Chapter 583: Between Envy and Disappointment (7)
Chapter 583: Between Envy and Disappointment (7)
Minjoon and Kaya sighed again, falling into silence, unsure of what to do.
I don’t want to eliminate anyone here.
Minjoon had intended to use this competition to hone his skills, but at this moment, that barely mattered. This was a team mission where he had to eliminate someone who looked up to him. For him, the competition was a chance for self-development, but for the participants, it was often a life-changing turning point. He didn’t want to cause them any resentment.
The system’s notification window frequently popped into his mind, but he paid it little mind. Such reminders were common when he was cooking. If he focused on them constantly, maintaining any semblance of a normal life would be impossible.
[Your mastery of kitchen leadership is increasing!]
He missed seeing that message.
It wasn’t until the next day, as he reviewed recipes with participants and gave a lecture on full-course preparation, that the system’s notification appeared before his eyes again. This time, he read it fully.
[The average cooking skills of the chefs you are leading are far lower than yours!]
[It is more difficult to sweeten an unripe fruit than a ripe one. You are now understanding the fundamentals of kitchen leadership!]
[Your qualifications as a head chef have risen even further!]
What?
He paused. He hadn’t expected this. Was it really because the average skill of his team was so low? This wasn’t his first time leading a team—in the recent Grand Chef competition, hadn’t he done the same?
But now, he realised things were different. Many restrictions bound his team members, meaning he had to lead them as best he could.
It was inevitably harder to carry someone from the first floor up to the tenth than from the ninth to the tenth. Minjoon was trying to lift five guys from the lower floors up to where he stood.
Still, he pushed aside such idle thoughts—now was not the time for that. That could wait. Now, he had to nurture the small fledglings before him. He needed to invest time in them, not himself.
The next day, he finally mastered the most important quality as head chef.
His kitchen leadership improved dramatically. When he looked back, it had been close to 90%, but now it hit 98% without his noticing.
Wow, a bit embarrassing!
On the day the team mission began, Minjoon was lost in thought. He never expected to make up his kitchen leadership deficit like this.
Does this mean I can help not only good chefs but also those less competent?
That wasn’t how typical Rose Island chefs thought, especially not Rachel or June, based on his experiences working with them.
Rose Island accepted only the best. They didn’t take ordinary candidates or interns. Even Justin, a chef candidate, was already a good cook.
Only those with potential, ability, passion, and merit joined Rose Island. Only then could they endure the head chef’s coaching and nagging.
But how about Minjoon’s current team?
He looked at them—Gwen, Peter, Ken, Vlad, and Queenie. Even with generous judgment, they were far behind Rose Island chefs. Gwen’s cooking level was higher than most Rose Island cooks, but that wasn’t enough.
Cooking level isn’t everything.
No matter how well one plucked guitar strings, a guitarist who didn’t know many songs or how to play with others was half-baked.
Rose Island chefs knew what they needed to know. These rookies here did not.
And Minjoon was leading these clueless beginners.
This was something new to him. It was difficult but meaningful.
I’ve been trying to be too perfect until now.
He admitted it, knowing he could produce nothing worthwhile if he wasn’t perfect. That was Rose Island’s atmosphere—perfect kitchens, perfect dishes. They created perfect dishes before they knew it, yet missed everything imperfect while focusing on perfection.
Maybe this is the solution to Rachel’s problem.
He frowned, distressed at the thought of Rachel. It wasn’t hatred or burden—her problem was hers alone. Only when they found the solution together could he smile feeling at ease about her.
That was why he wanted to solve her homework, so he could stop worrying.
He had thought about it all night. How could he make the best use of these rookies? He couldn’t expect perfect dishes—so what was the most beautiful way to express imperfect cuisine?
His answer wasn’t satisfying.
The competition process was simple. Each team cooked in turn. Since it was a full course, this was necessary to prevent dishes from going cold. As viewers couldn’t taste the food, teams could cook simultaneously, letting judges sample dishes one by one—a method used before to reduce production costs.
But Minjoon and Kaya imposed a condition to serve as judges: even if production costs rose, the system should allow them to experience as much of the participants’ true flavours as possible.
They found it a pity that cold dishes prevented tasting the original essence. It was only fair to the participants.
Thus, Minjoon was first to lead his team.
“Cheer up!” Kaya said, a teasing smile tugging at her lips.
She clearly wanted to tease rather than sincerely encourage him. He didn’t mind and looked at his team.
They’d given their all during the past days.
“All you have to do now is put the finishing touches. You’ve done well these three days. I hope none of you have any regrets. You understand me?”
The team members nodded solemnly.
He went to the kitchen table and folded his arms, surveying them slowly.
Given the three days of cooking, it would have been better if they’d prepared soup in advance—but the competition rules were too strict to allow it.
That made the mission difficult. Cooking would last two more hours. The judges would start tasting 30 minutes after cooking began. They had to finish serving within two hours. Within that time, they had to organise cooking order and estimate judges’ eating speed. This would be tough without Minjoon’s help.
Well, it’s not that hard.
They left it entirely to him. The judges hadn’t worried initially—after all, they were professional chefs. Kaya, though embarrassed because she’d never run a restaurant like this, would overcome the challenge easily.