Upon seeing such scores, the other chefs from Datong River immediately cheered, and the owner of Datong River had a smug look on his face, as if he had known this would happen all along.

"Damn it! Our Huaxia Gourmet Awards have always been known for giving low scores. Normally, an exceptionally good dish would only score around forty points, but Datong River's Truffle Steak actually got 45.5 points. Such a high score is utterly outrageous."

"Hey, these bastards, Datong River is so arrogant, yet they receive such high scores. What the hell is going on in the judges' minds?"

In the midst of his team members' complaints,

Shen Qiang's eyebrows were tightly furrowed.

People who have principles usually aren't bad people.

Clearly, the judges, even though they might not agree with Datong River's and that French chef's methods and what they said,

still had their principles.

Even the Three-tailed Demon Fox still gave a score of 8.5 points. This itself already proved that Datong River and the French chef's culinary skills were truly impressive.

Moreover, smelling the faint, distinctive truffle scent mixed with the fragrance of steak in the air, putting aside the competitive spirit, even Shen Qiang now really wanted to taste this sublime Truffle Steak for himself.

At that moment, it seemed as if the French chef heard what the translator said and pride filled his eyes as he shouted something loudly.

Shen Qiang did not understand what he said.

But just then, the host put the microphone in front of his translator.

The translator said, "Chef Adrian said that the Truffle Steak he made is the best, and the only reason he did not get a perfect score is that you culinary plebeians simply do not understand truffles. He can understand that, because not only are Huaxia's chefs inferior, but the truffles produced in Huaxia are also subpar."

Upon hearing these words, Shen Qiang felt his anger rising.

Although the most famous truffle regions are in Europe,

Huaxia is vast and abundant, with plenty of truffle-producing areas.

Not only on the mainland but also in the TW province, truffles are produced.

And in terms of both variety and texture, they are in no way inferior to those from other places.

What's more important is,

what the heck are truffles?

Shen Qiang had just received a tri-colored Earth Spirit Embryo the day before, its quality was simply incomparable to that of White or Black Truffles.

"In Huaxia, truffles are known as 'motherless fruits,' and there are plenty of people who can prepare them, so Mr. Adrian, I advise you to be more humble. Moreover, personally speaking, if I give you 8.5 points, it means it's only worth 8.5 points," Ms. Chu Qing, the beautiful judge, said with a cold look in her eyes.

The host immediately ignored them and continued with the competition.

"The second dish, from Hongyun Building, is their signature dish, Crystal Elbow! Judges, please taste and give your evaluations."

"This is a very good dish, but after tasting the Truffle Steak, it seems overly greasy, 7 points." the beautiful judge gave her evaluation.

Everyone was startled.

"The Crystal Elbow from Hongyun Building is an exquisite dish that has been served at state banquets, only 7 points?"

"How could it score so low?"

While everyone was astonished,

the other judges also gave their scores.

"8 points!"

"7.5 points!"

"7.5 points!"

"7.5 points!"

Seeing the nearly identical scores from several judges, everyone simultaneously gasped in shock.

"That French chef's Truffle Steak scored so high, and this Crystal Elbow's score is so low, I feel like something's not quite right. If he wins with such arrogance, what face would our Huaxia culinary world have left?"

"This is really fucked up; maybe the master chefs at Hongyunlou are out of form today."

"Yeah, that must be it. Otherwise, Hongyunlou's Crystal Elbow couldn't possibly score so low. But it doesn't matter. There are six more teams to go. We have plenty of great chefs in Huaxia. How could we possibly lose to this arrogant guy!"

Amid the discussions of the crowd,

The tasting segment continued.

But as time went on, after each dish was tasted, the atmosphere in the banquet hall inexplicably became more oppressive.

"Sigh, another new low. The lowest 4 and the highest 6 points, the scores are getting more and more divergent. There are only two teams left, and it seems that French chef is going to win."

"I don't know if it's genuinely a lack of skill or if it's all rigged. At this rate, Datong River is sure to take first place."

"Sigh, no wonder that French chef acts so high and mighty and that the owner of Datong River is willing to kiss up to them. You don't know until you compare, but it turns out our Huaxia chefs really don't measure up."

The crowd sighed and looked disheartened.

Standing next to Shen Qiang, Lv Shuyao's father let out a long sigh, looking at the dishes just served and ready to be tasted by the five judges, and said helplessly, "My skills are roughly the same as the other chefs. I'm confident my dish won't lose to theirs, but I'm not sure I can surpass them."

"If the score for Qingxiang's dish is also below eight, then we have no chance of winning against that Truffle Steak. This year's champion is probably going to be Datong River for sure."

Upon hearing these words, Shen Qiang frowned deeply.

To be honest, Shen Qiang didn't care whether Dinghao Hotel's team won or lost.

Shen Qiang came here for one purpose only, and that was to help Lv Shuyao's father clinch first place, a promise he had made to Lv Shuyao.

So Shen Qiang absolutely would not allow such a situation to occur.

"Don't rush, wait and see what happens," Shen Qiang spoke up to comfort him.

Almost at the same time, the beautiful female judge who had tasted the dish looked at the nervous chef with furrowed brows, feeling inexplicably disheartened, "How could it be like this? One dish is worse than the next, yet it's the same familiar recipe, the same familiar taste."

"For five full years, every competition, they come out with the same dishes. No innovation, no surprises. The taste is fine, the execution is there, but this is just treading water. Like this, there's no way to win that Truffle Steak!"

"6 points!" The disheartened female judge gave her verdict.

"7 points!"

"7 points!"

"7 points!"

"7.5 points!"

Seeing this, Lv Shuyao's father, who had immediately lost his fighting spirit, shook his head and sighed.

Meanwhile, the owner of Datong River laughed excitedly, "Old Lv, don't bother serving your dish anymore. Their highest score is only 8 points. Your skills are similar to theirs; you have no hope of beating us. I've always said that compared to our French chef, you all are only fit to carry plates."

His words weren't quiet, and everyone present heard him.

But at this moment, nobody seated there had the fighting spirit they started with, because they also felt that Huaxia chefs had been thoroughly humiliated and no one could beat Datong River now.

Sigh...

After sighing, Lv Shuyao's father, dispirited, gestured for his young apprentice to serve up his specialty dish.

No matter what, even if victory was impossible, this was not the time to give up.

But his listless demeanor made it clear to everyone, even without a contest, that he definitely couldn't win.

"So many chefs just to be humiliated like this, truly a bunch of hopeless cases," the female judge sighed in disappointment, beginning to pack her belongings, preparing to leave after tasting the last dish.

But just then,

Clatter!

Pff...

As flames flickered on with the sound of the stove igniting, the surprised female judge heard a somewhat haughty voice ring out,

"Hey, fatty, you guys at Datong River are laughing too soon. Tell that French 'wild dad' through the translator, when it comes to cooking with truffles, we Chinese are the ancestors!"

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