Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 285 - 284: Online Hot Discussion (Part 1)

Chapter 285: Chapter 284: Online Hot Discussion (Part 1)

At night.

The test opening of the branch restaurant and the menu adjustment had concluded.

Today, serving Mars alone with two sets of exquisite dishes, the sales amounted to 880+3500, totaling 43.8 million yen. Converted to RMB, that would be around 2.5 million.

For ordinary people, this price was of course unacceptable, but for tycoons like Mars, it was just a drop in the ocean. Didn’t you see the look of satisfaction on Mars’s face when he left? Compared to the spiritual enjoyment and satisfaction he gained, this amount of money probably didn’t even cause a ripple in his heart.

Moreover, what excited Xia Yu the most was that he had taken back the shopping street property. Tonight, while cooking, he was full of fighting spirit, silently picturing the future blueprint of the shopping street in his mind.

The branch restaurant closed at night, but the main restaurant was bustling.

The chef competition between Tang Yeyan and Koga Shoji, due to Mars’s sudden appearance, had to be put on hold, and in the end, both became assistants. Xia Yu returned to the main restaurant in time, took charge of the kitchen, and while preparing dishes for the customers, he also took time to guide the two young aspiring head chefs.

It gradually became late at night.

After seeing off the last table of customers, Hattori Ken and Igarashi Daisuki were wiping chairs and mopping the floor.

Far Moon’s third-year elites were being used by Xia Yu as errand runners, but Xia Yu himself didn’t find anything strange about it. Students should be aware of their duties, according to the original plot of "Food Wars", interns working in restaurants mostly start with helping in the kitchen and doing miscellaneous chores.

Ichise Hui and Kobayakawa Ryodan returned from outside, each carrying a suitcase.

Tiqie Helinai also dragged her heavy case, waiting outside the shop door.

These seven intern students would be staying on shopping street for the next month. Because the main restaurant stayed open until midnight, by then they could not catch the last train, and the school bus had already left, so they had no choice but to stay here and wait until the trains were running normally the next morning to return to campus.

Fortunately, Xia Yu transformed into a landlord, and even if he hadn’t taken back the shopping street property from Mars today, he still owned an apartment building already registered in his name, so accommodating a few interns was not an issue.

"Follow me—"

Calling the seven interns, Xia Yu flicked the ring of keys, swinging them as he hummed a recently popular Anisong, leading the interns to the apartment next door.

The building, called an apartment complex, was once a family inn, where there had been a high turnover of people, some long-term and some staying just a few days.

The inn was doing well in business, but the owner was a greedy old man, so the inn was easily purchased for a hefty price by a construction company affiliated with the "Culinary Society," becoming one of the first fallen properties on the shopping street.

The inn was fully equipped; the greedy owner knew how to run a business and maintained the inn well. The environment wasn’t on par with four or five-star hotel suites but was much better than a budget hotel.

Ichise Hui, Kobayakawa Ryodan, and the other five dragged their cases, stopping in the ground-floor lobby.

The reception desk retained its original appearance, with keys corresponding to the rooms hanging behind the counter.

Xia Yu asked them to put down their suitcases, go upstairs to check the rooms and decide which one they wanted before coming back for the keys.

In the end, only Tiqie Helinai remained in the lobby, motionless.

"Eriina?" Xia Yu gave her a questioning look.

"I, I..." Tiqie Helinai pursed her lower lip, clearly wanting to say something but unable to articulate it smoothly.

Xia Yu couldn’t stand seeing this prideful young lady suddenly become all awkward and giggled, "Eriina, you did very well today. Although there isn’t a performance assessment sheet, I’ve been silently watching everyone’s performance."

"Whatever your request is, just tell me, and I’ll try my best to satisfy it."

Xia Yu deliberately spoke in a benevolent, elder’s tone, immediately earning a roll of the eyes from the Divine Tongue.

"I don’t want to live here."

Tiqie Helinai listened for a moment to the noise upstairs before she spoke softly.

"Huh..." Xia Yu blinked, "Then where do you want to live?"

Thinking that the Divine Tongue was worried about the inn’s environment, Xia Yu waved his hand and said, "Eriina, rest assured, this inn originally catered to a mid-to-high-end Japanese style, and it’s considered the best accommodation in this area of the shopping street. Main General Liangzi is living on the fifth floor, and she’s quite comfortable there."

"No, it’s not that!"

Tiqie Helinai became a bit anxious, "It’s not about the environment!"

"I want to live in the main restaurant!" she said straightforwardly.

"No way!" Xia Yu said without a second thought.

"Why not?"

She glared at him, "Don’t trick me with the excuse that this store can’t accommodate people. I remember during spring break, Hozoi stayed here for at least ten days to half a month, right?"

"Hozoi is different, she’s a tomboy, not a girlie girl." Xia Yu shrugged and spoke frankly.

"Tomboy?" Eriina was startled.

"That kind of person you can treat like a good buddy..."

Afraid that Divine Tongue didn’t understand, Xia Yu raised his hand, pressing it onto her shoulder, which made Tiqie Eriina jump like a scared cat, instantly retreating and glaring at him with annoyance as she scolded, "What are you doing touching me?!"

"You see—"

Xia Yu spread his hands with an innocent look, "Isn’t it inevitable to bump into each other every now and then when living under the same roof?"

Tiqie Eriina furrowed her brows deeply, clearly not very willing to let it go.

"And, are you sure you want to share a bathroom with me?" Xia Yu asked casually, "This store only has one toilet, one shower room, one bath. Not only do things like towels and toothbrushes need to be shared, but clothes can only be dried in the yard—there’s no second place..."

Sure enough, before Xia Yu even finished speaking, ’Divine Tongue’ already had a horrified expression.

The young lady inevitably had a bit of a cleanliness fetish.

Moreover, Xia Yu raised very practical issues: Hozoi Midori’s character could accept it, and it wouldn’t be awkward for either of them, but if Eriina moved in, it would only add chaos for him. Xia Yu understood this very well and naturally wanted to do everything possible to dissuade ’Divine Tongue’ from the idea.

In the end, Eriina still went upstairs, dragging her suitcase.

"I can’t believe you actually refused."

A playful voice came from outside.

Reiko Lina had been eavesdropping for a while. Xia Yu had previously arranged for her to take a walk around the shopping district, as a form of patrolling.

"Isn’t that pretty normal?"

Xia Yu didn’t plan to say much, plopping down onto the chair at the front desk and surfing the net on the computer.

...

Silently, a day went by, and today, Mars, a giant from the United States, arrived in Neon, causing a stir not only offline among the culinary media but also online in the digital world.

The triennial exchange meetings and the end-of-year culinary institute competitions were indeed a grand feast for the global culinary world. Media had been hyping them up since the beginning of the year. Far Moon, as Neon’s strongest culinary institute and representing Neon, naturally caught the attention of the Neon people.

Also, today, Far Moon’s official Twitter released a series of videos for the exchange meeting.

Ten topics, ten videos.

Each video was edited, shared all over the internet, and even spread to neighboring countries online.

In Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo.

"Amazing!"

In a manga studio, planning to work through the night, Mashiro Takumi and Takagi Shuutoku crowded in front of a laptop computer, watching the video for the ninth topic over and over again.

After all, the topic was about decoration and carving. It was visually striking and thus drew more attention than the other topics. It had several times more views than the other videos, and viewers like Mashiro Takumi and Takagi Shuutoku who repeatedly contributed to the viewing count were probably countless.

On the computer screen, a lifelike Ice Dragon was swiftly carved into being by a young instructor.

The only tool—a delicate carving knife!

Even through the screen, the Ice Dragon’s majestic roar ascending to the heavens left Mashiro Takumi and Takagi Shuutoku deeply moved.

Spirit!

"I’ve decided, the theme for the fourth manga work will be the culinary king!"

Mashiro Takumi declared loudly and enthusiastically.