Believe I Hit You with a Stick

The staff was angry and said, "No! Who let you come so late? First come, first served for all ingredients. Everyone is treated equally, absolutely fair!"

Three kilograms of Australian lobster, premium sea cucumber, 1982 Lafite... You're just a deliveryman with no great skills but talk big. You dare to speak like this.

"Leader, this is being livestreamed. Please watch your tone!" Zhao Luyao pointed at the barrage of comments on the phone screen and said, "The audience is now questioning whether you conducted private transactions..."

"Let me see..." Su He craned his neck to look over, "You're right, they're scolding you badly."

In the last five minutes of the competition, the other teams had finished and presented their dishes on the big table in front of the judges.

Su He was still working hard to stir-fry the fried rice in the big wok.

Backstage at the competition venue, Xue Dagui and a leader from the organizer were smoking. Xue Dagui was bowing and scraping, "Director Ma, thank you so much for the trouble this time. This is the Phoenix Restaurant’s supreme gold card that allows free meals."

Director Ma laughed as he took the card, nodded and said, "No need to be so polite. Since you managed to poach the chef from Pinwei Pavilion, Phoenix Restaurant will surely win this year's championship!"

...

Time's up!

Su He brought up a plate of egg fried rice and put it on the table.

"What's the name of your dish?" The staff asked.

"Egg fried rice..." Su He turned around, went to stand in front of the big wok, took a small bowl and shouted at the audience below, "Line up if you want to eat!"

Su He didn’t care at all whether he would win the prize or not. Just before he came, he was watching videos and scrolling on his phone. Suddenly three options appeared after seeing Xue Dagui's video of holding up a sign.

【Option 1: Participate in the food competition. Reward upon completion: 20,000 RMB in cash】

【Option 2: Win the food competition championship. Reward upon completion: Professional racing car driving skills】

【Option 3: Expose the inside story of the food competition. Reward upon completion: Professional photography skills】

Su He rushed over immediately on his electric scooter and chose the first option without hesitation, steady income with no loss!

He’s currently obsessed with making money and has no interest in car racing or photography.

This was the first time a contestant on stage interacted with the audience below. Usually they could only watch the judges eating enviously, not knowing whether the food was actually delicious or not. So they lined up eagerly now that there’s a chance.

Although it’s just a plate of egg fried rice, it’s still better than standing below salivating.

"Wow, smells so good!"

"It smells delicious... This deliveryman seems quite capable!"

"Aiya, young people these days are too impatient... Hey, don't squeeze me! Or I'll hit you with my cane!"

The judges on stage were tasting and critiquing the dishes, while people below were lining up to collect the egg fried rice.

Seeing this, Dong Li also ran over with several apprentices to serve the egg fried rice.

Su He was relieved of his duty and called to the judges.

The other chefs looked at Su He with contempt. The competition was to showcase culinary skills and creativity. Just making egg fried rice degraded their standard.

As Su He walked over, the judges were critiquing his egg fried rice.

The chairman of the Culinary Association frowned, “In my decades in the industry, this is the first time someone made egg fried rice for a gourmet competition... Lacks creativity judging from the ingredients and presentation...”

The chairman took a bite and continued, “The taste is acceptable, 5 points.”

Next was Cai the food blogger, who had tens of millions of fans on short video platforms. He often checked in and reviewed food from different places. Along with his good looks, his videos were very popular.

“Delicious... This is the most delicious egg fried rice I’ve ever eaten. My darlings, today I discovered a hidden gem deliveryman whose egg fried rice is incredible. More surprisingly, he managed to stir-fry portions for over a hundred people at one go. I give him 9.5 points!” Cai gave very positive feedback. He also took out a small toy, a crystal model of a thumbs up, which fans who knew Cai recognized as his seal of approval for good food.

“For you... Take it quickly, don’t hesitate. This honor belongs to you!” Cai was very enthusiastic, always with a radiant smile on his face.

“Tha...thanks...” Su He suddenly froze and looked straight at Cai’s eyes. That line! The tone of voice!

Two nights ago, when the boss handed him the tissue, he also said “For you... Go to the toilet quickly, don’t soil your pants.”

Just then, the next judge continued with the critique, a local internet celebrity who gave 9.2 points.

The organizer representative gave 4.5 points.

The food enthusiast and randomly selected audience member gave 9.5 and 9.8 points respectively.

Excluding highest and lowest scores, the average score was 8.3 points, undoubtedly the last place.

Su He didn’t care about the results. He couldn’t get Cai’s words out of his mind. Was that a coincidence?

No!

Su He was too familiar with the system’s tasks and rewards. He just obtained advanced cooking skills. And today, just one day later, a cooking related option appeared. Although there were no options for the supermarket murder case, the system would always guide him closer to clues.

It depends if he can seize those clues!

Cai’s introduction was on the background wall of the competition venue. Looking at his stylish, flamboyant image there, it was difficult for Su He to associate him with the boss he met at the supermarket.

At this moment, the organizer started announcing the rankings. As expected, Phoenix Restaurant took first place while Pinwei Pavilion’s egg fried rice was last.

“Shady dealings!”

Someone in the audience suddenly shouted loudly.

“Shady dealings... Shady dealings... Shady dealings!”

The crowd erupted into chanting in unison. They found the last place result unbelievable after having tasted the egg fried rice themselves.

Seeing this, Dong Li also angrily joined the chanting. He had originally suspected only Xue Dagui making trouble behind the scenes. But now that the Culinary Association and organizers also gave low scores, he couldn’t help but doubt them too.

After the organizer handed out the certificates and medals, they slipped away awkwardly.

Su He took a glance at Cai who was interacting and taking selfies with fans, and was about to approach him with more questions. At this time, Zhao Luyao came over with Dong Li.

“Su He, Mr Dong thanks you for your help. He wants to return this 10,000 yuan to you...”

Dong Li returned Su He's 10,000 yuan commission. Su He didn't reject it and directly pocketed the money.

"Su He, let me formally introduce myself. I’m Dong Li, owner of Pinwei Pavilion. I’d like to invite you to join Pinwei Pavilion, with a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan. What do you think?” Dong Li had also tasted Su He’s egg fried rice. After discussing with his wife, he felt Su He indeed had some skills.

Twenty thousand... If Su He was still the deliveryman earning just a few thousand a month previously, he would have agreed without hesitation. But now, he shook his head, rejecting Dong Li’s offer.

Looking back, Cai had already left. Su He bid farewell to the others and departed too.