CHAPTER 209: CHAPTER 14: YOU CAN’T JUST ASK ME TO DO THE PLATING, CAN YOU?

🔥🔥 You can find 40 Chapters ahead here

Support link: pat_reon.com/Redon1

Also other exciting fanfic available 🔥🔥

----------------------------------------------------------

Erina scanned the room, finding no one else in particular she wanted to pick. "For the last spot, after some thought, I’ll choose Alice." While Yukihira Soma would become a renowned chef in the future, he wasn’t yet.

Moreover, his cooking style was a general mishmash, making him a versatile but not specialized chef.

However, with Renz and Erina both possessing strong overall culinary abilities, their team needed distinctive, specialized members to truly add value. It would be better to build the team around Renz, complementing him with chefs who had unique skills.

Akira Hayama was one of the few distinctive chefs present, possessing the ability to deduce what a chef was cooking just by smelling the spices on their hands. His keen sense of smell, judgment of spices, and ability to control the olfactory impact of dishes made him a barely usable choice as a supporting sous chef. If not for the mandatory team size, Erina felt she and Renz alone would be enough, rendering many helpers unnecessary.

"Have you made your choices?" Dojima Gin asked.

Erina nodded. "Yes, I have."

Dojima Gin, holding a black marker, wrote down the names on a clipboard. This five-person configuration felt completely mismatched. Akira Hayama excelled in curry-based dishes, Alice specialized in molecular gastronomy, and Hisako Arato ’s strongest suit was medicinal cuisine. Curry, molecular, and medicinal these three culinary systems were incompatible. A more harmonious pairing would be French cuisine + desserts + meat dishes, forming a perfect Western restaurant model. Erina’s chosen team, however, left him utterly bewildered as to what they could possibly achieve.

"It seems, Erina, you’re still helpless without my help," Alice, the fifth chosen member, boasted with an air of mysterious confidence. Being chosen last, Alice interpreted it as Erina valuing her greatly. If so, she felt compelled to showcase the formidable skills she had cultivated over the years, making Erina bow down in awe of her superior culinary technique.

After all, she hailed from Europe’s most renowned international gourmet company and enjoyed the cuisine of countless famous European chefs daily. In such an environment, she had relentlessly refined her molecular gastronomy. Alice even felt that Erina had chosen her to be the head chef for this winter training. She, as the head chef, with the other four as her assistants although the winter training’s challenge seemed somewhat beyond their scope, Alice suddenly felt the task wasn’t difficult at all after Erina chose her last.

"Since your group’s roster is confirmed, you can start preparing and assigning tasks now," Dojima Gin instructed. "Here’s your restaurant’s door number. Gather there. You need to decide on the dishes you’ll prepare, their prices, and how you’ll set up your restaurant."

As Dojima Gin finished speaking, Erina led her team. Akira Hayama reluctantly followed the group, his gaze immediately falling upon the child held by Nito Hisako.

"Is that a relative of Hisako-san’s?" Akira Hayama subconsciously asked in a soft voice. He initially assumed it was Hisako’s niece or nephew, entrusted to her care during the holidays because their family couldn’t look after them, and she was forced to bring the child along for the winter training. That was all Akira Hayama could imagine.

Hisako, who had been smiling brightly, saw her smile flatten into a straight line at Akira Hayama’s question.

"No, that’s the Erina-sama’s daughter," Hisako retorted, feeling a touch of ironic sadness. It was the Erina-sama’s daughter, yet the Erina-sama had simply dumped the child on her. While she was happy and found Rina adorable, she couldn’t shake a sense of "tragedy."

"Cough " Akira Hayama immediately choked. "They haven’t been married long, have they?" Akira Hayama blurted out, his voice unconsciously growing louder. He was clearly stunned by the news. However, he quickly lowered his voice at the end. "That’s how it is when a couple’s life is harmonious," Renz said, patting Akira Hayama’s shoulder. "Hayama-kun, don’t you have anyone you like?"

"No," Akira Hayama replied after a slight delay.

"Aren’t you secretly in love with Professor Shiomi Jun?

You ungrateful disciple!" Hisako seemed to know Akira Hayama quite well. Previously, at Totsuki Academy, Akira Hayama had mocked Hisako’s seemingly shallow ideals during a Shokugeki. Now, Hisako seized the opportunity to get her revenge.

"It’s not a secret crush. Jun is just my most important family member," Akira Hayama quickly denied. "Besides, what’s the point of saying all that? The most important thing now is how we’re going to manage a restaurant."

"Nice topic change," Hisako said, batting her eyelashes.

"As for running the restaurant, we’ll follow the Erina-sama’s ideas."

"Can’t you have some opinion? You just leave everything to..." Akira Hayama suddenly didn’t know how to address Erina. Should he call her Mrs. Nakiri? But Renz didn’t seem to be marrying into the family. Mrs. Su sounded strange too. Not calling her Mrs. Nakiri and just using her name would be rude. Nakiri-san? They’ve already graduated, so that’s also inappropriate. Erina-sama?

That seemed to be the best way to address her. But that was Hisako’s exclusive title.

In his hesitation, Erina spoke up. "For this restaurant, my husband will be the head chef, and I will be the sous chef."

"Hayama-kun, you’ll be the prep station assistant."

"Prep station?" Akira Hayama was momentarily stunned.

Prep work was indeed the most suitable position for him.

A prep chef specializes in processing ingredients for the head chef, requiring excellent knife skills and being responsible for cutting, portioning, and preparing ingredients. His specialty was spices, and his knife skills were decent. However, Akira Hayama felt that using him for such a supportive role in the team was perhaps too extravagant. Erina as head chef and him as sous chef, or vice versa, would be the more normal approach, wouldn’t it?

"What about me?!" Alice exclaimed, raising her hand.

"You can’t just ask me to do the plating, can you?"

To be honest, Erina had chosen Alice purely because she

didn’t know who else to pick and ended up with someone she was familiar with. Alice’s purpose was simple: just to fill a spot to complete the five-person team. As for what Alice would actually do, Erina hadn’t even thought about it.

However, Alice had just suggested a role for herself: plating.

That works.

It’s a simple, undemanding role. She could be trusted with it.

__________________________

🍊 Boost This Fanfic! 🍊

Every 350 Power Stones gets 2 bonus Chapters! 🚀

Want faster updates? Show your support by dropping Power Stones, leaving reviews, and sharing your thoughts in the comments! Your engagement keeps the story going strong!