The contestants stepped to the side as soon as the three judges approached. In part, this was certainly also because the ninjas of the Si clan alerted the others to their presence. Really, with twenty out of sixty-four people being their own, doing crowd control was quite easy.

Seeing how young master Xiao and the other two were able to pass unhindered, the ninjas were quite proud of themselves. It might not be a difficult task but the little actions were the ones that counted. In the future, they would be part of what made young master Xiao feel welcome in their midst. Well, hopefully.

When the judges reached the front of the crowd, Mister Yu tightly furrowed his brows and didn’t wait even a single moment to question things. “What is going on here?”

Si Er turned around and then motioned back into the studio. “Judge Yu, I just saw Miss Fan sneak around in the studio. I didn’t see what exactly she did but she was at a workstation that definitely wasn’t hers. I don’t want to suspect anyone but I can’t see any reason for that, that isn’t nefarious.”

At this time, Fan Mei had already rushed back to the door. She had originally wanted to shut Si Er up but he had made such a ruckus immediately that there hadn’t been enough time. The crew members close by had realized and with the judges now having come over as well, things didn’t look good at all. Her only chance was to reverse the situation by staunchly refusing the accusations and making it seem like he was needlessly antagonistic. “What are you even saying? I didn’t do anything! I just wanted a moment alone to take a breather.”

Si Er turned back around to her, not looking like he was impressed in the slightest. Anyway, he knew what she had been up to so no matter how well she acted, he knew it was all fake. “At somebody else’s workstation?”

Fan Mei tightly furrowed her brows. She didn’t know what this guy had seen but it seemed that it had been more than he should. Well, as long as it was just him, there shouldn’t be a problem. This could easily be explained away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just went back in because the break was almost over anyway. I don’t know about you but some of us are a bit nervous. So I wanted to go back to my own workstation to already calm down a bit.”

Si Er just smiled faintly. This Fan Mei, she shouldn’t think that he would give her even an inch to defend herself! He’d corner her one step at a time. “I get being nervous.” Not that he had ever been but then he wasn’t a real contestant who actually cared about winning. He just wanted to make it into the next episode, pretend to mess up, and then go and relax at home while the rest could try to boot out the other contestants for their master.

But until then, he could do his master and Si Shi Qi a favor by dealing with this woman. “I’d wager all of us are to a certain degree. But you didn’t answer my question: Why did you go to somebody else’s workstation? We were all assigned one for today. And I don’t think we’re supposed to linger around another one. That just feels a bit … wrong. Like you were up to something.”

Fan Mei shook her head, trying to look puzzled. “Oh, I’m pretty sure it was my own. If it wasn’t, I must’ve mistaken it. There are so many of them, it’s really easy to get the wrong one. I’m really sorry to whoever’s workstation I was at. I’ll apologize personally to them if you tell me who it was! We could even switch if you’re uncomfortable with it.” She raised her hands and shrugged her shoulders, really making it seem as if she didn’t think it was a big deal but was still genuinely apologetic.

Si Er’s smile got a little brighter. What was this called? It was called digging your own grave! She still didn’t seem to have realized that he had an ace up his sleeve. Well, she’d find out in time. “You know, Miss Fan, I would believe that if you were one of the people in the middle of the studio.

“It can indeed be a bit difficult to judge which workstation was yours when you’re number twenty-eight, thirty-six, or maybe forty-four since you’re right in the middle of the studio. I mean, yes, there are big number plates on the side of each workstation that you could use to find yours after coming back but I’d give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn’t notice those when we came in before.” He chuckled as if he thought it was a funny thought but then turned serious again, tilting his head and furrowing his brows. “But you’re number two.”

Among the other contestants, Si Shi Qi shuddered. God, it was so weird to hear Si Er say this to his sister. He really hoped that they’d finish this conversation soon.

Unfortunately for him, Si Er wasn’t done yet. “You were the second person to walk into the studio when we started filming today so your workstation is right at the side of the studio and the second one from the front to boot. You can’t mistake that one. You’d need to be exceptionally directionally challenged to mistake the first spot for the second.”

The people around couldn’t help but give Fan Mei a doubtful look. Originally, what she had said hadn’t sounded too unbelievable. There were indeed quite a few people who were nervous.

The other contestants could understand since they were in the same position. Even the crew members who had no skin in the game were able to see that as plain as day. After all, they had been working with the contestants all day and had already been looking through some of the material behind the scenes.

With some of the contestants, it was incredibly obvious just how nervous they were. Just think of that Huyan Xia who had even run off in the middle of an interview because she suddenly got an idea, and then almost stumbled over her very own feet! To say that people weren’t nervous would be ridiculous.

Even though Fan Mei might not look nervous outwardly, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t nervous inside. Some people were just able to hide their emotions a bit better. So her saying she had been nervous had been plausible.

Even saying that she had gotten the workstation wrong seemed like a likely scenario. After all, who hadn’t taken a wrong seat somewhere once or twice in their life? Especially while being nervous, that could happen.

So based on both of those points, everyone had figured that she had been accused of doing ill despite not having done anything to deserve it. But now, being reminded of which number she actually was on today’s episode, they started to have doubts. Indeed, how could the person at the second workstation forget where she had worked? That just wasn’t possible. If she had been further down the line, alright, but the second person? No, there was no chance that was a likely explanation.

Fan Mei also realized that she didn’t have much of a chance to get out of this as easily as she had originally hoped for. This Sima Qiu guy had really played his cards well. Come to think of it, he might even be involved in this matter with Xiao Ming and that Si Jin.

Well, she wouldn’t let him win that easily. Thankfully, she had been born with thick skin. If explaining her side didn’t work, then she’d have to redirect people’s attention.

She furrowed her brows, giving Si Er a doubtful look. “Actually, come to think of it, how do you know which workstation is mine and which isn’t? I barely know who the people directly next to me were but I’m sure neither of them was you. So how do you know which workstation is mine? What were you up to before?”

Si Er looked at her blankly, wondering if this kind of tactic really worked on other people. Glancing to the side though, he saw that some of the other contestants really seemed to wonder about that.

He gave a huff, feeling that he should stop applying the standards of the Si clan on those regular people. Clearly, they couldn’t keep up. “How do I know which workstation is yours? Well, excuse me, but you were literally the second person to go up.

“I might not be able to remember the exact number of every person but I can tell you in general whether they went up early or late. And when it comes to those who were directly at the beginning and the end, I know even more who they are. Especially so for the people who were directly in front. Don’t forget that I was number six.”

Once again, one of the ninjas winced. Really, why were the contestants on ‘Golden Spoon’ numbered? It felt so odd, just as if somebody had taken their identity from them. It was even weirder when it was one of their own doing it like Si Er right now.

The person at the center of the conflict had no issue though. Anyway, he was the number two of the Si clan and he would stay in that place. Those idiots better shouldn’t hope he’d drop down a few places!

He just ignored them and focused on the matter with Fan Mei. “If you don’t believe me, I can tell you right now who else was up there.” Saying so, he turned around, pretending to look over the contestants before he pointed right at his master’s face. “That’s the guy whose workstation you were at, Si Jin, the first contestant for today.

“After that was you. I know you, you’re called Fan Mei. You snapped at Judge Xiao today after he asked why chose some recipe with nuts.” He didn’t comment any further and instead looked away again, pointing at a slightly chubby, middle-aged woman next. “The third contestant was this woman. She’s called Ye Ping. I can even tell you she has three kids that she cooks for.” He paused for a moment, his brows furrowing. “How do you have three children?”

Ye Ping had been following the exchange in a similar way to Chu Yu An, feeling like she was right on the set of one of those dramas she often watched in the afternoon. Being pointed at, she immediately straightened up, feeling like she had to take her role seriously. “Oh, two of them are my late husband’s children.”

“I see.” Si Er wasn’t actually interested. He had just wanted to not make it seem odd that he had mentioned Fan Mei being rude to young master Xiao. If he managed to bring something up about every contestant he pointed out, it would seem like he hadn’t been focused on her but had just been following everything with interest, listening closely to everyone.

Having made up his mind, he pointed at Si Yi next. “That one was contestant number four. He didn’t say much but he made a healthy variation so I guess he’s one of those fitness nuts.” He rolled his eyes as if he couldn’t get behind that at all and then turned around to look for the last person.

Finally spotting him a bit further to the side, he smiled. “This guy over there was the last one who went up before me. He’s called Zhao Li Yu and didn’t say much. But when he went to sit down, he took his bowl of congee with him. He was the only one who did this so I’m sure quite a few people remember.”

Having said his piece, he turned back to Fan Mei and raised his brows. “So, now that we’ve established that I have a good reason to remember which cooking station is yours and also know the others that went up before me, maybe you will stop trying to divert attention. You still haven’t answered the actual question: You went into the studio before the break was over and then went to a workstation that isn’t yours. You can’t have mistaken it because you’re the second person so your station is at a position that’s really easy to remember. So what exactly were you doing at that workstation?”

Fan Mei gritted her teeth. How was this guy countering everything she said? It was almost as if he had prepared all of this! He really had to be with that Si Jin and Xiao Ming. In that case, she had to win this argument even more or they’d try to get her pushed out of the show.

She straightened up and raised her chin, not wanting to let him intimidate her. She had to show that she wasn’t afraid. That might make people believe her. “I already said I was nervous. It was really bad and I must’ve gotten things mixed up. Maybe you think that’s odd but that’s just how it was. I can’t tell you anything else because that’s the truth.”

Si Er raised his brows slowly. “Really?” He gave her a long look before he glanced over into the studio. “If that’s the case, then what were you doing at ‘your’ workstation?”

“Nothing. I was just standing there, mentally preparing myself.”

“Oh? You didn’t check for anything, didn’t put anything there, nothing like that?”

Fan Mei furrowed her brows. Was this guy just fishing for information? That had to be it. Anyway, even if he had seen her check the workstation in detail, it wasn’t like he could prove it, right?

Even though she was pretty sure of that, she still had a bad feeling and figured that it couldn’t hurt to be careful. “Well, know that you mention it, I’m not quite sure anymore. I also might’ve tidied up a bit because I was afraid I spilled something while doing the first task. I’m not sure anymore though. That also could have been directly after we finished the first part and were told we could go to have a break. You really startled me when you suddenly yelled across the studio and started questioning me. Everything’s really jumbled up now.”

She tried to look helpless but the effect wasn’t as good anymore. People might be able to disband their disbelief for a while but if you pulled the same excuse over and over again, it started to become more dubious. And with how Si Er was getting more and more pointed in his questions and she could only give vague answers, quite a few people were doubtful.

Well, things weren’t about to get better for her.

Si Er gave a low hum, his expression turning thoughtful. Except for their master, all the ninjas of the Si clan had a certain aptitude for changing their expressions on command and as the second member of the clan, he would naturally not lack in such a basic skill. The performance was much more convincing than Fan Mei’s. “Tidying up, is it? You must have a weird way of tidying up. But then what’s being weirder is how your nervousness is able to explain so many different things. Now it’s even the cause of temporary memory loss. You should really have that looked at and get it treated. It might be dangerous.”

A little further to the side, Si Qi couldn’t help but raise a hand to his mouth. “You wouldn’t think of it seeing how he is always holed up in his own room, but he really has a poisonous tongue when he finally starts interacting with people.”

Si Ba who was standing next to him raised a brow at him in return. “That is poisonous already? I think I could have thought of some worse things to say. Also, some more effective things. If he continues like this, she might get away with it, or at least it’ll take forever before she is taken down.”

To be honest, none of the ninjas were happy that Fan Mei was part of the show. So far, it didn’t look like she would be thrown out just based on her skills alone anytime soon. This meant that if they wanted her to get out, they might need to get her disqualified for something else. If they managed they managed to do that right on the first day because they were able to accuse her of sabotaging another contestant and proving it, they would be more than happy.

Si Er wasn’t necessarily doing a bad job, but some of the ninjas felt like it would’ve been better if they had been allowed to do this. They would’ve had an easier time dealing with this woman. Whether Si Er was really up to it … it remained to be seen.

At the door, Fan Mei was seething with anger but she realized that he was probably just trying to get a rise out of her so that she wouldn’t think enough about what she was saying and blurt something out in her anger. She couldn’t do that. She hadn’t found any proof yet that Si Jin was cheating. While she didn’t care about winning ‘Golden Spoon’, she did care a lot about her research into this matter so she had to stay on the show for as long as she could.

Reminding herself of her goal, she got even more careful instead of giving in to her whim of yelling at this ridiculous guy. She even forced a smile on her lips and nodded, as if she really thought he was worried about her. “You’re right, I should probably do that.

“Actually, I also didn’t think that being on the show would impact me this much. I mean, I’ve been on camera before. It’s nothing new to me. But I’ve never had to cook in this type of situation or been a contestant on any show. So now, I can’t help but feel more nervous than usual.

“It’s such an uncomfortable feeling and I’m not used to it so I’m a little beside me. You’re right that I should get help with that. Maybe I’ll talk it over with some people who have more experience in this than I do. It would be great if that could help and make my experience on the show better.”

Si Er nodded slowly. He hadn’t expected her to recover from this but, well, that didn’t mean that he was at the end of his rope. He was getting sick of this though so it was time to pull out the big guns. “That’s an excellent idea. You can go and do that … right after we’ve checked the recordings.”

Fan Mei froze, her gaze flitting around. The cameras of the film crew had indeed been left in the studio. She didn’t think that they were filming anything but she hadn’t checked beforehand so she couldn’t be absolutely sure of that. She tried to think of something to do but, of course, Si Er wouldn’t give her the time.

He turned to the crew member that was looking from one person to the other and raised his brows. “We are checking the recordings, aren’t we? I mean, it’s nice that she has an excuse, but I know what I’ve seen and it did not look like she mistook a working station and went to tidy up. Anyway, I don’t think the show would want anyone sabotaging another contestant, right?”

The crew member wasn’t quite sure what to do and looked around to find somebody else who could take charge instead.

Mister Yu used the opportunity to step forward, feeling that this was a moment when he could finally get back into things after the questioning he had originally started had been completely taken over by the two who were involved themselves. “I think that what this young man just said is quite reasonable. This matter, we should carefully look into it.

“Please get Ms. Yang to come over. I think that somebody from the production team should be here when doing this. As judges, the three of us can certainly take a look, but we are still not the ones who can make any decisions in the end no matter what the outcome will be.”

The crew member nodded, relieved that Judge Yu had suggested this, taking the burden off his shoulders. “I’ll go and get her.”

Fan Mei furrowed her brows, not too happy about this but there was nothing she could do after Judge Yu had already spoken so she could only watch the crew member leave.

It didn’t take long for Yang Shu Na to return since she had still been in an adjacent room to have a short word with the judges before they continued to do the next task. Walking up to them, she nodded. “Well, I’ve already been told what happened just now. I agree that we should check just to make matters clear.” She turned to a member of the film crew that was close by. “Let’s have a look at your recordings!”

The cameramen had also been on break and while they had originally been in a different room just like her, they had been drawn over by the ruckus since one person had still been filming in this room. They had listened in on everything so they knew what was up but they could all just look on in confusion when asked about their recordings. “Ms. Yang, we didn’t leave any of the cameras on.”

Anyway, even though they were mostly working digital nowadays, especially for a show like ‘Golden Spoon’, that didn’t mean that they would just leave everything running. And they already had one camera in the break room to shoot some of the scenes, didn’t they? What did they need to film in the studio if nobody was there?

Yang Shu Na was at a loss. In that case, what were they supposed to check?

Just when she wanted to tell everyone that it seemed that there was no way to check anything, Si Er pointed up to a corner. “I don’t mean the cameras you are using for the show. I mean the security cameras. Anyway, I’m pretty sure those aren’t just decoration.”

Of course, he knew for a fact that they weren’t. After all, he had been watching the security feed the whole time to make sure of what Fan Mei was doing. He had even given her an extra minute or two to get herself into trouble before he called her out on it. Thus, he was sure that what the crew would see on the security feed would be enough to have Fan Mei disqualified.

This was something that he was more than happy about. Especially since it would show his master that the decision to give them back his phone before they set off this morning had definitely been the right one. He absolutely didn’t want to have to go back into a state of no technology. That was just torture for his soul. How could he stand it?

Yang Shu Na also remembered that there was something like that and waved at the crew member again. Actually, she just wanted to be done with this. This whole matter, it was really getting on her nerves.

In a cooking show, how much could you really manipulate? Even if somebody did, as long as the viewers at home didn’t know about it, did it really matter? She didn’t think so. So such a matter wasn’t something she cared much about. She just hoped that it would be solved soon so they could move on to the next task and get things going. They needed more material that could actually be shown, not a conflict like this that would likely lead nowhere anyway.

Well, she would soon be changing her opinion when she realized that there was a bit more to this and that they could probably use this for the show as well. In any case, Si Er had indeed prepared well. And by now, all the actors in this little act were already in place.