“Hello, and welcome to ‘Golden Spoon’! Are you hungry yet? If you’re not, I promise that you will be in a couple of minutes. Because today, the sixty-four contestants that were chosen from among thousands of participants in last week’s casting are going to take a chance at the three tasks that today’s judges have prepared for them. I’m sure that we will be presented with lots of tasty dishes that are going to make all of our mouths water.

“Now, please welcome our contestants with me!” E Cheng Jun smiled into the camera and then turned to the side, motioning at the still empty cooking stations behind her.

Right on cue, the lighting changed and the sixty-four people that had been chosen walked in one after the other.

The person in front was none other than Si Jin. After him followed Fan Mei of all people, much to the dismay of the ninjas of the Si clan. After that came Si Yi, then another contestant they hadn’t had anything to do with yet before another ninja followed.

After seeing how everything had played out with those twenty people in the casting, the team behind the show had decided not to take any chances with this. The ninjas were clearly familiar with each other, so they had made sure that they would split them up as well as they could. Thus, between each of the ninjas would be at least one or two, sometimes three people to make sure that they couldn’t convene with each other.

E Cheng Jun waited until all of them had taken up their spot behind the cooking stations before she turned back to the camera, showing the very same smile as before. “Now, what tasks will these talented young people have to attempt? Let’s welcome our three judges and find out!

“Everybody knows our first main judge already: He is a household name in the industry, the author of one of our country’s best-selling cookbooks for staple foods, and is looking back on a career of almost 50 years as a professional chef. Please welcome with me: Mister Yu!”

E Cheng Jun applauded, as did the contestants, and Mister Yu walked in, smiling faintly and nodding at E Cheng Jun and the contestants. He forgot about the camera seeing as he wasn’t used to taking note of one, but E Cheng Jun hurriedly redirected him, quietly asking him to also greet the viewers at home. “Mister Yu, are you excited about today’s episode?”

Mister Yu hurriedly nodded toward the camera before he turned to her, giving another nod. “I am! These talented young men and women have proven themselves worthy to be on ‘Golden Spoon’. They have managed to convince both me and Mister Xiao of their skills. Thus, I am quite curious to see how they will fare when they are not able to choose what to make without any restrictions but instead have to follow the task given.”

“Then I hope that they will be a pleasant surprise to Mister Yu!” E Cheng Jun smiled again and then turned to the camera once more, motioning for Mister Yu to take a seat while she announced the next judge. “Our second main judge is an up-and-coming food streamer, the head of the channel ‘Bright Yellow Water’, Xiao Ming!”

Xiao Ming walked out, also greeting E Cheng Jun, the contestants, as well as nodding toward the camera. As a streamer, he was naturally used to doing things like that. As a result, he didn’t have as much trouble as Mister Yu to get used to being on the big screen. No, to him, everything was only a little more professional since there were several cameras now instead of just one, but he had a rough guess what to take note of. Anyway, Qian Huang and Li Shui had also coached him on some things to take note of for today and the subsequent episodes.

“Hello, Miss E! Greetings to the contestants and the viewers at home.”

E Cheng Jun’s smile seemed to brighten any further when he remembered to greet the audience as well and then leaned a little closer. “Mister Xiao, as a streamer, you’ve had to do with other people’s cooking in the past already, right?”

Xiao Ming nodded. “Sometimes, our viewers would send us pictures or small videos of what they had made and ask for some judgment. So yes, I have seen similar in the past. Of course, it can’t compare to the scale of ‘Golden Spoon’.”

“Then you must be excited to finally have the opportunity today to see things on a much larger scale.”

Xiao Ming nodded and gave a smile as well. “I am! Just like Mister Yu said before, I think that the tasks will be interesting to see. Everyone has a dish that they are especially good at making. But when it comes to cooking at the level of the contestants of ‘Golden Spoon’, then I think that they need to be good at more than just one dish. So let’s see who will do just as well as in the casting when presented with very different tasks.”

“Thank you, Mister Xiao! Now, let’s welcome our last judge.”

Xiao Ming retreated, taking a seat next to Mister Yu, and watched silently as E Cheng Jun continued.

“Today’s temporary judge has come here specifically for the first episode of ‘Golden Spoon’. She owns a well-known restaurant overseas where she spoils her guests with our national specialties often giving them a modern twist. Here is Chu Yu An!”

A woman walked and waved at the camera, not any less familiar with this kind of setup than Xiao Ming. In fact, she seemed a lot more natural than he had despite the fact that he had been regularly streaming for a long time.

Watching her from the table for the judges, Xiao Ming couldn’t help but feel a little envious. She was clearly the type of person who had no problem being in the middle of the attention. In fact, she might even enjoy it. Sometimes, he wished that he could be like this as well.

He knew that it wasn’t possible though. He just wasn’t like that. No, after all this time, he already knew that some things wouldn’t change, including how nervous he got when he had to do something in front of people he didn’t know well or the camera.

Chu Yu An stopped next to E Cheng Jun, smiling while giving another wave to the contestants and the audience members before also looking over her shoulder at Xiao Ming and Mister Yu. Only then did she turn back to her.

E Cheng Jun looked up at her, looking every bit surprised. “Miss Chu is rather tall. I didn’t notice when we were still behind the scenes.”

Chu Yu An smiled brightly. “That is because you came in to say hello while I was still in the mask so I had to sit the whole time.”

E Cheng Jun couldn’t help but laugh. “That has to be it. Anyway, you came to China especially for this episode of ‘Golden Spoon’. Since this is the first season, that has to mean that you think the show has a lot of potential.”

Chu Yu An nodded. “Yes, of course! You see, there are many cooking shows out there. But a lot of them are boring. When I was originally asked about taking part in one, I wasn’t sure if it would really be my thing.

“You know, I do traditional dishes but always with a twist. I want to honor the old by adopting it for our modern times. And I think that a good show is a bit like that as well: It takes the good things we know from cooking shows even from decades ago, but it also adds something new.

“What I really like about the concept of ‘Golden Spoon’ is how it focuses on people who aren’t professional chefs but have a lot of love and skill for cooking. And then these people get the chance to share their love and make new experiences by being exposed to tasks that somebody else is choosing.

“I think that the beauty lies in the tasks given and for that, I’m happy to see that while there are two main judges, there will also be a new temporary judge every episode. That is bound to make things exciting, isn’t it?”

E Cheng Jun nodded with fervor as if this was precisely what she had thought. “I’m sure it will! Then, what are your thoughts on our two main judges?”

Chu Yu An glanced over her shoulder again and smiled. “Well, I guess there isn’t that much to say as both of them are very well-known figures in the circle.

“It doesn’t need to be said that Mister Yu had the biggest influence on most of our generation when it comes to cooking. I remember that the first few dishes I made were definitely from recipes that came from his cookbook.

“On the other hand, Mister Xiao is slightly younger than me but we are in the same age bracket at least. I am always excited to see others my age doing so well. And I have watched quite a few of his streams. The things he presents and the way that he explains to his viewers is something that I enjoy very much.

“I think that the two of them together will be able to come up with a lot of exciting tasks. I could imagine that while Mister Yu might go for some more traditional ideas, Mister Xiao will be able to come up with some new concepts that might surprise us all. I’m really looking forward to seeing that in combination. The contestants definitely have their work cut out for them.”

“Well, thank you, Miss Chu!”

Chu Yu An smiled, gave a nod, and then also walked back to sit with the other two. She gave Mister Yu and Xiao Ming a big smile before taking a seat. Clearly, she was the kind of person who hadn’t just said anything to make the producer happy but because she genuinely thought that.

Xiao Ming couldn’t help but look at her and smile as well, feeling that working with her would be really pleasant. This was something that he had been worried about. Mister Yu was somebody that he got along with quite well but there would be a new temporary judge every episode.

If that was somebody he didn’t get along with well, then while it wouldn’t be important anymore in next week, it would make for one miserable day at least. And seeing as there were several weeks, he just hoped that he would have good luck with these people. To see that the first week was off to a good start really made him feel relieved.

Chu Yu An reached out and poked his arm just when he had wanted to turn back and leaned closer. “I really liked the review you did the other day. That Li Shui from your channel is hilarious!”

Xiao Ming stared at her, unable to believe what she was saying. While he was pretty sure that she had taken a look at their channel or she wouldn’t have said that she had, he hadn’t thought that she was this up-to-date to have even watched the latest video. After a moment of awkwardness, he smiled brightly and shook his head. “I guess he didn’t find it hilarious at the moment but I’ll tell him you said that!”

She nodded and patted his arm before turning back to the front, listening for E Cheng Jun continue.

Now, they were finally done with the introductions so in just a moment more, the first task would be announced. Everyone he was looking forward to that.