Chapter 154: Preliminaries

“Mommy!”

Xu Tian rushed out from behind Xu Le and hugged Shen Hui’s arm. She shook her body happily and said, “I missed you guys so much! Why did you only come back now?”

Xu Zhexian smiled in relief. “Lele, your mother and I heard that you were going to participate in the competition and rushed back.”

“Yeah.”

After all, Xu Le was not familiar with them. After the atmosphere eased, he turned to look for Lu Yuxi and said, “Let’s go. Don’t be late.”

“Coming.”

Lu Yuxi came out of the bedroom with a few bags and bumped into the Xu couple. She was stunned for a moment and was about to introduce herself, but Shen Hui was faster. “Hello, Miss Lu. I’m Xu Le and Xu Tian’s mother.”

“You, you know me?”

“Yes.” Shen Hui’s face was still charming. She said gently, “Miss Lu, don’t you recognize me? I even hugged you when you were young.”

Xu Le’s swept across their faces with a surprised gaze. Lu Yuxi said, “Oh, haha, I…”

She really couldn’t remember anymore and tried to muddle through. Shen Hui saw through it but didn’t point it out. She made an inviting gesture and asked Xu Zhexian to bring the luggage into the house.

They went downstairs, where Li Qing had been waiting for a long time. He stuck his head out of the car window and said, “What are you guys doing? Why are you so slow… Oh, hello, Uncle and Auntie.”

He had watched the recording of the competition and recognized the Xu couple.

“Hello, is Lele leaving with Mom or with him?”

“I’ll leave with Li Qing. After all, I was the one who called him over. We’ll meet at the entrance later.”

“Sure.”

Shen Hui had no objections. When she reached out to pull Xu Tian, she saw her daughter take a step back and say, “I want to go with Brother.”

Xu Zhexian reached out to adjust the frame of his glasses. He knew that it was probably because they had been separated for too long that their children was feeling distant. They had to slowly warm up to each other, so he nodded and said, “Alright, you can go sit with your brother.”

“Is that your parents?” Li Qing waited for Xu Le to get into the car before asking eagerly, “Your parents have good genes, especially Xu Tian. She will definitely be a beauty when she grows up!”

Xu Le glanced at him and said, “Drive your car. Stop talking nonsense.”

“Yo, Master Xu is so fierce. How’s your preparation for the competition?”

“I didn’t prepare.”

“Are you that confident?”

“No, I’ll improvise when I get there.”

Xu Le looked calm. What he had learned from the Strongest Master Chef System was already a top-notch recipe and cooking skill that ordinary chefs could not master in several lifetimes. That was why he was especially curious about who this Master Chef was.

They arrived at the competition venue where they had agreed to meet—it was a huge exhibition hall that had been temporarily converted into a competition venue. It was very grand and magnificent outside. There were all kinds of filming equipment inside, including professional video cameras and lenses.

Li Qing went to the underground garage to park the car while Xu Tian held his hand and asked curiously, “Brother, are you going in to compete with them later?”

“Uh-huh.”

Xu Le nodded.

Lu Yuxi, who was following behind them, suddenly asked, “How many admission tickets do you have?”

“Five.”

“There’s Li Qing, your parents, Zhang Tong, and Tiantian. Since there are enough people, I won’t be entering.”

As she spoke, she stuffed the suitcase into Xu Le’s hand and said, “I have something urgent to attend to. I’ll leave first.”

Without giving Xu Le a chance to speak, she turned around and rushed towards the door.

“Lu Yuxi? Where are you going?”

Li Qing, who walked in, asked curiously. Then, he slowly walked towards Xu Le and said, “Why is she ignoring me?”

“Then you should ask her.”

Xu Le said helplessly. He took a deep breath and adjusted his mood. “Let’s go in. Leave the remaining admission tickets to the staff at the door. Just let them who they are for.”

“Did you guys quarrel?” Li Qing chased after him and suddenly said, “Or did she go back to accompany her husband?”

“How would I know!” Xu Le was finally annoyed. He raised his voice and said, “That’s her private matter. Why should I care?”

He pulled Xu Tian along and walked forward quickly. He did not know why he was angry. Lu Yuxi had lived with him for so long but had never told him about this.

Xu Le did not know if he was angry because she had deceived him, or if it was because of this sudden farewell…

After entering to the interior, Chen Yeqi walked out quickly to welcome him. “Hello, hello, you’ve finally reached.”

From his tone, it sounded like he was afraid that Xu Le would not come.

“Yes. Hello.”

“Go and prepare first while we wait for the audience to enter. The first match will be at 1 PM… Oh, your parents are here too!”

As Chen Yeqi spoke, he looked up and saw the Xu couple who had previously participated in the competition. He quickly went up to greet them.

When Xu Zhexian saw him, he couldn’t help but show disgust in his eyes. However, out of courtesy, he still politely went through the process and greeted him. Compared to him, Shen Hui was much calmer. She even had the mood to smile slowly and say, “Producer Chen created such a huge scene, and now he even brought my son over. As parents, I naturally have to come and take a look.”

“Haha, you’re too kind.”

Chen Yeqi lowered his eyes to hide the glint in them.

“I’m not asking you to take care of him. I just want it to be fair.”

After Shen Hui finished speaking slowly, Chen Yeqi’s expression turned extremely ugly. Fortunately, he had a good temper and retorted indifferently, “How can a live broadcast of a competition be fake?”

Soon, it was 1 PM.

The grand Master Chef competition had been publicized on various platforms for many days. As soon as it was broadcasted, tens of thousands of people flooded into the live-stream.

On the subway, Lu Yuxi found a corner to lean against. The live broadcast of the competition was playing on her phone. A kind old granny beside her would glance at the screen in her hand from time to time. She suddenly said, “This child is so cute. He’s fair and clean and is even wearing a chef’s uniform.”

Lu Yuxi, who was in a daze, jolted. After coming back to her senses, she nodded and explained, “Yes, he’s a child, but he’s also a chef.”

The dazzling lights shone. It was not Xu Le’s first time participating in the competition. However, he saw that the host on stage was extremely impassioned and there were hundreds of audience judges below.

Their behavior were more or less exaggerated.

“The person who is appearing today is a popular chef from the eight-year-old canteen—Xu Le! With his superb culinary skills and extreme cuteness, he has captured the taste buds of customers many times and has many fans on various platforms.”

After the host finished introducing him, a black screen appeared on the big screen. Immediately after, a 3D figure was projected on the stage and waved at the audience.

In an instant, the crowd below seemed to have been ignited. Cheers surged like waves, one higher than the other.

Countless comments flooded the bullet screen.

“The Master Chef will definitely win!”

“This child is too arrogant. He actually dares to compete with the Master Chef?”