While Si Qi and Fan Mei had gotten their feedback, Si Jin had continued preparing his own dishes. He had to admit that seeing not just one person but several finish almost right after another gave him some pressure.

He knew he had two hours to prepare everything and as long as he timed it right, he would be able to finish without problems. But seeing others finish — including the men of his own clan —, there was a chance he was doing something wrong and that was why he needed so much longer.

Should he not have made this many dishes? Was it better to incorporate the ingredients into only one or two dishes? Thinking about it, he didn’t see a logical reason why one should be better than the other. In fact, his way of doing the task might be better because he could show a wider variety of dishes, thus better displaying the skills he had.

Well, this was something he wouldn’t be able to solve right now. He’d discuss with Si Shi Wu later when they had gone home. Also, Xiao Ming would certainly give him valuable feedback.

Just thinking of the latter made his motivation rise and he ignored everything else and just continued with his own attempt at Xiao Ming’s task. Since the vegetarian dishes were already done, it was now time for the dishes with meat.

The oyster sauce chicken was easy enough to make. He prepared the sauce before browning the chicken in the pan, adding the other ingredients at a fast pace. Finally, he poured the prepared sauce onto everything and let it simmer while he already moved on to the next dish.

This sure had been easy enough. With this success, his confidence in solving this task successfully rose sharply and the bit of hesitation he had felt before vanished.

He had about fifteen minutes until the oyster sauce chicken would be done so he decided on making the Sichuan beef next. Just like with the wonton soup, he didn’t have all the ingredients he needed so this was yet another dish that he needed to improvise on.

The problem this time was that the meat they had been given was chicken, not beef. So really, this might not be the most suitable dish to make but it used few ingredients and he felt it fit the rest of the dishes quite well.

Either way, he figured that it should be possible to still make the dish with another type of meat. Whether it was chicken, beef, or pork, it was all meat in the end. The difference shouldn’t be too big. Maybe when being asked about this later, he should call it Sichuan chicken instead. That should give this dish some more legitimacy.

He considered for a moment but then inwardly shook his head. Saying less was still preferable. If he said too much, he would just open himself up for mistakes. He’d let the judges taste the dishes and just give their feedback like that. As long as he wasn’t asked directly, he wouldn’t say anything.

He didn’t think that there would be any big problems. After all, even if there wasn’t any meat, you could still make a vegetarian version of most dishes so he should be safe. But it was always better to be safe than sorry. Especially so when it came to a show he was trying to win so he could go out with Xiao Ming.

Anyway, the most important part about this dish was that, other than the meat, it mainly utilized carrots. He had more than just a few to spare so this dish had seemed like the perfect choice. In any case, while he had been studying recipes recently, his repertoire was still limited. He couldn’t think of a better alternative.

He only needed one bowl of this dish so he only used a small part of the ingredients as well. He stir-fried everything quickly and still had time before the oyster sauce chicken would be finished simmering.

For the amount of time left, the Cantonese steamed chicken seemed like the perfect choice of dish. After all, he only needed to marinate the meat and set up the steamer. There was more than enough time to finish that. Also, he should steam some rice while he was at it to go with the dish. After all, this was the dish he had decided to use the middle bowl for. Either he’d have to make a bigger amount or he’d have to add something. Everything considered, he figured that making rice and using one half of the bowl for it seemed like the perfect use of space.

Si Jin was never one to tarry after decisions had been made. He got to work and soon, the marinade had been prepared and poured over the chicken and the steamer was set up for both the chicken and rice. Actually, he lacked mushrooms for this recipe but he figured they shouldn’t be too important. Anyway, he had two vegetarian dishes. If somebody was eating this as a meal, they could just substitute the mushrooms with a bite from one of those dishes.

By now, the oyster sauce chicken was almost done simmering. Si Jin stared at the pan, wondering how long exactly he should leave it in there. He had to admit that he had a bit of a gripe with recipes since many wouldn’t give detailed enough instructions and they tended to be especially vague with instructions.

What did ‘about fifteen minutes’ mean? Was that fifteen? More? Less? And how could there be an instruction like ‘ten minutes or until the vegetables are tender’? Not only wasn’t he sure at which point a vegetable could be considered tender, he also felt that it was irresponsible to offer two alternatives which might vary to such a degree. This didn’t seem right.

Just when Si Jin was pointedly staring at the chicken in the pan to figure out if this could be considered long enough, the staff member he had approached before finally came over with the food trolley he had wanted.

The staff member had originally gone and organized food trolleys for all the contestants since Yang Shu Na didn’t want another rendition of Fan Mei’s ‘the judges are being biased’ now targeted at the production crew. But by the time they returned, Zhao Li Yu had finished his dish so he was given one first. Then the others did as well so, in the end, the person who had originally asked for the trolleys had still needed to wait.

Si Jin looked up from the stovetop, glad to finally have what he needed. He had seen the staff members bring over the trolleys for the others but he hadn’t minded that he wasn’t first. Either way, he still had enough space so it wasn’t urgent. Still, it was good that he was now able to prepare. If there was anything wrong with his setup, he would be able to spot it now when there was still enough time to remedy the situation.

He nodded at the staff member, grabbed the food trolley from him, and then started to arrange the bowls he had filled while putting the empty ones where they were supposed to stand later on.

Looking at the setup to verify that he was on the right track, Si Jin couldn’t help but suddenly feel worried. Would this be alright? Actually, he wasn’t completely sure about the last two small bowls. He had wanted to use them for sauces but then, what kind of sauce should he fill them with? In fact, did he even need them?

He started to hesitate, his expression almost changing but the years-long habit still kept his brows in check. Continuing to stare at the bowls, he finally picked up two small ones and put them to the side.

This way, the pattern was uneven though. He looked at the bowls still left and rearranged them. Instead of having the middle bowl stand perpendicular to the big bowl, he put it parallel to it, the long sides making for a nice line. As for the small bowls that were now missing, he decided to leave the outermost positions open. As a result, the intended heart shape actually seemed easier to spot.

Si Jin stared at it, surprised that his decision to leave out the sauces had actually resulted in a better appearance. Was this the so-called creativity?

He didn’t have time to ponder that question so he moved back to the stove, turning off the stovetop where the oyster sauce chicken was still simmering in the pan and taking it out.

He ladled it into a small bowl, turned to the food trolley, and then froze. After taking out two small bowls, he now couldn’t keep the vegetarian dishes on a separate side from the meat ones.

Why … just why hadn’t he thought of this?

Si Jin didn’t want to admit it but right now, inside, he was panicking. Nothing seemed to be working out. When he had still been cooking the dishes, he hadn’t had a problem because there was a clear path ahead. Grab the ingredients, follow the steps, finish the dish.

But now, his originally perfect plan was starting to fray at the edges. Knowing that others had already finished also did not help. He just didn’t know what to do.

If this had been at home, he could have asked Si Shi Wu about the best way to deal with the issue but now, he was at the set of ‘Golden Spoon’. He had to decide and do everything on his own. If he made a mistake, he also had to rectify it himself, no matter how lacking his skills might be.

Si Jin’s brow finally creased for the slightest bit before it smoothed out again. His plan might not have worked but he could still change it. Most dishes hadn’t been plated yet. Even those that were, they could also be changed to a different bowl in the worst of cases.

Anyway, right now, the wontons were in a small bowl, the cabbage stir-fry as well. He wanted to have them on the same side but couldn’t this way. The only side with merely two bowls was the one with the middle-sized bowl so he’d have to transfer the dishes there. Between the stir-fry and the soup, the soup would likely fit better in the bigger bowl.

Thinking this far, Si Jin put the bowl with the cabbage stir-fry onto the right side, exchanging it for the empty small bowl already standing there. Then, he picked up the small bowl with the finished wontons, poured the content into the middle bowl, and discarded the used small bowl. He couldn’t just put something else in there after it had been used.

Reworking his plan until there, Si Jin nodded to himself. This wasn’t bad. It meant that there wouldn’t be enough space for the rice but this could also be rectified. After all, wasn’t there still the large bowl?

Since it was the biggest and was also black instead of white, it seemed to be the perfect container for the rice. In fact, he couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t thought of this before. Anyway, he hadn’t even started on the Shanghai stir-fried noodles with chicken yet so this was perfect. He wouldn’t need to rearrange everything.

With the new plan in order, Si Jin hurriedly put containers over the bowls that were already filled, not wanting the dishes inside to go cold. Then, he finally started to make his last dish: the Shanghai stir-fried noodles with chicken.

This dish wasn’t difficult either. Most preparations had been done as well so he could get right to it. He cooked the noodles at the side while already frying the chicken strips. By the time he was done with that and had transferred the chicken to a plate at the side, he glanced over at the steamer. By now, his Cantonese steamed chicken should be done.

He turned off the stovetop he had just used and instead busied himself with the other dish, transferring it into one of the small bowls and setting it down on the left side. He also spooned the rice into the big bowl, making sure not to use up too much space so there’d be enough left for the other dish.

Having done that, he nodded to himself and went back to the dish he had just worked on. He started to stir-fry the cabbage before setting it aside together with the chicken. By now, the noodles were also done so he threw them right into the still-hot pan after pouring out the water. Just a moment longer and this dish would be done as well!

He waited until enough time had passed, grabbed the chicken and cabbage from the side, and poured everything back into the pan, tossing it for a few moments before transferring the dish into the remaining space in the large bowl.

Looking at his work so far, Si Jin was quite satisfied with himself. Now, his meat dishes were all done. All that was left was to wait for the soup for the wontons to finish, and then he could plate that as well, and go to receive Xiao Ming’s judgment.