Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 414 - 413: Gaining a Foothold in the Spice Industry

Chapter 414: Chapter 413: Gaining a Foothold in the Spice Industry

Staying at Pole Star Dormitory for one night, Xia Yu accessed IGO online and ordered several types of Fantasy Plant seeds in the evening.

The IGO organization is welcoming and open to private gardens and laboratories attempting to cultivate Fantasy Ingredients.

However, being welcoming is one thing, and being able to grow them is another.

Fantasy Ingredients have demanding growth conditions. Since World War II, very few private institutions have successfully cultivated Fantasy Ingredients. The subjective reason is the lack of scientific research and financial resources. Thus, IGO’s status as an international food ingredient supplier remains unshaken and secure to this day.

One could maliciously guess that it might be precisely because it knows the weaknesses of private organizations, the IGO sits high and mighty, unconcerned with the dispersal of seeds and has even opened its market to free trade.

Xia Yu bought many Big Tuna Belly Soybean seeds.

The task to improve ’Great Magic Panda Tofu’ hadn’t progressed in two or three months; wasn’t the problem with the ingredients?

There were no black Fantasy Soybeans.

Might as well cultivate them himself!

The next day.

He was in the Pole Star Dormitory Kitchen kneading and rolling dough, preparing breakfast.

A conversation approached from afar:

"...Xingping, will you go and visit that teacher who does curry spice research later?"

"Yeah! Since my dad mentioned it, I might as well pay a visit and see what I can learn. A month is actually very short, so we have to start preparing from today!"

Yoshino Yuuki and Xingping Chuangzhen talked as they headed to the kitchen.

No, that’s not right!

Stopping abruptly at the kitchen doorway, Yoshino Yuuki sniffed the enticing aroma and swallowed hard, "This smell..."

"Instructor Xia’s noodles!"

The two exchanged glances and then rushed into the kitchen.

Xia Yu glanced back from his spot at the kitchen counter, "Wait a moment!"

A little while later, a freshly groomed Tanaka Hikari and Shen Liangzi also came downstairs.

Shen Liangzi was dragging a large suitcase; the young girl planned to return home for inspiration on curry dishes, to contemplate her own specialty in her hometown.

Six steaming bowls of clear broth ramen were placed on the dining table.

Xia Yu and Mrs. Wenxu also sat down, enjoying a rare breakfast with the students of Pole Star Dormitory.

After breakfast.

Yoshino Yuuki went to see off Shen Liangzi while Xia Yu, driven by curiosity, together with Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen, went to visit the Far Moon teacher who was immersed in curry spice research.

"Knock, knock!"

"Is anyone there?"

Xingping Chuangzhen knocked on the door.

It was an old, rundown detached house.

"Just push the door open." Xia Yu twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open as if he were entering his own house and made his way inside.

Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen squeezed into the house as well.

"Ah!"

Xingping Chuangzhen was startle by a bespectacled woman with a ponytail sitting in the corner.

She was browsing through books and grinding spices in a mortar with professional tools.

"Excuse me, is the teacher here—"

Before he could finish, the young-looking woman abruptly looked up, "Guests?!!"

"Oh, sorry, I’ll make tea right away!"

She jumped up, speaking in a rush.

At that moment, a voice made her eyes widen in astonishment.

"Professor Xijian Run, long time no see!"

The woman in the laboratory was Far Moon’s youngest professor, an authority in the spice field and who had been a judge at a culinary battle, impressed by Xia Yu’s ’Flame Dragon Roll Fish Fin Sausage’.

"Instructor Xiaxia?"

Xijian Run stammered anxiously.

Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen, standing nearby, heard Xia Yu address the woman and were immediately shocked.

"No wonder she looked familiar!" Tanaka Hikari covered her mouth, "Professor Xijian Run is an authority on spices at Far Moon!"

Xingping Chuangzhen happily said, "Professor, actually, I am the son of Saito Chiyokuro. The theme for the autumn election has been announced, it’s curry dishes. Last night, my father guided me and told me to come to see you..."

Before he could finish speaking,

Boom.

The laboratory shook as if an earthquake had struck.

Sweat appeared on Tanaka Hikari’s forehead. In the blink of an eye, Xingping Chuangzhen was knocked down by a professor with the physique of a little girl, with a single punch.

"Get out of here! Now!" Xijian Run, unusually full of rage, burst out.

Click.

The door was pushed open again, and a student with silver-white hair and a handsome appearance, carrying a bag, entered the room, "I’ve bought the stuff back..."

Uh.

What followed was an awkward scene with the four of them exchanging glances.

As for Xia Yu, he had already left the battlefield, leisurely wandering around the lab.

"Eh—"

Glancing at the shelves, Xia Yu’s gaze was drawn to a pot of withered plants. He couldn’t help but walk over, pick up a few dry leaves next to the pot, and bring them close to his nose to sniff, causing his pupils to dilate slightly.

"Such a strong scent, but also a prominent bitterness. Smelling a single leaf is like smelling a large vat filled with Indian curry! Hmm, this odor..."

"Is this Fantasy Spices?"

Xia Yu was about to ask the system to identify it when a cold voice came from behind him:

"That’s a curry leaf, from the Rutaceae family, typically found in tropical and subtropical regions. But this is no ordinary Rutaceae plant—it was first discovered by Indira, the contemporary Spice Empress of India, hence the alternative name ’Indra Moon Orange’!"

Xia Yu nodded.

"Fantasy Plants that grow in tropical and subtropical regions, because they don’t adapt to Japan’s climate, so they arrive here in a dried and withered state, right?" He began to understand Xijian Run’s research project.

Turning around, he saw Yashan Liang with his hands in his pockets.

Still as cool as ever.

Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen were a little further off, looking over the lab’s displays.

"Interesting!"

Beside the shelf, Xia Yu discovered another pot of lush curry leaves.

However, upon closer inspection, he noticed that the leaves of the two pots were completely different.

The ’Indra Moon Orange’ type of Fantasy Spices possessed leaves that were narrow and elongated like fingers, with serrated edges around them, resembling some kind of ancient fossilized plant.

Picking up a dried curry leaf and comparing it to a regular one, Xia Yu saw through many intricacies and his eyes shone with the eagerness to try.

Having leveled up to a purple frame in [Spice Inequalities], he was after all a master of spices.

Yet, in the realm of fantasy, there were still blind spots in his spice technique.

Like this ’Indra Moon Orange,’ a Fantasy Spice he had never before encountered!

"Curry dishes, huh!"

Yashan Liang’s mouth curled up slightly, revealing a confident smile.

His gaze shifted from Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen, who were consulting with Xijian Run, and finally settled on Xia Yu, who was pondering with his chin resting in his hand, and he invited, "Hey, Instructor Xia, interested in discussing the mysteries of spices with me? I think only Instructor Xia is qualified for this..."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu, who was examining the ’Indra Moon Orange,’ looked back in surprise.

Discuss the mysteries of spices?

Observing the slight smile at the corner of Yashan Liang’s mouth, Xia Yu shook his head in amusement.

"Yashan Liang, are you planning to truly defeat me in the field of spices?"

Yashan Liang’s eyes were full of aggression.

"I believe that to truly reach the peak of Far Moon, I must defeat you head-on, even just once!" he declared confidently.

"In the realm of spices, this is my home turf, I won’t lose!"

In his hand, Xia Yu twirled a dry leaf of moon orange.

To accept or not?

Honestly, it came down to his mood whether he would accept a challenge from such a troublesome student. If he was in a good mood, he might agree.

Right now, he was indeed in quite a good mood, having come to the right place, his heart brimming with the joy of discovering a whole new Fantasy Spice.

Beep.

Just then, the system popped up a notification, coming out to cheer him on.