Chapter 220: Chapter 220: There’s Such a Sly Move?

Spirit Chefs quickly ran to the stores around the venue with their Food Spirits.

Most competitors and their Spiritual Beasts chose to shop separately to purchase different ingredients needed for the upcoming dishes.

This not only saved time but also increased the chances of acquiring the desired ingredients.

The competition had already begun from the moment they started selecting ingredients!

Chen Mo didn’t adopt the tactic of dividing forces into two or three groups.

Because he had read the information of other finalists before, out of the 30 Spirit Chefs, he was the only one making pastries...

So at least in terms of selecting ingredients, he had no competitors.

Soon, he arrived in front of a shop called "Liu Fu Ji", where the owner was a somewhat hunched old grandfather who looked rather kind.

He was a bit surprised to see Chen Mo.

He didn’t expect anyone to still be preparing traditional pastries.

"Boss, do you have Blood Jade Rice, White Jade Rice, Acacia Beans, and Soothing Bamboo Leaves?"

Chen Mo politely asked.

"I have Blood Jade Rice, White Jade Rice, and Acacia Beans, but I don’t have Soothing Bamboo Leaves. Young man, are you planning to make zongzi? I have mango leaves, which are specifically used for wrapping zongzi. Would you like some?"

The owner asked with a smile.

"I’m sorry, sir, the dish I am making must use Soothing Bamboo Leaves, I’ll ask next door."

Chen Mo reluctantly refused.

The most important ingredient for making Nostalgic Zongzi isn’t the sticky rice inside, but the leaves wrapping the zongzi.

Soothing Bamboo is a type of Spirit plant, its leaves have a calming effect and can induce a peaceful state, usually used for meditation.

To evoke the emotions of nostalgia in diners with Nostalgic Zongzi, Soothing Bamboo Leaves are essential!

The owner of the shop next door was a skinny woman in her thirties wearing a floral dress, also a Spirit Chef.

Clearly, the woman heard the conversation between Chen Mo and the neighboring shop owner, so as soon as Chen Mo walked over, she took a bunch of green leaves from a cabinet.

The leaves were wide, and upon closer inspection, one could see golden lines on them, looking quite luxurious.

These were Soothing Bamboo Leaves, and the quality was very high!

"Chen Mo, you’re in luck, one of my Spiritual Beasts is a Soothing Bamboo."

The woman’s voice was very soft and sweet.

"How much?"

"One piece for 200,000, these are Monarch Stage Soothing Bamboo Leaves, considered a rare ingredient."

The woman in the floral dress said with a smile.

"One piece for 150,000, I’ll buy 10 pieces, and can I share one of my Nostalgic Zongzi with my sister later?"

Chen Mo asked with a smile, simultaneously communicating through mental telepathy with Tuantuan:

"Tuantuan, quickly act cute for this beautiful sister."

"Ying~"

Tuantuan felt quite shy inside, but still winked at the woman in the floral dress.

After the wink, its fluffy white body blushed, becoming even more adorable.

"Ying~" (So embarrassing!)

"No problem. I’ll sell them to you for 100,000 a piece!"

The woman in the floral dress could not stop smiling, reaching out to softly pinch Tuantuan.

"Ying~"

Another day forced into service...

"Thank you, big sister!"

The audience and judges were stunned by this scene.

Well, this young guy is quite good at bargaining despite his age.

"Holy cow! There’s even such an awesome move."

"Is this allowed in the competition?"

"There’s no rule against it, so it must be allowed."

"Learned something new, I’ll try it next time."

"You wish! First off, you need to be a Spirit Chef. Second, you need a Food Spirit as cute as Tuantuan. And most importantly—you need to be handsome."

...

Chen Mo pulled out his wristband to pay 1 million.

This wristband was given to him by the staff before the competition started. Each contestant and their Food Spirit had one, with a common fund credited to their account.

"However, Blood Jade Rice and Sister Xiangsi Beans are not available here, you’ll need to go next door."

"Okay."

Chen Mo returned to the first store.

He didn’t buy immediately before because he was worried about not finding the right bamboo leaves, so he hesitated to buy other ingredients first.

It would be awkward if everything else was prepared but he didn’t have the bamboo leaves.

"Shopkeeper, I’ll take two pounds each of Blood Jade Rice and Baiyu Rice, and 200 grams of Xiangsi Beans."

"Sure! It comes to a total of 2.1 million, let’s round it down to 2.08 million for you."

The shopkeeper said cheerfully.

"Why didn’t you round it down to 2 million?"

Chen Mo couldn’t help but ask.

"2.08 million, for good luck!"

The shopkeeper said with a chuckle.

After that, Chen Mo went to the butcher and grocery store and bought crabapple black chicken minced meat and various kinds of Spirit Mushrooms, spending over 1 million.

Zongzi here uses broth instead of soy sauce.

Lastly, he spent several hundred thousand on fillings for the zongzi such as pork belly, preserved fruit, and Spiritual Bean Paste.

With just a few ten thousands left out of the original 5 million, it was indeed maximization of resources.

After getting all the ingredients, Chen Mo returned to his stove and found that over ten contestants had already started prepping their ingredients.

The rest who were still hesitating in the store were either unable to find the ingredients they wanted, or the ingredients had been bought by others, forcing them to consider alternatives or change their dish entirely.

"Let’s get started!"

"Yeep!"

This time, Chen Mo decided to take the lead as the chef, with Tuantuan assisting.

Let’s see who dares to say he can’t cook!

After processing the various ingredients, Chen Mo began simmering the broth.

For controlling the heat, Chen Mo opted to use a thermometer, accurate to each degree Celsius.

"Who do you guys think will win this Young Chef Competition? Leave your comments below meow~"

Neon Cat today was dressed in a festive red top and glowing paws, giving off a mascot vibe.

As soon as it finished speaking, the screen was flooded with comments, viewers started debating intensely.

"It has to be Chef Cui Taishan! The epitome of the Shandong cuisine, a Quasi-Master Spirit Chef!"

"The champion will be my goddess Cheng Ling! She’s the Chief Disciple of the Sichuan Cuisine Sect Leader and won the previous central region preliminaries! She’s probably making Tai’an Fish this time, my favorite dish when I was a child!"

"Speaking of Sichuan cuisine, I remember Chen Mo being quite good at it too. And this time, Chen Mo is actually cooking himself! Could it be that he felt his opponents were too weak before and only takes the finals seriously?"

"I also felt Chen Mo and Tuantuan could win. But the competition rules this time are too unfavorable for them, lacking the ’melting moves’ is such a disadvantage."

...

Entering his cooking mode, Chen Mo ignored all outside disturbances, focusing entirely.

When the broth was almost ready, Tuantuan used its "Aroma Overflowing" to enhance the fragrance.

Next, Chen Mo and Tuantuan started stuffing the wrapped bamboo leaves with either Blood Jade Rice or Baiyu Rice.

This time, Chen Mo decided to make two flavors of hometown zongzi, sweet and savory.

After all, people from the north and the south have quite different tastes.

Most northerners prefer sweet zongzi, while southerners tend to like savory ones more.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com