The final leg of the selections would begin in an hour, and yet Lu Xinyi arrived at the arena earlier than the participants. After meeting with Han Zhiling and He Haotian who would also join her to judge the final, she had a brief explanation of today’s activity.

From the top 5 students coming from junior and senior division, there would be 5 teams created to maximize the time limit and to test the students’ teamwork. Surprisingly, Ye Xieren would be the partner of Tian Lingyu while Yan Chen would be Huang Shenghao’s sous chef for today’s competition.

Adrenaline rushed through Lu Xinyi’s veins. Her excitement couldn’t be concealed as the rare chance of tasting her brother’s and Huang Shenghao’s cooking came to her. She really liked to know how good the two princes of the academy were.

“I see, you couldn’t wait for them to start,” He Haotian spoke behind her as they sat at the judges’ table, waiting for the competition to officially start.

“Why not?” Lu Xinyi grinned, unabashed to let her mentor see how excited she was. “I haven’t tasted my brother’s cooking for a long time. I also want to see how good Huang Shenghao is; after all, he’s the reigning top student of Silver Leaf.”

“Then, you are in for a treat. Your brother just issued a challenge against Huang Shenghao to compete for the top seat.” Han Zhiling—who was sitting next to He Haotian—mentioned, catching Lu Xinyi off guard.-.

“Really?!” she exclaimed with widened eyes.

Didn’t they say that Tian Lingyu wasn’t interested in taking the first seat because the responsibilities attached to it were too troublesome for his liking? So why did he decide to challenge Huang Shenghao this time?

“It was Huang Shenghao who requested this cooking battle. Tian Lingyu has only filed the official request since his position is lower than Huang Shenghao,” He Haotian explained. He wanted to say more, but Huo Meili showed up at the stage, getting everyone’s attention.

“Welcome, everyone! Today, we’ll find out who’ll represent our academy in the prestigious Interschool Culinary Competition. Students, please do your best!” She then turned her attention to Headmistress Han to announce the theme of the cooking battle. “May our Headmistress tell us what kind of dishes our participants should serve today?”

“Thank you, Miss Huo.” Han Zhiling’s eyes swept to the remaining participants for the selections. Each of them had a lot of potentials; some even turned the tide unexpectedly during the first course of the selection.

“For today, there would be a tag team challenge. Each group is expected to present a full-course meal. A full-course meal can have anywhere from three to twenty courses. There’s no limitation on what cuisine you prefer to use as long as it could please our taste buds. You have three hours to finish the dishes, and we’ll allow you to discuss your meal plan for ten minutes.”

“Okay, students. You heard the theme for today.” Huo Meili took over the mike again. “Also, may I remind our Student Council officers Huang Shenghao and Tian Lingyu that the cooking battle for the first seat will officially commence.”

“A full-course meal, huh,” Tian Lingyu murmured beside his partner, Ye Xieren who couldn’t contain his nervousness from being paired up with the second prince.

“Have you prepared one before?” Tian Lingyu asked his junior, not noticing Ye Xieren state was in.

Both were sponsored by the Li family, and Ye Xieren had never thought there would be a time he would be able to cook with Tian Lingyu. His senior was not only popular with the girls within the academy, but he had a clean streak of not losing to every cooking battle he participated in.

“No, I haven’t,” Ye Xieren admitted. Although his uncle had allowed him to work in the back kitchen, Chef Qin hadn’t taught him yet how to plan and serve a full-course meal for their customers.

“Ah, then you wouldn’t mind if I were to decide what dishes should we present today?”

Ye Xieren shook his head. If Tian Lingyu had already come up with a plan, he could only listen and help him to the best of his ability.

“I don’t mind, but will you tell me what is it? I wouldn’t want to drag you down with me if I mess up,” he answered, fully aware of his shaking hands from nervousness.

Across them, Huang Shenghao and Yan Chen were also discussing their strategy. Unlike Ye Xieren, Yan Chen was calm and collected. He also didn’t anticipate that today’s selection would also be the cooking battle for the first seat for the Cream of the Crop.

Pushing the bridge of his glasses, Yan Chen regarded Ye Xieren at the other kitchen counter across them. It seemed impossible to reach and beat Lu Xinyi at the moment so the other rival in front of him was another obstacle to beat.

From the judges’ table, they watched as the ten students discussed their meal plans with their corresponding partners. He Haotian yawned as he thought of the three-hour waiting time they had to endure until the dishes were ready to be served.

“Three hours, and they are just planning their menu. The waiting time would be enough for us to grow roots from boredom,” he complained.

Han Zhiling chided him in return.

“This part is critical for today’s presentation. Multiple course dinners take a lot of time to cook. If they plan ahead, they will leave themselves plenty of time to cook every course limiting their mistakes.”

Lu Xinyi agreed with her.

“I’ll probably do the same if I were in their shoes. If serving each course individually, I will think ahead about how long it will take to prepare and plate each dish. Rather than preparing each course right before it is served, it might make more sense to begin preparing a plate one or two courses beforehand—especially if there are elements in a dish that will take a long time.”

Meanwhile, Ye Xieren patted his cheeks with both hands, forcing himself to focus. He could not make the same mistake again. Turning to face his senior, he found Tian Lingyu listing down the menu for their full-course meal and the ingredients they’d need to prepare it.

“Do you think you can get the ingredients for our desserts?” Tian Lingyu passed the small notepad he had to Ye Xieren and explained the specifics of their strategy.

Ye Xieren was impressed with the plan Tian Lingyu came up with. His senior was able to create a meal plan in under five minutes and had chosen items that should be prepared fresh and those cooked in advance. Tian Lingyu also chose recipes that required different cooking equipment to use to avoid running out of time when cooking.

The meal plan consisted of Italian dishes that Ye Xieren was inept with. For this cooking battle, he would rely on Tian Lingyu’s skills while making sure he wouldn’t make a mistake along the way. This was the only thing he could do to make sure Tian Lingyu wouldn’t fail with him.

For the appetizer, Tian Lingyu had chosen the classic Bread and Tomato soup. Traditionally, this Italian dish relies on pieces of stale bread to soak up the broth and thicken the soup. This simple tomato bread soup was also delightfully easy to prepare and modify and a perfect way to soak up the goodness of summer tomatoes.