Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 221 - 220: Humanized System

Chapter 221: Chapter 220: Humanized System

Unlocking the ingredients and getting them for free permanently?

Xia Yu was not too happy, as free ingredients were mostly for practice. If used for making food in batches to entertain guests, there were numerous unexplainable loopholes in the supply chain.

Besides, ’Pitch Black Rice’ had already been massively cultivated by the IGO in the polar regions, and being available for purchase indicated a stable supply channel.

For regular ingredients, that was fine, but ’Pitch Black Rice’ was a fantasy ingredient. Extensive usage would inevitably arouse IGO’s suspicion, and when the investigation team from IGO headquarters arrived, even Shinohara Shigetaro might not be able to protect him.

In some aspects, such as monopolizing ingredients, the IGO was no more righteous than the ’Gourmet Guild.’

"System, can rewards be exchanged?" Xia Yu asked in a negotiating tone.

The system didn’t respond, and just when Xia Yu was about to give up, a row of data suddenly popped up on the retina:

"Reward 1: ’Pitch Black Rice’ unlock and permanently free."

"Reward 2: ’Pitch Black Rice’ unlock, and gain 10 Talent Points."

"Reward 3: ’Pitch Black Rice’ unlock,[Seven Star Blade·Wenqu](Purple)."

After a glance, even though the 10 Talent Points were tempting, Xia Yu chose the third reward without hesitation.

[Seven Star Blade·Wenqu]!

As a chef with a penchant for collecting, he had to gather all seven components of the Seven Stars Knife. Then, he would custom-make a leather strap to hang all seven knives and carry them around, accompanying him on various Food Battle Stages. Wouldn’t that be quite impressive?

Cough, cough, getting carried away, Xia Yu temporarily put away his fantasies.

"Tomorrow is the small quiz at Chiyoda Shrine!"

Resting his chin on his hand, he stopped in the corridor. Although he had decided on the menu, Xia Yu was still cautiously mulling over the details.

"Buzz buzz"

The phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

Xia Yu took out his phone and, with a strange expression, took the elevator to the underground level.

The two-day-old underground kitchen for Food Battles had its door wide open.

He knocked on the door, but no one responded. Inside the kitchen, there was a blonde girl busying herself, looking very focused; it seemed she hadn’t heard the knock.

He tiptoed over.

The blonde girl was, of course, Tiqie Helinai, with steamers piled beside the kitchen table, filled with failed works.

After observing for a few moments, Xia Yu couldn’t help but smile.

Tiqie Helinai was making ’Flame Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage’ and ’Dragon Ascension Dumpling,’ seemingly wanting to master both recipes, a bit greedy and fickle, resulting in neither being more than just a facade.

She was clumsily carving shrimp heads.

Speaking of delicate knife skills, Xia Yu dared say he could match those famous chefs, and as for Helinai, well, it was embarrassing. Without training, her carving knife skills seemed "clumsy" to Xia Yu, far too inefficient for making Dragon Ascension Dumplings in bulk to entertain guests.

"Give it to me——"

He interrupted out loud.

Tiqie Helinai was startled to find someone there, and before she could react, the carving knife in her hand was snatched away.

"Watch carefully, learn well!"

Xia Yu said casually, picking up a shrimp head, the knife tip gently outlining on the shrimp shell. It seemed as if he only used one stroke, but a pair of lively eyes appeared on the shrimp shell.

Originally, Tiqie Helinai was full of anger, but witnessing this scene, she couldn’t help covering her mouth.

Light and graceful!

Effortless!

The carving knife in Xia Yu’s hand made the situation instantly different.

In just two or three seconds, Xia Yu processed a shrimp head, "Look, see."

He handed the shrimp head to Helinai, and she held the masterpiece in her hands, dumbfounded.

"How can this be!" Tiqie Helinai was full of disbelief.

Too fast.

If Xia Yu had taken it stroke by stroke, she wouldn’t be so flustered, but Xia Yu used a speed she couldn’t comprehend, just a few strokes, and the "dragon head" was emerging, without flaws.

"If you had carved thousands of shrimp heads and sweated for it, you could achieve this speed too," Xia Yu gently smiled.

In a word, practice makes perfect.

Besides talent, the chef’s trade couldn’t lack the sweat of hard work.

During those days communicating with the Chef God Space, Xia Yu didn’t know how many shrimp heads he practiced and ruined. Fortunately, in the Chef God Space, he could practice without considering waste. If in the real world, such large-scale waste of ingredients would have made Xia Yu report himself to the authorities.

Tiqie Helinai bit her red lip, reaching out to Xia Yu, "Give me back the knife!"

"Carving precision isn’t practiced like this!"

Xia Yu shook his head, his gaze swept over the back kitchen table, his eyes lighting up as he grabbed half a fresh bamboo shoot, "It should be practiced like this!"

Thus, the carving knife danced in his hand.

This time Xia Yu’s expression wasn’t so relaxed. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on a piece of fresh bamboo shoot. Between flashes of silver light, fine bamboo shreds kept falling.

Moments later, Xia Yu handed a small fresh ivory figure to Tiqie Helinai.

"What is this?"

Tiqie Helinai was dumbfounded.

A small piece of bamboo shoot had become a doll, and it seemed to be a woman. Tiqie Helinai felt an inexplicable sourness, but when she focused on the face of the female doll, she felt like she was struck by lightning, her face flushed.

Xia Yu showed no emotional fluctuation.

What’s carving a person? In the motherland, there’s a group of chefs specializing in carving gourmet food, capable of turning fruits and vegetables into a hundred-flower garden vying for beauty.

Chinese cuisine has developed to date, and the countrymen, who focus on color, fragrance, and taste, also place high demands on the appearance of ingredients, making gourmet carving a knife skill art.

Like the dumpling siblings’ ’Dragon Steamed Dumplings,’ and Little Master Chef’s ’Dragon Ascending Dumplings,’ of course, Master Jidi is also a gourmet carving expert, excelling in ice carving techniques.

"So, Helinai, are you still planning to learn? I can teach you both ’Dragon Ascension Dumplings’ and ’Flame Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage’!" Xia Yu said with a smile.

"Learn!"

Stubbornly biting her teeth, Tiqie Helinai declared resolutely.

This answer was within Xia Yu’s expectations. Upon hearing it, he nonchalantly squeezed next to Tiqie Helinai, taking hold of her fair hands, speaking earnestly, "Stay focused, follow my lead..."

Helinai barely stabilized her wavering gaze, concentrating her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Stroke by stroke.

Xia Yu was like a teacher instructing a child on how to write.

He had long noticed, the Tiqie sisters, whether it was Alice or Helinai, were quite weak in ’knife skills.’

Of course, this was Xia Yu holding them to the standard of master chefs. Among student peers, Helinai’s ’knife skills’ were considered top-notch, but at most reached the level of a three- or four-star chef, not to mention special grade, her distance to nine-star was still quite far.

So, crouched in Xia Yu’s mind at this moment was the ’Divine Tongue’ nurturing plan. The first step was to bring the basic skills of the ’Divine Tongue’ up to par, then talk about guiding the ’chef’s heart.’

Now Xia Yu had truly assumed the role of ’Far Moon Guest Lecturer.’

After all, Tiqie Helinai was a genius with the ’Divine Tongue.’ Not properly tapping into her potential would be wasting her god-level talent.

At the kitchen door.

Niho Fuyuka arrived and, seeing the two almost "cuddling" together in the kitchen, immediately turned around, startled.

"...Eriina!"

Fuyuka’s ears were flushed, clearly misunderstood the situation.