My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

At the same time, Fumanlou is also preparing for a cooking competition.

Shopkeeper Hu had known about the cooking competition for a long time, and he wasn't worried at all about it. Fu Man Lou had many signature dishes, and any one of them was very good.

There are not many restaurants that can compete with Fumanlou.

As for the hot pot at Sijia Restaurant, Hu, the shopkeeper, didn't care about it at all. Not to mention Hu, the shopkeepers of other restaurants also didn't care about it.

Because, frankly, those hot pots and hot dishes were only suitable for everyday consumption. But as a restaurant's signature dish, they simply couldn't possibly be. This was also why other restaurants didn't target Sijia Food Shop like Fumanlou did.

Si Muyan had also thought about this problem, but the food shop only had two types of dishes: hot pot and hot dishes. If other dishes were changed, it would not represent the Si family food shop at all.

Therefore, although Si Muyan thought of a lot of dishes, she finally decided on the hotpot.

However, during the advance preparations, Si Muyan also taught Shui Qinniang how to cook other dishes.

"The final round of the cooking competition requires each contestant to prepare one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a staple dish in the shortest possible time. The hot pot is the main dish, and they also need to make a side dish, such as mapo tofu, and the staple dish is clay pot rice."

Shuei Niang knew how to make Mapo Tofu, but Si Muyan added other seasonings, especially chili peppers. In today's Great Zhou, chili peppers were only ornamental plants, and their numbers were scarce. No one used them as a dish or seasoning.

Si Muyan dried the chilies and ground them into powder. Just adding a little bit of it gave the dish an extra pungent and delicious taste.

In addition, other rare seasonings are added to bring out the aroma of the chili, making Mapo Tofu different from what we have eaten before.

Aunt Jin also made a variety of dim sum. The dim sum for the last level included a Chinese fried meat dish, a Western cake, and Western biscuits as the staple food.

On the day of the preliminary round of the cooking competition, the Si family's restaurant was closed for half a day, and several people from the Si family arrived at the competition venue early in the morning. It was crowded with people.

Because there were so many people who registered, nearly 800 people, the procedure was very simple. You just had to cook a dish at home and bring it to the judges on site. If it passed, you could continue with the competition.

The competition will continue in groups of eight, and the top three who pass will be able to participate in the review.

In the morning, there was a direct dish selection. After the selection was completed, only 160 people were left out of 800.

The official competition will be held at noon and in the afternoon.

Shuiqinniang's number was group 3, number 7, and Aunt Jin's was group 8, number 2. They were both not too far behind, so they could go home after finishing their work.

At this moment, Fourth Master Xu came over and said to Si Muyan, "I've booked a private room on the third floor of the theater building in the back. It's perfect for watching the entire competition. Why don't you all come with me?"

Today, the He family came with the three sisters of the Si family, as well as Aunt Jin and Shuiqin's mother.

Lai Qian heard this and waved his hand and said, "Sister Yan, I won't go. I want to accompany Aunt Jin and Aunt Song to cheer them up."

He Song also laughed: "Then I won't go either. I'll just take a look here."

They refused to go, and Lai Qianniang also waved her hand and refused to go, so the second sister handed them the meat patties and water she brought.

The three sisters followed Mr. Xu Si to the private room and sat by the window. They could really see the scene below clearly. They saw the shopkeeper Hu at a glance.

My younger sister also saw it. She sneered, "If we win the championship, we will definitely be able to suppress Fu Man Lou's arrogance."

Si Muyan said calmly, "I came to participate in the cooking competition just to let everyone know a little bit, I didn't think about winning. Besides, there are many talented people in the culinary industry, and I'm not sure Aunt Jin or Shui Qin Niang can take first place. I think it's great that they can pass the re-examination."

"Big sister, how can you say that? Since we entered the competition, we wanted to win first place! Besides, our food shop is doing so well. Everyone says our hot pot is so delicious, how could we not win first place?"

Si Muyan asked for explanation: "My little sister's idea is too simple. Let me ask you, among those dishes you just saw that were made directly from home, how many of them are ordinary?"

Most of the eight hundred people are ordinary people. Among those ordinary people who dare to participate in the cooking competition, there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers. There are few dishes that are not delicious.

Even so, more than 600 people were eliminated!

My little sister is stuck.

"But our fragrant pot is unique in the county. Others can't imitate it even if they want to!"

No matter how good the imitation hotpots are, they are not as good as Si’s food shop. They were not as good as before, and later when Si Muyan grew several kinds of special condiments and vegetables by herself, they were even more inferior.

Si Muyan nodded. "Yes, besides the color, aroma and flavor, Xiang Guo also has an advantage. But such an advantage may work in a food store, but not in a competition. Because all large restaurants have their own signature dishes. Their dishes have many more layers of flavor. It's not just about cooking; for them, it's an art form."

"Art?" I didn't quite understand.

Si Muyan said: "It's like a painting, or an antique worth collecting, or a poem by a famous poet. This is a work of art."

"Works of art." The younger sister supported her face and nodded, "But those are works of art. Is cooking also a work of art?"

Si Muyan smiled and said, "Yes, cooking is also an art. Even if it is the same person, the food they cook when they are happy will have a happy taste, and the food they cook when they are sad will have a bitter taste."

The two sisters were discussing these things, and the second sister next to them listened with a smile, but did not discuss them together.

But they didn't notice that when Fourth Master Xu sat there, his eyes first fell on the younger sister, but then he just looked at Si Muyan in surprise.

His eyes were fiery, and there was a special admiration in them. He had often felt this kind of admiration when he was with his younger sister recently, but now he realized that this feeling did not come much from his younger sister, but seemed to come more from the influence of her elder sister behind her.

Only now can I truly feel what my younger sister often says: My elder sister said...

The younger sister felt that she had learned something from her elder sister and said happily, "Elder sister is right. People should read more books. Thoughts and actions must always be on the road!"

Fourth Master Xu was secretly surprised. It turned out that this was what Si Muyan said, and not Si Muwan’s own feeling.

Si Muyan looked at the people downstairs and saw several well-dressed people who were paying close attention to the contestants on stage. She asked Fourth Master Xu, "Brother Xu, do you know who those people are?"

"Those four fat guys are the owners or managers of several large restaurants in Fenghuang County. Those large restaurants are as famous as Fumanlou."