After divorcing my celebrity wife, I became the world's richest person

The scene quickly became crowded, and even people from the auction street followed suit.

Qin Mingxue, like a little fan girl, brought a stool over to sit beside, resting her chin in her hands, staring intently at Chen Yu.

Zhou Pinghu might not have been seen for thirty years, but his culinary skills have never fallen behind.

His techniques were so lifelike, probably unmatched by many of the master-level figures today.

Before long, enticing aromas began wafting from his stall.

Only then did Chen Yu start to make his move. His hands were moving more than twice as fast as Zhou Pinghu's.

The crowd of onlookers could only see the afterimages of his hands.

"Wow, Mr. Chen's techniques are really magical!"

"Mr. Chen can actually cook too, I always thought he was just an appraiser."

"Oh my god, a man who can make money and cook is just too perfect."

...

The crowd of spectators immediately boiled over with excitement, and some even wanted to push forward to see what exactly Chen Yu was doing.

Qin Mingxue's heart was racing, her pretty face as red as blood.

It wasn't long before the desserts of the two competitors were finished almost at the same time.

When presented, the rich fragrance instantly filled the entire underground market.

After arranging his plate, Chen Yu walked directly over to Zhou Pinghu holding the dish.

"Old Master Zhou, this is a dessert I have modified based on the one you made originally. Please have a taste and see if I have made any mistakes," Chen Yu said.

Zhou Pinghu's eyes widened in surprise; he hadn't expected Chen Yu to invite him to taste the dessert first after making it.

In culinary competitions, there is an unwritten rule that chefs are not supposed to taste each other's food.

Especially in Chen Yu's case, asking one's own rival to judge their food was a serious breach of etiquette.

If Zhou Pinghu were to harbor any bias, he could simply finish the dessert, declare it unpalatable, and Chen Yu would be at a loss.

Zhou Pinghu took a deep breath, then brought his own dessert over to Chen Yu.

After trying each other's creations, Zhou Pinghu's body began to shake violently.

"This is impossible. My recipe was the best in the world. What method did you use? How could you balance the flavors to this extent?" he exclaimed.

Zhou Pinghu never imagined that the unique recipe he had created had so much room for improvement.

Chen Yu smiled slightly and moved a chair over to sit down beside Zhou Pinghu.

"Old Master, if I'm not mistaken, you must have been used as a pawn!" Chen Yu said.

Zhou Pinghu suddenly looked up, "What do you mean?"

Chen Yu took out a top-tier chef's certificate from his person and laid it on the table.

"The person who invited you here should be Fang Zhanbo. He claimed that this place violated food safety regulations and wanted you to come sort things out," explained Chen Yu.
Experience tales at empire

Zhou Pinghu was taken aback; those were the exact words Fang Zhanbo had said to him in private, and Chen Yu had managed to repeat them word for word.

Moreover, the top-tier chef certificate on the table sent shockwaves through Zhou Pinghu. He had never dreamed that Chen Yu at such a young age could achieve such a feat.

Although he had won the championship at the World Culinary Competition with that dessert, he was just an advanced chef back then and had not reached the top-tier level.

Chen Yu's achievements truly made him envious.

"What I hate most in my life are those who add all sorts of nonsensical things to food. However, this time I was indeed rash. That Fang fellow dared to play me for a fool," Zhou Pinghu acknowledged.

With a long sigh, Zhou Pinghu took out a cookbook from his person.

"Although I have been living in seclusion all these years, my cooking skills have not fallen behind. This is a cookbook I compiled myself, and I have always been looking for a successor. It seems that you are the most suitable one!"

Chen Yu was somewhat surprised; he had not expected Zhou Pinghu to give him something so important.

A cookbook, especially one painstakingly compiled, is the lifeblood of every chef.

Giving it away clearly involved a great deal of inner struggle.

Chen Yu did not refuse and reached out with both hands to take it.

"In that case, I would be disrespectful to refuse."

Zhou Pinghu patted Chen Yu on the shoulder, then turned and left, apparently heading to settle accounts with Fang Zhanbo.

The people present all came up to Chen Yu, showering him with words of admiration.

Chen Yu was spoken to the point of embarrassment.

Just then, Zhang Hu and Li Qiang squeezed through the crowd and hurried over.

"Mr. Chen, something has happened!"

Chen Yu's brow furrowed without delay, and he quickly followed the two to the plaza near the marketplace.

The vast square was piled with a large number of old objects, and a robust middle-aged man was standing there as well.

His face was full of flesh, staring intently at the old objects laid out there.

"Mr. Chen, it's this guy here. We ran into him on the road, but he claims that the old objects we loaded onto the vehicle were pre-ordered by him and demanded that we hand them all over to him."

Chen Yu was briefly stunned. Apart from Zhang Hu and Li Qiang, it was unlikely that anyone from the outside knew about the existence of the town, nor could they have taken the objects out of it.

It was clear that this man was trying to rob them outright.

Chen Yu was about to go over and argue with this man when Qin Mingxue suddenly ran out.

"Wang Daming! What's the matter with you? Why are you causing trouble here again? How many of my clients have you driven away, don't you have any idea?"

Wang Daming laughed heartily, "Qin, this place of yours has never been quite proper to begin with. I am here to completely take it down!"

Qin Mingxue was beside herself with anger.

This underground market was a legacy passed down to her from the older generation.

When she first took over, out of respect for the old Qin family, many people from the underworld would patronize the business.

But as time went on, malice began to emerge.

Leaving aside individuals like Fang Zhanbo who came every so often to court and cause trouble, many others deliberately sought to cause disturbances, coming up with various reasons to create chaos here.

Wang Daming was one of them.

The Wang family and the Qin family were old friends, and this underground market was jointly managed by both families.

But later, the Wang family reneged and went their separate way, leaving the Qin family to run it alone.

A few years later, when the Wang family went bankrupt, they wanted to return and share in the profits of the underground market.

The Qin family could not possibly agree to such an impudent request.

Wang Daming then began to cause trouble here from time to time, sometimes even more than twenty times a month.

Although Qin Mingxue always had a strategy to cope, anyone would become annoyed over time.

"Wang Daming, I am giving you a chance to leave immediately! Otherwise, don't blame me for not considering the past relationship between the Wang family and the Qin family!"