Xia Yu entered the kitchen and began washing his hands.
Outside, there were sounds of a quarrel.
Under the menu wall, a young Shibuya-style Neon man was shouting loudly.
"…What's up with these prices?"
"Fish-flavored shredded pork 3,000 yen, Mapo tofu and sour and spicy potato strips 2,500 yen."
"Satay beef, pineapple gulu meat, and fermented bean curd vegetable casserole are all 3,500 yen... Are you sure this isn't robbery?"
The man became more and more agitated, pulling his girlfriend to leave, "Let's go somewhere else, there's a Chinese buffet in Ikebukuro, 2,500 yen for a meal set with ten dishes!"
"I want to eat here!" The girlfriend, evidently not a patient girl, got angry on the spot.
"..."
Hearing the quarrel, Xia Yu suddenly wasn't in a hurry to heat the pan. He walked to the counter outside.
"Sister Yue, let's order, what do you want to eat today?" He ignored the arguing couple.
Mu Xiaoyue retracted her gaze from the quarreling couple, her tightly knit brows relaxed, and she smiled with dimples showing, "Can I order all six dishes? Ugh... I had Mapo tofu for lunch, and I want it again for dinner. What should I do? My stomach might not be able to leave you. You need to take responsibility for me!"
Her coquettish tone made Xia Yu shiver.
"Stop!"
With a blank expression, Xia Yu extended his hand.
"Just three dishes, and they're on the house, as thanks. I won't make more, even if you pay..."
"Even if we pay?" Mu Xiaoyue gritted her teeth angrily, "Why?"
"Because you two girls, with three dishes and rice, it's enough to fill you up. Ordering a fourth dish would be a waste!" Xia Yu said, "You know how hearty the portions are at Xia's shop."
Mu Xiaoyue exchanged a glance with An Ya, muttered quietly, and only came back after a while with a conflicted face, "What's today's chef's recommendation?"
"I recommend all six dishes."
"Okay… then we'll have the fish-flavored shredded pork and the satay beef..."
At this point, Mu Xiaoyue stopped, biting her thumb, clearly struggling to choose a third dish.
"Should we have the pineapple gulu meat or the fermented bean curd vegetable casserole?" Mu Xiaoyue thought, dishes appearing in her mind, the red, sweet, and sour pineapple gulu meat.
As for the fermented bean curd vegetable casserole, Mu Xiaoyue had eaten it back home, it's Cantonese cuisine, also common in Hong Kong and Macau as a big mixed claypot dish.
"Let's go with the fermented bean curd vegetable casserole!"
Saying the name of the third dish, Mu Xiaoyue felt a ripping pain in her heart, as the dish of gulu meat quickly moved away from her.
"Sorry," Mu Xiaoyue silently said in her heart, clenching her little pink fist, "Next time I'll definitely choose you! Wait for me!"
"Help me watch the shop; it'll take about 30 minutes."
Xia Yu glanced at the couple still arguing and turned to enter the kitchen.
"Argh, it's so annoying!"
Mu Xiaoyue was already a bit upset by the quarreling couple, she went over with a stern face, pulled her female fan aside, and said imposingly, "If you trust the reputation of my YueYue Food Blog, then wait a little. You don't have to order now; once the three dishes I ordered are served, you can taste them first..."
Ha!
She laughed inwardly; Mu Xiaoyue admired her own cleverness.
She ordered three dishes, the couple ordered another three dishes, and the four of them sat at one table, sharing the resources, right?
She could be considered the first loyal customer of Xia's cuisine shop, or Xia Yu's, and she had 100% confidence in Xia Yu's cooking skills.
As long as the couple tasted it, she guaranteed they would be instantly captivated, and their questions about the pricing would all turn into speechless praise.
"You just tell your boyfriend this, if he doesn't agree, break up!" Mu Xiaoyue continued her bold tone, waved her hand, and returned to sit next to her best friend.
Then, the quarreling couple sat apart, pouting.
The Shibuya-style young man, feeling bored while waiting, took out his phone, aimed it at Xia's Chinese Restaurant's menu wall, snapped a clear photo, and posted a Twitter update with text and pictures,
"Today, it's pouring in Tokyo, and I'm in a bad mood. My girlfriend is a Chinese girl, and she insisted on going to a Chinese restaurant in Taidong District. The prices are as shown, feel free to roast..."
"Also, the chef at this restaurant might be a high school student. I asked, and he's not a Far Moon student. How does he have the courage to take on the chef role at this age?"
Once the tweet was posted, it immediately got numerous retweets and comments.
The Shibuya-style young man seemed to be a minor internet celebrity; a glance at his Twitter profile showed he was a well-known uploader in the music section of the Neon bullet video website niconico, with over 200,000 followers.
"Feels sorry for my Lord Tianfeng!"
"These prices are unbearable, better call the police!"
A group of enthusiastic fans retweeted and replied, similarly, just a few minutes after this tweet was posted, it got translated by domestic fans and posted in the fan-support QQ group, instantly leading to a large-scale denunciation.
"These prices are beyond comment. How can any Chinese cuisine be sold for such a high price, averaging 180 yuan a plate, similar to high-end restaurant consumption, right!"
"Hope it's a Chinese restaurant opened by Neon; otherwise, it's really embarrassing."
"Neon Chinese cuisine? Are you saying Mapo tofu has been turned sweet, gulu meat tastes weird as hell, and dan dan noodles are all soup; when domestic xiaolongbao becomes a luxury item… Anyway, I refuse to accept that these things are Chinese cuisine!"
…
Xia Yu knew nothing of the voices outside.
He focused on his culinary world. The counter was filled with washed or pre-chopped main ingredients and side ingredients.
Behind him, from the modified gas stove, three burners emitted faint blue flames, one of them had a tightly closed claypot from which sizzling sounds of boiling emerged, and a fresh aroma filled the kitchen.
Don't be fooled by its long name, the fermented bean curd vegetable casserole was actually a relatively easy dish.
Chop the mushrooms, fat choy, water chestnut, vermicelli, dried beancurd, black fungus, wood ear mushrooms, carrots, and napa cabbage into small pieces. The mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, dried beancurd, and fat choy must be soaked in water until soft.
The second step was to prepare the key sauce, mashing and mixing the fermented bean curd, setting it aside for later use.
Next, sauté the blanched carrots, mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and dried beancurd in a wok, adding in the napa cabbage, and stir-fry again. The third time stir-frying, add the fermented bean curd sauce.
This process required precise heat control, it was important to stir evenly, and three stir-fries but not overdone. Otherwise, once placed into a claypot for cooking, the ingredients would inevitably turn mushy.
Click.
Silently calculating the time in his mind, Xia Yu turned to shut off a burner, and as the flame went out, the fermented bean curd vegetable casserole was done!
Two dishes remained, satay beef and fish-flavored shredded pork.
The beef and shredded pork had already been sliced and marinated.
Xia Yu donned an apron, in his left and right hands, he held large woks, each placed on the gas stove already scalding hot. He poured in oil smoothly, with a calm demeanor, exuding an air of a chef.
Both woks emitted sizzling sounds.
Next, one wok got little dried chili peppers and black fungus for stir-frying, while the other got the marinated shredded pork added in, stir-frying in the boiling oil.
If there were other chefs around, they'd notice Xia Yu was actually multitasking.
Cooking two dishes simultaneously!