Chapter 726: Chapter 725: Closing

Dusk.

Far Moon Campus gradually quieted down from a whole day of hustle and bustle.

Visitors left with satisfied laughter, while media reporters stationed at the front gate were awestruck by the sight of the crowd at the six o’clock closing. They couldn’t help but exclaim, “This year’s ‘Academy Festival’ at Far Moon has been a huge success!”

People were pulling out data released by the Far Moon Execution Team over the first four days, and honestly, there was no ground for objection.

The first two days were pretty good, with a jump in attendance compared to previous festivals, though the numbers were not terrifying. However, after the Far Moon Chinese Building opened and culinary giants Lei Zhe, Catherine, and Andrea were satisfied, there was an eye-popping explosive increase—

On the third day, attendance surpassed 400,000.

On the fourth day, it climbed above 500,000.

By the fifth and final day, the area on the outskirts of Tokyo was bustling with both car and foot traffic, resembling the grandeur of a large summer fireworks festival.

The data was one thing, but online, news and discussions about this year’s Academy Festival at Far Moon never ceased throughout the days.

Not only was the Chinese Building in the spotlight, but the food meticulously prepared by students to attract visitors also garnered much attention and praise from industry insiders.

At the very least, from what Far Moon had gained over these five days, Xia Yu’s promise to Saito Sohmei to craft a golden reputation for Far Moon had been accomplished!

Executive Committee Office.

“Knock knock!”

A knocking sound.

“Come in—”

Eriina burst in energetically, while Xia Yu, Kobayakawa Ryodan, and Nikunokuni Ningning waited by the conference table for a set of statistical data.

“The revenue rankings for the 5th day are out! The total revenue rankings for all five days are here as well!” Eriina handed the documents directly to Xia Yu.

“High Platform Area, Central Area, and Corridor Area, who took the top spot?”

Eyes scanned the document.

First up was the ranking for the High Platform Area, gathering the top ten elites and many top third-years.

Xia Yu couldn’t help but feel stunned.

“The Polar Star Dormitory Taro Cooking Contest… ranked first in the overall High Platform Area?”

“Ha, that’s expected!” Kobayakawa Ryodan stretched lazily, her eyes narrowed slightly seductively, but her gaze was solemn, “Polar Star Dormitory, aside from Tanaka Hikari and Xingping Chuangzhen attending, had full participation from all members. This result is not surprising.”

“Right!”

Nikunokuni Ningning, with a deadpan expression, pushed up her glasses, her tone flat as ever, “Strictly speaking, Mr. Sen Tian also has the caliber of a top ten chef. Thus, Polar Star Dormitory Restaurant, having two top ten chefs, offers a richness of dishes that other restaurants simply cannot match. This richness is the fundamental reason the Polar Star Dormitory Restaurant’s business continued to soar over the five days; the customers literally couldn’t get enough!”

Xia Yu recognized their reasoning made a lot of sense.

Apart from the top-ranked Polar Star Dormitory Restaurant, the total ranking for the High Platform Area was as follows:

Second place—Kishikubo Momo.

Third place—Nakamuki Fuyosuke.

Fourth place—Saito Sohmei.

…

Eighteenth place—Eriina.

Nineteenth place—Nikunokuni Ningning.

Twentieth place—Kobayakawa Ryodan.

Rarely, three female top ten members placed last in the High Platform Area because there were only twenty restaurants.

Noticing Xia Yu’s increasingly surprised and shocked gaze, Kobayakawa Ryodan shrugged: &”We are part of the Execution Committee, so naturally, we immensely overlooked our own restaurants. Poor business was inevitable!&”

Nikunokuni Ningning remained expressionless, showing no reaction to the rankings.

Eriina, however, looked somewhat upset.

“Eriina, are you alright?” Xia Yu asked her.

Completely caught off guard by Xia Yu’s sudden question, Eriina blushed, and under the scrutinizing gaze of the other two top ten chefs, she looked somewhat uneasy as she responded, “It’s, it’s okay!”

She seemed to quickly come to a realization and then flashed a sincere smile.

“Rather than my personal performance, I’d rather work hard for the Far Moon Academy Festival.”

With that, she suddenly bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle to Xia Yu.

“Thank you!”

“This Academy Festival was a huge success!”

The thank you was quite sudden, and the Far Moon Queen, always so proud, bowed. From the expressions of Kobayakawa Ryodan and Nikunokuni Ningning, one could tell how rare this situation was.

Xia Yu waved her hand and blinked, saying, “What are you thanking me for? After all, I am a lecturer and a major shareholder of Far Moon. Boosting Far Moon’s reputation benefits me!”

Following that interlude, they continued to look at the rankings.

Central District.

First place: Kogama Restaurant.

Second place: Xingping Chuangzhen.

Upon seeing this, Kobayakawa Ryodan chuckled, “In the end, Kogama won, huh!”

“It can’t be helped; the final rankings are based on the total earnings over five days. Xingping was at a loss the first two days, and even though he had a slight advantage in daily earnings later, it wasn’t enough to surpass Kogama,” Xia Yu explained with a smile.

Tiqie Helinai joined the conversation with a peculiar expression, “During the last two days, I visited this transfer student’s stall, and a significant portion of the patrons seemed to be fans of a certain manga, supporting him.”

“Exactly! Exactly!”

Kobayakawa Ryodan, being the supervision officer of the festival, raised his hand and said, “I heard them talking about it too. Remember the day Lei Zhe caused trouble? Xingping mentioned his ‘Red Oil Dumplings’ recipe came from a manga, which seems to be quite popular recently, but the author appears to have vanished—no updates on his personal Twitter for a while…”

A sense of despondency washed over.

Helinai and Nikunokuni Ningning were astonished.

“You’ve read the manga too?”

“Heh! Of course, I flipped through it out of curiosity, but I never expected!” Kobayakawa Ryodan revealed a slightly sharp smile, his expression full of resentment.

Xia Yu shrank back slightly, sensing that resentment intuitively.

Hmm, it seems these days staying at the Tiqie Mansion, I really haven’t had the leisure to sit down, set aside cooking utensils, hold a pencil, and compile the stories in my mind.

“The rankings for the Corridor Area aren’t surprising; the champions are the brother duo of Takeomi and Isami with their Italian food stall.”

Regaining her composure, Xia Yu thought about how to reward the winners.

After all, there was a promise made before the festival.

The winner from the High Platform Area would get the rights to use a restaurant in the shopping street. Now that it’s collectively won by the Polar Star Dormitory, she left the students to fret about it.

The top three from other areas would get recipes and ingredients in abundance.

…

The evening of the day the Far Moon Academy Festival ended.

Lei Zhe’s independent apartment residence.

In his office, facing a screen with video imagery, Lei Zhe slowly said, “I’m very sure!”

The man in the screen, dressed in black, finally turned around to face the camera directly.

A typical middle-aged Westerner, high hairline, short hair, broad forehead, hooked nose.

But those eyes—one blue, one gold, heterochromic, a truly peculiar person!

“…Even if you are absolutely sure, I still have no reason to believe that in this generation, someone underage could breakthrough to such an exceptional level!”

The man said solemnly, his gold eye twinkling strangely.

“But…”

Lei Zhe became anxious.

“I can’t leave, nor can I go to Japan to verify this personally. At my level, every move might trigger a war!” the man interrupted Lei Zhe, “So, Mr. Lei Zhe, since you’ve reported this matter, and as you are appointed the Chief Regional Officer for Japan, you need to verify it for me!”

“Verify it for you?”

“You know what to do. Use the most direct method!”

“But…”

Lei Zhe’s expression fluctuated.

“Your cooking skills are near the exceptional level; are you still afraid of defeat?”

“No!”

Upon hearing this, the man in the screen laughed.

“I really don’t want another troubling figure to appear in the Chinese Cuisine World, someone underage breaking into that exceptional level, and probably easily breaking through the next level too. So, Mr. Lei Zhe, what are you hesitating for?”