Chapter 35

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

The Shibuya man was chatting with his friends on Twitter and complaining to several singers who were also on the NicoNico website. 

His name was Mizutani Shun. He was a top student at University of Tokyo. His girlfriend was Ren Xue, from China, and was also a top student at University of Tokyo. In fact, the two were already dating before University. They had dated for about four years. 

Mizutani’s diligent work in NicoNico was inseparable from his girlfriend’s support. He was a singer, and his girlfriend was a dancer. The two inspired each other, making progress together. They had many things in common. 

In the eyes of outsiders, they were the best couple. 

But Mizutani Shun knew that if a cross-cultural romance was to be maintained, it was not enough to rely on connection alone. 

Just like choice of food, the two would always have differences. 

Ren Xue studied in Japan when she was in high school and she was always interested in her hometown food. However, Mizutani Shun had eaten unbelievably bad Chinese cuisine in high school. His impression of Chinese cuisine had fallen deeply. In addition, he was Japanese and often dissatisfied with his girlfriend’s recommendation of Chinese food in daily life. So, he always supported and ate Japanese cuisine.

They couldn’t convince each other. This had already evolved into a cultural conflict. 

Woo, woo. 

Mu Xiaoyue, who was playing with her mobile phone, couldn’t help smelling the air. Suddenly she raised her head. Her cheek faced the closed kitchen. She sniffed a scent of vegetable fragrance and her belly rumbled. 

“So hungry…” 

Mu Xiaoyue stopped playing with her mobile phone, and her beautiful face was wrinkled and looked distressed. 

The claypot dish was vegetarian. The fragrance was sealed in a casserole, and it was separated by a closed kitchen. No one else in the store noticed the smell. 

However, when Xia Yu was cooking the two meat dishes, the spicy beef mixed with chili, the rich aroma of pork and fish was just like a gas bomb, dropping into the store. 

“What’s this smell?” 

A group of singers were comforting Mizutani Shun in a group chat. His mood gradually returned to calmness. At this time, a strong scent entered his nose. 

Grunt. 

His stomach was protesting, and stomach acid was secreted.

Just from the smell, it already made Mizutani Shun’s body feel the urge to eat!

‘Want to eat! Want to eat! I really want to eat it!’

Mizutani put away his mobile phone and glanced at his girlfriend Ren Xue. And he saw that she also had intoxicated expression with her eyes closed. He couldn’t help thinking. ‘…How can people’s appetite be opened by smell alone?’

On the other side, An Ya handed a tissue to her girlfriend. Her shoulders were trembling, and she tried not to smile.

“You pig, wipe your saliva!” she whispered in a low voice.

Mu Xiaoyue seemed to be immersed in the illusion of the incense and ignored the voice of her girlfriend.

An Ya then pick up a tissue to help Mu Xiaoyue wipe her mouth. It was not an exaggeration. A strong cooking scent could stimulate the salivary glands to the maximum. Mu Xiaoyue was a foodie. An Ya did not wipe her saliva just once or twice.

Boom!

At this time, the closed kitchen door was opened, and Xia Yu was wearing a white kitchen hat and a white apron. His left and right hands were holding plates of Chinese food that had just been fried and placed on the counter.

“You can take them by yourself.” 

As Xia Yu said this, he went back to the kitchen and wrapped the hot casserole with a rag. He took out braised assorted vegetables with marinated tofu. 

The two Chinese ladies almost lay on the counter like puppies sniffing bones, staring firmly at the two freshly prepared meat dishes. 

“Pay attention to your image!” 

Xia Yu put the casserole down and patted their shoulders. He took two clean porcelain bowls and returned with two bowls of steam rice. “Take the rice.” 

In such a short time, An Ya and Mu Xiaoyue had put the three courses on their table. They both took chopsticks and were sitting on the chair. They had obviously tried it. 

He didn’t know why, but the couple also sat around the table. They held the chopsticks stained with a bit of oil. 

The Shibuya young man, with a petrified look on his face, slowly chewed the beef in his mouth. 

He tasted the satay beef. 

This was a Cantonese dish, or more precisely, a Chaozhou dish. 

The secret lied in satay sauce and peanut.

But knowing how to make it was not enough to make it delicious. In the Chef God Space, Xia Yu spent three days thoroughly understanding this dish. Even with multi-tasking and cooking fish-flavored pork shred at the same time, the finished dishes were still scored a high score of 80 in the system. 

Golden-colored beef slices were scattered on a white porcelain dish. The thick satay sauce was poured on the beef slices. The taste was mixed with a little chili and it could stimulate the appetite to the maximum.

Under Xia Yu ‘s gaze, after Mizutani Shun swallowed a piece of satay beef, his eyes were shining, as if he were a beast which had just found its prey. His eyes were covered with blood, and his chopsticks couldn’t stop. 

His girlfriend also turned into a hungry ghost. 

The shop was silent for a while. The only sound was the movement of chopsticks touching the plates.

Within a few minutes, a large plate of golden beef slices was eaten clean. 

But Mizutani Shun apparently had appetite. He had a hungry expression that looked like he didn’t have enough. He was staring at the remaining satay sauce on the plate. His adam’s apple rolled a bit and he seemed to intend to lick the plate. 

“Delicious?” A cold voice made Mizutani Shun wake up. 

Following the voice, Mizutani saw the young chef whom he looked down on in his heart before. Xia Yu’s eyes were calm.

“Good, very delicious…” Mizutani’s face stiffened, but he couldn’t laugh even if he wanted to. 

Silence. 

“What kind of sauce is this. Why haven’t I eaten before?” Mizutani pointed to the thick sauce on the white plate and swallowed his saliva quietly. 

“Satay sauce.” 

“Originating from the Chaoshan area of ​​China and prevalent in many provinces and cities, it is a mixed condiment. The raw materials are peanut kernels, white sesame, fish, dried shrimp, shredded coconut, garlic, mustard…” 

He listened to Xia Yu casually saying a lot of ingredients. 

“Satay sauce?” Mizutani Shun thought it sounded a little familiar. His girlfriend Ren Xue seemed to have bought such a bottle of sauce in Chinatown before. 

“Don’t use the bottled satay sauce in the grocery store to compare with the homemade satay sauce from our Xia’s shop,” Xia Yu said, “With the homemade satay sauce, we can make many dishes. The satay beef is just one of them. I can also make satay noodles, satay dumplings, satay ribs and other dishes. You can try more in the future.” 

Xia Yu finished talking and turned back to kitchen. He washed the pot and cleaned the residue on the kitchen counter.

Mizutani Shun stood blankly for a while, reminiscing about the taste between his lips and teeth. The original impression of Chinese cuisine in his mind somehow collapsed after tasting this satay beef.

“Good! Very delicious!”

Mu Xiaoyue’s exclamation made Mizutani realize that he still had two dishes to try.

He couldn’t take care of the complex emotions in his heart, and hurriedly reached his chopsticks to a dish on the table. He joined with Ren Xue, An Ya and Mu Xiaoyue to fight for the food.

Fish-flavored shredded pork was more fragrant and delicious, and Mizutani Shun almost bit his tongue.

The second plate was quickly emptied.

The two bowls of rice were completely forgotten, and four pairs of green and faint eyes turned to the casserole that hadn’t been uncovered.