Chapter 23

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After sending away the two Chinese customers who almost couldn’t move, Xia Yu returned to the kitchen, picked up the shining kitchen knife, and pondered for a long time.

He had been very confident about the two dishes he cooked before. Sweet and sour pork and squirrel-shaped bass. After all, the system rated it with a passing score of 60.

However, there was a big gap between his and the old man’s dish in the mouth of the well-known food blogger who had 600,000 followers on Weibo.

She commented this way:

“The dishes you make are also delicious, but how to say it… It is just delicious. The traditional Chinese food that is so delicious in China is also very, very rare…”

“But, the beef lungs in chili sauce not only made my stomach and tongue satisfied, but also filled my heart with a strange emotion. It sounds incredible, but that’s the difference between the two. One seems to be ordinary cuisine and the other magical cuisine. One can be found in reality, the other depends on chance. Some people may not eat it in their lifetime!”

At that time, the young lady’s bright eyes made Xia Yu look embarrassed.

He did not say that the beef lungs in chili sauce was made by his own old man. The girls still complained, saying that he did not work hard on the next two dishes. When they paid the check and left, their eyes were grieving. Xia Yu couldn’t really feel bad. 

“Overwhelmed?” A rough voice abruptly sounded at his back. 

“How can it be?” 

Xia Yu knew who it was when he heard the voice. He immediately raised his voice and rolled up his sleeves to reveal a strong arm. “I will not admit defeat!” 

But then he lowered his shoulders again and murmured, “Old man, what’s the difference between our cooking? You know, the cooking process. I studied your manual carefully.” 

The old man didn’t have much to say. He spent a few minutes using marinade, soybean oil, pepper noodles and other accessories, preparing a ‘beef lungs in chili sauce’ and placed it on the kitchen table. 

“Try now. Before, you were practicing basic knife skills. Now, you are also an apprentice chef. The confusion you encounter can be answered in the dishes…” 

After listening to the old man, Xia Yu could not help patting his forehead. 

After improving his own cooking skills, he had not really tasted the dishes of the old man.

Xia Yu used to be an outsider. His impression of the old man’s cuisine was always that it was delicious food. He could not taste the mystery in the cuisine. Now, his cooking skills were improving drastically every day. He should be able to taste other things, right? 

Xia Yu found a pair of chopsticks as he thought. He slowly used the chopsticks and sent a piece of beef to his mouth with expectation and a kind of anxiety. He chewed slowly and tasted carefully. 

The taste of spices, peppers and Sichuan pepper erupted at the tip of his tongue. 

His expression was shocked and disbelieving. In the end, it was a kind of satisfaction of appetite. 

It was just a bite. It was too early to fill up the stomach, but with this bite, the desire to ‘eat’ was satisfied. 

Xia Yu woke up and his eyes blurred. 

No wonder the two young ladies said that the old man’s ‘beef lungs in chili sauce’ was delicious. 

This couldn’t simply be called delicious. It was simply spiritual enjoyment.

Even if it was just a small bite of beef slices or lung slices of ‘beef lungs in chili sauce’, the people eating may feel tasteless and empty the next day when they ate other things.

Dominance!

Xia Yu inexplicably realized the chef spirit contained in this ‘beef lungs in chilli sauce’.

What was wrong with this world? What was going on?

The spiritual level of cooking, which is called ‘magic’ by the round-faced lady. Xia Yu would certainly sneer after hearing it if it was his original world.

However, in this world, the old man presented his chef’s spirit three-dimensionally in front of Xia Yu through traditional Chinese cuisine, so he had to be convinced.

After eating this ‘beef lungs in chilli sauce’, Xia Yu looked back suddenly, and discovered the ignorance of his previous life.

Eating the food made by the old man for more than ten years, the only thing he learnt was the basic knife skill. There was no sign of happiness on the old man’s face in front of him.

For the heir, the old man must have put a lot of hope on him, but the predecessor was quite slow, which was why the old man did not teach him cooking?

“System: Unlock [Chef’s Heart] advanced talent. After the host is LV.10 and promoted to one-star chef, you can increase your advanced talent level by assigning talent points.”

What?

A pop-up system prompt suddenly made Xia Yu open his mouth.

The Chef’s Heart.

Xia Yu opened the system panel. On the personal talent tree, an advanced talent icon was very conspicuous on a large black background.

On the talent tree diagram, the bottom layer had several basic skills including knife skills, fire control, seasoning and identification of ingredients.

Then, there were several physical qualities. Strength, dexterity, spirit, and nerve reflex, which were included in the chef tree, belonged to basic skills as well.

“[Chef’s Heart] (Advanced Talent): Chefs are artists and conductors. They can control the appetite of diners, making ‘spicy’ overwhelming, making ‘sweet’ really warm people’s hearts, and making ‘bitter’ taste like they are going through a difficult pilgrimage… The taste is in the hands of such chefs, already become a catalyst of emotions. They control diners’ cries or laughs.” 

After reading the system’s text introduction, there was nothing more Xia Yu could say.

LV.10 advanced one-star chef. This talent had to be added! It was too overpowered! 

The old man came and went away. 

It was late at night. 

Xia Yu opened the learning column and asked in his heart, “System, what is the learning progress of the cooking manual of the old man?” 

“96%. 4% remaining progress…” 

“Okay, finish this 4% progress tonight!” 

So, the system sorted out the materials that he needed to learn and practice. It acted as a mentor or supervisor. When Xia Yu did not do well enough, the system used the unique mechanical synthesizing sound and coldly said, “Not qualified.”

Xia Yu, immersed in the world of cooking, did not know that a tall figure accompanied him at the corner outside the kitchen in the middle of the night. A pair of eyes glowing in the darkness showed a trace of comfort and satisfaction.

The next day.

Xia Yu was awakened by the sound of a car engine. He made a soft sound and rubbed his messy medium and long hair. He then opened the attic window and looked out of the street.

A black extended car. It was a bit familiar.

He glanced at the license plate number. Xia Yu slapped his forehead and chuckled. “The proud girl is here again. What time is it?”

He covered his head and glanced back at the alarm clock at the head of the bed. 9:15 in the morning.

“Mr Xia Qing…”

Commander of Togetsu, Nagi Hidari, also came. He was still in the traditional samurai clothes with wooden clogs on his feet, standing in front of the store. Xia Yu reached his head out and only saw the old man’s half-length body and the bulging black luggage bag at his feet.

Luggage bag?

With his spirits awakened and restless, Xia Yu couldn’t be bothered to do washing anymore. As he put on slippers and opened the door of the bedroom, he flew downstairs like a bird.