This national cooking competition is a large-scale event hosted by the National Cooking Association. Its main purpose is to advance the progress of Chinese cooking and promote cooking exchanges.

A lot of people signed up for this cooking competition, including many restaurants in the city, which sent chef representatives to participate.

The chefs are also very enthusiastic because if they win a place in this cooking competition, they will not only get honor and benefits, but also receive guidance from the cooking master Wang Jianye.

Wang Jianye is a very famous cooking master in the country and his cooking skills are excellent. This is beyond doubt and a well-known fact.

Many chefs bought the cookbooks published by Wang Jianye when they started learning how to cook.

Wang Jianye has published special recipes for all eight major cuisines, whether Shandong cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, or Fujian cuisine. Moreover, the recipes are very well written, very detailed, and easy to understand. You will definitely gain a lot from careful study.

Therefore, many chefs took the initiative to sign up for this national cooking competition, because if they won a place, they could get guidance from Wang Jianye, which is what they really want.

All of Wang Jianye’s apprentices became state banquet chefs and their skills were excellent.

This has led to many people wanting to become Wang Jianye's apprentice and learn cooking from him to improve their skills.

But after so many years, Wang Jianye no longer accepts disciples.

They wanted to get Wang Jianye's guidance, and the national cooking competition was a good opportunity. So many people signed up to participate.

The venue for this national cooking competition is at the headquarters of the National Culinary Association.

As the vice chairman of the national industry association, Wang Jianye holds a special status here. When he arrived here, many people greeted him enthusiastically.

"Master Wang, you are here."

"Hey, hello, Master Wang."

Wang Jianye responded one by one with a smile.

Although Wang Jianye has become the vice chairman of the association, he is still used to people calling him Master Wang.

Wang Jianye came to the conference room, where many people were already waiting.

The conference table is a rectangular wooden table. Its surface has been worn to a shiny finish, but it still firmly supports various documents and materials.

There is a circle of wooden chairs around the table. The paint on some of the chairs has peeled off, revealing the mottled wood grain.

Before the meeting started, a staff member was responsible for calling the roll. His voice echoed in the conference room, confirming whether all participants were present.

Then, the leader or host announced the start of the meeting. Their voices were clear and powerful, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

They then briefly describe the purpose and agenda of the meeting, setting the stage for the discussion that will follow.

The purpose of Wang Jianye's coming here was to hold a meeting to discuss various matters related to the National Cooking Competition.

Wang Jianye, the vice chairman of the cooking association, is mainly responsible for the production standards. All other chores are handled by other people, so Wang Jianye does not need to worry about it.

So Wang Jianye didn't speak much in today's meeting.

After the meeting, Wang Jianye called several professional chefs from the association and discussed and formulated the competition standards with them.

Because this cooking competition is divided into eight cuisine groups, a suitable standard must be set for each cuisine.

After all, there may be slight differences in how different cuisines evaluate a dish, and one standard cannot be used to judge the quality of dishes in all cuisines.

After the standards were set, Wang Jianye left the place, because he had finished his work and could leave other things to others. Wang Jianye only needed to wait until the day when the national cooking competition officially started to serve as a judge. The moment Wang Jianye stepped into the house, a warm breath rushed towards him, instantly dispelling his fatigue of the day.

In the living room, soft lights fill every corner, creating a peaceful and warm atmosphere.

He took a deep breath. It was the smell of home, a familiar and reassuring feeling.

"You're back, Jianye." Chen Kejia's voice came from the kitchen, with a bit of concern and expectation.

She was wearing a comfortable home dress, her hair was tied casually behind her head, and a gentle smile was on her face.

Holding a plate of hot food fresh out of the pot in my hand, the aroma is overflowing and it makes me salivate.

Wang Jianye smiled as he walked towards the kitchen. Seeing his wife busy at work, a warm feeling welled up in his heart. "Well, you're back. What delicious food did you make today?"

As he spoke, he took the plate from Chen Kejia's hand and gently placed it on the dining table.

"They are all your favorites, stir-fried kidney, fried eggs with leeks, and turtle soup that I stewed all afternoon."

Chen Kejia took off her apron as she spoke, walked over to Wang Jianye, and gently brushed the dust off his shoulders. "Sit down and take a rest first. I'll heat up the food and it will be ready soon."

Although Wang Jianye is a great chef, he rarely cooks for himself when he returns home.

Anyone who has worked as a chef has had this feeling: no matter how well you cook in a restaurant, you don’t want to cook when you get home.

……

In the lobby of Wang's All-Inclusive Hotel, the lights are bright, the voices are bustling, and there are crowds of guests. Every table is filled with sumptuous food, creating a lively scene.

This newly opened restaurant has quickly become popular in the city for its authentic and exquisite dishes, attracting a constant stream of diners.

A man with an ordinary face but sly eyes sat at a table by the window.

At this time, a middle-aged man named Sun Jieming, dressed in casual clothes, walked into Wang's Quanxi Hotel with a look of contempt and disdain in his eyes.

He glanced around, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, and walked straight to an empty table.

The waiter walked up to him quickly with a smile on his face and asked him in a gentle manner what he would like to order.

Sun Jieming stretched out his hand lazily and pointed at the signature dish on the wall: "Give me one serving of your pickled fish. Let me try it."

Soon, the steaming pickled fish was served on the table.

Sun Jieming took only one bite and frowned. He put down his chopsticks and said displeasedly, "This pickled fish is not authentic. I don't want to pay for it."

Sun Jieming's voice was not loud, but it was enough to attract the attention of people around him.

The head waitress Qin Huairu came over upon hearing the noise. She had a smile on her face, but a hint of imperceptible wariness flashed in her eyes.

"Sir, our pickled fish is made according to traditional techniques, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Sun Jieming snorted, looking extremely disdainful. "If it's not authentic, it's not good. The taste and texture of authentic pickled fish..."

He began to describe the so-called "authentic" method in a long stream, revealing a sense of confidence in his words, as if he really knew a lot about this dish, and no one knew more about pickled fish than him. (End of this chapter)