A boy with short, chestnut-colored hair and luxurious clothing was already seated at the judging table.
Seeing the streamers arrive, he quickly composed himself, his light purple eyes scanning the people entering one by one.
A long line of judges was arranged at the tables below, with invigilators for each examination room automatically standing at the front of the lines, counting all the streamers present.
Lu Mingming placed the insulated box in her hands on the rosewood table in front of her. Whispers could be heard around her from time to time.
"Look, is the one with curly orange hair in the A-grade exam room Angelina's cousin? But she's not as good-looking as her cousin."
"The lineup this year is interesting. They even invited a little knight from the Holy Knights."
"Whoa, quick, look at the entrance! Isn't that the most favored youngest son of the Imperial family?!"
Lu Mingming's ears twitched, and she calmly raised her head to look towards the entrance.
Despite being two minutes late, the little fellow remained unhurried.
He deliberately put on a grown-up expression and walked towards the stage with small steps. His golden hair adorned his round, smooth face, making him exceptionally cute.
Staff members from the organizing committee followed closely behind, only retreating after escorting him to the stage.
"...Aren't the Imperial family's youngest son and the little knight from the Holy Knights always at odds? Why are they in the same venue today?"
"Who knows? Anyway, as long as they don't cause trouble, divine squabbles only harm mortals."
Lu Mingming caught some gossip and quietly glanced at the judging table.
The short man responsible for supervising the C-grade teachers stood on the left. Receiving Lu Mingming's gaze, he subtly gave her a thumbs-up, showing great confidence in her.
On the other side stood the fat man who had initially looked down upon the "tail-end" planets.
He surveyed the planet streamers he had brought with satisfaction, his eyes gleaming as if he were appraising exquisite goods, arrogant and greedy.
When he turned back and saw the little prince of the Imperial family and other nobles, he shamelessly put on a respectful smile.
The little prince didn't notice, dragging his stool to the end of the table as if no one else were there, completely disregarding the chasm separating him from the little knight.
Seeing this, Lu Mingming thought, if low-level caretakers could invite esteemed noble families to judge, then for top-tier caretakers, wouldn't they invite the Union President to present the awards?
She didn't expect that her random speculation at that moment would one day come true.
The little prince's eyes swept over the composed streamers below.
Once it was confirmed that everyone was present, a staff member stepped forward and announced, "The judging will now begin."
The judging commenced with the most popular A-grade exam room.
The little prince, being beautiful, was very delicate in his movements. Staff members had to carefully help him down the stairs, and then someone fed him bite by bite from his insulated box.
The little knight, choosing to ignore the little prince, did his own thing.
The first dish to be judged was stir-fried ram meat, which had a faint, slightly gamey smell.
This hint of gamey odor didn't cause significant issues; it was barely edible. However, the little prince, accustomed to delicacies, scrunched his face into a dumpling skin.
If it weren't for the desire to find that earlier aroma, he wouldn't have come to eat at all!!!
This stuff was too smelly!!
The little knight, his old rival, spoke up, "If you can't handle it, don't pretend. Who are you trying to impress?"
The little prince snorted, took a sip of mint mouthwash, and gave a mediocre score of 2.8 out of a possible 5 – a relatively low score in the history of A-grade exams.
The little knight, too lazy to bother, held up his sign and gave a score of two. After the combined evaluation,
The first streamer wore a bitter expression and had to accept the result.
Next up was the following contestant.
…
The dish evaluations proceeded rapidly. The only two dishes that received scores above four points were from the A-grade exam room.
One was the highly popular contestant Angelina's cousin, An Wei.
An Wei made something similar to luosifen, which smelled pungent but was delicious to eat. The only drawback was that the deliciousness was significantly lacking, and she ultimately received a high score of 4.3.
Her opponent was William, the younger brother of the Elf Star Prince.
William chose to finely dice all the ram meat and then use a machine to dehydrate it into cured meat. He used the saltiness and spices to mask the gamey odor.
It was a great idea, but unfortunately, the texture was not good, so his score was not as high as An Wei's.
The judging line quickly reached the C-grade exam room.
After all the planet streamers he led had been judged, the fat man quickly waddled over to the little prince and said,
"Your Highness, for the sake of your stomach, you don't need to eat anymore. The scores of those country bumpkins are not as important as your own health."
"Mind your own business."
The fat man retreated sheepishly.
The little prince's mind was filled with the scent he had smelled in the corridor.
If he didn't find it, all his previous suffering would have been in vain, and he absolutely would not give up!
The short man in charge of supervising the C-grade teachers stepped forward and shakily opened the insulated box for the judging panel—he felt that Lu Mingming had a chance to win, but others were truly not doing well.
The quality of dishes in the C-grade exam room had significantly declined. The mixed smells of various dishes brought extreme torture.
The two young judges, who had been bickering at first, were now numb to the gamey smell of the ram meat after tasting such a variety of dishes.
In fact, after the A-grade exam room, the B-grade was much more perfunctory. Far from getting high scores, very few even maintained a mid-range score.
This year's challenge was much more difficult than previous ones, resulting in generally low scores!
Another dish.
The little prince couldn't help but cover his mouth to hide his gagging.
"Tch."
The little knight smiled and boldly shoved a spoonful into his mouth.
The next second, both of them were holding onto the wall and vomiting.
"I say, you should stay in the C-grade exam room. What kind of garbage are you making? What will you do if something happens to those two?"
The fat man sneered.
The short man mumbled, not daring to utter a word of rebuttal.
Upon hearing this, the little knight looked up and shot the fat man a peculiar glance, eliciting a fawning smile from the latter.
"They never produce any great geniuses, so why waste your appetite?"
Lu Mingming looked at the projected large screen. The new streamers from the C and D-grade exam rooms hadn't learned to hide their emotions, and all of them wore displeased expressions.
This stirred the angry stares of the streamers from the lower-tier planets. The fat man, far from being intimidated, looked rather smug.
"Did I say something wrong? If any of you can produce a contestant who scores higher than the A-grade exam room, I'll eat this table!"
After speaking, the fat man pointed to the table made of extremely durable special materials in the contestants' seating area, his face displaying absolute confidence.
"What you said is incorrect."
Lu Mingming calmly interjected.
Instantly, all eyes focused on her. The two young judges also wanted to see what she had to say.
"We come from impoverished planets, but our competition has been prepared with utmost seriousness. No one can negate the effort we have put in."
"It's you? A country bumpkin from Xingfu Star."
The fat man's face was filled with increasing disgust and contempt.
"If my food receives recognition, can you guarantee you will keep your promise?"
Lu Mingming set a trap.
"Eat the table? Hahahaha, you actually think you can score higher than the A-grade exam room!"
The fat man's face was about to break from laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the universe.
"If you have such confidence, why don't you bring your food up here for me to see?"
The little prince elegantly wiped his mouth with silk. His cute face had lost all its color from the culinary disaster.
Upon hearing the words, Lu Mingming immediately opened her insulated box.
The roasted ram meat had a uniform caramel color, with a perfect balance of fat and lean meat, neither overcooked nor undercooked. The scattered chives dotted the meat like stars, creating a colorful and mouth-watering presentation.
The neatly arranged roasted meat was sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, possessing a perfect blend of spicy, fragrant, and savory flavors. A pool of golden oil dripped below.
The tender white cabbage wrapped the roasted meat. The ram meat was rich and savory, with an enticing aroma that irresistibly stimulated the appetite. The combination of the sauce's zest and the lettuce's freshness made one crave a hearty meal.
Recognizing the familiar scent, the little prince's eyes lit up, and he almost teared up in public.
"Hurry and let me eat until I puke. I finally found you."