"You'll have to experience it for yourself."
Looking at Hoshino Sora's thoughtful expression, Hoshino Tani Ren fell into recollection. He was born into poverty, his family running a small, dilapidated restaurant. Because it was in a remote area, the number of customers each day could be counted on one's fingers.
Life went on like this day by day until he took over the restaurant and displayed astonishing culinary skills. Later, he was noticed by Far Moon and invited to join. He left home at a young age, became the First Seat in his second year, and was later sent to Oriental Academy as an exchange student.
In China, he suffered many setbacks. That place produced countless talented individuals, divided into eight branches and one main academy, with a total of over a million students. The strength of the branch academies alone was not far from Far Moon.
He went to the main academy, and on the first day, he was beaten down by an older student for being arrogant. He struggled for several years before finally making it to the tenth seat on the Oriental Cuisine List, and then successfully retired, returning to Japan to become a state banquet chef.
On a side note, members on the Oriental Cuisine List are removed from the list and replaced if they have no challenge records for six months. However, as long as they have ever been listed, they will be recorded, even if only for one second.
The Oriental Cuisine List has over a hundred rankings, and the rankings on it are constantly changing, almost a small change every seven days, and a big change every month, which is a world of difference from the stable Far Moon Academy.
But perhaps it's better not to tell Sora about this yet.
Thinking of the pressure he once bore, Hoshino Tani Ren shook his head with a bitter smile. Far Moon could only serve as a stepping stone; to become a world-class chef, there was still a long way to go!
"I understand."
Nodding seriously, Hoshino Sora quickly ate the pan-fried buns. Thinking about it carefully, it was indeed true. His seasoning skills were not high; Erina Nakiri herself had confirmed this.
Because of the system rewards, he had always neglected training in seasoning, but thinking carefully, how could a dish with poor seasoning win the championship?
It seemed he had to put more effort into seasoning for this competition.
Now, his mastery of heat control was already superb, and he had just begun to grasp the basics of seasoning. At least he wouldn't make unappetizing dishes, and he was well-received among ordinary people.
But this time, all the participants were chefs, and the judges were professional gourmets. Their evaluation of the dishes would definitely be stricter. With a perfunctory attitude, he definitely couldn't achieve the final victory.
"Don't worry, Sora. With your strength, you can definitely win first place. Your sisters will always support you."
"Exactly! Who cares if they're decades-old shops? We'll beat them all down! We'll be there to cheer you on."
Seeing Hoshino Sora seemingly a bit dejected, Ya Xiang and Rika immediately grabbed his hands to comfort him, their eyes filled with fervor. Now, only they could cheer on their younger brother!
"Ara, your bond is truly strong."
Looking at the harmonious siblings, Hoshino Shirayuri's face showed a smile. When she married in, she was worried that the siblings wouldn't get along, but now it seemed her worries were unnecessary.
"Of course, he's an important younger brother after all."
"That's right!"
The two sisters echoed each other. Far from being embarrassed by their own mother saying this, they became even more exaggerated. It was Hoshino Sora who felt a bit awkward, not daring to look directly at his stepmother.
"Alright, it's getting late. I'm going to the competition venue to prepare. I heard the competition is a random draw of themes on site..."
"Most formal competitions are like that. They eliminate all personal factors and use a random draw. Whatever theme is drawn, that's the dish you make. This really tests a chef's comprehensive strength.
However, this should be an advantage for you. Commercial Street is different from a culinary academy; many chefs in shops are only strong in their specialized fields, and other aspects are not worth mentioning."
Hearing Hoshino Sora's complaint before leaving, Hoshino Tani Ren responded accordingly.
This competition was very advantageous for Hoshino Sora, because Hoshino Tani Ren had taught him in an all-round way, so he didn't have any obvious weaknesses.
Of course, being well-rounded means not having a particular specialty. If he's unlucky and comes across an opponent's area of expertise, he might be directly eliminated in the first round.
"I know. I'll go now."
"Wait for us! Take us with you too. We have nothing to do at home, so we might as well go and cheer you on."
"Exactly! What are you trying to do, leaving us behind? We'll cheer you on from the stands, overwhelming the entire venue with our momentum. We even made a banner for you."
Anxiously stuffing two pan-fried buns into their mouths, then tidying up the clothes they had chosen in the mall a few days ago, the two of them, one after another, stopped Hoshino Sora, who was about to leave.
As they spoke, Rika went back to the room and took out the banner she and Ya Xiang had stayed up all night to make. On it, the four characters 'Sora Must Win' were written crookedly with a brush. What an old-fashioned yet sincere banner!
"I appreciate the thought, but if you take that out, I'll never acknowledge you as my sisters again!"
Looking at the unfurled banner, Hoshino Sora felt his ears burning, and his toes were doing a major construction project. He gritted his teeth and said forcefully.
If he were to display this thing in front of hundreds of spectators, especially when he wasn't famous, he would basically have to move to another planet!
"Eh, why? We worked on it all night."
"Super diligently!"
"No matter what, you are not allowed to bring this to the competition!"
---
"There are quite a lot of people here."
After a simple registration at the sign-up desk, Hoshino Sora walked into the venue, expecting it to be a small competition, but he didn't expect nearly a thousand people to be gathered there?
A stadium was almost full...
His seat was 3rd row, A seat, said to be a special preferential seat for contestants. As for Asaka-nee and Rika-nee, they were asked to buy tickets, one thousand yen each, and they were in relatively back rows.
"Don't worry, I can do it alone, I'm not a three-year-old child."
"Then be careful, don't get into conflicts with people around you. Your sisters will cheer for you from behind!"
"Go Sora! /emoji pack"
"Got it, just cheer in your heart, don't shout it out. You two also need to pay attention to safety, try to act together, if you are targeted by bad guys, call me, I will save you no matter what."
"Got it, Sora is so thoughtful and full of security!"
"Go Sora! /emoji pack"
Looking at the three-person group chat on his phone, Ya Xiang reminded him to pay attention to safety, while Rika was sending self-made cheering emoji packs, a banner drawn overnight, a limited-time return.
"I will cheer, Rika-nee, just watch my performance then."
He looked intently at the competition venue below. At the very top of the venue, there was a virtual digital display screen, where the theme of the competition would be randomly drawn later.
He got his number earlier; he was in the second group, number seven. According to the draw results, he needed to compete with number eight of the second group.
32 into 16, each match lasts two hours, and 8 people can compete simultaneously each time, which is also to save as much time as possible.
After all, everyone came here to watch the dazzling and passionate showdowns of Master Chefs, not low-level cooking competitions. Saving time in the early stages is normal practice.
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