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Chapter 571: Cogwheels (6)

He thought Michael was originally the type of man who might be more interested in non-cooking areas. Maybe he liked physics more than cooking, but anyhow, he was purely concerned with cooking in this competition.

In fact, it was hard to keep one’s pure heart while one was living in this selfish world. How many were there who could keep their pure hearts when they were constantly exposed to something corrupt?

Joseph praised Michael for a long time. Other people looked at the two nervously. It was partly because their dishes for his evaluation were getting cold, and partly because his reaction to Michael’s dish was better than they thought.

‘Well, I’ve got to watch him...’

Hugo looked at Michael sharply. The fact that he received the attention of the judges from the beginning showed that he was a competent chef.

And he became more convinced when he heard Min-joon saying next.

“As you know, I predicted one thing during Grand Chef Season 3. Back then when I was asked who was going to be the winner, I mentioned Kaya.”

As he said, he was the only person who recognized Kaya’s worth right from the start and predicted she would be the winner. Nobody could predict the winner in the preliminary rounds at that time, but he got it right. So, the participants in this season were quite curious about who he would pick as the likely winner.

Min-joon did not ignore their curiosity.

“Let me vote for you. I think you’re the most likely winner, Prof. Ohr.”

“What?”

It was Michael Ohr who was most surprised by Min-joon’s words. As he repeatedly said, he attended this competition to make good memories. In fact, it would be more embarrassing for him to win this competition. He was thinking of going back to campus by the end of the next semester. As he said before, he had never thought of opening a restaurant.

“Why do you think so?”

“Because you understand cooking best.”

Min-joon, a former teacher, answered the professor’s stupid question kindly.

Min-joon said, “I understand that the way you understand cooking is a little different from that of ordinary people, but that doesn’t change the fact that you know the basic mechanics of cooking. You have a solid understanding of cooking, so you have a great potential for cooking better. That’s why I think you can win this competition.”

“Oh my God... I don’t know what to say.”

“I don’t want to comment about your cooking because Kaya and Joseph have already made lots of comments. Your dish was simple, but at the same time, it was not simple. When people just thought that cooking was simple, you analyzed that simplicity and cooked in your own way. I think it’s great you have made the difference. Thank you for your hard work. Please go back to your seat.”

Michael returned to his seat with an unusual expression on his face, as if he was delighted and surprised. The participants applauded and bit their lips, watching him. They felt even frustrated that the man they acclaimed was not an ordinary man, but a Harvard University professor. So much so that they felt the world was so unfair to ordinary men like them.

Because of this, they had no choice but to refresh their determination to beat Michael. They were here to win, not lose. Regardless of how high the possibility of their winning was, they were determined to win. And the most compelling clue to their possibility of winning was the person that Joseph called next. Of course, Joseph might call that person because of his or her unique background like Francesca, but the thing was that the next person received the special attention of the judges including Joseph.

The person Joseph called next was Gwen Quinn.

“Did you call me?”

The participants looked at Gwen all of a sudden. And their reaction was rather unusual because they felt sorry for her rather than feeling envy.

With a bewildered expression, she took the plate and stepped forward to the judges. Since she was used to losing, she just felt awkward when she was called ahead of other participants.

“Is there any reason you called me?”

She asked the judges because she definitely wanted to double-check that maybe she was called because of her sad story. Or she was called because of her cooking skills. Anyway, she didn’t want to keep wondering why she was called before other competent participants.

Joseph replied, “Oh, because I’m curious about your cuisine.”

“Why are you curious?”

Joseph grinned at her. He might frown at her if she was a typical chef, rebuking her for the wrong question. But Joseph could sense her hidden desperateness behind the question.

He could see how easily this young and weak-hearted woman would be shaken by his simple words.

So Joseph answered, “You’re a charming chef. I think it’s not just your story, but the way you look at cooking is interesting. So I’m looking forward to it. I just hope your dish can live up to my expectations.”

“Oh, I see. Thank you.”

Gwen nodded with a nervous expression. Watching Joseph, Min-joon thought again that he was so nice as to be considerate of her limits in this situation.

‘But I can’t do it like him.’

Min-joon couldn’t be as nice to her as Joseph, for he knew well that just praise and consideration would not do any good to her.

Who would take responsibility if the donkey fell off the cliff when somebody just hung a carrot in front of her head without showing her the right way? Even if it wasn’t necessary to whip the donkey, somebody had to at least guide her the right way.

So Min-joon thought he had to be bad to be a good coach. Just like the proverb, ‘Kill your enemy with kindness,’ Min-joon had to confront Gwen’s ego to help her. Of course, he didn’t mean to downplay her with baseless criticism or point out her weakness alone.

But he felt that he did need to be a little harsh to her because Joseph and the previous judges just praised her and gave her good feedback. But he felt that he didn’t have to cheer for her with praise only.

‘I don’t know what made her commit suicide, but...’

If she really committed suicide because she was so frustrated that she couldn’t win in the final rounds, he thought he had to change her mindset from now on. He wanted to tell her that winning didn’t mean much and that it was more precious to make further progress than before.

Of course, he couldn’t give her such advice all of a sudden in this situation. He needed to do it subtly, cautiously, and prudently, so she could be persuaded from the bottom of her heart. That was all he could do for her because he thought it was the right thing. Even if she could not control her mind despite his heartfelt advice, she would have to be responsible for all her actions.

He didn’t have to take responsibility for what would happen after that. After all, she was to take care of her life. How could he say anything when she was determined to make the foolish choice to take her life?

The dish Gwen made was a mackerel dish that was marinated in a seasoning made from a mixture of sauces, dried properly, then grilled as it was fried in oil. There was nothing special about it, so it looked better because of that. The shearing marks made on the flesh or skin by the sizzling oil looked appetizing to anyone, and its smell was also very stimulating.

It was Joseph who started trying it first.

He swallowed the mackerel and immediately nodded.

“It’s delicious.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, this is the kind of mackerel dish that you can enjoy at a pretty decent restaurant in your neighborhood. At least for a dish like this, I think it’s well worth the money. If there’s one thing I want to point out, I can’t fully enjoy the real flavor of the mackerel because of too much seasoning. So this is going to make some people either like it or dislike it.”

Joseph didn’t evaluate her dish for long because he knew Min-joon and Kaya were waiting behind him to try her dish. Kaya first lifted the fork, followed by Min-joon. As if they promised to do so in advance, the two commented, groaning at the same time, “This sauce is very special.”

“It’s a versatile sauce that I often use when I grill meat and things like that at home. I just mixed the spices and sauces I had at home, and it was really good.”

Unlike what Joseph said before, there was no fishy smell at all in her dish because the grilled mackerel was fully seasoned with A1 sauce, as well as the sauce made with pineapple, soy sauce, vinegar, and crushed peppercorns.

‘Yeah, I can’t smell any scent of mackerel at all.’