Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 271 - 270: Too Many Dramas

Chapter 271: Chapter 270: Too Many Dramas

"...It has been reported that Principal Mars from the United States Orlando International College arrived at Neon Tokyo Haneda International Airport today at 2:30 PM. Let’s now go live to our reporter at the airport and see what the situation is like on the scene."

The melodious voice of the female host for the food news segment echoed in the office.

Beep. Beep.

At that moment, the phone on the desk began to ring.

The man picked up the call.

"Hello, Minister Shinohara, Mars has arrived in Tokyo!" came the steady male voice, that of Dojima Yin.

"Mm."

Shinohara Shigetaro was still staring at the television screen, responding indifferently.

"What are you planning to do?" Dojima Yin asked.

"Surveillance, restriction," Shinohara Shigetaro slowly enunciated two words.

"Actually, I had his itinerary leaked to the media. Ever since that last incident, I’ve been keeping an eye on Mars, not letting any detail slip by. His flight arrangements were very secretive, he even intentionally chose economy class..."

The following sentence left Dojima Yin silent for a long time.

"Our IGO inspectors are not machines, there are bound to be slip-ups, but these food media are different, a bunch of energetic guys, hey!" Shinohara Shigetaro said, and finally laughed.

Dojima Yin also rejoiced in others’ misfortune: "Minister Shinohara, your move caught Mars completely off guard."

"At least until the buzz from the exchange meeting dies down, those food media won’t let go of him. No matter where he shows up, where he stays, or where he goes, there will always be media following him like flies!"

"Rather than IGO expending manpower and energy on surveillance, it’s better to let the food media follow him. Brilliant!" Dojima Yin praised heartily, "I bet he’s wondering right now, just after getting off the plane, how he got ambushed by the media, hahaha..."

A clear and hearty laugh came through the phone receiver.

"I heard Xia’s branch is opening, are you going?" Shinohara Shigetaro suddenly asked.

"What do you think?"

Dojima Yin asked back with a meaningful tone.

...

At half-past three in the afternoon.

Xia Yu returned to the shopping street from White Seagull High School.

He had spent the whole day at school, with his phone turned off, naturally unaware that the behind-the-scenes manipulator who had caused the decline of the shopping street had already broken through the reporters’ blockade and left the airport.

Having just locked his bike at the shop front, Xia Yu finally remembered to turn on his phone.

Beep Beep.

As soon as the phone was on, there were several messages about missed calls.

It was Tiqie Eriina who was calling him, with over 20 missed calls in total, quite frightening. Just as Xia Yu was about to call back, an elegant original ringtone sounded from the phone.

"Hello, Eriina, I’m home now, you guys come over," Xia Yu said casually.

As soon as his words ended, the sound of a car engine approached from behind him.

Not an ordinary car, but Far Moon’s luxury bus school bus.

"Ka."

The automatic door opened, and a total of seven students dressed in Far Moon uniforms, three girls and four boys, got off and instinctively lined up in front of Xia Yu, as if they were soldiers awaiting inspection.

Fourth seat among the Elite Ten, Kobayakawa Ryodan, the red-haired girl who loves snacks, stood at the front of the line.

The ’Divine Tongue’ took the second spot.

The third was the smiling Ichise Hui.

Fourth in line, with his hands in his pockets and looking a bit delinquent due to his blond hair, was the eighth seat, Koga Shoji, who specialized in Shuchuan cuisine of the Chinese dishes and was proud of it. He liked to control his customer’s tastes with the violence of spice and numbness. Hozoi Midori had criticized him for his narrow vision, attempting to represent the entire Chinese cuisine with spicy and numbing dishes alone.

However, Koga Shoji wasn’t a bad person by nature, a straightforward young man. If judged according to the original Shokugeki story, this guy was unexpectedly reliable. Xia Yu was certain, if he trained him well, he could become a talent capable of being his left and right hand, just like Hozoi Midori.

Realizing that Xia Yu’s gaze had paused on him for a full half minute,

Koga Shoji became a little embarrassed and quietly took his hands out of his pockets.

Noticing this little detail, Xia Yu immediately had a hunch.

It seems that, cough cough, no, it seems that in the eyes of the students, he had established a tall and mighty image, one that could make even the rebellious members of the Elite Ten concede with just a glance.

Xia Yu couldn’t help but marvel that his image had indeed been "fought" out, one hard battle at a time.

Xia Yu had defeated Chief Si Yingshi in a dire showdown.

Next, he fiercely vanquished the Five-Star Chef Lancelot.

Following that were the confrontations during the lodging training, the clash with Shigong Xiaoci Lang, and the domineering step over a group of trainees, marked with ’instant admission’ to pass through the first round of the major exam—there were simply too many such occurrences.

Each member of the Elite Ten had their own backgrounds and were no ordinary people; they knew, more or less, the stories that unfolded during the lodging training. That was enough. Being able to directly suppress the Elite Ten with prestige, rather than crushing them with his dishes, which compelled them to obey, was naturally second to none.

"Introduce yourselves," Xia Yu said, scanning the three students at the back of the group.

Two males and one female.

The female student, tall and slender, stood a full head taller than the shorter Koga Shoji.

"I am Tang Yeyan, a sophomore."

"Hattori Ken, junior!"

"Igarashi Daisuki, junior!"

The three of them responded loudly in turn.

Hmm? Xia Yu immediately noticed the girl with the Chinese name; as he looked over, the girl lifted her head and puffed out her chest, "I’m half-blood, my father is Chinese, and my mother is Neon!"

"Father is Chinese?" Xia Yu grew curious, "In that case, do you have a deep enough understanding of Chinese cuisine?"

"My field of specialty is Chinese cuisine!" Tang Yeyan replied.

"Come on in—"

Without delay, Xia Yu invited them into Xia’s Main Store.

Out of the seven, aside from Eriina, the others were visiting Xia’s Chinese Restaurant, a place shrouded in mystery within Far Moon School, for the first time.

Narrow it certainly was, but its layout and furnishings were far from the proletarian vibe of rumors; it was, in fact, quite exquisite.

"Wow!"

Kobayakawa Ryodan leaned on the bar, his eyes gleaming as he scrutinized the kitchen behind a pane of glass. "Although it’s smaller than a professional kitchen, it doesn’t lack anything in professionalism compared to Far Moon’s high-end kitchens!"

The others, all with looks of country bumpkins entering the city, gazed around and touched this and that, their eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"So this is Instructor Xia’s little shop!"

Hattori Ken and Igarashi Daisuki said enviously, "If we could have such a refined little shop on the streets of Tokyo right after graduation, we wouldn’t have to worry about making a living for years."

"Enough chatter. I’ll assign you tasks. Xia’s Main Store is operating normally tonight, you can do your internship and get accustomed at the same time."

Xia Yu pointed to Hattori Ken and Igarashi Daisuki, and then looked at Tang Yeyan and Koga Shoji.

"The four of you, start by taking care of Xia’s Main Store here."

"Hattori and Igarashi will initially take on waiter duties, but you will also need to help out with food prep during busy times, while cooking duties will be handled by Xiao Tang and Koga."

Having said this, Xia Yu then furrowed his brows.

"Which of you is the head chef, and who is the assistant?" he asked, looking at the two.

"The head chef is obviously me!"

Koga Shoji huffed.

Tang Yeyan bit her lip and said, "I also want to be the head chef!"

Xia Yu laughed, stroking his chin, "Well then, in the world of chefs, we speak with our cooking."

He pointed to the kitchen.

"The ingredients are in the refrigerator. You both will use the existing ingredients to create a dish of Chinese cuisine each. I’m the only judge. No problems with that?" His voice deepened slightly.

"How uninteresting!"

Koga Shoji glared at Tang Yeyan with dissatisfaction, hands shoved into his pockets as he passed by the storefront, quickly selecting ingredients.

Tang Yeyan followed close behind.

Just as Xia Yu was about to follow them and see how they were doing, a clamorous noise suddenly erupted from outside.

What’s going on?

Eriina, Ichise Hui, Kobayakawa Ryodan, and he went out of the store together.

Standing at the door, Xia Yu gazed toward the densely packed traffic at the entrance of the shopping street, and his scalp suddenly exploded.

"What scene is this supposed to be..."