Indeed, that was the Yan Chen he knew since the beginning. Initially, the majority thought that this school year for the juniors would come between the sponsored students of the Liu and Li families; neither had expected Lu Xinyi's appearance, courtesy of the Shen family.

This nerd wasn't only proficient in the kitchen, but he was also versed in gastronomy which he and Lu Xinyi rarely paid attention to. This was the reason why Yan Chen could stand against him and Lu Xinyi at the top ranks. He could not be easily defeated by others when the data he needed was in his hands.

It would be hard for someone to beat him because he could already predict the outcome of the dish to be presented.

"I see," he muttered under his breath. If Tian Lingyu acknowledged Yan Chen's capability, then he should really pay attention to this cla.s.smate of his in the future. All this time, he was so obsessed with defeating Lu Xinyi that he barely paid attention to others.

Huo Meili stepped up on the stage with a black envelope on her hand. The judges took a long time, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of all the dishes the five groups presented for today's selection.

"Our judges have asked you to prepare a full-course meal to your liking, and each group has presented four dishes. Each entry will be judged on three key evaluation criteria: execution, appearance, and taste. The judges will give a score out of ten for each criterion, 1 being inedible and 10 being excellent. The judges used the EAT Method to rate each dish starting with its appearance. Appearance is 15% of the score."

The ten students competing to represent the academy for the upcoming Interschool Culinary Compet.i.tion understood this. The appearance would be the first thing the judges see. The food should be appetizing and remain the star of the night.

"Next is the Execution. Execution is 35% of the score. In order to judge execution, our judges need to know what you intended. Considerations include, but are not limited to, the intention of the cook, proper representation of category, proper cooking methods, the proper balance of ingredients, and ease in eating the dish. For example, if the roll was too much bread for the meat ratio, that's poor execution. The ingredients were not balanced.

"Last but not least, Taste. Taste is 50% of the score. Taste is weighted the most heavily in the score for obvious reasons. Sometimes, the dishes tasted too overpowering. A dish can be too bitter, too sweet, too sour, odd-textured, or just unbalanced."

Huo Meili explained the scoring and the rating system seriously and, in the end, had to heave a sigh. Looking at their Headmistress Han's stern face, she knew the woman was also waiting for her to explain the cooking battle between the two princes of the academy.

It was really a pity she wasn't part of the judges' panel, or else she could have a taste of those exquisite dishes Huang Shenghao and Tian Lingyu presented.

"Since this is also an official cooking battle for the first seat, whoever gets the higher points between their teams will automatically be proclaimed as the winner." She paused and stepped back to show the tally of the scores of each group on the huge screen on the stage for transparency.

The first group to receive their score was Surya Rath.o.r.e's with the final rating of 8.34, followed by Feng Qianyu's at 8.37 and Tang Liang's at 8.65. The audience held their breaths as the last two groups' scores were simultaneously flashed at the screen.

When Huang Shenghao saw the tally of scores, he knew then that his friend had beaten him. However, the smile on his face didn't falter nor disappeared. Somehow, he'd already expected this to happen when he asked Tian Lingyu for a serious cooking battle.

Meanwhile, Tian Lingyu was calm as he waited for the winner to be announced. Seeing the final scores, there's no question he won this cooking battle. Beside him, Ye Xieren seemed on a daze as he stared at the huge screen. He couldn't believe it…

His eyes weren't deceiving him, right? How long it had been since he won a cooking battle? It already felt like ages since he received this kind of recognition. Although he only acted as Tian Lingyu's sous chef for this activity, he was proud that he was able to contribute to their win.

"Woah! Tian Lingyu and Ye Xieren's final score is higher than Huang Shenghao and Yan Chen's"

"9.27 versus 8.75. Aiya, what happened? How come they lose?" someone asked the audience.

"See the tally of scores. While Huang Shenghao and Yan Chen's dishes receive high scores for appearance, Tian Lingyu and Ye Xieren overtook them on execution and taste." A student pointed out.

When others heard what he said, their gazes went back to the tally of scores. Indeed, he was right. Huang Shenghao's team received high scores for the appearance. However, when it comes to execution, there wasn't much difference between them and Tian Lingyu's; in the end, the taste, which took 50% of the scores, was secured by Tian Lingyu and Ye Xieren.

Loud cheering and squeals from the fan club of Tian Lingyu's resounded from the audience.

"Ah, he won! I knew it Brother Tian is the best~"

"It's alright, Brother Huang. We will still support you!"

"Congratulations to Tian Lingyu and Ye Xieren! The two will officially represent our school at the Interschool Culinary Compet.i.tion. Please do your best!" The emcee finally announced.

It was Lu Xinyi who took the initiative to clap for her brother's victory and was followed by her mentor and Han Zhiling. One by one, the students followed their lead until there was only cheering that could be heard drowning Huo Meili's words.

"Such a spectacular performance! Seeing the final scores, it seems this is also the right time to announce the winner of this cooking battle. Everyone, we have a new leading student which will take the first seat on our Cream of the Crop! Congratulations to Tian Lingyu for winning this cooking battle!"

Another round of applause was followed.

"No matter if you are satisfied with today's results or not, I'll remind you that this wouldn't be the end of the road. Good luck to each and every one of you!" This was Huo Meili's closing words before she stepped down the stage and met Han Zhiling and He Haotian to converse with them.

When Tian Lingyu and Ye Xieren left the cooking arena, they were quickly surrounded by the students watching the selections. Tian Lingyu was flocked with his fangirls while Ye Xieren was pulled by his colleagues, patting his head like a kid.

"Hey! Don't ruin my hair!" he complained and tried to release himself from their chokehold.

Meanwhile, Tian Lingyu forced himself to leave the place to meet his little sister. He searched the leaving crowd for her, but he didn't see her. Instead, it was Huang Shenghao who stood behind the women, trying to get his attention.

Huang Shenghao was smiling at him as if he was enjoying his irritation from the unwanted attention he was receiving from his fangirls.

Tian Lingyu bid his goodbye and thanks to the women and followed his friend in the hallway.

"Congratulations! I knew it would be hard for me to beat you, ah." Huang Shenghao sighed. "You're really ruthless, Lingyu. You didn't even give me a chance to beat you at any dish presented."