Chapter 506: Three Themes
"We're here. This is where you draw the themes."
After only a few steps, Manager Zhang pushed open the door to a room. The room was completely empty, giving off a spacious and bare feeling. In the very center stood a raised platform, and on top of it was a metal box about the size of a ballot box, with a distinctly technological appearance.
Zhao Yangfan was already familiar with the process of drawing themes, so his expression didn't change much. Qi Han, however, was here for the first time and was especially curious about the metal box.
This box doesn't look simple… judging from the special patterns on its surface, it's actually a spirit tool.
Using a spirit tool to draw lots? How exactly does that work?
Sensing Qi Han's confusion, Manager Zhang explained:
"This is a drawing spirit tool specially commissioned by our Culinary Association from a level five Spirit Engineer. You just need to inject a small amount of spirit power, and it will randomly eject one of the preloaded theme tokens inside. By the way, Boss Qi, you do have spirit power, right?"
"I do." Qi Han nodded.
"Good. Then there's no problem. Which of you would like to go first?"
"Mr. Zhao, please go ahead." Qi Han took a small step back. He had never used a spirit tool before, so letting Zhao Yangfan go first would allow him to observe how it worked, avoiding the embarrassment of revealing his unfamiliarity.
Besides, since each person would draw once, the order didn't really matter.
"Alright." Zhao Yangfan nodded and stepped forward. He placed his hand on a raised section of the metal box and slowly infused it with some spirit power. Soon, with a crisp click, a seam opened at the top of the box, and a metal plate popped out.
Catching the plate casually, Zhao Yangfan glanced at it, then showed it to Manager Zhang and Qi Han with a slight smile.
"Looks like I got lucky."
The metal plate clearly had the words "Beef" engraved on it. This meant that the first competition theme was beef.
No matter where you went, beef was a common ingredient, making this a fairly standard theme.
Drawing a common theme was naturally more favorable for chefs to showcase their skills. While niche themes could allow for unexpected wins, they could also backfire if the chefs weren't familiar with them.
That was why Zhao Yangfan felt fortunate.
There were countless dishes that could be made with beef, offering a wide range of choices.
Seeing this theme, Qi Han also nodded subtly.
At present, the beef-related dishes Qi Han had mastered included Tomato Beef Brisket, various grilled beef skewers, and Lantern Shadow Beef.
The culinary challenge venue would be provided by the Mingdu City Culinary Association. At most, he could bring some commonly used utensils. The "black-tech" time-acceleration tools wouldn't be usable, so Lantern Shadow Beef—which required long periods of air-drying—was not suitable. Moreover, it was a 3-star dish, and using it might trigger unusual phenomena, potentially causing unnecessary trouble.
That left only two viable options: Tomato Beef Brisket or grilled beef skewers.
Clearly, Tomato Beef Brisket was the optimal choice, while grilled skewers were better suited for a surprise tactic.
Tomato Beef Brisket it is!
With his plan settled, Qi Han stepped forward.
He had carefully memorized Zhao Yangfan's actions earlier, so now he mimicked them—placing one hand on the raised section and slowly injecting spirit power.
Soon, the metal spirit tool box split open again, and another metal plate popped out.
Qi Han grabbed it and took a glance. His expression immediately turned a bit strange. Then he showed the words on the plate to the other two.
If Zhao Yangfan's draw had been considered standard, then Qi Han's was definitely unusual.
The plate clearly read: "Fruit."
Fruit…
Zhao Yangfan's face instantly showed disappointment, though a trace of delight flickered deep in his eyes.
This theme could be considered niche. After all, fruits were usually served as platters in restaurants and rarely made into actual dishes.
You couldn't exactly bring out a fruit platter for a culinary showdown, could you?
But by sheer coincidence, one of Bright Court Pavilion's chefs had recently developed a new dish that incorporated a type of fruit, making it perfectly usable for this theme.
This dish hadn't been released yet. He could use it to mislead his opponent for now, and then give them a surprise at the crucial moment…
Thinking this, Zhao Yangfan glanced at Qi Han and suddenly let out a silent laugh.
Why am I overthinking this?
Although he didn't know why His Majesty had ordered him to challenge such an unknown restaurant, the gap in strength between the two sides was clearly enormous.
Against a restaurant like this, what need was there for strategy?
Completely unnecessary.
The emperor had only instructed him to carry out the challenge, not to let the opponent win. Naturally, Bright Court Pavilion wouldn't hold back. Under such circumstances, a place like Han Shi stood no chance against them.
With that in mind, Zhao Yangfan stopped pretending and gradually revealed a faint, mysterious smile.
Qi Han, however, paid no attention to Zhao Yangfan's shifting expressions. He stared at the metal plate in his hand, deep in thought.
My luck is really good.
The theme is fruit—what is there to think about?
I'll go with Crab Stuffed with Orange!
Strictly speaking, Qi Han actually had quite a few dishes related to fruit. Crab Stuffed with Orange was the most obvious one, but candied hawthorn and Golden Dragon Spine also counted.
The hawthorn used in candied hawthorn was obviously fruit, and the sweet-and-sour dipping sauce for Golden Dragon Spine also contained juice from a special fruit, so it could technically qualify.
However, candied hawthorn wasn't a safe choice—it was just a dessert. As for Golden Dragon Spine… using fruit only in the dipping sauce felt a bit forced.
So Crab Stuffed with Orange was clearly the best option.
Placing the metal plate aside, Qi Han stepped back to give Manager Zhang space.
The third draw would be conducted by Manager Zhang on behalf of the Culinary Association.
Soon, the third theme was revealed.
Vegetables.
It was another broad and very common theme.
Seeing this, Zhao Yangfan simply nodded and didn't think much of it.
There were too many dishes that fit the vegetable theme—choosing one at random later would be no problem.
Besides, this was the third theme. If Bright Court Pavilion won the first two rounds, there wouldn't even be a need for a third match.
Coincidentally, Qi Han had the same thought.
If he won the first two rounds, there would be no need to prepare for the third one, right?
But that thought only flashed briefly through his mind.
Although he was almost certain to win the first two rounds, he still decided to play it safe.
Confidence was good, but tactically, he couldn't afford to underestimate his opponent.
As for choosing a dish for the vegetable theme… that gave Qi Han a bit of trouble.
Han Shi didn't have many purely vegetarian dishes, but quite a few dishes still met the vegetable theme.
After all, as long as vegetables were included in a dish, it counted. Dishes like Tomato Beef Brisket obviously qualified because of the tomatoes, and many other dishes also included vegetables as side ingredients. Combining meat and vegetables not only balanced flavors but also ensured nutritional variety.
On the Douluo Continent, however, vegetables were usually cooked on their own…
Thinking about how he might bring out a meat dish to compete against someone else's vegetable dish, Qi Han couldn't help but laugh.
Forget it.
There's no guarantee Bright Court Pavilion will even make it to the third round.
With that thought, he looked at Zhao Yangfan and revealed a shy smile.
Coming all this way just to hand me a win.
What a nice guy!
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