Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 490 - 489: The Gifts of Nature

Chapter 490: Chapter 489: The Gifts of Nature

Xia Yu hadn’t expected that just stepping out the door would bring him face to face with such a massive black bear at the foot of the snowy mountain.

He searched through his knowledge and explained in a low voice,

"This huge bear is an Asian black bear. Sister Qiong, zoom in your camera. Did everyone notice the light-colored crescent mark on the bear’s chest? And look at the fur on its neck, it’s long and dense..."

There was a hint of alarm in his eyes as Xia Yu continued, "But the average Asian black bear is 1.7 meters tall and a hefty 150 kilograms is considered exceptionally large. Well, how should I put it, we’re really lucky to have encountered such a newsworthy giant bear right out the door!"

"Stop!"

Tang Yuqiong cut off his lengthy speech, her tone tinged with disbelief, "So do we go or not?"

"Go?"

Xia Yu shook his head, glanced at the squirrel corpse in his hand, "Although black bears have poor vision and can’t see objects beyond a hundred meters, their hearing and sense of smell are extremely sensitive. They can detect scents up to half a kilometer downwind, and it seems our camp is within that range... and it can hear footsteps from over 300 steps away..."

"We’ve already been discovered?" Tang Yuqiong understood, her face turning slightly pale as she instinctively reached for the gun holster at her waist.

"Don’t provoke it!"

Smack. A hand pressed down on Tang Yuqiong’s holster as Xia Yu stared into her eyes and shook his head, "Can you shoot it in the head with precision?"

Tang Yuqiong pursed her lips, "Almost... I guess?"

"And with the power of a handgun bullet, even if you hit the black bear between the eyes, are you sure it will drop dead from one shot rather than become enraged and chase after us?" Xia Yu spoke seriously.

"Uh..." Tang Yuqiong let go of her gun.

"Stay calm!"

Xia Yu removed his hand, glanced leisurely at the barrage of comments on his phone, shaking his head and speaking in a low and magnetic voice, "Running now would only signal our weakness to the bear... It has already memorized our scent and knows the way we came. I definitely don’t want to be slapped to death in my sleep by the giant bear tonight at camp!"

"Slapped to death?"

"Bro, stop joking!"

"You guys have guns, go take it down; bear’s paws are a rare delicacy!"

Following Xia Yu’s words, the mood in the comment stream changed dramatically, and the popularity surged back to over forty thousand. The livestream seemed to make the homepage, with viewership numbers changing every minute. As Xia Yu spoke, viewership actually soared to over eighty thousand, knocking on the door of one hundred thousand. Many newcomers watching the giant beast fishing in the stream on camera were shocked and flooded the comments with their reactions.

"User ’Dazed and Confused’ sends the host 1 rocket gift!"

A former student from the UK sent a gift and spoke in a red comment, "Sister Qiong, passerby guy... Wish you safety!"

Seeing this comment, Xia Yu felt a warmth in his heart.

This is what live streaming is about. He had experience with this in his former life—there would be trolls and naysayers, but also generous fans and truly supportive viewers. The popularity of live streaming lay in this interaction being so engaging. His enthusiasm undiminished, Xia Yu said, "It’s October now, the time when bears are preparing to hibernate, which generally starts from October of the current year and lasts until April of next year. Before hibernating, bears will spend up to a month foraging for twenty hours a day, then eating, eating, eating. That’s why this black bear is so terrifyingly huge for a reason!"

While he was talking, the giant bear came ashore and sprawled on the ground to enjoy its prey. It was a full half-hour before the bear, fattened for hibernation, slowly started to move again.

Ten minutes later, Xia Yu emerged from the bushes, followed closely by Tang Yuqiong with the camera pole.

Stopping at the remnants of the bear’s recent feast, Xia Yu nonchalantly kicked around with his hiking boots, revealing plenty of bloody fish remains, and grinned, "Seems like this bear isn’t too picky, already full. It’s probably getting ready to hibernate soon and isn’t very interested in us. Otherwise, I would have to consider whether we should find a different place to camp tonight."

Next, they quickly cleaned the squirrel meat, and Xia Yu, along with Tang Yuqiong, returned to camp. A swarm of new viewers who got wind of the action flooded the livestream, clamoring and asking where the bear was, urging them to track it down.

"Hunt the bear? Don’t be naïve, everyone."

Xia Yu easily ignited the fire with a lighter, a piece of professional outdoor equipment. This wasn’t a survival show where you used friction to start a fire—far too inefficient. Darkness was approaching, so he found some straight, thin branches, sharpened their tips, peeled them, and skewered three squirrels over the flame. Only then did he have time to interact with the viewers in the comments.

"I don’t recommend using a handgun to kill bears; it’s hell-level difficulty. Even professional hunters, with a double-barreled shotgun, and aiming at vital parts, need at least five large-caliber bullets. If you shoot wildly, well..."

"Maybe Food Mercenary could handle this bear, but definitely not us."

"It only needs a single swipe to take down deer or antelopes. For us humans, it’s the same deal—one swipe. If your movements aren’t slick enough, you’ll get one-shot by its every hit... a super punch from the bear!"

A rare moment of jest.

Shrugging his shoulders, Xia Yu patted the plant fibers off his behind and walked away from the camera towards the dark forest. The sun had set, and within the dense woods, it was almost like nighttime. Tang Yuqiong stared at his disappearing figure into the woods, lost in a daze.

The popularity of the live stream had quietly risen to a hundred thousand, ranking near the top in the outdoor category.

It was six in the evening in Japan, and five o’clock in China. More users were logging onto Shark TV.

"Hey, the one with the phone, follow quickly with the camera, why aren’t you moving!"

"Host, come back! I want to hear your encyclopedia!"

New viewers to the live stream were causing a commotion.

Thus, regular viewers weighed in, speechless:

"Sister Qiong is the host, okay? The guy who was just talking is just a passerby, stop it!"

"That can’t be right, Sister Qiong? Then, host, show us your chest. If the pectorals are big enough, I’ll grudgingly believe you!"

Tang Yuqiong was immensely frustrated.

Her live stream seemed to be under threat of being taken over.

Soon Xia Yu returned, and the barrage of messages intensified. Tang Yuqiong frowned and reluctantly read out messages for Xia Yu:

"A rich patron who just sent a rocket is asking what you went to do."

"I brought back these..."

Xia Yu placed what he was holding in his hands by the fire, and the light illuminated two bunches of wild plants.

One bunch was branches, with leaves that had turned yellow, and similarly yellowed tiny berries hanging from them.

The other was a bunch of weeds, with flat leaves that resembled sugarcane and sharp edges that could cut skin. Moreover, judging by the droplets on the leaves, Xia Yu had clearly washed them with care while bringing them back.

"Eh!"

Tang Yuqiong’s eyes widened slightly, and she finally recognized them.

"Pepper?"

"Lemongrass?"

"Uh-huh."

Xia Yu responded and first started processing the wild pepper berries, picking all the fruit and crushing them in a small bowl with the handle of his knife. By this time, the squirrel meat roasting over the fire was emitting an aromatic smell. Grabbing the most primal and natural seasoning, he pinched a bit and sprinkled it on.

It might have been an illusion, but in the live stream, the fire seemed to change strangely as Xia Yu approached. The audience fell silent, unable to describe it.

It was as if... the flames became tame, the fire under control?

"This is mountain pepper, or you can call it Sichuan pepper," Xia Yu said, offering the remaining spices in the bowl to the camera. "There’s a lot of it in the mountains back home. It loves sunlight and is highly adaptable. You can find it in more open wild areas. The root, branch, leaves, and fruit all have medicinal uses, but for cooking, only the fruit is suitable. It’s a natural spice, and after crushing it and sprinkling it on roasted meat, you have the cleanest pepper!"

"Since this is a wilderness kitchen, we’ll only use our own salt. All other seasonings come straight from nature—gifts from the great outdoors!"