Have you ever watched Masterchef? Well, welcome to the book version of International Masterchef with a twist of romance!
I seriously loved everything inside this novel. I was like, "Finally! A romance that doesn't make me want to puke! Hallelujah!" The slowburn romance is a breath of fresh air in this industry filled with instalove.
Although there are parts where I kind of doubt if it would actually be possible in real life, Jiao Tang Dong Gua has created a perfect balance between romance and making dreams come true. It's the kind of book where I would give anything to be adapted into the big/small screen.
The plot is interesting, a cooking story is definitely a new territory for me, so I was never bored. I feel like I might've looked like a goldfish while reading this lol, my mouth was always "whoaaa". The pace is perfect, not too fast and not too dragging either.
Best of all, the heroes and heroine, and even the villains, are not flat characters. They're not there just for the sake of the story. It feels like an actual happenstance in real life. I rarely find romance novels likeable, and this one definitely hit the spot. The kind of romance where the reader would go "I wish I had my own [hero] or [second male lead]!" YES! You'll get the second male lead syndrome here lmao. I kid you not, this really is Drama Series Worthy.
Favourite Lines from:
The Heartbeat at the Tip of the Tongue
by Jiao Tang Dong Gua
As expected, sweet dreams are like eating too much, you can force it down, but there won’t be a good ending.
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So Chu Ting, if you really like him, and feel that no matter how he treats you, you can bear with it. Why don’t you go to New York with him, study together, put down your pride and stick to him, not letting other girls get near him. Then, in the end he will be yours.”
That was Lin Ke Song’s sincere words from the heart.
And she really thinks that, in this world, there will definitely be this kind of girl, who’s not afraid of people looking down and saying it’s not worth it, but still being will to stick to Song Yi Ran, this guy who was like treasure with out but full of foulness within.
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Lin Ke Song’s heart wavered. Her goal wasn’t any championship, that far away dream has no meaning.
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Lin KE Song has never been the type to stubbornly refuse to admit the wrong judgements. The truth was right there, it wouldn’t change whether she admitted her wrong or not
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His hands have been cut by knives countless times. His wrists too have burn marks. What people see is his success and talent, no one has seen the price he has had to pay.
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A person, who wants to make a difference in an area, must first accept it, then love it. This is the start for everything.”
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Ke Song, when you choose a certain road, you know that you’d obviously meet some harm, but you can’t avoid, you can only face it.”
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So, Jiang Qian Fan was saying, this method of teaching was to let her be able to think for herself.
Bruce looked outstanding, but it was only doing all the things that his mentor had taught him to.
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If you only learn to make certain dishes, and you yourself are unable to think about why each step is done, you will forever know how to make those few dishes, and lack the ability to explore yourself.
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It’s not important whether it’s a loss or win, Ke Song. No one can use your one-time victory to critic my life. And no one can use your one time win or loss to define your talent. If you like the things that I make you do, then properly enjoy the process. It is only one activity that you enjoy doing.
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You learned to pursue perfection in failure
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It needs detailed observation and countless failures.
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I’m willing to try.”
“don’t try, but do it well.
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You’re funny, you obviously know that you can make it yourself, why would you let your wife torture your tongue?”
“this is the way my wife shows her love for me, even if it’s torture, I will gladly accept.
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Lin Ke Song moderated her breathing, no matter what she thinks about now, she can’t do anything about the critiques.
The only thing she can do, is to make the main dish even more perfect
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But she instead understood his unspoken words: no matter what I will help you, accompany you, even respect you wherever you wish to go.
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you won’t know this kind of worry that the person you like will drift from you the moment you say some things. As long as I properly endure, maybe I will always be able to stay at a place neither too far nor near him…… like someone is a very curious feeling. It can allow a person to face all kinds of trials bravely, and it can also make a coward of a person…… I am afraid that I may not be able to help it and just destroy the chemistry that we have between us, to the point that no matter the repairs there will be no way to get it back. Friends and lovers can stick together, but are of a world of difference. But to take that step…… takes not only courage, but drastic determination.”
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not being able to have drastic determination means you don’t like him enough. In the future, try liking someone that will make you brave
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A woman will be moved many times in her lifetime, watching the sunset and sunrise, looking at the sky, a novel, a movie are all able to move one to tears.
But to move from liking a person to loving that person, isn’t an easy thing
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Because you are very important to me, so you will not easily accept me. You are the type of girl that will be more careful the more you care about something. You are like that to Mr Song, and are like that to me too. You have never worried about rejection, but loss. Compared to swift cut people, you may be weak, but to me, it’s very cute. Because once you accumulate enough courage, and take that step, you will be more steadfast than those who are willing to love and hate
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Jiang Qian Fan said, she possessed an excellent sense of taste.
She chose to believe in the evaluation Jiang Qian Fan had of her, she decided to believe in herself.
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anyone who wants to climb over people, are more tragic than normal people when they fall.
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I will go, but not now.”
“Sir?”
“wait till she feels that my presence is motivation, and not pressure.
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Every industry is a battlefield, there are no friends forever, and the opponent will not disappear
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Then why do you care about what they think? Adding together all the people present here, are they more important to you than me?
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They will only say that you are very independent, and there’ll probably be some people who will admire you secretly. After all, among all the women here, you are the only one who has the courage to show what you really look like
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I’ve never tried to understand someone so carefully. If you can, please also feel for me seriously…
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Even though there may not be enough time, at least he would have a chance to win, it’s only that he didn’t even try
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She understood Jiang Qian Fan, the words on his lips, and the words of his heart had always been the same.
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“I will not marry Chu Ting. I have always wanted to prove my reason for being in the Song Family, and to prove this, I have sacrificed so much. But my wedding…… is out of the question
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He could have a following with money and treated life as a game, but at the end of the ends, he had never forgotten to return to her side, accompany her to eat at the street food stalls, visit the markets, watch movies, do the most common things.
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She suddenly realised, he had done all the things that boyfriends did for their girlfriends, apart from kissing.
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I didn’t wish for your happiness to be used to prove the meaning of your existence
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There was never anything that they couldn’t talk about between Song Yi Ran and herself. She had never wished to keep any secret from him. It was like so before, it is so now, and it will be so in the future.
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Both his hand clutched the steering wheel tightly, slightly lowering his head, hot tears drip dropped, and slid down, unable to dry, leaving dots of imprints.
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If you knew obviously what he wanted to really say to you, and are still indifferent, it is not you. I only want you to understand this, your ‘today onwards’ is in my hands
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He never thought of making her onto another person or even changing her past, he accepted the original her.
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Because I can lose to my brother, and can lose to anyone. But in front of her, there’s no win or loss. I knew that it wasn’t the right time to say the words I wanted to say then. I would have given her a burden. And she wouldn’t have been soft-hearted just because of the past 10 years because I understand how she thinks better than anyone.
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A story with no twists or turns is merely a fairy-tale. You should just regard that man who stole the woman you cherished like those twists and turns.
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Do you know the reason why I can reach the place I am now
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It’s because I know how to endure.
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Don’t take advantage of a man’s jealousy
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You really don’t want to win against him?” Iris raised her voice and asked.
“Of course I do. However, what can hiding in the shadows and winning against him prove? Chef Quentin, you already know that you can’t have him back, so you want to hurt him to make yourself feel better. But it won’t make you feel better
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And after participating in the competition, I’m planning to leave part of it to your father if there is award money. But what have you done for him? If you like Song Yi Ran and want him to like you too, then rather than troubling me, you should be trying to make yourself better and become a person worthy of being liked by him.
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This was him. Instead of hiding her, he would rather bear the pressure of the world with her.
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Because, you have always been my strength.
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Just because she doesn’t win the competition, would it mean she won’t be my partner anymore?
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They didn’t hold hands and watch those romance movies, nor did he buy any expensive jewellery and dress her up like a Christmas tree. The words passed between them both was also not many. However, every sentence that he spoke, everything that he did, would always cause her heart to jump.
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during the time when she was on the rollercoaster and it had abruptly dropped, Lin Ke Song suddenly realised that understanding the art of cooking not only required one to have a balanced taste, they also had to have that kind of surprise which could break open the restrictions on people’s taste buds.
Just like how he had suddenly appeared in her life.
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Before mocking other people, take a couple of looks at yourself
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This isn’t gratitude, it’s understanding. If you want others to understand the good part of you and love you sincerely, then you must treat others with sincerity. Not every one of your efforts will be rewarded, and you won’t be able to get what you want each time. Once you accept this, then you will really have grown up
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If this competition was that wild roller coaster, Jiang Qian Fan would always be her object of reference even if the heavens and earth were reversed
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All the ingredients have to be prepared meticulously, and precision takes time.
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You must know, it is more difficult to mentor another than to do it yourself
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“if you’d acknowledged yourself, you wouldn’t need to say these words to me.
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Child, the best way to know yourself is to understand your opponent, measure the standard of your opponent, and see whether you stand in front or behind them, not from the critic of others, but according to your own standards
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Of course Viktor will go farther. But i don’t know about Ke Song, what plans do you have for the future? Did Mr Jiang plan for your future? Or was your performance today beyond expectations and burnt out like shooting stars?”
Of course Lin Ke Song could read between the lines of Jessica Quentin’s words. She thought that Lin Ke Song’s future won’t go as far as Viktor’s.
“Thank you for your concern. I will walk my own path, and have no need for another’s plan.
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“Is it that no matter who threatens you, no matter what failure you go through, and no matter what other people say to you, you will stay by my side?”
“Yes.” Lin Ke Song answered with certainty.
“Then, you are not my weakness. Losing you will instead be my weakness.”
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She understood him. This man is not bothered by fame or fortune, and doesn’t mind failures or success,
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But when Jiang Qian Fan used a spoon to dip into the sauce that he created, and Lin Ke SOng automatically moved her face to taste, that chemistry feeling let the judges who were watching through the glass smile
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There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand readers.
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I believe you have loved another before, even if they are far from you, you will do your best to get close. Even if the person they are looking at is not you, you will not be able to resist constantly looking at them. Even if you know that all your efforts may not be reciprocated, you still want to be by their side and moving forward beside them. This is like falling into wine that carries a sweet taste, you’re obviously going to get so drunk that you forget who you are, but you still aren’t willing to be sober.
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He would forever not know what kind of gaze she used to look at him, all the hopes and anticipation she had towards him was like a drop of rum in the sugar sauce, never able to take back, never to separate.
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Maybe you’ll feel that you’re quite lucky, and understand that you have higher talent than others. However, everything from today is just a grain of sand. It is not enough to understand the world from a grain of sand simply by relying on your talent.”
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Read the novel synopsis on NovelUpdates
Start reading the English translation on DistractedChinese
HAPPY READING!
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