Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

Alice Nakiri stood with one hand on her hip, holding a white notice in one hand and a kitchen utensil bag slung over her other arm, her fair face beaming with excitement.

“I won’t hold you back, or rather, I hope you won’t hold me back, Alice.”

Dragging her suitcase, Erina Nakiri walked over from a distance and looked at Alice Nakiri standing in front of the station with one hand on her hip. Her voice was not loud, but it was full of provocation.

"Me, drag you down? You're kidding! I'm the first place winner in the Fujian Youth Chef Competition, and I don't want to be mocked by a mere third place winner!"

"you!!"

Looking at the girl in front of her with her lips slightly pouting, Alice Nakiri patted her shoulder, and her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled back into her stomach.

Although her opponent is not as strong as her, she is still one of the top experts in Totsuki Academy. It seems that she can slack off during this field training with her partner.

“The field training project requires the cooperation of two people to complete. Don’t look at me with an easy expression that says you can dump everything on me!”

Seeing Alice Nakiri's relaxed expression, Erina Nakiri instantly guessed what she was thinking, and then spoke with a subtle expression.

"Oh dear, how could you think of me like that? I'll try my best, okay!"

Feeling a little embarrassed that her thoughts had been seen through, Alice Nakiri tried to remain calm and patted her shoulder while smiling.

"You were just like this when you were a child!"

"Don't worry about the details. I don't know what kind of shop it will be, but Brother Bai Yuan said he would choose carefully, so it should be a good shop!"

Alice Nakiri continued talking incessantly as she walked towards the shop, occasionally glancing to see if Erina Nakiri was keeping up.

This seems to be the first time I've acted independently, separated from Brother Baiyuan.

Thinking about it like this makes me a little excited!

"No matter what kind of store it is, our mission is to take it to the next level, and a slightly worse start might actually be more beneficial for our performance."

Seeing Alice Nakiri's face beaming with excitement, Erina Nakiri couldn't help but pour cold water on her enthusiasm.

If it were the old her, she would have felt that only high-end restaurants were worthy of her status. But after spending so much time by Bai Yuan's side, she has matured a lot.

Regardless of the size of the shop, as long as it allows them to showcase their abilities, it is a good shop, because that is the true meaning of on-site training.

Why did you suddenly stop...?

Just as Erina Nakiri was talking non-stop, a sudden stinging sensation came from the tip of her nose. Upon closer inspection, she realized that Alice Nakiri had stopped talking.

And her nose bumped into Alice Nakiri's back...

"Wait, is this the location on the map? I don't think I picked it up backwards."

Looking at the cramped and ordinary-looking restaurant in front of her, Alice Nakiri frantically picked up the map in her hand and compared it repeatedly.

After confirming that it was the same company as on the map, she lowered her head in frustration.

"A restaurant that advertises itself as having a vegetarian cuisine theme, claiming to have dozens of types of dishes, turns out that most of them are unavailable. All I can manage to order are mushrooms!"

"If it's supposed to taste like barbecue, I might as well just go eat barbecue! It doesn't even taste as good as barbecue, yet they have the nerve to charge such a high price."

"Let's go, let's go to another store."

Just as Erina Nakiri and Alice Nakiri were contemplating whether to knock on the door, the shop door suddenly opened, and a group of angry customers walked out.

"what's the situation?"

Upon seeing this, Alice Nakiri, standing on the hillside, couldn't help but tilt her head to look at Erina Nakiri, who also looked puzzled.

"Not only is the taste mediocre, but the service is also slow."

"This is infuriating! I came here because of the good reviews, but it's so awful!"

"Ugh, Yamada, if you recommend such a terrible restaurant to me again, I'm definitely blocking you."

"Sorry, sorry. The food here was really good a year ago. Who knew it would suddenly become so bad? I guess they changed the head chef, and the new head chef is an incompetent fool."

A commotion arose from the shop entrance. As the customers gradually left, the shop manager stood at the door, bowing repeatedly and apologizing, appearing extremely humble.

Chapter 296 What constitutes a significant achievement? The origin of Luo Han Cai (Buddhist monk's dish).

"What happened?"

After all the guests had left, Alice Nakiri walked up to the owner with a puzzled look and asked him a question.

"Could it be... that you two are students of Totsuki Academy?"

Looking up at the two Nakiri sisters in their uniforms walking towards him, the shop manager, dressed in a mature and sophisticated style, recalled the phone call he received a couple of days ago, his tone filled with surprise and disbelief.

The other side actually sent two people over at once!

"Please excuse my humble appearance. I am the fifth-generation owner of this shop, Keiko Kitagawa."

Straightening her body again, the woman touched her head somewhat embarrassedly, and while speaking, she looked at the two women, trying to discern their special qualities and confirm whether they had the ability to help her.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Erina Nakiri, and this lady next to me is Alice Nakiri. We will be conducting a week-long field study here starting today."

There may be many areas where I haven't done well enough; please bear with me.

Looking at the shop manager who was sizing them up, Erina Nakiri bowed politely in greeting, a gesture befitting her status as a young lady from a wealthy family.

"I'm Alice Nakiri, nice to meet you. Erina, really, she introduced herself before me, she has no sense of hierarchy at all!"

Looking at the shop manager in front of her, Alice Nakiri greeted him energetically. After speaking, she turned to look at Erina Nakiri, puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

"You're only a few months older than me, okay!"

Erina Nakiri sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation; clearly, this wasn't the first time she'd experienced something like this.

"Even a day is a long time, hehehe."

Hearing Erina Nakiri's helpless reply, Alice Nakiri made a face at her, not at all like an adult.

"You two sisters really have a good relationship."

Watching the two sisters start bickering after only exchanging a few words, Keiko Kitagawa couldn't help but laugh and say that such a relationship was truly enviable.

"Where are you on good terms?"

Upon hearing Kitagawa Keiko's words, Nakiri Erina and Nakiri Alice spoke almost in unison, their eyes filled with resentment as they looked at each other.

"Working so well together, that's a sign of a good relationship."

Seeing the two of them so in sync, Keiko Kitagawa couldn't help but complain that it seemed the two of them had no idea how good their relationship was.

This kind of thing happens often, especially between childhood sweethearts.

They could have easily become lovers, but because of their stubbornness, they missed their chance and didn't realize it until many years later.

"However, as you can see, I'm sorry to have to trouble you right away."

"Because I'm the fifth-generation owner, I haven't fully mastered the family recipes, so I need to trouble you to prepare vegetarian dishes that will satisfy our customers."

At this moment, the customers who had left in anger earlier had vanished without a trace, and a sign indicating that the shop was temporarily closed was hung in front of the door.

Keiko Kitagawa looked embarrassed. As the head chef of the restaurant, she felt ashamed that she couldn't make dishes that satisfied the customers.

"Does this happen often?"

Turning her head to follow Kitagawa Keiko's gaze, she saw that there was no one behind her. Thinking of the guests who had left in anger, Nakiri Alice asked in confusion.

"Actually, it's not very common; it only happens about once every two weeks."

Upon hearing Alice Nakiri's question, Keiko Kitagawa awkwardly dug her toes into the ground. Although she said it wasn't that common, she seemed somewhat unsure of herself.

"A collective plate-smashing every two weeks? To be honest, that's quite frequent."

I remember Kitagawa Vegetarian Restaurant was a very famous restaurant. I even came here a couple of years ago. I think your father was the one who served me back then. How did it come to this...?"

Upon hearing Kitagawa Keiko's words, Nakiri Erina stroked her chin and began to think.

The fact that the group smashed their plates and left indicates that the food in the restaurant did not meet the customers' expectations at all; otherwise, even if the taste was slightly bad, this would not have happened.

As a century-old brand, it still enjoys considerable fame in Japan, proving that its taste used to be very satisfying, but it's not anymore...

"Knowing that it will ruin your reputation, you still want to keep this shop open. Do you really need the money, Ms. Kitagawa?"

With a sharp look in her eyes, Erina Nakiri asked the crucial question.

No established restaurant wants to tarnish its reputation, and even if it closes down, it will never let someone unfamiliar with cooking take charge.

Looking at the woman in front of me, she was well-dressed and spoke politely. She didn't seem like the kind of person who was blinded by greed. She must have some kind of reason for doing this.

"My father is sick with cancer. Most of the money we've saved has been used for his treatment. Now, the only way to make a living is to keep this shop open."

He used to be the head chef of this restaurant and always wanted me to inherit it, but I kept avoiding it because I was too playful.

Only now that the responsibility has fallen on my shoulders do I realize how remarkable my father was, able to satisfy so many discerning customers, while I am completely incapable.

Upon hearing Erina Nakiri's question, Keiko Kitagawa was taken aback for a moment. She hadn't originally intended to talk about her family, but at that moment, she felt a little hesitant. She then shook her head with a wry smile and began to tell her story.

If it weren't for the unexpected turn of events, she would probably still be a naive young woman, with enough money from her family's restaurant to live a happy life.

But that was her father.

She had always admired her father, the father who carried the family on his narrow shoulders; he was a true hero.

Now, the hero is past his prime, and it's time for a new hero to take his place!

"I see. Although I don't approve of your behavior, your filial piety is touching."

Besides, this is our task anyway, so we'll help you.

Erina Nakiri was also somewhat moved by Keiko Kitagawa's heartfelt speech.

She had never experienced much fatherly love growing up, so logically she should have had a hard time understanding his feelings. However, the fact is that she did understand, and clearly understood, the love he had for her father.

"Thank you."

Although he didn't say much, he inexplicably made people feel at ease. Is this what a student of Totsuki Academy is like?

Keiko Kitagawa looked at Erina Nakiri with a newfound admiration in her eyes; she had only ever seen this kind of confidence in her father before.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Since you say you didn't study hard before, it's not too late to start studying hard now."

After all, the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, the second best time is now.

Alice Nakiri's voice rang out, drawing their attention. They found her looking at Keiko Kitagawa with a big smile on her face.

Compared to Erina Nakiri's straightforwardness, Alice Nakiri clearly considered things more carefully.

They can stay here for a maximum of one week. After that, the restaurant will return to normal, and the only way to save it is to train Kitagawa Keiko.

"Yes!"