NOVEL WEB Chapter 85 - 85 They must have been bought off by Jiang Li!
Chapter 85: Chapter 85 They must have been bought off by Jiang Li!
Facing everyone’s skepticism and curiosity, Jiang Li explained fluently:
“These tomatoes and eggs were given to me by an auntie from Chixia Village. The tomatoes are grown by them, and the eggs are also from their free-range chickens. I thought, since I’m here, I naturally wanted to try the local farmhouse flavors.”
“More importantly,” Jiang Li looked toward Director Sun and smiled, “I guessed that Director Sun would have the villagers serve as judges, so I chose dishes that are simple but don’t lack in color, aroma, and taste.”
Director Sun was startled.
The people around were startled too.
Could this even be guessed?
Could Jiang Li really be some kind of reincarnated immortal?
Wen Jiaojiao couldn’t help but sneer dismissively, “How manipulative, even thinking of this.”
Then, Jiang Li’s gaze shifted over.
Her calm yet forceful voice also carried over.
“Ms. Wen says I’m manipulative, and I don’t want to rebut that because in a sense, it’s also a compliment. But this isn’t scheming; it’s just a tactic to win the competition. Doesn’t Ms. Wen have any?”
“You!” Wen Jiaojiao’s face turned red with embarrassment.
[Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter. Is Jiang Li implying that Princess Wen doesn’t have a brain?]
[Poor Princess Wen, trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice instead.]
[It’s still our Sister Li, teaching me another dual-nature technique in speech.]
[It’s obviously Jiang Li in the wrong, don’t you think? Deliberately preparing these farmhouse dishes, if that’s not manipulative, what is? And you all keep saying every day she’s innocent and cute? Seriously, I can’t stand people with such deep schemes. I wish you all meet these kinds of people in life.]
[Some people are up to their usual poor attempts at slandering again. When did we ever say Sister Li was innocent and cute? She’s clearly always been like this, just look at how she dealt with Jiang Yan, and you’ll see. Sister Li is no fragile flower, she’s smart!]
[Exactly, plus all the other guests had their ingredients set from early on. Only Sister Li received ingredients gifted by the villagers. She can cook whatever she wants, who are you to judge?]
[Let me add something, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what Jiang Li did. After all, she taught our Qi how to cook with her own hands. If not for her, this kid would be having Northwest winds for lunch.]
[+1, if it wasn’t for Jiang Li, my older brother’s fish would have ended up feeding Jiang Yan’s chickens.]
Despite many in the live broadcast siding with Wen Jiaojiao against Jiang Li,
They were quickly drowned out by the voices of the villagers and fans of other guests.
Even passersby couldn’t help but become curious.
Wasn’t that Jiang Li the one mired in negative press, the least welcomed?
How come after just a few days, even other people’s fans are speaking up for her?
Upon hearing Jiang Li’s sincere and simple explanation, the villagers in the judging panel nodded their heads in satisfaction.
What’s wrong with tomato and egg stir-fry?
Their own tomatoes, their own eggs, don’t even mention how delicious those are?
Moreover, they had heard that this pretty girl had saved the village chief’s child and even read fortunes for the son of the Li Family at the entrance of the village— and in the end, she only accepted a basket of vegetables.
How could they not support a girl so beautiful and kind-hearted? Even if her cooking were not tasty, they would still give her their support.
But what took the villagers by surprise was that when they took a bite of the egg, the taste turned out to be incredibly delicious.
The doneness was just right, retaining the freshness of free-range eggs without being too tender and gamey.
The saltiness was also controlled perfectly, with even a hint of a sweet aftertaste.
And the tomatoes? They were sour-sweet.
This fresh and vibrant flavor blended perfectly. No one had expected that such an ordinary dish of tomato and egg stir-fry could be made so delicious.
Not to mention that it was cooked by a big star from the city.
In their astonishment, several villagers gave Jiang Li the highest score, 9 points!
Upon hearing this result, everyone was both surprised and pleased.
After all, if Jiang Li, who had been teaching them to cook, ended up with a low score, they would have felt sorry for her.
But Wen Jiaojiao didn’t see it that way.
She couldn’t understand it, even if Jiang Li’s tomato and scrambled eggs were really tasty, how could they be so much better than the dishes the others made?
“Director, there must be something fishy going on here,” Wen Jiaojiao said indignantly. “They must have been bought off by Jiang Li. Look, she’s the only one among us who received vegetables from the villagers. Why give them only to her and not to the rest of us?”
“This….” Director Sun, who wasn’t in the know, couldn’t come up with an explanation. “I can only guarantee that our judges are fair and impartial. Before we came here, I specifically told them that they have to be truthful and not fake anything. Everything was filmed so it can be verified.”
[I’m dying of laughter, Director Sun’s will to survive is so strong.]
[Princess Wen is being a bit unreasonable, isn’t she? It’s obvious that Jiang Li’s cooking is more delicious.]
[Actually, I still find it hard to believe that a dish of tomato and scrambled eggs can taste that good? Maybe it’s because Jiang Li herself is quite likeable.]
Jiang Li didn’t say anything, she just pushed the tomato and scrambled eggs towards Wen Jiaojiao.
“Try it.”
Wen Jiaojiao turned her head away, “Who wants to eat what you’ve made.”
“If you won’t eat it, then you’re just making trouble for no reason.”
“You….”
With no other choice, Wen Jiaojiao reluctantly picked up a pair of clean chopsticks, took a piece of egg and started to eat it.
After chewing a few times, she was stunned.
These eggs… were actually this delicious?
Even better than the eggs made by the highly-paid cook at her house.
Could Jiang Li’s cooking skills truly be so impressive?
She looked incredulously at Jiang Li, then back at the bowl of tomato and scrambled eggs.
It had to be said, just this piece of egg alone completely tantalized her taste buds.
She hadn’t eaten any decent meal all day, except for this piece of egg.
But the next second, the plate of tomato and scrambled eggs was taken away by Jiang Li.
“So, do you believe now that I didn’t cheat?”
Wen Jiaojiao bit her lip, turned away her head, and tried hard not to let the camera capture her contorted expression.
Even so… she wasn’t about to apologize to her!
Who told her to never let her off the hook before, making her embarrass herself again and again!
Seeing the misunderstanding resolved and to prevent things from escalating, Director Sun quickly clapped his hands.
“Alright, now that the results are in, let’s call an end to this culinary competition!”
“These scores given by the villagers will count as a good score towards your overall score. How about it, isn’t this reward satisfying?”
Everyone cheered instantly.
After all, the scores given by the villagers weren’t low, so their hard work all afternoon wasn’t for nothing.
But Jiang Yan wasn’t in such a good mood.
Hearing Director Sun’s words, he muttered in frustration, “Damn, if I knew the score was calculated like this, I would have slaughtered that chicken no matter what.”
Barrage: It’s just catching a chicken, is it worth going all out?
Chicken: cluck cluck?