Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 422 - 421: The Hive and Jiu Chong Mountain (Part 1)

Chapter 422: Chapter 421: The Hive and Jiu Chong Mountain (Part 1)

Closing his eyes was to better concentrate his spirit, deducing the Lin Chef’s curry formula in his mind.

Quietly communicate with the Chef God Space?

Useless.

Because this was a spice framework built tightly around the "Indra Moon Orange," and Xia Yu had not unlocked this spice yet, it could not be used in the Chef God Space. Lacking the crucial main ingredient meant that no matter how much he practiced, it would be useless.

So, from the beginning, this was a deduction duel laid out openly.

A complete contest of skills.

Xia Yu sat there, motionless for a long time.

About half an hour later.

Snap.

Indira set down the water pen, the slight sound drawing everyone’s eyes simultaneously.

She looked up and said to the intern outside the door, "Get me another piece of paper, I need A4-sized printer paper..."

"Just a moment!"

Ichise Hui hurried away and returned swiftly.

Thus.

Laying the clean A4 printer paper flat on the tea table, Indira raised her eyes to look at the boy sitting steadily across from her, nodded slightly, and actually held the pen, seriously drawing something on the paper stroke by stroke.

It looked like she was drawing, rather than amending a recipe.

Shinohara Shigetaro and Aoki Motota held their breath watching.

Shanben Xiaoshu couldn’t understand, scratching his head and ears, and simply threw a pleading glance at Yuchuan Meisha not far away, only to find that Yuchuan Meisha wasn’t looking at him either. She too had slightly furrowed brows, watching the female Lin Chef who was drawing.

Eventually, a series of undulating hills appeared on the A4 paper.

At this, Indira suddenly stopped writing.

She pointed to the black hills on the paper and said, "This is Chef Xia’s spice framework, Jiu Chong Mountain."

With a slight smile in her eyes.

Indira picked up the paper to show everyone.

Unexpectedly, the female Lin Chef’s drawing skills were surprisingly good—at least not crude doodles by a grade-schooler. The lines were neat, and she even knew to draw shadows, giving the flat diagram a three-dimensional feel.

Thus, the nine mountains on the paper presented a grand and majestic feeling to everyone.

Mountain connected to mountain.

Viewed from the front, the sides, each had its own perspective, impeccable.

"This is the fantasy spice named after me, ’Indra Moon Orange.’" Indira pointed to the massive mountain peak right in the center, "It stands at the central position in Chef Xia’s formula framework."

The explanation with the diagram was simple to understand.

"So that’s how it is..."

Morioka Makki, Niho Fuyuka, Hozoi Midori, and others, who had just gotten the formula from Xia Yu two days ago, suddenly realized.

When they studied the formula, they also vaguely felt solid and stable.

But due to the limitations of vision and skills, they couldn’t, like Indira, stand from a holistic perspective, overlook the entire recipe framework, and even transform the framework into an actual image that leapt off the page.

The disparity between a vague concept turning into a specific image was indeed apparent.

"So, where did the lady make modifications?" Yuchuan Ayaka pursed her lips and asked.

Indira smiled, lowered her head, and started writing on the paper again. After a while, she lifted the A4 paper.

In the middle of the most prominent mountain, halfway up, three groups of stones floated.

Then, a black line circled them, connecting the three groups of stones.

She annotated beside them in text:

"Cardamom and Amomum."

"Amomum xanthioides and Dried Tangerine Peel."

"Mint and Sage."

Tiqie Helinai read the annotations on the paper, further bewildered.

Three pairs of golden combinations?

Added extra?

"Actually, Chef Xia’s spice framework itself was already near perfect..." Indira’s words contained undisguised admiration, "The tiny details are flawless, and the dosage of each spice is precise to the gram. Therefore, I could only jump out of the framework and add some personal touches to enrich the framework from the big picture."

"Cardamom and Amomum, Amomum xanthioides and Dried Tangerine Peel, Mint and Sage... these three combinations are actually the tight restraints I set for ’Indra Moon Orange’—"

She smiled, showing none of her usual seriousness.

Restraints?

Aside from the thoughtful Shinohara Shigetaro, Aoki Motota, and Yuchuan Ayaka, the others were baffled.

Wasn’t the curry formula built tightly around "Indra Moon Orange"—why were restraints set for it?

"Suppress, integrate!"

A smiling voice spoke.

Xia Yu opened his eyes.

Seeing everyone looking towards him in unison, Xia Yu shrugged and said, "Fantasy spices aren’t that easy to handle."

"In the field of spices, the so-called subduing must begin with pairing: cardamom and amomum, amomum xanthioides and dried tangerine peel, mint and sage, these three pairs of restraints strictly limit the fantasy Moon Tangerine Leaf, suppressing its character and flavor so that other ordinary spices can revolve around it."

As his words fell, a round of crisp applause followed.

Indira offered him a knowing and playful glance, "Indeed, it’s about suppression, integration!"

"But this is just the lady’s floating intention of pairing!"

Xia Yu said, "... Suppression, followed by an explosion!"

"Originally, I constructed the ’Jiu Chong Mountain’ framework with the intent to limit the overly ethereal aroma of the Fantasy Moon Tangerine Leaf, grounding the fragrance to make it memorable and solid for people. But doing this meant losing much of the excitement and impact."

"And now, the lady has helped me truly complete this formula." Xia Yu slightly bowed towards the female Lin Chef across the table, a heartfelt respect for a senior.

Even if he had the [Spice Inequality], before advancing to the golden frame, he wasn’t qualified to be arrogant in front of Indira.

This gesture was noticed by everyone.

Was it surrender?

A group of Far Moon interns felt relieved; losing to the contemporary Spice Empress of India was nothing to be ashamed or conflicted about.

Moreover, this was merely a deduction duel of the formula, without any actual cooking yet.

"Ha, he got sanctioned!"

Shanben Xiaoshu was extremely excited, but he kept his head low, not daring to express this emotion in public—somewhat sensible.

Indira gazed at Xia Yu.

"Is my formula modified now?" Her eyes were full of anticipation.

"Just a moment—"

Xia Yu looked outside the door, asking Ichise Hui for an A4 printer paper.

Similarly, laying the A4 paper flat on the table, Xia Yu picked up the pen, and it could be said he did it in one go.

Swish, swish, swish!

Stroke by stroke.

Speaking of which, Xia Yu’s drawing skills were also not lacking; he used simple lines to form a very vivid image floating on the paper.

As the details of the image became clearer, Indira gradually collected her smile, her face solemn.

Seeing this, everyone held their breRowath.

Uh.

Soon, Xia Yu put down the pen.

On the paper was a tree.

But the tree wasn’t the focal point; everyone’s attention was on the large beehive hanging below the canopy.

This beehive was covered with irregular holes.

Xia Yu pointed at the beehive and smiled, "I think, if my guess isn’t wrong, Indira’s curry framework is like this. The shell of the beehive is full of loopholes, ’Indra Moon Orange’ is the core, which means the queen of the insect nest, residing at the deepest part."

Indira was silent.

A beehive framework? So vivid!

Beside him, Shinohara Shigetaro, Aoki Motota, and Yuchuan Ayaka, three top chefs, all had bright eyes.

"So, your modifications?" Indira asked.

"It so happens, my thoughts are similar to yours, madam..."