♂?，，

  Cao Hong on the stage quieted everyone down, then continued, "It seems that this first place is really hard to produce. How about this? We'll randomly select ten audience members to form an audience jury and have them vote to decide who will be in first place, okay?"

  "Go!"

  "Support!!!"

  "This is too good!!!!"

  ……

  The audience below seemed to have exploded, this is a fresh thing, the final champion actually needs to be selected by the audience, for a time, who wants to be the audience judge, everyone wants to know what kind of taste the three shops made in the third round of snacks, and why it also caused disagreement among the three judges.

  Ten spectators were immediately selected.

  Xiao Yu had Da Niu re-pull the noodles, and the soup and sauce were ready-made. They made ten servings of "extreme chicken noodle dish". The other two households also made ten servings of snacks and placed them on the workbench.

  These ten people turned around, ate with a smile on their faces, and returned to the judges' table.

  At this time, the three judges have gone to rest. Earlier, staff had prepared three transparent plastic voting boxes with the names of the three shops written on them. Each audience judge was given a small ping-pong ball, and when voting, they would put the ping-pong ball into the box of the shop they thought was first place.

  Voting has started.

  The first person to go on stage was a young man of about twenty years old, he carefully examined the ballot box in front of him and stuffed the ping-pong ball into one of the middle boxes.

  "Xiao Yu Spicy Sauce Noodle Shop gets one vote!" The hostess loudly announced the vote.

  Xiao Yu and the three others couldn't help but feel a thrill in their hearts.

  The second person on stage was an audience member in his fifties who cast his vote into the box at the far right.

  "Vote for Old Zhang's Cake Shop!"

  As the voting went on, without exception, younger audiences voted for Xiaoyu Laozihao Noodle Shop, while older audiences voted for Old Zhang's Cake Shop.

  The top nine audience voting is complete, Xiao Yu hot sauce noodle shop got 4 votes, Lao Zhang pastry shop also got 4 votes, while Tianlin Hot Pot City only got 1 vote.

  Liu Bao's face was even uglier than pig liver, he clearly knew that the first place was impossible for himself. The audience who voted for his store, he had seen before, was an employee of Huo Guo City.

  He had lost, and lost so thoroughly, that now he could only hope that the last voter would cast his ballot for Old Zhang's pastry shop, so that his bet with Little Knife would become a worthless scrap of paper, and he could continue to work here.

  The last audience member was a three or four year old little girl who walked onto the judges' platform led by her mother.

  Everyone also wants to know who this little girl will vote for.

  The little girl looked at the three transparent boxes for a moment, asked her mother a question, and then excitedly held up the ping-pong ball and ran forward.

  "Middle one! Middle one! Middle one......" Xiaoyu clearly heard the small knife beside him muttering in a low voice, as if reciting an incantation, and couldn't help but feel amused.

  Hundreds of eyes were staring at the little girl, wanting to see what choice she would make, and the scene suddenly became eerily quiet.

  "Whoosh~~~~~~~"

  The little girl apparently didn't notice the wire under her feet and tripped over it, falling to the ground and bursting into tears.

  The audience was in stitches, and such a tense moment was suddenly broken by this scene, the tension on site was also greatly relieved.

  The girl's mother quickly walked up and comforted the girl for a few words, and the little girl got up again. She was held by her mother all the way to the middle box, and put the ping-pong ball in her hand into the small hole on the box.

  "Xiao Yu Spicy Noodle Shop wins with one vote! The voting has ended, and Xiao Yu Spicy Noodle Shop is the winner!" The hostess announced the result with a hint of helplessness.

  "Great!" Xiaodao and Daniu both jumped up excitedly, and Xiao Yu's face was also filled with a joyful smile. They won, they won!

  The bosses of those restaurants also came forward one by one to congratulate, Xiaoyu knew that fellow villagers are enemies, and most of these bosses were jealous of him in their hearts, but they didn't hit people with smiling faces, and he responded to them one by one.

  Tianlin Hot Pot City was like a defeated rooster, everyone looked down and depressed. Liu Bao Cai carefully glanced at the gloomy-faced Yang boss beside him and said in a low voice, "Boss Yang, I didn't perform well this time, next time I'll definitely..."

  "Boss Yang raised his hand to stop him from continuing, "There's no next time, since we've already made a bet with that kid from the spicy noodle shop, we have to admit defeat and leave now."

  Liu Bao Cai was like being struck by five thunderbolts, stunned on the spot, and hated himself so much that he wanted to slap himself a hundred times. Since leaving the five-star hotel, it wasn't easy to find a job with a good salary, why did he have to go and make a bet with someone?! Now look what's happened, the job he just found is gone!

  Now that the top three have been announced, it's time for the awards ceremony.

  When he received the silk banner with "First Prize of Tianlin Road Food Street Food Competition" and a prize of 10,000 yuan from Director Li, Xiao Yu felt that today was really a double gain, as if in a dream.

  Director Li patted Xiaoyu's shoulder with appreciation and encouraged him, "Good boy, keep it up!"

  Xiao Yu suddenly thought of something and asked in a low voice, "Director Li, didn't you receive the traffic fee from Old Yang?"

  Director Li was taken aback, and laughed scoldingly, "Good kid, the news is indeed very timely. I'm a director after all, these 5,000 yuan are too little for me. If you give me 50,000 yuan, then maybe I'll consider it, hehe."

  Xiao Yu knew he was joking and just laughed it off.

  The biggest beneficiaries of this food competition are undoubtedly the Xiaoyu Spicy Noodle Shop and Old Zhang's Pastry Shop. The names of these two shops suddenly skyrocketed, with many people asking each other about their specific locations and looking for time to go and have a taste.

  Xiao Yu gave Xiao Dao and Da Niu a bonus of 1,000 yuan each. After returning, he also distributed 500 yuan to Zhou Xin, Tao Hong and Xiao Mei. In addition, he gave Lao Zhang a red envelope worth 1,000 yuan for the New Year. Everyone was delighted.

  Xiao Yu took out another 500 yuan from the remaining money and asked the store owner to go out for a meal, seeing off Zhou Xin and the others.

  This afternoon, Zhou Xin and Tao Hong are about to leave Shanghai to go home for the New Year. Xiao Yu not only helped them buy train tickets in advance but also gave them a two-week vacation, making the two girls feel grateful and speechless, wondering where to find such a good boss?

  After sending off Zhou Xin and the others, a few people returned to the store. From today on, Xiaoyu's store will also be closed for two weeks during the Spring Festival, taking a good rest and adjusting the existing varieties. The two new varieties that participated in the food competition will also appear on the menu after the festival.

  After returning from the train station, Da Niu has been in a low mood. Xiao Yu knows that this kid must be reluctant to part with Tao Hong, but their relationship is not yet at the level of discussing marriage and meeting each other's parents. So, when Tao Hong returned home, Da Niu did not follow her.

  "Big Niu, Tao Hong and the others have all gone home. How come you didn't go back for Chinese New Year?" Little Yu asked curiously as he entered Big Niu's room.

  Xiao Dao and Xiao Mei are indeed homeless, it's understandable to stay here for the New Year, but Da Niu has a home in Henan, why doesn't he go back?

  A hint of melancholy flashed across the eyes of Da Niu, "When I first left home, I vowed that if I didn't make something of myself, I would never go back. These few years since leaving haven't earned me much money, so I'm even more afraid to return. Moreover, going back would definitely cost money, and adding it all up wouldn't be a small amount either. It's better for me to send this money to them instead."

  "Big Brother, how many years have you been out?" asked Little Yu from beside him.

  The great cow counted on its hooves and said gloomily, "Six years."

  Xiao Yu fell silent, this big cow has been out for six years, doesn't he miss home?

  "Is there anyone else at home?"

  Talking about his family, Da Niu's eyes turned red. "At home, there is my grandfather, mother and younger sister. My father went to Shanxi to work in a private coal mine when I was young to earn money. He died in an accident in the mine, and the owner only gave my mother 5,000 yuan as condolence money. My mother and grandfather cultivated five acres of land, living frugally and raising me and my sister..."

  Xiao Yu quietly listened to Da Niu talking about his family situation, deeply feeling the difficulty of survival. However, compared to himself, Da Niu at least had a mom, grandfather, and little sister, but what about him? Where were his own relatives?

  This problem is really frustrating, on this day when people think of their loved ones during the holidays, Xiao Yu really wants to do something for Da Niu.

  "...I graduated from junior high school six years ago and went out to work, my sister was still in elementary school, now I guess she's already in high school? A while back, I wrote a letter home, telling Grandpa and Mom about my recent situation. Grandpa was very happy, told me to work hard, and had my sister write back to tell me that everything is fine at home now, they've changed the crops in the fields to medicinal herbs, the economic situation isn't as bad as it was in previous years, and I don't need to send money back home anymore, save the money so I can go back for the holidays."

  "My grandfather also said that when it's convenient, I should invite you to come home and sit for a while. Although there's nothing good to eat at home, the wild game from the mountains is something you can't find elsewhere..."

  Xiao Yu listened and suddenly had an idea, since he didn't have anything to do lately, he might as well accompany Da Niu back home to visit his family.

  Thinking of this, Xiao Yu thought for a moment and said to Da Niu, "Da Niu, how about this? Our store will not open during the spring season, I'm also on winter vacation. In Shanghai, except for my grandfather, there's no other relatives. Why don't we have dinner together with my grandfather and Xiaodao tomorrow night, and then I'll accompany them back home to celebrate the New Year on the first day? Don't worry, I'll take care of all the expenses along the way!"

  The big cow's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "That's great!"

  He immediately fell into a gloomy mood and continued, "But it would cost us a lot of money to go together, right? Besides, we can't even buy train tickets at this time!"

  "Don't worry about the money, didn't we just win 10,000 yuan in the competition? I still have 6,000 left here, which should be enough. Besides, tickets for New Year's Day shouldn't be that tight anymore. Let's go to the ticket office on Tianlin Road and ask first. If there aren't any, we'll think of another way. If all else fails, we can just buy standing tickets and head over. Shanghai to Henan isn't that far, what are two big guys like us afraid of?"

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  Next chapter update announcement - 7 o'clock tomorrow morning!

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