Around them, some other people couldn’t help but whisper about this as well, wondering if somebody had really pulled a mean-spirited joke on the other contestants.

Hearing this, one of the other men that had taken part couldn’t help but put down his knife and turn to the jury. “Is nobody going to say something? That guy is clearly a professional! He should be disqualified.”

The jury was pulled out of their own stupor, finally reacting.

There were three of them, all of them professional chefs. To be honest, if Si Jin was held to the standards of somebody who had actually been cooking for years or even had an education in cooking, then his feat wasn’t that amazing.

The astonishing thing was that he was supposed to be just a casual visitor who didn’t have that kind of background. And he didn’t look old enough to be really that well-versed in cooking that he could do this without trouble at all.

Usually, that was what they would expect from somebody who had ten or twenty years of regular cooking behind them even if it was just at home. And even among those people, there weren’t that many who were able to do what he had just done.

Still, they didn’t want to accuse somebody just because of how they looked. The woman who was sitting to the left turned to look at Si Jin. “I’m sorry but I have to ask: Is this true? Are you a professional chef?”

Si Jin looked from the other contestant to her and then shook his head.

The other contestant’s face immediately turned red. “He’s clearly lying!”

Seeing this, Si Yi stepped forward, walking up to the table of the jury, and inclined his head. “I’m sorry for interrupting but this person happens to be my employer. Here is our business card. If you want to verify his identity, you can do so with a call. We will happily answer all your questions.”

The woman took the card in surprise and then showed it to the other two jury members who then looked up at Si Yi and finally at Si Jin. They didn’t think that anybody from the audience would step up just like that to cover up a lie. While there were prizes, they were hardly big enough to warrant this. It just didn’t seem worth making a big deal over it like calling some corporation and finding out who their big boss was. Especially considering that the name on top of the card was actually quite well-known.

Looking up at Si Yi, the woman smiled. “So it was like that. I’m really sorry about the commotion. It is just that Mister Si is really a natural talent with the knife.”

Si Yi gave a noncommittal smile. “I guess he had a good teacher.” Turning to his master, he looked for instructions on how to proceed further.

Si Jin didn’t have anything to say though. In any case, he didn’t get the problem at all. He had complied with the rules and this person was clearly just unhappy that he had managed to win. This kind of sore loser, he wouldn’t pay him any mind. After all, this contest wasn’t that serious.

Originally, after he had searched this part of the building and realized that Si San wasn’t there, he had coincidentally noticed what the next event in this room would be.

Looking at the rules and seeing that they applied to him, he had immediately taken up a spot among the contestants, feeling that this was a good opportunity for him to practice his cooking skills further while he waited for news about Si San from the others.

As it turned out, it had been a good idea. With each ingredient that he cut, his ability would be better. He wasn’t quite sure why people were making such a big deal out of it but just having been able to do it was still good enough. Now though, it seemed that they were finished so he could now go and question Si San.

Thinking of that, he stepped away from the table, clearly intending to leave.

Immediately, there was a commotion among the audience and some people rushed to the front, stepping into his way. “Excuse me! May ask you a few questions?”

“I’m doing a blog series about the event, I would also like to ask you some questions!”

“Would you mind having your picture taken?”

Si Jin glanced at the group of people that were suddenly standing in front of him while the jury was reeling from what was happening. In any case, for this contest, they should usually announce the winner and then give them the prize. How come the winning contestant was trying to leave and there were already audience members rushing to the front to interview him?

The man who was sitting in the middle got up and cleared his throat, motioning for everyone to quiet down. “I am sure there are quite a few people who will have some questions. Before that though, please let us finish with the contest.” Saying so, he turned to Si Jin and walked around the table, going up to shake his hand. “Mister Si, congratulations on winning the contest on cutting vegetables! You really surprised me there with your skills. If I may ask: How long have you been cooking?”

Si Jin shook his hand and then nodded. “Four weeks.”

At that, the jury member stopped mid-motion. “I’m sorry? Come again? Did you say four years?” It hadn’t sounded like it but what he thought to have heard didn’t make any sense.

“Four weeks.” In any case, it had been four weeks. Although … “Four and a half.” This was more of the truth. He had started on the weekend and now, it was already Monday. You could probably say that it had indeed been four weeks and a half by now.

The jury member felt confused and looked to Si Yi, hoping for an explanation. Because clearly, this wasn’t normal. Maybe this guy was jumbling up his words? Did company bosses do something like that?

Si Yi smiled at that. “Oh, it has been four and a half weeks indeed. You know, Mister Si has been preparing for this cooking show, ‘Golden Spoon’, since the day it was announced. We actually came here to gain some more experience before the first episode next week.”

Naturally, since the people that were gathered were all food enthusiasts, they had all heard of the show. When they heard that Si Jin would take part, they were immediately more interested.

The jury member couldn’t help but turn back to Si Jin, wanting to inquire further about this. “‘Golden Spoon’? A friend of mine was actually one of the judges at the venue who preapproved the dishes that would go to the actual jury. There were a lot of good contestants from what he told me. So Mister Si made it to the first episode? Well, then it figures.”

Si Jin nodded at the question but didn’t say anything else.

The jury member realized that he was probably one of these people who were notoriously difficult to talk with and decided that he would leave that to those bloggers and journalists who were clearly already impatiently waiting to get in some questions themselves.

Thinking of that, he just smiled brightly and then motioned over to a shelf behind the table of the jury. “Well, you definitely earned yourself the prize for this round. It’s a knife set from him a very well-known manufacturer. I’m sure that as somebody whose forte cutting ingredients is, you will make good use of this!”

He motioned again and the last jury member got up, getting the block of knives, and then handed it over to Si Jin, shaking his hand as well.

Si Jin nodded and then felt like he should probably give a word of thanks. Otherwise, it would really be too impolite. “Thank you.” Then, he walked past them, wanting to leave the room to have his talk with Si San.

The journalists and bloggers immediately followed suit, not really caring about whatever else was going on. In any case, they had seen something incredible and they wanted to get at least one or two questions answered. At the very least, they needed his name and some identifying information so they could scour for some more information.

Si Yi saw what was happening and hurriedly stepped into their path. “I’m very sorry, Mister Si will have some other matters to attend to now. If you do have questions, please direct them toward me instead.” He knew that they wouldn’t get rid of them this easily but this was something that should be a good compromise.

In any case, for one, it would let their master have the opportunity to leave and have his talk with Si San. On the other hand, they could still get the media coverage that would hopefully make them be noticed by young master Xiao or one of the other members of Bright Yellow Water. So really, this was the perfect opportunity.

The bloggers were a little taken aback while the journalists that had also followed along weren’t too surprised. When it came to the bosses of any company, they were usually super busy. Getting in one or two questions with them personally was already very good. Usually, they would instead have a spokesperson or some kind of assistant do these things for them. So really, this was to be expected.

Since they had been given the opportunity, they pushed past the bloggers, and immediately started with a barrage of questions.

“Might I inquire what Mister Si’s name was? I’m afraid I didn’t catch it before.”

“His name is Si Jin, I’m afraid he will not be that well-known since he likes to keep his life private for the most part.”

“Ah, I see, I see. In any case, I won’t inquire about that. You said that he was taking part in a cooking show?”

“That’s right, ‘Golden Spoon’. The casting for the show was just this weekend and he did make it to the first episode. The casting round will be broad-casted next Saturday as far as I am aware.”

Another journalist immediately jumped in. “You seemed to be implying that he had taken up cooking because of the show. Why was it his goal to take part in a cooking show if he wasn’t interested in cooking before?”

This question was a little more difficult to answer but it was also something that Si Yi had expected to be asked sooner or later. After all, if they managed to keep their spots in ‘Golden Spoon’, there would also be more media coverage.

“While Mister Si wasn’t interested in cooking himself before, he was a passionate viewer of the online stream, ‘Bright Yellow Water’. If you followed the news on ‘Golden Spoon’ you would probably know that the main streamer of Bright Yellow Water, Xiao Ming, is one of the two main judges of ‘Golden Spoon’. He mentioned the show and asked his viewers to register at the press conference. Mister Si decided that it would be a nice thing to do for somebody that he admires this much.”

At this, the journalists weren’t quite sure what to do with that information. Joining a show that would be shown on TV, where he didn’t have much control over what would be shown and what wouldn’t, maybe being made to look bad for some cheap laughs from the audience … would somebody really do that for a mere streamer? These company bosses were too strange!

The bloggers used the opportunity to push through to the front at that though. “You say that it was all for this one person. Is there a special reason for that?”

Si Yi looked at the young lady who had asked the question and couldn’t help but think that she was rather sharp. “Well, I do know that Mister Si has been watching this stream since the very beginning when it was created. As a long-time viewer, I am sure that the stream and the streamer heading it have a special place in his heart.”

The woman gave a hum, looking a little thoughtful.

At the same time, one of the journalists who hadn’t been too concerned with blogs and streams before had hastily searched up Bright Yellow Water and Xiao Ming. He held his phone in front of Si Yi’s face, the screen showing a photo of him. “I’m sorry, might I ask if this is the person you are talking about?”

Si Yi glanced at the screen and then nodded. “Yes, that is indeed Mister Xiao. He is judging the contestants together with Mister Yu who is a household name for everyone interested in cooking as far as I am aware. When it comes to the younger generation that likes to watch the streams online, I am sure that Mister Xiao holds a similar interest to them. I’m pretty sure that especially some of the bloggers here will be familiar with him.”

There was actually some agreement there, making Si Yi quite happy. They had wanted to make Bright Yellow Water and young master Xiao more famous since they knew that the stream was his dream. To now have the opportunity to speak about him was clearly something he was happy about. His master would be as well if he knew.

The questions continued and Si Yi answered them one by one, astounding the bloggers and journalists with how patient he was. No matter how small the question, he would actually take a moment to answer them.

After a while, they couldn’t help but wonder if maybe there was a special reason for that and then realized that the boss he had been talking about was long gone. Most likely, he had just wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t be bothered. Well, he was one dedicated assistant! But since they got answers to all their questions out of it, they definitely were definitely in favor of that work ethic.