```
Hey, hey!
The attitude of the middle-aged man acting like he owned the place left Xia Yu quite irritated.
The guy who ate half of his midnight snack had to pay a price. After thinking it over, Xia Yu could only extend his hand and say, "Money——"
"Money?" The middle-aged man was taken aback.
Xia Yu pointed to the now empty bowl, "Paying for your meal is only right. Are you planning on having a free meal?"
"How much?"
"Hmm, let me think. This is today's limited night snack, there were only two bowls, and you ate one, so I'll charge you ten thousand yen." Xia Yu said casually while tapping his chin.
He just wanted to provoke this impolite guy on purpose.
Who cares if he's a regular or whoever. Xia Yu wouldn't show any mercy to someone who took half of his most sumptuous meal of the day, full of resentment.
Smack.
Surprisingly, the middle-aged man didn't haggle or waste words. He simply pulled out a wallet from the pocket of his dark gray coat, took out a ten-thousand-yen bill, placed it on the table, and smiled slightly, "If I could use money to eat Boss Xia's dishes every day, I would gladly spend my entire fortune."
Xia Yu was left speechless.
In Tokyo, a normal bowl of ramen usually costs six or seven hundred yen, equivalent to about 40 RMB.
A ten-thousand-yen bill would be over six hundred, enough to buy a dozen bowls of regular ramen.
Needless to say, anyone spending ten thousand yen on ramen was undoubtedly a rich person. Xia Yu didn't hesitate and swiftly stuffed the ten-thousand-yen bill into his pocket.
Damn it, living off store-bought bread every day was all because the old man was too stingy, giving him only 1,000 yen a day for living expenses.
What does 1,000 yen mean?
A bento box at the store costs 400 yen each, while a pack of instant noodles is 100-250 yen. Fortunately, because he could cycle to school, he saved on daily train fares. Otherwise, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Xia Yu would at least have to skip a meal.
The sad thing was that Xia Yu still had to frequently pay attention to the store's discount announcements. When he saw expiring half-priced bento boxes, he instantly became a bicycle expert. Perhaps it was luck, but despite regularly eating expired bento, he had never been seriously ill.
In short, no one ended up like the transmigrator Xia Yu had. With his hands in his pants pockets, fingertips stroking the smooth ten-thousand-yen bill, Xia Yu was already pondering where to have a hearty meal to replenish nutrients.
"You are Xia Yu?"
The middle-aged man retrieved his wallet, then continued to eye him with interest and asked.
"Without a doubt!"
When Xia Yu looked at the middle-aged man's face again, it seemed much more cordial.
Nodding, the middle-aged man didn't ask further questions but instead looked toward the old man in the kitchen and said loudly, "Boss Xia..."
The old man casually walked out from the back kitchen, crossing his arms standing behind the counter, looking cool.
"Mr. Shinohara, what do you have in mind?" the old man asked.
"Boss Xia, is this your grandson?" The middle-aged man pointed to Xia Yu standing next to him. Seeing the old man nod, he laughed lightly, "I agreed to the matter you asked me to take care of. But since he is your grandson, I want to see his culinary skills. After all, you're leaving, and I need a substitute."
"Come in—" The old man beckoned with authority at the stunned Xia Yu.
Xia Yu instinctively walked from the storefront to the kitchen.
He wasn't paying attention to the middle-aged man's words at all, currently excited by the task prompt from the God of Cooking System:
"Create a night snack that satisfies Shinohara Shigetaro, and the host will complete the initial task."
Standing in front of the kitchen's cooking table, Xia Yu was soon dumbfounded.
He didn't know how to cook at all!
Unable to restrain himself, he cast a pleading look at the old man beside him, but the old man remained with arms crossed, looking cool. "When I was your age, I was already a cooking chief, independently upholding our Xia Family's banner. Now it's your turn."
No, don't!
Xia Yu was anxious. Old man, when did you ever teach me to cook? You treated me like a helper.
Also, can't you use less phrasing like, "When I was your age"? Times have changed!
As if sensing his inner thoughts, the old man shook his head, saying, "You think I made you different night snacks every evening for nothing? These are the simplest and freest dishes. If you haven't mastered at least one or two cooking methods by now, it means you haven't focused on improving your culinary skills… You have lost the soul of the Xia Family!"
The old man's words grew more serious.
With pressure from both the system and the old man, Xia Yu took a deep breath, realizing he had to step up to the plate.
The problem was, what dish should he make, or rather, what night snack?
An idea struck him.
Smack. Xia Yu clenched his left hand into a fist and slammed it into his right palm, "Ramen! The beef ramen I just had! That's it!"
He turned to the storefront and shouted, "Mr. Shinohara, would you mind another bowl of beef ramen?"
Shinohara Shigetaro sat there quietly. The storefront was tiny, so he naturally heard the conversation between the grandfather and grandson.
It seemed the next generation of the Xia Family wasn't skilled in cooking. He could see Xia Yu's nervousness, while the old man, Shinohara Shigetaro, couldn't discern any inner emotions from that always stern face.
"If it's delicious, I certainly don't mind," Shinohara Shigetaro replied with a smile.
"Then, please wait a moment..."
Xia Yu stood in front of the cooking table, idly supporting his chin. In front of him was high-gluten flour, specially used for ramen, and a large pot of water was already on the gas stove, heating up and soon to boil.
To make ramen, the first issue was the noodles.
There were no prepared noodles in the store, so he had to make them himself. Making good ramen undoubtedly required skilled basic techniques, kneading the dough, shaping, stretching, cooking, removing... Each step would affect the final taste, and shouldn't be taken lightly.
"System: Host, you have an unclaimed beginner's gift package. Consider claiming it before making your first dish."
What on earth is a beginner's gift package?
His train of thought was interrupted, but Xia Yu wasn't annoyed. Instead, he was brimming with curiosity.
Beep.
A crisp sound rang in his mind, followed by a game-like skill tree diagram appearing on Xia Yu's retinas.
Culinary Level Lv. 2.
Unused Talent Points: 1.
"When did my culinary skill level up from Lv. 1 to Lv. 2, and I got a Talent Point with the level-up?" Xia Yu was dumbfounded.
Then the God of Cooking System provided a detailed system log:
2016/7/20, 7:36 PM, host processed ten servings of meat ingredients, gaining 10 Experience Points.
2016/7/20, 8:20 PM, host processed ten servings of seafood ingredients, gaining 10 Experience Points.
2016/7/20, 9:00 PM, host processed ten servings of vegetable ingredients, gaining 10 Experience Points.
...
The system log recorded until after midnight.
Advancing from culinary Lv. 1 to Lv. 2 only required 100 Experience Points, but from Lv. 2 to Lv. 3, it was a tenfold increase, needing 1,000 Experience Points.
"Claim beginner's gift package!" Xia Yu decided to claim the package first.
"System: Host receives one free spin of the virtual wheel."
A roulette interface popped up, accompanied by detailed written descriptions.
[Ingredients]: Receive high-grade ingredients from the God of Cooking System.
[Cookware]: Receive high-grade cookware from the God of Cooking System.
[Recipe]: Receive recipes of at least blue quality from the God of Cooking System.
[Consumable]: Receive a one-time-use item.
[Special]: Very low probability, the host receives super talents like "Divine Tongue" or "Divine Hand."
My goodness, Divine Tongue?
Xia Yu was a bit flustered, thinking this sounded like a crossover from Food War Spirit!
```