Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 642 - 641: Red Sleeves Adding Fragrance

Chapter 642: Chapter 641: Red Sleeves Adding Fragrance

Late at night.

"Knock, knock..."

While flipping through a hefty volume at the dining table, Xia Yu was startled awake by a series of crisp knocking sounds.

"I’m going back to my room to sleep!"

Yawning and stretching, Zhu Qing paused before stepping out of the door, "Don’t stay up too late. There’s plenty of time. I’m already on my way, and in two more days, I’ll be able to get the hang of it! Don’t worry!"

Xia Yu nodded towards her retreating figure, "Then get some sleep!"

After she left, he bowed his head back to his reading.

There’s no doubt.

This book in front of him was the medicinal culinary notebook he had discovered in the attic of their restaurant, where the old man had recorded a lifetime of research. Given that the book contained knowledge of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements in Chinese medicine and food therapy, Xia Yu was essentially seeking guidance from the old man across space as he perused the book.

"Old dough..."

After a while, he reached into a dark ceramic jar on the table and pulled out a sticky lump of dough. Molding it like silly putty, his mumblings echoed in the kitchen:

"The filling is not the core, the dough is where the soul of this golden recipe lies. Infusing it with flavors that correspond to the Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, placing them within the dough, giving it a balanced taste, constructing a stable foundation of Yin and Yang Eight Trigrams in the taster’s mouth..."

At that moment, Xia Yu furrowed his brows and closed the book.

"Who’s there?"

He turned his head toward the half-closed door. Footsteps were audible outside; light, ethereal, they had been lingering for a while.

His shout caused the footsteps to dissipate.

"Nobody there?" He opened the door to look outside. It should have been around 3 or 4 a.m. He peered out to see the moonlight casting a cold glow on the corridor. He called out, and the motion-sensor lights flicked on instantly, illuminating the hallway leading to the living area. The space was deserted.

Occupied with thoughts of the upcoming competition, Xia Yu didn’t linger on it and returned to his seat in the kitchen.

But not long afterward, the door behind him clicked open.

Turning around, Xia Yu was taken aback.

"...Eriina?"

Standing at the doorway in a long nightgown with slightly tousled hair, was the girl with the ’Divine Tongue.’ Perhaps just woken, her expression appeared a bit stiff, her impassive face, her beautiful eyes fixated on him with an abnormal twinkle.

"It’s almost morning!"

Xia Yu pointed at the clock on the table. Just as he lowered his head, ready to finish reading a passage from the old man’s notebook, a subtle movement came from across the dining table as the girl, who had gotten up for the night, pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him, staring straight at him.

Then, a unique fragrance began to diffuse in the air.

The scent was barely there, but with Xia Yu’s keen nose, though not super-olfactory, he picked it up. It was similar to the smell of burning butter lamps in temples, a faint scent of buttery milk that seemed to have a calming and focusing effect.

Shaking his head without giving it much thought, Xia Yu focused on his reading. Subconsciously, he figured the girl had insomnia from getting up in the night, so he let her sit for a while if she wanted to.

After some time, the scent of tea wafted through the air.

Eriina had, at some point, boiled water and made tea. When the steaming cup was handed to him, Xia Yu looked up with a surprised "Hmm" and smiled slightly at the girl, "Thank you."

Her lips moved without making a sound, and the girl in the nightgown just lifted the corners of her mouth slightly, still silent.

The winter nights stretched long.

As dawn approached, Xia Yu finally put down the old man’s notes, his eyes gleaming brightly, clearly having gained some insight from a night of reading.

The girl left quietly without a sound, the faint buttery scent that had accompanied his reading also vanished without a trace. The leftover tea in the pot was still warm. Pouring himself a cup to moisten his throat, he didn’t feel overly tired after staying up all night and was full of energy with no need for additional sleep.

"Only three days left!"

Xia Yu mused, "The ingredients are not a problem, I can start from the past ’Peacock Dance’ recipe for the Yin Yang Five Elements concept. After all, I once managed to handle several types of aquatic produce, creating a sashimi feast!"

Having a sudden epiphany overnight, Xia Yu hurriedly washed up and immediately started practicing with a new batch of ingredients.

Since it was a collaboration, he and Zhu Qing had agreed that the ’Four Divine Seafood Eight Treasure Soul Suppressing Dumplings’ must include her ’transformation’ Food Justice Seal, the challenge lay in how to intertwine the Food Justice Seal with the Yin Yang Five Elements.

It’s well-known that the same recipe in different chefs’ hands leads to different expressions.

After all, each chef has their own unique style, most notably their Chef’s Heart Mark and Food Justice Seal. What Xia Yu was most worried about now was not whether he could endow the dough with its essence, but how his and Zhu Qing’s marks could merge and resonate within a single dish!

They had managed it with the ’Rainbow Liquor’ but that didn’t guarantee success with this recipe.

Coordination, oh!

Xia Yu sighed, just as he was getting up, his whole body suddenly shook.

"Coordination!"

He repeated, as his pupils swiftly dilated.

"Yin and Yang!"

"Exactly, the dough needs to balance Yin and Yang. Externally, the chefs making the dough and buns, aren’t they also a fusion of Yin and Yang adhering to the grand path? Why not integrate the Food Justice Seal from the perspective of Yin and Yang? This is the most natural framework!" Xia Yu was thrilled, feeling like he had grasped a key to unlock a door.

...

At breakfast time, Xia Yu took a bowl of hot porridge and sat in front of the television.

Tiqie Helinai was sitting cross-legged on the sofa beside him, having already eaten breakfast, she hugged a pillow and watched the TV show with relish.

It was a exploration program, and the scene displayed prominently was the Hokkaido Shrine Pavilion, currently closed.

The female reporter’s somewhat excited voice came through:

"...This is the Hokkaido Shrine Pavilion that has made a name for itself around the world in recent times. Numerous Lin and Dragon level culinary battles have taken place here. Legend has it that at the Pavilion’s initial establishment, the first culinary battle was between a leading figure of the Japanese Food Industry at the time and a Demon King who crossed the seas. The leading figure was defeated and took his own life..."

The camera focused on a portrait inside the pavilion, a middle-aged man in samurai garb, with a stern face, looked into the camera with an imposing aura.

This was the story behind the pavilion, as the reporter narrated, she then shifted the topic to the culinary duel that was slated to take place in three days.

"In three days, the century-old pavilion will witness another exciting matchup!"

"Which team do you think is most favored to win?"

"Not mentioning the three mysterious Lin Chefs, the special-grade chefs of the three teams are all unbelievably young... Oh, right, right, including Chef Xia. Please allow me to personally cheer for Chef Xia!"

The female reporter suddenly pulled out a headshot. It was anyone’s guess where she had gotten the photo, showcasing a young boy dressed in a White Seagull Junior High School uniform, seemingly taken during some group retreat, with a face that betrayed an annoyed and foolish expression at the camera.

"Pfft!"

Eriina, who had been watching, suddenly burst into laughter, pointing at the TV.

Xia Yu almost spat out the porridge in his mouth; swallowing with difficulty, he looked at the green face of himself on the TV photo and thought to himself with extreme speechlessness, "That must have been when I first arrived? No wonder I look so done with life and have a Sima face!"

"That’s right!"

He called to the girl still laughing, and seeing her eyes sparkling with no trace of exhaustion or fatigue, he couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Didn’t you have insomnia last night, Eriina?"

Pointing to the bowl of hot porridge in his hand, "I made some medicinal porridge this morning to help you recuperate!"

Hearing this, the girl gave him a side-eye as if he were insane.

"You’re the one with insomnia! I slept all the way until dawn, full of energy!"