Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 129: Moon-Chasing Chapter (End)

The competition officially began. The first to take the stage was Ayaka Kamisato, who faced off against Yan Xiao, the chef from Wangshu Inn.

After tasting Yanxiao's cooking yesterday, Ayaka Kamisato realized that she couldn't compare to Yanxiao in culinary skills. But that didn't mean she would give up; the competition was a best-of-three format.

The first two matches are one-on-one duels, while the last match is a two-on-two duel in a cooperative format.

If she were to concede defeat at this point, it would mean that she would have to win both of the remaining matches to secure victory, which would put all the pressure on Ms. Mei.

Although we don't know Mei's specific culinary skills, it's clear that Ayaka Kamisato couldn't handle the pressure of having Mei face two professional chefs at the same time.

So the next thing to do is simple: give it your all and win!

Fortunately, to ensure the smooth running of the finals, and also considering that the Inazuma delegation might not be familiar with Liyue's ingredients, Ningguang specially spent a large sum of money to have Beidou urgently transport a batch of ingredients from Inazuma before the competition. The abundance and freshness of these ingredients were impeccable in Ayaka Kamisato's eyes.

Looking at the familiar ingredients in front of her, Ayaka Kamisato secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she didn't have to deal with those completely unfamiliar Liyue ingredients, otherwise she would have been completely lost and would have tried to choose the ingredients she knew.

With Yan Fei's command, the competition officially entered the food preparation phase. Time ticked by, and the two sides raced against each other, their speed in preparing the dishes remaining neck and neck for a time!

Of course, this is also partly because most of the food that Ayaka Kamisato makes is relatively simple. The judges on stage nodded in approval as they looked at Ayaka Kamisato.

In their view, Ayaka Kamisato's choice was undoubtedly correct. Although she, as the eldest daughter of the Kamisato family, usually learned cooking skills as part of her bridal training, it was only for the daily needs of a family.

Compared to professional chefs, they are naturally still lacking in skill. To win in the competition, they need to choose a field they are better at.

It seems that Ayaka Kamisato's forte is desserts, but a meal can't consist of only desserts. Ultimately, desserts can only serve as accompaniments before or after the main courses; they're not quite qualified to be the main course.

Clearly, Ayaka Kamisato was aware of this as well, serving a bowl of udon noodles after the sushi and tamagoyaki. The light flavor, coupled with the dessert that followed, wasn't exactly perfect, but it was passable. After tasting all the dishes, Zhongli offered his opinion.

"Judging from the taste of each dish, Miss Kanari's cooking skills are indeed excellent, especially this bowl of udon noodles. I originally thought it was just an ordinary bowl of udon noodles, but when it was served, I smelled the fragrance of osmanthus. Moreover, this fragrance did not ruin the original taste and texture of the udon noodles, which is truly rare."

"Thank you for your praise, Mr. Zhongli."

"To be honest, every dish Miss Kamisato makes is delicious, but the food pairings are lacking. Considering that Miss Kamisato is not a professional chef, although she comes from a noble family and knows how to pair dishes to make them even more delicious, it is a pity that she is not skilled enough to take on this important task."

"Mr. Zhongli is right."

"On the contrary, Mr. Yanxiao's side was more professional. Whether it was the speed of serving the food or the combination of food, it was impeccable. Dishes such as pickled bamboo shoots with pork, boiled cabbage in clear broth, and golden shrimp balls were undoubtedly very accurate in capturing the taste of each of us. It is really impressive. I have to admit that Mr. Yanxiao has his own unique insights in reading people's expressions."

"After all, making sure our guests eat happily and are satisfied is what we chefs should be doing!"

"Indeed, it is an art for a chef to accurately grasp the taste of each guest. Therefore, there is no doubt that Yanxiao from the Liyue team will win this competition."

In the end, she still lost. Ayaka Kamisato smiled wryly and stepped forward to congratulate her. Yan Xiao accepted Ayaka Kamisato's congratulations and comforted her, telling her not to take it to heart.

After all, she is a professional chef, giving her a natural advantage in culinary competitions. Without that advantage, even with Ayaka Kamisato's culinary skills, the ultimate winner might not necessarily be Gensho himself!

After a period of rest, the competition venue was cleaned up and all the ingredients were replenished, and the second match officially began.

Zhong Li had originally expected the second match to end without any suspense, but the unexpected explosion caused by excessive lightning element did not occur as he had imagined. Instead, everything proceeded peacefully until the judges' tasting session.

Zhongli stared at the delicious-looking food before him, hesitant to start. He wasn't sure if, after so many years of practice, Balzeb had developed a cooking ability that allowed him to prepare food that looked perfectly good but was actually contaminated with some unknown poison.

However, seeing that the judges around her had all eaten without any problems, Zhongli knew that it would be impolite of her not to eat. Left with no other choice, Zhongli forced herself to eat the dish Mei had served.

good to eat!

The moment he tasted the food, Zhongli's mind was filled with thoughts of how delicious it was. He could hardly believe that these dishes were really made by Balzeb, who couldn't cook. It truly proved the saying, "A scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of separation." It seemed that he could finally shed his stereotype that Balzeb couldn't cook.

Just as Zhongli was about to pick up another dish to eat, she suddenly realized that she couldn't pick up any food at all. When she came to her senses, Zhongli realized that she had already eaten all of Mei's food.

On the other hand, Karin still had some leftovers, but that was only because she was surprised that Balzebu could cook such delicious food. Karin's food was still delicious, and she was in great spirits today, making dishes that lived up to her reputation as a genius chef. Moreover, Mei's food suffered from the same problem as Ayaka Kamisato's.

That would be sufficient for everyday cooking, but this is a cooking competition, and simply relying on everyday cooking is not enough. The speed of serving, plating, and the combination of various foods are all factors that need to be considered. Mei's food is certainly delicious and the speed of serving is acceptable, but she lost out in terms of plating and food combination.

While the dish included both Inazuma and Liyue food, the combination was indeed visually appealing. It's clear that considerable thought was put into it, but the food presentation seemed to prioritize quantity over aesthetics.

Since ancient times, high-class dishes have been beautifully presented, and only by achieving a perfect balance between portion size and plating can a dish be considered a high-class delicacy.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the Liyue delegation won this match, but considering that ending it like this would lack excitement, it was decided that Xiangling could not be deliberately judged to have lost. After discussion among the judges, it was decided to temporarily add the final two-on-two match, as well as a temporary internal cooking competition between Liyue Inazuma as the final highlight of the match.

All of the above matches are friendly matches and will not affect the final results. In addition, the judges are no longer limited to the judges on stage, but include all the audience members present.

The match went on until late at night, and no one had any objections. Everyone present was enjoying watching the four players bustling around on the field. The only one who probably suffered was Ayaka Kamisato.

After all, among these four people, Xiangling and Yanxiao are professional chefs, and they are already used to high-intensity cooking scenarios. Mei has also had a lot of experience with large gatherings, and she has her own insights into how to prepare large quantities of food. By the end, Ayaka Kamisato was so tired that she could barely stand, and it was Ayaka Kamisato who kindly helped her off the stage.

But this day was an exceptionally happy one for Ayaka Kamisato; she had never felt so fulfilled in her entire life. Looking at Ayaka, who was tired but still very happy, Ayaka's resentment vanished completely.

That's true, but given Li Yue's behavior, Ayato Kamisato naturally wouldn't easily give up the idea of ​​revenge. But that's a story for another time. Right now, he just wants to accompany his sister to rest.

And so the cooking competition came to an end, and the Moon Festival was drawing to a close. But one question remained unresolved: the true identity of the Kitchen God.

Since the cooking competition continued until late at night, and considering that Xiangling and the others, who were contestants, had exhausted their energy, and Keqing herself also had to finish up the competition, it was not appropriate for her to go directly to the statue to observe the situation.

So everyone agreed to rest for one night and then meet at Yujingtai the next day.

The next day, Kiana got up early, ate a delicious breakfast prepared by Mei, and then went to Yujingdai with Mei.

Keqing had already arrived and was waiting for everyone at the entrance of Yujingtai. Kiana checked the time and secretly guessed that Keqing had probably been dealing with work all night and only stopped and came to the entrance to wait for them after dawn.

Not long after everyone arrived, the group set off and came to the statue of the Kitchen God.

Unfortunately, the statue of the Kitchen God remained unchanged, just as it had been before the end of the cooking competition. Seeing this, Keqing couldn't help but feel disappointed. She had thought she was about to uncover the truth, but fate had played a cruel joke on her.

At this moment, Paimon stepped forward to comfort her, saying, "It's alright, Keqing. Although we didn't succeed this time, at least we now know that the Kitchen God is not the Emperor. In the future, we will definitely be able to find out the truth!"

“Paimon is right. Even if we haven’t found out the truth yet, it’s not right to be sad here now.” Keqing said after composing herself. “By the way, I promised Xiangling something. I brought the recipe with me. I originally planned to use it to celebrate after we find out the truth, but it seems it can only serve as a consolation.”

"Don't worry, I definitely won't let you down!"

As she spoke, Xiangling took the recipe that Keqing handed her. After reading the recipe, Xiangling let out a soft exclamation.

"What's wrong? Is there some material that has been lost and can no longer be used?" Paimon asked worriedly.

“No, not at all,” Xiangling shook her head and said, “I’m just surprised that I’ve made this dish before.”

"What? Xiangling, you did this before?"

"Yes, that's right. In my family, this dish is called Spicy Pork Buns. My father taught me how to make it before, saying that the recipe passed down from our ancestors is the best to carry with you as dry rations."

"So you mean you can make it?"

"Hmm! I can make it in a little while. By the way, the stove at the competition venue shouldn't have been dismantled yet, right?"

"Well, considering that the game ended too late yesterday, we planned to demolish it today. It should still be there if we go there now."

"That's good. I'll go prepare the ingredients and cook for you later!"

After saying that, Xiangling took Guoba to the market to buy ingredients. Not long after, Xiangling came back carrying a plate of steaming food.

"Please try the spicy pork buns you ordered, but be careful as they'll be a bit hot when they're fresh out of the pan."

After saying that, Xiangling placed the plate on the table under the statue. Keqing stepped forward, picked up a steamed bun, put the filling Xiangling had prepared inside, and ate it. With one bite, a familiar feeling rose in Keqing's heart. In a daze, she seemed to recall the scene when she was a child and ate spicy meat steamed buns with her grandfather.

Seeing that Keqing did not respond for a long time, Xiangling stepped forward and asked cautiously, "How does it taste? Is it the same as the one you ate when you were a child?"

"It tastes just like the food I ate when I was a child. Although there are some differences in the details, it is still the taste I remember."

As she spoke, Ke Qing picked up another cornbread and began to eat. This time, she slowly closed her eyes and savored the sensation of the cornbread on her tongue.

At that moment, she felt incredibly satisfied, and the expression on her face was no longer as tense as usual. Seeing this, everyone else stepped forward to eat as well, and in no time the entire plate of spicy meat buns was devoured.

Guoba looked at the empty plate on the table and immediately looked miserable. Seeing this, Kiana gently placed the steamed bun in her hand into Guoba's hand.

Guoba looked at the cornbread in his hand and a smile instantly appeared on his face. He happily hugged the cornbread and started to eat it.

Just then, the statue emitted a soft light, and the next second, all the soil covering the statue turned into dust and was blown away by the wind, revealing the statue's true appearance.

At first, everyone was pleasantly surprised by this unexpected delight, casting joyful glances at the statue. Then, after seeing the statue's true form, they showed expressions of astonishment. Their gazes shifted back and forth between the statue and Guoba, until finally Paimon couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Guoba, it's you!"