Chapter 642: 642: Why have you only just arrived?

She hadn’t told Adrian Zhekova either.

Because the top 10 contestants of the Pingla Competition had already been decided, and as Wesley Gordon had said before, the 2nd to 6th place contestants in the final competition would receive the qualification to participate in the International Culinary Competition.

The first place winner would directly get a spot on the official team.

In other words, the participants in the International Culinary Competition, and one of the official team members, would be chosen from these 10 contestants.

Therefore, a banquet was held in Belfard.

Although only the top 6 contestants would eventually get the qualification to participate in the International Culinary Competition, it was already very rare for the current top 10 contestants to be so talented.

It was hard to guarantee that someone among them would not stand out and defeat the official members.

Or participate in the competition for official members and eventually become an official member.

Anyway, those who made it to the top 10 were all elites.

This banquet also served as a disguised reward for the top 10 contestants, presenting them with awards and prize money.

Originally, the officials of the competition had said that the winner would receive a prize of 1 million.

And there would be a spot in the International Culinary Competition.

These were the visible rewards, while there were also invisible rewards, such as the fact that the winner would definitely receive more attention and have a greater reputation.

On their resume, it would also look more impressive, offering a chance to work in higher-end restaurants or open their own restaurant and create their own brand.

Because the fame was already well-established and a good foundation was laid, the road ahead would be much easier.

The winner of the Pingla Culinary Competition itself was a great brand, and these were all invisible rewards.

As for the top 10 contestants, they were very well-regarded every year.

It just so happened that this year coincided with the International Culinary Competition also being held, making the top 6 students even more well-regarded.

If it were in previous years, the top 10 contestants would already be outstanding.

Therefore, following the usual practice, Belfard still held a banquet to celebrate the top 10 contestants.

Unfortunately, on the night of the banquet, Adrian Zhekova also had a meeting to attend.

After the meeting, there was another social engagement that he could not get out of.

So that day, when Adrian Zhekova went to the company, he told Cindy Clarke before he left: “I’ll try my best to finish early and meet up with you there.”

“You don’t have to hurry, after all, we have so many people, and there are people from Pingla Academy, they are all very nice, and they help each other in any matter. Besides, those people have high backgrounds, and ordinary people can’t afford to provoke them.”

“That’s true.” Adrian Zhekova agreed with this point, “Apart from a very small number of students in Pingla Academy who are exceptionally talented in cooking and are admitted by Pingla Academy as exceptions, given scholarships and tuition fee reductions as rewards. The families of the other students are quite extraordinary.”

“Because the tuition fees of Pingla Academy are really too high, and they can’t be afforded by ordinary families. Students who can come to study at Pingla Academy can’t have a bad family background.” Adrian Zhekova said.

“Like Jetaime Academy?” Cindy Clarke recalled and asked.

Adrian Zhekova nodded: “Almost, but the requirements of Jetaime Academy are even higher. Each year they grant a certain number of places to various families, and only families to a certain extent have the qualification to enter. Money alone is not enough.”

“But Jetaime Academy is only for kindergarten to high school. Above high school, there is no more. Pingla Culinary Academy, on the other hand, focuses more on specific professional levels. The family backgrounds of Parker Honi and the others are also extraordinary, so I can be sure they won’t be afraid of anyone. I am actually quite relieved to have you with them.”

Adrian Zhekova said, “But I will still hurry over as soon as possible.”

Cindy Clarke warned, “Don’t rush to drive fast on the road just to get there as soon as possible to accompany me, as this can be dangerous. You can wait for the banquet to be over and pick me up, or if you can’t even make it in time to pick me up, let Cleave Roland pick me up. There are so many people there, so you don’t have to worry.”

Adrian Zhekova agreed for the time being, but in his heart, he still wanted to meet up with Cindy Clarke as soon as possible.

Even if the people from Pingla Academy were there, he couldn’t be completely at ease as long as he wasn’t there.

So Adrian Zhekova left first, and Morgan Zhekova left a little later, but it wasn’t long before she was picked up by Cleave Roland.

At around 5 pm, Morgan Zhekova had already returned home from the nursery.

Since Cindy Clarke and Adrian Zhekova would not be home at night, Aunt Jenkins was specially called to accompany Morgan Zhekova.

Cindy Clarke took the car driven by Cleave Roland to the banquet venue.

It happened to be held at the restaurant.

By now, Cindy Clarke was quite familiar with the restaurant.

Cleave Roland parked the car at the entrance of the restaurant, originally wanting to escort Cindy Clarke in, but she didn’t let him.

As Cindy Clarke got out of the car and approached the entrance, the staff of the restaurant also recognized her.

After all, on the occasion of Charlotte York and Walter Wells’ wedding last time, Adrian Zhekova had also taken the opportunity to show off their marriage.

Bertrand York specially instructed the staff to recognize Cindy Clarke in the future.

That would be Mrs. Zhekova.

So the staff at the restaurant really couldn’t pretend not to recognize Cindy Clarke even if they wanted to.

The manager hurried over to greet her, and Cindy Clarke asked about the banquet hall where the event was being held.

The manager said, “I’ll take you there.”

So Cindy Clarke followed the manager, and just after walking for a while, someone called her, “Cindy Clarke!”

Cindy Clarke turned around and saw Cynthia Florine, Jasmine Hudson, and Gladys Joy.

Yelin Brown was eliminated from the top 10 in the previous round, so she didn’t come this time.

Cindy Clarke stopped and waited for the three of them to come over, smiling and asking, “Did you three come together? Where are the others?”

Gladys Joy said, “The three of us went for a beauty treatment, makeup, and manicure, so we came a bit late. The men don’t have so much to groom for, so they arrived early.”

So Cindy Clarke went into the banquet hall with them.

Quite a few city leaders attended this time, as well as people from the broadcasting, culture, and catering industries, including some entrepreneurs and investors.

When Parker Honi and the others saw Cindy Clarke and the others coming in, they greeted them, “Why are you just arriving now?”

Cynthia Florine said, “We didn’t arrive late, it’s good to be on time. Have the others arrived yet?”

“I don’t know how many people they invited, but according to the experience passed down by other contestants in previous years, I guess they’ve all arrived.”

Aside from the nine people from Pingla Academy, the other people present did not know that Cindy Clarke was now Adrian Zhekova’s wife.

The leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors were all talking to each other. Although the awards were being presented to them tonight, the real focus of the evening was not on them.

Rather, it was about these leaders and entrepreneurs, investors using tonight’s opportunity to get to know each other, and expand new markets and business dealings.

Parker Honi and the others didn’t even bother to find waitstaff to guide them. They came a little earlier.