Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 286 - 285: Online Hot Discussion (Part 2)

Chapter 286: Chapter 285: Online Hot Discussion (Part 2)

Late at night.

Eriina Tiqie lay in bed, tossing and turning restlessly.

The accommodation was truly nice, free of any peculiar smells, and everything from the bed to the bedding appeared brand new and clean, freshly taken out of the closet.

Barefoot, she got out of bed and pulled back the curtains, glancing over at Xia’s shop next door.

She was staying on the fourth floor, just above her was Reiko Liangzi, and Kobayakawa Ryodan also lived on this level.

It must have been 2 a.m., and half of Xia’s shop’s door was open, with hazy light casting onto the street outside.

"He’s still not asleep?"

"The late-night hours are from midnight to 4 a.m., right?" Eriina tapped her forehead, her muddled thoughts finally clearing a bit as she stared fixedly at the nocturnal shop, her gaze deep and inscrutable.

Beep beep.

The cellphone on the bedside table rang.

Upon unlocking the screen, she saw another message from that blond loser—Sazuma Eri.

Come to think of it, they hadn’t chatted late at night for a while; Eriina had been busy studying culinary arts, and Eri seemed engrossed in her doujinshi and game club activities.

The message contained just a web link, no extra words.

Opening it, Eriina was slightly taken aback.

"The challenge video!"

Eriina Tiqie actually knew about Xia Yu helping Far Moon win a precious point, but she’d only heard the details from others. Now, she finally watched the recorded video.

The video’s focus was on the young instructor’s steady hands, the shiny carving knife, and the ice sculpture on the workbench.

This was a personal performance, and in contrast, the more famous Professor Smith didn’t get much screen time; he was utterly forgotten in the corner by the Far Moon cameraman who did the filming.

"How about it, Eriina? Impressive, isn’t it?" A bit later, Eri sent an emoji with a broad grin.

"Very impressive!"

Different from before, Eriina replied candidly.

"This video really went viral, not just in the ACG community. Just now at dinner, my diplomat father even asked me about Yu," Eri continued using the familiar name ’Yu’ for Xia Yu.

"Oh, by the way, Eriina, do you know Xia’s branch is opening tomorrow? My father mentioned that tomorrow is Saturday, and he plans to take me and my mom to test the food." Eri suddenly said.

Eriina Tiqie held her phone, unsure of how to reply.

Tell her friend she’s interning at Xia’s shop? It seemed too much of a blow to her pride, but hearing the latter part, Eriina panicked a bit, "Wha-what? You’re coming tomorrow?"

"Yeah!"

Eri said, "I heard the specialty dishes at the branch are expensive. I was racking my brain on how to get my diplomat father to take me and support Yu; I didn’t expect him to bring it up himself over dinner..."

In a diplomat’s mansion in Tokyo.

A blonde twin-tailed girl in sportswear lay on her bed kicking her feet in excitement.

"Specialty dishes!"

"You have no idea how Tokyo TV Station’s gourmet food segment introduced those dishes today; it has already attracted widespread attention!"

Reading the message on her phone, Eriina Tiqie suddenly thought about today’s Chiyoda Aichi and Dubian Yuuki.

One is the goddess of the gourmet show host world.

The other is the editor-in-chief of "Taste Weekly," also a goddess.

If they decided to help promote Xia’s newly opening branch after returning, it could indeed catch the attention of Tokyo’s and even all of Neon’s upper-class elite within a single day.

Xia’s branch was targeting the upper class and those wealthy traders from the start.

After all, Eriina knew the price of the specialty dishes. Even after they were adjusted, the cheapest dish on the menu, ’Stir-Fried Qingjiang Vegetable,’ cost 300,000 yen. An average citizen finding out at checkout that a simple vegetable stir-fry was so expensive would surely faint from shock.

Therefore, the marketing strategy had to be targeted.

In Eriina’s opinion, no matter how much regular publicity sparked discussions and drew public attention, there wouldn’t be many customers brave enough to actually try the food.

So, it was better to lock onto the target customer base right from the start.

Unseen, with the backing of heavyweights like Mars, Dojima Yin, and Shinohara Shigetaro, the upper class who follow gourmet trends would sooner or later learn of the existence of such a prestigious shop.

"Tomorrow looks like it’s going to be busy."

After placing her phone down, Eriina Tiqie murmured to herself.

...

At the same time,

The big shot from Neon City, who had returned from the IGO headquarters, Qiushan Hong, was temporarily staying at the Tiqie Mansion.

In his room, an additional transparent showcasing cabinet had appeared.

Chill air was emanating from the cabinet, and upon closer inspection, one would not fail to realize that it was a special cabinet designed for preserving ice sculptures. Currently, housed within the cabinet was the Ice Dragon sculpture that Xia Yu had carved live during a grand lecture a few days prior.

A middle-aged man with a serene demeanor returned to the room and stood in front of the cabinet, eyeing the Ice Dragon inside the glass. He lifted the corners of his mouth in an interested smile and muttered to himself,

"Expert in Chinese cuisine..."

"His mastery of tofu dishes is at a master level."

"Especially skilled in cooking with flames and spices."

"Is his ’culinary heart’ related to flames as well?"

These were all personal information about Xia Yu. Since returning to the country for over a week, Qiushan Hong had remained still but in reality, had been collecting intelligence on Xia Yu.

IGO’s scrutiny of any "Special Level Candidate" was famously stringent, and Qiushan Hong couldn’t help but reminisce about his own time under examination. His predecessor, who had since passed away, had almost pushed him to the brink of harshness with his demands, yet he had barely managed to meet his predecessor’s standards.

"Special Level Candidates, are truly ’seeds’!" Qiushan thought, "Securing such a slot, a ranking title that transcends the existing system, essentially means they have already taken the first step beyond national borders, looking over the global culinary world... They also have the privilege to delve into deeper realms."

"Tomorrow, I’ll go and check out his new shop."

"The official examination should begin now, I can’t delay any longer!"

...

The next day.

Though it was Saturday, Xia Yu woke up early.

Just past eight o’clock, several IGO food ingredient trucks parked on the street of the shopping district. Old acquaintance Ando Keisuke handed over the list of ingredients to Xia Yu, who then went with him to the storeroom to check the delivered goods.

Before leaving, Ando Keisuke said meaningfully, "Chef Xia, you better be prepared. Your restaurant will surely be packed with guests today!"

"Eh...? Thank you!"

Xia Yu waved to him.

He returned to the storefront to find Liangzi Lina brewing tea in the kitchen.

After preparing a fresh meal for the Hua Mao cat and placing it on the corridor, Xia Yu sat across from the hostess and joined her for a light breakfast.

"I’ll also come over to help out today."

Lina said softly, after eating sushi she had made herself.

"No problem at all!" Xia Yu smiled merrily.

"The business hours are the same as before, from afternoon to midnight, right?"

"Yes, from six in the evening to twelve at night, no late-night shift!"

After speaking, Xia Yu picked up some sushi and swallowed it, but right at that moment a system prompt popped up unexpectedly. He glanced at it casually but was so startled by the surge in Fame Points evident from the data, that the sushi nearly got stuck in his throat.

He jerked his head back and took the tea that Lina handed him, finally swallowing the sushi down. Thumping his chest, he gave the hostess an apologetic look, took a few seconds to catch his breath, and then went on to carefully count his overnight windfall.

Available Fame Points:

55120.

He counted again.

"Over fifty thousand?"

His eyes showed his shock as Xia Yu hurried to check the system log, and a dense array of unchecked messages popped up. He flipped through more than a dozen pages, all of which showed increments of +10 Fame Points.

The 5,000 Fame Points he had from upgrading his VIP branch store was what Xia Yu considered his basic wealth.

Thus, he had gained over fifty thousand new Fame Points overnight, without a hint of falsehood!

But upon calculation, each person worth 10 points would mean fifty thousand Fame Points amounted to just 5,000 people. Xia Yu didn’t know what triggered the Fame Points reward, but it surely wasn’t as simple as "knowing this fella" or "having heard of this person." There had to be a certain level of knowledge, or perhaps it could be directly called "fan acquisition."

In other words, just over the course of one night, Xia Yu had gained five thousand new fans.

"The promotion by gourmet media... and then, there’s also the official Twitter video from Far Moon?"

After checking the sources of the points, Xia Yu chuckled to himself.

This is the power of media and the internet!