Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 150: Ghosts?

Chapter 150: Chapter 150: Ghosts?

Business proceeded as usual in the evening.

However, while busy in the kitchen, Xia Yu received a text message from Shinohara Shigetaro delaying the three-star rating assessment.

"The three-star rating assessment has been postponed, please await further notice."

Xia Yu didn’t really care about the constant delays in the three-star assessment; if it weren’t for the need for a corresponding chef’s certification for the restaurant rating, he wouldn’t bother with any culinary ratings at all.

What excited Xia Yu was that he had just received a system notification—the mission to upgrade to a two-star restaurant had finally been completed!

Summon character panel.

As expected, the reward of 10 Talent Points lay idle there; Xia Yu took a deep breath and allocated 5 Talent Points all at once to the "Bursting Flame" culinary skill.

Ding.

"System Notification: ’Bursting Flame’ (10) culinary skill has been upgraded to the highest level and cannot be further enhanced."

"System Notification: Top-tier Flame Skill Book has been unlocked, host can independently choose and purchase from the shop."

With the remaining 5 Talent Points, Xia Yu hesitated about whether to add them to "Fierce Bull Green Dragon Slash" or "Spice Inequality."

"Save them for now!"

A customer outside was calling for him, so Xia Yu, without further thought, went out to collect money and took the opportunity to send off the last table of guests. He then cleaned the shop front, and before he knew it, it was midnight.

"Clang—"

The old hanging clock in the shop struck the midnight hour.

While cleaning, Xia Yu often glanced back towards the door, outside of which the night was deep. A subtle sense of foreboding filled his heart. In recent days, many shops on the shopping street had been bought out and the owners had moved their families away, making the old shopping street even quieter at midnight.

Xia Yu placed a bucket of dirty water on the table, feeling inexplicably anxious; he turned around and half-closed the shop door.

"Eh?"

The time was probably twelve-thirty at night; under the distant streetlight, he could faintly make out a middle-aged man walking slowly.

Xia Yu saw him carrying a briefcase and walking unsteadily, clearly drunk and having missed the last train, doomed to linger in the streets like a ghost until morning.

Scanning the area, Xia Family’s shop seemed to have the brightest lights on the old shopping street. With half of the door open, the warm yellow light spilled onto the road, casting a long shadow of Xia Yu.

As the middle-aged man approached, Xia Yu noticed his sidelong glance and couldn’t help but wave and call out, "Hey, mister, would you like to come in and sit? We are open until four in the morning..."

As soon as he spoke, Xia Yu regretted it.

Because the middle-aged man’s gaze was not that of a drunken patron; it was cold and chilling.

The atmosphere turned suddenly ominous, and a chill ran down Xia Yu’s spine as he half-hid behind the door and forced a smile, "You can rest assured about the food—if you’re not satisfied, it’s free—"

The middle-aged man slowly turned his face towards him, and under the light cast by the lanterns, Xia Yu could clearly see his features, and then glancing at his shadow behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief and grumbled inwardly, "I thought so, just scaring myself with thoughts of ghosts and goblins!"

Then he welcomed the middle-aged man into Xia’s shop and pointed towards the menu.

"Please feel free to order whatever you like."

"...eat...eat...eat..."

"What did you say?" Xia Yu couldn’t make out his whisper and attempted to get closer.

"Stop—"

A loud shout suddenly echoed through the shop.

As promised, Ghost-faced Monk Aoki Motota arrived, but he stood at the door, staring intently at the middle-aged man beside Xia Yu.

Xia Yu was at the counter, facing forward, while Aoki Motota was behind the middle-aged man, offering a different perspective.

"No wonder I couldn’t find you these past few days!" Aoki Motota said in words that Xia Yu couldn’t understand, his expression solemn. "I only locked onto female targets, but I didn’t expect you to be attached to a male!"

"What the hell!" Xia Yu was utterly confused.

"...Eat... Eat... Hungry..." As the middle-aged man muttered, Xia Yu faintly heard the sound of water droplets hitting the ground. He couldn’t help but look over, noticing some sticky water marks behind the man’s heel.

Thud, thud, thud.

Xia Yu took two steps back, his breathing heavy.

"So you finally know you’re hungry? Wandering around outside for so long!"

Aoki Motota unhooked a pair of sharp kitchen knives hanging around his neck, his movements swift, as he walked towards Xia’s Kitchen. "I need to use your kitchen. By the way, do you still have ingredients today?"

"Yes."

"That’s good. Otherwise, I’d have to ask IGO’s logistics to send some over, and we might not have enough time. That would be dangerous for us all!" Aoki Motota’s stern expression eased slightly as he glanced at the barely composed Xia Yu. "Come help me out, help me take care of it and send it off. I’ll explain afterward—"

Without waiting for any response from Xia Yu, he went straight to the ingredient storage of Xia’s shop, took a quick look around, and inspected the meats in the freezer. "This should be enough..."

Next, Xia Yu was flabbergasted as Aoki Motota opened the freezer door, went back and forth several times, and single-handedly emptied the freezer; all the meat was gone in one sweep.

"These ingredients are for you to handle; the rest are mine!"

Aoki Motota pointed to a pile of chicken and duck, while on his side, there was a mix of fish, pork, and beef.

Xia Yu didn’t have time to ask more, grabbing a knife. "Should I chop them up?"

"Yes! Any other method would take too much time!" said Aoki Motota, using both hands to wield the sharp kitchen knives—one hand processing fish, the other chopping pork and beef.

He really was adept with both hands, moving in unison with incredible efficiency!

Aoki Motota was even quicker than Xia Yu, grabbing the largest pot in the kitchen and placing it on the stove.

Right.

The kitchen at Xia’s shop, after being refurbished, was almost like a Japanese open kitchen, except there was an additional layer of transparent glass over the counter to keep out the fumes. From within the kitchen, one could see the entire store, which is why Xia Yu kept his eyes on that middle-aged man while preparing the ingredients.

"A demon? Doesn’t look like one!"

From the front, the middle-aged man looked like a living human, well-featured, with a shadow.

"Mix soup?" Turning back to see Aoki Motota, the ’Ghost-faced Monk’ had already thrown various ingredients into the pot, and Xia Yu noticed he used a variety of seasonings and spices to create a large pot of broth.

Bursting flame stoves, the burners fully ignited, and steam started to rise within minutes.

"Kantou-nabe!" Xia Yu suddenly realized. This truly was the simplest and most convenient method to handle it, no wonder Aoki Motota had added kelp and bonito flakes earlier, simmering a Japanese-style broth.

Aoki Motota, methodical in his approach, first cooked the pork and beef, then blanched chicken and duck, and finally the fish.

Xia Yu watched, completely losing his appetite, feeling a twitch in his eye.

Cooking like this, won’t the flavors mix? At least by Xia Yu’s understanding of Kantou-nabe, the ingredients should be cooked separately in non-communicating compartments!

"Confused?"

Aoki Motota glanced over. "The secret is in my broth!"

He took a large stainless steel basin, scooped up much of the cooked food, and sprinkled some hot sauce on top before striding out of the kitchen with the basin.

From the preparation to the completion of cooking, it had only been half an hour.