The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

55 Handsome Contestants

Time slowly trickled by. The new host, E Cheng Jun, went down the small staircase in front of the stage and walked to the rows of kitchen blocks to ask a few of the contestants questions.

While the opening had been live broadcasted, this part was only accompanied by the cameramen of the Channel that was hosting the show. They had been filming all the time, trying to get some beautiful shots of the contestants and how they were making dishes, as well as the two judges on top of the stage and the employees that were standing in the common areas and wandering through the rows of kitchen blocks.

Just that would not be enough to fill the first episode though. In the final product, there should be some people introduced and the atmosphere needed to be shown. Whether somebody messed up because they were too anxious or whether somebody who was incredibly calm actually managed to make it through, the more they could capture, the better! That way, the first episode would be more interesting to watch and the viewer rate would be higher. A good, first episode was the best advertisement for a show. And while the cooking was important, the people and their relationships were what made a truly excellent show.

E Cheng Jun didn't think too much. Right now, there was still no way to know which contestants would make it past the casting. Thus, just getting some random opinions was enough. If a person looked interesting, that was enough of a reason to ask a couple of questions.

She walked over to the closest cooking blocks. Since those who registered the earliest were put closer to the stage with subsequent applicants being spread out to either side, those blocks happened to be the ones that the ninjas of the Si clan were occupying.

E Cheng Jun glanced at Si Jin and couldn't help but stare for a second. Si Jin was a handsome man despite or maybe especially because of his cold expression. That really set off his facial contours. Unfortunately, it also made him look very unapproachable.

E Cheng Jun finally turned to the next person which happened to be Si Yi. She walked the last few steps, smiled at him, and then raised the microphone while glancing at the cutting board in front of him. "Hello, there! I see you are right in the middle of preparing your dish. Would you mind telling us what you are making today?" She extended the microphone, making Si Yi look up.

"Right now, I'm making rice cakes for a rice cake soup."

E Cheng Jun raised her brows, a little surprised. That was basically making a dish to make another dish. This was quite ambitious for the casting. It seemed she had chosen the first person wisely. "Ah, that sounds lovely. May I ask if you have a background in cooking?"

While the contestants weren't allowed to be professional chefs, that didn't mean that people couldn't have some kind of background that included cooking. After all, there were other jobs that might require you to know how to do it as well. Just think of how caregivers would often prepare meals for their patients or how a small event planner agency might take care of the catering themselves.

Si Yi slightly shook his head while he continued to cut the prepared dough and then shape it. "I do not. I am a personal assistant. Cooking was never part of my set of tasks. The person I work for has a chef for that."

E Cheng Jun was quite interested in hearing that. In any case, he looked like he was doing pretty well so that suggested that there might be some backstory. "Oh? That sounds like you might've had the chance to ask for some tips."

Si Yi nodded straightforwardly. Si Shi Qi had mentioned beforehand that they should cooperate as much as possible with the host and other judges. The more of a show they made, the longer they would be shown in the final episode, pushing out the other contestants. After all, the program was supposed to be interesting. It should entertain its viewers, instead of seriously educating them on how to cook. Sure, there would be some tips on what could be done and some recipes would be shared, but that wasn't the main value of the show. So it was best to make themselves look like they would add value to the show to capture the eyes of the team.