CHAPTER 708: CHAPTER 707: TRIO OF TOFU (PART 1)

Lei Zhe was in a state of half-consciousness, half-intoxication.

"Give me a spoon!"

He gasped, his mouth cracking as if flames were fervently burning inside, and his tongue, needless to say, had long since been scalded numb.

"Eh...okay!"

Qian Rixiangzi responded, quickly ran off and then came back to hand a spoon to the Lin Giant, who looked as terrified as a drowning person with sweat flowing more and more fiercely.

He started eating voraciously once again.

"Do you, do you want some rice?" Qian Rixiangzi asked softly.

Lei Zhe ignored her, focused solely on eating.

His eyebrows were soaked with sweat.

The sweat around his eyes streamed down like he had just enjoyed a hearty cry, and his face was streaming with water.

Around his mouth was the hardest hit area, where saliva and sauce mixed together, turning sticky. As Lei Zhe wolfed down the food, these fluids gathered more and more, eventually dripping down his chin, the epitome of a gluttonous demon, perpetually unsatisfied, forever yearning.

"Why!"

His tongue stirred inside his mouth.

The mixture was spicy and cloyingly sweet, his tongue gliding and swimming through it, which was exactly the source of the bizarre culinary fantasies in Lei Zhe’s mind.

Watching the sweaty Lei Zhe, Aoki Motota quietly gave Xia Yu a thumbs-up.

"It seems our worries were unnecessary."

Shinohara and Midori exchanged glances, both amused.

As part of IGO, upon hearing that the three culinary giants were causing trouble, they naturally came immediately to support Xia Yu and prevent the situation from worsening.

But at this rate, they probably wouldn’t need to intervene.

Lei Zhe wasn’t the only one eating exaggeratedly.

Another female giant, ’Burning Purple Rose’ Andrea, was eating while continuously asking Qian Rixiangzi for large packs of tissues to wipe the sweat off her forehead and rosy cheeks, soon accumulating quite a pile of white paper balls on the table.

Thankfully it was winter, the cool climate preventing Andrea’s long gown from clinging to her delicate body, which would otherwise have had a shockingly sensual wet effect due to the sweat.

Seeing this, Xia Yu simply turned around nonchalantly and returned to his kitchen station.

The IGO trio gathered around him.

"Spill it!" asked Aoki Motota, "What improvements did you make to ’Great Magic Panda Tofu’ this time?"

"It seems like the last time I had this dish was months ago."

Shinohara Shigetaro also curiously furrowed his brow. "Its brilliance lies in the creativity, which in other words, means that the creativity even overshadows the ingredients and flavor structure. But you..."

"As you can see."

Xia Yu replied without looking up, busy clearing the table and preparing for the third tofu dish cooking.

"Did you really incorporate ’Shuangjiang Tofu’ into the recipe?"

He inhaled sharply, disbelief in his eyes, and then, recalling the young chef’s track record of unexpected achievements, Shinohara Shigetaro reassured himself.

"No way!"

Midori, however, reminded, "That black and white tofu, just merging ’Shuangjiang Tofu’ will surely disrupt the original recipe’s balance of ingredients, and rashly using ordinary black beans mixed with sugar syrup to make black tofu, not only will it not match ’Shuangjiang Tofu’, but it would further shatter the recipe structure."

"Uh!"

Shinohara and Aoki were instantly wide-eyed.

Looking back at Lei Zhe and Andrea, who were still eating voraciously and sweating profusely, they caught on.

"So you mean... the black tofu was also made from Fantasy Ingredients, hence the recipe structure was able to achieve a balanced state?" they gasped in astonishment.

The two couldn’t help but whisper among themselves, discussing the unknown Fantasy Soybeans.

Xia Yu busily worked, and her gaze was fixed on him.

After a while, a voice interrupted the muttering Shinohara and Aoki, to the amusement of the newly arrived Dojima Yin, who said, "Hey, shouldn’t you be paying more attention to the third-tier tofu dishes right now?"

The three of them simultaneously looked at the abruptly emerging Dojima Yin.

Eh!

It was then that they realized the restaurant had quieted down again. The crowd that had surrounded Table 1 suddenly surged towards the entrance, where an elderly man stood with his arms crossed.

The "Food Demon King" from Japan, Tiqie Xianzuowen, had suddenly arrived, making the atmosphere in the restaurant even hotter.

The crowd was drawn to Xianzuowen, leaving spaces near Xia Yu in the kitchen and the three giants at Table 1.

Dojima Yin, carrying a thickly wrapped box-shaped item, went to the kitchen area.

Strangely, at what should have been the busiest moment, Xia Yu stood with his arms crossed behind a counter, eyes closed as if restoring his energy, his facial expression undisturbed.

Beside him, the two female assistants were tirelessly busy.

Yuchuan Ayaka set up two clean Chinese Iron Pots on the vacant stove.

Hozoi Midori moved a wooden mold, and after lifting its lid, the aroma of tofu wafted out, catching Dojima Yin’s eye and he exclaimed in surprise, "Another block of tofu?"

"Hey, look carefully!"

Aoki Motota, however, was wide-eyed in shock, "This isn’t ’Shuangjiang Tofu’! It lacks the beautiful snowflake patterns. It’s just ordinary tender tofu!"

Both the female protagonist and Shinohara Shigetaro were greatly surprised.

"Could it be that for the third-tier finale dish, the most ordinary ingredients are used instead of cooking?"

A terrifying thought occurred to everyone at the same time.

Reviewing the first two tofu dishes,

Neither the ’Shuangjiang Magical Mapo Tofu’ nor the ’Ultimate Magic Giant Panda Tofu,’ which had just enraptured Lei Zhe and Andrea with fantasy ingredients, were conventional.

Undoubtedly.

If it had been an ancient recipe, it might have been forgiveable, but using recipes that weren’t significantly different in terms of grade and using far inferior ingredients compared to the previous two dishes, how would they impress as the finale? The disparity in quality would definitely be ridiculed by Lei Zhe.

"What should we do!"

Aoki Motota quietly nudged the stunned Dojima Yin, passing him a worried look.

Dojima Yin snapped out of it, cast aside many distractions, took a deep breath, and said with a grave voice, "This is the time to trust him!"

And with that, he smiled.

"Hosting Lin Chef, satisfying the Food Tyrant’s Stomach, and winning the ’Jade Dragon Pot’ compared to the Sapporo competition, which do you think is more unbelievable and harder to achieve?"

Hearing his rhetorical question, the trio from IGO were collectively stunned.

Meanwhile.

"Sister!"

Yuchuan Meisha, out of breath, brought over a small bag of premium flour and immediately pulled Yuchuan Ayaka to a corner, asking with concern, "Do you know about Boss Xia’s third tofu dish?"

Yuchuan Meisha shook her head.

"Ah!" with a face showing helplessness and disappointment, Yuchuan Meisha looked at the still meditative young head chef and complained discontentedly, "Really, always so secretive, we can hardly offer any help!"

"Help?"

Ayaka pointed to the order slips arranged on the nearby counter, "Many tables of guests are still waiting to be served. Come on, don’t just stand there, let’s help get the preliminary preparations ready. He’ll be back soon— definitely!"

With a tone full of conviction.

...

In a mysterious space, an ancient-looking kitchen.

Xia Yu nodded at the ingredients laid out on a long table, provided by the system.

After claiming the reward for completing the ’Great Magic Panda Tofu’ with 100% perfection, Xia Yu learned the latest recipe—"Tofu Trilogy."