Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 610 - 609: Changes in the Competition Format

Chapter 610: Chapter 609: Changes in the Competition Format

Early in the morning, as the sky had just started to grow light, the flow of cars broke the silence of the shopping street.

Media interview vans parked one after another along the block, reporters rushed out to summon their filming teams, swarming towards the core building of the shopping street—Xia’s Restaurant.

Reporters always knew certain intelligence firsthand, such as, the Far Moon Contest Team was flying to Sapporo this morning to participate in the second phase of the competition. And today was, coincidentally, the last day of the ten-day break in the competition.

At the entrance of the restaurant, the Far Moon bus was parked, already started, its engine humming and ready to depart at any moment.

Inside the bus, the original members of the Far Moon Contest Team gathered—

The team leader, Dojima Yin, "Shura" Saito Chiyokuro, along with the irrelevant Tiqie couple and Professor Chapeau.

Zhu Qing was naturally there too.

Meanwhile, Dojima Yin had no choice but to accept a media interview at the door of the bus.

"Mr. Dojima, please discuss the second phase of the competition!"

"The competition committee has officially announced that the second phase will be broadcasted globally... What are your thoughts about this stage being open to the public?"

"It’s not only the competition being made open to the public, but also changes in the format. According to the announcement, competing Lin Chefs must bring a Special Level Collaborator. Can you elaborate why the officials specified ’collaborator’ instead of ’assistant’?"

There were many questions, and Dojima Yin patiently answered them.

The journalists surrounding the bus soon noticed that an important figure was missing.

"Where’s Chef Xia?"

"Yeah, where is he?"

Suddenly, the shopping street erupted in noise in the early morning. The star chef, who had avoided the media and public view for ten days, shut the door of his restaurant and leisurely walked towards the bus, "Make way, hey, don’t block the road!"

The young chef carried a black backpack and dragged a bulging sealed box in his hand.

Somewhere away from the crowd.

A black car was parked, and Ichise Hui stood together with Rui Shan Zhi Jin Ye.

Ichise Hui had just come out of the restaurant, his breathing slightly erratic. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, non-existent as it was, and exhaled, "Phew... finally managed to get the stuff delivered on time."

At these words, Rui Shan couldn’t help but be curious, but he simply moved his lips and refrained from asking further.

Xia’s Farm held too many secrets, and it was better not to pry at this time.

"Rui Shan, just wait—"

Ichise Hui looked up, the morning sun shining on his face and hair, his smile growing more mysterious, his eyes glowing with anticipation brighter than the sunshine itself, "The Lin Chef’s competition phase will definitely be as spectacular as the first phase!"

"Really..."

Rui Shan’s heart skipped a beat, silently pondering: "What on earth did Ichise Hui bring?!"

No one answered him.

"Rumble..."

On its way to the airport, the Far Moon bus received treatment comparable to a political leader’s convoy; it was given the right of way throughout the journey and was even surrounded by morning commuters for photos when waiting at traffic lights in some areas.

While one batch of media personnel blocked the door, another batch was staked out at the airport.

In any case, the return of the Far Moon Team to Sapporo was well known by everyone.

Two hours later.

On the route from Sapporo Chitose Airport to Ookura Mountain Villa.

After handing off the food ingredient boxes and luggage to the staff, Xia Yu unzipped his backpack as soon as he got into the car, resting the pack in his lap, using it as a pillow while scrolling through his phone, with Zhu Qing observing for a while and finally unable to resist asking, "What have you got in this backpack?"

"Nothing much!"

Xia Yu was composing today’s blog post as various ingredients flitted through his mind. From the vast ocean of ingredients, he picked what he needed to compose today’s recipes, which he would publish online.

During these days off from the competition, Xia Yu’s only communication with the outside world had been through various social media platforms.

Thanks to his active presence online, his follower count had surged day by day. If any gourmet media conducted a serious survey, Xia Yu would undoubtedly be voted the most popular star chef on all major platforms currently. Many fans urged him in comments to release gourmet videos to draw more followers, but Xia Yu simply smiled and never took it seriously.

"Nothing much?"

Zhu Qing reached over. "Then let me check that out!"

"Stop!"

Xia Yu’s forehead throbbed with veins. "Quiet down, don’t cause trouble! I want some peace before the competition."

"As your guardian elder, I have the responsibility to keep you away from some unhealthy things!" Zhu Qing moved closer, her mouth almost touching his ear, her breath sweet, "...did you bring any ’books’? I get it, young people your age are always full of energy!"

Books?

Veins popping. Meeting Zhu Qing’s teasing eyes, Xia Yu suddenly calmed down and smiled. "Ah, Auntie, I didn’t expect you’d know about ’books’... There indeed is one in my bag, but its content is somewhat taboo..."

He deliberately emphasized the word "taboo."

He gave her a look that meant more than words could say.

"Old driver" Zhu Qing seemed to understand and her ears turned red as she reached out to grab his ear.

Xia Yu could only resist.

Others in the car turned a blind eye, busy with their own things, some earnestly reading food magazines, others working on their laptops at the small tables, writing papers on culinary research.

Snap.

Something fell to the floor with a crisp sound.

Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro, who were chatting, turned their heads at the sound and saw Xia Yu, no longer in the mood for playing with Zhu Qing, picking up a rather large and heavy jade artifact from the ground.

The long-handled jade artifact had a unique shape, emitting a mysterious aura that invited further investigation.

Xia Yu quickly stuffed the jade back into his backpack.

"Stop!"

He raised his hand to stop Zhu Qing and plunked himself down.

Due to the formal setting and the presence of many media, Zhu Qing was dressed in a gray-white professional sheath dress today, looking every bit the mature urban beauty. She smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress from the earlier scuffling and, smiling warmly, leaned in again. "Let me see that jade artifact..."

"No!"

"Don’t be stingy... what’s yours is mine!"

Zhu Qing declared boldly.

"Hmm, according to tradition, I’m your aunt, half a mother. Your mother passed away early, so it’s completely fine for you to see me as your mother!"

Perhaps feeling her point was not strong enough, Zhu Qing unnecessarily added, "Before I came to Japan, the old man specifically instructed me to keep an eye on you!"

Xia Yu rolled his eyes dramatically, no longer bothering to entertain her.

Around ten in the morning, the team returned to the villa after several days.

Getting off the bus, Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro appeared relaxed. They said to Xia Yu, "For the second stage, it’s all on you guys. We’re just here to travel and watch the competition."

Dojima Yin also waved the documents in his hand:

"Contestant Lin Chef—Zhu Qing."

"Special Level Collaborator—Xia Yu."

"According to the rules, you have to work together to produce a communal culinary creation." Dojima Yin raised three fingers. "Unlike the first stage, in the second stage, every contestant only needs to compete in three rounds."

"The first round is a scoring elimination system. Out of 31 contest teams, 1 to 2 pairs of Lin Chefs and Special Chefs will be sent, so the first match might be a huge brawl with roughly 60 pairs... The ranking is determined by the judges’ scores, perfect score 100, only the top ten qualify for the next round!"

"Remember, the top ten!"

Dojima Yin took a breath. "If scores are tied, there are no extra matches; who advances and who is eliminated will be decided by the judges!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu’s eyes moved slightly.

It seemed that the judging panel for the second stage of the Lin Chef competition held significant influence.

Who exactly were these five judges?