BXBX NOVEL Chapter 251: Sly
“Damnit!”
After swiftly moving through the crowd in a manner that belied his muscular build, Zhou Tianhao, having lost sight of his target, stopped in his tracks. His expression was unreadable.
He was certain that his target had noticed his pursuit.
Their response and their demonstrated ability to evade him almost confirmed their identity.
This was Zhou Tianhao’s second encounter with Star Hunter. Unlike their previous confrontation, this one was more covert, but it ended just like the first.
“Next time, you won’t have this kind of opportunity,” Zhou Tianhao muttered under his breath. He then took a deep breath to regain composure, his expression blending seamlessly with the surrounding festive atmosphere.
He turned around and bumped into a middle-aged man.
“Sorry,” he apologised, stepping back reflexively.
“Hehe, no worries,” the middle-aged man responded with a warm smile, “It’s a lively day today. Collisions are inevitable in these crowds, aren’t they?” “Indeed,” replied Zhou Tianhao instinctively.
“Then dear young gentleman, I wish you a pleasant day,” The middle-aged man said with a faint smile as he passed Zhou Tianhao.
Gentleman?
Zhou Tianhao lightly raised his brows.
Such a form of address wasn’t typical in the Samiya Region.
But he didn’t pay it much mind.
Being a seaport hub in Mingjing Province, it was normal to encounter travellers from various regions.
Since he hadn’t caught the Star Hunter, he decided to focus on tasting delicacies.
Zhou Tianhao didn’t notice that the middle-aged man’s gaze seemed to change as they passed each other. It no longer held the wisdom of years and the melancholy of worldly experience but was filled with youthful vigor and… a hint of mischief.
He had changed his mind.
Despite the exhausting nature of running a stall, winning the Leaping Fish Banquet right under the nose of a past opponent proved to be an appealing challenge.
And he, was indeed fond of challenges.
“How was it? I didn’t mislead you, did I?”
At another corner of the deck, Yan Chao laughed heartily at Zhou Wan, “Isn’t the culinary skill of Boss Qin Lang significantly better than the other stalls?” “Hmph,” Zhou Wan rolled his eyes, “Credit where credit’s due.”
With just the phrase “credit where credit’s due”, Yan Chao’s smile markedly intensified.
After tasting the much-coveted crab roe fried rice at Qin Lang’s stall, they started to sample dishes from other food stalls together. While the dishes prepared by these stall owners were not bad, to say the least, and greatly surpassed average street food, they paled in comparison to the crab roe fried rice.
Consequently, even the stubborn Zhou Wan had to admit that Qin Lang’s culinary skills were indeed exceptional. He wanted to have another serving of the crab roe fried rice.
And the gravy seafood in his hand.
Zhou Wan glanced at the takeaway box that he had been holding onto.
As he intended to take it home for his family to try and hopefully land some pocket money, he only stole a black tiger shrimp to taste.
But even just one black tiger shrimp was enough to make Zhou Wan fall in love with the gravy seafood.
Seeing Yan Chao’s smug face, Zhou Wan grumpily admitted, “I concede that Boss Qin Lang’s culinary skills are exceptional, but if the stall owner called Qi Xian were here, he would undoubtedly give Boss Qin Lang a run for his money.”
After covering nearly all the food stalls on the deck, Zhou Wan was certain that Qi Xian did not participate in the Leaping Fish Banquet.
This disappointed him considerably.
However, his previous statement was anything but mere stubbornness.
Even though he had experienced Qin Lang’s remarkable culinary skills, when he recalled the dishes Qi Xian, a young man who ran a stall near his house, prepared, he still believed that Qi Xian was no less talented.
Such a pity that someone like Yan Chao would never have the opportunity to taste Qi Xian’s culinary magic.
Looking at Yan Chao on the side who seemed to be gloating, Zhou Wan felt a surge of superiority in his heart.
I have tasted the delicacies you praise, but you’ve never tried the ones I recommend.
This round, the advantage is mine.
The bustling deck grew quiet after the last group of food guests boarded the ‘Yueyu Cruise Ship’ and departed.
“Whew~”
Qin Lang couldn’t help but let out a sigh, shaking his slightly numb arms.
Despite their intense training in the past ten days, which led to strong rapport and a certain degree of familiarity with the demands of running a stall, the intensity of operating a stall during the Leaping Fish Banquet was on a completely different level.
During the entire morning business hours, Qin Lang didn’t have a moment to himself, his stall attracted queues of customers consistently. His imposing popularity induced looks of envy from other nearby stall owners.
According to the rules of the Leaping Fish Banquet, the nine sessions spread across three days would each have two hours allocated for rest and interaction during lunch and dinner.
This period was divided into sessions of rest, adjustment, and interaction.
The rest session was naturally for Spirit Chefs to recoup. Being humans and not robots, they too needed breaks to prepare for the subsequent strenuous stall operations.
The adjustment session comprised two aspects.
The first aspect was food preparation, which needs no explanation.
Used up ingredients needed replenishing, and any necessary pre-processing of food also needed to be hurriedly done during this time.
Even though Qin Lang had prepared adequately, an entire morning’s operation had depleted 70% of his stock. He needed to restock for the afternoon session.
Most of the other Spirit Chefs were not as prepared as Qin Lang and were consequently in more of a predicament.
It was said that there was even someone who ran out of supplies to replenish just one hour into the business, most likely because they hadn’t made adequate preparations and seriously underestimated the amount of ingredients needed.
The second aspect was stall adjustment.
Let’s not forget that each visiting guest received a voting ticket.
The sacred vote they held dictated which Spirit Chef would emerge as the winner of the Leaping Fish Banquet.
Although the official tallying would only be done after the third day, the competition had already begun.
The results from the first voting session were already available.
Spirit Chefs who were temporarily leading would be assigned better stalls in the next session.
It was a classic case of ‘the rich get richer.’
The interaction session was for Spirit Chefs to communicate with each other.
During this session, one could choose to continue running the stall to cook for other participating Spirit Chefs, or choose to taste dishes, trying out delicacies cooked by other Spirit Chefs and engaging in conversation.
Tasting dishes prepared by other Spirit Chefs was obviously a treat, but choosing to operate the stall had its advantages too.
That’s because during the interaction session, Lady Ye Cangqing, along with the other high-ranking officials accompanying her, participated, providing an opportunity for them to sample your culinary creations.
As all Spirit Chefs began to unwind, a host holding a loudspeaker ascended the high platform and announced the preliminary vote tally which reignited the competitive energy among the participants.
Qin Lang was listening attentively, a faint smile appearing on his face shortly after.
It turned out that being well-prepared and making rational choices was indeed effective.
Qin Lang, leading the Youth Group with 617 votes.
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