CHAPTER 413: CHAPTER 413: UTTER DEFEAT

Manager Liu frowned, "Pei Shu’er, stop talking nonsense. How could I have announced it incorrectly?"

Pei Shu’er pointed to the bottom of the plate with her finger.

"Everyone might as well take a look. The bottom of the plate has labels, and each plate bears the trademark of each respective shop."

Manager Liu said, "Pei Shu’er, are you unwilling to accept your defeat and deliberately stalling for time? No matter how much you stall, you still have to leave Jingzhou."

Pei Shu’er shrugged, "I just want you to look at the trademark."

Manager Liu’s face was full of disdain. The right side belonged to Liu’s, so what was there to see?

"Your Pei’s has only been open for how long? And Liu’s has been open for so much longer. You know your own culinary skills. They’re fine without a comparison, but once there is, they just don’t measure up."

Pei Shu’er sighed to the crowd, "I just asked Manager Liu to take a look at the trademark. I’m sure everyone wants to see it too."

The onlookers began to egg him on.

"Manager Liu, just let us see the trademark."

Manager Liu felt it unnecessary; Pei Shu’er just didn’t want to admit her defeat.

But since the people wanted to see it, there was no harm in showing them, to make Pei Shu’er concede defeat wholeheartedly.

He taunted Pei Shu’er, "You better look carefully."

Manager Liu removed the paper from the plate and, without bothering to look himself, displayed it to everyone.

"Now, you’ve seen clearly, haven’t you? It’s Liu’s, right? So, there’s nothing more to say?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed everyone was silent, and their expressions were peculiar. He couldn’t help but frown and looked at the trademark.

It was actually Pei’s trademark!

Pei Shu’er smiled faintly and added, "Yes, it’s indeed Pei’s trademark. So, Manager Liu, I said earlier that you announced it wrong."

Manager Liu’s eyes nearly popped out, but what he saw was still Pei’s trademark.

He walked silently to the judge beside him and revealed the trademark on the left plate. It was Liu’s.

His expression turned sour immediately. He picked up a piece of the left pastry and tasted it; it was extremely good.

He leaned over to whisper to the man with a mustache.

"Did you think Liu’s was on the right, so you voted for the right?"

The man with the mustache nodded, then shook his head, pushing the right pastry to Manager Liu.

Manager Liu took a bite as well, despite his inner resentment towards Pei Shu’er.

Yet, with just one bite, he found his tastebuds were already conquered by this plate of pastry.

This... even if he was unwilling to admit it, he still had to say Pei’s pastry was much tastier than Liu’s.

So much that there was no comparison.

But this shouldn’t be.

Master Hong and Pei Shu’er, no matter what, Pei Shu’er’s pastry shouldn’t be better than Master Hong’s.

Manager Liu looked at the plate and suddenly thought of something.

He immediately said, "Could it be that the plates from both houses were mixed up?"

Pei Shu’er opened the plate in front of her, all labeled with Pei’s trademark, and Liu’s was the same.

Manager Liu said, "What if just this round, the plates were mixed up?"

Pei Shu’er smiled, "Actually, there’s no need to worry about whose plates these are. Just focus on whether the pastries in the plates are Pei’s or Liu’s, right?

Saying this, Pei Shu’er plated the pastries she made and brought them up.

Master Hong followed suit.

He still couldn’t believe that his pastry skills could lose to Pei Shu’er.

When the two plates of pastries were placed in front of the judges, it was clear which plate was made by whom.

Pei Shu’er’s sponge cake was light yellow, while Master Hong’s was dark yellow.

Whether in color or taste, Pei Shu’er’s pastries were better.

Pei Shu’er smiled, "Now, there shouldn’t be any doubts, right?"

Manager Liu frowned, feeling something was amiss. The person in charge of plating was from Liu’s, surely they wouldn’t switch the pastries’ positions.

Could it be that Pei Shu’er had infiltrated Liu’s and made the platers work for her?

Manager Liu said, "Someone, replace the people who are serving the plates."

As he spoke, he looked at Pei Shu’er.

Seeing Pei Shu’er’s calm demeanor, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of something strange.

He could only chalk it up to Pei Shu’er putting on a show.

He spoke to the newly replaced platers.

"Alright, this round of voting is invalid, let’s vote again."

Pei Shu’er raised an eyebrow, "Why is it invalid? Don’t people like Pei’s pastries? Moreover, I didn’t force anyone to vote, did I?"

"And as mentioned before, the positions of the plated pastries were unknown, not fixed in any direction. Yet you were sure Liu’s pastries were on the right; doesn’t that suggest you did something tricky?"

These words left everyone speechless.

The common folk weren’t foolish; seeing Manager Liu act this way, they understood.

They immediately sneered.

"We thought it was a fair and open competition, but it turns out there’s manipulation behind the scenes."

With those words, Manager Liu noticed the judges’ faces took a turn for the worse.

Corruption was one thing, but exposing it openly wasn’t good.

Especially being laughed at by so many townsfolk, everyone wasn’t feeling too pleased.

The Vice President stroked his beard, "There is no questioning the result; regardless of the reason, the pastries on the right are tastier than those on the left."

"So the result of the first-round voting stands."

With that, the fairness of the Jingzhou Chamber of Commerce was barely upheld.

Manager Liu’s face went awry, but after receiving a glare from the Vice President, he behaved.

Hong Dachu looked at Pei Shu’er, a hint of apprehension in his tiger-like eyes.

He found it unbelievable and approached Pei Shu’er.

"May I taste the pastry you made?"

Pei Shu’er nodded, "Please, Master Hong."

Hong Dachu picked up a piece and took a gentle bite. It was soft and had a nice texture, with a delicate sweetness and a rich aroma of eggs.

He paused, then couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

So it was true that Pei Shu’er was the true creator of sponge cakes; she understood how they should be made.

She had grasped the essence of sponge cakes.

Whereas he had merely imitated the recipe, fooling laymen was one thing, but when compared, he realized his sponge cake was just so-so.

Hong Dachu bitterly smiled, "This round, I lost."

"Lost fair and square."

Manager Liu looked at Hong Dachu, his eyes filled with shock.

This proud and arrogant pastry chef from the Capital, how could he admit defeat?

In previous competitions in the Capital, regardless of winning or losing, he had never said such words.

But now, he said it to a country girl like Pei Shu’er?

This was too absurd!