Chapter 56 - 56 56 The Contest Between Women

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: The Contest Between Women Chapter 56: Chapter 56: The Contest Between Women Hearing Wang Xiuzhu’s sarcastic remarks, Shen Mingzhu directly retorted, “Just average, third-best in the world.”

Wang Xiuzhu snorted lightly, “You’re quite confident, aren’t you?

Do you dare to compete with me?”

Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing this.

The last person who competed against her in cooking, Shen Baolan, had almost lost his shorts.

“Let’s compete, why would I be afraid of you?” she deliberately posed as if she had been provoked.

Wang Xiuzhu took the bait as expected, “Then let’s compete in making this salt-baked shrimp dish, the one who makes the tastier dish wins.

If I lose, I won’t bother Pei Yang anymore, but if you lose, you must divorce Pei Yang.”

“Wang Xiuzhu, are you here to make a joke?

Pei Yang is my husband, your bothering him is shameless and immoral in the first place, why should I agree to such an unfair wager?”

Wang Xiuzhu’s face turned red with anger at the words “shameless and immoral.”

“So what do you propose?”

Shen Mingzhu’s gaze landed on the watch on Wang Xiuzhu’s wrist, “If you lose, that watch on your hand goes to me, if I lose, I’ll give Pei Yang a chance to choose again.

If he thinks you’re better and wants to kick me to the curb, I won’t say a word.”

“It’s a deal!”

Wang Huizhen, who couldn’t stand listening anymore, interjected, “It’s the holiday season, stop making a scene, people will laugh.”

Not only did Wang Huizhen find it absurd, she also thought the competition was unfair.

Ever since Pei Yang mentioned that he liked the taste of salt-baked shrimp, her niece had been learning from various masters for the past few months and could be said to have mastered the recipe to the core.

On the other hand, Shen Mingzhu, who grew up in the countryside, probably hadn’t even eaten shrimp a few times, how could she possibly make delicious salt-baked shrimp?

Wang Xiuzhu, worried that Shen Mingzhu would back out, immediately ran to the living room to announce her wager with Shen Mingzhu to Lin Guofu and Pei Yang.

“Mingzhu, come out for a second.”

Turning her head to look at Pei Yang, who stood at the kitchen door with an inscrutable expression, Shen Mingzhu turned her head away, “I’m not going out.”

Pei Yang: “…”

The person isn’t big, but their stubbornness sure is.

In the living room, Lin Guofu was also scolding Wang Xiuzhu, telling her not to cause trouble, but Wang Xiuzhu was adamant about having the competition with Shen Mingzhu.

Shen Mingzhu was equally eager for the battle.

And so, an absurd competition between the women commenced.

Wang Xiuzhu and Shen Mingzhu were the contestants, with Pei Yang, Lin Guofu and his wife, and Pei Ziheng acting as the judges.

Wang Huizhen didn’t even bother to prepare dinner, leaving the kitchen to the two competitors.

The Lin Family kitchen had two stoves, one for each, Shen Mingzhu and Wang Xiuzhu.

Two pounds of South American white shrimp, split evenly between them, each handling their own portion.

“Hold on!”

Just as Shen Mingzhu finished deveining the shrimp, Wang Xiuzhu suddenly called a halt.

Shen Mingzhu turned her head in confusion, just to see Wang Xiuzhu glaring at her, “We agreed to do our own things, why are you copying me?”

Shen Mingzhu was speechless.

Deveining shrimp is standard procedure, did she have to learn that on the spot?

“You are not allowed to peek and copy me again!”

Shen Mingzhu thought to herself she was more worried about Wang Xiuzhu stealing her techniques, so she took her shrimp to a spot where she could work away from Wang Xiuzhu’s view.

The baking part of making the shrimp came quickly.

Wang Xiuzhu was quite a character, too—to prevent any peeking or learning, she actually dismantled a plank from a bed and placed it between the two stoves.

You wouldn’t come up with such an idea without ten years of brain freeze.

After ten minutes, the salt-baked shrimp dishes both contestants made were brought to the dining table.

Under the light, the bright red shrimp looked plump, their curled bodies presenting a matte texture.

The shells and heads were sprinkled with grains of salt, and the air was filled with an enticing salty aroma mixed with spices that could whet one’s appetite.

To ensure fairness, both contestants’ shrimp were served in identical serving dishes, even the presentation was the same, with only their names written underneath the plates.

Xiuzhu looked triumphantly at Mingzhu, urging Lin Guofu to taste.

After Lin Guofu had tasted both plates of salt-baked shrimp, he cast his vote for the one on the left.

This result visibly soured Xiuzhu’s face.

Seeing this, Huizhen guessed that the shrimp on the right was made by her niece.

After tasting both dishes, she reluctantly cast her vote for the right side.

This result brought the liveliness back to Xiuzhu’s face.

She looked forward to Pei Yang with an anticipatory gaze, her voice as sweet as honey, “Pei Yang, you try it too.”

From the moment Mingzhu carried the shrimp out of the kitchen, Pei Yang’s gaze hadn’t shifted from her face.

To facilitate cooking, Mingzhu had used chopsticks to twist her shoulder-length hair into a bun at the back of her head, with a few strands casually falling beside her fair cheeks, charming and captivating under the light.

Only when Xiuzhu urged him did he reluctantly divert his gaze, tasting both plates of shrimp before casting his vote for the left side.

Xiuzhu’s complexion worsened once again.

Clearly, the plate on the left belonged to Mingzhu.

Even if the remaining Ziheng cast his vote for her, she and Mingzhu would only tie.

She couldn’t accept this result!

“Wait a minute!”

Ziheng, who was about to eat the shrimp, along with everyone else, turned to look at Xiuzhu.

“Let’s find another judge.

If the result is two against two, that would be too dull,” she said.

No sooner had she finished than Huizhen interjected, “It’s just family fun; do you want outsiders to come and see the farce?”

Xiuzhu, who was intent on beating Mingzhu, couldn’t appreciate Huizhen’s well-meaning advice.

“The loser is the joke, what have I to fear?” she retorted, then turned to Mingzhu, “Mingzhu, if you’re scared, you can concede now.”

Mingzhu made it clear that conceding was out of the question.

“Please, do as you wish; I’m in it till the end.”

“Fine!”

Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside.

Opening it, they found several old sailors coming to wish Lin Fucheng a happy new year.

Xiuzhu felt like even heaven was helping her, promptly inviting the old sailors to help judge.

With food on offer, the sailors weren’t about to refuse, promptly picking up the shrimp from the plates to taste.

Xiuzhu was brimming with confidence, but then—

The first sailor cast his vote for the left after tasting.

The second did the same.

The third, the fourth…

All six sailors, in perfect agreement, cast their votes for the left.

Xiuzhu had not anticipated this outcome.

She had actually lost?

After all the thought and effort she put into this dish, she lost to Mingzhu, an uneducated rural woman?

And it wasn’t just a loss; it was a devastating one, nine to one, with no one voting for her except Huizhen?

The humiliation was unbearable!

Xiuzhu, looking around the room, suddenly had a flash of insight and pointed accusingly at Mingzhu, “I know it now, they colluded with you, it’s too much of a coincidence they came just now, you must have arranged this, Mingzhu, you are shameless.”

Mingzhu was amused, “Since the bet was placed, I’ve always been in your line of sight, how could I have arranged anything?”

Indeed, Mingzhu had been with her in the kitchen the whole time.

The old sailors, sensing trouble, hurriedly found excuses to leave.

Yet Xiuzhu was still not convinced, suspecting the old sailors voted for Mingzhu as a way to curry favor with Pei Yang, the leader.

“Master’s position is much higher than Dad’s, if they wanted to suck up, shouldn’t they suck up to Master?”