Chapter 739: Chapter 738: The Deeper Meaning of “Food Morality

“Boom!”

Just after the second bite, the warm current blossoming in Xia Yu’s throat was too much for her to handle.

At this moment, the steamed egg in her mouth had no taste at all.

She was completely immersed in its warmth.

Whoosh—

A gate in her mind burst open, and a stream of images rushed into her head.

It was still the ‘Zen Residence,’ but the timeline had regressed by a decade or two. Back then, the furnishings and layout of the room were exactly the same as now, without any change.

Thump, thump, thump.

Footsteps echoed from the second floor, accompanied by a bell-like laugh: “Mommy—”

It must have been midsummer, as the Yuchuan-style house nestled in Shinjuku Imperial Garden was enveloped by the chirping of cicadas. Xia Yu walked to the courtyard’s corridor, chasing the laughter as she looked up.

A window on the second floor swung open, and a little girl in a navy-blue sailor uniform, around kindergarten to elementary school age, was propping herself halfway out to wave to her mother outside.

Watching the little girl nearly tumble out, Xia Yu’s brows furrowed, “That’s not very safe!”

Ahead lay the dense woods of the park.

A young woman with gentle features appeared among the tree shadows, her face vaguely visible. In her hands was a dragonfly net, and in another transparent bag fluttered several beautiful dragonflies, “Reiko, come down quickly, I’m right here!”

Laughter traveled from the second floor to the yard.

The mother, who crouched down, and her daughter’s hearty laughter created a beautiful scene against the backdrop of the lush summer forest, mesmerizing Xia Yu.

Their conversation drifted into Xia Yu’s ears:

“Reiko, do you like summer?” her mother asked, gazing tenderly at her daughter.

“I do!”

“And do you like Mommy?”

“I do!” The girl nodded repeatedly without hesitation.

Hearing this, the young woman planted a firm kiss on her daughter’s rosy cheek, her smile emotionally stirring, “Thank you! I also love Reiko very much. I’ve always wanted to see you!”

“I want to see Mommy too!” The girl hugged her mother’s wrist tightly.

Xia Yu stood on the porch, frozen in place.

The scene shifted abruptly.

The girl of the past had suddenly grown, her hair reaching her waist and her once scrawny frame filled out with graceful curves, collapsing into the embrace of the young woman, whose appearance never changed, with soft sobs spilling out:

“I want, want to see you!”

The smile on the woman’s face remained as she gently patted her grown-up daughter’s shoulder, “Don’t cry. Even though we can’t meet anymore, I’m always here, watching over you, protecting you…”

“No! I want to see you now!”

The daughter would once again tightly grasp her mother’s wrist, and her already fair palm turned white as she clenched tightly enough to reveal the knuckles.

Between their intertwined palms was a trembling warmth.

Xia Yu’s face jolted, her heart trembling uncontrollably: “What is this familiar warmth…”

“Longing!”

“This is the taste of longing!”

Back in reality, the first to express amazement was Senzaemon.

He was halfway through his chawanmushi, looking up at the ceiling with a face lifted, but the corners of his eyes were glistening with tears, and the ‘Food Demon King,’ too, showed an expression moved by this taste of longing.

Yizhen, presiding, commented with a trembling voice, “There is an immensely powerful force hidden in cooking! It is this force that makes it fundamentally different from ordinary cuisine. It has transformed!”

“Yes!”

The Master of Yuchuan’s stern features softened as he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes before continuing, “Top-grade, the pursuit of the ultimate taste. At this level, taste remains the theme, and the chef’s heart is merely a support for the taste. The higher and richer the layers of flavor, the stronger the dish accordingly!”

“The reason why Qilin-grade and top-grade are distinct lies not in taste. For in terms of taste alone, some Qilin dishes may even be inferior to top-grade ones. The reason Qilin-grade surpasses top-grade is fundamentally —— power!”

Power!

Chiyoda nodded in agreement and continued:

“This power is the ‘Food Demon King,’ which is what we call the meaning behind the cuisine!”

“And now, Reiko has shown us that she possesses such a power, silently moving people to tears through food, allowing the diner to taste something beyond the flavor and ingredients ——”

The four leading judges took turns speaking.

But the mood in the room remained unaltered, with a stifling chorus of sniffles all around.

“Hmm!”

“I want more!”

“Hmm!”

Xia Yu faced the teacup in front of him, taking spoonful after spoonful. With each bite, a warm flow burgeoned inside him. He hated to cry, believing that men should not shed tears easily, but at that moment, crying became an addictive affliction, the more he ate, the more liberating it felt. However, his bowed head and sullen eating were soon interrupted by a strange bitterness that emerged in his mouth.

“Is there a bitter taste?”

Wiping his tears fiercely with his sleeve, Xia Yu put down his spoon, smacked his lips, and carefully captured the strange taste winding around his tongue.

Make no mistake, it wasn’t his tears that had gotten into his mouth. Rather, in the chawanmushi, besides the sweetness of the egg and the dashi, there was a hint of ‘bitterness’ from another ingredient.

“Ah ah ah ah!”

He couldn’t resist scooping up the last of the chawanmushi from the teacup and eating it all in one bite, chewing carefully.

Xia Yu couldn’t help but shiver.

As the chawanmushi shattered in his mouth, the bitterness spread even more, making the yearning feeling of “wanting to see you,” which he had just been indulging in through the food’s ambiance, all the more heart-wrenching, almost too much to bear.

Suddenly, he snapped awake.

As if the tears had dried up, the bitterness woke his thoughts. At that moment, Xia Yu’s mood seemed to mirror that of someone yearning for a lost mother.

He returned to the present winter, no longer in the midst of summer.

In the winter forest, the trees bare, standing in front of the stark, tall trees, a lonely female voice subtly reminded him that the important person had long passed away. The dead are gone, and the living must continue, regardless of the seasons to come, the living must persevere. This, perhaps, was the real ‘Food Demon King’ the female chef intended to express with the chawanmushi!

“Thank you…”

“I’ve always liked you the most!”

A childish and a mature female voice overlapped in the ether.

With this, the female chef’s ‘Food Demon King’ was fully revealed.

“So that’s how it is!”

Xia Yu, setting down his spoon, struggled to calm his emotions for a long time.

Astonishing!

The female chef’s interpretation of the ‘Food Demon King’ was like a play, with the scenes changing as one tasted, unfolding a narrative with a delicate and intricately structured plot, like a beautiful and exquisite essay that left no room for criticism. Even if one were to nitpick, once you dove into the reading, you’d inevitably be drawn in.

“This is the complete ‘Food Demon King’!” Xia Yu suddenly realized that his past understanding of the ‘Food Demon King’ had been somewhat superficial and laughable.

As the four giants had said, the ‘Food Demon King’ is also a kind of power.

Had he ever infused any dish with power in the past?

Xia Yu shook his head.

In the past, he had merely been concocting simple recipes, but the female chef’s ‘Food Demon King’ could redeem people. Without a doubt, if a diner who had just lost someone precious were to try the female chef’s chawanmushi, they would instantly find in it the strength to move forward!