It was late at night, and the bustling little shop gradually returned to quiet.
After a busy night, Xia Yu stretched his arms as he walked back into the store. He had just seen off An Yilun and Sazama Eri, and the three had exchanged Twitter handles, private emails, and Xia Yu even gave them his phone number. They had chatted for a while. Fortunately, the shopping street was close to the train station, so they made the last train home without any issues.
Under the streetlight outside the shop, Hozoi Midori was still wearing her white chef's uniform. Her purple hair, damp with sweat and from exertion, clung to her cheeks.
The back kitchen environment at Xia's shop was not as good as Beitiao Building's. Narrow and cramped, it lacked central air conditioning. When cooking, with the kitchen doors and windows closed, the inside resembled a big steamer. When several stoves were fired up at the same time, the surging heat made it feel like "purgatory" to those not professionally trained as chefs.
For Midori, who was accustomed to the high-star kitchen environment of Beitiao Building, tonight's experience left her both tired and unfamiliar.
Beep beep.
Glancing at Xia Yu's figure as he walked back into the shop, Hozoi Midori took her phone out of her sweat-damp pocket. It was just past midnight. After hesitating for a moment, she made a call.
"Hello..." A steady middle-aged man's voice came from the other end of the line.
"Father, it's me."
"Midori, ah! I heard from a friend that you passed the IGO one-star chef assessment yesterday, congratulations." The middle-aged man's voice carried slight gratification. "When do you plan to return to Yokohama?"
"I'm sorry, Father, I plan to stay in Tokyo until Far Moon opens." Hozoi Midori hesitated, then said after a moment of silence, "I had a food duel in Tokyo and lost to someone my age..."
The other end of the phone listened.
"He's very skilled. I think he has the level of the Ten Masters of Far Moon... And his cooking has a magical force, one that seemed to cleanse my spirit and soul even though it sounds unbelievable; that was my true tasting evaluation..."
Hozoi Midori spoke, her eyes unconsciously showing a sense of awe.
"Tell me in detail!"
This time, the middle-aged man's tone was noticeably surprised.
In Yokohama, at Beitiao Building.
The Chinese cuisine restaurant, certified with six stars by the IGO a few days ago, was still bustling late at night.
In the kitchen, Hozoi Dahe, the head chef, paused his work to attentively listen to the account on the other end of the phone, his face showing an expression of disbelief as he murmured softly, "...Heart of Cooking?"
Hozoi Dahe took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Midori, tell me more about the tasting experience. Forget about the taste, just tell me what you saw then!"
"Saw?" Hozoi Midori blushed under the streetlight. "I tasted two special dishes in total."
"One was stir-fried Qingjiang vegetable, and I seemed to see the fields of the countryside... seeing myself running in the wild..." Hozoi Midori's sense of shame nearly exploded.
"And?" Hozoi Dahe frowned.
"The other was Furong Crab Meat Egg. I saw a glow in the dish, like magic!"
Mentioning the radiant Furong Crab Meat Egg, Hozoi Midori was filled with endless aftertaste, her beautiful purple eyes showing a hint of hungry desire.
"The dishes... glowed?"
Hozoi Dahe remained silent for a long while.
"Midori, since you decided, stay in Tokyo well."
"That young man might have grasped a technique that only special-grade chefs can comprehend. As far as I know, the content of the special-grade chef assessment is to imprint a simple recipe with one's mark, to seize the recipe, and make it one's own. That technique is called the 'Heart of Cooking!'" Hozoi Dahe smiled bitterly, "It's a divine technique your father has not approached in years of being a head chef!"
After hanging up the phone, Hozoi Midori stared blankly under the streetlight, standing for over ten minutes before digesting the information she got from her father.
Above the nine-star chefs of IGO stood the renowned special-grade chefs.
In Hozoi Midori's knowledge, those special-grade chefs either opened restaurants and hotels of their own, bustling with guests, or were recruited by massive culinary giants with extravagant salaries or even shares.
The Ten Masters of Far Moon were after all just a group of students still in school, yet to form an influence in the Neon's local culinary world, let alone globally.
It was known that among Far Moon graduates, perhaps only those who graduate as Ten Masters could possibly pass the special-grade assessment.
The graduates of recent years were still uncertain, but Hozoi Midori was sure those legendary top seats in the 69th class, called Far Moon's "golden generation"—the first seat, Dojima Yin; the second, Saito Chiyokuro; the third, Tiqie Ji...
These people were surely already special-grade chefs.
"... He might have grasped a special-grade chef's technique, in other words, approached the threshold of special-grade!"
Her father's voice echoed vaguely in her ears. Hozoi Midori bit her lip, clenching her fists unwillingly, "Even if it's special-grade, I will challenge you in food duels until the day I win—!"
...
Xia Yu had no idea about the conversation between this father and daughter, otherwise, he'd be dumbfounded.
Heck, his cooking level was only lv12; you're talking about special-grade?
It was yet another busy day.
After closing the shop at midnight, Xia Yu arranged a room for Hozoi Midori, moving into the old man's bedroom and giving his room to her.
Due to good cleaning habits, both his and the old man's rooms were very clean, without much hassle; new sheets and bedding could make them sleep-ready. Morioka Makki invited Hozoi Midori to stay at her place for a sleepover, but Midori declined.
He let Hozoi Midori use the only bathroom on the second floor to bathe, while he didn't hurry to close the store, just half-shutting the door, sitting on a clean chair, and browsing the items in the God of Cooking Store.
"System: Current remaining Fame Points: 1033."
In recent days, fame had hardly increased, indicating that the store's promotion in the ACG circle reached a bottleneck. Unless there were more influential figures than "TAKI-kun" and "Bai Muying" to help promote, the efforts in ACG circles would basically end here.
The God of Cooking Space had too many enticing items.
Not to mention the most basic recipes.
Now that he had maxed out 'knife skills' and 'heat control,' it was time to buy an advanced skill book to learn.
The problem was, after a round of selection, Xia Yu found himself really penniless.
There weren't many advanced branches of 'knife skills.'
"Fierce Bull Green Dragon Slash," a purple culinary skill specializing in handling meat ingredients, without going through a quest, required a full 15,000 Fame Points to buy directly.
"Arhat Crystal Slash," a purple cooking skill for processing fresh aquatic products, similarly priced at 15,000 Fame Points.
"System, just tell me, how much does the cheapest advanced knife skill book cost?" Xia Yu, having scrolled through the options, closed the store panel, trying not to become frustrated with the harsh reality of being poor.
"Lower purple tier, 'Seven-star Breaking Army Rapid Cutting,' costs 10,000 Fame Points," the system responded.
"..."
Xia Yu looked skyward in tears.
"I don't need fancy purple knives; poor... is there an affordable blue economy version for the African chief?" he asked, still unwilling to give up.
The system was silent for a moment, seemingly searching.
"I'm sorry, host, please continue to work hard..." finally, the system said mechanically.