Chapter 254: Culinary Chaos and Political Schemes

“Over in Long Kingdom? What’s happening?”

Park Qi Ye and Cui Xiaozhong frowned in unison.

“President, we’re getting word that there may be changes to the traditional cuisine showcase at the Mingsha City sub-venue in Long Kingdom,”

a staff member hurriedly relayed the news.

“What? Changes!”

Bang! In the next moment, Park Qi Ye jumped up in shock.

He had poured tremendous effort into preparing for this traditional cuisine showcase. Now, with plans suddenly altered, how could he possibly remain calm? All that hard work—was it for nothing?

“So what exactly are they planning to do over there?”

Beside him, Cui Xiaozhong asked in a worried low tone.

“They haven’t determined the exact presentation yet,”

the staff member replied quietly.

“Alright, got it!”

After a moment, a composed Park Qi Ye waved his hand to dismiss the staff member.

“President, what now?”

Once the office door closed again, Cui Xiaozhong couldn’t help but look to Park Qi Ye.

“Hang on, don’t panic! I’ll make a call and find out,”

Park Qi Ye said after a brief moment of thought. He grabbed his phone and approached the full-length window, dialing a number.

Beep, beep, beep… After a short wait, the call was answered.

“Chairman Chen, hello!”

Park Qi Ye spoke, surprisingly fluent in the Long Kingdom dialect.

“Chairman Park, hello!”

In the next moment, a middle-aged man’s voice came through the phone.

“Chairman Park, what’s the deal with the cuisine showcase at the Long Kingdom sub-venue?”

Without beating around the bush, Park Qi Ye got straight to the point.

“Chairman Park, here’s the situation. This afternoon, the sub-venue announced that the cuisine showcase is not in the originally designated area but in a newly built section.”

“So they’re just changing the display area?”

Park Qi Ye pressed for details.

“Not at all! Mingsha City never follows the rules. If they dare to shift the area, it means the earlier news was just a smoke screen—a ploy by an insider in Mingsha City to mislead everyone.”

At the mere mention of Mingsha City, Chairman Chen’s tone grew bitter, as if he had long held a grudge against the city.

“They’re spreading false news for show?”

Because the phone was on speaker, both Park Qi Ye and Cui Xiaozhong were stunned once again.

“Yes, exactly. I suggest you try to revise your cuisine showcase plans,”

the middle-aged man continued.

“What? Replace everything? Chairman Chen, although we did base our menu on Long Kingdom’s street food, we’ve also infused our own touches. Do you really mean scrap it all?”

Coming to his senses,

Park Qi Ye quickly interjected after hearing the suggestion.

He hadn’t considered completely overhauling the plan. Doing so would imply that H Country was entirely giving up on the cuisine showcase.

“Sigh, Chairman Park, you don’t understand! Something is stirring up trouble in Long Kingdom.”

After a pause, the man’s voice returned.

“Stirring trouble?”

“Yes, there’s the Director Association in Long Kingdom! They’ve had a long-running feud with Mingsha City, especially ever since the Long Kingdom Film Festival incident—they became arch-enemies.

One of my friends inside the Director Association informed me that they’re planning to expose fatal flaws in Long Kingdom’s traditional cuisine during the Cultural Expo. Just imagine—if Mingsha City ends up showcasing these dishes, who will suffer the fallout? It would definitely hit you hard!

After all, even if minor tweaks are made, the essence remains unchanged,”

the man explained his reasoning.

“What? Flaws? What kind of flaws?”

Park Qi Ye was left dumbfounded once more.

He hadn’t expected a wildcard to emerge halfway through. Even worse, this troublesome element might eventually backfire and harm H Country.

“It seems to be related to food safety—risks of cancer and so on. If these issues go public, traditional cuisine will be met with global skepticism. Frankly, it might even jeopardize your previous bid to list kimchi as a heritage!”

“Food safety concerns?”

Park Qi Ye felt a chill run down his spine as his face darkened.

He knew full well that if food safety issues broke out at the Cultural Expo, it would disgrace an entire nation. The Director Association’s tactics were truly despicable!

“Yes! So I recommend you adjust your plans. Even showcasing just the traditional cuisine of H Country would be better than sticking to the original proposal.

Of course, these are merely suggestions—you must decide for yourselves. Just remember, if something goes wrong, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“This…”

Silence fell between Park Qi Ye and Cui Xiaozhong once more.

“What about the Palace Festival?”

After a long pause,

Park Qi Ye subduedly asked again.

Clearly, he had already made up his mind. “As for the Palace Festival, based on the current leaks, it seems to be fine. After all, the Grand Fengchao Ceremony is regarded as the premier state ritual in Long Kingdom. It all hinges on who can put on the grander show in the end!”

“Oh, then that’s settled!”

Cui Xiaozhong exhaled in relief.

If they had to cancel even the Grand Fengchao Ceremony, it would have been unbearable.

“In any case, I think you should focus on the main venue for the Cultural Expo. The sub-venue is far more unpredictable—lest you risk losing out on the bigger picture.”

After a short moment,

the man added,

“Don’t worry. We’ve made extensive arrangements for the main venue. The first showcase alone will have them enjoying a hearty cup of tea,”

he assured confidently.

Snapping back to reality, Park Qi Ye immediately responded,

“Right!”

“By the way, Chairman Chen, can you teach that Director Association a lesson later? They’ve meddled where they shouldn’t, and if it weren’t for our cuisine showcase, their loss wouldn’t be so disgraceful.”

Park Qi Ye continued.

If we were to use only H Country’s traditional cuisine, the showcase would appear pitiful—perhaps featuring fewer than fifty dishes.

“Rest assured, there’s no need for us to intervene directly! In these matters, as soon as any hint of their involvement surfaces, Mingsha City will be the first to come after them,”

the man replied with unwavering certainty.

“Oh, that settles it!”

Unbeknownst to them, while H Country was busy cursing the Director Association for stirring up trouble, over in Jinlong Ancient City, General Niu was angrily cursing Mingsha City with the same three harsh words.

In recent days, both the state media and his team have been hyping up Jinlong Ancient City. Earlier that morning, they even leaked that a top-tier domestic pop star would appear at the opening ceremony of the main venue.

But as fate would have it, before the news could catch fire, all the buzz was upstaged by a timely announcement from a Lutai in Mingsha City. How could he not be furious!

The sub-venue was stealing the limelight from the main venue.

Anyone in his position would be beside themselves.

“General Niu, what should we do now? Unwittingly, Mingsha City has once again heightened the public and media’s expectations. Currently, netizens are obsessed with what kind of cuisine will be showcased at Lutai, why Mingsha City moved the ancient building exhibition to the Mingsha Academy North Campus, and what projects we’re set to display.”

On the other end,

Zhang Si, lounging back in his chair, massaged his temples with a mix of exasperation and relief.

Thankfully, they had managed to secure priority for the main venue, preventing the sub-venue from stealing the spotlight. Otherwise, Jinlong Ancient City would have been in real trouble.

“So, what’s our move?”

General Niu ran his hand through his hair.

To be honest, he was at a loss. You can’t force buzz—true attention comes naturally. The only solace was that when the expo officially opens, tourists and media from around the world will flock to Jinlong Ancient City instead of Mingsha City.

To foreigners, the main venue is what truly matters.

Besides, Long Kingdom TV is scheduled to broadcast live from Jinlong Ancient City.

“Got any brilliant ideas?”

Regaining his focus, General Niu looked towards Zhang Si.

“General Niu, I say if all else fails, we should appeal to the higher-ups. We can request that the schedules for some exhibits at Mingsha City be staggered with ours so that they don’t run concurrently!

That way, the public won’t see their showcase and will naturally focus on Jinlong Ancient City!

Especially after the opening ceremony, when our first act—an exhibition of ancient building weddings—is underway while they parade their so-called traditional cuisine, who would pay attention to them?”

After pondering for a long while, Zhang Si sat up straight.

Besides, he truly couldn’t think of any other plan. By this evening, the officials had already distributed schedules for both the main and sub-venues. After the opening ceremony, the main venue would feature five projects on the first day—traditional weddings, the Lantern Festival, and more—while the sub-venue would host one traditional cuisine showcase.

On the second day, Jinlong Ancient City would have five projects, with Mingsha City presenting ancient building exhibits! On the third day, corresponding with New Year’s Day, Mingsha City would host the Palace Festival. And so on!

In total, the expo would run for five days.

However, while these are the arrangements, there was no specific timing for the projects. Mingsha City’s events could very well coincide with those at Jinlong Ancient City.

“Staggered scheduling? You mean if we’re exhibiting, they shouldn’t be?”

General Niu’s expression shifted noticeably.

“Yeah. Yan City TV has already announced that their team will livestream the sub-venue. I’m really worried that if events overlap, it will hurt us. So, let’s just set that troublemaker aside. Once we get our share of attention, let them do whatever they want!”

Zhang Si added,

“That should work. It’ll make the hierarchy clear, and Long Kingdom TV won’t have to keep switching shots—preserving the integrity of our showcase.”

After a short pause,

General Niu nodded and promptly picked up his phone.

Days flew by—now it was December 29th, 8 AM. Only exactly twenty-four hours remained until the Cultural Expo officially kicked off.

At this moment,

Mingsha City was already packed to the rafters. Its hustle and bustle outshone even the Tourism Festival and the Ancient Building Forum. Besides tourists, scores of short-video streamers had also arrived in Mingsha City!

Ever since Mingsha City announced the new showcase area and set up directional signs, there had been no further updates or additional information.

Thus,

public curiosity only grew. They were desperate to know what kind of cuisine would be featured at Lutai, what secrets the Mingsha Academy North Campus held, and what lay atop Langya Mountain’s mysterious high platform.

PS: Many thanks to the arrogant little mustache, the swift reader, and all the brothers for the generous rewards, subscriptions, and monthly support. Lao Ba is truly grateful!

Thank you, brothers! There will be two more chapters tonight.