Are you deliberately picking a fight?

Upon hearing this, Nan Xu looked at the chef opposite her as if he were an idiot.

Are you saying that I, a second-rank culinary master from a past life, don't know as much about cooking as you?

After a long pause, he slowly spoke, "...Now I really don't understand what the 'value' of your eighth-rank chef title is."

He reached into his robe and pulled something out of his food pouch.

It was a gilded cloud-patterned token, with the words "Chef Qualification Certificate" engraved on the front and "Eighth Grade" on the back.

He slammed the token on the table with a "bang," and stared straight at the other person without saying a word.

Hearing the commotion, the surrounding diners couldn't help but turn their attention to it.

The young chef stared at the token on the table, his face turning bright red.

He had just said that this young upstart didn't understand the significance of reaching the eighth rank at his age, but in the blink of an eye, the other party also produced an eighth-rank token.

The key issue is that the other person is even younger than me. Does that mean I'm the one who lacks substance?

"Well... you're too young. How can you have that much time to hone your culinary skills? Even if you're lucky enough to get an eighth-rank token, it doesn't mean anything!" the young chef retorted stubbornly. "I've been honing my skills at the eighth rank for several years. How can you compare to me?"

"You've been 'settling' at the eighth rank for several years? So, your talent is nothing special after all..." Nan Xu said leisurely.

"Shut up!" The young chef was furious, his veins bulging. "I get it! You must have been sent by our rivals to deliberately cause trouble! You didn't even notice anything wrong with my dish; you just wanted to ruin our business, right?!"

Nan Xu said calmly, "It's easy to verify whether I'm deliberately causing trouble. I see that besides me, quite a few other people here have also ordered these two dishes."

"I can remake these two dishes and let these diners try them for free. If they think mine tastes better, wouldn't that prove that my feedback was valid and not just empty talk?"

"You..." The young chef clenched his fists. How could he not know if there was something wrong with his two dishes?

When purchasing ingredients, in order to save some money, he would often deliberately replace some of the ingredients with lower quality and less fresh ones.

To avoid being discovered by the chef, he deliberately kept that portion of the ingredients for himself, and for vegetables that were significantly affected by their freshness, he would intentionally use stronger seasonings to mask the problem.

"...Okay, let's have a competition! But by the time you finish, my two dishes will be cold. If we're going to compete, we'll both start from scratch!" the young chef said.

Nan Xu laughed. The little schemes in the young chef's mind were completely transparent to him.

However, he didn't immediately expose him, but instead agreed: "Okay, no problem."

Anyway, he can still win, and once he wins, the initiative will be in his hands.

With a "ding" system notification sound, a task was generated.

Looks like he's lucky; he managed to find free experience while just going out for a meal.

Thinking this, Nan Xu stood up and walked calmly toward the kitchen.

……

back kitchen.

From the moment he stepped into the kitchen, Nan Xu began to take in the surroundings.

After looking around, he nodded slightly.

It's clear that the chef at this restaurant is quite particular; the kitchen is very clean and the items are neatly arranged.

Even compared to the kitchen of Baiweilou, it's not that much worse.

Actually, judging from the dish of Shuiyang Sanbao that he ate, he knew that the chef was unlikely to be someone who would fool diners. However, it seems that he is not very good at managing his subordinates.

At this moment, the chefs in the kitchen also noticed Nan Xu, the stranger who had entered the kitchen, and they all cast questioning glances at him.

A chef who looked to be in his thirties, and appeared to be in charge of the kitchen, turned his gaze to the young chef who had brought in the guests: "Xiao Zhao, what's going on? Why did you bring guests in?"

"Chef Huang, this guy is a fellow chef who's here to challenge us, insisting there's something wrong with our dishes!" Chef Zhao's words were laced with hostility. "In that case, I'll have a match with him!"

"This..." Master Huang frowned, glanced at the chef surnamed Zhao, and then at Nan Xu.

"Young master, is there some misunderstanding? If it was truly our mistake, I apologize on his behalf..."

Upon hearing this, the chef surnamed Zhao snorted coldly: "Why boost others' morale while diminishing our own? Chef Huang, you should stay out of this!"

If we disregard the two defective products, he was fully confident that he could beat the boy in front of him if he started from scratch.

After all, he had accumulated several years of experience as an eighth-rank chef, while the token that this young upstart had taken out was brand new and obviously had only been obtained recently.

As fellow eighth-rank chefs, there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to beat him!

But if Master Huang continues talking to him, his secret use of inferior ingredients might be exposed, which is unacceptable.

Upon seeing this, Nan Xu smiled.

"Alright, let's let our strength speak for itself."

He wasn't in a hurry to expose this guy's tricks, after all, he still needed to rely on the other guy to gain experience.

"Steamed pork with rice flour and stir-fried vegetables, right? Where are the ingredients?"

Upon hearing this, the chef surnamed Zhao quickly brought over the fresh ingredients.

To prevent Nanxu from noticing anything amiss, he specially selected the highest quality ingredients to ensure everything went perfectly.

Nan Xu glanced at it, said nothing, picked up the ingredients, and began to process them efficiently.

The chef surnamed Zhao was not to be outdone, and his speed in processing ingredients was no different from that of Nan Xu.

Seeing this, Master Huang let out a long sigh.

He watched the chef surnamed Zhao's movements with a furrowed brow, seemingly lost in thought.

As time went by, the aroma gradually filled the kitchen.

Finally, the two finished cooking at almost the same time!

"It's done! I'll serve the dishes first so the diners can try them!"

The chef, surnamed Zhao, placed the two dishes into small plates, dividing them into smaller portions for easy tasting.

Then, he picked up a tray and rushed out.

Seeing this, Nan Xu smiled.

For dishes like steamed pork with rice flour, which are rich in flavor and oil, the person who is served first naturally has an advantage.

However... in the face of true strength, this advantage is nothing.

He calmly and leisurely picked up his tray and walked out.

At this moment, the chef surnamed Zhao was already outside embellishing Nan Xu's wickedness: "Gentlemen, a fellow chef has come to challenge us, saying there's something wrong with how we cook at Ningquanju!"

"Our dishes at Ningquanju have always been prepared with care, striving to be worth the price, and have been well-received by our customers. These unfounded accusations are simply an attempt to ruin our business!"

Upon hearing this, some diners nodded unconsciously.

A murmur of discussion arose from the crowd.

"Yes... I think the food at Ningquanju is pretty good, I haven't noticed anything wrong with it."

"They can't be holding us to the standards of a fifth or sixth-grade chef, can they?"

"That makes sense. If a normal person doesn't like the food, they won't come back next time, right? Staying to nitpick is obviously a competitor trying to cause trouble, isn't it?"

Seeing that public opinion had completely sided with him, the chef surnamed Zhao revealed a barely perceptible smile.

Little brat, this is their home turf at Ningquan Residence.

What gives a chef from out of town the confidence to compete with him?