CHAPTER 742: CHAPTER 741: WHOEVER TIES THE BELL MUST UNTIE IT

Should I accept it?

Lei Zhe was at a loss for a decision.

Seeing this, Xia Yu said, "Please give me an answer in half an hour!"

The room erupted in commotion, but Xia Yu exchanged a look with the Main General Liangzi, who had been kneeling the whole time. Finally, she apologized to the guests and led Xia Yu to a quiet room.

As for Lei Zhe, Catherine, and Andrea, she didn’t neglect them, she specifically instructed the maid to take them to other rooms.

Bang!

The door closed, and Main General Liangzi turned around to ask, "How confident are you in defeating him?"

"I won’t know until I fight."

Xia Yu was calm; upon leaving the bustling hall, his complexion and heart rate had not changed.

"Ah!"

Hearing this, Main General Liangzi sighed, "If you lose, have you considered the conditions for win or loss?"

She ultimately couldn’t bear to speak harshly, and tonight, Main General Liangzi was especially gentle, quietly saying to him, "Don’t be controlled by anger. I’m fine here, just let them underestimate if they want. You understand the real reason why they didn’t appreciate the egg custard, right?"

Xia Yu spread his hands and said, "That’s the crux of the matter. It takes the offender to undo the bell. I can’t betray my own people, Liangzi!"

His talk of "own people" silenced Main General Liangzi, and she found herself at a loss for words.

"So you..."

But deep concern was still written on Main General Liangzi’s face.

Thump, thump!

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Don’t worry!" Xia Yu shook his head as he passed Main General Liangzi to open the door. With a click, the light from the lantern outside the door streamed in, and he took a look outside, only to be startled – the corridor was packed with people!

Senzaimon led his two granddaughters, along with Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro.

Shinohara and Aoki.

The Yuchuan Sisters were there, and even the Yuchuan Family Head, Yuchuan Xin, had come.

This group of kith and kin all watched him intently.

"How confident are you?" Senzaimon asked.

"Asked like that again..." Xia Yu rubbed his temples, somewhat vexed, "Honestly, I don’t know."

"Eh!"

Everyone seemed to hold their breath, the air turning solid.

Alice covered her mouth and pressed forward, "Instructor, you’re, you’re too impulsive!"

Alice, who considered herself a die-hard fan of Xia Yu, also rarely tightened her face and stammered, "No matter what, Lei Zhe is a Lin Chef. Please withdraw the Food Duel Book now! Before that guy accepts!"

Eriina bit her lip and stared at him, all she wanted to say turning into annoyance and irritation in her eyes. She really wanted to scream; if it was just her and Xia Yu face-to-face, Eriina would definitely have shouted—

Can’t you be less troublesome?

"Boss Xia!" Yuchuan Meisha came over and pulled on his sleeve, her hand trembling; even though she was the older sister by age, her voice quivered as she repeated, "Too reckless, too reckless..."

Others, seemingly speechless, had their inner thoughts whirling so vividly that they could write an essay like a memoir after the food fight.

Nobody expected a promotion ceremony with little uncertainty to suddenly be disrupted by a food fight.

Moreover, it was an unprecedented event that could shock the world—

A special chef challenging a Lin Chef, a duel jumping ranks!

And the duel initiator was a special chef, absolutely suppressed in both culinary skills and status!

A gust of wind swept through the corridor.

Dojima Yin and Shinohara Shigetaro shivered uncontrollably, not realizing that cold sweat had covered their foreheads and backs.

"Alright!"

In the end, it was Senzaimon who spoke up, breaking up the chaos. The incessant noise stopped, and Xia Yu, finally rescued, cast a grateful look at Old Man Tiqie.

"Have you really decided?" he asked.

"Um!"

Xia Yu nodded heavily.

"Then, go retrieve the victory!" With those words, Senzaimon turned around and led most of the people back to the hall.

"Is the recipe decided as ’Japanese Chawanmushi’?" the female general’s voice came from inside the house. "What ingredients do you need? My warehouse here is well-stocked, and if it’s not enough, I have many more stored at IGO."

"Wait!"

Hearing this, Xia Yu went back inside to find a pen and paper.

Chawanmushi, of course, requires eggs, and plenty of them—aside from the four main judges, every major figure present must also have a portion, no one should be neglected.

However, this ’Chawanmushi’ was not the typical ’Chawanmushi’. Simply replicating the female general’s Japanese-style Chawanmushi was not Xia Yu’s usual style of cooking. What was his style? Unbridled, unrestrained, just letting himself go—he believed that having fully comprehended the female general’s complete food ethics, and then portraying the world with the quasi-gold-framed "Heart of Cooking," that world would definitely be marvelous, enough to astonish everyone!

Therefore, after the eggs, the ingredients became completely unrecognizable.

"These are..."

Upon receiving the ingredient list, the female general’s hand trembled, her eyes filled with surprise and confusion.

This was her first impression.

The ingredients requested had no discernible pattern.

Was this really a Japanese-style Chawanmushi? Liangzi Lina silently sweated, casting an inquiring glance at Xia Yu, who by then had crossed his hands behind his head and was resting his chin on his arms, apparently napping. The female general had no choice but to swallow her questions.

"Click!"

The door closed.

"Main General Liangzi, how is it?" Outside, the Yuchuan Sisters, Alice, and Eriina immediately surrounded her.

The female general could only show them the ingredient list.

"Ah!"

"What kind of combination is this?"

"I can’t understand it!"

Shouts of surprise echoed through the hallway.

...

In another room at the Heian-style courtyard.

"What about your decision?"

A deep voice came through the phone.

"Boss, I want to accept!" Lei Zhe’s eyes flashed with anger. "A minor chef who hasn’t even reached Lin level publicly challenges me to a Food Duel, how could I refuse?"

At this, Lei Zhe sneered.

"Besides, I’ve wanted to deal with this kid for a while now! It’s him who’s thrown himself into this!"

Laughter came from the other end of the phone.

"I can hear your determination, your competitive spirit, I never thought a young boy would actually make you so genuinely furious."

The tone suddenly shifted: "But have you considered the consequences if you lose?"

"This Food Duel, though it seems like a personal grudge, actually represents the Culinary Society versus the Japanese Food Industry in a real battle. Why do you think Liangzi Lina invited you to attend? If you lose, the Culinary Society’s momentum will be severely damaged, on the other hand, if you can win cleanly..."

Lei Zhe suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

"I won’t lose!" he growled, interrupting.

The other side was silent for a few seconds, then slowly asked, "If the subject is ’eggs,’ do you have the right ingredients for the battle?"

"You can rest assured on that, Boss!"

A fierce smile appeared on Lei Zhe’s face. "Speaking of which, I should thank that kid. He indeed had some stunning performances in the Sapporo competition. As a chef, I have never stopped learning. By repeatedly watching the classic recipes born from ’Gold and Jade’ and their competition edits, I grasped some inspiration and applied it..."

"I’m never worried that you guys would settle for the current state. You know, within the Culinary Society, to stop progressing often means—elimination!"

The other side chuckled and hung up.

Lei Zhe put away his phone.

"Come on!"

A grim low laugh echoed in the room, "Slashing down the most reputed young genius will also silence the entire culinary world for a while!"