Chapter 823: Chapter 822: Standard Procedure (Part 1)

“Give it a try, and if you’re satisfied, please give it a thumbs up.”

“Additionally, please do not dine and dash!”

Xia Yu said solemnly.

Granny Tang and the middle-aged person beside her simultaneously focused on the fish pot on the tray.

The camera zooms in to give a close-up of the dish, causing a stir among the audience.

A full pot of soup, crystal clear at the bottom, containing three Songjiang sea bass.

The key is, these three fish underwent the processes of frying and boiling, their skin so smooth it seems as if an angler had just pulled them from Songjiang, taking a quick glance may inevitably shock you.

“Are you sure these aren’t live fish?”

“Idiot, pay attention to the scallion on the fish body! And the ‘one-word cut’, do you see the pattern of knife marks around the fish body? These are dead fish!”

Vegetarian!

Mild!

Xia Yu’s fish soup requires no extra words; besides the clear, colorless broth, there are scallions adding a touch of green in the pot.

“Fermented black beans?”

However, being an elder, Mrs. Tang’s keen eye spotted a few black beans hidden under the fish, a smile playing in her eyes, “Did you add some fermented black beans besides the medicinal soup?”

“Yes,”

Xia Yu calmly replied, suddenly changing his tone, “But this fermented black bean is not the same as the other fermented black bean.”

This fermented black bean is not the same as that fermented black bean?

His words seemed like a riddle, spreading out in the venue, instantly causing a flurry of whispers.

Mrs. Tang paused, but within two or three seconds, her brain caught up, a hint of understanding in her eyes, “I see, I roughly understand your idea…”

The middle-aged person beside Granny Tang, clearly an important figure of the Tang Family, had previously helped Granny Tang onto the stage and was now seated next to her, his status and position evident. He rubbed his chin, curiously observing Xia Yu’s handsome face, “Did you use two different types of fermented black beans?”

Xia Yu smiled, nodding, “You got it right, I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.”

“Ah!”

At the same moment, in the executive box above, Li Han, Tang Yuqiong, and Wu Yingying reacted quickly, “I understand!”

Zhao Zhen, with a hair clip in his bangs and dressed in a waist skirt and ru duan, was squatting on an embroidered stool, his gaze passing through the window to the fish soup. Across a distance of roughly ten meters, Zhao Zhen delicately sniffed, speaking thoughtfully with a mischievous smile on his face, acting like a crossdresser, “For medicinal use, it’s ‘mild fermented black bean.'”

“For consumption, it’s ‘salty fermented black bean!’ ”

He immediately revealed the answer.

“Mild fermented black bean, salty fermented black bean, although both are fermented black beans, their preparation methods are diametrically different. Making mild fermented black bean is intricate, requiring the use of mulberry leaves, wormwood decoction, soaking soybeans in the decoction, then covering the soybeans with boiled mulberry leaves and wormwood to ferment, which is the first step. In the second step, discard these extra materials, wash the initially fermented soybeans, place them in a sealed container, and let it rest for ten days to half a month until fragrance emanates. Then it’s ready for steaming and drying…”

Wei Qinglian said from the review stage.

At this time, on and off the stage, Wei Qinglian and Granny Tang’s voices overlapped.

“As for salty fermented black bean, during preparation, there’s no need to add mulberry leaves, wormwood, and other medicinal materials; it’s merely steamed and fermented. However, due to differences in the preparation process details, regardless of mild or salty fermented black bean, there are many schools of thought.”

Granny Tang finished speaking, inhaling the subtle medicinal scent from the soup, “So, which school’s mild fermented black bean and salty fermented black bean did you use?”

Wei Qinglian was also watching him attentively.

“Taste it—” Xia Yu simply smiled and gestured for them to try, that was his response.

“I see…”

Granny Tang chuckled softly.

“Mother, please enjoy!” The middle-aged man beside her proactively took a bowl and spoon, scooping the soup, especially careful when picking the fish, gently placing a whole fish into a white porcelain bowl without any fractures.

Freshly out of the pot and served, the soup and fish were hot, Granny Tang had no intention toward the fish; she only glanced at it and then took a spoonful of hot soup into her mouth.

Eh!

The surprise on Granny’s face was evident.

Despite the hot, steaming fish soup, it entered coolly, not imposing any pressure on her mouth or tongue.

Moreover, the seemingly mild broth instantly transforms into a rich fish juice medical concoction once it enters.

Isn’t the sea bass delicious?

Doesn’t the medicinal soup make you comfortable?

What if the deliciousness and comfort overlap?

That collision and fusion of flavors is simply a match made in heaven.

“Wait, where are the medicinal ingredients!” Granny Tang’s eyes barely maintained a trace of rationality, the spoon again delivering hot soup to her mouth, “Sweet Grass, Cinnamon, Star Anise, Clove, Sand Ginger, White Bean Curd…”

In one go, Granny revealed all the medicinal ingredients inside.

Yet revealing doesn’t mean she can understand the melody surrounding “fermented black bean,” namely the mysterious spice formula.

“How did he achieve two melodies?”

Meanwhile, Wei Qinglian was stunned on the judging stage.

In her mouth, the flavorful fish soup, mixed with ‘salty fermented black bean,’ the already aromatic fermented black bean within the spice formula seemingly transforms into a multiplication symbol, the deliciousness of the fish soup enhanced countless times, leaving one lost in it.

But this is merely the first melody.

The fish soup enters, passing through the throat, esophagus, into the body.

Wow——

Wei Qinglian, initially overwhelmed by the flood of freshness, her vacant eyes suddenly swathing in lush green.

The hidden mulberry leaves and wormwood in ‘mild fermented black bean’ burst forth, another world emerged.

Opening her eyes, it’s a field with mulberry leaves in their growing season, flourishing and verdant.

Below the field slope is a stream where sea bass play, and Wei Qinglian feels herself transform into a female herbalist returning from collecting herbs, perhaps tired from the journey, lying on the slope with the herb basket filled with wormwood beside her, quietly gazing at the fish in the stream, clouds gather and disperse overhead…

She is stationary, as if frozen in time, while the surrounding environment changes, clouds rolling, day and night alternating.

A lock!

A locked door!

Finally, what she sees turns into a pitch-black room where one can’t see their fingers, Wei Qinglian can only discern a door with flowing metallic sheen and its shining lock.

“Bang! Bang!”

“I want to get out——”

An unexplainable panic surged, Wei Qinglian continuously knocks on the door, suddenly hearing a crisp “click,” the lock broke, the sturdy door opened wide, and she rushed out heedlessly.

Whoa!

On looking back, reality had returned.

In the main judging position, nostrils chaotic, Wei Qinglian softly opened her mouth, releasing a hint of fragrance, “Did it save me?” Gratitude appeared in her eyes, but the moment the words left her mouth, she became thunderstruck.

If she were her younger self, surely she’d exclaim. Now, Wei Qinglian restrains her shock internally.

“I understand…” she murmured, truly comprehending this time.

“Captivity, salvation!”

Below the stage, Granny Tang also trembled, the spoon visibly quivering.

The middle-aged person beside her, calling her mother, sat stiffly in his chair, eyes bewildered by the spice formula’s impact.

There’s such a method?

Tang Family Master was astonished, voluntarily speaking into the microphone, “Extreme freshness, any qualified elite chef can construct it, any top-tier killing recipe can perfectly emphasize freshness, no one dares claim they’re head and shoulders above others. But, has the ultimate flavor truly reached its peak? Has it reached supreme levels without even more mesmerizing expressiveness?”

“Hoo——”

He inhaled, then loudly refuted, “No!”

“Greater expressiveness requires higher skills to build up, just like this bowl of fish soup—” Tang Tianxing pointed to the sand pot on the table.