Chapter 145: Chapter 145: The Golden Gemstone
"After the friendly exchange just now, I believe both chefs have gained a basic understanding of each other. The next competition will have no specific rules, but what needs to be highlighted is your knife skills,"
the host announced, and the venue immediately boiled with excitement.
For the audience, the knife skills segment is the most thrilling part of any competition, especially when watching Chinese chefs display their knife work.
In previous competitions, all kinds of ingredients had transformed in the hands of Chinese chefs, providing a feast for the eyes.
Chen Yu couldn't help but frown, as this competition's rules clearly favored them.
This was the turf of the Zeus Alliance, and in theory, the organizers couldn't show partiality towards Chinese chefs.
However, when Chen Yu saw Victor enter the venue, limping with the aid of several security personnel, he seemed to grasp something.
Tong Ya had told Chen Yu the night before that William's family was the biggest financial backer of the Zeus Alliance.
But in recent years, the Zeus Alliance had been establishing independent companies, trying to shake off William's family.
This had greatly angered William's family.
Chen Yu raised his eyebrows, it looked like the Zeus Alliance had already lost this battle.
Who have they managed to offend now? They actually went and irritated their own 'sugar daddy'!
"[Congratulations Host on completing one day of business. Today's net profit is 1,935,600 Yuan, earning 1,935,600 points. Your current total cumulative points are 9,725,580.]"
The sudden notification sound startled Chen Yu.
Checking the time, it was two o'clock in the afternoon locally, which meant it was eight o'clock in the evening back home.
Seeing the rate at which points were accumulating, he would have another ten million points by this time tomorrow.
The competition was intense, with both sides showcasing their special skills.
Most of the Zeus Alliance's chefs were Western cooks whose cutting skills weren't that great, but to deal with this challenge, they must have been practicing hard in secret.
Although the knife work of a few was not quite masterful, it could still be considered top-notch.
But to Chen Yu, such knife work was nothing more than a laugh.
They couldn't even compare to any of the chefs on his side.
Wang Hai quickly sliced a cucumber with a kitchen knife twice, then lifted it.
The entire cucumber stayed connected like a spring, not only were the connections extremely fine, but the slices were also as thin as cicada wings.
Wang Hai mixed the finely cut cucumber with other ingredients and made a simple yet honest cucumber salad.
Chen Yu was not to be outdone. He picked up the fruit next to him and rapidly brandished his kitchen knife, and soon, a lifelike platter of animal-shaped fruit was arranged on the table.
Moreover, Chen Yu also made a dish of Mapo Tofu on the spot.
When all of the dishes from the Chinese chefs were presented, all the judges fixated on the Mapo Tofu.
It wasn't because it was the only hot dish on the table, but because every piece of tofu in it was identical in size and shape.
The whole platter of Mapo Tofu looked like a perfect piece of art, and almost all the judges were reluctant to spoil it by eating.
The big screen at the venue also focused on Chen Yu's Mapo Tofu.
"Wow, it's my first time seeing such a dish, it's too perfect. These pieces of tofu are just like Lego bricks, as if they were mass-produced,"
"None of them got damaged during the cooking process, what great skill."
"It seems that on this first day of the competition, the Zeus Alliance has been completely defeated."
"Although the alliance is supposed to be a collective of chefs, over the years they have become overly commercialized and are becoming less and less like chefs."
...
In comparison, the knife skills of the Zeus Alliance left much to be desired.
The only presentable skill was some basic carrot flower carving.
But these were the most fundamental plating techniques in Western cuisine, a world apart from what the Chinese chefs were doing.
Amid the discussions of the audience, the competition concluded, with the Chinese chefs emerging as the clear winners.
The first day of competition ended like this, with the people from the Zeus Alliance leaving the scene rather unwillingly.
After a busy day, Chen Yu was a bit tired and was just about to go back to rest when Victor stopped him.
"Mr. Chen, the wedding dress you commissioned me to make yesterday, I have had it rushed through the night, may I have your hotel address so I can send it over right away?"
Chen Yu was surprised, he had not expected that it would be possible to make such a complex handmade wedding dress overnight.
Tong Ya's eyes also widened in amazement. According to her design, the materials for the wedding dress were very hard to find, and even for William's family, it would probably take some effort.
It seemed she had underestimated the capabilities of William's family.
Victor didn't beat around the bush and immediately took out his tablet computer to show Chen Yu and Tong Ya the finished product.
Even just looking at the photos, they could feel an overwhelmingly beautiful aura.
Chen Yu thanked him profusely and gave him the address of his hotel.
Not long after Chen Yu and Tong Ya returned to their hotel, Victor had already sent two assistants to deliver the wedding dress.
Seeing the finished product, Tong Ya was so excited she was almost beside herself.
When she designed this wedding dress, she did so rather casually.
After all, the materials for making this dress, and the gemstones set in it, were extremely rare.
Even if all the materials were found, to purely handcraft it would require the cooperation of no less than three master dressmakers to perfectly create it.
But Chen Yu furrowed his brow.
When he saw the photo earlier, he thought the gemstones set in it were just ornaments, but now he realized that all of the gemstones and diamonds were real.
Just the largest gold gemstone, and the two symmetrical pink gemstones, were probably worth over a hundred million in value combined.
It had to be said, Victor was incredibly generous. Such a gift left Chen Yu not knowing what to do.
If he were to send it back, he might offend William's family.
He wasn't afraid of much, but Tong Group had a close collaboration with William's family in Europe, and he was afraid it might affect the partnership.
But if he didn't return it, such a valuable gift was truly overwhelming for him to receive.
"Honey, I didn't expect you to have such a big face that you could get William's family to set their family heirloom gemstones on it; it's like they're extending an olive branch to you," Tong Ya said.
Chen Yu's pupils dilated slightly: "Family heirloom gemstones?"
"Yes, these gold gemstones have been passed down since the Middle Ages and are unique to William's family! They only give one to those they consider their most intimate friends, and in a thousand years, they've only given out five."
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow, which meant this was the sixth one.
It turned out Victor considered him a friend; perhaps he was being too cynical after all.