However, now that things have gotten to this point, she can only brace herself and get to it.

  Qiu Ling had snuck up behind the two at some unknown time. When she heard what Meng Yu said, she started asking with a strange tone, “You’re only asking about the opponent’s skills now? Isn’t that a little too late?”


  When she saw Tang Doudou’s speechless expression, she thought her guess was right and continued, “Are you trying to flee at the last minute after hearing about how amazing the opponent is? I’d advise you to leave early as well so as to avoid being nervous and messing up onstage, cause our Chamber of Commerce to lose face!”


  This woman sure is funny!

  Does she look like she’s scared and nervous?

  Tang Doudou was used to ignoring these types of people rather than bothering with them.

  Even though Meng Yu was slow, she also realized by now that Qiu Ling had complaints towards Tang Doudou. She knitted her brows and rebuked Qiu Ling. “What’s with you today? You keep speaking with a strange tone. I’m telling you, Tang Doudou’s not an ordinary person. If you offend her, watch out for the consequences! In a bit, we three still have to work together onstage. You can’t keep up this attitude!”


  “She’s going to the competition as well?” Tang Doudou asked in surprise.

  Meng Yu scratched her head. This current situation was a little out of her expectations. She could tell that Tang Doudou originally didn’t mind Qiu Ling’s nitpicking, yet Qiu Ling ended up treating Tang Doudou’s generosity as fear and kept targeting her with the attitude of wanting a foot after winning an inch. If it was her, she’d already have gotten angry so Tang Doudou was probably even more annoyed.

  When Meng Yu heard Tang Doudou’s surprised tone, she confirmed that Tang Doudou was pretty displeased right now.

  But before Meng Yu could even try to explain and mediate, that Qiu Ling spoke again in a cold mocking tone, “What? You’re afraid that I’ll laugh at you later? Don’t worry, I’ll be busy and won’t have the time to bother with you!”


  Heh, she’s seriously coming on strong huh?

  Tang Doudou lifted her brows and crossed her arms as she said disdainfully, “Afraid? I, Tang Doudou, have yet to encounter something that caused me fear in this lifetime!”


  Changing the topic, she said to Meng Yu, “I’m going to go get ready. You can resolve this on your own! I hope that when we get onstage later, the competition won’t be affected due to someone’s discontent. If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to help you!”


  After she finished speaking, she headed towards the aids and started messing with the kitchen tools and knives in a familiar manner.

  Qiu Ling curled her lips. She thought that Tang Doudou was purposely feigning an attitude. Just as she was about to say something, she saw Meng Yu fix a man-eating glare at her.

  “I’m warning you, put away those little thoughts of yours. If you interfere with this competition, Master won’t let you off!” Meng Yu glared at Qiu Ling until her back became covered with cold sweat before giving this stern warning.

  Baili Yu’s might could not be concealed. After Qiu Ling heard this warning, she hastily nodded. “I-I understand. I definitely won’t interfere with Master’s matters!”


  “It’s the face of Heng Xuan Chamber of Commerce!”


  Meng Yu left one last sentence, then went to collect the knives needed for the competition. Once the gong rang, she headed onto the stage.

  During this time, she had talked to Tang Doudou a little and Tang Doudou replied to her as usual. However, the expression in her eyes when she looked at Qiu Ling still didn’t improve. Seeing this, Meng Yu could only sigh.

  However, the competition was right about to start, so Meng Yu could only put away her thoughts and hope that Qiu Ling did take in what she said earlier. Otherwise, it was going to be troublesome on the stage.

  Tang Doudou was precisely this type of person: if you treat her well, she’ll treat you even better. If you don’t treat her well and deliberately make things difficult for her, then don’t blame her for being cold and ruthless towards you. In any case, she’s a petty person that also holds grudges.

  Otherwise, she wouldn’t have retaliated with several bites just because Baili Yu rubbed her nose raw.

  Speaking of Baili Yu, Meng Yu seemed to have said that he was also coming today. Wonder if he’d be able to recognize her in her female disguise?

  When Tang Doudou thought to this point, she exposed a little fox-like smile. Hopefully he wouldn’t be able to recognize her. That way she’d be able to give him a huge gift ah!

  Meng Yu had been peeking out of the corners of her eyes to check on Tang Doudou’s expression. When she saw Tang Doudou reveal such a crafty smile, she involuntarily shivered. Who’s this Master planning to scheme against now?

  Why does it look so terrifying?

  Time passed very quickly. When that gong rang out once again, Meng Yu’s heart leaped and she nervously touched Tang Doudou’s arm. “Doudou, the competition’s starting.”


  Tang Doudou calmly nodded, then followed after her to head to the front hall.

  From far away, she could see the temporary round stage that was set up in the middle of the empty space. Stoves and long tables were set up in a circle. Currently, there was not a single person on the stage. From the looks of it, this was the competition arena.

  The audience area facing the circular stage and the judging panel area were already filled with people. The front row, by the looks of their clothing, seemed filled with wealthy and respectable people, high officials and nobles. The people sitting behind them were womenfolk and servant girls. They all made quite a show of extravagance as they chatted in little groups about daily household matters. From the looks of their postures, they were behaving with a lot of etiquette.

  In one glance, Tang Doudou spotted the stunning figure sitting in the highest area amid these people.

  She couldn’t help but criticize silently that this evil spirit was truly beyond saving.

  Everyone else is quietly chatting, yet he was sitting there listening to a little maid’s melody and drinking wine as he languidly laid on that fox fur-covered chair.

  Today, he returned to his past extravagant, seductive yao atmosphere. He wore a moon-white robe and his ink-colored hair was half drawn back with a headband of the same color. It caused him to seem like an ethereal god from the Ninth Heaven (the highest heaven).

  That pair of elegant peach blossom eyes were half closed, making it even more attractive as people couldn’t help but daydream about the scene when those eyes completely open.

  Smacking her lips, Tang Doudou wiped away the drool that had almost spilled out and reluctantly retrieved her gaze. Her black eyes swept everywhere and she immediately became speechless by what she saw. What the hell? With this seductive yao here, who would still have the heart to care about the competition?

  Tang Doudou used her elbow to nudge Meng Yu who had her jaw dropped at the sight. Looking around, all the kitchen maids were gazing at Baili Yu as if they were bewitched. Tang Doudou became a little displeased. Just keep freaking looking, keep looking. Humph, just go look at the seductive yao and don’t compete anymore!

  Meng Yu only returned to her senses after Tang Doudou nudged her several times. She swallowed her drool, a little embarrassed, then she said to Tang Doudou, “Too good looking. Even after seeing him that many times, I still feel like Master is so good looking he doesn’t seem human. He seriously confirms that sentence.”


  “What sentence?”


  “A good-looking person could be eaten like food!”


  Pfff!

  Tang Doudou couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Patting Meng Yu’s shoulder, she said, “Haa, then you don’t need to eat anymore in the future. You can just sustain yourself on looking at Baili Yu!”


  Hearing this, Meng Yu scratched her head, even more embarrassed. She suddenly thought of something and her face was dyed suspiciously red as she muttered, “It’s when seeing him that I can’t eat. With Master I can still bring myself to eat……”


  Although those words were very confusing, Tang Doudou still managed to understand. She just didn’t know who Meng Yu was talking about that actually had even more charm than Baili Yu.

  She must take a look someday when she gets the chance in order to increase her knowledge a little.

  The competition didn’t immediately begin, so Tang Doudou who was waiting below the stage could only look left and right. She was surprised to see an unusual young girl.

  While everyone was gazing at Baili Yu infatuatedly, she was the only one looking straight ahead with an indifferent and remote gaze. Her eyes contained calmness and depth that was uncommon for those at that age.

  The young girl was particularly delicate and pretty. It was just that she seemed a little undernourished, causing her facial color to be a bit lacking and her physique to seem extremely fragile.

  Who is she?

  How come she seems to give off such a strong pressure?

  And there’s also a feeling of wanting to get closer to her. This is seriously strange!

  Tang Doudou stared at that young girl curiously. Perhaps she dazed out and concentrated too much because the young girl felt it and looked over in her direction.

  Their gaze met head on.

  Having been discovered, Tang Doudou exposed her white teeth and smiled towards that young girl to express her goodwill.

  The young girl also gave her a slight smile before turning away and continuing to look forward without much expression. It was as if there was some scene there that one couldn’t shift their eyes away from and it caused Tang Doudou to feel baffled.

  What a strange person.

  Retrieving her curious gaze, Tang Doudou was completely bored so she softly asked Meng Yu, “Who’s that young girl wearing gray clothes?”


  Meng Yu looked around. When she saw that young girl and confirmed that Tang Doudou was talking about her, she said with a little bit of unease, “Her? She’s our formidable opponent for this competition. I think she’s called San Yu or something…… Don’t be deceived by how normal she looks. Her culinary arts skills can’t be underestimated. I heard that the last time she competed, she completely stunned several of the top chefs in the culinary world. They all asked to consult her about culinary techniques but were all rejected by her.”


  “Tsk, tsk. Just this imposing air is already something that normal people wouldn’t be able to compete against!”


  Tang Doudou nodded. She pretty much understood. The person that they had to face this time was quite troublesome, they might actually lose.

  Meng Yu was also quite a troll for not telling her earlier. She wasn’t sure if the things she switched out earlier would be enough for them to win this competition.

  After learning how formidable the opponent was, Tang Doudou also became a little apprehensive. After all, the menu this time wasn’t something she chose and the competition rules didn’t allow for last minute switching of dishes. It would probably be very difficult to win only switching a couple things out like this!

  Forget it, she’ll just take a step and see where it leads. As long as she puts in all her effort it’s enough, she didn’t really mind whether she won or not.

  The proverbs put it well, what’s important is the process after all!

  If Meng Yu found out what Tang Doudou was thinking, she’d probably jump three meters high in shock. No matter what she wouldn’t have gone with Tang Doudou’s belief that what is important is the process!

  This wasn’t an ordinary culinary competition at all. If it was, why would Master be attending personally?

  Not to mention, the people that were sitting on the first row were not simple, especially the person in the center. If that person’s identity was revealed, it would shock everyone.

  In this entire country, there was only Baili Yu that dared to be absolutely unrestrained and pompous in front of that person.

  Actually, there was one more person Tang Doudou that recognized sitting in the audience. It was just that after Tang Doudou saw Baili Yu, she didn’t have the heart to pay attention to anyone else so she didn’t notice him.

  Surrounding Xi Qiuyue were people that were chattering continuously about how the East family was long and the West family was short*. It was so loud his ears were practically going numb so he looked towards the kitchen maids, annoyed. It’s already been so long, why aren’t they starting the competition yet?

  "how the East family was long and the West family was short” Basically, this is a saying that refers to idle chatter, often judgmental, and often used as a warning. Aka, it’s usually used when warning others not to randomly gossip with others. Also it sometimes warn people not to lecture others on what’s right and what’s wrong, otherwise, others might dislike you.

  As he stretched his neck in that direction, he discovered that there was a person that looked very familiar. But when he recalled who that person was, he couldn’t overlap the two figures. Completely puzzled, he drank a cup of wine. Could it be that he saw wrong?

  That not right, based on the strength of his eyesight, how could he see wrong?

  How could Tang Doudou possibly be aware that there was still a person scrutinizing her from the audience? Currently, she was walking to the competition stage after being quietly beckoned by Meng Yu.

  After all the kitchen maids walked up, the noisy audience instantly quieted down and looked calmly at the kitchen maids on the stage. A manager walked up from below, smiled mildly towards the audience, then announced, “Wind Spirit’s annual culinary competition officially commences now!”


  __________

  Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Edited by snowgem

  [Chiyomira's Corner]

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