Chapter 799: Chapter 798: Qilin Pavilion

“Qilin Pavilion!”

At the top level of the Loulin Ship, the night wind from the Huangpu River blew in through the large open windows on all sides.

Xia Yu stopped at the staircase entrance, looking around in surprise.

This top floor was like an elegant restaurant on the top level of a hotel, with lighting neither too bright nor too dim, and numerous tables and chairs neatly arranged.

Perhaps the benefits of each temple and pavilion below had already been snatched away by strong contenders, people kept coming up behind Xia Yu in the staircase, rustling around, and a glance around showed that half of the large restaurant was already seated, quite bustling.

“Huh!”

After observing for a while, Xia Yu sensed something was off.

There were no food promotional posters!

And no waitstaff!

“Buffet?”

Xia Yu furrowed his brow, saying this with a firm tone, but internally he was sure there was more to it than just that.

Zhu Qing laughed and said, “You don’t really think a place named ‘Qilin’ Pavilion is just an ordinary restaurant, do you?”

“Stop keeping secrets, spill it—” Xia Yu was extremely curious.

“Follow me!”

Zhu Qing led Xia Yu to a corner where people were lining up. Xia Yu tiptoed to look ahead, amidst the shadows, there was a wide kitchen counter.

No, it should be an open kitchen, with all the smoke blocked by high transparent glass.

Such a small kitchen of about 10 square meters on the top level of the Loulin Ship was really inconspicuous.

It wasn’t long before Zhu Qing and Xia Yu reached the front of the line to get their meal.

“Fresh and hot Chinese fried noodles, enjoy!”

A somewhat lazy-sounding young male voice.

The tray was pushed out through the window.

On the plates were two servings of fried noodles packed with color, aroma, and taste, the scent faintly igniting the air, creating a strange oppressive feeling that made one’s forehead sweat.

But Xia Yu didn’t pick up the tray, instead he called out abruptly and somewhat oddly, “Hey!”

“Hey what hey, take it and eat it, it’s free. If you find it delicious, please give me a Qilin Coin as a tip, then I’d be eternally grateful and thank you profusely!”

“Please, make sure you give me a Qilin Coin!”

The young man inside the open kitchen window kept waving his arms.

“Li Han!”

Only when someone called out his name did the young man’s shoulders tremble, looking up quickly, followed by an angry wide-eyed stare, his eyes almost bulging out.

Mr. Li unintentionally showcased his exaggerated facial expressions, which deserved a classic funny meme added alongside.

“Whoa!”

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!”

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa…”

Then followed a stream of ‘genuine emotional words’ muttering.

At least repeating the interjection for over a minute, Li Han finally looked up again, tightly staring at the young man outside the window.

He looked at Xia Yu.

Then glanced at Zhu Qing standing beside Xia Yu with a playful smile on her face.

Li Han finally confirmed he wasn’t dreaming, but the first thing he did upon snapping back to reality was clutching his head and howling, “Ahhh, you little brat, returning home is one thing, but why on this very ship?”

The entire scene carried a sorrowful air as if defeated before even starting.

Perhaps this was the lament of a defeated dog.

“What’s wrong with me being on the ship?” Xia Yu chuckled.

“Huh?!”

Upon hearing this retort, Li Han’s neurotic howling stopped abruptly, glaring in anger, “You don’t know again?”

“Why is it ‘again’?”

Xia Yu’s mouth twitched, unable to stop his sarcastic comments.

“Never mind, if you don’t know, then you don’t know!” Li Han waved his hand repeatedly, “Leave! Please leave!”

Instantly, Xia Yu’s face darkened.

Making it seem like I’m some kind of disaster star!

He really wanted to shout—a halo of the death god’s child detective doesn’t accompany me!

Zhu Qing couldn’t help but laugh.

“Li Han, shut up.” She first hollered at Mr. Li, then Li Han obediently quieted down, eagerly watching Zhu Qing as she explained the legacy of the Qilin Pavilion to Xia Yu.

In fact, the Qilin Pavilion here is really similar to the Qilin Pavilion that honored distinguished ministers during the Han Dynasty.

From a certain functional level, this pavilion indeed honors the portraits of outstanding chefs over the past century.

This reform was also decided by Yan Xian, who succeeded Kaiyou as leader, known for his boldness. From then on, the publicly open Loulin Ship welcomed chefs from both the Dark World and the Light Realm, attracting famous Chinese chefs to leave their mark here.

However, not just anyone could leave their mark here.

The ‘Qilin Coin’ mentioned by Li Han is a kind of recognition token, and ship guests dining on this level all have one.

And the condition to be honored and recorded in the Qilin Pavilion is to receive over ninety percent of the ancient coins.

This condition is quite harsh.

“Ninety percent?”

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu took a deep breath, “That’s too hard! Almost as difficult as passing with full votes, it’s hell-level!”

Li Han sighed, “Otherwise, why do you think since Yan Xian’s reform a hundred years ago, only eleven predecessors are recorded in the Qilin Pavilion? You understand the difficulty now, right? Leaving a lasting legacy is appealing but without matching culinary excellence, it’s impossible!”

Mr. Li’s eyes were filled with longing.

This longing in his eyes was something Xia Yu hadn’t seen in Li Han since he first met him.

Including the victory at the Sapporo competition and the Jade Dragon Pot, Li Han had never shown such eagerness.

“The Western Han had eleven honored ministers in the Qilin Pavilion, the Sui and Tang had twenty-four honored ministers in the Lingyan Pavilion. These honored figures truly left a lasting legacy, never expected Yan Xian, known as a wanderer, succeeding Kaiyou’s position as the leader of the Dark World, to have such audacity to reform, attracting renowned chefs worldwide to board the ship and leave their mark.” Xia Yu thought.

“By the way, is it only the top elite culinary skills that qualify to apply to use the kitchen here?”

Xia Yu raised his head again, with clear interest in his eyes.

“Correct!”

Upon seeing the look in his eyes, Li Han’s heart trembled slightly, hurriedly waving his hand and said, “Don’t rashly participate on a whim. Although the age limit is below fifty, a crowd of old fellows can only watch and can’t participate. But they’re the diners, the judges, so picky it’s extremely difficult to get them to cooperate by casting coins!”

“Well, what about yourself?” Xia Yu motioned to him with his mouth, smiling eyes.

“Uh!”

Li Han paused, his face showing a delicate blush, “I, I, I’m just playing casually!”

He spread his hands, plainly explaining.

“Try more when you’re young, once you’re old, there won’t be a chance to ascend to the Qilin Pavilion!” Li Han’s eyes once again burst with desire, his shoulders vibrating with excitement, “This is a major achievement in life, an achievement, you understand? It’s like conquering Mount Everest, ascending to the Qilin Pavilion is an epic career glory that every chef from the Chinese Realm wants to attain!”

“Alright.”

Xia Yu shrugged and walked away with Zhu Qing.

Seeing Xia Yu retreat and not planning to participate, Li Han exhaled intensely, unconsciously, his back was already dampened with cold sweat.

“Phew, the kid finally left!”

Li Han cursed under his breath, “My last attempt was 3 years ago, this time the Loulin Ship is setting sail again, I’m going to give it my all even if I hit a wall! If I don’t, I’ll be too old!”

For some reason, the sudden arrival of Xia Yu had the ‘Five Talents’ Mr. Li perturbed, causing a fearful sense of being overshadowed by the younger generation. Are all the youth in this era so monstrous?

Thinking left and right, Li Han could no longer bother hosting guests, he took out his phone and popped up in a chat group.

“Dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit!”

A line of day-daring, earth-provoking, and air-quaking text sent out just like that.

“…”

“Mr. Li, is this a teddy syndrome outburst?”

“Do you need us to help dial 120 for emergency assistance?”

The chat group had only five members, the name was ‘Five Talents Sword Discussion Group.’

Except for Ye Feizhou at the top, the other three talents bubbled up to mock Li Han.

Li Han, Tang Yuqiong, Wu Yingying, Ye Feizhou.

The fifth person not yet showing face in the group, using Zhao Zhen as their real name in the Five Talents Sword Discussion Group.

“That person has returned home!”

Li Han added.

“Who?” Zhao Zhen, the fifth person, bubbled up, sending a yawning lazy emoji.

At the same time.

At Zhao’s Vineyard, in the Guanlan Courtyard where Xia Yu and Zhu Qing were staying, Wu Yingying and Tang Yuqiong sat at the stone table in the courtyard, both looked up in sync and exchanged a speechless, amused glance.

“You know again?”

Not far away, Xu Liuyue stood at the courtyard gate, tiptoeing, perplexly turned her head listening to the two women’s snickering.