It's late at night, and people are not quiet. On a snowy night, the oil-paper fans of different colors outside the Imperial City are illuminated by countless torches. From the sky, there was nothing, and under the layers of umbrella leaves, cooks, officers and soldiers, civilians, and officials all looked in one direction.

There is a tall wooden shelf in the square outside the imperial city, the top of the shelf is a large red silk with a width of two meters, and the red silk extends from the top to the bottom, and a cook dressed in the costume of the imperial dining room steps on the high ladder and holds a large pen to write his name on the red silk.

The first name is: Cao Fu.

The second name is: Murong Jin.

From this point to this, the former ranking means the higher the position in the first round.

Everyone looked at the names on the red silk with nervous expressions, and now there were more than twenty of them, of which three of the well-known four major restaurants were ranked eleventh, seventeenth, and nineteenth respectively.

In the eyes of the people, the chefs of the four major restaurants are the best chefs in Chang'an City, but they didn't expect that even one of the four major restaurants did not enter the top ten. Even the name of Yunshui Pavilion hasn't even appeared!

Could it be that the gap between the four major restaurants and other chefs is so big?

This is not the case, the ranking of the first round of the competition does not say anything, the luck component is too important, and the current ranking has no effect on the subsequent competition, and it is impossible to know whether the chef has played his best. In other words, as long as the name can appear on the red silk.

But the name on the red silk was written more and more, but Xu Yuan's name was not seen for a long time.

At the same time that the people on the high ladder wrote their names, the cooks of the more than a dozen imperial dining rooms below were in full swing, they reported a name, and the people on the high ladder wrote a name.

There are more than 20 names on the red silk, but the statistics have reached the thirty-fifth place.

Thirty-five, three hundred and twenty-four taels!

And Xu Yuan only has one hundred and eighty-five taels.

The difference in the middle is one hundred and forty taels but there are only fifteen places, is it really enough?

Xu Yuan was so nervous that her palms were sweating, and she held Xia Shang's arm tightly.

Xia Shang was also very nervous, this was his first time participating in the cooking competition, if he couldn't even enter the top fifty, how could his face be bright?

The next moment, Xia Shang saw a glimmer of hope, and a cook was found to have secretly exchanged copper coins for silver taels during the competition, so he was directly disqualified.

In the last few places, there are more and more cheaters, and some people even invalidate because they let acquaintances buy some food and give bounty money.

Of course, the people who were found out were not convinced, and said that the previous high-ranking people also used the same means, why not check them?

Without any explanation, the cook wisely chose to shut up when he saw the guard with the knife.

Seeing that the number of places is getting smaller and smaller, some dissatisfied chefs began to complain, saying that their seats are not good, and if they are changed to a crowded place, they can still be among the best, and there are more or less small problems with the top cooks, and they are not convinced.

There were more and more complaints, and the situation seemed to get out of control in the second half, and finally Jia Yu appeared in the crowd.

Jia Yu is a very famous figure among chefs in Chang'an, not only because of his cooking skills, but also because of his position in the emperor's heart.

Jia Yu was in front, and the complaining chef gradually quieted down, hoping that the head of the imperial kitchen could give a satisfactory explanation.

The election of the Great Dynasty Banquet broke Jia Yu's heart, big and small things were already anxious, and now he had to end such a boring thing, Jia Yu was very annoyed, so his tone was not good: "You people, you are not good at cooking, but you have to blame this and that, there is never an absolutely fair thing in the world, and a real chef can complete an impossible task in any predicament." If you can't fight your way out of the encirclement in a place with a poor position, it only means that you are not capable enough, so go back and cultivate for three years and come back. ”

After some words, another impatient voice came from the crowd: "That's a good word, why don't you try it?" The ingredients have been eaten up by the poor, who has the silver to reward? ”

"That's it! To put it lightly. That's not a problem with our dishes at all, and there are not many people around who can give rewards. ”

Jia Yu flicked his sleeves: "Ignorance! Look at the forty-third person called the wind chef on the red silk, this person in front of the Mingde Gate, only half an hour to earn more than two hundred taels of silver, ranking in the top fifty, what else do you say? ”

“……”

"Wind Chef? Who is Wind Kitchen? ”

Xia Shang was also curious, and asked Xu Yuan: "Feng Kitchen is the one who sells roasted sweet potatoes opposite us?" ”

Xu Yuan nodded: "It should be him, I didn't notice him at the last moment, I don't know when he closed the stall." It's just that I didn't expect him to sell more than us at the last moment! ”

As soon as the name of the wind chef came out, the crowd immediately began to discuss.

Feng Chef's performance in front of Mingde Gate was widely known, and it was known that he sold roasted sweet potatoes, and he only sold them for the last half an hour.

Some people say that he is lucky, because it is just in time for the heavy snowfall, and it is very comfortable to eat roasted sweet potatoes on a cold day, and then he borrowed the east wind of Yunshui Pavilion, because Yunshui Pavilion attracted many customers, so he had the opportunity to sell his goods.

Others say that he is confident, and everything is in his calculations. Because he had prepared a total of two hundred and fifty sweet potatoes, and as a result, the goods sold were exchanged for a total of two hundred and fifty taels of silver, and if he had not been confident, who would have slept well at the beginning?

The performance of the wind kitchen blocked the mouths of the people, and when everyone was discussing the wind kitchen, the number of places had reached the forty-ninth!

The forty-ninth place is one hundred and ninety taels of silver, and it is still not Xu Yuan.

Only one last spot remains!

"One hundred and eighty-nine taels! Who is one hundred and eighty-nine taels? Raise your hand, please! ”

Xia Shang's arm hurt, looked down at Xu Yuan, and patted her shoulder comfortingly: "It is up to people to make things happen, and everything is determined by heaven." ”

Xu Yuan nodded, but still closed her eyes.

"One hundred and eighty-nine taels!" The statistics shouted again, and there was no reaction from the crowd.

Xu Yuan's hand tightened unconsciously.

Those who did not get one hundred and eighty-nine taels!

"One hundred and eighty-eight!"

“……”

Or not!

"One hundred and eighty-seven!"

Still not!

The hope is getting bigger and bigger, Xu Yuan's little hands are getting tighter and tighter, and she feels like she is about to tear Xia Shang's clothes.

Xia Shang didn't comfort him anymore, he also became nervous, and his heart had already raised his throat.

"One hundred and eighty-six!"

"No, no! No one! ”

All were praying silently. However, at this time, another hand was raised.

The hand was not raised too high, but it did rise half a head from the crowd. Now everyone is whining like a deflated ball.

The last spot is gone!

Xu Yuan fell softly on Xia Shang's side, Xia Shang pressed Xu Yuanxiang's shoulder with his hand, there was nothing to say, and he also felt very deflated.

But the next moment something changed!

The statistician walked up to the person who raised his hand and asked if it was one hundred and eighty-six taels, but the other party said that he was only one hundred and eighty-five!

"You want to lie?!" The statisticians were furious.

"Official, you misunderstood, I didn't raise my hand! I thought that the next one would be one hundred and eighty-five taels, and I was a little excited and ready to lift, hasn't this been lifted yet? ”

Ready to lift!

The "......" statistician was speechless.

Many cooks are crying out for the rest of their lives.