Chapter 149: Owner Bu Has Become Cocky
Translator: OnGoingWhy Editor: Vermillion
"Oh my, Owner Bu, you're participating in this year's Hundred Family Banquet as well! That's great, I'll be looking forward to your dish!"
As Bu Fang stepped into the Gate of Heavenly Mystery, he was suddenly greeted in an enthusiastic manner by a round meatball. A stunned expression immediately appeared on Bu Fang's face. What was Fatty Jin doing here? However, after thinking for a moment, his confusion resolved on its own. After all, there was no restriction in the random selection of the Hundred Family Banquet's guests. So it was not that surprising for Fatty Jin to be here as well.
"Owner Bu, this is my son and my daughter-in-law," Fatty Jin said with a smile as he pulled along his daughter-in-law and his son, who was round-looking like him.
Bu Fang nodded toward the gentle woman next to Fatty Jin. He was surprised that Fatty Jin could actually find such a gentle-looking woman for his son.
Their chat lasted briefly and Bu Fang was soon on his way toward a particular kitchen stove. The young eunuch from yesterday had already clearly informed him about the location of his kitchen stove, so he was able to easily find his own spot.
After reaching his kitchen stove, Bu Fang's eyebrows were immediately knitted together as he sized up the place. He let out a sigh internally. He was not in his store's kitchen after all… The kitchen stove was simply too crude but it was still not a hindrance for him.
A young eunuch was standing behind Bu Fang's kitchen stove. This young eunuch was specially assigned to help light the fire at Bu Fang's stove. There were young eunuchs like him standing behind the other stoves as well.
"Where are the ingredients that I asked for?" Bu Fang asked the young eunuch. The young eunuch immediately made a baffled expression and shook his head. Bu Fang mildly nodded in response. He was not so worried since he saw people carrying ingredients toward some of the other kitchen stoves. His ingredients should arrive soon enough.
Sure enough, the ingredients that Bu Fang needed were brought to him after a while.
The gaze of many of the chefs near Bu Fang were all focused on his location. They were very curious about the dish Bu Fang was going to make.
The bald-headed Chef Jin narrowed his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest and looked toward Bu Fang's location as well. The corners of his lips slightly curled up with a hint of disdain.
As a chef from the imperial kitchen, he had his own pride.
"Hmm?" Suddenly, Chef Jin's eyes widened and a surprised expression appeared on his face. There was simply too much variety in Bu Fang's ingredients. Furthermore, there were all sorts of colors… More importantly, none of them were high grade ingredients. There were only ordinary as well as exquisite ingredients. Some of them did not even contain spirit energy.
"Is Owner Bu planning to only use ordinary ingredients to make his dish? He's participating in this year's Hundred Family Banquet like this?" None of the chefs were able to make heads or tails of the situation.
In their own opinion, no matter how delicious a dish made from ordinary ingredients was, how could it compare with dishes made from high grade ingredients? Just the fragrance that formed from the spirit energy alone was enough to instantly defeat everything.
This Owner Bu was being really cocky! Was he looking down on them? Did he really plan to defeat them with a dish that only used these ordinary ingredients?
One after another, many of the chefs revealed sneering expressions on their faces.
They were all looking forward to watching Bu Fang embarrass himself because once the cooking started, Bu Fang would understand the importance of using ingredients with spirit energy.
With the court musicians performing their music in the background, the mood in the Gate of Heavenly Mystery became even more festive. A group of guards marched out from the Main Hall and stood on both sides of the pathway as aristocrats, generals, and other court officials walked out after them while talking and laughing. Other than the commoners that were luckily selected, aristocrats living in the imperial city were naturally attending the Hundred Family Banquet as well while bringing along their families.
After all, there were not many opportunities for them to taste the cooking of chefs from all over the empire.
Ouyang Zongheng was sitting at one of the banquet tables with a smile on his face alongside Ouyang Xiaoyi as well as one of his wives. There were a lot of aristocrats at this particular banquet table, like members of the Xiao and Yang families… They were all families that were well-known in the imperial city.
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In this year's Hundred Family Banquet, they were looking forward to Bu Fang's dish the most. The opportunity of eating Bu Fang's dishes outside of his store was even more difficult to encounter than the Hundred Family Banquet. Therefore, they were naturally filled with anticipation and immediately started a discussion on what Bu Fang would be cooking after sitting down.
With the gaze of everyone there focused on him, the emperor arrived in his dragon robe and a cloak made from the fur of a spirit beast draped over his shoulder. He elegantly sat down on the main seat and a smile appeared on his face as he observed the ongoing festivity.
Ji Chengxue exhaled a cloud of white breath and then started giving an inspirational speech that raised the intensity of the exuberant atmosphere even further.
Once his speech was over, Ji Chengxue announced the start of the Hundred Family Banquet.
...
Chef Jin pulled out a kitchen knife with an edge gleaming with sharpness. He specially requested the most famous blacksmith in the imperial city to forge this knife. The knife was heavy and capable of slicing through metal like it was mud. After using this kitchen knife for so many years, he was able to use the knife effortlessly.
For this year's Hundred Family Banquet, the dish he was going to make was none other than the Four Happiness Meatballs. He prepared many types of first-rate meat from spirit beasts. There was meat from both bovine spirit beasts as well as porcine spirit beasts from first grade all the way to third grade. The texture of bovine meat was soft and its marbling was extremely distinct. On the other hand, porcine meat was fat but not greasy and was abundant with spirit energy. He was going to make the Four Happiness Meatballs by mixing these two types of meat together. Chef Jin was confident that he could conquer everyone with this dish.
The ingredients he used were all top-notch. How could those garbage ingredients that Bu Fang prepared even compare with his? True delicious flavors would naturally require the use of excellent ingredients. How could dishes made from garbage ingredients be delicious?!
Therefore, Chef Jin viewed Bu Fang's actions with contempt. He originally thought Owner Bu might be an opponent that would be difficult to deal with. Now it seemed… he was just someone with an undeserved reputation.
The ingredients prepared by the chefs were all rather high quality. There was even the meat of a fourth grade spirit beast, the Antler Sheep. It was obvious that everyone was planning to use these high quality ingredients to boost their own fame.
Cries of astonishment immediately came from the spectators below.
At that moment, several hundred chefs immediately started processing their ingredients. Every one of them demonstrated their cutting techniques to their heart's content. Some of the more skillful chefs were simply eye-dazzling as they started performing their cutting techniques. The scene of the chefs brandishing their kitchen knives as the blades reflected the glare of the sunlight was extremely astounding.
The commoners, who had never seen such a spectacular scene before, immediately let out cries of astonishment.
In that instant, the distinct sound of kitchen knives colliding with cutting boards resounded within the entire Gate of Heavenly Mystery.
...
Bu Fang took out the ingredients prepared by the imperial palace one after another. They were all ordinary ingredients that could be commonly seen in the homes of commoners.
These ingredients were really pitiful looking compared to the high grade ingredients prepared by the other chefs.
However, Bu Fang remained expressionless as he took out all of the ingredients. After cracking his neck, he was ready to start processing the ingredients.
The mark on his wrist flashed for a moment before a wisp of green smoke encircled his hand and a kitchen knife as black as ink appeared.
The more Bu Fang used the Golden Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife, the more proficient he became at using it. It felt as if the knife had fused together with his own arm and was becoming extremely easy to use.
Holding the kitchen knife in his right hand, he gently flicked the blade with his finger. Bu Fang's mouth slightly widened into a smile as he felt the slight vibration coming from the knife.
With true energy gathered in his hand, Bu Fang suddenly slapped the top of the table with his palm and the meat placed on the table all bounced into the air.