Chapter 888: Chapter 888: Are You Kidding Me?
So far, the total score ranking displayed on the big screen.
1st place: Ye Fei, 44.3 points.
2nd place: Tian Pengpo, 44.2 points.
3rd place: Yu Yingyan, 43.4 points.
4th place: Zhou Junhao, 43.2 points.
5th place: Ban Ziang, 42.6 points.
6th place: Ba Zhekai, 42.5 points.
7th place: Huo Jiarong, 42.4 points.
8th place: Xu Aoliang, 42.4 points.
9th place: Hua Ciyue, 42.3 points.
10th place: Shang Heyue, 41.6 points.
"Ye Fei is first! She overtook him!" Li Xiaoyun said excitedly.
It was only a 0.1 difference, but this was just the first round’s result.
There was more to come!
Li Xiaoyun believed that with Ye Fei’s strength—
Even if her later scores rose and fell a bit, the total would definitely not be bad.
Bit by bit, the gap would only get wider!
Overexcited, Li Xiaoyun unconsciously reached her hand again toward Zhao Dingli’s side.
Although Zhao Dingli was facing the big screen on stage, in reality all his attention was on Li Xiaoyun.
Seeing her move, his brain hadn’t even processed it yet before his hand moved first.
As if unintentionally, he slightly lifted his wrist and shifted it closer to Li Xiaoyun.
It seemed like he wanted to make it more convenient for her to hold.
To be honest, he really did miss the feeling of her little hand holding his wrist just now.
Earlier, a section of his wrist had happened to be exposed outside his sleeve.
Li Xiaoyun had directly grabbed his wrist, with nothing in between.
Zhao Dingli could clearly feel the softness of her palm and fingertips, soft like they had no bones, and warm.
So when Li Xiaoyun let go, his wrist suddenly lost the warmth of her palm.
He actually felt a bit empty, really wanting her to put her hand back.
So now, seizing the chance, Zhao Dingli took the initiative to cooperate.
Who would have thought that after Li Xiaoyun had already reached out, she forcibly stopped herself halfway.
Zhao Dingli: "..."
He couldn’t very well just shove his wrist into Li Xiaoyun’s hand.
Li Xiaoyun’s rationality had returned just in time.
Realizing what she was doing, she hurriedly stopped and pulled her hand back.
She obediently placed her hands on her own knees.
Zhao Dingli: "..."
He really wanted to tell her that she could hold it, that it was fine.
But Li Xiaoyun, afraid she’d slip up again, directly picked up the milk tea and cupped it with both hands.
This way she had something in her hands to hold and wouldn’t be tempted to grab to the side.
Zhao Dingli: "..."
At this moment, on stage, An Haiyin picked up the last envelope in her hand.
"Alright, next, let’s look at Judge Zhuang Mingyan’s scores." An Haiyin said with a smile as she opened the envelope.
But the moment she opened it and saw the scores inside, the smile on An Haiyin’s face almost collapsed.
Her smile froze for a moment, and although she quickly returned to normal,
she still couldn’t quite maintain the smile on her face.
Even her professional host’s smile failed her.
Many sharp-eyed audience members noticed the change in An Haiyin’s expression.
Aside from a few particularly simple-minded viewers who didn’t realize her expression meant something was off,
most of the audience could tell something wasn’t right.
An Haiyin took a deep breath and said, "Let’s look at Miss Zhuang’s scores."
"Ba Zhekai, 6.9 points." Even as she read it out, An Haiyin’s voice carried a hint of awkwardness.
The audience erupted.
"All the other Judges gave over 8. How did it suddenly plunge into a valley when it got to Zhuang Mingyan!"
"Does she think the other Judges weren’t strict enough? Their standards too low?"
"What’s wrong with Zhuang Mingyan? Does she even know what she’s doing?"
"If she doesn’t understand, she shouldn’t just throw scores around! It makes it sound like Ba Zhekai didn’t cook well."
"Ban Ziang, 6.8 points."
"Hua Ciyue, 6.7 points."
"Huo Jiarong, 6.9 points."
"Shang Heyue, 6.3 points."
"I’m getting a bit numb listening to this," a viewer said. "Why are her scores all so low?"
"Could it really be that her standards for cuisine are higher?"
The person who had been sniping at Ye Fei earlier in a sarcastic tone spoke up again: "What’s there to be so shocked about?"
"She’s with the International Chef Association and usually deals with international star chefs. No matter how amazing our current top ten are, can they compare to world-class chefs?"
"No matter how you put it, the top ten are still contestants, still students, still have a lot to learn. They haven’t even finished learning yet, still just brats—how can they compare to world-class chefs? In terms of skill and vision, they’re way behind."
"Zhuang Mingyan has tasted the dishes of various famous chefs, so of course she uses those high standards to score the contestants. Don’t these scores perfectly show the gap between the contestants and the star chefs?"
Everyone listened and felt like it kind of made sense.
Never mind how snide this person had sounded just now when mentioning Ye Fei,
the things they were saying now were actually quite reasonable.
"Tian Pengpo, 7.9 points."
Tian Pengpo’s score still wasn’t considered particularly high.
But compared to the others, it was much higher.
Maybe because those low scores before had set a contrast.
Suddenly seeing a 7.9, almost an 8,
made everyone feel that Tian Pengpo’s score was really high.
"See, if you’ve got the ability, you can still get a high score," that person added.
"These scores just prove the gap between the contestants and the real star chefs," the person said smugly.
"You see the scores that Guo Wenbo and the other Judges gave as high, but in fact they’re scoring based on the fact that people like Tian Pengpo are both students and young chefs, with a bit of encouragement mixed in."
"But frankly, their scores aren’t all that realistic. You can look at them, but that’s it. They’re not as realistic as Zhuang Mingyan’s scores—the same Zhuang Mingyan you all say doesn’t know anything."
"I’m even starting to suspect that everything Zhuang Mingyan said in her earlier evaluations was actually the truth," someone said.
At that, for a moment no one could come up with a rebuttal.
"Xu Aoliang, 6.5 points."
"Ye Fei, 4.0 points." By this point, An Haiyin’s voice was already filled with disbelief.
The audience blew up.
"What? Only 4 points? Is this a joke!"
"Even if Zhuang Mingyan’s standards are high, she can’t possibly give Ye Fei just 4 points!"
"Ye Fei’s score has always been about the same as Tian Pengpo’s, but now she’s completely fallen behind!"
"Ye Fei and Tian Pengpo are about equal in strength!"
"Zhuang Mingyan’s targeting is way too obvious!"
"Yu Yingyan, 7.0 points."
"Zhou Junhao, 7.1 points."
"Even Yu Yingyan and Zhou Junhao’s scores are so much higher than Ye Fei’s!"
"How do you know Zhuang Mingyan is targeting Ye Fei? Isn’t it possible that Ye Fei’s true level is just showing now?"
"Before this, it was always five Judges doing the evaluations. We never actually knew what level Ye Fei was really at."
