own store!
It did not conform to common sense or logic because Cold-Faced Lady needed not have done something like that.
There was a huge difference between good food and bad food, but most of the audience were in front of the screen and could not eat or taste it. Delicious or not actually depended on the judges’ tastes, right?
They could have made it not so obvious and gave the Cold-Faced Lady a second or third place and pick a few inconsequential problems to ensure the fairness of the competition.
Was there a need to be so strict?
Some people who had eaten Cold-Faced Lady before even felt that the rating was too low. Cold-Faced Lady might not be as delicious as Meng Chang bragged, but it was better than a roadside stall!
All of a sudden, the viewers in the live-stream room fell into a daze. They were all discussing the reason behind the Cold-Faced Lady’s actions. No one was paying attention to the competition of the rare local snacks.
…
The food competition finally came to an end at 7PM.
After the selection of the rare local snacks, it was time for the final round of reviews.
The officials ranked all participating vendors according to their ratings and awarded prizes and bonuses to the winners.
Cold-Faced Lady’s Roasted Cold-Faced Noodles was not selected without a doubt. It was at the bottom in the Roasted Cold-Faced Team. There was no chance at all in the overall review.
The winners were elated. They took the trophies and prizes from the staff and proudly waved at the camera.
The other vendors who did not win the prize were also applauding and giving their blessings. The entire Street Food Contest ended after an afternoon of intense competition.
Qi Yan heaved a long sigh. The event was finally done no matter what!
As long as nothing went wrong.
She still had to organize these videos and get someone to edit them and upload them to Aili Island and other video websites to achieve a secondary effect.
However, Qi Yan was as confused as the audience.
Why was Boss Pei doing this?
Wouldn’t it make things worse for Cold-Faced Lady if the judges criticized it for tasting bad?
Chapter 825 - Boss Pei’s Way Of Getting Out Of This Situation!
Pei Qian turned off the live-stream and finally relaxed on the other side.
He was no longer in the office. Instead, he came to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and used his cell phone to watch the last segment of the food competition.
That was because the company had already knocked off before the competition was over.
Pei Qian had repeatedly ordered his employees not to work overtime. Of course, he could not break the rules himself. Thus, he chased them out of work on time and left with his employees.
When he arrived at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, he ordered dinner and watched the end of the Street Food Contest while eating.
The end result of the Street Food Contest was in line with Pei Qian’s expectations.
This event cost a lot of money. They hired famous food vendors from all over the country, booked the entire restaurant in luxurious hotels, and spent money on food and photography.
The event itself did not bring Tengda any popularity. The Cold-Faced Lady might have appeared but it was harshly criticized by the judges until it was worthless. It had achieved a negative advertising effect.
It was obvious that the Cold-Faced Lady brand would only get worse.
The most important thing in the food and beverage industry was returning customers. The key to retaining them was their taste and reputation.
The taste that had been praised to the skies had been beaten back to its original state now that the Cold-Faced Lady’s reputation had collapsed. Not many people would go to the Cold-Faced Lady’s shop to eat. Thus, the money needed to maintain the normal operations of the shop would be wasted.
Pei Qian had an even bolder imagination.
If the Cold-Faced Lady continued to be in such a dead state and did not make any profit, Pei Qian could try to advertise and spend more money.
Advertisements cost much more than normal operations!
Of course, the prerequisite was that the Cold-Faced Lady was completely dead so that they could not save it no matter how much they advertised.
He could not rush things now. He had to wait and see.
Pei Qian was in a good mood at that thought. Even the food in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe tasted better.
…
Qi Yan received a message from her colleagues not long after she returned home from her work at night.
“The video for today’s competition has been edited and uploaded.”
Qi Yan replied immediately. “Yes, you’ve worked hard. Have a good rest.”
This video had to be edited properly according to Meng Chang’s original plan. It had to be done according to the standards of a variety show and with various special effects. It had to ensure the effect of the show.
However, Meng Chang’s plan no longer counted.
Qi Yan called He Desheng to ask for instructions. He Desheng said that they did not have to take the video too seriously. They could just edit it and post it online.
Thus, Qi Yan’s colleagues started editing after the event ended. They did not add any special effects and uploaded it directly onto the internet.
The video was just approved when Qi Yan arrived home.
She took a look. This video was just as she had expected. There were not many viewers.
Qi Yan could not be bothered with these things anymore. After all, the Street Food Contest would end here in her opinion. There would not be any follow-up.
This video would most likely be buried in the ocean of the Internet like most videos online.
Of course,they could spend as much money as they wanted on the home page, but that did not seem necessary.
Even though the competition today was considered successful, Qi Yan could not understand the meaning of this method at all. She could not help but doubt her future career path in the Cold-Faced Lady.
At that moment, she received another message from another colleague.
“Sister Qi, there seem to be many people discussing this competition online. There are even people analyzing the deeper meaning behind this competition!”
Qi Yan looked confused as she read the message. A question mark floated above her head.
It was understandable to discuss this competition, but what was the deeper meaning behind this competition?
This food stall competition was originally just to promote Cold-Faced Lady’s marketing activities. What deeper meaning could there be?
Qi Yan searched online and quickly found the contents of the netizens’ discussions with these doubts.
The Cold-Faced Lady brand might be no longer popular but there were still many discussions online.
After all, Cold-Faced Lady had advertised on the entire internet when she was the most popular as the representative of the internet celebrity food and beverage brand. All sorts of strange marketing activities had left a deep impression on netizens.
Subsequently, netizens began to discuss whether ‘Cold-Faced Lady’ was a new business model or a scam. It was only until the Cold-Faced Lady closed down that this discussion gradually came to an end.
Therefore, many netizens would still participate in the discussion once news related to the Cold-Faced Lady appeared online.
This time, netizens were discussing the problem of “where would the cold-faced lady from Meng Chang’s era go”. The Street Food Contest was a fuse.
The article that had been forwarded and discussed the most was an article titled ‘The Breaking and Rebuilding of the Cold-Faced Lady’s Reputation Through The Street Food Contest”.
This article had only been published for less than an hour, but it already had tens of thousands of views and hundreds of comments. What’s more, it was still rapidly increasing.
Qi Yan took a look and felt that this author’s name was very familiar. She flipped through his previous article and realized that this was actually the author who wrote “Cold-Faced Lady’s so-called internet thinking is nothing but an act”!
The previous article was written before the Cold-Faced Lady closed down. It was a perfect last hit.
The words “Meng Chang is like a child sitting in the passenger seat of a car, posing as if he was driving, thinking that he was in control of the direction of the car and collecting money from the passengers as the driver. However, in fact, whether it was the car or the roa
d, they were not in his control.” It could be said to be a killing blow to the cold-faced lady’s heart at that time.
At that time, Qi Yan had read the article and was very impressed by the author.
At that time, Cold-Faced Lady looked like she was doing well, but there was already an undercurrent.
It definitely had many problems, but not everyone could see them clearly.
Not only could the author of this article see the root of the Cold-Faced Lady’s problem, but he could also use such easy-to-understand terms and apt analogy to convey these contents to others. He was definitely an expert.
This time, he actually wrote another article about the Cold-Faced Lady.
What would the article say this time?
The cold-faced lady was already dead. If this author was only announcing his foresight and adding insult to injury, there was no need for this article.
Confused, Qi Yan clicked on the article.
“The Cold-Faced Lady went bankrupt just like the author predicted. It’s said that Meng Chang became an executioner with millions of debt on his back. His whereabouts are still unknown. All of this proves the foresight of the author. It also proves that Meng Chang’s emphasis on ‘Internet thinking’ and ‘following the trend of the times’ are just beautiful words. They can deceive investors but they can’t deceive the business rules.”
“Many people say that the Cold-Faced Lady is done for. There is no possibility of her turning the tables. I thought so before today. However, after collecting some industry information and seeing today’s Street Food Contest, I changed my mind.”
“It’s said that Tengda Corporation has already acquired 70% of the Cold-Faced Lady’s shares and obtained absolute control. While I’m not sure what aspect Boss Pei has taken a liking to the Cold-Faced Lady, I’m 100% sure that Boss Pei has found a way to break out of the ‘post-Meng Chang-era Cold-Faced Lady’. This Street Food Contest is just the beginning!”
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 552