CHAPTER 670: CHAPTER 669: HARVEST, SCHOOL FESTIVAL

Several days after the competition ended, on Xia’s Restaurant’s official website, the closure announcement hanging at the top of the homepage was finally replaced with a cartoon graphic proclaiming "Preparation for Reopening, Thank You for Waiting."

Xia’s Restaurant’s regular customers were certainly familiar with the cartoon image of maids with black and blond hair bowing at a ninety-degree angle. This was the guide that led them through the online ordering process, a character design beautifully crafted by Eri Eri.

In the morning, winter sunlight scattered across Far Moon Back Mountain Farm.

Ichise Hui, donned in work attire and muddy boots, stood with documents and a pen, sketching and saying to the newly recruited employees lined up in front: "Kogai, Kono, you two will continue to manage the seed room—is that clear?"

"No problem!"

The young employees responded loudly.

Ichise Hui continued to delegate tasks to the new recruits.

These newcomers had different skill sets—some were knowledgeable about storing food and seeds, others were top graduates from Agricultural Sciences, experts in planting, and some were mechanics specializing in farm machinery.

Xia’s Farm had formulated an expansion plan, which Ichise Hui and Xia Yu had discussed multiple times, leading to this large-scale recruitment.

Of course, the core areas of the farm were not open to newcomers; these zones were personally managed by Ichise Hui and Xia Yu.

"Whoosh—"

Near the central area’s greenhouse, over a field ripe with harvest, Xia Yu was holding a sickle, bending down; with a swipe of the blade, his left hand grabbed a large bunch of soybean plants laden with bean pods.

The bean pods were yellow and dry, the soybeans inside full and plump, swelling the pods—some had split open. When Xia Yu threw the plants towards a distant basket, a few black beans fell onto the soil and glistened strangely under the sunlight.

Not far away, a bent-over uncle looked up, exhaling sharply.

"I’ve been utterly conned by you!"

Jintan Shun wiped the sweat from his brow, grabbing a large bunch of plants and throwing them into the basket, full of resentment: "You hired me to watch over the farm, didn’t you? And now, I end up also helping with the farmwork—if the other former Ten Masters hunters knew about this, I’d be laughed to death!"

He patted his slightly sore back.

"Don’t even mention it, I think farmwork is more exhausting than hunting!" he said seriously, kicking the basket, "Is this enough?" He looked over at several similarly cultivated fields with a hint of fear in his eyes.

"That’s enough!"

Xia Yu also threw a bunch of bean pods into the basket and said, "Uncle, if you have poor back strength, you should consciously supplement your nutrition!"

Saying this, he picked up a basket filled with bean pods, and Xia Yu went with Jintan Shun to the farm’s office building.

After an hour, they managed to shell a large basket of beans at top speed. Jintan Shun, dizzy from the effort, lay in a chair, while Xia Yu, looking pleased, placed a small bag of shelled black beans on the electronic scale and immediately focused on the specific weight displayed, saying, "A little over 2600 grams, about 5 and a half pounds in total, enough for 5 to 6 practice attempts!"

Jintan Shun listened with a hint of skepticism.

"Are these really ’Big Tuna Belly Soybeans’?" The Lin-level Gold Medal Hunter looked at the black beans several times, his mind in a muddle each time, "The standard ’Big Tuna Bean’ is characterized by a mix of yellow and white, with a little frost-like pattern on the surface of the beans, very refined. These black beans of yours, from a characteristic standpoint, don’t match IGO’s definition of ’Big Tuna Bean’ at all..."

"And another thing!"

He grabbed a few beans, brought them close to his nose, and took a deep sniff, "The flavor! This is the core of the ingredient, but I don’t smell the signature fragrance of ’Big Tuna Bean’... Instead, what’s this sweet, rich scent?!"

"The sweet, rich scent? Haha, that’s exactly what I wanted, the perfect, ideal ingredient. That way, there’s no need to add brown sugar during the cooking process, perfect!"

Xia Yu, however, let out a refreshing laugh, filled with joy, obviously very satisfied with the newly harvested ingredient.

"It seems that the task of ’100% Complete Great Magic Panda Tofu’ can be completed in the near future—"

He thought to himself.

Finally obtaining the ideal black soybeans he had longed for, Xia Yu was very enthusiastic. He immediately left the farm, planning to return to the restaurant to soak the beans; after one night, he could start the cooking preparation the next day.

However, just as he stepped out, he was intercepted.

"Master Xia Yu..." the old butler of the Tiqie Mansion stood in front of a stretch limousine, bowing from afar and waiting for him to approach before respectfully saying, "The General invites you to dine."

Looking at the sky, it seemed to be around noon.

Lunch?

Xia Yu accepted the invitation with pleasure. After all, it was thanks to Old Man Tiqie that they had secretly transported back the "Jade Dragon Pot." If he and Zhu Qing had tried to bring back the kitchenware so brazenly, who knows how many brigand gangs they would have encountered on the way.

He took the car and arrived at the mansion gate where he ran into Dojima Yin.

"General—" he called out as he exited the car and shouted, seeing Dojima Yin about to dash inside in a hurried manner; she stopped in her tracks and looked back at him with a peculiar and indecisive gaze.

"What’s up?" Xia Yu approached.

"See for yourself—"

Dojima Yin pulled a face and handed him the newspaper she was holding.

The headline read:

"A First! Renowned Manga Artist Kubo Ryunosuke and Lin Giant Lei Ze Reach Understanding for Collaboration!"

"Ah!" Xia Yu was also slightly taken aback, his eyes flickering, "This Kubo Ryunosuke has actually gotten involved with Lei Zhe? Lei Zhe is in Tokyo? Could this guy represent the will of the culinary world leaders..."

After only a brief glance at the article, Xia Yu found himself riddled with countless metaphorical bullets.

Although the newspaper did not directly mock him with cold irony or sarcasm, using veiled language, if one paid attention to the news of the past few days, it was clear that there had been an embarrassing incident between him and Kubo Ryunosuke. Though not a big deal in itself, the media and fans mixed in to add fuel to the fire, leading to inevitable grudges in the hearts of both parties involved.

Walking into the house with Dojima Yin, Xia Yu curiously noticed that Dojima Yin had a worried expression, seemingly more concerned than he was about the collaboration between Lei Zhe and Kubo Ryunosuke.

"???"

The black question mark emoticon represented Xia Yu’s mood at the moment.

What on earth is going on?

During the lunch, Xia Yu ate with a belly full of questions. After the meal, seeing the General and Dojima Yin sitting across from each other at the tea table, fervently discussing the newspaper’s news, he couldn’t help but interject, "They are just collaborating in the manga field, right?"

"Just?"

Hearing Xia Yu’s indifference to this big news, Dojima Yin shook her head and said, "These two people, one a Lin Giant of the culinary world and the other a manga artist with significant social and cultural influence—by joining forces, they are effectively infiltrating the local Japanese culinary and manga sectors, potentially triggering a war over culture... We must be on guard!"

Far Moon’s sensitivity also had its reasons.

Not to mention anything else, but the culinary world sent Tiqie Ji to stir up trouble, causing a board of directors’ turmoil, and now even the Tiqie lineage seemed slightly jittery.

But was it really just a case of jumping at shadows?

"Let’s wait and see!"

Tiqie Xianzuowen coolly concluded the topic.

Then, he and Dojima Yin simultaneously turned their gaze toward Xia Yu.

"Instructor Xia..."

"You should be aware, these next few days the acceptance of stores for the school festival will close. Regarding this year’s festival, do you have any suggestions? Please, speak as a mentor of the Ten Master Mechanism."

Xia Yu was momentarily stunned.