Chapter 239: Chapter 239: Michelin Three Stars

The man’s name was Lai Liang.

Pull up his resume, and you’d see a long, glittering list of titles.

Winning a gold medal at some XX Cooking Competition was standard stuff for him; his positions also included Vice President of the XX Chef Association, and so on.

Lai Liang had been on many television shows and was fairly well-known on social media. What’s more, his good looks had earned him a large and devoted fanbase.

However, he was most famous for the high-end kaiseki restaurant he ran in Sea City—

With an average cost of over 5,000 per person, it had been awarded three Michelin stars five years prior and was one of the few Michelin-starred restaurants in all of Hua Country.

That’s right. Lai Liang wasn’t a Chinese cuisine chef, but a Japanese cuisine chef.

It was said he was a native of Sea City who had gone to study in R Country as a teenager. He apprenticed under the renowned "God of Sushi" for a full ten years before striking out on his own and gradually making a name for himself.

Now, not yet forty years old, he was in the prime of his career, a time when a chef possessed both peak physical stamina and ample experience.

One could imagine that inviting him onto the show was bound to generate intense discussion.

The charitable foundation, or rather, Chang Mu herself, must have pulled quite a few strings behind the scenes.

Before arriving, Lai Liang had already pictured the kind of welcome he would receive and how his career would take off by leveraging the hottest variety show of the moment...

’What? The cooking teacher he was replacing?’

’Professional matters should be left to professionals.’

’Why would a beautiful female celebrity need to get her hands dirty in a greasy kitchen?’

’She just needs to dress up, look pretty, and wait to taste his creations.’

...Brimming with confidence, Lai Liang made his way to Cuishui Village Primary School and introduced himself right from the start.

After he rattled off his long list of credentials in a tone that was superficially humble but actually arrogant, the children just stared at him blankly.

"What’s a Michelin? I’ve never heard of it."

"And what’s Japanese food? Is it food from R Country? I’m from Hua Country, so why should I learn to cook food from R Country?"

"I still think Teacher Nan is better!"

"WAAAAH."

"..."

The village children had grown up here, and many had never even been to the city. How could they possibly know about things like kaiseki or three Michelin stars?

They only saw him as a stranger and all wore expressions of resistance.

The bullet comments were no friendlier:

[The production team is something else. Hiring another chef is one thing, but they actually hired a Japanese food chef!]

[Kids’ brains are the best! Exactly, why should Hua Country people learn to cook R Country’s food?]

[The production team is really asking for trouble. Can’t they just film the show properly and stop with these publicity stunts?!]

[Hey, wait a minute. I don’t think the production team instigated this. Otherwise, they would have stepped in to restore order by now. Look how awkward the atmosphere is—no one’s even trying to smooth things over.]

[I said from the beginning that a certain "Miss" was up to no good, but you all didn’t believe me and accused me of starting drama. Think about it: who really invited this chef? Does the production team even have that kind of pull?]

[If I were Nan Zhi, I’d be devastated. Backstabbed by a colleague, and now some foreign chef is subtly dissing her for being unprofessional? This is outrageous!]

[This guy’s name is Lai Liang, right? The way he talks is really something. So what if he’s a "professional"? Our Nan Zhi was certified by a Food documentary too! You don’t know jack about Chinese cuisine!]

...

The surging undercurrents were about to break the surface.

Seeing this, Lai Liang’s expression grew a little stiff.

Fortunately, he had extensive on-camera experience and was still able to maintain a smile despite his foul mood.

He said, "Children, I can understand your fondness for your previous Teacher Nan and that you miss her. However, it’s not a bad thing to have more international exposure. Perhaps Japanese cuisine will spark your interest in R Country, and in the future, you’ll have the chance to study abroad there and experience a better life!"

As his words fell, many people’s faces turned strange.

One of the bolder children even raised their voice and said:

"I don’t want to go study in R Country!"

Lai Liang barely managed to keep his expression from completely collapsing.

In any other situation, he probably would have stormed off long ago.

But here, with several cameras pointed at him, Lai Liang didn’t even dare to show his temper. He could only cross his hands in front of him and force a dry laugh.

At first glance, he even looked a little pitiful.

Chang Mu, who had been trying to remain inconspicuous in the corner, could no longer sit still.

She shot Lai Liang a disdainful look before stepping out from the crowd and coaxing the children in a gentle voice:

"Children, we can’t be narrow-minded. We should be tolerant and open-minded. Teacher Lai worked so hard to get here, taking a plane for several hours from Sea City and then a long car ride. So, I hope you can all treat him kindly, okay?"

The children looked at each other, exchanging glances and silent messages.

Because of the incident with the sneakers a few days ago, despite a few hiccups, the children generally had a good impression of Chang Mu.

They’d accepted her sneakers, after all, so they should be grateful and not say anything mean.

And so, the children all quieted down.

At this moment, Chang Mu first spotted the inconspicuous Nan Zhi standing in the back row. Her hand involuntarily clenched into a fist, and she turned directly to Teacher Zhang.

"Principal Zhang, what do you think? Since we invited Teacher Lai here, shouldn’t we show him the proper way to treat a guest?"

Teacher Zhang reluctantly came forward and nodded, agreeing.

Then, she also said a few words to persuade the children.

Only then did the children’s initially hostile attitude soften slightly.

The children were innocent and simple, without much cunning.

The viewers in the livestream, however, were all adults. Having heard all sorts of verbal gymnastics, how could they not sense the shady business going on?

[This Lai guy’s arrogance is unbelievable. He just learned Japanese cooking; you’d think he was concocting an elixir of immortality the way he acts, like the whole world should be begging him!]

[Agreed. This chef has this subtle air of superiority. He’s just holding back because of the cameras. Does he really think us netizens are all blind?]

[Tsk tsk tsk, the "Miss" has finally spoken. Where are the people who were defending her earlier? What do you have to say for yourselves now?]

[I can’t believe it’s really her doing. I give up. This "Miss" hasn’t stopped causing trouble since the show started. It’s really killing my interest in watching the livestream!]

[Exactly! Before, I could just avoid her channel, but now she’s gone and started meddling with Sister Zhi’s cooking class! So she can just run rampant and do whatever she wants, huh?!]

[Are you guys just now noticing the strange hostility this "Miss" has toward Nan Zhi? I’m really curious what their backstory is...]

[What backstory could there be? Does a "Miss" need a reason to dislike someone?]

...

Most of the viewers in the livestream were hostile toward Miss Chang Mu and the newcomer, Lai Liang, using the bullet comments to mock and ridicule them.

However, not everyone would take Nan Zhi’s side.

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