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Chapter 358
Chapter 358
Chapter 358
The judges came closer as they carefully examined the vivid latte art in each of the cups.
Judging from the appearance, they all looked amazingly satisfying and delicious! They came in the forms of little hearts and cute leaves.
One of the cups then caught everyone's attention. It had six tiny hearts in the middle and a dozen smaller hearts on the outline. It was truly a very talented presentation.
Lola wrote down the contestant's number: No.16. The same contestant also had another cup, with a drawing of a cute little panda bear. She fell for it straightaway.
After Lola carefully examined every cup, she then started to taste them.
Contestant No.16's cups won her heart both in terms of presentation and taste.
Each judge had now made up their mind and decided their scores. The second part of the competition now followed.
Now, the challenge was brewing. It mainly examined the taste created by each contestant's brewing skills.
The contestants were allowed to use their own coffee beans for the brewing; in top competitions like this one, they were supposed to only use Geisha beans.
Many contestants would spend tens of thousands only on practicing with Geisha beans for the contest; it was quite difficult to win the challenge.
This section was not Lucas' s strong point. Based on his financial status, he did not have the chance to practice with the expensive coffee beans. Right now, he could only rely on his own experience and skills.
He looked very concentrated on the stage. The way he measured the water temperature and bean quantity was very professional. Deep down inside her, Lola thought highly of him.
Harry noticed that Lola had been watching Lucas since the very beginning, and he was not very pleased by the fact. He now had made up his mind that he would definitely not vote for Lucas.
Lucas was still indulged in his own work, and little did he know that he had already unintentionally crossed Harry.
The third section of the match was the final one. The challenge consisted of brewing the original flavor.
Nothing else was supposed to be added to the coffee. The judges were looking for a unique and authentic taste of only pure coffee beans.
The taste needed to be smooth and rich, perfect.
If the contestant did not manage to bring the authentic flavor out of the beans, the cup would end up being bitter and unappealing to taste.
Fifteen minutes later, all the contestants had to stop. All of the freshly ground coffee beans were brought forward to the judges.
Contestant No. 10 was a guy that came from Germany, who had spent over a decade on studying coffee beans. The coffee he made brought smiles on the judges' faces. They could not stop praising his excellent work.
After tasting all of the freshly ground coffee beans, the judges returned to their seats. They exchanged opinions with each other, and Lola had similar thoughts with those of the Italian judge that sat next to her.
Harry felt slightly annoyed as Lola was trying so hard to support Contestant No. 16, the big boy whom in his eyes was not even a fully-grown man.
Five minutes later, all the judges had cast their votes. Lola saw what Harry wrote on his board and was not pleased by it at all.
She pinched him hard on his arm underneath the table. In this way, she successfully forced him to write number 16 instead of number 10.
Lola then nodded her head with satisfaction. She could not be impartial, because deep down inside her, she wished that Lucas would win the competition. His coffee was, indeed, very inviting.
Lucas, on the other hand, did not fail her with his extraordinary skills. If he did a bad job on the stage, she certainly would not have voted for him.
The result of the competition was published pretty soon. Contestants No. 10 and No. 16 both ranked first place, while Contestant No. 23 from England ranked second.
Therefore, an extra game was called for to settle the tie between the two. Contestant No. 10 and No. 16 were required to make a cappuccino on the spot.
At 11 o'clock sharp, several cappuccinos were brought for the judges.
They tasted them carefully one by one and then carefully decided their votes.
Eventually, contestant No. 16 won the competition with four votes, and he was given the title of Coffee Master by the judges.
The audience warmly applauded him as he stood on the champion's podium, waiting to receive the award from Harry.
Harry cast a cold glance at the young man in front him, whose face was feverish because of the excitement. Harry couldn't understand why he was so anxious.
However, he said nothing, and simply handed him the golden cup and a check for one hundred thousand dollars. "Thank you, Boss Lewis. Please send my regards to Lola for me." As they were shaking hands, Lucas whispered to Harry.
He had known that the SL Group was the main sponsor of the competition and to his surprise, Lola was also one of the presiding judges.
He was quite confident that Lola would vote for him! Lucas felt grateful to Lola, and he saw her sitting not far from him, smiling friendly.
Harry slightly stiffed his shoulders, and he replied with a cold voice, "Keep up the good work!"
Lucas had long heard of Harry's indifferent personality. Today, as he finally met up with him in person, he could confirm that the rumor was indeed true: Harry was as cold as an iceberg.
Harry moved on as he gave the other awards to the second and third winners; they received shiny cups and lucrative checks.
The other contestants, despite not winning the competition, were all each given a cash award of ten thousand dollars each for their sincere participation. Everyone present there felt happy and rewarded.
At half past 11, the competition ended successfully.
Lola walked up to Lucas with a big smile on her face, and said, "Lucas, well done! You are indeed a very promising boy to win the title of coffee master at such young age!" She then happily pat him on the shoulder.
Lucas's face turned red because he was shy of her praise. He was already 23, and he wasn't a boy anymore. He quickly explained to her, "I really enjoy making coffee. To be honest, that's my only hobby. I don't like doing anything else." He had long dreamed of becoming a barista since junior high school, and he had also spent some time during high school learning from a local barista.
However, because of the heavy schedule he had at school, he had to quit learning making coffee. It was only after he went to university, that he had more spare time to study the trade in more detail.
Lola thought for a second, and then asked, "Where do you work at the moment?" She once had heard from Wendy that Lucas was supposed to receive further education upon finishing the university but, however, he had declined her proposal, as he wanted to start working as soon as possible.
Harry was done talking with other judges, and as he turned around, he was not very pleased to see Lola talking to Lucas so close and intimately. He then quickly paced to them.
Lucas was now working in an average local cafe in Ascea, but the owner of the cafe underestimated his talents and only let him do minor tasks and chores.
Lola cursed the owner in her heart because she hated to see such good talents like Lucas had go to waste. The owner of the cafe must've been blind!
"Come and work for me in LN cafe, I'll give you a high salary to start with!"
Lucas was joyfully surprised at her words. He had heard from his sister that Lola had a cafe shop under her name.
But he did not want to bother Lola about a job because he knew that she already had enough trouble on her mind.
It was indeed a big surprise for him that Lola would officially ask him to work for her. He was really thrilled at the idea.
"How much are you going to pay him every year?" A cold male voice then abruptly cut in their conversation.
Lola had not thought the question through. She simply answered: "I am thinking of two hundred thousand!" If her business boomed, she would also certainly give him a raise the following year.
Harry stood next to them with both hands in his pockets. He examined the excited look on the young man's face, and he sternly added, "You'll have an annual salary of half a million. I'll hire you to stay and work in Uthana from now on."
...
Lucas was overwhelmed by his offer. Did he hear him correctly? Annual salary... Half a million...
His classmates, who had started working the same time as him, ware barely earning this much. The best was making somewhere between eight thousand and twelve thousand a month. Harry offered him an annual salary of five hundred thousand; it was almost like earning fifty thousand a month!
Fifty thousand... Lucas felt like he was in a splendid dream!
Lola was also overwhelmed whens he heard Harry's words. She furiously stared at him, and snapped, "Harry, what is wrong with you?" Why was he always trying to steal all of the talented staff in her hands?
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