Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 149: The Tree Desires Calm but the Wind Does Not Cease

Chapter 149: Chapter 149: The Tree Desires Calm but the Wind Does Not Cease

It was nearing evening when he returned from Far Moon.

The setting sun vanished into the cluster of buildings to the west, coating the old shopping street’s buildings with a layer of golden sunset, casting a more serene atmosphere.

Since using food to drive Miss Feng Zhixi off last time, this "real estate queen" hadn’t come bothering him for a long time. Xia Yu, coming out of Ueno Station, entered the shopping street, but stopped in front of a seafood store that was closing down.

Almost all the furniture and decorations in the store had been moved out, and three or four cleaners were sweeping up.

"Uncle Gu Cheng!"

Xia Yu called out to a middle-aged man in a hurry with a trustworthy face, asking in surprise, "Is the seafood store being renovated?"

This middle-aged man, named Kuchiyama, shook his head and said, "I’m leaving the shopping street."

"Leaving?" Xia Yu frowned.

Kuchiyama’s seafood store had been open for nearly ten years, had gathered enough connections, and had always been diligent, making good business—there was no reason to shut down and leave.

Moreover, Kuchiyama’s family had just had a new baby a few months ago. At this phase in life, a man should be striving for stability, not closing down a successful seafood store to pursue another trade. Xia Yu immediately realized that the crisis in the shopping street was not yet over.

"Yu, focus on your studies." Kuchiyama hesitated to speak, and finally, his words turned into a sigh of resignation as he patted his shoulder and turned to hand over documents to a few young men in black suits.

"City Life Planning Company?"

Thinking of that real estate queen, Xia Yu’s heart chilled. He briskly walked back to the shop and found a business card left by Feng Zhixi a while ago, then made a call.

After several attempts, the call was finally connected.

"Hello?" came a tired female voice, puzzled.

"Miss Feng Zhixi, do you remember me? From Xia’s Chinese Cuisine in the old Ueno shopping street..."

"It’s you!"

Before he could finish, the person on the other end said with a bit of surprise, "What, have you changed your mind? I’m telling you, that area is great for development, and I assure you that my plans will be profitable for everyone."

"I’ve said before, Xia’s shop will always be here," Xia Yu stated firmly.

"Then why are you calling my private number? Do you need something?" she asked calmly, instantly switching her tone like a true professional.

"Are you still pursuing your plans? Many old shops here in our shopping street have been bought out..."

"The plan is certainly not on hold... Wait! What are you talking about?!"

Feng Zhixi, taken aback, spoke in a slightly agitated tone, "Last time I came, I stopped the acquisitions. Are you sure that recently there have been several shops in the shopping street being bought out?"

Her tone didn’t sound feigned. Xia Yu felt a clench in his heart, realizing what was happening.

They had competitors interfering!

"Yes!" he said somberly.

"I, I need to investigate this. Wait for my news, I’ll be quick!" Feng Zhixi hurriedly ended the call.

Sigh.

Xia Yu stood in the doorway, watching the increasingly desolate old shopping street, feeling that this was not a solution.

The shopping street had to undergo changes, but completely tearing it down and rebuilding it was akin to destroying its cultural atmosphere. Without fashionable malls or elegantly decorated Western restaurants, fewer and fewer young people visited, leaving the pedestrians on the street mostly elderly, inevitably giving off an impression of lacking vitality and being stubbornly conservative.

If it weren’t for Xia’s shop recently attracting many young people, this shopping street would indeed resemble an old man slowly advancing into his twilight years, clinging to that last bit of afterglow, quietly being phased out by modern life.

Xia’s shop, rooted in the shopping street, could not isolate itself, which was why Xia Yu felt a great sense of crisis.

Consider, if nothing was done, and the surrounding shops were all bought up by some real estate company, leaving only Xia’s shop, would his resistance still have meaning?

Even if he became the most stubborn holdout, surrounded by construction sites and skyscrapers, just imagining that scenario filled Xia Yu with a sense of powerlessness.

With one hour left before opening, by coincidence, today was Saturday, and also the first day the shop fully transitioned to a reservation system. Last night, Xia Yu had sent the menu information to An Yilun to update on the website’s backend.

From six to seven, seven to eight, eight to nine, and so on until midnight, all six dining slots were fully booked.

The website’s backend displayed the number of meal orders. This planning and arrangement meant that Xia’s shop was transitioning toward a refined and detailed custom service, moving away from the lax management of accepting however many customers showed up during the spring break.

There was no helping it, Xia Yu loved money too, as nobody complains about earning too much. But with only him as the chef, he couldn’t handle the influx, and his VIP venue plan hadn’t yet been implemented. The next phase’s focus was on developing a VIP area and promoting VIP customers.

He had also figured out that selling "glowing dishes" was a highly profitable business, with even the simplest "Fried Qingjiang Vegetable" starting at 100,000 yen, ideal for hosting wealthy and influential clients and siphoning some money from the elite.

...

As dusk gradually fell, the lanterns outside Xia’s shop quietly lit up.

One by one, the guests, either alone or in pairs, arrived with laughter and chatter, sitting down to dine in the shop.

Across from Xia’s shop, a second-hand toy store that had been bought out had several black silhouettes appear in a second-floor window.

"Team leader, the information on that Chinese restaurant has been compiled."

Someone handed a dossier to a blond youth.

After briefly flipping through it, the blond youth casually tossed the folder onto the ground by his feet. "It’s all generic information. I asked you to investigate the background of the homeowner, any results?"

"That old guy named Xia Qing is from Sichuan on the Chinese Continent. We don’t have many intelligence personnel available there."

"The Chinese Continent, huh? No wonder!" The blond youth’s eyes showed wariness, not to mention the massive dark organization still operating there, or the Heavenly King who had been ruling the culinary world on the Chinese mainland for nearly thirty years, making it hard for their organization to penetrate that ancient and mysterious land.

"What should we do!"

A person in black urgently said, "The organization wants us to buy up this area within a month and put it under our real estate company’s name to disguise our operations."

"Let’s observe for a couple of days," the blond youth said.

Meanwhile, at the IGO Neon headquarters building.

In the top-floor office.

Shinohara Shigetaro had gathered Reiko Lina and Aoki Motota, pointing to the documents on the table.

"Take a look. The IGO headquarters sent these documents to us, advising us to watch out for the recent activities of the Gourmet Association, as they seem to be gathering forces to stir up trouble in our Neon homeland."

Aoki Monota grimaced fiercely. "Here they come!"

The Gourmet Association was the arch-rival of the IGO international culinary organization, and both organizations had been entangled since their inception.

IGO was recognized by countless chefs worldwide, while, under the radar, another organization, the Gourmet Association, was also validated by a group of Dark Chefs.

However, both IGO and the Gourmet Association had difficulty penetrating the Chinese Land.