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Lin Yuan deftly sliced off the essence of an entire chicken, then directed Gao Xuan and Sun Qian to place those pieces of chicken into the small bird nests.

After looking at the whole chicken arranged in the large bird nest, Lin Yuan carefully considered and then still used a knife to thinly slice four pieces of meat from the rib area of the chicken.

Once the chicken slices were ready, she used chopsticks to meticulously place those four slices back to their original positions, making the whole chicken appear as if it had never been cut.

Such swift and perfect knife skills immediately drew praises from Sun Qian and Gao Xuan.

The chefs in Dong Tian all knew Lin Yuan was skillful, but they did not expect her knife skills to be so incredibly masterful; clearly, this girl had put in a lot of effort when she first learned cooking.

Hearing the heartfelt praises from Sun Qian and Gao Xuan, Lin Yuan couldn’t help but curve her lips, recalling her days as a beginner in cooking where she first practiced her knife skills, effortlessly slicing cucumbers into dragons as a routine task.

In order to perfectly cut a cucumber dragon, she once spent three months practicing with a knife in the courtyard, regardless of rain or shine.

After all the procedures were completed, Lin Yuan looked at the neatly arranged large and small plates on the cutting board and felt as if something was missing.

She blinked her eyes, and her gaze landed on the large box used for storing vegetables, where many fresh flowers grown by Liu Siliang in the greenhouse were also placed beside it.

Seeing these brightly colored flowers, Lin Yuan felt as though she had discovered a new continent, her big watery eyes brimming with joyous light.

She dashed to the side of the big box, picking out various brightly colored and intact petals.

Although she didn’t recognize many flowers by name, since they were brought by Liu Siliang, they must be non-toxic and edible.

While Gao Xuan and another were busy placing chicken slices into the small bird nests, Lin Yuan’s sudden frenzied behavior startled them. Seeing her return holding many fresh flowers as preciously as gold, they exchanged confused glances.

What is Boss trying to do?

Not only were these two puzzled, but people sitting below were also curiously watching her.

Lao Fan was so excited that he almost stood up from his stool, mumbling incessantly, "This girl really gets me! She must be planning to make me a dessert!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Can, Zhuang Kangping, and Lu Chong, who had been staring at Lao Fan thinking he might have some insights, nearly fell off their stools.

Zhuang Kangping even cried out that he had been fooled: "You old geezer, after so many years, how come you’re so full of yourself!"

While everyone was chatting animatedly, they were shocked to see Lin Yuan suddenly bending over and deeply exhaling onto the bird nests of various sizes placed on the cutting board!

Whoosh!

The different colored petals she held were picked up by the breeze, fluttering down, and landing on the slightly sticky threads of the bird nests.

The natural fall of the petals, like cherry and peach blossom petals blown down by a spring breeze, looked enchanting, naturally appealing, and very pretty.

The originally monotone colors, after such decoration, immediately became brightly vibrant.

Yet that wasn’t all, Lin Yuan also took several tender green sprigs of vegetables from another cutting board and placed them near the bird nests for decoration, making the plates burst with red, green, yellow, and white hues, adding an unusual beauty.

Looking at the colorful gourd chicken in front of her, Lin Yuan finally understood why the Imperial Chef in the palace made meals in such beautiful and vivid colors—to make anyone looking at them feel a great appetite!

Food should have color, fragrance, and taste, and now with color and fragrance already there, the taste needs to match for the dish to surely score high points.

Lin Yuan confidently curved her lips, observing Master Niu and others across, also busy plating.

Unlike her expectations, instead of steaming or stir-frying, Master Niu made steamed eggs with white scallops.

Since scallops inherently have a distinct ocean flavor, pairing them with steamed eggs...

Lin Yuan shook her head, even if Master Niu decided to use sesame oil to enhance the flavor, it was unlikely that many people would enjoy this dish.

Glancing at Lao Fan on the judges’ panel, Lin Yuan gently shook her head.

Master Niu was probably trying to cater to the taste of his own master and fellow disciples but didn’t expect Lao Fan to be present today.

Lao Fan, being someone with a strong taste preference, this dish would surely not meet his satisfaction.