Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 428 - 427: Betting

Chapter 428: Chapter 427: Betting

Preliminary competition, Group A venue.

Thirty students were ready.

Four judges had arrived, but there was an empty chair in the middle, prompting a wave of curious whispering.

Who was the fifth judge?

At that moment,

in the underground passage of the venue, a woman dressed in a fashionable long dress, flanked by a female assistant and a female secretary, walked with a lofty posture.

"Welcome—"

The ninth seat’s Rui Shan clapped his hands in greeting at the passage.

"Miss Chiben, I believe I notified you that the competition begins at 11 a.m., you are 10 minutes late," Rui Shan said, pointing at his watch, his tone dissatisfied.

"Ha!"

The woman invited as a judge chuckled lightly, took off her large sunglasses, and revealed a glamorously mature face.

"Do you know how difficult it is for us to spare a minute?" she coldly retorted, "Mr. Rui Shan, you’re asking knowingly, aren’t you?"

Rui Shan pushed up his glasses and bowed his head, his eyes filled with well-concealed anger.

"I’m very eager to see how many students can truly please me with their curry dishes in this autumn selection."

Chiben Natsuka laughed.

"This autumn selection is a bit different..."

As he spoke, Rui Shan suddenly stopped.

Footsteps echoed from behind in the passage, and two figures, one tall and one short, gradually became clear.

"Oh?"

Turning around, Chiben Natsuka saw that one of them was Dojima Yin and greeted him from afar with a pleasant demeanor, a stark contrast to her condescending attitude towards Rui Shan just moments before.

"President Dojima, you also found the time to come..."

As they approached, Chiben Natsuka giggled, but her gaze swept past Dojima Yin to a young man in casual attire beside him and she visibly paused, stopping her speech halfway.

"Could this be..."

Then, Chiben Natsuka’s eyes, accentuated with eyeshadow and eyeliner, fixed intently on Xia Yu, unwilling to shift away.

"Chef Xia, I’ve heard so much about you!"

Chiben Natsuka greeted like a lady, her eyes burning with undisguised fervor.

"The youngest Super Chef in the history of Neon Food World!" she marveled inwardly.

Intense desire to possess!

If such a young top-tier chef could serve her HOB food products, her culinary empire might just challenge the Takai Group and push towards the seats of the big four families.

The greatest disadvantage of HOB food products lay in the Chiben sisters’ cooking skills, which were not very advanced.

Therefore,

Chiben Natsuka, encountering the hottest new star of the Japanese Food Industry, forcefully engaged Xia Yu in casual conversation.

Rui Shan waited for a few minutes on the side, noticing that Chiben Natsuka seemed to have forgotten her judging duties, and could only remind her frustratedly, "Miss Chiben, you are now 15 minutes late."

Startled, Chiben Natsuka reluctantly bid farewell to Xia Yu and Dojima Yin.

"I still have work."

"Then, let’s talk another time!"

Chiben Natsuka and Rui Shan left, and soon, the A venue erupted in excited cheers, as the entry of Chiben Natsuka had clearly shocked the attending students.

Xia Yu and Dojima Yin quietly moved to the back row of the venue, standing against the wall, overlooking the bustling competition scene.

Dojima Yin folded his arms.

"Instructor Xia, you should be aware of a product in the market called ’Curry Princess,’ right?"

"Of course," Xia Yu shrugged, "Curry Princess, a quick-serve curry product released by HOB Food Company in 1990, has to date achieved over 70 billion in sales, a miracle in the curry food world indeed!"

"Hey!"

Dojima Yin smiled, "Then you know, those very cute twin girls on the ’Curry Princess’ packaging, have now become the Curry Queens dominating the curry world!"

Xia Yu nodded.

Chiben Natsuka, holding a microphone, beckoned to the contestants at the venue:

"Come, show me a curry dish that can thrill and excite me!"

After putting down the microphone, the Curry Queen scanned the contestants with a faint, cold smile on her lips, "It seems many have been scared out of their wits."

The two judges nearby exchanged glances.

An elderly judge stroked his chin, shaking his head, "But there are also quite a few kids who’ve kept their cool."

"Look—"

He pointed with his hand.

Speaking of which, Group A truly had a strong lineup.

Yashan Liang, Xingping Chuangzhen, and Hei Muzhang Liang, these three giants, were all in Group A.

Moreover.

At that moment, many eyes were stealthily watching a girl who was humming a tune while preparing spices at her cooking station.

Sen Tian Makoto wore a standard Western chef’s uniform, her black, straight hair also tied into a ponytail.

Aside from the three giants, there was another heavyweight contestant, Sen Tian Makoto. The intense battle in Group A was predictable, with many students already shaking with excitement.

"A strong lineup indeed!"

In the back row of the guest seats, Xia Yu had already taken a seat beside Dojima Yin.

He was also surprised by the grouping.

"It seems the top four of Group A have already been decided," Xia Yu said with a smile, "Yashan Liang, Xingping Chuangzhen, Hei Muzhang Liang, and Sen Tian Makoto, these four!"

"Oh?"

Dojima Yin’s eyes flickered, nodding noncommittally, "So, Instructor Xia, who do you think will take first place in Group A, or even win the preliminaries overall, and claim your prize?"

"Well..."

Xia Yu’s gaze swept over the three giants and the childhood friend, also uncertain.

"I’ll give my vote to ’Divine Sense of Smell’ Yashan Liang," Dojima Yin said. "This freshman is fully at the level of a top ten candidate; by the end of next year, when a batch of third-year students leave, he will naturally fill the spot."

Hearing this, Xia Yu wasn’t willing to be outdone, "Then I’ll give my vote to Sen Tian Makoto."

"Heh."

Dojima Yin had a look of ’just as I expected’ scheming triumph.

"Seems like she took the entrance exam in spring with you accompanying her. It’s appropriate for you to favor your own people," he said, then shifted the topic, "How about we make a bet on this, a bet on this preliminary round’s curry dish competition, and see whose supported contestant will ultimately take first place."

Xia Yu chuckled.

This Dojima Yin was deliberately setting a trap for him.

"President Dojima, what do you want to get from me?"

"Cough cough!"

"Nothing else, if Yashan Liang wins first place, you also give me a pot of fresh Moon Orange," Dojima Yin said, turning his head slightly to the side, giving Xia Yu an awkward side view.

Honestly, using such methods to get a pot of Fantasy Moon Orange, it was really hard on Dojima Yin.

However, Dojima Yin’s accomplishments in the spice field were not insignificant.

After all, it was from his ’Spice Nine-layered Egyptian Roasted Chicken’ that Xia Yu had derived the Nine-layered Spice Construction Method, which was still very useful to this day.

And in the curry formula estimates competition with Indira, the ’Jiu Chong Mountain’ Construction Method was exactly that kind of flexible variation of spice formulas.

"And what if I win?"

Xia Yu’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Hmm, that’s a problem indeed!"

Dojima Yin rested his chin in his hand, "A special grade recipe, you don’t really need that anymore."

"Then..."

A glint appeared in his eyes, Dojima Yin said, "If you win, I’ll tell you a very secret piece of news! Hey, this matter has stirred up quite an undercurrent not just in Neon but in the food world globally. But since you’ve secluded yourself, lacking sources of information, you definitely wouldn’t know!"

"Interested?"

Dojima Yin asked with a smile, "I guarantee, the value of this news is no less than a special grade recipe."

"Okay, I’ll take the bet!"

Xia Yu smiled, high-fiving Dojima Yin.

He was truly curious about that news.

Could something big have happened in the Neon Food World over the last month?

But why hadn’t he heard any whisper of it?