A rare smile appeared on Dr. Feng's fair, clean face as he said to Xu Yanxia and her teammates, "It's extremely delicious. The dishes are flawless in terms of ingredients, and beyond the taste, they gave me a sense of being moved, especially this... Ye'erba."
Truth be told, Dr. Feng's Mandarin carried a bit of a Port City accent, but when he said the word "Ye'erba," it sounded incredibly authentic.
The quick-witted host immediately asked him, "Oh? Hearing Dr. Feng say this, could it be that you have some special connection to this Ye'erba?"
He smiled and nodded, saying, "That's right. One of my relatives was also born here. As I was growing up, she used to make this snack for me all the time."
"Wow, it seems Dr. Feng is also our fellow townsman from Jincheng!"
The host exclaimed supportively.
He smiled again and said, "You could say that."
With that, he revealed his score to Xu Yanxia and her teammates.
It was also a five out of five.
Added to the eighty points from the public judges, they once again achieved a perfect score.
Xu Yanxia hugged her teammates to celebrate, and then, along with the entire audience, focused on the judges' upcoming comments.
Ranked second, Jin Jiexiang's team scored a high ninety-two points with their braised beef with bamboo shoots, Lord Beile's roast mutton, honey cherry pork, and orange juice cold cake.
Regarding this, Xiaoxian couldn't help but whisper to Xu Yanxia, "During the last competition, their team barely passed. This time they actually got over ninety points. Could there be something going on?"
Xu Yanxia just smiled and whispered back, "They probably adjusted their strategy during the break. Haven't you noticed? He hasn't made any imperial cuisine these past two days."
"Oh, right!"
Xiaoxian immediately nodded, whispering again to Xu Yanxia, "Looks like he figured it out. You can't just put on airs in this show."
"Exactly."
Xu Yanxia smiled. She then saw Suisui lean in and whisper to them, "There's another thing you guys might not have noticed. Those dishes just now were mostly made by their teammate named Ah Jian. That guy has some real skills."
So that was it.
Xu Yanxia and Xiaoxian both nodded.
Their attention had been entirely on their own dishes just now, so they indeed hadn't noticed the situation with the other teams.
However, judging by the taste of those dishes, they were indeed quite good.
As the conversation ended, the judges finished tasting Brother Song's team's dishes and began to score them.
Brother Song's team once again made popular night market street food—jumping frogs, dry pot pork intestines, stir-fried squid, and beef guokui.
There were no major flaws, but each dish was a bit too oily and a little too salty.
Moreover, the flavor profiles of the dishes were quite similar, making the combination somewhat monotonous. Therefore, their final score was lower than Jin Jiexiang's team, coming in at eighty-five points.
Combined with the scores from the previous episodes, aside from Xu Yanxia's team still maintaining a strong lead, Jin Jiexiang's team and Brother Song's team were now neck and neck.
After the host delivered the closing remarks, the recording for this episode was officially completed.
As soon as Xu Yanxia walked off the set, Ye Shu immediately came over to quietly tell her about what happened during the outdoor shoot that morning.
"Those two men claimed to be your uncles. I was worried they were scammers, but they not only knew your name and your brother's name, they also knew your grandfather's and your father's names, and even your hometown address..."
Ye Shu said as she handed her a sticky note. "Because they were speaking in a dialect and I was afraid of making a mistake, I had them write it down themselves. Take a look and see if it matches."
Xu Yanxia took the note, her eyes sweeping over the handwriting, and nodded. "It's all correct."
Ye Shu then handed her a second note. "This is their names and contact information. They said if it's convenient for you, you can give them a call."
Xu Yanxia took it and thanked Ye Shu.
...
After a tightly packed day of recording, they stepped out of the studio only to realize it was already getting dark.
Tomorrow they would be leaving Jincheng for the next city. Ye Shu, Xiaozhen, Xiaoxian, Xiaoman, and a few others went out foraging for food with Suisui, their local guide.
Xu Yanxia didn't have much of an appetite. She had a quick bite at the hotel restaurant and returned to her room.
Closing the door, she took out the two notes and looked at them again.
Then, she called her brother.
The call connected quickly. She had just called out "Brother" when she heard him ask, "Xiaoxia, are you done recording?"
Xu Yanxia said "Mhm," "Just finished a little while ago."
Before she could say anything else, her brother said, "That's good. I have something I want to tell you."
"I also have something to tell you,"
Xu Yanxia paused. "You go first."
She heard her brother take a breath, pause for a moment, and then say, "Yesterday, someone called the shop saying they were our uncles from Jingcheng."
Xu Yanxia paused slightly, then said, "What a coincidence. Today, while I was recording the show, two men also showed up claiming to be our uncles, and the information basically matched."
"Did they leave a number?"
"Yes."
Her brother immediately read out a number to her.
Looking at the note, Xu Yanxia said, "That's right, the information is the same. It must be them."
She heard her brother pause on the phone, then let out a scoff. "Isn't it ridiculous? In the past, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't find them. Now that our lives are getting better, they suddenly pop up on their own."
"It's human nature,"
Xu Yanxia seemed much calmer. She asked her brother, "Brother, do you want to meet them? If you do, I'll wait for you here, and we can meet them together tomorrow."
After a moment of silence, her brother said, "Alright. They went all the way to the set to find you anyway. If we don't meet them, who knows if they'll stir up some negative news."
Xu Yanxia agreed, "Then I'll send you the hotel address. Come over tomorrow morning."
...
Hanging up, she had just sent the message to her brother when Lu Jingming's message followed closely behind, asking her, "Are you done recording? Is it a good time now?"
Xu Yanxia smiled and dialed a video call to him directly.
The video call was picked up immediately, and his handsome face appeared on the screen.
"Baby,"
he called her with a smile, "Done working?"
"Mhm,"
Xu Yanxia nodded, smiling back as she asked, "Are you back in Rong City?"
Looking at his background, he seemed to be in his CEO office at the corporation.
Lu Jingming also nodded. "Yeah, landed at noon and rushed straight to work."
He then asked her, "Did the recording go smoothly today?"
Xu Yanxia paused slightly and told him directly, "The recording went very well, and while recording, I actually found relatives I haven't seen in over twenty years."
"Oh?"
Lu Jingming's expression immediately turned serious as he asked, "Relatives from your grandmother's side?"
During their previous chats, she had mentioned her mother's side of the family to him, and he had kept it in mind all this time.
Xu Yanxia nodded. "It should be my uncles. They must have seen the news a while ago and recognized me. Not only did they call my brother, but they also came straight to our outdoor set to look for me today."
Lu Jingming nodded. "That was to be expected, actually, considering it involves the matter of your father's sacrifice."
He then asked gently, "Are you doing okay? Do you want me to come over and keep you company?"
"No need."
Xu Yanxia shook her head. "I already told my brother. He's catching an early flight tomorrow, and we plan to meet them together."
"That works too."
Lu Jingming nodded slightly, offering words of comfort. "The hardest part is already over, so don't put too much pressure on yourself. If you ever want to vent or need advice, I'm always at your service."
"I don't really feel much pressure, to be honest."
Xu Yanxia smiled faintly and said, "After all, we are blood relatives. Since they are already here, I figured I might as well meet them and take the opportunity to ask if they have any news about my mom."
With that, she wrapped up the topic and asked him instead, "It's already dark. Are you still working overtime today? Don't exhaust yourself."
"I'm heading home soon."
Lu Jingming smiled, then suddenly asked, "By the way, I heard you guys got new judges this time?"
"Yeah."
Xu Yanxia nodded without a second thought and said, "We got two new judges, and they are both very professional."
Lu Jingming then pressed further, "Is one of them a guy? And quite young?"
"Not that young, I suppose?"
Xu Yanxia frowned slightly. "After finishing a bachelor's, master's, and PhD, plus working for a couple of years, he has to be at least pushing thirty."
On the other end of the line, Lu Jingming was speechless.
Thank goodness he was only twenty-seven, still a long way from thirty.
Quietly comforting himself, he asked her again, "I heard he's in the same field of study as you?"
"Yeah, Food Science at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. It's a world-class program!"
As Xu Yanxia spoke, she suddenly realized something was off. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "How do you know all these details so clearly?"
