Punch: From third-rate anchor to top chef

Chapter 294

Many people simply cannot afford to participate in the star chef competition every year, so most people cherish every opportunity to take the exam.

Besides, some chefs will show up, and there is no way to find recommenders, so they need to buy referral places from people in the black market, which is quite a big fee.

Li Xiao checked while he was in the car. This year's one-star chef exam registration has ended, and there are a total of 3220 applicants.

The number is not very large, after all, people from all over the country need to come here to take the unified exam.

In fact, if the prerequisites for the exam were not so high, there would be no need for so-called referees, and there would be no need to concentrate on competitions in the capital, the number of people would probably be several times higher.

The venue for the written test is ten auditoriums. Each auditorium can accommodate about 500 people. However, due to the need for a certain amount of space, the number of candidates for each auditorium is 350.

After he glanced at Hall 2 where he was, he immediately walked towards the examination room of the second examination.

A flat-story building the size of a football field is a bit like an indoor gymnasium, but instead of indoor basketball hoops or badminton nets, there are neatly arranged stoves.

There is also a 1.5-meter-long workbench next to the stove, which allows the chef to work next to it.

Moreover, it can be seen that there are neat tools placed on these workbenches.

The tools are very complete, basically, everything that can be used is available.

Of course, some strange special tools are not provided by the venue, but they can be proposed to the organizing committee and brought into the venue.

In addition, in the third game, you can even bring your own special sauces and toppings.

After all, the territory of the Han Kingdom is too large, and there are thousands of secret seasonings. It is impossible for the organizer to find all the ingredients.

Some people may think that this is unfair to some ordinary chefs.

Because if those who were born in a family of famous chefs, there are six or seven star elders in their families.

Just make some secret sauces or seasonings, can't you easily let your children win at the starting line?
Such problems exist, of course, and are widespread.

However, finding a suitable ingredient, having a secret seasoning, and knowing how to find a more cost-effective supplier are also the abilities that a star chef should have.

And these abilities are especially obvious in the chef family.

Of course, these statements are all high-sounding.

The main reason is that those who make the rules will benefit from it.

Those who make the rules themselves are star chefs, and many of their descendants will work as chefs or chef-related professions.

Therefore, when they formulate rules, they must be biased towards their own people.

Of course, the loophole in this rule is not serious. If a chef is too poor in cooking, one or two secret seasonings will not be able to play much role at all.

The role of these secret seasonings is equal to the extra points of the college entrance examination. Under the same circumstances, children with extra points must be better.

Of course, Li Xiao didn't have any elders to provide him with any secret seasoning.

No one reminded him of these things. After all, everyone felt that the exam for a star chef was not difficult for him at all.

At this time, Li Xiao's eyes fell on the surroundings of this rectangular flat building.

There are rows of tall freezers around the venue, but there are no ingredients in the freezers at this time.

Li Xiao counted carefully, and there are more than 200 stoves in total, which means that one performance can be provided for 200 candidates to take the exam together.

And there are 5 such large flat buildings in this school, that is to say, 1000 exam places can be provided each time.
It only takes about three times to completely test all candidates.

Similarly, these large flat floors are also the test venues for the third test.

When Li Xiao was observing the test venues for the second and third rounds, he heard a familiar greeting from someone next to him:
"Hi, are you this year's candidate?"

Li Xiao looked where the voice came from. The person speaking was a dark-skinned uncle with a naive expression.

Wearing a blue dress with a gray-green canvas bag slung over his body, he looked very amiable.

Li Xiao is not an arrogant person. Seeing someone greet him, he quickly responded:

"Hello, hello, that's right, I am a candidate for this year, I don't know who you are, uncle?"

Li Xiao didn't dare to confirm the identity of the other party. After all, there is no age limit for the chef exam. As long as you are over 18 years old, as long as you are willing to take the exam, you can pass the exam until you are 80 years old.

Of course, if you can hold a spatula, you will have no problem passing the test until you are 99 years old.

So he didn't know whether this uncle was a staff member in the examination room or a candidate like himself.

Although he looks like he is 50 to [-] years old, but it is not ruled out that he is an old man, or he suddenly became enlightened after frying and cooking, and wants to come to take the exam.

After all, the star chef examination has never been exclusive to young people, and many elderly people come to participate in the competition every year.

Sure enough, when the other party spoke, Li Xiao was glad that she didn't talk nonsense, so she heard the other party's self-introduction:

"Hello, hello, I am also a candidate for this year, my name is Badong, and I am a native of the capital, but in fact I am not only a candidate for this year, I have actually taken the test 20 times this year!"

!!!

Li Xiao gasped, it's okay, he's been doing the live broadcast for so long, and his expression management is quite in place, otherwise he would definitely be very rude.

Boy, 20 times?
This is a bit outrageous. The number of times the other party has taken the exam is almost older than his own age. What kind of perseverance is this so that the other party can take the exam 20 times?
He swallowed hard, and stretched out his hand to shake the other party's saliva.

"Hello, hello, Mr. Badong, I'm Li Xiao from Dongguan, Guangdong. Nice to meet you."

"Hey, from Guangdong, it's quite far away, why did you come to see the examination room today?"

"Yes, come and explore the way. After all, it's my first time to take the exam and I don't understand anything."

"Hey, isn't this a coincidence? I have taken many exams, and I know this place well. Let me show you around?"

Seeing that the other party was so enthusiastic, Li Xiao couldn't shirk it, so he had to walk around with the other party again.

In fact, he really wanted to say that he had finished shopping, but he also wanted to hear about this hard-working candidate who had taken the exam 20 times.

For any other insights here, maybe I can hear some secret exam information from the other party.

Li Xiao's expectations were not in vain, and Ba Dong took Li Xiao to the Daping floor marked with No. 4 examination room.

With a mysterious smile on his face, Ba Dong pointed to the examination room No. 5 and said:
"The equipment in the No. 5 exam room among so many exam rooms is the best, because it is newly built, so you can choose the No. 5 exam room when the time comes, and you will definitely be able to perform better."

Although this kind of secret information was not of much use to Li Xiao, Li Xiao still gratefully greeted the other party.

The two left each other's contact information, and agreed to take the exam together in examination room No. 5 during the exam tomorrow, and then they parted ways.

Watching Ba Dong walk back into the school, according to him, he was planning to help some new candidates and familiarize himself with the examination room.

After all, it is quite difficult for many candidates to take the exam, unlike him who lives locally and only takes half an hour to come here.

If I can't pass the exam this year, I will continue to pass next year without any pressure at all.

But these brothers from all over the world are different. They spend a lot of time and money every time they come here.

He guides everyone to familiarize themselves with the environment like this, and can also make these people pass the exam smoothly, don't fail to pass the exam many times like yourself.

Li Xiao felt a little bit emotional, the people in the capital are honest and simple, and they are so enthusiastic when they meet a random person, which is worthy of being the capital of goodness.

I can't pass the exam, but I don't feel resentful.

Instead, he took the candidates of the next year to familiarize himself with the environment of the examination room. Such a selfless person did not expect that such a selfless person actually existed in this world.

No, other people are not familiar with the examination room. If you are familiar with it, there will definitely be a great advantage there. Maybe just because of a few more people who are not familiar with the examination room, Badong will be able to pass the exam.

But it is also because of the existence of such people that the world is so beautiful and lovely.

Li Xiao sighed while doing warm-up exercises. After finishing the warm-up exercises, he started to run.

The way back is far easier than he imagined, although there is no greenway for running in Dongguan here.

However, the construction of sidewalks has been perfected, and there is no such thing as running without a road.

There are fewer traffic lights than imagined, and more zebra crossings than imagined.

It only took Li Xiao about 50 minutes to run back to the hotel from the school where he was taking the exam. This time was nearly half faster than taking a car, which made Li Xiao feel a little powerless to complain.

After returning to the hotel, Li Xiao took the equipment for the live broadcast and started to go out. The competition will last for 3 days, because the venues for the second and third competitions cannot support the test in one go.

Therefore, the competition will be divided into two days, and Li Xiao is scheduled to play the second and third games on the third day.

Since the live broadcast time may become unstable, Li Xiao can only seize the time to find time to broadcast live for everyone.

The place where he is going at noon today has long been planned.

【Heart and Home】

There is a cherry blossom restaurant less than 900 meters away from the hotel. In fact, Li Xiao wanted to go here first yesterday, but it is a pity that the table needs to be reserved a week in advance.

So it can only be arranged at noon today, and Li Xiao really wants to make a reservation for dinner at this restaurant.

It is estimated that you have to make a reservation one month in advance, otherwise there is no way to choose the time you want to eat.

Since the distance was very close, Li Xiao walked over directly.

This store is located in the center of the city and does not occupy a large area, but it has two floors. The second floor is a small private room, and the first floor is surrounded by tables around the workbench.

The decoration style is very cherry blossom style, and the blue and white patterned flags are hung on the left and right sides.

Above the signboard of [Heart Together] is a model of a tuna the size of two people.

The models are made so vividly that they seem to come alive under the light.

The waitress who came out to greet the guests was also wearing a traditional cherry blossom costume.

As soon as Li Xiao entered the door, two young waitresses walked up to her half-bowed, taking small steps.

One of the young ladies came up with slippers in her hand, while the other young lady held a hot towel emitting heat.

The young lady holding the slippers bent down and walked to Li Xiao's side and said:
"Hello, this customer, this is our slippers."

"Try this pair first to see if it fits. If it doesn't fit, I can replace it for you right away."

Li Xiao had already seen this shop rule when he made the reservation notice.

Since the floors in Xingheju are all Japanese-style tatami mats, you need to put on special slippers or wear socks provided by the store before you can enter.

If you feel uncomfortable, please book cautiously. Li Xiao is a gentleman, and he doesn't have smelly feet, so naturally he doesn't worry about this rule.

Taking the slippers from the other party with both hands, Li Xiao bent down to take off his own shoes, and then put on the slippers provided by the other party.

I didn't expect it to be unexpectedly suitable, and the slippers made of hemp bamboo silk are quite good in texture, quite soft to step on, and not painful at all.

The place where the toes are sandwiched is not too uncomfortable, it is very soft and elastic.

You know, if you don't usually wear this kind of flip-flops, you will feel a little uncomfortable when you first wear them.

After all, there is suddenly a cylindrical gap between the toes, and it does take a little time to get used to it.

But this slipper doesn't work. It's obvious that a lot of thought has gone into the design and the use of materials.

The waitress who was holding the slippers immediately took the shoes from Li Xiao's hand and put them into a separate shoe box.

Then he stepped back immediately, and the young lady who was holding a hot towel came up to replace her, and handed the steaming towel to Li Xiao.

Greeted in a gentle tone:

"My dear guest, this is a sterilized hot towel, please wipe your hands, and then I can take you to your seat."

This procedure is mainly because putting on and taking off shoes when entering the door may cause the hands to touch the shoes and cause pollution. Li Xiao also smelled the faint smell of disinfectant on this steaming towel. Sterilization function.

Wipe your hands carefully with a hot towel, after all, you have to eat sushi with your hands later.

Today, the chef and a culinary consultant of this restaurant are in charge of making sushi, and this technical director is also one of the main reasons why Li Xiao came here to eat.

Senmoto-Hashigami, a culinary consultant of a Michelin three-star restaurant in Tokyo. You read it right, it is a culinary consultant, not a sushi master or a chef. The difference between the two is huge.

This difference is probably like the difference between Mr. Tony who helps to cut hair in a barber shop, and the instructor who teaches Mr. Tony how to cut hair.

The reason why Li Xiao knew it was because he saw on the Internet that the boss of Xinheju had sent out heroic posts with a lot of money.

In the end, a total of 60 yuan was spent to invite this culinary consultant named Senbon Bridge, who came here to guide for 20 days, which is an invitation fee of [-] yuan per day.

This directly launched the name of this newly opened Xinheju Sakura Cuisine, although it is a newly opened store.

But the date of seat reservation has been postponed to [-] days, and it will take one month to reserve the place for dinner at night.

It can be said that buying a horse bone with a thousand dollars will make other people move after hearing the news.

After all, it is cherry blossom cuisine, so we still need to find a cherry blossom chef to come over to support the appearance.

Although the country of cherry blossoms is a vassal state of the big man, after all, the ruler is short and the inch is long. It really lacks a little meaning to find the master of the big man to make cherry blossom dishes.

So in addition to this Senbon Bridge as a guide, the boss also directly hired four local chefs from Sakura Country to cook here.

I heard that these four chefs from Sakura Country are all star chefs, and there is a rumor on the Internet that after next month all the waiters will be Miss Sakura Country who can speak Chinese.

Of course, since the Han Kingdom is the suzerain of the Sakura Kingdom, there are still many people from the Sakura Kingdom who want to come and work here.

After all, not to mention anything else, the income alone will be much higher.

Therefore, the citizens of Sakura Country need quite cumbersome procedures and guarantee conditions to come to Dahan, so these young ladies can't come here for a while.

But Li Xiao didn't care about these dispensable things. After all, he came here to eat sushi and food, not to see the young lady.

Sitting at the bar, Li Xiao nodded politely to Senbon Bridge and Shang Yuanchun who also came from Sakura Country.

Qianben Bridge also greeted politely in Mandarin:
"Hello, is this VIP the one-person package you ordered?"

Hearing what the other party said, Li Xiao was a little surprised, because this Mr. Qian Benqiaogami spoke Chinese surprisingly fluently.

They didn't even recognize their unique accent of Sakura Country.

He complimented it.

"The Chinese dialect spoken by Mr. Senbon Bridge is really standard."

Qianbenqiaoshang seemed to be very proud of himself for being able to speak such fluent Chinese, he bowed slightly and said:
"During my studies, I was under the tutelage of Mr. Ouyang Zhenhua, a seven-star famous chef in Dahan Kingdom, so I have deliberately learned Dahan dialect for a period of time, so I can speak it fairly well."

Hearing the words on Qianbenqiao, Li Xiao gasped, my good guy, this guy's teacher is actually a seven-star chef?
Seven-star chefs can indeed be regarded as famous chefs. After all, six-star chefs are very rare, let alone seven-star cooks above six.

It turns out that he has studied under such a teacher, no wonder he can become a technical consultant for a Michelin three-star restaurant.

(End of this chapter)