"Mr. Zhongli, the sweet and sour carp you ordered."

The bottom of the porcelain plate collided with the wooden table, making a crisp sound.

In order to maintain the original simple decoration style, Bai's restaurant did not choose the recently popular glass dining tables, but still used wooden tables and chairs.

On this point, all the old restaurants in Liyue have unanimously agreed, and they are really in tune with each other.

A bright-colored carp lay in front of Zhongli, exuding an alluring fragrance.

But he was not in a hurry to taste it. Instead, he started chatting with Bai Qiyun on the side.

"Brother Bai, long time no see. Did you go out a few days ago?"

In fact, Zhongli knew that Bai Qiyun was kicked out by the old man, but in order to appear more natural, he chose to give the other party the right to speak.

"Well... I guess. I took advantage of the holiday a few days ago and went to Mondstadt."

Unexpectedly, Mr. Zhongli would call him to stop like the female teacher. Bai Qiyun stood there, at a loss, with a bit of embarrassment on his face.

"Oh? Mondstadt, well, I haven't been to the country of wind for some time."

Zhongli made a gesture of invitation and asked Bai Qiyun to sit down.

He picked up his chopsticks, naturally picked a piece of meat from the fish that had been poured with sauce, and put it into his mouth.

Fresh, tender and smooth.

The batter hanging on the outside is slightly crispy after being fried, which makes the fish inside even more tender.

The soup coating the fish is sweet and sour, with less soup making it lighter and more soup making it thicker.

The combination of the two can be called a delicacy.

A bright color flashed across Zhongli's eyes, and the feeling coming from his mouth made him couldn't help but close his eyes and taste it quietly.

In addition to such pure taste, what he cares more about is...

"Brother Bai, it seems that you have gained a lot these days."

After a while, Zhongli let out a long breath.

His eyes like diamond-shaped gems looked at Bai Qiyun who was sitting on the side and admired from the bottom of his heart.

If he had compared Bai Qiyun's and Xiang Ling's cooking a few days ago, there would be no doubt that Xiang Ling would win in terms of cooking skills.

But today's dish completely changed Zhongli's mind.

The heat is perfectly controlled. You must know that frying itself is a cooking technique that pays special attention to temperature and time, not to mention that the oil temperature must penetrate through the batter to cook the fish while ensuring the crispy outer skin.

Moreover, the two must reach a delicate balance point, which is even more difficult.

It’s really been three days since we saw each other, so we should look at each other with admiration.

Zhongli smiled and shook his head, then took another handful of fish and put it into his mouth, enjoying this ancient and traditional dish.

"Yes... yes, as long as you are satisfied."

Bai Qiyun was really flattered by Mr. Zhongli's high evaluation.

Although he knew that he might have improved his cooking skills, he never expected that Mr. Zhongli would give such a comment.

Could it be that he has really become more powerful?

Bai Qiyun lowered his head and looked at his hands. They were no different from before, but there seemed to be some magic contained in them, constantly attracting his own attention.

Seeing this, Zhongli smiled and continued to taste the dishes on the table.

Speaking of which, he really doesn't like eating seafood, and shrimps and crabs in the river are not something he is willing to try. Fish is barely acceptable, but he rarely tries it.

In this ancient Tingyu Pavilion, the old man's craftsmanship is truly outstanding. In Zhongli's opinion, he is not inferior to, or even slightly superior to, those famous chefs in history.

But even so, he had never ordered the old gentleman's seafood dishes or river seafood dishes.

Otherwise, I just don’t like it.

However, he had accidentally tasted the young man's dishes before during the cooking duel between Bai Qiyun and Xiang Ling. Although the control of the heat was still lacking, there was an inexplicable old flavor lingering in the dishes, which made him

Deeply fascinated.

This is something that contemporary chefs cannot reproduce no matter how high their level of skill is. It is precisely for this reason that he is willing to always order a few dishes made by the apprentices in this restaurant when he comes to Tingyuge to dine.

This taste does not belong to this era and is indeed completely different from other people's cuisine.

Maybe it's a problem with the cooking method, or maybe it's the chef's own habits.

But no matter what, Zhongli appreciates this way of cooking very much and is willing to continue to taste it.

The fish meat slowly fell apart in his mouth, and the man sitting on the armchair recalled it quietly.

His thoughts continued to extend in his mind, and he seemed to have returned to that afternoon many years ago, that afternoon full of old flavor.

————————

After chatting with Zhong Li for a few words, Bai Qiyun exited the private room.

The other party is a guest, leave him to say a few words, and he wants to accompany you.

But if you keep hanging on and don't leave, that would be a sign of ignorance.

In order to leave a separate dining space for the guests, Bai Qiyun found an excuse to go out when Zhongli didn't speak for a while.

Returning to the storage room of the restaurant, Bai Qiyun sorted out his documents and set off for the registration venue for the Monthly Festival Chef Competition.

Walking along the road along the street, you can see an extremely gorgeous house with red bricks and green tiles, and various patterns on the walls. It looks very dignified and majestic.

This is the registration venue.

However, due to the developed food culture in Liyue, the large number of people, and the fact that there is almost no capacity limit for registration this time, there is already a long queue in front of Bai Qiyun.

"real or fake..."

Looking at this crowded scene, Bai Qiyun deeply doubted whether he had seen it wrong. There were not so many chefs in Liyue Port.

The young man rubbed his eyes, and his eyelids, which were a little uncomfortable due to the wind, became watery and became even more uncomfortable.

Between his fingers and his eyelids, a flash of purple flashed into his field of vision.

"Eh? You guys still know how to come here, hurry up."

As soon as she saw Bai Qiyun, Keqing dragged him aside without any mercy. Her strength was simply not what a girl should have.

"Hey...what are you doing?"

Although in the eyes of others, it is a very happy thing to get along with such a beautiful girl, Bai Qiyun does not think so.

The woman in front of me is not someone who is easy to get along with. Although she is very popular in the school, she is actually not merciless at all in making people come to her.

Due to the status of each other's students on campus, Keqing would not entrust anyone else, but when there was a legitimate reason, then he, the only second member of the student union, was the best labor protection.

That is really a case of using women as men and men as animals.

"What? Teacher Nanli didn't tell you to come here?"

Seeing her hand being mercilessly slapped away by the young man, Keqing was stunned for a moment, and then hugged her plump but not cumbersome chest.

"Huh? Teacher Nanli?"

It seems that the female teacher did tell him to find Keqing.
Chapter completed!