Chapter 21

Ch21 – Malicious Behavior

An hour ago.

After finding out the Ruan Tang was participating in the assessment, He Yun Chen, worried that Ruan Tang would be targeted, quickly took the suspended car to the Chefs' Association's headquarters.

Although he knew that someone was deliberately targeting Ruan Tang, he wasn't certain who, and he also didn't know which testing site the anchor was sent to.

The Chefs' Association had always wished to build a good relationship with the military. They wanted to promote the use of natural ingredients among their soldiers. In the wake of discovering Ruan Tang's broadcast and experiencing the delicious natural dishes, He Yun Chen's initial resistance to cooperating with the Chefs' Association ceased. Moreover, right now, he had a very good reason for going.

As soon as he entered the headquarters, he was immediately recognized by the front desk. After learning that he had come to see the president, he was led the reception room to wait while they notified the president.

Soon a fat old man with a kindly face entered. His trademark white hair was combed back tidily and his face had an amiable smile.

"Why have you come here today, Marshal He?" Gu Le Ji was a bit surprised. He knew of the He family's young master's "anorexia". Marshal He detested natural food so why would be come here of his own accord?

He Yun Chen nodded to him in greeting, "To tell you the truth, recently, I have been closely following a food broadcast anchor. I found out that he is participating in the assessment today so I have come to take a look."

"Food broadcast anchor?" Gu Le Ji was slightly astonished and quickly thought of that newbie anchor who was currently trending in popularity. He smiled and asked, "Do you mean Ruan Tang?"

He Yun Chen nodded.

"I never though his delicious food would convince even Marshal He. It seems that this young man's skills are even better than I thought." Gu Le Ji knew that He Yun Chen had a lot of trouble with natural ingredients. He Yun Chen's abilities were even stronger than that of his father's, He Wei Ye and was thus even fussier about the food's smell and flavor. Even his, a five star chef's, dishes were only very reluctantly accepted by this young marshal, and even then he would eat very little of it.

Now, this newbie anchor, Ruan Tang, had unexpectedly managed to earn the approval of the marshal, making Gu Le Ji have ever greater expectation of him.

"Marshal He, would you like to watch the live video of his assessment?" The marshal had especially come here and he had mentioned Ruan Tang, Gu Le Ji caught on to his intentions and took the initiative to invite him.

In any case, the recordings of the assessment would be uploaded onto the website for all the citizens of the empire to see. Since it wouldn't disturb the discipline of the assessment process, it was no big deal to let him watch. Gu Le Ji was only too happy to accommodate Marshal He's request.

The two arrived at the president's office. Gu Le Ji opened the light brain's projection and with his presidential authority accessed the database and found Ruan Tang's information. It seemed that Ruan Tang's assessment has already started and he immediately connected to the assessment's monitoring camera. In this way they could watch his assessment in real time.

In the video, Ruan Tang had just drawn his 5 ingredients.

Seeing these five ingredients, the expression of Gu Le Ji's face turned more focused.

The peppers were the new ingredients that were just released by the Academy of Sciences. Although it was included in the assessment's database, generally speaking, the chances of drawing one of these were so low as to basically not ever appear on a candidate's list. Needless to say about the chances of drawing both at the same time.

Moreover, Ruan Tang didn't just draw these two ingredients. Aside from the normal egg, he also drew fish head and pig's liver. Such bad luck seemed beyond excessive.

Fish was already inherently a difficult ingredient, so much so that before Ruan Tang's broadcast where he cooked fish, they had already taken it off the database. It wasn't until Ruan Tang showed the proper way to handle fish in his broadcast did they include it back into the database.

Normally, the assessment gave the entire fish. Only when the fish was exceptionally large would they cut the fish into pieces. And even then, scraps like the meat-less fish head and the thorny tail were, in principle, not given to the candidates. The test was meant to inspect the level of the candidates, not to deliberately make things difficult for them.

What's more, he had even drawn the pig's liver! It was simply too much! Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary citizens, fish head and pig's liver were both just parts of the fish and pig and should be considered as ingredients. However, Gu Le Ji had been very clear that these were scraps — part of the animal's internal organs which contained lots of bacteria and impurities, they tasted and smelled fishy and should be directly thrown away — and they should never be given to the candidates!

Clearly, someone in the Chef's assessment had a hand in this trickery!

The population of the empire numbered in the hundreds of billions. One simply couldn't tell how many come to participate the chef's assessment each month, but the number of those who could genuinely achieve an outstanding grade were pitifully few. The Chef's Association's yellow autumn crops does not last until the green spring crops, which had always extremely worried Gu Le Ji. The assessment was very important in unearthing young seedlings that they could cultivate, and thus President Gu placed great importance in it.

In order to ensure that the assessment was just and fair, Gu Je Li had drawn up the provision that the entire process needed to be recorded and uploaded onto the website for public display. With the holographic record, any of the empire's citizens could sample the candidates' dishes and through the scores they give, express their opinions. If the candidate that had passed the assessment garnered too low a score, the Chefs' Association's department of supervision could conduct an investigation and if it turned out that the name does indeed not reflect the reality, then the chef would be stripped of this qualification and the examiners would be severely punished; and vice versa.

When the examiner simply stubbornly refused to pass a candidate, the punishments would be even more severe and thus a matter like this hasn't arisen in the Chefs' Association for many, many years.

Gu Le Ji never thought that anyone would tamper with the assessment's ingredients. Ruan Tang drawing these ingredients basically ensured that he would fail the exam.

If he had not coincidentally discovered this, this matter might have just simply been buried in obscurity like this. Later on, when the video is uploaded onto the website, the viewers, seeing fish head an pig's liver, might not want to even taste it much less give a score and then naturally, this matter would have escaped the notice of the department of supervision and the whole matter would have been concealed in plain sight.

Thinking this, his face frosted all over.

He Yun Chen saw his expression and turned back to look at Ruan Tang's ingredients. Naturally, he knew that Ruan Tang was being deliberately targeted. However, the one beside him was the association's president and in order to give him face, he did not rashly open his mouth and simply watched as Gu Le Ji promptly obtained the head examiner's identity — Vice President Qi Zhuo.

Previously when his mother, Ran Jing had investigated the troublemakers from the broadcast before, she had already guessed that Qi Zhuo might have been behind the whole thing. Qi Zhuo was a man with a lot of ambition, which was unmatched by his intelligence and ability. Indeed, when it came to cooking Qi Zhuo had a bit of talent. If not, he would never have been accepted by the previous president as his last disciple. However, he simply learned things by rote. He didn't have a true understanding of cooking and thus couldn't innovate new dishes. The position of president would be difficult for him to properly qualify for.

That Qi Zhuo was dissatisfied with his current post was no secret among the upper circles. However, Gu Le Ji had always been devoted to his research and disliked socializing with these bigwigs. The fact that he considered Qi Zhuo as a fellow disciple and a successor that he is currently cultivating, the situation has thus been allowed to degrade to its currently muddled state where Qi Zhuo has formed his own clique and attempts to render Gu Je Li as nothing more than a figurehead.

However, seeing the situation now, evidently Qi Zhuo's actions have touched upon this amiable old man's bottom line. The past few years, Gu Le Ji had also discovered Qi Zhuo's limited intelligence that made him unsuitable to inherit the position as president of the association. On the other hand, the lack of outstanding chefs among the younger generation has been a constant worry for him. He had always wished for talented youngster who could lead the association to continue advancing and expanding, allowing the deliciousness of natural ingredients to truly spread amongst the empire's peoples.

After finally discovering this person with much difficulty, he was on the verge of being unable to receive a chef's certificate because of Qi Zhuo's under-the-table manipulations.

How could he simply sit back and watch such a thing happen?

He needed to intervene in this.

He took a deep breath, "This is truly embarrassing, Marshal He, it seems I have somewhere I need to be. Forgive me for taking my leave."

He Yun Chen also stood up and humbly supported this old man who was trembling in anger. "President Gu, my suspended car is just outside. If you're worried, maybe it would be best for me to accompany you."

Gu Le Ji hesitated a moment but gave a big sigh and said gravely, "Yes."

If possible, he, of course, wouldn't want to air their dirty laundry in front of others. However, it was obvious that his leniency these past years, letting Qi Zhuo have his way, has caused his once optimistic and warm-hearted fellow apprentice become ever more and more wanton, changing beyond recognition. Qi Zhuo was now a tumor in the Chefs' Association. He has taken his lackeys in the association and became a quagmire than hindered the continued advancement of the Chefs' Association, pushing aside capable people and straying from the right path. Although it pained him, he had no choice but to be clear-headed and recognize that this tumor had to be cut off. This was the best time to clean up the Chefs' Association and he was going to do it.

Even if the entire empire had to bear witness.

The two hurriedly left the headquarters and boarded He Yun Chen's suspended car heading to Ruan Tang's examination site.

However, the suspended cars didn't need any driver. With the correct coordinates, it could directly take you to your destination, therefore, Gu Le Ji and He Yun Chen still monitored Ruan Tang's progress closely.

Seeing Ruan Tang efficiently handle these troublesome ingredients with no trace of alarm on his face, Gu Le Ji's regard for him rose even further.

They rode the suspended car at breakneck speed, and by the time they reach the examination site, Ruan Tang had just finished his three dishes. Looking at those three colorful and tempting dishes, Gu Le Ji suddenly felt that he might have been too hasty in thinking that these ingredients that Qi Zhuo painstakingly chose to cause trouble, had no redeeming features.

With how Ruan Tang's eyes shone even more brightly, this young man might just be the next five star chef!

This thought spurred his feet even faster.

In order not to alarm the candidate who might even be in the middle of their assessments, Gu Le Ji entered through the site's back door. When they reached the third floor, Qi Zhuo was in the middle of vehemently presenting his views. They were standing in the doorway as Qi Zhuo disparaged Ruan Tang as though he was devoid of any merit. He even took the two other examiners to carry on his insults.

The flames of fury in Gu Le Ji's heart suddenly flared to life.

He felt even more distressed as he saw Ruan Tang gave his well-substantiated argument in a neither haughty nor humble manner. When Qi Zhuo made it clear that he was going to abuse his power to bully others and directly fail Ruan Tang, a surge of wrath and disappointment so strong made his eyesight turn dark.

He Yun Chen quickly extended an arm to support him at the same time he pushed the door open with a bang and took a step inside. In a tone as though he were speaking to an equal, proclaimed to Qi Zhuo,

"I regret that, Vice Presidet Qi Zhuo, you have been stripped of your qualifications as an examiner."

Seeing that the other was still going to quibble, Gu Je Li stepped forward and questioned sternly, "Qi Zhuo, do you have any idea of what you're doing!?"

Qi Zhuo's eyes suddenly flashed with fear of being found out, but instantly covered it up. He squeezed out a smiling expression and said, "President, I don't understand what you're saying. Could there be some misunderstanding…"

"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?! I clearly saw the entire assessment. Would you like for me to call in the supervision department so they can see what it is that you've been up to?"

As soon as he heard the words 'supervision department", the color of his face changed. However, things had reached this far already and there was no way that he could just admit it. If he did, in front of the eyes of the entire empire, all his efforts these many long years would be destroyed in an instant; moreover, even his future would turn bleak! Thus, he grit his teeth and said, "President, I really don't understand what you're saying…I'm just following the association's protocols…"

"Is that so? You dare say it wasn't you who gave a candidate ingredients which should never have been included? You dare say it wasn't you who intentionally verbally humiliated a candidate's achievements? You said that his three dishes were disgusting. Can you say with a clear conscience what exactly is wrong with these dishes?"

Qi Zhuo was dumbstruck by the rare display of the president's toughness, "I…"

Gu Le Ji was angered to the point of laughter, he shouted, "Since you obviously didn't taste it, then I'll taste it for you instead!"

Qi Zhuo intended to block him but with He Yun Chen standing at the side coldly staring at him, he couldn't rush to action.

Gu Le Ji grabbed a pair of chopsticks and had a taste of the Grandmother's chili eggs. The eggs were spongy and tasty. It was indeed spicy but it matched very well with the egg's natural flavor. All in all, it couldn't be considered very spicy, moreover, the chili unexpectedly carried with it a clear and sweet juice, a nice surprise for people who eat it.

He glared fiercely at Qi Zhuo as he moved on to the pig's liver.

With one bite, his eyes sparkled. There was none of that rank taste that he remembered, instead it was delicious, soft and tender. The green bell peppers were crisp and the two flavors combined flawlessly, making this piece of pig's liver even more delicious than pork.

The bitter flavor that Qi Zhuo spoke of was complete nonsense.

He picked up the soup spoon and had a taste of the fish head soup. There was no need to mention that the fishiness was a complete lie. It was so delicious it made him want to close his eyes to better savor the flavor.

It was clear to see, that Qi Zhuo and these other two had been telling bold-faced lies.

"Qi Zhuo, Guo Lin, Zhou Jian, do you three have anything else to say?!" Gu Le Ji looked frostily at Qi Zhuo and the two others beside him.

Guo Lin and Zhou Jian knew from the moment that Gu Le Ji tasted the dishes that things had taken a turn for the worse. After all, they had personally tasted these dishes and knew perfectly well their flavor.

Knowing that they were on the verge of being punished, the two couldn't help but say, "President, we know we were wrong. Ruan Tang's dishes are excellent." They couldn't help but glance at Qi Zhuo, but right now, Qi Zhuo was helpless, how could he have anything to spare to help them. Their hearts were full of regret and they wailed, "We were possessed. President, please help us, please help us…"

The state of matters was now very clear. Qi Zhuo, Guo Lin and Zhou Jian had abused their positions to deliberately cause trouble to a candidate. They had gravely violated the rules of the association.

Gu Le Ji shut his eyes and in a low voice declared, "You three are stripped of your qualifications as examiners. You are also suspended from your posts in the Chefs' Association. We will await the investigation of the supervision department before proceeding further."

It's over. Qi Zhuo's mind froze. In an instant all his plans and preparations these many long years had been destroyed. He madly shouted, "You can't! You can't treat me this way!"

He sneered and miraculously became clear-headed. "I am a four-star chef of the empire. I am also His Majesty's personally appointed Vice President. You have no authority to punish me. If you do, the empire will lose a valuable four-star chef. Without me, the effort to popularize natural ingredients will suffer. Gu Le Ji, are you willing to shoulder this burden?"

The more he spoke, the more excited he became and he couldn't help but burst out in laughter. He stood up and said, "I should be thankful to you and shifu for throwing the game during those early days. Should this be considered as shooting yourself in the foot? Hm? Shixiong? Hahahahaha–Gu Le Ji, you can't find someone to fill my vacancy so you can't expel me! You can't bear this responsibility!"

"Who said he can't find someone?"

Ruan Tang had been standing to the side for some time and had gotten an understanding of the other's grievances. Seeing that Qi Zhuo was persisting in his arrogance, Ruan Tang couldn't help but to step forward and dispel his delusions.

"You just need a four-star chef, right? Then I'll get it."