CHAPTER 702: CHAPTER 701: HIDDEN DISHES

Xia’s Chinese Restaurant was bustling with noise.

Near nine o’clock in the evening during the prime time, the six-story building was packed with guests, and servants were busy sweating as they moved chairs and looked for places to fit more people.

Down below, the wide stone staircase, which was originally empty and quiet, was now filled with a queue of people; looking down from above, the dense crowd was chilling to behold.

"How lucky we are! Good thing we came early!"

Aikawa Hikari wiped his sweat on the fifth floor of the building.

"Yeah, it’s crazy! There must be at least a thousand people waiting outside to dine, and the number is still increasing... Do they plan to wait until closing at midnight before they leave?!"

A student at the same table expressed his shock.

Suddenly, commotion spread throughout this floor.

The seven or eight students from Keio University at this table all turned their heads in unison, and then one by one, their faces lit up with joy.

A male and a female servant from the Tiqie Family approached, carrying large trays and heading straight toward them.

"The food is finally being served!"

"Hooray!"

They cheered, drawing envious glances from around.

But the envy of the others wasn’t just about the serving of the food. The students were dumbfounded when the two servants came closer, and they realized the two other people who were following behind and had been blocked from view.

One person, quite young, of high school age, nodded and smiled gracefully in response to greetings from the guests.

Regardless of whether he knew them or not.

The other person, Shigong Xiaoci Lang, was dressed in a pristine chef’s uniform. Although he was a newly famous special chef, he now played a supporting role, silently following behind the young man, carrying plates.

Utterly bewildered by this surprise, the students at this table were in a mental freeze, with blank expressions.

"Congratulations to you!"

The young chef approached, smiling, "You are the 88th batch of guests at Xia’s Chinese Restaurant, and to show our appreciation, I will present a unique culinary performance."

Snap!

Shigong Xiaoci Lang cooperated perfectly, placing down the plate.

"Wow!"

An exclamation erupted from around, "Is this, is this a plate of ’Shuangjiang Tofu’?"

Indeed, inside the oversized plate was an uncut, whole slab of ’Shuangjiang Tofu,’ which possessed a strange charm under the flickering lantern light.

Aikawa Hikari, being a wealthy young master who had seen much of the world, was the first to recover, nervously saying, "Um, Chef Xia, we didn’t order ’Shuangjiang Magical Mapo Tofu’!"

He was quite anxious.

After all, even on the regular menu, ’Shuangjiang Magical Mapo Tofu’ was quite expensive.

Anyone would be worried if the restaurant served the wrong dish.

"We only ordered the ’Bamboo Grove Seven Sages Curry Tofu’ dish!" Aoki Yuriko said softly, her eyes twinkling as she looked at the young chef standing in front of the table.

With a snap of his fingers, Xia Yu said, "Then there’s no mistake!"

"Congratulations!"

He smiled again, "The menu features the standard dish, which is the original recipe. But now, I have replaced the key ingredient, tofu, with ’Shuangjiang Tofu,’ and the sauce is also my own special creation, guaranteed to be exclusive to this restaurant. To put it simply, this is an upgraded version of ’Bamboo Grove Seven Sages Curry Tofu’—"

"It’s called ’Bamboo Grove Seven Sages Curry Tofu!’"

The whole floor fell silent for a moment.

Soon, exclamations alarmed the entire building; guests in circular rings around the floors stood up, raising their phones to take photos and record videos.

"Another unheard-of new dish!"

"Those students are so lucky!"

"My goodness! Could there be distinctive hidden dishes not listed on the standard or deluxe menus?!"

Standard dishes, replaced with main ingredients and sauces, had advanced to a fanciful version, with the deliciousness and the multiplied price rising proportionally.

The crowd focused their attention.

Observing the commotion, Shigong Xiaoci Lang saw the envious and shocked faces of the others and looked at the table of students who were tearfully grateful. He couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up—

Look, this is skill.

A small design to give something back to the guests was enough to win their hearts.

"Oh!"

An exclamation.

Shigong looked intently and saw Xia Yu, without any superfluous words, unwrapping a simple cloth and taking out a small, exquisite bamboo blade, holding it in his hand.

He didn’t deliberately use the specialized ’Wenqu Saber’ for carving because Xia Yu thought that with his current culinary sculpting skills, even an unsharpened bamboo blade could easily carve lifelike and spirited images.

Moreover, recently, Xia Yu had been holding a pen, trying to draw some exquisite pictures, not just comics, but also sketches and original drawings. Thanks to this practice, he found that his ability to carve details had improved to a new level, and his efficiency had increased as well. This precisely confirmed the saying, "Stones from other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one."

Swish, swish, swish!

The bamboo blade transformed into a blur of green.

People’s eyes, as well as the videos captured on their phones, saw only the fragments of tofu fluttering in the air.

The lights flickered.

The inherent shimmering texture of the Fantasy Tofu shimmered under the lights, casting a dreamy glow.

Thus, the young chef wielding the bamboo blade, bathed in radiant light, seemed to wear a halo of sanctity in the eyes of the diners and graduates like Shigong Xiaoci Lang.

"Done!"

This took only two or three minutes.

Suddenly, Xia Yu sheathed his knife, and at the same time, click, click, click, the surface of the whole Shuangjiang Tofu revealed dense and neat grid lines. Below it, the deep red curry sauce, which was initially pressed under the tofu, showed signs of bursting out of the cracks.

The white Fantasy Tofu with beautiful textures against the bubbling hot red curry sauce.

White and red!

At that moment, it seemed as if a bright light had exploded!

"What is this..."

Shigong Xiaoci Lang was stunned.

Aikawa Hikari, Aoki Yuriko, and other onlooking guests were also shocked.

Looking down, the tofu on the plate featured a lively depiction of the Seven Sages of Bamboo Grove. As some of the sauce squirted through the grid lines, staining the white tofu chunks red, everything transformed!

Clang, clang!

Centered was the rebel Ji Kang, holding an ancient zither, standing up to play a resonant and combat-filled melody.

Immediately after, the other six scholars, clad in long robes with their hair in buns, also rose to their feet, seeming to step right off the surface of the tofu blocks. Amid the lights of white and red, they either laughed, remained indifferent, or sang loudly.

Not only the students.

Further away, Shigong Xiaoci Lang and the onlookers found their vision slightly blurred.

Whoosh, whoosh—

The wind swept through the bamboo, several thatched cottages, and a winding stream.

A young man was splitting his zither to use as firewood, boiling water to pluck a fat crane before throwing it into a large pot to cook. Turning his head with a grin, he said, "Welcome to Xia’s Bamboo Garden—"

When everyone came to, the tofu was still that plate of tofu, only now covered with the fragmented deep red curry sauce.

They craved to eat!

A strong desire permeated throughout the building.

"Gululu—"

Swallowing saliva, Aikawa Hikari couldn’t resist any longer. Seeing Xia Yu nodding to him with a smile, he abandoned any pretense of decorum, grabbed a large bowl and spoon for himself, scooped up a bowlful, and began to eat heartily with steaming rice.

Other students began to eat as well.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, Xia Yu called out to stop Aoki Yuriko, who was the last to start eating.

"Huh?"

The female college student was puzzled.

Xia Yu simply smiled, scooped up a relatively intact piece of tofu with the spoon, and handed it to her in a bowl, winking, "This is a customized delicacy just for you."

"Ah!"

Beside them, Shigong Xiaoci Lang was surprised.

"When did you carve these bizarre and quirky things into the tofu?" he scrutinized the bowl, seeing that the tofu surface was carved with various cartoon patterns, causing the corners of his mouth to twitch.

Aoki Yuriko covered her mouth with both hands crossed, her eyes filled with astonishment and confusion.

"This, this isn’t the Seven Sages of Bamboo Grove carving, is it?"

"Yes!"

"The style is completely different, not like food carving, but rather like a manga artist’s sketch. You, you also..."

Her words were interrupted by a commotion.

Xia Yu, highly spirited, was disturbed by the noise coming from outside and was quite displeased.

Thump, thump, thump...

Qian Rixiangzi rushed up the stairs, breathlessly, "There’s trouble!"

"A calamity has arrived!"