Chapter 597: Chapter 596: Dinner Together (Part 2)

At night.

In Sapporo, on the first day after the competition, a shopping street had miraculously become a popular spot.

“I’ve brought the people over…”

Zhu Qing said this as she stretched her waist and stepped through the door.

Behind her followed seven chefs with peculiar styles.

As everyone entered, they bumped into Xia Yu greeting a group of relatives and friends, some moving tables and others transporting kitchen equipment such as pots, cutting boards, and mixing bowls.

The tables, set up in the courtyard under the night sky, quickly formed a tidy open-air kitchen environment.

“Turn on the lights—”

Xia Yu, alone, carried a grill as large as a bed and placed it in the corner of the courtyard. Wiping his sweat, he turned his head towards the storefront and shouted,

“All set!”

A crisp voice responded from the other end.

Makki also came to help.

As the sound ceased, lights spread out from multiple corners of the courtyard.

Zhu Qing, with her hands on her hips, looked around and noticed not only childhood friends but also familiar faces like Ichise Hui, Kobayakawa Ryodan, and Niho Fuyuka. Of course, the Yuchuan Sisters were also busy. It looked like everyone was ready to welcome guests.

Seeing this, Zhu Qing was astonished.

“Are you planning to open for business?”

Xia Yu carried bag after bag of charcoal, sprinkling it into the grill and burying solid alcohol tablets, not forgetting to reply to Zhu Qing, “Open for business? Forget it—see those tourists outside who came because of our reputation? Xia’s Restaurant would be overwhelmed if we opened now. Let’s wait until the hype dies down a bit.”

“Tsk tsk, is the fame of a great chef already on display?” Zhu Qing teased.

“Can’t help it; there are lots of customers. If they want to eat, they have to follow my rules, otherwise—”

Xia Yu shrugged, filled the grill with more charcoal, and lit it, making the grill burst into roaring flames. He then leisurely turned around and looked at the people from the Dark World who had come with Zhu Qing.

He also conveyed a message to these seven people.

“We will pay,” said Yan Mo of the Lin Giant.

“Pay? Well, that’s expected!”

Xia Yu turned and walked towards the storefront, “Wait for me; I’m going to write the menu. Tonight, we only serve the dishes on the menu! Tonight’s specials!”

He reached the counter and searched for blank antique wooden plaques.

Brushes and ink were already prepared.

“Tonight’s specials?”

Makki, Ichise Hui, and the Yuchuan Sisters curiously gathered around.

Thump thump!

At that moment, there was a knocking sound at the back door.

“Go, open the door, see who it is.” Xia Yu’s hand, holding the brush, paused for a moment as he casually spoke, arranging wooden plaques in front of him, and started writing neat Chinese characters on each.

As he was writing, a system prompt popped up:

“A new task.”

“[‘Chi’ Cuisine Hospitality].”

“Description: You have a basic understanding of how to use ‘chi’ with culinary techniques to cook dishes. Now, use ‘chi’ to cook the ‘Glowing Dishes’ you are familiar with, letting the evolved dishes satisfy the guests.”

“Requirements: Cook at least one ‘Evolved·Glowing Dish’.”

“Rewards:

1. 5 Talent Points.

2. [Body Strengthening Crystal·Agility](Purple) *1.”

His hand shook, making the brush strokes messy.

The task related to ‘chi’ came so quickly, Xia Yu hadn’t anticipated it. He casually threw the ruined wooden plaque into the trash can, muttering, “Why are you more impatient than I am!”

However.

His gaze swept to the rewards section, and all complaints turned into praise.

Talent Points!

Equivalent to the Talent Points earned by defeating a strong opponent at the Sapporo competition.

Moreover, Xia Yu had just been worrying that morning that his ‘Agility’ attribute wasn’t up to standard, preventing him from learning the new culinary skill “Silver Chopsticks Flips Ten Pots,” and now here was a related task in the evening…

The system was truly full of sincerity.

“Props to that!”

Originally, Xia Yu had some complaints about the group of guests who had shown up at his door, as he planned to rest for ten days, but the system didn’t let him take a break.

The familiar eagerness to try out new things returned to his eyes.

Hmm?

The task data disappeared, and the item column popped up.

Xia Yu slightly widened his eyes in surprise, looking at a temporary item that had just been added to the list, thinking amusingly, “So the experience card is already prepared!”

“Since tonight’s highlight is evolving dishes, the menu will have to change again.”

He pondered briefly.

Zhu Qing’s voice came from afar:

“Yu, come over quickly, there are special guests arriving!”

“You handle the hosting!”

He shouted back loudly, not paying much more attention to the helpers gathered around the front desk. Xia Yu quickly made a decision, a smile on his face, as he rapidly wrote down a series of dish names on nine plaques.

“Ah, no prices marked?”

Seeing him complete the writing and stand up, Makki couldn’t help but remind him.

Indeed, unlike those regular menu plaques in the store, the special menu that Xia Yu temporarily wrote lacked listed prices.

“Prices?”

He paused mid-step, and without turning his head, said, “These dishes are limited editions, exclusively for tonight, and are unpriced! As for whether I make them again… depends on my mood…”

Hearing this,

Makki, Ichise Hui, and the Yuchuan sisters looked at each other.

“That makes sense!”

Ichise Hui chuckled, “Instructor Xia’s signature dishes, their value is beyond measure.”

“Above top-tier dishes, no set prices!” Ayaka Yuchuan, however, appeared calm, “Qilin dishes, besides the ingredients, those unique culinary meanings and Food Dominators are also priceless secrets rarely shown to the public. Lin Chef mostly serves top-tier dishes when hosting guests.”

She hailed from Shi Lin Temple and being the legitimate eldest daughter of the Yuchuan family, she knew many of Lin Chef’s rules.

Xia Yu, holding nine wooden plaques strung together with a red cord, hung it on a quaint rack at the cooking counter, the breeze causing the plaques to sway, the black brush writing shimmering faintly under the light.

“Is this tonight’s menu?”

A voice sounded, aged yet spirited.

Turning his head, he saw Tiqie Xianzuowen, the old man still in his afternoon’s kimono, his arms folded and a look of interest in his eyes. By his side stood two attractively young granddaughters, one blonde and the other silver-haired.

“Yo, General!” Xia Yu greeted, “This is tonight’s menu.”

“And the prices?”

“Offer what you see fit!” Xia Yu said with a smile.

“Offer what we see fit?”

Xianzuowen was speechless.

“Well, let’s enjoy first then talk,” he said with a smile in his eyes.

“Eriina, take the General to VIP Room No. 1.” Xia Yu pointed to the wide-open room.

On the first floor, Room No. 1 and No. 2, facing the courtyard with their shoji doors open, lanterns placed on the ground on both sides of the entrance, with low tables inside also displaying bright lanterns.

Xianzuowen seated himself alone in Room No. 1.

As for the seven from the Dark World, they had been placed in Room No. 2 earlier and now were casting glances at Xianzuowen who was slowly approaching Room No. 1.

“This is the current ruler of the Japanese Food Industry?”

Lin Miao from the ‘Five Mysterious Snakes’ said resolutely.

“Red garment, can you see through it?” Lin Giant Yan Mo suddenly asked.

The woman in the red garment, another Lin Giant, slightly focused her hollow gaze, then her eyes cleared. She pursed her seductive purple lips, a deep wariness in her eyes, “Can’t see through. Just like our leader… no, maybe even stronger than our leader, probably already at the peak of Dragon level, hard to advance further.”

The seven remained silent.

“Ha, I’ll go check out tonight’s menu…”

The woman holding an oil-paper umbrella among them, sprang up excitedly.

“Yingying!” Yan Mo called her, “Mind your behavior! We are guests here!”

Her steps paused.

The woman turned around and made a funny face.

“I also want to show off my cooking skills; don’t you want to try my tea-cooked dishes?”

Hearing this, the other six from the Dark World understood Wu Yingying’s intentions.

They watched her hopping towards the courtyard.

“This… is this really okay?” Flower monk’s voice was somber, “After all, we aren’t here to cause trouble, just to say hello, after all, he is still from the Xia Family…”

“Just let Yingying go.”

The female Lin Giant in red chuckled softly, “After all, Yingying is one of the Five Talents. With Li Han and Tang Yuqiong suffering defeats, she has long been restless.”