It was evening on the gourmet street.
Erina and Hisako, the two women, came to the tavern.
Apart from a chance meeting in Akihabara, it had been a while since Erina had seen Zane or tasted his cooking. Despite her fearsome reputation at Totsuki Academy, her stunning beauty and otherworldly demeanor attracted many followers, including girls like:
The original stalker, Nao Sadatsuka!
In Nao's eyes, Erina was sacred and inviolable, even to someone she perceived as slightly perverse, like Hisako.
"Miss, it looks like the tavern has been renovated."
Looking at the former beautiful garden now replaced with a zen-like bamboo water feature.
And above it hung a sign with four large characters:
"Drinking Alone Under the Moon."
Hisako couldn't help but remark.
"Yes, I didn't expect such a big change here..."
Erina was also secretly surprised as she looked around. The tavern had been booming under Zane's painstaking management, changing so much in less than two months since its opening. She then slightly adjusted the hair on her forehead and straightened her clothes, asking, "Hisako, does my outfit look okay tonight?"
"Miss, you look really beautiful in your white dress tonight."
"I'm sure that with your current look and attire, you'll mesmerize Zane once we enter the tavern."
Hisako, seemingly recalling something, giggled behind her hand.
"What! I didn't dress up for him."
Erina blushed slightly upon hearing this.
Then, she took a step forward to enter, but her gaze suddenly became cautious, staring at a nearby alley.
"Miss, what's wrong?"
Seeing this, Hisako also became nervous.
"I feel like someone is secretly watching us, could it be Nao Sadatsuka?" Erina guessed uncertainly.
"Her? That's annoying."
"We defeated her last year in a Shokugeki to keep her from getting within 50 meters of you."
Finishing her sentence, Hisako was about to head to the dim alley to chase away the peeking Nao Sadatsuka.
"Let it be, she hasn't done anything too offensive."
Erina quickly stopped Hisako, adding, "Right now, the most important thing is Zane's cooking."
"Okay, I understand!"
Seeing Erina's stance, Hisako had no objections.
The two then entered the tavern together.
...
Not long after Erina entered the tavern, a woman dressed in a pristine kimono, holding a folding fan, slowly walked out from the dim alley. Behind her was another pretty lady.
"Mana-sama, your daughter is right before you, this is the best moment for a mother-daughter reunion! But why are you avoiding her?"
Seeing Mana's solitary figure, Anne couldn't help but empathize and asked.
At that moment, the usually gentle Mana stowed her fan away, her gaze towards where Erina had gone somber and sighed.
"Separated for ten years. How am I supposed to face her?"
Mana's body began to tremble uncontrollably, her eyes that once sparkled like starry skies now dimmed.
She truly hadn't expected to encounter her daughter tonight at the tavern.
Feelings of longing and sadness surged from her heart.
"Mana-sama, I believe she will forgive you and understand the pain you've endured these years," Anne comforted and encouraged.
Mana shook her head slightly, her voice hoarse, "No, reuniting now would only spoil her mood to enjoy Zane's cooking at the tavern. I... I can't bear to see her suffer because of me!"
"But... Mana-sama, haven't you thought about yourself?"
Anne was shocked but also perplexed.
Mana's motherly love was indeed profound and intense.
She feared death, dreaded the curse of the god's tongue leading her to a life-ending starvation!
But if it was for her daughter, Anne believed that even if it was a painful hell ahead, Mana would dive in without looking back.
Mana didn't respond to Anne's comment.
Seeing her so distraught, Anne sighed softly, "Mana-sama, since you're hesitant to meet her now, let's rest at the nearby Shunkatei restaurant."
"Although it's closed now, with our status as enforcers, I think the owner won't refuse us."
"Alright, let's go to Shunkatei."
Mana's voice was somewhat choked as she agreed.
The two then headed towards Shunkatei, owned by Sonoka Kikuchi.
...
Just as they entered,
The interior of the tavern struck Erina with its transformation.
Soon after, she saw Zane, who was wiping the cooking counter with a clean cloth.
Staring at his handsome face,
Erina felt her heart stir—a feeling she had experienced before but had intensified since returning from Akihabara. So much so, she often found herself longing for Zane and his cooking.
This unusual mix of thoughts frequently left her agitated and often restless at night.
Perhaps for her, inexperienced in matters of the heart, she still couldn't understand… what this might mean.
"Are you here?"
Looking up at Erina, Zane asked gently.
"Yes, I... I'm here again."
Erina replied, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her dress, her head bowed.
This brief exchange made Hisako feel like a wife was returning home to a tender greeting from her husband.
...
It was undeniable that Erina had been too busy to visit the tavern often.
But gradually, she realized she truly couldn't stay away from Zane or this tavern.
Just being here made her happy, all worries magically dissolving, always eager for whatever new dish Zane might create.
Truly, such joy...
She never felt at Totsuki Academy.
"What are you thinking about?"
Just then, Zane approached, lightly patting her shoulder and asked curiously.
Erina briefly snapped back to reality, brushed his hand off her shoulder, and retorted not too kindly, "I finally make it to the tavern, and you... you treat me so coldly?"
Zane: ??
His face full of question marks, he began staring intently at Erina.
He hadn't really looked at her closely before, but now he noticed her tonight's attire was indeed different.
The white dress she wore had a light, gauzy texture.
The starry satin sash formed into a bow at her waist, and the golden belt resembled a butterfly's wings, fluttering gently with the breeze.
Such a uniquely styled dress suited her inherent nobility perfectly!
"The dress looks good."
"Really, cute girls look good in anything!"
Finally catching on, Zane simply complimented.
"Zane, you didn't know about Miss Nakiri before coming to the tavern."
"She spent over an hour trying on dozens of outfits, carefully selecting this dress after multiple screenings."
Hisako chimed in from the side.
"Hisako!"
Hearing this, Erina's face turned red, and she glared at her.
Knowing better, Hisako quickly covered her mouth, daring not to speak further.
But from her somewhat restless eyes, it was clear she had intended to say just that.
...
"Erina, don't be too hard on her."
"I've developed a new dish these past few days, wanna try it?"
Seeing Erina's blushing face, Zane suppressed a smile and asked softly.
"Ah!"
"You... you really have a new dish?"
Erina quickly looked up, her eyes filled with anticipation.
"Of course, and like the first time you came to the tavern, when I made beef burgers from toast, fries from tofu dregs, and brownies from rice bran, it's all made from ingredients you wouldn't expect, creating a type of noodle dish!"
"Noodle dish?"
Erina, confused on her face.
"Say it's a noodle dish, but it could also be said not to be," Zane replied.
"Okay, then... then I'll have your new dish!"
Erina nodded without hesitation.
"OK"
"Just wait a bit."
With that, Zane returned to the cooking counter to prepare the not-quite-noodle dish.
...
He started by preparing an egg.
Under the watchful eyes of Erina and Hisako, he held the egg upright with the fingers of his left hand.
Then, he carefully made a small hole at the bottom of the egg.
With skilled movements, Zane shook the egg, letting the egg white slowly flow into a ceramic bowl below.
The entire process was done without any ostentation, characterized by steadiness and fluidity.
There are many ways to separate egg yolks from whites, but Zane chose the more difficult method of making a hole, separating the two.
After this step, it was time to prepare the catfish.
As the saying goes:
"Catfish stewed with eggplant, the death of an old man."
This saying, twenty years ago, had made catfish synonymous with delicious.
But nowadays, mentioning catfish often elicits disgust and aversion.
From comments like "I just don't eat catfish," "Catfish are so dirty," "I heard catfish grow up eating poop," one can glimpse the public perception.
However, this is somewhat of an exaggeration.
It's true that one type of catfish can live in septic tanks, known as the pond loach or leather barbel catfish.
But it's just one type of catfish; many others demand extremely high water quality.
For example:
The bigmouth catfish in southern regions of the Heavenly Dynasty.
This type of catfish, any slight pollution in the water, causes it to roll over dead.
Moreover, there's the Chinese mud catfish, yellow wax gourd, etc., all requiring high water quality.
Clean water environments naturally nurture clean fish with delicious meat, making a stew with eggplant truly tasty!
...
At that moment, Zane took out a large bigmouth catfish.
The fish was still alive, thrashing about on the cutting board.
Zane focused his gaze, pressed the catfish with one hand, and gripped the knife with the other.
Bang!
A loud sound.
He knocked the catfish unconscious with the knife.
Then, pinching the gills with his fingers and thumb, he snapped the gills, broke the catfish's neck to prevent struggling, sliced open the belly to remove all organs, and then washed it clean with water.
Finally, he sliced the clean catfish into thin noodle-like strips, keeping the head and tail bones intact.
"Miss Nakiri."
"He... he's cutting the catfish too finely, isn't he?"
"It doesn't even look like fish anymore, more like noodles made from catfish."
Wanting to turn catfish into noodle shapes certainly tests a chef's knife skills, but the main question is why cut the catfish into such shapes?
This, the less knowledgeable Hisako couldn't comprehend!
"Could it be that the so-called noodle dish is actually just cutting the catfish directly into noodle shapes to make a unique type of fish noodles?"
Erina pondered continuously.
Gradually, she felt more puzzled.
After all, even if the catfish meat was firm, it definitely couldn't match the chewy texture of noodles.
And no chef would bother to cut catfish into noodle shapes just to achieve a similar texture and taste to noodles.
"There must be something I can't imagine here."
Finally, Erina murmured softly, her eyes flickering with thought.
...
After cutting the catfish meat, Zane put the "fish noodles" into the pot to stew.
During the stewing, he continuously added fish flavor to the pot, adding it every 10 seconds, repeating this process four times in total.
He then rehydrated the dried squid with boiling water.
With a knife, he continued to cut it into even finer noodle shapes, not really noodles but more like "pencil lead" shapes!
"He... he's..."
Seeing this, Erina was so shocked she almost couldn't speak.
Internally, she vaguely thought of something, becoming even more excited about Zane's unusual noodle dish.
Quickly, Zane stuffed strips of squid made into "leads" inside the catfish noodles.
Then, he simmered the noodles until they were fluffy.
Finally, he drizzled seafood broth stewed with snapper over it, completing a steaming bowl of not-quite-noodles.
"Ha? This kind of dish..."
Seeing Zane manage to create such a miraculous dish, Erina couldn't help but be astonished.
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