Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

Seeing Alice Nakiri's bowl overflowing with food, while her own was completely empty, Erina Nakiri suddenly felt a pang of jealousy and began to speak.

She's right there! How can Teacher Bai Yuan be so oblivious?!

"Didn't you just get here? And there aren't any bowls on the table. Do you want me to just put food on your plate for you...?"

Hearing Erina Nakiri's jealous words, Bai Yuan's expression was somewhat helpless.

He went to the kitchen to make sauce, and the bowls on the table were taken away too. Even if he wanted to serve her some food, there was nowhere to put it. Was he supposed to put it on the table and wait for her to come back to find a mess?!

"That's okay."

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's explanation, Nakiri Erina realized that it made sense.

Realizing he had been being unreasonable, he lowered his head guiltily and quickened his pace to return to his seat.

"You're really something else, I don't even know where to begin with criticizing you..."

Looking at the girl's appearance, Bai Yuan shook his head with a wry smile.

Then he put some of the food from his bowl into Erina Nakiri's bowl.

"Eat more, you greedy girl."

"I'm not greedy, I just..."

Looking at the extra sliced ​​beef and fish balls in her bowl, Erina Nakiri was momentarily speechless. She simply wanted more attention, but Bai Yuan seemed to have misunderstood something...

"Okay, I know. Let's eat first. This tripe tastes really good."

Seeing Erina Nakiri's hesitant expression, Bai Yuan waved his hand gently to indicate that he knew, and then put the freshly cooked tripe from his chopsticks into her bowl.

"Teacher Bai Yuan, we also want to eat tripe!"

"Okay, I'll heat it for you!"

Hearing the other girls' coquettish calls, Bai Yuan smiled and replied, then helped the others heat up the tripe.

For hot pot-type dishes.

Given the same ingredients, the better a person is at controlling the doneness of the food, the more delicious the food they will be.

Tripe happens to be an ingredient for which the cooking time is very important.

It's cooked to perfection, one second too short and it's undercooked; one second too long and it's overcooked. The cooking time is extremely demanding. If you were to hand over such ingredients to Bai Yuan for blanching, you could at least get a dish of tripe that would be considered a luminous masterpiece.

So, after seeing Bai Yuan serving tripe to Nakiri Alice and Nakiri Erina, the girls all asked him for help, their eyes filled with longing. In an instant, he went from being the one eating to the one cooking.

"Alright, everyone, let's eat our own food. Brother Baiyuan only has two hands, so he can't satisfy the needs of so many of us at the same time. If this continues, we might not even get to eat our fill before Brother Baiyuan gets to eat his meal."

Seeing Bai Yuan so busy that he didn't even have a bite to eat, Nakiri Alice said to the others with a bit of heartache, "This is really not good."

"Indeed, after you're done this time, you can start cooking yourselves. I'm going to eat now."

Although he felt that there was no need to worry about gains and losses when taking care of his girlfriend, since Alice Nakiri spoke up for him, Bai Yuan naturally couldn't stand against her, so he decisively spoke up to the others.

"Even at a time like this, you're still thinking about us, Professor Bai Yuan! You bastard!"

Hearing that Bai Yuan was still concerned about them even at this time, Yoshino Yuuki and the others were immediately moved, and then began to think about whether what they had done was right or wrong.

After realizing that they had been making things too difficult for Professor Shiroyuki, Yoshino Yuuki, Tadokoro Megumi, Sakaki Ryoko, and the others exchanged glances and began to cook meat in the hot pot themselves, placing the meat they had cooked into his bowl.

Bai Yuan gladly accepted the kindness of those around him.

Silently extending the bowl, he accepted everything without hesitation, eating like a glutton.

"So fast!"

Seeing the food disappearing quickly from Bai Yuan's bowl, Sakaki Ryoko, who had just put the beef slices into his bowl, exclaimed in surprise.

Even with all of them working together, they couldn't match Bai Yuan's eating speed alone.

"Is this the power of Teacher Bai Yuan?"

"Indeed, the first thing to ensure before becoming an excellent chef is to have a large appetite, because only with a large enough appetite can one appreciate the deliciousness of food."

"Big appetite!"

Bai Yuan quickly gained a large following.

Hearing the girls' praise, his face subtly flushed.

Having a large appetite is hardly an advantage; these guys are exaggerating it to the point that he's almost embarrassed.

Fortunately, after praising him for a while, the conversation stopped focusing on him.

Watching the girls chat happily, Bai Yuan silently scooped up the beef balls from the pot, a look of enjoyment on his face.

This kind of life, surrounded by beautiful women while eating hot pot, was something he could never have imagined in his previous life. It must be said, it was truly blissful! Even if it was an illusion, it made one want to stay there forever.

"Speaking of which, this trip to China might be an opportunity."

As they were chatting, Erina Nakiri, who had been eating in silence, suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.

"What opportunity? What are you talking about, Erina?"

Alice Nakiri immediately voiced her doubts.

The others also looked over when they heard her question, waiting for her to continue.

"In other words, this school exchange competition is essentially a place for each school to showcase the talents of its younger generation, and our purpose in going there is to bring glory to the dark cuisine world."

Since that's the case, let's choose the younger generation, and let Teacher Bai Yuan challenge the older generation. If both sides win big, won't our reputation grow even stronger?

This not only proves the profound foundation of our emerging forces, but also demonstrates the smooth transition of our generation.

Erina Nakiri expressed her thoughts.

Given Bai Yuan's strength, it would definitely be inappropriate for him to participate in the academy exchange competition with them.

However, sending him to challenge his seniors and show the world that their dark cuisine world not only has outstanding talent among the younger generation, but also unparalleled strength among the older generation is definitely a good strategy.

In this way, we can definitely make a name for ourselves in the world of bizarre cuisine.

“What you said makes sense, but have you considered this: Brother Bai Yuan isn’t actually that much older than us…”

It's unlikely that many seniors would agree to such a young person challenging their elders; they would all think it's ridiculous.

Even if you try to provoke them with words, that's a poor approach and easily creates enemies with other factions. It's not that you're afraid of them, but it's very bad to try and prove that you've made enemies everywhere.

Alice Nakiri's voice rang out from the side, offering a more comprehensive analysis of the pros and cons of the matter.

Although Bai Yuan's strength would make it very easy for him to defeat those guys, and he could even completely crush those chefs, they had no reason to challenge them.

Once you resort to tactics to force someone to fight, even if you win in the end, you won't gain a good reputation.

People know how powerful you are, but they also fear your power because they know you have no bottom line.

Such a person would be an unstable factor no matter where he is placed, and the forces under his command are likely not much better. The dark cuisine industry may be suppressed as a result.

Although the Dark Cuisine World is currently strong and large enough to withstand any kind of suppression and grow stronger in adversity, it would still greatly slow down its growth rate.

There's a saying that goes, "Make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible, so that even in times of crisis, someone will come to your aid, instead of everyone standing idly by or even kicking you when you're down."

Now that you mention it, it is indeed a problem.

Hearing Alice Nakiri's reasoned analysis, Erina Nakiri fell into deep thought.

Upon closer examination, this problem is indeed quite significant. If it cannot be resolved, even if Bai Yuan wins the competition, it may backfire and even turn the Dark Cuisine world into an entity universally condemned.

This goes against her original intention...

Thinking of this, Erina Nakiri fell silent for a moment, clearly unable to come up with a better idea.

"A competition is necessary; it's part of my plan."

However, it's not a public duel, but a private food battle invitation. Given my reputation, they won't refuse.

Seeing Erina Nakiri with her head down, seemingly trying to find a solution, Shiro swallowed the whole piece of beef in his mouth and told her his thoughts.

"A food battle held in private?"

Alice Nakiri wondered, "The purpose of challenging strong opponents is to make a name for oneself, but if it becomes a private competition with few spectators, wouldn't it be pointless?"

"That's right, the main purpose is to exchange cooking ideas, not to compete."

Seeing Alice Nakiri's expression, Bai Yuan knew that she had misunderstood, so he spoke seriously.

Cooking has never been a tool for showing off, and the outcome of a competition doesn't determine anything. So, his challenge to those seniors was more about exchanging culinary experiences.

"I see.

From this perspective, Master Baiyuan's level of understanding is completely at the opposite extreme from ours!

"In other words, we are far inferior to Teacher Bai Yuan. Ever since I learned that I would be representing the Dark Cuisine world in the competition, I have been nervous every day. All I can think about is how to win the cooking competition. The pressure is so great that I am almost going insane!"

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's explanation, the girls present looked enlightened, and then lowered their heads in shame.

It seems they've been misunderstanding all along.

Bai Yuan's purpose in having them represent the Dark Cuisine world in the competition was not merely to gain fame; he wanted them to grow and mature through the process.

Compared to gaining fame, growth is their main theme.

"Relax, I'm not asking you to come in first place."

Of course, winning first place is ideal, but no one will stay in first place forever. What you need to do is give it your all while enjoying the game and learning from it.

Noticing the girls' nervousness, Bai Yuan gently comforted them.

Although he longed for the Dark Cuisine World to shine in the school exchange competition, he did not want Erina Nakiri and the others to be under too much pressure.

While stress can be a breeding ground for strength, excessive stress can easily lead to problems.

Participating in the competition and winning is their goal, not something they have to achieve.

"You're right, we should enjoy the game."

Erina Nakiri, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, a strange light flashing in her eyes. Bai Yuan's words had greatly affected her.

It turns out that cooking isn't just about winning; it can also be about learning.

As long as you can learn enough from a match, it is valuable, and that seems to be how Teacher Baiyuan grew up.

"Should we not focus on the competition itself, but on whether we can learn something from it?"

Upon hearing Erina Nakiri's words, the other girls present began to think.

Bai Yuan's words had a profound impact on them.