In the kitchen, Xia Yu watched as a group of guests enjoyed the charcoal-grilled fish, listening to their scattered words of praise, with a faint smile on his face.

In fact, calling this grilled fish 'Heavenly Hero Grilled Bluefish' wasn't wrong either.

What? You say there wasn't any circus-like explosive presentation like [Bursting Flame] or [Heavenly Hero Fire Wheel]?

Ever since the Bursting Flame had been perfected, and the spiritual connection felt, Xia Yu had long wanted to comment on that.

In the fire realm of the original "The Chinese Gourmet" by Ya Kan, there was no need for exaggerated scenes like setting the Yangtze River on fire. At that time, Ya Kan probably intended to use the exaggerated cooking scenes to intimidate Liu Maoxing, but who knew the potential Chef God Liu Maoxing wasn't one to back down.

Performance was just performance, but when entertaining guests with a grand feast, it was more practical to take a straightforward and simple approach, doing everything as conveniently and quickly as possible.

Moreover, this group of friends and relatives had almost seen all of his performances. If he repeated old tricks to boast extravagantly, Xia Yu himself would find it quite embarrassing.

"This grilled fish is impressive!"

Wise Man Karl gave a thumbs-up.

To receive praise from a renowned Dragon Chef, Xia Yu felt quite happy, "Everyone, please wait for a moment. The banquet tonight is set at the standard of three meats, two vegetables, and a soup!"

"Next, a vegetable dish!"

"Vegetable dish?"

At the bar, everyone paused together.

Vegetables!

When it came to dishes in this regard, the female protagonist, Minister Shinohara, and even Tiqie Xianzuowen, all familiar with Xia Yu, couldn't help but feel curious.

It seemed that Xia Yu's mastery in vegetable dishes wasn't as profound as in his meat dishes.

To put it bluntly, did Xia Yu ever have any classic representative vegetable dishes in the past?

"Uh, could it be stir-fried Qingjiang Vegetable!"

Aoki Motota rubbed his bald head.

As soon as he said that, many people were enlightened, but then Xingping Chuangzhen, who was restrained in his seat by his dad, suddenly looked up and said, "Stir-fried Qingjiang Vegetable? That's just one dish. Aren't there two vegetable dishes?"

Xia Yu just smiled, turned, and left the kitchen for the courtyard.

In less than a few minutes, with the help of Koga Shoji and Hozoi Midori, several steaming steamers were promptly moved to the dining table.

The speed of serving had its reasons.

In the evening, after tidying up his luggage, Xia Yu had already started preparing for the dinner party, and after deciding on the three meats, two vegetables, and one soup standard, he began working. When it was nearly nine in the evening and all the guests had arrived, the serving process went smoothly without any delay.

"Steamed?"

"What could it be! I am quite looking forward to it!"

One platter of grilled fish per table, this fish was specially selected by Xia Yu from the IGO store in the largest size available, yet it was devoured by the crowd like wolves and tigers, still appearing insufficient.

The hot rice before everyone remained almost untouched.

Thus, as soon as the steamers were placed on the table, they were immediately uncovered, and the white mist instantly spread throughout the shop, warming the winter atmosphere inside significantly.

"Oh—"

The Polar Star Dormitory mates cheered, "Dumplings!"

Indeed.

As the mist cleared slightly, the neatly placed, translucent steamed pastries in the steamers were none other than dumplings, right?

The dumpling skins were semi-transparent, with the finely chopped green filling inside becoming distinctly visible.

Vegetarian dumplings!

"Let me try—"

Almost simultaneously, many pairs of chopsticks reached into the steamer to pick up the steaming dumplings.

"It's chive dumplings!" Shinohara Shigetaro bit into one, staring blankly at the half-eaten dumpling on his chopsticks, his mouth chewing. The new tender chives carried a rich juice, the texture was very crisp, but if it were just chives, the filling seemed too simple. Shinohara Shigetaro's face suddenly stiffened, "Where is this strong bean fragrance coming from…"

"That's because there's bean skin in it!"

The female protagonist said.

"Bean skin?" Xingping Chuangzhen didn't rush to eat, staring dazedly at the dumpling filling. Finally, in the greenery, he discovered the tiny fragments that could almost perfectly fool the eyes, closely mixed with the chives.

Couldn't help but take another bite, whoa!

Chives, soybeans, and the wheat shimmer of the flour.

The sacred moment of devouring induced a spontaneous sense of reverence in Xingping Chuangzhen, "Vegetarian without being dull, now this is vegetarian cuisine!"

Bang…

Just then, there was a soft sound in front of him as Xingping Chuangzhen noticed, dazed, a newfound small dipping dish in front of him.

The dish contained a clear red oil, and Xingping Chuangzhen's half-shadow was reflected in it.

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, realizing, "Is it supposed to be dipped in red oil? Red oil dumplings?"

Behind him, Chiyokuro was straightforward, using chopsticks to pick up a second chive dumpling from the steamer and dipping it in the red oil sauce. The once pale, crystal-clear dumpling then wore a layer of exotic red oil clothing.

Slurp!

Instantly, the entire dumpling slipped into the mouth. A gentle bite, the skin and filling seemed to slide down a red oil slide at high speed, plummeting from the throat directly into the stomach.

Saito Chiyokuro stood in a daze for a moment before focusing on the small dish of red oil sauce.

"Spices again!"

"Star anise, cinnamon, coriander, sesame oil…"

Xingping Chuangzhen's mouth and stomach trembled, his original sacred rural scenery vision was drenched head to toe by the sudden spicy red oil. Subsequently, the green vegetables in the fields took on a vivid hue, and the soybeans sunning on the stone table turned red.

The originally plain picture suddenly transformed into a vibrant oil painting style.

Fixating on the mysterious shimmer on the vegetables as if it truly existed, Xingping Chuangzhen mumbled, "I think I understand now…"

"Haha, so the theme of tonight's dinner is spices!"

Aoki Motota slapped the table, laughing, though his laughter seemed forced, with surprise and a lack of understanding lingering in his eyes.

The female protagonist, Wise Man Karl, Tiqie Xianzuowen, and other prominent figures gathered around the bar looked up at the young chef in the kitchen.

Others also fell silent coincidentally.

Only Yashan Liang, with his 'Divine Sense of Smell,' glanced around, his gaze capturing the scent clusters hiding in the air, sometimes tumbling, sometimes emerging, and laughing playfully as if it had a soul.

"That's right, the theme is spices!"

Xia Yu flashed a small smile, "The Sapporo event already showcased the culinary skills I've mastered in the first half of the time. It was pretty much a summary of my culinary skills. And for this dinner party, I'm planning to show everyone the progress I've made since the Sapporo event."

Upon hearing, the shop became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Xingping Chuangzhen's mouth gaped wide, "Progress since the Sapporo event?"

"Is this the lecturer's further progress over the past month?" he muttered in shock.

The previous grilled fish and the vegetable dumplings themselves aside, just speaking of the spice skills within them, Xingping Chuangzhen felt breathless—brilliant!

"If it were me, could I achieve such progress in a month?" he pondered.

And Dojima Yin, the female protagonist, Saito Chiyokuro, and others, as team members fighting alongside Xia Yu in the Sapporo event, were quite familiar with Xia Yu's previous culinary skills.

During the Sapporo event, compared to fire techniques, Xia Yu's spice skills weren't considered stunning.

But now…

That rural scene turned vibrant and lively with red oil, the aroma of ingredients assaulting the senses!

The female protagonist thought apprehensively, "No matter how ordinary the dishes, when adorned with such spice skills, their quality leaps several levels, doesn't it?"