Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

The on-site training was truly terrifying!

She was able to make amazing progress without even realizing it.

"In short, keep it up! The world of culinary disasters needs young, talented chefs; it's time for you to step up!"

As he spoke, Bai Yuan stood up from his chair. Looking at Huang Mei across from him, his eyes went from confusion to determination, and finally to being full of fighting spirit. He knew that his words tonight had not been in vain.

"Don't worry, I will never let the leader down! I will do my best!"

Huang Mei said with a serious and earnest expression.

Bai Yuan had shown her great kindness and was also her guide on her culinary journey. Now that it was time to repay him, she naturally couldn't refuse.

After all, without him, she would most likely still be cleaning fish at a fish stall, and in a few years, when she reaches a certain age, she would be arranged to get married through a blind date by her father.

Just thinking about that kind of life makes it impossible to be happy.

Marrying someone of bad character would be an even more terrifying disaster!

It's very likely that he'll be stuck with this for the rest of his life.

After meeting Bai Yuan, she left her family and joined the dark cuisine world to learn cooking. In just one year, she became a first-class chef.

Don't be fooled by the abundance of top-notch chefs around you; that's mainly due to survivor bias from being in a culinary school.

A truly top-tier chef is already capable of handling a task independently in a restaurant.

They typically earn over a million yuan a year.

This is a great leap forward at the class level!

It's good that you have this awareness.

It's not safe for a girl like you to be alone so late at night. Let me take you home.

Standing at the shop entrance, looking at the completely dark night, Bai Yuan said to Huang Mei.

There are quite a few perverts in Japan at night, especially some older men who are drunk. In order to prevent Huang Mei from being in danger by herself, Bai Yuan decided to escort her personally.

"Ah? Okay..."

When Huang Mei saw that Bai Yuan was about to take her home, she was taken aback.

Then, as if she had thought of something, her face turned visibly red, and it took her a long time to finally agree.

"Okay, then let's hurry back."

Bai Yuan didn't notice this, but silently quickened his pace. Then he realized that he didn't know where Huang Mei's house was, so he stopped and turned around to look at her.

"Turn right ahead."

Seeing this, Huang Mei took three steps at a time and led the way. Bai Yuan also quickened his pace to follow. After several twists and turns, they arrived at the foot of her building.

He then showed a surprised expression.

"Your environment is quite nice, much better than others'."

Looking at the exquisitely decorated three-story villa in front of him, Bai Yuan's voice was filled with a sense of admiration. This environment was the best he had seen in a long time.

"This is where the boss lent me a place to stay temporarily."

Hearing Bai Yuan's感慨 (sentiments/reflections), Huang Mei blushed slightly and spoke up.

"Your boss is actually a pretty nice guy."

Upon hearing Huang Mei's words, Bai Yuan felt even more moved.

"Actually, she didn't mention this when I first came here. Later, she saw that my cooking skills were decent and heard that my accommodation was rather simple, so she let me move here during my field training and said I could stay as long as I wanted."

Thinking back to how Sister Ling patted her chest and smiled as she introduced the property, Huang Mei felt a surge of warmth in her heart. Regardless of the reason, she had solved her housing problem.

"As expected of a boss, his methods for winning people over are truly brilliant."

After listening to Huang Mei's story, Bai Yuan nodded.

There's definitely a reason why they were able to make their business successful.

As the saying goes.

The free ones are the most expensive.

By simply offering a few small favors, you can win over a chef with unlimited potential. It seems like a win-win situation!

Moreover, these kinds of favors are the hardest to repay.

"No matter what, at least I have a decent place to live. If they ever need my help in the future, I'll lend a hand if I can."

Huang Mei, however, takes it all in stride.

If you receive a favor from someone, you should naturally help them solve their problems.

She has never been someone who only knows how to take and doesn't know how to give back. If others are good to her, she will naturally be good to them in return.

I'm glad you have this idea.

This proves that you are a grateful person.

Keep up the good work! I look forward to the day you grow to a level that amazes the world.

As he spoke, Bai Yuan took two steps back, waved in the direction of Huang Mei, and then strode away into the distance, disappearing into the vast night in no time.

"leader..."

Watching Bai Yuan's rapidly disappearing figure, Huang Mei stood on the three-story villa and whispered something, her expression becoming subtle.

She had assumed that since the man had dropped her off at her doorstep, he would at least come up for a while, or even stay overnight, and that something might happen in the middle of the night. Now it seemed she had been overthinking it...

That's not what they meant at all!

"hateful!"

With a slightly annoyed expression, Huang Mei stomped her foot and made a cute face in the direction Bai Yuan had left.

On the other side, Bai Yuan pondered for a moment, then headed towards the direction of the Kikuchi Orchard shop.

As for why it's a shop instead of a home...

The main reason is that the other party's home is located on the same floor as the shop; it's a two-story duplex.

Half an hour later, Bai Yuan rode his bicycle to a spot not far from the Chun Guo Pavilion and stopped.

This was actually his first time visiting Kikuchi Garden's restaurant.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He seemed to have neglected to care for Kikuchi Sonoka, who never competed for anything and just silently supported him from behind.

From a distance, Chunguo Pavilion looks like a candy dyed red by cherry blossoms, standing quietly on the street corner.

The pink exterior walls are not monotonous industrial paint, but rather bear the gentle traces of hand-applied paint, with some areas deliberately preserving the natural patterns of the paint flowing.

Bai Yuan got out of the car and stepped forward, gently stroking the surface with his fingers. It was as if he could see through the wall the scene of Kikuchienka busily renovating the place, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

Metal decorations shaped like cherry blossom branches hang from the porch, each cherry blossom crafted from gradient-colored glass. A string of wind chimes hangs from the eaves, the bells shaped like translucent strawberries.

Just then, a gentle breeze blew by, and a faint citrus scent wafted from the vent at the bottom of the bell, lingering around Bai Yuan's nose for a long time.

"This decoration is really girly."

After walking around the shop, Bai Yuan couldn't help but complain.

"Wow~"

"Teacher Baiyuan!"

The sound of the restaurant door being pulled open rang out, and Kikuchi Sonoka, wearing pajamas, came out of the Harukatei. Looking at Shiroyuki in front of her, a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Slow down, don't fall."

Seeing the girl rushing towards him, Bai Yuan spread his arms to prevent her from accidentally falling.

"It's okay, I know Teacher Bai Yuan will catch me, hehe."

She nestled into Bai Yuan's arms like a fledgling returning to its nest, feeling the warmth of his embrace, and a happy expression appeared on the girl's face.

"Have you gained weight? You seem a little different than before."

With his arms outstretched, he embraced Kikuchi Sonoka's slender waist, making her spin around in the air. Looking at the smiling girl, Bai Yuan pretended to be puzzled and made a sarcastic remark.

"Huh? How could that be!? I've been eating very bland food lately!"

After getting off Bai Yuan, Kikuchi Sonoka raised her hands, looking left and right with a flustered expression on her face.

She has been eating a very light diet lately, which should theoretically be extremely low in calories.

It's already a miracle I haven't lost weight, how could I possibly gain weight!

"Really? Then it must be that something has gotten bigger. I could feel it clearly when I picked it up just now."

Because she was wearing pajamas, and there was nothing underneath.

The moment Kikuchi Yoko brought her up, Shiroki stood at attention in a very shameful manner.

This is also why he suddenly said those things; he wanted Kikuchi Sonoka to let go of him first, let him get down, and adjust the trajectory slightly before continuing to the next step.

"Oh dear, I thought I'd really gained weight! You're so mean!"

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's explanation, Mujichi Sonoka secretly breathed a sigh of relief, her face visibly turning red. She then looked at the boy in front of her with a hint of reproach.

"Hehe, you can tell me you've gained weight, but the weight has just grown in the right places."

Bai Yuan said jokingly, opening his arms to hug him again. Because he was wearing pajamas, his sensations became even clearer and more intense.

"If this is the kind of weight gain I can accept..."

Feeling the warm and ardent embrace of Shirai, Kikuchi Yoko simply closed her eyes, relaxed her body, and showed an expression of enjoyment on her face.

The family's fields have been abandoned for a long time.

Although she sometimes plows the land herself, nothing beats the speed of plowing with an ox. Now that the ox is back, she'll have to let it do a good job.

"Let's go back."

The autumn evenings are a bit chilly.

A gentle breeze blew by, and Bai Yuan clearly felt Kikuchi Yoko's body tremble slightly. He then picked her up and carried her to the second floor of the restaurant with a smile on his face.

"Okay, close the door!"

Suddenly, her feet were dangling in the air, and a brief look of panic crossed Kikuchi Sonoka's face.