Chapter 27: Cooking Competition

“I am the young master of the Lin family, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t cook!”

As Lin Qi finished speaking, Jin Lingling stared at him in confusion. “How can you, the dignified young master of the Lin family, cook?”

“You don’t believe me?”

Lin Qi tried to justify himself by saying, “The Taste of the Sea that you just made is only so precious because of the rare ingredients. If that special ingredient wasn’t added, then this bowl of soup will be greatly discounted. A real chef needs to use the simplest ingredients to cook the most delicious dishes.”

In actuality, that was what the chef in Lin Qi’s family had told him, and now he was using it as well.

Then, Lin Qi took out a sweet potato from the system and handed it to Jin Lingling. “Have a taste of this.”

After seeing the sweet potato, Jin Lingling did not know whether to laugh or cry.

After all, sweet potatoes were the lowest grade ingredient and were not liked by chefs, so she naturally held some contempt for that vegetable.

“Baked sweet potatoes? That is street food. They are not a good dish at all!”

“You should try them first!”

Seeing Lin Qi’s determined expression, Jin Lingling took a small bite. She originally thought that that kind of street food would not be delicious.

However, when she swallowed it, she instantly found that the taste was simply excellent.

Even so, Jin Lingling had tasted many dishes that were much better than that, so her evaluation of the sweet potatoes was not stellar. However, she had temporarily confirmed Lin Qi’s culinary skills.

“Alright, I didn’t expect to meet a colleague. It seems that the person who sold sweet potatoes in our hotel a few days ago was you, right?”

Lin Qi smiled.

“Oh right, since you participants have to wait for the city lord to return before you can be issued a mission, why don’t you take this opportunity to compare your culinary skills with mine?”

Lin Qi was not in the mood to compete in a culinary contest. Right now, he still wanted to obtain Yu Meng’s dimensional pouch.

“Wait!”

Lin Qi suddenly thought of an idea and asked Jin Lingling, “If I compete with you, would everyone in the hotel hear about it?”

“Of course, our cooking competition will be witnessed by the public!”

Lin Qi had an idea and immediately revealed a smile. “That’s great! I accept your challenge!”

Soon, the news spread throughout the hotel. At that moment, all the guests in the hotel were trial participants. They had nothing to do those next few days. They were thinking about how to pass the time, but they had not expected a show so they were all looking forward to it.

As for Lin Qi, he actually wanted to use that competition to spread the word about the dish, Night Light’s Billow. In that case, if Yu Meng would not like it, there would be others who would pay a high price for it. After all, that was a dish that could increase one’s level of magic. If word got out, then there would be no need to worry about it not being bought.

Following that, even though they held the cooking competition at the last minute, they still attracted the attention of the nobles in Black Wind Castle. That night, the entrance of the hotel was almost filled with people. When they heard that the competition involved Chef Jin Lingling, everyone was looking forward to it.

Another group of people was looking forward to witnessing Lin Qi, the young master of the Lin family participate in the cooking competition.

“That young master of the Lin family even came to compete in a cooking competition. If Master Lin finds out, he will definitely be furious!”

“Exactly. The Lin family in New Moon City actually produced an inconspicuous chef. It’s really hilarious.”

“It’s not that bad being a chef. Many great mages are respectful toward a genius chef like Jin Lingling!”

“You mentioned that she’s a genius. A good-for-nothing like the young master of the Lin family can only bake sweet potatoes at most and he still wants to challenge her. He’s delusional!”

More and more people gathered around, and the noise filled the entire hotel lobby.

“Young Master, is it really a good idea for you to do this?” Luther tried to persuade him out of it.

“You’re the young master of the Lin family. How can you compete with a chef?”

Lin Qi did not care about winning or losing. What he wanted to do was to spread the word of the Night Light’s Billow and let more people know that there was a dish here that could raise one’s level of magic. Once it spreads, there would be a steady stream of people coming to buy from him.

With his calculation, earning more than 20 gold coins for each dish was enough for the system to level up.

“Don’t worry. I’m not too bothered about her anyway!”

Soon, the competition would start. Many trial participants were gathered there to have fun. They wanted to see how the young master of the Lin family would make a fool of himself.

Among them, there were many participants from New Moon City. They thought that Lin Qi was tarnishing the name of New Moon City so they wanted to scold him.

Lewis even called Lin Qi a weirdo.

Yu Meng questioned Lin Qi’s behavior again. Of course, as Lin Qi’s opponent, she did not think too much about some cooking competition.

At that moment, a tall hotel manager slowly walked out. Everyone was shocked, especially the men.

They had not expected the manager of the Central Hotel to be such a beauty. Not only was she beautiful, but her figure and personality were charming.

“Whoa! A beauty!” Lin Qi was also surprised by her appearance.

He thought that the manager of the Central Hotel, a high-class hotel in the city, would be an old man. He had not expected that it would be a young and beautiful lady.

Jin Lingling had contempt for Lin Qi. Of course, that was just her hostility as his opponent.

“Alright, the two of you, we will allow you two to use this big stage for your competition. Remember not to overdo it! Or there will be hell to pay…”

After hearing that, Lin Qi felt a chill go down his spine as if something was staring at him from the darkness.

What a strong aura.

The audience below the stage was completely captivated by that lady. No one really cared about the competition at that point.

On the other hand, Jin Lingling was very determined. She said to Lin Qi, “Young Master Lin, I have never lost in a competition of the culinary arts since I was young. If you can beat me, then I will call you master!”

“Oh? You’ve joined competitions like this since you were young?” After hearing that, Lin Qi admired that little girl.

However, that was it. His goal was not centered around winning or losing, but how much benefit the competition could bring him instead.

Lin Qi was aware that his system was only at level two. The dishes he made might not be as delicious as hers, but when it came to functionality, his dishes were undisputed. Regardless of whether he won or lost, his plan was already set in motion.

“Alright! Now, let’s begin!”

As the manager finished her sentence, everyone cheered. The entire hotel was bustling with people.

Lin Qi also took a deep breath and began to make the delicious dish, but then he realized…

“Wait…. This is bad!”