Chapter 14

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

‘Cloth burst.’

Recalling carefully, according to the original plot, Togetsu’s commander always got into this situation during the Autumn’s Selection Stage.

Whenever he ate good food, his clothes would burst.

It was a custom, but whoever joined Autumn’s Selection Stage were the best. Their dishes contain their hard work for more than ten years.

Xia Yu didn’t understand why the Magic Mapo Tofu that he learnt only for a few days made Nagi Hidari burst his clothes.

Taste?

Seemed ordinary.

Perhaps he shouldn’t think that. Because he had tasted too many failed works these days, his tongue and mouth were filled with spice all day long, and the taste system got nothing else. Maybe he missed a delicious dish?

‘A dish with 70 points…’ Xia Yu suddenly became curious about this dish.

Nagi Hidari quietly tidied up his clothes.

“Very good!”

“Color, fragrance, taste, heat, spice, and finally crisp… With the soybean-made meat, there are six in one. It blends very well… This is also the best mapo tofu I have ever eaten. What’s the name of this dish?”

Nagi Hidari’s eyes were shining, and firmly fixed on Xia Yu.

“Magic Mapo Tofu.” Xia Yu humbly said, “Actually, I haven’t studied the recipe for a long time, and I am unable to fully discover the essence of this dish. I still make too many mistakes.”

“Magic?”

“There is indeed an incredibly magical taste!” Nagi Hidari nodded.

“Rina, you try it too!” He turned to look at his granddaughter.

“No!”

The Tongue of God refused. She turned around and was proud like a blonde peacock.

“Don’t miss a good dish because of your temper. This is a rare experience to taste all kinds of food. It can also allow you to absorb the knowledge of cooking and improve yourself.” 

“…” 

Rina was very stubborn in front of anyone else, but to her grandpa, the king of chefs, she still had to listen. 

She picked up the chopsticks unwillingly. 

Xia Yu saw her hesitating. When she didn’t pick up a piece of tofu for a long time, he couldn’t help laughing. “This lady, chopsticks are not used this way. Do you want me to give you a spoon?” 

“Hmph!” 

Her nasal voice expressed her annoyance. Rina heard that and immediately picked up a piece of white jade tofu and sent it to her mouth. The speed of that movement could be rated as a perfect score.

When the tofu entered her mouth, it was hot and spicy, like explosives. It exploded in her mouth. Rina opened her eyes, bent down, and coughed. Her pretty face was flushed. She realized that she was wrong and straightened her waist to sit upright. But she found that the tofu in her mouth had slipped into her throat. 

Whether Rina was willing or not, ‘Tongue of God’ performed its duties at this time. 

The ingredients used to make this dish were tofu, soybeans, pepper, spicy sauce and sesame oil. Even the most basic oil and salt, as well as negligible doses of sugar and five-spice powder, were presented one by one in Rina’s mind. 

Moreover, these materials reproduced the cooking steps again, and a young figure appeared faintly in Rina’s mind. He buried his head in front of the kitchen counter, frowning, and suddenly had an idea. 

Rina shook her head to get rid of the images. Rina couldn’t help but spit out a scorching breath. Her cheeks were red, as if she just had some intense exercise.

“Get me some water…” 

As she used her chopsticks to pick up the second piece of tofu, she did not turn back and requested water from Xia Yu. 

Xia Yu knew the character of this ‘Tongue of God’, so he obeyed her and shook his head as he walked back to kitchen to get her a glass of pure water and put it on a short table. 

“It’s cold. Enjoy slowly.” Xia Yu retreated to the side. 

Then, the scene got weird. The talented chef of Togetsu, one of the ten masters, had no manners left and wiped out the remaining mapo tofu like a wolf. 

Grunt. She looked up and finished a glass of cold water. Rina handed the empty glass to Xia Yu. “One more glass!” 

“Alright!” 

Xia Yu smiled, and he went back and handed over the second glass of water to the ‘Tongue of God’. 

“Woo–” 

She exhaled for a long time. Rina felt the dynamite-like spice gradually becoming relieved inside her mouth and body. She could finally relax and think about the taste.

Her tongue was still numb.

‘Tongue of God’ was extremely sensitive. After finishing this dish, Rina knew that she would find other dishes tasteless.

This was the dominance of Sichuan cuisine, especially this plate of mapo tofu.

Hot and spicy combined like a real explosive. The feeling of exploding in the mouth with a bang…

But this dish was not only overwhelming but also silky and crisp.

The silk was the tofu.

A crunchy texture was given by the soybean-made meat.

“Overwhelming and gentle…” Rina murmured. She found her body a little hot. She was sweating, and she unconsciously unbuttoned the uniform high collar, exposing her white and delicate skin around the neck.

Eh?

Finally, she noticed a pair of eyes that were always on her. She couldn’t help raising her eyebrows to stare back.

Although the eyes were very pure, it was pure appreciation. But she had never been looked carefully at by people of the similar age. She felt a bit annoyed, but she also had a faint shyness that she did not want to admit.

“What are you doing?” She glared.

“How is my food?” Xia Yu asked.

Rina observed the eagerness in his eyes, and was about to ridicule, but she suddenly realized that there were two old men with great esteem. Her lips moved, and after a while, she said, “Qualified.”

“What does it mean by qualified?” Xia Yu also glared.

“Just barely!”

Rina also got a bit temperamentally stimulated by Xia Yu’s eyes. She embraced her arms and looked cold.

“How barely is it?”

“Too much.”

“For example?”

“First of all, the soybean-made meat, your taste is just right, but when you fried them in the pan for two more seconds, the texture got a bit harder which reduced the crispy texture.”

“Then, when you stir-fried minced garlic, soybean-made meat, tempeh sauce, and watercress sauce, with soy sauce, salt, and sugar, the timing of adding the broth was wrong. One second earlier, the red oil was not completely fried… ”

“Also, you are definitely a rookie on stir-frying tofu. Although the tofu was not crushed, it was unevenly heated. Other people can’t taste it, but under the Tongue of God, I can show you all the details!”

Rina kept talking about the evaluation of tasting in one go.

Xia Yu’s expression had not changed. He listened quietly like a student. “What else?”

“And also…”

Rina was about to talk, but when she glimpsed his expression, the corners of her mouth slightly tilted, and she deliberately posed a mockingly arrogant gesture.

“You are completely a rookie!”

“Do you know the technique of thickening? This is the basic skill of a chef, but you are just following the recipe step by step. You don’t understand the essence of thickening, wasting excellent tofu and the cooked soup. This dish didn’t get to its real taste because of your lack of thickening skills.”

“Otherwise, it is a must-eat dish!”