CHAPTER 687: CHAPTER 686: UNANIMOUS VOICE (PART 2)

"Welcome to the temple of nature—"

Xia Yu smiled and first lifted the lid off the first boiling pot.

Boom!

A dense fog billowed out, the previously enticing aroma of taro and tofu mixed with the freshness of radishes and wormwood, and the surrounding diners took a light breath, imagining a grand green natural temple before their eyes.

"Click, click, click..."

But this was just the beginning of the first pot’s rich fragrance.

Immediately after, Xia Yu, without any hesitation, briskly removed the remaining nine pot lids, and it was as if nine vegetable fountains erupted, together composing a melody named nature.

The second temple, enveloped in green light, was built upon the very first one.

One after another.

In the blink of an eye, a full ten identical palaces stacked up in everyone’s view, reaching up to the clouds, the top-most palace hazily visible amidst the rolling mist.

"This is..."

Ichise Hui’s eyes showed shock, "Such a strong sense of imagery!"

Tasting the flavor, he couldn’t stop his heart from trembling.

Bowing his head, Ichise Hui struggled to resist the sudden flood-like outburst of appetite.

Sen Tian Makoto’s eyes widened, her pupils seeming to be adorned with green, her dark and clear eyes turning emerald.

From the palace came the sound of tinkling stringed instruments.

The main melody was composed by the rich fragrance of taro, with beef juice as harmony, while other wonderful notes were transformed from a variety of vegetables.

Wait a second!

At that moment, a peculiar fragrance lingered at the nostrils, and saliva continuously seeped within the mouth. Sen Tian Makoto swallowed quietly, unable to help but cast an admiring look towards the boy standing opposite her at the three cooking stations, "Indeed, completely different from Senior Ichise’s recipes! From where does this miraculous fragrance come? This, this is simply a ’Stone-to-Gold’ stroke, making the recipe leap a whole great step! Truly amazing!"

Not just Makki, Ichise Hui, but also the outsiders Chen Yang, Tang Yuqiong smelt this scent, their expressions changed.

"What on earth is this student..."

Tang Yuqiong muttered to herself.

"Who is he?!" Chen Yang clenched his fists, churning inside, "If he isn’t one of Lei Zhe’s people, then how..."

His thoughts were interrupted by the rising tide of appetite, and just when Chen Yang felt irritated, the female subordinate Lin beside him timidly asked, "Chen, can I..."

Facing Chen Yang’s eyes that hid irritation, the blonde girl couldn’t continue speaking.

But Chen Yang gestured to her with his chin, "If you want to go, then hurry!"

Even more irritably.

"We must grab this first pot!"

"Ah? Oh, okay!" The blonde girl didn’t have time to think, upon hearing these words, it was like music to her ears, and she immediately clenched the gourmet tickets and rushed into the crowd.

"Sister Li, go quickly!" Tang Yuqiong holding the camera pole, not convenient to squeeze into the crowd, could only anxiously say to the staff.

The Polar Star Dormitory’s communal dining hall was swarmed by frantic diners.

"Gourmet tickets! Here are gourmet tickets! For you!"

"Please give me a serving!"

"I’ll give double the gourmet tickets, I beg you, dish out a bowl for me!"

The diners could no longer contain themselves, each raising their hands high, waving stacks of gourmet tickets; the scene resembled a bustling food auction, definitely not a restaurant.

The change in the crowd’s attitude was caused by nothing more than the food!

"Just by smelling the aroma, I can’t control my appetite!"

Yoshino Yuuki was also secretly wiping away drool.

"Don’t just stand there—" Xia Yu turned back to the group of Polar Star Dormitory friends, "Grab bowls, grab chopsticks, one bowl for 5000 gourmet tickets, you guys dish it out to the customers!"

He moved ten pots full of taro stew to the countertop of the open-air kitchen, for his friends from the Polar Star Dormitory to distribute and sell.

There’s no need for doubt.

Xia Yu, when cooking with the "Silver Chopsticks & Ten Pots Flip" culinary technique, did have meticulous calculations in mind.

According to the shop’s rules, the taro soup was sold by the bowl, not by the entire pot.

After all, considering the clout that Ichise Hui and Sen Tian Makoto held, a bowl of taro soup priced at 5,000 yen was probably still considered cheap in the eyes of the diners.

And Xia Yu didn’t arbitrarily raise the price.

He was cooking not for the sake of earning revenue, but solely for the Talent Points that came with the task.

Carefully calculating, a large pot of taro soup could be split into 6 or 7 bowls; now, having stewed 10 pots in one go, there was no problem serving more than sixty diners!

"Task interception time: 23 minutes 55 seconds."

He glanced at the task bar.

That was close!

Wiping away sweat in relief, Xia Yu thought to himself, "Thank goodness I divided the process of cooking taro into two stages; otherwise, just cooking them would take 20-30 minutes, surely not enough time!"

Now, the 10 pots of taro soup had taken just over ten minutes.

But it still wasn’t enough!

"We need to increase efficiency a bit more, do two more sets!"

"Let’s give it our all!"

Xia Yu didn’t have time to rest or pay attention to the customers’ reactions. He moved other clean pots onto the stove, and in an instant, flames roared beneath another ten pots of soup.

...

"Delicious!"

Tang Yuqiong used one hand to hold the camera pole and the other to wield her chopsticks. She and a woman surnamed Li found empty seats at a table, with a hard-earned bowl of taro soup in front of them. Tang picked up a whole piece of taro with her chopsticks, popped it into her mouth, and crunched down, feeling the warm sweetness flood her mouth.

Facing the livestream camera, Tang Yuqiong’s neck stiffened, and it took her a long while before she was willing to swallow the mashed taro. It felt as if a fresh melodic symphony of vegetables was spreading through her limbs and body, her face, caressed as if by a lover, exuding an enticing serenity and pleasure.

The comments exploded.

"Wow, Tang’s Mingzhu displaying such an expression!"

Many viewers were probably swallowing hard, unsure if it was the beauty on the screen or the tantalizing scent of the taro soup from afar that was more appetizing.

After a while, having eaten several pieces of vegetables in succession, Tang Yuqiong excitedly said to the camera, "It’s delicious, truly, I’m not lying, the level is really high!"

"After tasting it, I now understand the craftsmanship in the roasting of taro and tofu. It may seem to shorten cooking time, but actually, the crispy outer layer locks in the flavors of the taro and tofu. This step is so crucial, so when you eat this bowl of stewed vegetables, each ingredient has its own distinctive and intense flavor... it’s like walking in a treasury of nature, with every step forward bringing a new delight!"

The comments grew even more lively.

"Hurry to interview this student chef to find out who this prodigy is!" someone urged. Tang Yuqiong saw the comment, and her smile turned into a slight squint, "Interview? Yes, that could be arranged. We’ll just sit here and wait for a while!"

Not far away.

Thump!

Chen Yang felt a softening of his body, which was only propped up by a strong arm, barely managing to stand. The blond woman he was helping seemed expressionless, but her tongue actively swept around her mouth, chasing the lingering flavors between her teeth and lips.

"Sesame oil!"

In his mind, an image formed of a glass bottle tilting to pour out amber-colored, crystalline oil.

"Sesame oil, dispelling the gaminess and bringing forth a fragrant scent," he mumbled to himself, grabbing a bowl and gulping down the broth. The warmth circulated within him, blurring Chen Yang’s vision, and before his eyes, a vision of nine majestic natural palaces unfolded.

However, unlike before, this time, a gigantic taro vine road leading to the nine palaces had streams of amber oil quietly flowing down the steps. With each step Chen Yang took up the path, his heart also trembled.

"Golden Touch! This, this is definitely not a level of culinary skill a student could have!"

Barely reaching the top of the ninth palace and standing on the elevated platform, Chen Yang marveled thus—

Whoosh whoosh!

A piercing wind blew, sending him tumbling down.

"Is this sound... really real?!"

Falling freely through the air, Chen Yang had a stunned expression, as if his soul had been ripped away.