Chapter 24: Chapter 24
Ch24 – Skipping Three Ranks – Part 3
"Are you sure?" The head examiner revealed a hesitant expression. "The four-star chef assessment is not as simple as you think."
Not to mention that you needed to use no less than twenty different ingredients to make at least ten dishes, but the truly difficult point about this assessment was that the judges wouldn't be people from the Chefs' Association but the numerous billions of imperial citizens.
From three-star to four-star could be described as a qualitative leap. Four-star chefs held a special significance for the Empire. So, in order to ensure absolute fairness and impartiality, the four-star chef assessment was directly conducted through live broadcast on the Chefs' Association's website. The judging would be done by the audience, and only after receiving more than half of the votes could you be considered successful. Even if some chefs would want to cheat, they wouldn't have enough financial resources to buy the votes of hundreds of millions of viewers.
It was also for this reason that chefs of four or more stars were so scarce. After all, it was difficult to cater to all tastes. It wasn't so simple to obtain the votes of half of the viewers.
"That's right, there are 20 kinds of ingredients, and no less than ten dishes. I don't know how long it would take to draw up a menu, but an application also has to be submitted to the association to publicize the broadcast. It is now already four o'clock, you certainly don't have enough time to prepare. It's definitely too late, so go back and prepare for a few more days, then come back at the appointed time." The other two examiners were also quick to dissuade him.
The ingredients of the four-star assessment were no longer randomly drawn, but were prepared by the chefs of the association. Twenty ingredients, ten dishes or more. It was almost the same as a banquet. Just formulating the menu was already a considerable project. It already took such a long time just to prepare, not to mention the actual cooking, and then the tasting by the audience. With just a few hours left, how much preparation could Ruan Tang do?
Although the four-star chef's assessment method was unusual, unlike the assessment for three-star chefs and below, there was no need for a unified registration and assessment of all candidates. There was also no fixed time requirement. However there was also a provision. Once a candidate has failed the assessment it would be at least three more months before he could try again. After all, orchestrating this assessment, required the efforts of a great number of people. It was much easier said than done.
Within a day, he had gone straight from a one-star chef to a three-star chef. It was enough to stupefy any who hear. They have tasted the dishes Ruan Tang had personally made. They clearly understood his strength and potential. They were even more amazed by his ability to innovate. They also believed in the president's evaluation of Ruan Tang. This young man could become the next five-star chef, it was almost a foregone conclusion. But it was precisely because of this that they did not want to see him impulsively rushing to participate in the assessment.
The viewers nowadays were no longer so easily deceived. Many have already tasted a variety of foods from live broadcasts and various star-rated restaurants. They have become more critical of the taste and more difficult to please. In the last few years, there has been no precedent for a successful assessment on the first try.
If he suffered a setback in front of all these imperial viewers, they were afraid that it would cast a big shadow over this young man. At that time, no one could say whether he would be able to recover from it. If this would be the case, it would truly be a loss for the empire.
"Give me an hour of preparation time. That would be enough." Ruan Tang said with a smile. Although he was polite and courteous, but the confidence and seriousness in the words couldn't be mistaken.
The three men couldn't persuade him. They shook their heads, sighed and contacted President Gu.
This child was still too young after all.
They still remembered three years ago when Qi Zhuo successfully passed the four-star rank assessment with more than half of the audience's approval. Although it was only barely more than half, it was enough.
But now, Qi Zhuo's time in the limelight was probably coming to an end.
Once Ruan Tang became a four-star chef, President Gu would definitely revoke his vice presidency because of this serious violation.
At the beginning, the association didn't have enough people. President Gu was getting on in years and with no one capable to take over the job, he diligently cultivated Qi Zhuo with such care and supported him to sit in the position of vice president. Qi Zhuo was able to pass the assessment for the four-star chef by relying on his master and President Gu's utmost efforts to teach him. Although he did not know how to innovate or learn by analogy, there really was something special about his cooking skills. As long as he has seen a dish once through, he could completely replicate it. In order to be able to successfully become a four-star chef, Qi Zhuo had prepared for a full three months.
But the title of a five-star chef wasn't something he could even dream about. After all, the requirement to innovate 10 dishes was absolutely impossible for him.
This was also the reason why Qi Zhuo felt his strongest ever sense of crisis, seeing Ruan Tang reaching to the clouds. In fact, he had long felt Ruan Tang's frightening potential. At the beginning, he hadn't placed much importance on him. It just so happened that the other party had disrupted his plans. That was why he had offhandedly asked his men to deal with this youngster. He just hadn't expected the other party's good luck. Not only had a tyrant come to his aid, but the Academy of Sciences also supported him, letting him gain huge popularity on the star network, causing him to be noticed by the President Gu and making it so that he could no longer act so brazenly.
Originally, with only one year left in President Gu's term, with no suitable successor, the presidency would naturally fall onto Qi Zhuo's lap. But with Ruan Tang's rise into the clouds, President Gu had instantly decided to have him join the association and to cultivate him as a proper successor. How could Qi Zhuo just accept it?
If the other party enters the Chefs' Association, then where would that leave him?
Upon learning that the other party has signed up for the exam, using his position as a four-star chef, he didn't hesitate to apply to supervise the evaluation for the one-star rank. This was in order to stop the enemy at the gates. But who could have imagined that this matter that was supposed to have been quietly concealed, had actually attracted the attention of both President Gu and Marshal He?
Forget about the presidency, he wasn't even sure that he could hold unto the vice presidency!
Qi Zhuo slammed his fist on the table and gnashed his teeth: "Ruan Tang… I simply can't believe you have the skills for it!" Be that as it may, he already had a premonition in his heart: with great enough skill to pass the three previous assessments that fast, could he actually pass the four-star assessment?
He could only hope that the other party would make a blunder in his haste and not be able to prepare well with this limited time available.
**********
"@Chefs' Association v: At 7 o'clock tonight, we will conduct a four-star chef's assessment. We sincerely invite all netizens to come and evaluate. The candidate is a popular food anchor on the live broadcast platform. We believe everyone will be in for some good food. Live broadcast channel address: [Official website link]."
[@Mo Ran Chen Yu: Wow! Four-star chef assessment! There'll be some good eating! ]
[@arinbs: I rarely see the Chefs' Association praise anyone like that! ]
[@A galaxy far far away: Hey, a food anchor… I suddenly though of one who stopped broadcasting today to participate in the assessment… But then he should have gone to take the one-star chef assessment, right? ]
[@Scared all my melons off: Hurry and check the Chefs' Association's official website! There are several newly uploaded videos, all of the same candidate. In just the past few hours, he had actually directly gone from one-star to three-stars! I suspect with good reason, that it is this person who's going to participate in the four-star assessment tonight! ]
[@A galaxy far far away: If it's him, I feel like that's just to be expected…[crying and laughing.jpg]//@Scared all my melons off: Hurry and take a look...]
[@Xia Mi v: 1//@A galaxy far far away: If it's him…]
[@Gold coins fall down:! ! ! ! I went to see the video and found that it really is the anchor ah! ! ! ]
[@Mo family's jade: I knew the anchor was amazing, but I didn't know he was this amazing…]
This news of the Chefs' Association was simply a stone that stirred up a thousand waves. Assessments for four-star chefs were already major events for the entire network. Every time there was one, it would cause a big uproar. Not to mention that this time, the candidate was going from a one-star chef to a four-star chef in the span of a single day. It was simply unheard of! How arrogant can someone get?
For a moment, countless netizens rushed to the Chefs' Associations' official broadcasting site.
Although the live broadcast hadn't yet begun, they might as well check out the candidate's previous assessment videos.
[@Seven Treasures: My God! How could it be so delicious? ! How could it be so delicious! ]
[@Small transparent: My favorite is the sweet and sour pork, so delicious! Those examiners almost licked the plate! ]
The assessment video was a holographic video taken with a surveillance camera. Although it was fixed-point shooting, because they had turned on the privacy protection, everyone still couldn't see Ruan Tang's appearance.
During the one-star assessment, Qi Zhuo's scheme to make matters difficult for Ruan Tang and President Gu's display of flying into a terrible rage were cut off. Although with Ruan Tang's display of strength, none of the viewers could question the results of the assessment. Nevertheless, there were some viewers with good eyes who were able to pick out some clues.
However, these few doubters were quickly overwhelmed by the unending praise, and almost all the viewers who had tasted the dishes through the holographic mode had been convinced by Ruan Tang's exquisite cooking skills.
[@February 15: hu hu hu! Why does time move so slowly! I'm looking forward to Ruan Tang's assessment! ]
[@Mo Liu Bai: Hey, hey, Ruan Tang! He has the same name as my favorite idol! ]
[@Xiao Qiu: Aiya! There are lots of people with the same name. You're making a big fuss about nothing. I already guessed who this idol is that you like. Hasn't he been in a coma for five years? Even if he no longer has a contract, it's not possible that he'd go and be a chef! ]
Amidst such a speculation, the time was finally seven o'clock, and the live broadcast was opened as scheduled.
On screen, there was an extremely spacious and open kitchen. Every kind of kitchen utensil was made available, as well as two intelligent robots dedicated to washing dishes and helping to clean up the garbage. After all, the candidate needed to produce a lot of dishes, the pots and pans that needed to be used and the kitchen waste produced were quite a lot. If only one person alone would be handling these matters, it was inevitable that he would be flustered. It was more convenient to have a robot as an assistant.
On the other side of the kitchen, there was a long table were the eight association elders, including President Gu, were present. They would be commenting on each and every one of the dishes, giving the audience a sort of reference. Although they also had the right to vote, their votes were no different from those of the ordinary audience members and they couldn't control the outcome of the assessment.
The number of people in the live broadcast room had already exceeded the one billion mark. Various comments made a racket in the live chat. The entire live broadcast room was almost covered up. Only by setting the live chat authority to the highest level could there be a slight gap in the screen.
Countless people were watching the entrance to the kitchen, waiting for a glimpse of the true face of this arrogant and domineering candidate. When the ingredients were neatly placed on the cooking counter by the robot, a tall and scrawny silhouette finally appeared at the entrance. However, without waiting for them to get a clear look, the viewing angle suddenly changed.
Then a clear and gentle voice sounded in their ears.
"Hello everyone, I am the anchor, Ruan Tang and today I bring you the Four Seasons Feast."
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