CHAPTER 701: CHAPTER 700: NIGHT IN TOKYO

At eight o’clock, dusk had descended.

Far Moon Campus High Platform Area was even livelier than it had been during the day.

At the foot of the mountain, the area was brightly lit by street lamps, and if one looked up, they could clearly see a brilliantly lit building on the mountain.

Sounds carried over in bursts.

"This, this is the ’Golden Smile’? Oh, hahaha, this is pure happiness!"

"The prestigious menu is so expensive, each classic dish costs millions of yen... But why are the regular dishes so delicious too? I just can’t stop!"

"Fierce Ice Fresh Carving Mountain, is this a weakened version of ’Peacock Dance’?"

The voices were loud.

The lively scene vividly illustrated the restaurant’s bustling business.

"Please come in—"

A maid welcomed a few college students into the restaurant and seated them on the fifth floor.

Unbeknownst to them, the four floors below, with a total of 120 tables, were all occupied. There was not a single empty chair to be found, and several male servers were carefully moving extra chairs to accommodate more guests.

The college students sat down and immediately collapsed into their chairs, gasping for breath.

"Thank goodness we decided to come to the High Platform Area for dinner tonight, and we just happened to walk into this..." the leader of the group, a young man who seemed to be from a wealthy, upper-class family, said thankfully.

"Yes!"

A female student agreed. She was pretty, wearing makeup and dressed in the most fashionable winter dress and handbag of the year, appearing to be a popular figure in her class.

Among this group, a quiet and beautiful girl simply took out a tissue to wipe away her sweat without talking to anyone else, seemingly of a more solitary character.

"Yuriko..."

The leader, a young man named Aikawa Hikari, glanced at her with a hint of adoration and offered a dining coupon, asking, "What would you like to eat? I organized this gathering and I’m paying, so order whatever you want."

The table fell silent for a moment.

"Ah!"

Aoki Yuriko immediately felt distressed. Not just the male student at her table, but also on the train ride to Far Moon for the evening gathering, she had received a lot of attention for her beautiful appearance.

Her chestnut-colored bob framed a delicate, fair oval face, and under her left eye on her cheek, there was a tear mole.

This mole, like the finishing stroke of a brush, added an even more ethereal beauty to her quiet face.

"Well... I’ll have the ’Tofu Carving of the Seven Sages of Bamboo Grove,’" she said.

When the maid showed the group to their seats, she had explained the ordering rules: each person could order up to three dishes, but Aoki Yuriko chose only one and then remained silent.

The coupon went around to the others.

Soon, nine main dishes were decided upon, and the students watched as the maid took the dining coupons and walked away, their mouths watering.

"I hope it comes quickly!" Both the boys and girls clasped their hands together in prayer.

They had arrived at just the right time, and their seats were good, next to the indoor railing, allowing them to lean over and look down into the open-air kitchen in the courtyard. Not content to remain seated, they got up and went over to the railing to take out their phones and start shooting.

Aikawa Hikari checked his phone and saw the exploding social media feeds, breaking out in a cold sweat: "It’s only been a little over an hour since Chef Xia opened his new restaurant in the Far Moon Campus, and the news is already flying everywhere!"

He looked at the homepage of Twitter’s food channel.

Then he switched to other food forums and platforms.

Those who had dined earlier were showing off and sharing pictures, drawing a massive amount of attention, likes, and shares.

"Ah, are the Chiben sisters, Chiben Natsuka and Chiben Orin, also here?!"

This was Aoki Yuriko’s exclamation.

She was also scrolling through Twitter, and when she refreshed her screen, the tweets at the very top were food posts from the Chiben sisters.

"Eat! Eat! Eat!"

The domineering female CEO Chiben Natsuka’s tweet was straightforward, accompanied by six high-definition pictures, each of a different dish.

Her sister, Chiben Orin, had posted an additional personal wedding photo, captioned, "This is absolutely the most wonderful and joyful moment of my life... Eat!"

Aoki Yuriko opened the reply bar, and was stunned.

A sea of verified celebrity accounts.

"What am I seeing?!" exclaimed the well-known female host Chiyoda Aichi with a shocked face.

"@##￥#%##@@#!!! The internet rumors are actually true, Chef Xia’s opening was so sudden, without any announcement... No, I need to rush over from my suburban hot spring villa! Wait for me!" expressed Taste Weekly’s female CEO and editor-in-chief, Dubian Yuuki, also shocked.

"Business is booming!"

The Yuchuan House Chief, Yuchuan Xin, specifically used Chinese characters to express his congratulations.

This is the culinary world.

In politics, the most notable is the comment from the Governor of Tokyo, Yuchuan Yuriko.

She posted a smiley face, saying, "It seems that the foodies are going to focus on Tokyo again."

A somewhat subtle praise.

Anyone who saw the tweet from the Chiben sisters and then read the reply from Yuchuan Yuriko could understand the implied meaning, even a elementary school student.

In fact, setting aside other abstracts, tonight’s circle in Tokyo was bustling with messages spreading from offline to online networks.

"Is there still a chance to get in line now and have a dish before closing?"

"Why not go and find out!"

"That’s true. If I get to eat, it’s a huge win. If I don’t get to eat, I’ll have a discount food coupon for tomorrow. There’s always another chance!"

Thus, at Tokyo’s transit hub stations, such as Shinjuku Station, long queues formed in front of the automatic ticket machines, and the tickets popping out bore a similar mark:

Shinjuku Station → Far Moon Station.

...

Meanwhile.

Thump thump!

With a knock on the door, the female ninja Yulizi handed a thick envelope to Lei Zhe’s desk and said, "The land has been negotiated and purchased. All the documents are inside. Please take a look."

Lei Zhe hummed softly. His expression was still ugly, obviously holding a grudge about being played yesterday.

He opened the envelope and reviewed the documents.

"Hmph!" With a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth, Lei Zhe said, "They certainly wouldn’t expect that the Culinary Association’s intelligence network had already thoroughly uncovered the so-called development plan of Xia’s Farm. Want to expand and buy land? Sorry, but this piece of land is now in my name. It’s my private property."

As for the money spent on purchasing the land, it was an astronomical figure to the common person, but to Lei Zhe and his ’research faction,’ it was just a drop in the bucket.

A minor breakthrough in culinary research was enough to earn back that money.

Achieving the purpose of intercepting and disgusting others, striking at rivals, Lei Zhe finally let out some of the suffocation inside him, feeling less stifled.

If it weren’t for being toyed with and losing his temper yesterday, Lei Zhe wouldn’t have gone to purchase any property.

"There’s another thing."

As Lei Zhe’s assistant and secretary, the female ninja Yulizi cautiously said, "Have you seen the explosive news online tonight?"

"Hmm?" Lei Zhe put down the envelope.

"Twitter!"

She handed over her smartphone.

Instantly, Lei Zhe’s eyes were captivated by the content scrolling on the screen for a long while.

Bang!

The sound of a chair falling, Lei Zhe suddenly stood up, his eyes emitting a frightening gleam like a wild animal in hunting mode, exuding an intimidating pressure that made the female ninja shiver.

"Let’s go—"

"We’re going to dine at Xia’s Chinese Restaurant!"

After speaking, Lei Zhe glanced at the real estate envelope on the table and picked it up.

"Going there to dine?"

Even the well-trained Female Warrior’s face changed drastically.

"Please reconsider."

She cautiously reminded.

With yesterday’s incident still hotly discussed, describing it as being at the center of a storm was not an exaggeration. If they caused trouble tonight, the world would likely agree that a battle between Far Moon and the Culinary Association had officially begun.

"Relax!"

Lei Zhe’s smile was profoundly meaningful.

"Tonight, I am just a mere guest, in pursuit of gourmet food that can satisfy my appetite."

He patted his stomach.

"I can’t stop... It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way!"