by Catofdreams
No one dared to refuse Xue Yan, so everyone followed her. They made their way to their vehicles and followed Xue Yan, who was also driving since she felt that she had to be considerate towards the mortal members of the group. After all, she was about to give them a difficult task.
They drove for a while and finally reached the supermarket. Everyone parked their cars and followed Xue Yan, who went inside.
"Now, for the first event! This Venerable One knows that you two want to know who's above who, right?", Xue Yan asked both Mao Cheng and Hao Liuxian, who both nodded in response. This was the event that would settle everything, so they knew that they had to give it their all.
"Okay! Whoever wins this will become the vice president of the Lang Jie Fanclub, so you better do your best!", Xue Yan told them. Everyone became tense as they realized that the event held a heavy weight. This was something that decided whose commands they were going to follow, and they definitely didn't like following orders that weren't from their original group's leader.
Xue Yan checked her watch and saw that there really wasn't much time to make the dish, but she remembered that there was a show she watched with Lang Jie where there was a competition to make an extremely complicated dish within an unreasonable amount of time, so she thought that she could do the same.
"This Venerable One shall call this event: Master Cook!", Xue Yan announced. Everyone clapped as they saw their boss shamelessly plagiarizing a TV show.
"So, you all have an hour and fifteen minutes to cook braised pork shoulder! Starting now!", she announced the dish that they were about to make, which made their jaws drop to the ground.
"B-boss… if we try to cook braised pork shoulder that fast, the dish will be too tough to eat!", Mao Cheng told Xue Yan. Although he was no professional chef, he knew that the tenderness came from cooking the pork for a long time.
"That's right, oh Venerable One! We also have to season the pork, which would take some more time!", Hao Liuxian also voiced out his opinion.
The two bosses looked at each other and found that they finally had a connection with each other.
Xue Yan simply sighed in response and shook her head.
"This Venerable One doesn't see how it's my problem. You two find a way to do it, just like in that show.", Xue Yan mercilessly told them with a smile on her face.
"B-but…", both Mao Cheng and Hao Liuxian tried to reason with her, but she simply cut them off before they could say anything else.
"You have an hour and thirteen minutes left! If none of your dishes are good enough by the end of the time, I'll give everyone a punishment!", Xue Yan announced with a large, gentle smile on her face, which really didn't match the cruel conditions she was giving to the participants.
Mao Cheng immediately moved towards his men and ordered them to quickly buy the ingredients they needed. Hao Liuxian did the same, but everyone knew that the two's dishes would be different from each other.
The two bosses looked at each other. Sparks seemed to fly between them as they made eye contact with each other.
"It's a shokugeki!", the two of them pointed at each other and shouted in unison.
Xue Yan looked at the two with a confused look on her face. She also recognized what the two were talking about since she had also watched the show with her husband, so she shook her head in disbelief.
"Ara… I was thinking about a different show…"
CHAPTER 25 – “THE HOUSEWIFE TURNS THE ROMANTIC COMEDY NOVEL INTO A COMPETITIVE COOKING ONE!”
Mao Cheng and Hao Liuxian quickly rushed through the aisles of the supermarket, looking for the ingredients they needed for their dish.
Hao Liuxian was confident that if he had enough time, he would win the battle for sure. With the disparity between him and his opponent's age came the vast difference in experience. Hao Liuxian had traveled the world and tried many dishes, including the one they were going to prepare now, which was braised pork shoulder.
During the ancient times, when Hao Liuxian was just starting out as a cultivator, he once managed to taste what he felt was the best braised pork shoulder he had ever tasted. At the time, his name was not yet well-known, and he was merely an outer disciple of the Heavenly Duan Sect back then.
As the first spoonful of the dish entered Hao Liuxian's mouth, he immediately realized that the dish he was eating was nothing short of extraordinary. The moment the meat rested on his tongue; it began to melt as if it was butter. He noticed that the meat would break apart the moment he tried to get a piece using his chopsticks.
The taste was also just as spectacular as it's texture. As Hao Liuxian chewed, he felt himself being engulfed by the amazing taste. He could feel himself lying down on a garden filled with herbs due to the power of the herbs that were used to marinate the meat. The porky taste was also perfect. The porky taste filled his mouth along with the herbs, but none of the two overwhelmed the other. They were both in perfect balance and harmony, comparable to the harmonious yin and yang.
The young Hao Liuxian immediately got up and asked to see the chef as soon as he finished enjoying the meal. Although he was a cultivator, he wanted to get his hands on the recipe in order to try and make it himself if he wanted to eat something good. After all, who doesn't appreciate a good meal every once in a while?
Although he tried asking politely, the guards of the place just wouldn't allow him to meet the man behind the creation of the dish. Hao Liuxian tried settling the matter through words, but it didn't seem to work. Despite being young, the arrogance that he displayed in the present time was the same arrogance he had ever since he was young.
"Don't say I didn't ask you nicely…", Hao Liuxian warned the guards as he started to show off his amazing techniques. The guards looked at him with surprised faces as they watched him move in a peculiar manner.
As soon as he finished his display of amazing techniques, he gallantly looked at the guards, who still had a look of surprise on their faces.
"How's that? If you don't want to be on the receiving end of those techniques, you better introduce me to the chef!", Hao Liuxian arrogantly told them as he showed a smug expression on his face.
The guards were both silent for a while, which made Hao Liuxian feel that his intimidation tactic worked. Moments later, they started bursting out in laughter.
"With those petty moves? At least learn more than the first stage of a technique before you show it off to others, kid!", one of the guards mocked Hao Liuxian while continuing to laugh at his petty show. Hao Liuxian couldn't help but blush out of embarrassment.
"If you don't want to get hurt, you should go back home and practice your techniques! Come back when you're at least in the Bone Refining Realm and maybe we'll let you talk to the chef!", the guard told Hao Liuxian as they finally finished their session of laughter.
"What's all the commotion about?", a female voice came from behind the guards.
"Ah! Madam! It's nothing! Some kid was causing a ruckus since he wanted to meet you.", the guards immediately stood in attention as soon as they heard the voice.
"Is that so?", the woman walked forward and saw the kid that wanted to meet him. Hao Liuxian wanted to look at the face of the one who was able to create such a wonderful dish, but the woman wore a hood that covered most of her face. Although it was a shame that he wouldn't be able to burn the chef's face into his memory, Hao Liuxian still looked at the chef's gallant figure with sparkles in his eyes.
"Chef… Please! Give me the recipe of your braised pork shoulder!", Hao Liuxian bowed his head as he asked the woman in front of him a favor.
The woman let out a small giggle.
"Even if you know the recipe, you still won't be able to do it. Your skill level is far from sufficient to be able to perform the techniques needed.", the woman explained to Hao Liuxian, but his arrogance made it hard for her explanation to get through to his head.
"I don't care! Even if you think that I'm too weak now, I'll grow stronger in the future anyway. I can just make
the dish then, so just tell me the recipe!", Hao Liuxian continued to insist.
The woman simply sighed as she started to walk away. Hao Liuxian was about to chase after her, but before he took a step forward, she turned around and gave him a smile.
"If you become strong enough, the recipe will naturally come to you. It is something that you must discover yourself, not something that is passed down from others.", the woman gave her parting words to Hao Liuxian and walked away.
Hao Liuxian thought about what her words meant as he watched the chef's back slowly becoming smaller until she walked far enough for him not to be able to see her anymore. As the chef's words continued to echo in his mind, it became one of his motivations to advance in the world of cultivation. In the end, he became a very powerful man.
Little did he know, later that day, the chef came back to the restaurant. The guards asked the chef:
"What did the words you told that kid earlier mean?", the guards were also quite puzzled since they couldn't seem to make any sense from what the woman said.
The woman simply smiled as she responded:
"I made it up so that the kid will stop bugging me."
Although it was nothing but an empty lie, Hao Liuxian still kept her words in his heart.
As he passed through the different aisles in the supermarket, he realized that this was the first real attempt he made in trying to recreate the dish he wanted to make.
His senses started tingling when he saw random ingredients. He immediately picked up everything that his culinary sense felt was right. As he placed the ingredients in his shopping cart, he couldn't help but feel that he was a great man. He had only practiced cultivation in his entire life, and the only culinary feat he has done was to roast the wild animals he hunted back when he was training, so his culinary sense was non-existent after all.
Hao Liuxian quickly approached the counter with the ingredients in his cart. As the cashier was scanning the items one by one and putting everything in a bag, he checked if all the ingredients in his mental list were there. When the final item was scanned, he felt relieved since he did not forget anything.
Before the cashier could say the price, one of his disciples quickly approached him.
"Master! Go ahead! I'll settle the matter here! You don't have much time left!", the disciple told his master as he took out his wallet and started counting the money in it.
Hao Liuxian nodded and thanked the heavens for having such a considerate disciple. He took the bag and ran as fast as he could towards Xue Yan, who seemed to be waiting for them to finish shopping.
Mao Cheng followed shortly after, along with his men. He held two large bags, which seemed to contain many different ingredients. Hao Liuxian smiled as he saw that Mao Cheng bought too many ingredients. If he used all of it in the dish, it would be extremely difficult for even the best chefs to maintain balance and harmony between all of the ingredients.
"Are you sure about bringing all of that? That's too much, isn't it?", Hao Liuxian tried to provoke his opponent, but Mao Cheng simply shrugged in response.
"I just bought whatever I saw in case I needed it… Boss Xue Yan said she'll pay for everything anyways.", Mao Cheng responded with a blank expression. He made the logical choice and just purchased everything that could be used in cooking. After all, he was no chef. He was a thug.
Hao Liuxian showed an annoyed expression as he realized that he should've done the same, but he collected his thoughts in order to calm his heart. The great recipe of the braised pork shoulder had already been imprinted in his mind, although he didn't know that it was just his imagination making it up, he still believed that it was the recipe that the great chef had told him would come when he became stronger.
"Oh, you're both finished shopping? Let's go back to my house then. There isn't much time left to cook.", Xue Yan told them as she made her way towards her car. As soon as she got in, she started driving right away. She also bought some things of her own, just in case everything went wrong.
The others went into their own vehicles and followed Xue Yan. As soon as they arrived at her home, they hurriedly went inside and quickly prepared the ingredients that they would use.
In Hao Liuxian's side, the man had prepared a thick cut of pork shoulder. Beside it, the ingredients he was going to use were scattered around the table. Ground spices, soy sauce, olive oil, ginger, garlic, and many more ingredients laid flat on the table as he quickly went to work in creating the marinade.
Hao Liuxian rubbed the pork shoulder with the ground spices he brought, along with salt and pepper. He gave it a generous coating and gave it a light sear before placing it in a large pot that one of his disciples prepared.
He quickly gave orders to his disciples, which heeded to his every command.
"Hand me the white wine!"
A disciple quickly uncorked a bottle of white wine which is of the highest quality and handed it to Hao Liuxian, who added it to the pot.
"Toast the onions and garlic in a little bit of olive oil! And hand me the chicken stock!", Hao Liuxian once again gave another command, which his disciples quickly executed.
As soon as that order was fulfilled, he went on to the next ordeal.
"Now, bring me some white chocolate! Also, debone the bluefin tuna and hand me the fatty part after cutting it into cubes!"
Hao Liuxian's disciples looked at each other as they thought that they didn't hear their master's commands clearly.
'… White chocolate? Bluefin tuna? Weren't we making braised pork shoulder…?', all of his disciples thought in unison. Even though they weren't chefs, or anything close to that, they still knew that the combination of ingredients that their master was planning to use would not end up well together.
"What are you all waiting for?! Quickly! We don't have much time!", Hao Liuxian shouted at his disciples, who let go of their hesitation and fulfilled their master's commands.
His disciples handed over all the ingredients that Hao Liuxian asked for. He quickly poured everything into the pot that contained the pork shoulder, which made his disciples flinch at the sight of what he just did to the perfectly good cut of meat.
Hao Liuxian added everything else that he wanted to add to the pot, which was now filled with a mixture that was unknown to man. He looked at the contents of the pot, which made the disciples hope that perhaps he could notice the mistake that he had done, but sadly, Hao Liuxian had a satisfied look on his face. He opened the preheated oven behind him and placed the pot inside.
The disciples of the former Heavenly Duan Sect looked up to the heavens and closed their eyes. It was then that they realized that, although their patriarch was indeed powerful, he was still far from perfect.
Hao Liuxian felt satisfied as he thought that victory was now secured. He looked over at the other table and saw Mao Cheng, who was reading a recipe from his mobile phone and following it step-by-step.
As Mao Cheng placed his own pot into the oven, there was only an hour left remaining before their time was up. Hao Liuxian laughed as he thought that the extra five minutes of his pork cooking in the oven would be the deciding factor of his victory.
Mao Cheng sighed as he realized that the pork shoulder that he was cooking would be far from done by the time Xue Yan asks for their dishes to be presented.
As the last few seconds of the remaining time ticked down, both participants took out their pots from their respective ovens and prepared to start plating their creations.
In Hao Liuxian's side, he slowly took out the thick slab of white goop that resided in the pot. His disciples looked at it with disgust, but Hao Liuxian looked at his creation proudly. He took a plate and tried to cut the thing open with a kitchen knife, but the knife wasn't able to penetrate the meat, so he had to use a bit of his qi to push it down.
"This knife really needs to be sharpened…", he muttered to himself as he put aside the knife and focused on making the dish look pleasing to the eyes.
On the other side, Mao Chen
g's dish still looked like pork, which made him feel a bit relieved. He set the temperature a bit higher, hoping that it would make up for the lack of time, but the pork was still a bit tough. He tried to cover it up by slicing it into thin pieces and plating it by stacking them on top of each other in order to give the illusion of it being thick.
"Time's up!", Xue Yan announced as she ran back into the room. She seemed to have gone somewhere while everyone was busy cooking, but she made it just in time for the competition to finish.
She looked at the two's creations and could immediately decide the winner, but she didn't want to make one side feel inferior to each other. After all, having a healthy competition is always better.