"Sister Ei is amazing; she's actually become so skilled at cooking."
At this moment, the people outside the arena were also watching the competition with rapt attention. Raiden Ei's cooking movements were somewhat dazzling.
"The dish that Inazuman is making... seems a bit like our Liyue dishes? But I've never seen it before."
"It smells quite fragrant; it should be delicious, right?"
As Ye Zixiu watched Raiden Ei's rapid movements, he felt overwhelmed. His rhythm was disrupted by Raiden Ei, and he even messed up a few steps.
Sweat began to pour down his face. He was struggling to keep up and could no longer follow the rhythm at all.
"As we can see, Contestant Raiden Ei from the Inazuma region is chopping vegetables very fluidly. She has already begun preparing her first dish. Contestant Ye Zixiu from the Qingce Village area has lost his composure; he's a bit panicked."
Raiden Ei originally didn't even know how to chop vegetables, but she later discovered that if she treated the vegetables as enemies, she could chop them very efficiently.
"Contestant Ye Zixiu is making a very common Inazuman dish, boiled blackback perch."
"And the dish Contestant Raiden Ei is making... I've never seen it before. It should be an innovative dish, or perhaps a dish from Inazuma."
"This is a culinary duel between Inazuma and Liyue. Who will win the competition in the end? Let's wait and see." Yanfei explained the match with great enthusiasm, and the audience's emotions were completely stirred up by her.
"Makoto, when did Ei become so proficient at cooking..." Keqing looked at Raiden Makoto with some confusion. "Last time she..."
"She practiced for a few days, and she only knows those few simple dishes." Raiden Makoto smiled. She had taught Raiden Ei about three dishes, all of which were very simple to make.
mapo tofu, Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin, and Braised Blackback Perch.
Of the three dishes, except for the last one which existed in Liyue, the other dishes were prepared in ways that did not exist in Liyue.
"But the taste should be good." To be honest, she had wanted to try her sister's cooking over the past two days, but Raiden Ei had refused every time. She didn't even know how much her sister's cooking had improved until now.
"Then I'm looking forward to it." Although it wasn't Keqing's favorite golden shrimp balls, since Raiden Makoto said the taste was good, she was very expectant.
By the time Raiden Ei had completely finished all three dishes, Ye Zixiu had barely finished one.
Watching Raiden Ei complete three dishes so efficiently and quickly, his mental state began to crumble.
How could Raiden Ei be so fast? She was incredibly quick when processing ingredients; he was far behind her.
"Contestant Raiden Ei from the Inazuma region has already completed the preparation of three dishes, while Contestant Ye Zixiu from Qingce Village has just finished one."
"I must say, Contestant Raiden Ei's speed is truly very fast. So, how do Contestant Raiden Ei's dishes taste? We invite the judging panel to score them first!"
After Raiden Ei presented the three dishes, she looked at Raiden Makoto with some joy; she was also a bit excited.
She had prepared for so long precisely to prepare dishes for her sister once she was thoroughly proficient.
The Culinary King Competition was only secondary.
"This dish is mapo tofu..."
"This dish is Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin..."
"This dish is Braised Blackback Perch..." Everything Raiden Ei made was what Raiden Makoto had taught her. She now looked at Raiden Makoto expectantly.
She hadn't let her sister try them over the past few days precisely because she was looking forward to letting her sister try them today.
What she looked forward to most was Raiden Makoto's review.
"Although the methods are simple, the flavors of these dishes are all very good... especially the Braised Blackback Perch. There are subtle differences from traditional Liyue dishes, and the taste is excellent." After tasting the three dishes, Keqing nodded with satisfaction.
"Hmm... the taste is good." Ningguang nodded. "Are these dishes that haven't been seen in Liyue before from Inazuma?"
"No... they are new dishes my sister developed based on Liyue cuisine."
"I see." Uncle Tian also nodded slowly. "The flavors of all three dishes are top-notch... and the methods are simple, making them very suitable for promotion."
"If I were to give a score, I'd give it an eight." Uncle Tian nodded contentedly. "Not bad..."
"Zhongli, want a taste?" Raiden Makoto looked at Zhongli with a smile. Zhongli bypassed the Braised Blackback Perch and tried the other two dishes.
"Hmm... the taste is good."
"The texture of the tofu is delicate, and combined with the special sauce, it has a unique flavor." Zhongli nodded.
The evaluations of the other judges were not important to Raiden Ei. At this moment, she looked at Raiden Makoto intently, looking forward to her sister's evaluation. She had made those dishes specifically for her sister to taste.
She knew that what her sister liked most was simple home-cooked food.
"Hmm."
"The mapo tofu would be better with a little less salt... but the cooking time and heat control were just right."
"The Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin tastes good... but the meat is a bit tough. It would be better if it could be a bit more tender."
"..."
"Overall, the taste is good." Raiden Makoto nodded with satisfaction. Raiden Ei had only practiced for three or four days; reaching this level was already very good.
She didn't have anything to be dissatisfied about.
"Mm-hm..." Raiden Ei was quite happy. "As long as Sister likes it... then shall I step down first?"
After they waited for about several dozen minutes, Ye Zixiu finally finished his dish.
"The heat was a bit too high... and some parts aren't even cooked through..."
"It's a bit too salty; it would be better if it were lighter..."
When Ye Zixiu heard the evaluations from the judging panel, the smile on his face gradually vanished.
If it weren't for Raiden Ei's cooking movements being so fast, how could he have lost his composure? If he had been more serious, no mistakes would have occurred at all.
"Judges, I object!" Ye Zixiu said with some anger. He then pointed at Raiden Ei quite seriously and said, "She... she cheated!"
Because of Ye Zixiu's direct challenge, the audience, who had been whispering among themselves, also began to jeer.
"The stove she used is completely different from mine... I suspect she cheated with the stove! If she hadn't used that stove, I don't believe she would have cooked so fast!" Ye Zixiu was already in a bad mood because he wasn't fast enough and was overwhelmed.
Now that it looked like he was going to lose the match, he directly spoke the words in his heart.
"Furthermore, there's definitely something wrong with the heat of her stove," Ye Zixiu said very seriously.
"If she were to compete with me fairly and squarely and I lost, I would accept it wholeheartedly." Ye Zixiu's words caused the audience to start heckling as well.
"Yeah, that Inazuman's stove is completely different from his. How can that be considered fair?"
"She cooks so fast; there must be a problem with the stove."
"I hope the Qixing can provide a fair competition... there shouldn't be any shady dealings just because she's Inazuman."
"I suspect Liyue wants to negotiate diplomatically with Inazuma, so they're showing goodwill to Inazuma first? Besides, the money from those Inazumans is very easy to earn."
"Fairness and justice!"
The heckling from the audience made Keqing and Ningguang's expressions turn somewhat sour.
"I hope Lady Keqing and Lady Ningguang can hold a fair and just competition for me..." Ye Zixiu even added fuel to the fire; he was extremely displeased anyway.
"You..." Raiden Ei looked at Ye Zixiu, who was still adding fuel to the fire. She was a little angry. If this were on a battlefield and someone dared to say such things, she would definitely cut them down with one strike!
Seeing the people heckling, Yanfei hurriedly stopped them. "Everyone, quiet... everyone, quiet!"
"The judging panel and the organizers have always held the Culinary King Competition based on the principles of fairness, justice, and openness. This year's competition did not restrict cooking utensils."
"So..."
While the audience was heckling, Xiangling and Paimon were both very angry, but their voices were completely drowned out by the audience.
No matter how angry Xiangling was, she had nowhere to vent.
"Is it that hard to admit Sister Ei is amazing?" Xiangling was very angry. She had seen with her own eyes how quickly Raiden Ei's culinary skills had improved over the past few days.
Raiden Ei could even be considered half her disciple; she had taught her all the basic skills.
"Isn't that Ye Zixiu making trouble on purpose? I don't like him at all, and the food he makes isn't even that good." Like Xiangling, Paimon was also very angry.
At this moment, Ye Zixiu continued, his expression very firm. "Unless she also uses the same stove fire as me... if the taste is good, I will be convinced."
"Are you serious?" Raiden Makoto looked at Ye Zixiu. "An electric stove might be harder to use than your stove fire. Why don't you try it?"
"I've never seen her stove before, and I don't know how to use it... who knows if it's good or not?" Seeing that it was Raiden Makoto speaking up for Raiden Ei, Ye Zixiu was completely unafraid.
They were both Inazumans; what was there to be afraid of?
"From a purely rational standpoint, the stove Ei used is indeed harder to control than a hearth fire." Zhongli said calmly. He had seen everything when Raiden Ei was using that stove.
When Ye Zixiu saw it was Zhongli, the consultant of the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor, he couldn't help but be a bit dismissive. "Mr. Zhong is just a consultant for the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor, right? With Mr. Zhong's status, how could he understand cooking?"
"What Mr. Zhong knows best should be how to attend a funeral feast." The anger in Ye Zixiu's heart grew even stronger. Seeing that one person speaking for Raiden Ei was her sister, a fellow Inazuman, and the other was Zhongli, a consultant for the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor, he was even more fearless.
"Ye Zixiu, do not speak nonsense! Watch your words and behavior!" Seeing Zhongli, who bore some resemblance to the Rex Lapis, being verbally attacked by Ye Zixiu, Keqing felt a bit angry. Moreover, Ye Zixiu was actually being defiant during a perfectly good competition.
What should have been a happy Moonchase Festival was now being made unpleasant for everyone.
"The judging panel has always handled issues based on the principles of fairness, justice, and openness... there were no restrictions on cooking utensils in this year's Culinary King Competition... so using one's own cooking utensils is completely fair."
"Furthermore, no matter how good the utensils are, if the culinary skills are not exquisite, how good can the taste of the dishes be?" Keqing looked at Ye Zixiu with some displeasure; Ye Zixiu actually dared to speak to Zhongli like that.
However, even though Ye Zixiu spoke to Zhongli like that, Zhongli remained there with a calm expression, not caring about others' opinions at all.
"Your dishes were too salty, and some parts weren't even cooked through. Are those also to be blamed on Contestant Raiden Ei?" Keqing's tone also became somewhat cold. "Isn't it all because of yourself?"
"I'm not convinced..." However, Ye Zixiu was still a bit defiant. "If she hadn't cooked so fast... I wouldn't have been affected at all..."
"This year's Culinary King Competition did not have a time limit... you could have finished slowly..." Yanfei didn't quite know what to say. After all, Raiden Ei's actions were completely within the rules.
She hadn't violated any rules.
But Ye Zixiu had lost his composure, and the problems with his dishes were entirely his own fault.
"Contestant Raiden Ei, can you use a regular stove to cook again and make him accept it?" Ningguang hadn't spoken until now, and she finally said after a long while, "If she can still produce the same taste using the same stove, will you be convinced?"
"If she can produce the same taste using a regular stove fire, I will be convinced."
"Ningguang... are you serious?" Keqing was a bit surprised. "Ei didn't have any problems to begin with. Why show favoritism to Ye Zixiu?"
"Didn't she do everything within the rules? Even Yanfei said there was no problem."
Yanfei was a legal consultant famous throughout Liyue Harbor. If even Yanfei said there was absolutely no problem, then there definitely wasn't one.
In Liyue Harbor, when it came to familiarity with laws and rules, if Yanfei claimed to be number one, no one would dare claim to be number two.
"Furthermore..." Keqing glanced at Raiden Ei. "If Ei uses a stove fire... there's no guarantee an explosion won't occur..."
She had personally seen an explosion happen when Raiden Ei was cooking. What if another explosion occurred? That would be truly dangerous.
"Cooking will cause an explosion?" Ningguang was stunned for a moment. "Could it be that the explosions in Liyue Harbor a few days ago were related to you?"
Raiden Ei felt a bit embarrassed and said with a sheepish smile, "They were related to me..."
"Cooking will cause an explosion? I don't believe it." Ye Zixiu still had a determined look. "I've heard the Qixing handle things fairly and justly. You're not going to... for the sake of..."
"Watch your words!" Keqing glared at Ye Zixiu. "The Qixing's actions... have always been fair and just!"
"I don't quite believe that cooking would cause an explosion. Who knows if it's an excuse to protect her?" Ye Zixiu was prepared to go all out; anyway, what he was doing now didn't violate any laws.
"I... can try." Raiden Ei nodded. "But if an explosion happens... you can't blame me!"
She and her sister were both penniless. If something really blew up, wouldn't they have to pay a huge sum of money? Her sister would definitely scold her again.
"Hmm."
---------------------------------
I hope you enjoy this fanfiction! If you're having fun and want to read 30 chapters in advance, feel free to check out my Patreon: patreon.com/TLScarlet
Your support means a lot so if you like the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone.