Chapter 17

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

As an outsider, Xia Yu saw it clearly.

He has tasted the dish and it could be rated as delicious.

Therefore, he could conclude that these three guys were obviously premeditated. Whether it was extortion or other purposes, the motivation was impure.

It was just that the middle-aged chef had too little experience.

The bald diner who picked things up and saw that Xia Yu was a young boy. He could not help shouting, “You saying it’s qualified means it’s qualified? I only believe in the supervisors of the Food Association!”

“Okay.”

Xia Yu ignored this guy and brought the plate in front of the two Chinese female tourists. He blinked at them and said in standard Mandarin, “These two young ladies, please do me a little favor. Try this dish and say your real evaluation. By the way, if you are satisfied, please say it out loud in English.”

When they heard Mandarin in a foreign country, and in this kind of emergency, the two female tourists woke up from their state of stupidity. They looked at each other and nodded their heads.

One with chopsticks, one with a fork, each swallowed a piece of sliced beef. As they were chewing slowly, they did not have a painful expression. On the contrary, there was a little surprise.

The round-faced lovely female tourist put down her fork and said, “Very delicious!”

As she said this, she suddenly remembered Xia Yu’s advice. 

She faced to the middle-aged chef in the restaurant, put up her thumb and said, “Delicious!”

“Delicious!”

The other female tourist also commented that. Although it was not as exaggerated as her partner’s performance, a surprise smile could not be fake.

The middle-aged chef was stunned, and the riotous diners’ eyes darkened.

“See…”

Xia Yu put out his hand. “These are two Chinese tourists. If you do not believe their comments, we can take the plate outside and find other passer-by to comment.”

“You can even call the Food Association.” Xia Yu looked at the troublemaker. There was a hint of ridicule in his eyes. He put his hand on the chef’s shoulder and constantly signalled him to calm down.

The waitresses gave him admiration and respect.

Clear thinking, organization and old-fashioned handling.

It was hard to believe he was only a teenager.

“You don’t think I dare?” the bald diner said in sharp voice. He quickly dialled with a sneer on his mouth. He deliberately turned on the hands-free key to let the slow beep out. 

Cold sweat ran down the chef’s forehead and chin.

The middle-aged chef stretched out his hand and opened his mouth as if to beg. Xia Yu clapped his shoulder and gave him a signal. “Believe me!”

“Ah!” The middle-aged chef gave up, collapsed his shoulders, and looked gloomy.

From the performance of the middle-aged chef, Xia Yu had only one evaluation in his heart: anxiety makes one disordered.

On the one hand, it was because the middle-aged chef was inexperienced, and his character was relatively cowardly and excitable, so he was easy to be deceived.

On the other hand, in this parallel time and space of Japan, the status of the Food Association was too high.

Nowadays, the Food Association was basically controlled by the graduates of Togetsu. The inspectors and judges were professional chefs. The government just placed some officials in the association to deal with daily affairs.

Serious and rigorous was the tenet of the Food Association.

No restaurant wanted to be judged as ‘unqualified’ by the inspectors of the Food Association. 

It could cause them to be ordered to suspend business for rectification or even lose their chef’s license. 

What was more, when the news was exposed by the food media and public opinion flooded in, the restaurant could not open. The chef could not find work, and their livelihood was completely cut off. 

It was cruel.

Therefore, Xia Yu understood the middle-aged chef.

On the contrary, he had a bad feeling about the guy who took advantage of the chef’s weakness and used the Food Association’s banner to bully people.

The restaurant fell into a strange silence.

Soon after dialling, the slow beep became a busy tone without a signal.

Xia Yu’s mouth curled up. He was not surprised at this result because the bald diner did not dial the complaint hotline of the Food Association at all. He saw it clearly.

The middle-aged chef also reacted and opened his eyes angrily.

“You…”

The bald diner put away his mobile phone and scoped out the young man who destroyed their trap. People in the business like him had a thick skin. Even if the trap was found out, they did not mean to leave. 

Instead, they sat down like hooligans.

“We are guests!” The bald diner shouted, “We have paid. We are entitled to ask for another new dish that meets our taste! Come on, serve another boeuf bougignon until we are satisfied!”

“Satisfy you? Heh, this is a public restaurant, not a private customized restaurant. But I can agree to your request on behalf of him.”

Xia Yu looked at the middle-aged chef who wiped his sweat beside him. “Can I borrow your kitchen?”

The chef could not believe his eyes. “You can cook?”

“A little.”

The middle-aged chef with a clean face asked, “Boeuf bougignon is a western food dish. Can you do it?”

“I did a little research.”

“Er…”

The middle-aged chef was about to refuse. But looking back at the young man’s performance, he could not help blushing and decided to give his saviour respect, so he bit his teeth and said, “You come with me.”

The bald diner and his two strong fellows yelled at their backs, “Hey! You think about it. If your food is not up to standard, we will complain to the Food Association!”

The waiters of the restaurant gathered and talked. Their faces were full of confusion and worry.

“No!”

“The chef shouldn’t have promised that boy.”

“Our chef is a student of Togetsu. Although he did not graduate, he still has some strength. Why did he give the kitchen to a teenager?”

The two Chinese girls could not understand, and they saw Xia Yu walk slowly into the back kitchen of the western restaurant, they looked at each other in dismay.

In the back kitchen.

The interior was clean and tidy, which gave people a refreshing feeling and without any greasy smells.

“How do I call you?” the middle-aged chef asked.

“Xia Yu.”

“I’m Kasumigaoka Yingshu. Nice to meet you,” the middle-aged chef said politely, which surprised the other two chefs in the kitchen.

“You two go prepare the boeuf bougignon ingredients for 3 people!”

Head Chef Kasumigaoka called two kitchen hands. Looking back, he saw Xia Yu washing his hands seriously in front of the sink as if he were fasting. He was very devout and did not let go of any possible dirt.

Keeping their hands clean was a must for a chef.

Seeing this, Head Chef Kasumigaoka was relieved and thought, ‘Maybe he can give us a surprise?’

The kitchen hands moved the beef, striped bacon, and other auxiliary materials such as onion and carrots, to the kitchen table and cleaned them.

“Go prepare another set of identical ingredients.”

When Xia Yu was wearing the apron and kitchen hat, he gave orders to the two kitchen hands.

Facing the puzzled looks of the kitchen hands and the Chef Kasumigaoka, Xia Yu smiled. 

“I’m still hungry, and the two Chinese tourists outside haven’t eaten any food, so we can solve it together. I hope my boeuf bougignon will satisfy them.”