CHAPTER 608: CHAPTER 607: QING SHADOW (PART 1)

In the blink of an eye, over half of the ten-day break had passed.

"Ah—"

In the early morning, a long sigh, though tinged with fatigue, was filled with a sense of fulfillment.

Xia Yu stepped out of the kitchen, stretched his limbs, and began to practice boxing in the courtyard. His movements, alternating between motion and stillness, might appear to the untrained eye similar to the morning exercises of the elderly in parks, merely fancy moves without much substance.

"[Silver Chopsticks Ten Pots Flip] (Blue): A culinary skill that greatly exercises the brain and body coordination. It has certain physical requirements for learners and, once mastered, enables control of ten pots to cook ten dishes of the absolute same perfect quality!"

"Skill Level: 5/10."

"Remaining Allocatable Talent Points: 29."

Compared to five days ago, the talent points had not decreased at all, but the newly acquired cooking skill, starting from zero in the blue rank, accumulated one training level per day.

After the morning exercise, his mind also felt much clearer.

He first returned to his restaurant to wash up. Around ten in the morning, Ichise Hui and Rui Shan Zhi Jin Ye arrived together.

Ichise Hui brought the construction plan for Xia’s Farm.

Over the past few days, Xia Yu had assigned him a task—to look for suitable livestock land outside the Tokyo circle to establish a branch of Xia’s Farm. This site was intended for breeding fantasy livestock, but acquiring the land was just the first step. After several discussions, they realized that investing in a fantasy livestock farm was far more daunting than a mere plantation, so a comprehensive, step-by-step plan was certainly necessary.

As for Rui Shan Zhi Jin Ye,

a talent who prioritizes interest without loyalty, Xia Yu had initially not intended to employ him. After all, although Tiqie Ji seemed to have withdrawn from Far Moon and faded from the scene, the ’Gourmet Club’ behind him remained unshaken. The shadow looming over Far Moon wouldn’t dissipate, and who knew if he might betray them in the future.

But all these concerns were addressed by a "servitude" contract. Rui Shan submitted his pledge of loyalty, and Xia Yu accepted it. This fellow, according to the original story, was an advisor for many restaurants and gourmet groups, possessing top-notch capabilities in business management and other commercial aspects. It’s known that Far Moon had management courses, and the performance of its top ten members was unquestionable.

Today marked the fifth day since Rui Shan Zhi Jin Ye took office; he came early to report to Xia Yu.

"...Currently, competition is fierce among the ten stores in Zone A, with chefs like Kazasaki Tatsuki, Qian Rixiangzi, and Kikuchi Sankaku competing against each other. Apart from our Far Moon alumni seniors, there are also many celebrity chefs in society consulting, showing strong interest in leasing."

Respectfully, Rui Shan handed over a document.

"This is the lease list for Zone A that I have drafted. Please look it over, and if you have no questions, next up would be negotiating the contract."

Xia Yu casually flipped through it.

The shopping street was divided by Rui Shan into four zones, ABCD, among which, Zone A had the best location. It was neither too far from nor too close to the core area of Xia’s Restaurant in the shopping district, ensuring a good flow of customers.

With the fierce competition for merchant leasing in this zone, Xia Yu’s phone had practically been blown up a few days ago, with various chefs whom he didn’t know how they got his number coaxingly requesting to join.

Thus, having Rui Shan around was advantageous. Xia Yu could delegate all his work, regardless of whether it involved acquaintances or strangers, whether it was about leasing or more detailed rental contracts or other cooperation details, all could be handled by Rui Shan. Let Rui Shan be the tough one.

"Let’s go with your spreadsheet."

With these words of mild encouragement, Xia Yu sent Rui Shan on his way.

Ichise Hui watched as his respected fellow alumni left and whispered, "Instructor Xia, don’t you plan to appoint a supervisor?"

Xia Yu knew what Ichise Hui meant, yet he simply smiled lightly and said, "We’ve just set up this provisional team; should we create internal restraints already? There’s no rush on this matter; let’s see what Mr. Rui Shan can achieve. For now, I give him my absolute trust."

Ichise Hui nodded his head.

He wondered to himself, could it be his past bad impressions that influenced his evaluation of Rui Shan’s capabilities? Glimpsing at the young instructor, who smiled with ease, Ichise couldn’t help but feel slightly ashamed.

Before leaving, Ichise Hui hesitated to speak again.

"Well, Instructor Xia, actually, a couple of days ago, the General and President Dojima talked to me. They asked in detail about the farm’s development plans, and I revealed a bit," he said.

Xia Yu squinted slightly, acutely aware that Far Moon might interject itself. Naturally, given the innate disadvantage of his capital, he had no objection to collaborating with Far Moon.

After all, he was now one of the giants in the Far Moon Kingdom, holding a 10% share, not inferior to Kasuga Shigeru and Kikuchi Musashi.

After sending off Ichise Hui, Xia Yu spent almost the entire day practicing, practicing, and practicing again.

He had too many projects to practice.

"Golden Laughter" needed a deeper understanding.

Another supreme culinary recipe, "Four Divine Seafood Eight Treasure Soul Suppressing Dumplings," also required a great deal of effort to perfect.

Then there was his recent new toy, "Qi"...

Moreover, Wu Yingying’s bottom-of-the-box ’Guanyin Tofu’ finally reminded Xia Yu of a recipe task that had been weighing on him for too long. These days, he often ran to the farm to check on the crop harvests, and the issue of materials would soon be resolved.

In the evening, having not yet eaten dinner, Xia Yu unexpectedly received an invitation for a "date."

A childhood friend came calling, inviting him out to dine.

The location...

It was Uesugi Izakaya in the Sumida River area, a small streetside restaurant that she, Xia Yu, and Eriina had worked together to revive during the July fireworks festival.

"Xia, Senior Xia, please try our Izakaya’s latest menu item, a specialty!"

The old patrons of the izakaya cast surprised glances, and the young chef and manager Tetsuya Uesugi was so excited that he even stuttered a bit—an unusual occurrence for a manager who had passed his apprenticeship and was gradually maturing; the regulars couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.

The specialty of the izakaya was not some high-end dish, but a novel snack; for example, a dish of stewed ray fin was quite good. After being simmered in a salty and savory sauce, the cartilage was crisp and the meat flavorful, creating a rich texture and full-bodied gelatin; paired with an indispensable glass of sake from the izakaya, it offered a great gastronomic pleasure.

"Try this..."

Makki Morioka, dressed in autumn attire, pulled a small soup bowl over.

Inside the bowl was a golden-brown curry soup soaked with chicken pieces, potatoes, eggplants, eggs, broccoli, and carrots. The vegetables were fried before being steeped. Xia Yu met Makki’s sparkling eyes as he scooped up a taste. The fried vegetables were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, mixed with the sauce; it was simply irresistible, no wonder his childhood friend strongly recommended it.

Occasional dining out indeed brought many novel sensations.

Although Tetsuya Uesugi’s culinary skills still had many flaws, appearing immature even in Makki’s critique, the passion infused into the cooking was palpable to the diners.

Getting tired of overly perfect, meticulously packaged delicacies, tasting the green works again brought a distinctly different enjoyment.

"Hmm?"

Around ten at night, after giving some pointers to Tetsuya Uesugi and coming out of the kitchen, Xia Yu’s gaze flicked to an old tree outside the restaurant, and his expression suddenly changed.

He made no sound, seemingly stepping out for some air, but he approached the old tree.