CHAPTER 694: CHAPTER 693: RED OIL DUMPLINGS (PART 2)

"Heh, heh, heh..."

Heavy panting.

Not only had Lei Zhe, who had just snapped back to reality, widened his eyes, but many onlookers also stared unblinkingly at Lin Chef, who had both hands leaning on the stall.

Those chopsticks, stained with red oil, one had unknowingly fallen to the ground, while the other lay on the countertop.

"It pierced through!"

Lei Zhe whispered this within his heart, reflecting his initial critique of the red oil dumplings.

In reality, from the moment he picked up the dumplings, to when he swallowed and chewed them down, only a few seconds had passed, but Lei Zhe felt as though he had embarked on a life journey through a scorchingly hot desert.

This sensation... is the pursuit known as ’cuisine’!

Put another way, it’s as if the chef endowed the dish with a world of gourmet experience that felt palpably real.

Heart of Cooking!

Lei Zhe’s heart quivered slightly.

This was the essential element needed to build a complete world of culinary delight; a dish marked with the Chef’s Heart indeed possessed the ability to immerse Lin Chef into it.

But, was that all?

Lei Zhe shook his head, his eyes regaining their clarity, giving Xingping Chuangzhen a cold look.

He didn’t know the student’s name or background.

However, no matter what, Si Yingshi was the pinnacle of Yuan Yue Academy’s students. If his cuisine, even as the top student, couldn’t make him fall, what made this unknown underling think he could?

At that moment, Lei Zhe’s eyebrows twitched, revealing a hint of shock.

A sensation known as the ’aftertaste’ filled his mouth.

It was a kaleidoscope of flavors, not confined to spiciness alone – there was sourness, sweetness, an endless savoriness, as though echoing his desert journey.

A profound, mysterious sensation left Lei Zhe at a loss for words.

He was secretly astounded.

"This feeling... it’s so familiar!"

With that thought, scenes from the second phase of the Sapporo competition flashed through his mind.

Having been eliminated early and not breaking into the final rounds, Lei Zhe had always regarded this part of the competition as a disgrace. But right now, shame was not the issue; riding on this sense of familiarity, he grasped something.

His eyes suddenly snapped open.

When Lei Zhe looked at Xingping Chuangzhen again, the previous admiration had vanished, leaving his gaze and expression as frosty as they could be.

"Is this your recipe?"

He asked, his voice deep.

Xingping Chuangzhen’s expression stiffened, a forceful aura hitting him, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

For a moment, he was actually unable to speak.

A beast baring its fangs!

For a fleeting moment, Xingping’s vision blurred, and behind the sharply dressed Lin Chef, the shadow of a great bear emerged. This bear, with a fierce appearance and mighty build, seemed to pluck out his own eyes to throw them into its mouth, crunching down loudly while casting an interested glance at Xingping – a signal from a beast discovering its prey.

Before Xingping Chuangzhen could respond, Lei Zhe coldly snorted, picked up another clean pair of chopsticks, and continued to devour the dish of red oil dumplings.

Soon, the large plate of dumplings was completely devoured.

After a while.

"Is this your recipe?" After swallowing the last bite of food, Lei Zhe gazed at Xingping Chuangzhen, asking for the second time.

The crowd stirred.

Lei Zhe’s inquiry, more chilling and forceful with each repetition.

Anyone could hear it; the wariness he held towards this recipe...

No, to be more precise, that emotion should be described as hostility.

"Isn’t it Xingping’s Red Oil Dumplings?"

Koga Shoji froze on the steps.

Kobayakawa Ryodan and Tiqie Helinai also inhaled sharply, looking at Xingping Chuangzhen with some concern, "Where did this guy learn a recipe that even Lin Chef finds astonishing?"

"Well, how should I put it..."

Xingping Chuangzhen scratched his head.

"This is definitely not your recipe!" Lei Zhe emphasized, "With your skills, you couldn’t possibly create such a deeply layered recipe!"

The emphasis in his tone incited the young man’s rebellious heart.

"Who says it’s not my recipe?"

Xingping Chuangzhen stood there with arms folded, the quintessential fearless and defiant figure, and he said with a hint of pride, "This is a recipe that I completed and understood on my own. It bears my personal style, and I’ve given it the appropriate Chef’s Heart Mark. What right do you have to say it’s not my recipe? This is ’Xingping’s Red Oil Dumplings’!"

The onlookers exchanged glances, not expecting the story to shift from food to recipes.

Was the argument now going to revolve around recipes?

"Then bring out the original draft of the recipe, or rather, show me the source from which you took inspiration!" Lei Zhe said in a low voice.

Xingping Chuangzhen opened his mouth to speak but suddenly felt embarrassed.

He couldn’t admit that the framework of the recipe was directly copied from a culinary comic book and that he merely filled in the details himself. That would be too shameful.

Comic book content is always fictional, and even for a culinary manga with a more professional bent, copying the framework outright would be seen as frivolous. It’s not something a Far Moon student should be wildly dreaming up, and Lei Zhe certainly wouldn’t believe it if he told him.

But Xingping Chuangzhen indeed grasped the recipe from a comic, and he firmly believed that not everyone could comprehend it as he did!

He was the most unique one!

Xingping Chuangzhen still had that confidence.

"Speak—"

Lei Zhe, full of oppressive force, took a step forward.

This scene left the onlookers dumbfounded. They vaguely felt that the war was no longer between Lei Zhe and a Far Moon student, but between Lei Zhe and that Red Oil Dumplings recipe—more precisely, Lei Zhe had set his sights on the recipe’s creator. Even a fool could see the intense hostility and scorn.

"Speak? I don’t know how to say it verbally. I’ll give you an address. You can see for yourself—"

Xingping Chuangzhen had nothing left to lose.

He didn’t need to explain, remaining silent would have sufficed, but he wanted to tell this high-and-mighty Lin Chef that there was someone out there who was stronger and better than him, and that others were simply spreading knowledge silently, even generously sharing recipes in a comic!

At least, deep down, Xingping Chuangzhen had already come to regard the creator of the comic as his teacher.

He was about to bring out his teacher, to teach Lei Zhe a lesson!

Watch, this senior surpasses you in both culinary skill and virtue!

And so.

Lei Zhe received a web address, and following that address, he arrived at the homepage of an obscure comic book artist.

"It’s in the content of the comic," Xingping added.

To Lei Zhe’s surprise, he didn’t even glance at it and angrily said, "Are you mocking me?"

Bang!

With both palms pressed down, the Chinese-style food cart almost deformed instantly, nearly splitting in half.

"How could such ancient recipes be in a comic!"

Lei Zhe bellowed, "Tell me, who is your teacher, could it be..."

In Lin Chef’s mind was the image of a smiling young instructor.

The scene was too real.

And that was precisely the reason for Lei Zhe’s rage.

All around was dead silence.

Under the gaze of many, Lei Zhe’s outburst caught everyone off guard.

Seeing him exude such a terrifying aura, people suddenly remembered that this Lin Chef came from the culinary council. In the past, the ’culinary council,’ as an opposing force to the IGO, had always been considered an evil presence.

"That’s enough!"

A voice forcefully intervened at that moment.

Whoosh.

The crowd dispersed, creating a path. Xia Yu, leading the remaining few seats of the Elite Ten, finally arrived here.

There was no need for excess words.

Standing behind Lei Zhe, Xia Yu said very calmly, "Chef Lei Zhe, I am sorry, but you have disrupted the normal operation of our Far Moon Academy Festival. As a member of the Far Moon Board of Directors and as an instructor for the Academy Festival Organizing Committee, I will publicly..."

"Expel you!"

What?! \

The gasps of shock were probably heard throughout the central district.