New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 96: THEY WOULD PROBABLY EXPLODE

Chapter 96: THEY WOULD PROBABLY EXPLODE

Days passed and soon, it was the day of the long awaited event. The culinary test and examination was going to be held on this day.

Aristia had already spread, through Dahlia and Dorothy, the information that the event would be held today. They had also provided time. The people were told that the event would start by seven in the morning.

Her father had cancelled all her classes as per her request. There was also no training with the Captain. Aristia got dressed very early and went with Owen and Adeline to the venue.

First, they picked up Dahlia and Dorothy and then, they headed to Broughton Hall. They arrived at thirty minutes before the assigned time.

Aristia had told the sisters to prepare and come out early because she knew that there would be a crowd. They had to beat the crowd and be there before they could arrive.

Everything had already been prepared and arranged, the utensils for the examination and the ingredients to be used included.

The hall was very big and wide. Cooking stations had been arranged for each participant. There were about fifty of them, each arranged in a row of ten.

There was a seperate room in the building. A slightly long table was placed in the middle of the room and a row of seven chairs were placed behind it.

Aristia noticed that the plumpy woman they had first seen in Broughton Hall when she first came with her cousins we no where to be found.

[Good, because I don’t want to see her face.] She huffed.

She didn’t care where the woman was or anything. Such a woman bitchy even to children was not worth her attention.

Ten minutes later, the noodle shop couple arrived. They looked surprised to see the arrangement of the hall.

"I hope you haven’t forgotten the terms of the contract, Mister and Mrs Lambert ." Aristia reminded.

The couple’s name was Charles and Mary Lambert.

"Not at all." The couple replied.

During the week, Aristia had visited the couple with a contract. It was similar to the one she signed with Dahlia and Dorothy, but there were some differences. It also contained a clause of confidentially, but she hadn’t revealed her identity to them yet.

Aristia took the time to explain to all of them what they were expected to do.

It was remaining twenty minutes. About ten people had arrived outside Broughton Hall.

Aristia turned to them. "Mister and Mrs Lambert, Adeline, Owen, Dahlia and Dorothy. You will be acting as judges in the examination. Your job is to taste the dishes, and if it tastes good, the contestants qualify and pass." She explained.

She turned to Charles, "Mister Charles, you will act as the spokesperson. You will explain to the participants the rules of the examination and the requirements."

She continued, "Instruct the guards to supervise. I need them to monitor the candidates’ activities to make sure they do not go against the rules. Anyone who does not follow the rules will be disqualified. After you are done with your task Mr Lambert, return to this room to continue your role as a judge."

Charles and Mary Lambert exchanged glances and nodded, impressed. They were starting to think that the little girl could really be the owner of the restaurant.

But... It still seemed unbelievable. Perhaps all the things she said was instructed to her by her parents or whoever really owned the restaurant. But that left them with the question of who would instruct a child to take on such a role?

The couple glanced at Aristia as she continued to instruct the others. She wasn’t at all speaking like someone who was instructed to do so, and even if she had been instructed on what to say, to be able to pull it off perfectly was too commendable for a child her age.

It was time to allow the participants entrance to the hall. Charles left to instruct the guards to open the door while they took their seats.

***

In the hall.

Charles instructed the guards on what to do. After he was done, he ordered for the door to be opened.

There was quite a crowd gathered outside. Some were excited, some were apprehensive, and some were just curious. He selected one of the guards to instruct the people outside. He was a large, bulky man with a gruff voice.

The guard began to address the crowd. "Stand in a line. No pushing, fighting or struggling. Whoever does any of these will not be allowed to participate." He instructed, just as Charles had told.

The crowd murmured endlessly and queued up.

When Charles saw that the guard had gotten all the instructions, he went back into the hall.

The guard continued. "You may enter. Remember, no rushing."

One by one, the queued up crowd entered into the hall. The guard closed the door after the fiftieth person had entered. "Only fifty people will be allowed to enter."

The crowd began to mutter. Only fifty people would be allowed? They could have told them beforehand so that they could have quickly queued up previously so that they would be among the people that entered.

When the guard saw that the murmuring was increasing and the crowd was beginning to become hostile, he continued, "After the fifty people are finished, the next fifty will be allowed to enter."

After the crowd heard that, they calmed down a bit. There was a little bit of pushing and shoving among the contestants because they wanted to be among the next fifty. But the guard, along with four other guards charged with taking care of security, kept the crowd in order and made sure they didn’t get out of hand.

The gruff guard went forward. "This examination will be held for three days. Everyone will get a chance to participate. Each of you will be given numbers. Do not lose it. You will enter the hall according to your numbers." He handed out the number cards to each of the people lined up, starting from the fifty-first person. It would prevent the fights and struggles to be the first in line.

Meanwhile, back in the hall.

Charles was instructing the contestants.

"There are fifty stations. Each one of you will occupy a station. The stations contain the same ingredients and utensils. You have five minutes to prepare yourselves. While doing so, listen carefully to the rules of the examination; Do not touch the food as soon as the time elapses."

He paused for two seconds and continued, "No talking while preparing a dish. Wash hands before preparing a dish. Do not leave your stations unless absolutely necessary. Refrain from touching your hair, nose, ears or any other part of your body. Refrain from coughing or sneezing... Cleanliness must be highly maintained."

Those were Aristia’s words. Charles found she was very particular about cleanliness, especially when it came to her food.

By the time Charles was done stating the rules, three minutes had already passed, leaving the contestants with two minutes to prepare themselves. "You will not only be watched in the taste of the food, but also in speed, cleanness and ability to finish preparing the food before the time elapses. Failure to adhere to the rules will result in disqualification."

At Charles’ words, a nervous tension settled in the hall. Suddenly, everyone hoped not to make a mistake.

Charles told them the dishes to make. There were two dishes. Aristia chose the dishes that were common to the people.

"There are three rounds of this test. The first dish will be prepared during this first round, the second dish will be prepared tomorrow. You have twenty minutes to prepare the dish. You may now begin." Charles finished and returned to the judging room.

There were a total of fifteen guards. Five of them were outside and were charged with security so that the crowd would not get out of hand and no one would barge or sneak into the hall.

The other ten remained in the hall. They were charged with supervising the contestants to make sure they followed the rules. Two guards were assigned to a row. A guard would take over and recite the rules to the next batch of contestants when they entered in place of Charles.

There were five maids given the task of delivering the food to the judges. A total of twenty hired people.

The contestants got to work. The arrangement of the hall, the utensils, the amount of ingredients, the guards and servants and the mysterious judges they hadn’t seen, created in them a rush of nervousness, but also a desire to pass.

However, they were also curious. They had been given two dishes for the competition; one for the first round, and the other for the second.

But they heard there were three rounds. What dish would they prepare and why hadn’t they been told?

***

In the Judging room.

"Everything has been done as you ordered, Miss Aris." Mister Charles said as soon as he closed the door.

"Good. Thank you," Aristia nodded in satisfaction.

Charles headed towards the seats and sat down. Aristia was sat in the middle.

On her left was Adeline, Mrs Mary Lambert and Mister Charles Lambert. Seated on her right was Owen, Dorothy and Dahlia.

"How will we be able to eat all the food?" Mrs Lambert asked worriedly.

There were more than fifty persons preparing the dishes. How would they eat all of them? They couldn’t eat fifty, let alone eat the food prepared by all the contestants waiting. They would probably explode!