Chapter 147: Egg with Shrimp

“Brother, will Daddy and Mommy appear?”

Xu Tian asked Xu Le with a tender voice. Xu Le heard that she had not had dinner in kindergarten, so he was making egg with shrimp for her.

When he heard this, he said, “They will, just wait patiently.”

During the first 20 minutes of the live broadcast, they had been bragging about how awesome the “Master Chef” who had yet to show his face was. They had even compared Zhang Tong, Chen Xian, as well as other local chefs who had a very high reputation with the “Master Chef” to praise him. The audiences were dumbfounded when they heard that. They really thought that the Master Chef was one of the top chefs in Asia. The cheers from the audience grew louder and louder.

Xu Le’s hands paused slightly as he thought to himself, “Rather than saying that the program is implementing strong variety effect in the competition, it would be more accurate to say that they are trampling on his peers to support him. Who exactly is that person? How can he be so glorious under the premise of a fair competition?”

He cracked and scattered five eggs, and added salt pepper powder, a small amount of water starch and fragrant oil. This would preserve the freshness of the eggs to the greatest extent.

Xu Le cut a cross on the surface of the tomato and placed it in the boiling water. After that, he peeled off the skin on it and diced it.

“Brother, when is dinner?”

“Soon, in ten minutes.”

Xu Le swiftly picked the removed the prawn shell and took out the innards. After marinating it for a while, he washed it with cold water and finally poured some yellow wine over it.

The prawns were poured into the pot and boiled until they were 60-70% cooked. Then, they were scooped out and mixed evenly in the egg mixture. Oil was poured into the pot and waited until it was 40-50% hot.

After pouring the egg mixture in, he used a spoon to slowly stir-fry the egg over medium heat. After the surface had solidified, he poured the tomatoes into it. After the egg formed in the pot, he immediately stir-fried it with a spoon.

The trick to the egg dish was that it should be tender and smooth. If all the eggs were stuck together into a lump, the texture wouldn’t be good.

According to the original recipe, there was no need for Xu Le to add diced tomatoes. But he knew that his younger sister liked the taste of tomatoes, so he added a little to enhance the flavor.

This way, the egg with shrimp would be sweet and refreshing with tomatoes.

“Ding!” The rice had also been steamed in the rice cooker. The fragrant rice was matched with the fat and thin slices of sausage. During the process of steaming, the grease and fragrance of the sausage seeped into the rice, making the rice grains plump and bright.

“Time to eat.”

Xu Le carried the simple dishes to the living room. The live broadcast competition had just begun. Tonight, the mysterious “Master Chef” was going to compete against a famous French chef. When the name list was announced, Xu Tian’s parents were nowhere to be seen.

Xu Tian’s eyes widened at the sight of the egg with shrimp. Usually, Xu Le would prepare a meal with a variety of dishes. This was the first time she had seen a meal with just one dish and without soup!

“Brother, is it because Sister Lu isn’t around that I can only eat one dish?”

“No.”

Xu Le was amused. He sat cross-legged on the rug and said, “That Sister Lu of yours left in the afternoon. She seems to be attending a class reunion. Also, it’s won’t be easy to digest if you eat too much at night.”

Xu Tian began to eat happily. The eggs were fluffy and tender, the prawns were sweet and chewy, and there was the refreshing sweetness and sourness of tomatoes. She nodded repeatedly as she ate, and she seemed to like it very much.

“Ding! 200 gold coins have been transferred.”

Xu Le raised his eyebrows and said, “Tiantian likes to eat egg with shrimp so much?”

Xu Tian gave a short reply, “Yes! I’m hungry. It’s delicious!”

At this moment, the camera panned over and Shi Zhexian and Shen Hui appeared. The two of them stood hand in hand and greeted everyone with smiles.

Xu Tian’s chopsticks fell onto the table with a clatter and tears immediately flowed out. She cried out to Xu Le, “Brother, hug,”

Xu Le hugged his sister and sat on the rug. He patted her back and coaxed her.

“It’s okay, let’s watch mom and dad compete, okay?”

Xu Tian nodded.

The “Master Chef” didn’t show his face at all, and his mysteriousness was maxed out.

The first to go on stage was a local chef. He prepared a French dish of Sealed Duck In Oil and Onion Soup.

An hour later.

Both dishes were ready. The Master Chef had made the same dishes with the same ingredients. Logically speaking, the taste shouldn’t be too different. However, during the anonymous evaluation by the live audience and the judges, there was immediately a drastic difference in votes.

The Master Chef had competed with many chefs at the scene himself. In between, someone made Wellington Steak and foie gras. Meanwhile, Xu Tian’s parents were allocated to preparing desserts. They made lemon tarts and truffle soup respectively.

From the start of the broadcast until now, the Master Chef had basically won all the votes, causing a crushing defeat to his opponent. Xu Le couldn’t help but frown as he watched. Finally, after Xu Zhexian’s truffle soup loss to the Master Chef’s cream mushroom soup, he couldn’t help but pick up his phone.

After three rings, the call went through.

“Hello? Xiao Le, it’s you.”

“It’s late, sorry to disturb you.” Xu Le greeted politely. He knew that Mr. Cai was definitely not sleeping during the live broadcast, so he went straight to the point and asked, “I heard that you were a judge for the Chinese region of the competition. Do you know this Master Chef?”

On the other end of the phone, Cai Lan pondered for a long time. In the end, he said, “It’s not convenient to disclose any details. Although your parents lost for the two dishes, they only lost in the competition…”

“Grandpa Cai,” Xu Le asked, “Is the chef over there alone?”

Cai Lan nodded and realized that Xu Le couldn’t see what he was doing. He cleared her throat and said, “Yes.”

“Okay, I got it. Bye, Grandpa.”

“…Wait, are you going to participate?”

Xu Le looked at the screen. His parents were visibly disappointed. He said firmly, “Yes, I want to try.”

“Don’t go.” Cai Lan frowned and said, “Trust me, you won’t win even if you go. No matter how good a chef is, you can’t beat him. You’ve always had a good reputation. I heard that you opened a new restaurant. Don’t ruin your own reputation.”

Xu Le hung up the phone and hesitated for a moment. Xu Tian ran over and hugged his arm. She said softly, “Brother, don’t be unhappy. Daddy and Mommy will be back soon.”

Seeing that she was still so young and knew to pay attention to his emotions, Xu Le felt warm in his heart and raised his hand to tickle Xu Tian’s nose.

“I know. It’s getting late. Tiantian, shall we go to bed first?”

Xu Tian nodded.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Master.”

Li Qing deliberately teased him with this nickname.

The moment Xu Le opened the door, he saw the drunk Lu Yuxi holding onto the door frame and retching.

“We bumped into each other at the elevator downstairs just now. I bought some braised food and wanted to watch the competition together. Aiyo, Sister Lu! There’s so much dirt on your shoes, quickly change into another pair…”

“Come in first.”

Amidst the commotion, Xu Le took the takeaway box from Li Qing and said, “Who’s going to make hangover soup?”

Lu Yuxi kicked off her shoes, took two steps forward, and fell onto the sofa.