Daddy! Come Home for Dinner!

He made such a low-level mistake because he was distracted, it’s really embarrassing.

The fish bone went straight in, not just a simple prick.

Chen Zhengping endured the pain and quickly pulled out the fish bone.

The pain made his fingers tremble.

"Let the doctor wrap it up for you," Gu Changfeng said in a deep voice.

Feng Erya had already run over.

This kind of small wound was only as big as a pinhole.

After disinfecting it for Chen Zhengping and putting on a band-aid, it was fine.

But Chen Zhengping still felt he had wasted a lot of time, and once it was wrapped, he immediately continued to handle the fish.

Yet his finger still throbbed with pain, hurt even without touching, causing his movements to slow a lot.

"Damn it!" Chen Zhengping cursed under his breath.

He glared at Ye Fei angrily.

If it weren’t for Ye Fei’s meddling, how could he have gotten distracted!

At this moment, Ye Fei was focused on her cooking, completely unaware of Chen Zhengping’s gaze.

Finally, the cooking time was almost over.

Gu Changfeng reminded, "One last minute."

Chen Zhengping’s fish was still steaming in the pot.

Because his finger was injured and bandaging took time, plus the pain of the wound, his movements slowed down.

The fish went into the steamer much later than he had anticipated.

Now he wasn’t sure if the fish was fully cooked.

But there was only one minute left.

He still needed to plate.

Chen Zhengping gritted his teeth and quickly took the fish out of the steamer.

Opening the pot, steam rose from inside.

Chen Zhengping couldn’t care too much, not even putting on oven mitts.

He used a cloth to handle the burning hot plate.

The cloth couldn’t entirely shield the heat, and now Chen Zhengping’s fingers were both painful and scalded.

Added to that, white steam was billowing out from the steamer.

His hand turned red the moment he reached in.

Chen Zhengping swiftly removed the fish.

Bang!

His scalded hand slipped, and the plate fell down.

Chen Zhengping’s heart was in his throat.

Luckily, the plate wasn’t far from the table and didn’t overturn.

The fish inside bounced up twice, almost spilling out.

Although the fish didn’t spill over, a lot of the broth splashed out.

Chen Zhengping was so angry he wanted to flip the table.

This competition today had been completely unlucky for him!

Hurriedly wiping the edges of the plate clean, he arranged the plating once more.

Finally, everything was managed in the last moment.

Just not sure if the fish was thoroughly cooked.

Chen Zhengping calculated the steaming time of the fish, feeling a bit worried.

"Now, proceed with tasting in the order of drawn numbers," Guo Wenbo said, "Number 1, Tian Pengpo, Chen Wangdao."

No surprise, Tian Pengpo won. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Number 2, Dai Kaijun, Xu Aoliang," Guo Wenbo continued.

Eventually, Xu Aoliang won.

One number called after another, until finally it was Number 6.

Ye Fei and Ding Ruyun each brought their dishes to the judges’ panel.

Ding Ruyun quickly said, "I made the Hundred Flavors Soup. It’s cooked with abalone, fish maw, bird’s nest, conpoy, sea cucumber, matsutake, black truffle, and vermicelli. The soup is thickened with white fungus. The fish maw, conpoy, sea cucumber, and abalone have had their fishy taste removed."

Gu Changfeng tasted it and said, "I remember you had shark fin earlier?"

Ding Ruyun awkwardly paused before saying, "When designing this dish before the competition, I didn’t think too much. But hearing what Ye Fei said about shark fin earlier made a lot of sense, and it’s unnecessary to use it."

"So, I replaced the shark fin originally used as a base with vermicelli," Ding Ruyun explained.

Gu Changfeng nodded, signaling to the other four judges.

The other four judges also tasted it.

"This Hundred Flavors Soup is fresh and sweet without any fishiness, the taste is good," Guo Wenbo said, "However, merely stewing these precious ingredients together, apart from that, I don’t see any cooking and seasoning techniques or special points."

Ding Ruyun’s face stiffened.

"This time, this Hundred Flavors Soup, at least in the restaurants I’ve been to, I haven’t seen this dish. It shows you put in effort, trying to prove you can have unique creativity," Luo Jialin said quite politely, "Though there is still some gap, at least it’s a good idea, keep working hard."

Lowell gave a rather kind comment: "The soup tastes good, keep it up."

Ye Huasong, who never had a good impression of Ding Ruyun, took a bite and said, "The soup tastes luxurious, but ’luxurious’ is all it is. If you randomly find someone to throw these ingredients into a pot, they could cook it too. If this dish were put in a restaurant, why would customers pay for such a dish without technical content?"

Ding Ruyun could no longer hide his gloomy face.

The five judges then turned to Ye Fei’s dish.

"I made Steamed Yellow Fish with Soup," Ye Fei introduced.

Guo Wenbo smiled, "This dish is Gu Changfeng’s signature. The four of us have all tasted Gu Changfeng’s version."

"Let’s not talk about the four of us," Ye Huasong said, "Just Gu Changfeng alone may have much stricter requirements for this dish than for others. To get his approval, unless this dish really has unique qualities."

"Why would you want to make this dish?" Gu Changfeng also asked.

"I know this dish is your signature dish. If the one I made can get your approval, then I’ve surely succeeded," Ye Fei said, "And besides, I did want to challenge myself a bit."

"I prefer not to stick to conventions when cooking. Today’s theme is the ocean; choosing seafood as the main ingredient was a stable approach. That’s why I wanted to add some challenge and difficulty for myself on top of stability."

"And I chose this dish; initially, I didn’t realize it was your signature. It was only after confirming that I found out. But once inspiration struck, I didn’t want to change, so I insisted on making it."

"In the beginning, the reason for choosing this dish was that Steamed Yellow Fish with Soup has an inner essence. It’s like the marine food chain. Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps."

"Steamed Yellow Fish with Soup, with various ingredients inside the fish belly, resembles this food chain; it matches the ocean theme better," Ye Fei said.

"Your idea is quite interesting," Gu Changfeng chuckled lightly.

Lowell then suggested, "Since this is your signature dish, why don’t you carve the first slice?"

"Alright," Gu Changfeng nodded, "However, this dish can’t be sliced with a knife."

Lowell, being a foreigner, was more proficient in Western cuisine.

Although he spent several years in Hua Country, his mastery of Chinese cooking was still lacking.

"The challenge of Steamed Yellow Fish with Soup lies not just in the flavor but also the knife skills and control of the heat," Gu Changfeng explained.