Last time on New Yorkers in China, Dez was competing against Chuck in a cooking competition in Kunming, and Chuck was just the second frenemy that the New York Traveling Group was looking for. However, Chuck used some low methods to win the second round and tied the score. Lelle was seeking for revenge after finding out the truth.
All caught up? Good! Now get ready for Chapter 25!
Chuck rubbed the face that just got slapped, then said without any attention, "Hey, are you the famous Captain Lelle Sheldon from Toronto FM 96.7? Such a pleasure having you, here, have a seat inside."
Lelle pointed at Chuck after coming in, like interrogating a prisoner, "Alright, Chuck. Before I get right down to business, I want to ask you one question, is your face okay? I'm so sorry if I slapped you hard just a second ago." Chuck nodded, turned around and poured Lelle a glass of water. "Anyway, I saw your cooking showdown with Dez today. And I know how you won."
"What, what do you mean? I don't understand."
"Don't bother deny it, I know all your tricks. You sneaked under Dez's table when he was making the fourth dish. Then, you used the gloves covered in cricket slimes and played it around with the egg whites in Dez's third dish. This is why Mrs. Kipling, the seven-foot long water monitor would think that was crickets, right? You're a fraud! Okay, I just want to put some dirty words in there, but I have always being kind to people for the last eighteen years."
Chuck put the glass of water on the side, "So, are you accusing me for cheating? Then show me the evidence!"
Lelle grabbed the cricket smell glove and put it in front of Chuck, "The glove says it all. There are still some leftover egg whites on the ground downstairs, you can take a sniff for yourself, then come back and explain to me the reason behind all this."
The smile on Chuck's face suddenly disappeared, he thought: this guy is a tough one. However, he had no idea about Lelle's true identity, so then he asked, "Well, Brown. May I ask you why do you care so much about this?" He stood up, circulating the table.
"You may recognize a friend that came with me this time, Jessie Prescott, does this name sound familiar to you?"
Chuck stopped, "Oh, you're with the New York Traveling Group that the girl talked about. Very well, go tell them, I'll win the next round. And there is no way that you can get the bamboo stamp from me! You hear me? I never lose!"
"Okay, but under one condition." Lelle put that pair of gloves back in his pocket, "You can't cheat on tomorrow's disgusting cuisine showdown, go fight with Dez fair and square. Or else, I'm giving this pair of gloves to the judges, and you'll lose for sure."
"Whatever you say, Brown. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll show you to the door."
Lelle opened the door, asked again before departing Chuck's room, "By the way, is that what you're calling me from now on? Because I can dye me hair now at that shop at the front if I feel like it. But lucky for you, I like to keep my hair natural. I'll see you tomorrow, remember, no tricks."
Back in the Team Austin's room, Dez was still bummed about today's loss. "Dez, we're all really sorry for your lost today. But the most important thing now is to think how to deal with tomorrow's round, and turn this upside down in the disgusting cuisine." Austin was Dez's best friend, now what he could do was only cheering him up and praying tomorrow would go well at the same time.
"Yeah, you know, if we let Chuck just win like that, we won't be so well either." Zuri was also on her toes on the side, "This world is complicated, shame on you, Mrs. Kipling."
Luke suddenly came up with a brilliant plan after realizing tomorrow's topic was disgusting cuisine, "Hey, if tomorrow's theme is disgusting. We can make Bertram to help Dez win. For the record, no one could even dare to touch his food, and it ends up in the trash every single time. He's probably the worst chef in America."
Bertram showed disagreement and refuted, "I know you're all complaining about my food, but I got the first dip of those once they're out in perfection. It's not disgusting at all. If that's in anyway disgusting, it must be you guys are too picky."
Luke pulled out the camera, "Here's the security footage from home 24/7, and I can prove it to you that I'm not the only one who complains about your cooking." Then he rewind the footage, in an attempt of finding the moment when everyone criticizing Bertram's cooking.
October 21, 2011, Bertram got hit with Luke in the paintball competition in the park. Bertram, now covered in duck feathers, walked home with disappointment, Jessie laughed out loud. "If you'll excuse me, I'm off to clean up before dinner. We're having salmon." After Bertram was done, he turned around, about to leave.
Luke whined on the back, "Ugh, I hate salmon."
"I know!" Bertram continued to his room, as an attempt of letting Luke feel bad on purpose.
After Bertram was far, Jessie also started, "Great. When Bertram cooks angry, no one wins. I still haven't passed that marble that somehow 'wound up' in my mashed potatoes."
"Wait, you were disgusting food behind my back?" Bertram asked surprisingly. "On my defense, when I made that mashed potatoes, I lost my mind and somehow put my priceless bracelet in there. And, if you find the other marbles, can you give it to me anytime soon? That worth at least two thousand dollars."
Luke was silent and turned to the next video.
On the morning of June 20, 2013, kids were sitting in the kitchen, waiting for breakfast. Bertram was holding a few plates from the operating table. "Presenting my special caviar omelet with gruyere cheese a la Bertram." He excitedly placed the plates in front of the kids, "Voila!"
But the kids were still on their phones and tablets, not even bother to raise their heads.
Bertram's smile suddenly disappeared. He put his hand on the wrist and said bitterly, "Tomorrow I'm just heating up frozen waffles." The kids cheered at once.
"Okay, seems like you guys really do have complaints about my cooking, but the professionals like us only have one goal, if they think their food has done to perfection, then they are the best chefs in their hearts." Bertram was still looking for excuses, wanting to persuade everyone he was not the worst chef ever.
"Oh, yeah? Then where's your lobster bisque?" Luke laughed.
June 7, 2013, Bertram was back furiously from the cooking competition, holding a pot of lobster bisque that he put a day in making in his hand. He walked to the sink and emptied the whole pot in the matter of seconds.
"That's odd. Usually, we do that with his food." Luke exclaimed on the side.
Bertram was now finally speechless, "Okay, no matter how good or bad my cooking is. I agree to train Dez tonight to be the winner of the cooking competition tomorrow!" Everyone was cheering upon hearing that.
Lelle was back from Chuck's place, he opened the door and found everyone was laughing, "What's up, you guys seem happy. Did you come up a way to defeat Chuck tomorrow?"
"Yeah, and you just missed the best part." Luke turned around and announced proudly, "I only used three video footage from the home security camera to convince Bertram to be Dez's coach. With Bertram's help, we will nail the disgusting cuisine tomorrow!" Luke was filled with hope when it came to Bertram and Dez working together.
"Oh, yeah? I really hope that could work out, because Chuck here is a toughie." Lelle sat down and explained to everyone the fact that Chuck used the cricket gloves to mess around Dez's cuisine. Everyone was shocked. "But I let Chuck made his promise, and he can't cheat tomorrow anymore."
Dez pat on his legs, "How can you guys trust Chuck? Obviously, he will pull a trick on me tomorrow on the competition." Everyone nodded.
"Well, this is why we need to be more careful. Know your opponent, and we'll be ready. We need to do a lot of preparation tonight to ensure we can face anything smoothly tomorrow, no matter what trick Chuck will pull." Lelle cheered everyone up and asked Bertram, "Bertram, have you decided on a dish for Dez tomorrow? It better be something that even you'll feel disgusted by that."
Bertram was hesitating, "Well… I have no idea for something disgusting, but, I can teach Dez something I'm most proud of. The lobster bisque that almost beat everyone out of the competition. Now it's also my chance to see if this bisque is really prize-worthy. But," He turned to Luke and Ravi, "You have to promise to not add crickets into the soup again." Luke and Ravi nodded quickly, and everyone burst into laughter.
And there were something that they did not know, Chuck put a micro hearing tracker inside his cricket glove, so he heard the conversation of the travellers in the highest quality possible.
At night, Chuck snuck into Dez's cooking area, grabbed two giant lobsters and put a poisoned sting on them. He thought, Dez would be paralyzed from the head down, and there was no way that he could finish this on time.
It's just one cliffhanger after another! Chapter 26 will be updated just before Christmas (I know it sounds like a long time, but it's not). See you then! :)