The delicacies of the heavens begin with obtaining gem meat.

Chapter 214: The First Day Ends

After finishing the pepper cake, Jiang Yan placed two plum tickets bearing the emblem of Totsuki Academy on the table, then waved to Yukihira Soma.

"I'm going to explore other places."

As he spoke, Jiang Yan glanced at the long queue in front of Jiuwo Restaurant. The number of people was still not decreasing, and the rich aroma of Sichuan peppercorns and chili oil wafted over on the wind.

Jiang Yan shook his head, preparing to sample the dishes from other stalls first.

I strolled along with the crowd and tried several unique little shops along the way.

As the sun began to set, around 5 p.m., Jiang Yan arrived at the beds of the group at the Polar Star Lodge in the mountainous area.

Inside the makeshift tents, many people sat around on the ground covered with tablecloths, with steaming hot pots in front of them, laughing and sharing their food, creating a lively atmosphere.

A shallow stream, specially dug outside the tent, flows gently, its surface shimmering with tiny dappled lights. The forest breeze carries the fresh scent of grass and trees mixed with the aroma of food, creating a truly relaxing camping experience.

The only unusual thing is that most of the guests gathered here are women.

Jiang Yan went inside and greeted the people from the Polar Star Dormitory.

"Hi everyone, I'm here to mooch a meal."

Ryoko, who was in charge of reception, turned around, saw Jiang Yan, and smiled.

"Oh, it's Jiang Yan! Welcome, welcome!"

As she spoke, Ryoko led Jiang Yan to an empty seat in the corner and then turned around to bring him a taro hot pot.

The milky white bonito broth was still gently bubbling, and the tender bonito flakes had soaked up the broth. The aroma of fresh green onions and rich miso wafted over, warming you up and making you feel relaxed all over.

Just as Jiang Yan picked up his chopsticks to taste the food, Isshiki Satoshi came over.

"Jiang Yan! I knew you understood the feeling of sitting around a stove with your friends in the mountains, cooking taro and celebrating youth!"

Come on, join our taro-cooking club and stay here to have fun with everyone!

Jiang Yan looked at Isshiki Satoshi and said calmly.

"Iroha-senpai, I have to go back and tally the sales figures later, so I won't join in the fun."

Although the atmosphere at the Taro-cooking Association was indeed nice, he was planning to try all the food at the Moon Festival stalls, so he couldn't possibly waste his time in just one place.

Seeing Jiang Yan's resolute attitude, Isshiki Satoshi did not try to stop him any further, but only sighed with regret.

Jiang Yan slowly finished his taro hotpot, chatted with the others in the Polaris Dormitory for a few more minutes, and then got up and returned to his bunk.

As soon as he reached the door, Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow.

The vending machine in front of the stall had a bright red "Sold Out" sign on its screen, clearly indicating that all the Baofen he had prepared had been sold out.

Jiang Yan couldn't help but smile. It seemed that the reputation of the Ten Elites of Totsuki was more effective than any form of publicity.

They quickly and efficiently counted all the tickets collected from the vending machine and delivered them to the college's office responsible for calculating sales figures.

Time flew by and it was already 7 p.m.

After an hour of intense counting, the first-day sales figures for each simulation store were finally tallied by the staff of Far Moon.

Immediately afterward, the broadcast started, and many people stopped what they were doing and waited for the first day's ranking results.

"The first day of the Moon Festival has concluded its revenue tally by 6 PM."

"Next, we will publish the rankings for each region in turn."

Sasaki Yui's soft voice came through the radio.

-

The next second, Kawashima Rei's passionate and energetic voice immediately followed, igniting the atmosphere.

"So, the main road area will be announced first!"

"Third Place - Rice Bowl Research Club!"

"Second Place - Grilled Skewers Research Club!"

"And the top spot on the main road area on the first day belongs to—the temporary branch of the Aldini Restaurant!"

"Next is the central region."

"Third place————"

"First Place in the Central Region on the First Day—Chinese Cuisine Research Association, Kuga Restaurant!"

"Next is the mountainous area—"

The rankings of the top three in each region were announced one by one, and a burst of discussion broke out around them.

Jiang Yan leisurely ate the baked apple he had just bought. After listening to the entire ranking, he patted the crumbs off his hands and turned to return to Polaris Dormitory.

As a result, they hadn't gone far when they ran into Soma Yukihira, Alice Kiri, and their group of five, who had just finished a meeting.

As the only two shops to experience a business deficit on the first day of the Moon Festival, they naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Unfortunately, all five of them were contestants in the autumn selection tournament. Such a result made Kiri Erina completely uneasy, so she called them in for a meeting.

"You're still having meetings so late, you must be exhausted."

Jiang Yan smiled and waved to Yukihira Soma and the other four, then continued.

"You'd better keep up the good work and avoid going into deficit again."

"We're definitely going to be profitable from now on! Not only profitable, we're going to take first place in the main road area!"

Alice Nakiri pouted and made a serious statement.

At this moment, Hayama Akira and Kurokiba Ryo, who were standing next to Nakiri Alice, exchanged a glance, their helplessness deepening.

Given the current state of these three players, let alone taking first place in the main event, it's still uncertain whether they can even turn the deficit into a profit by the next day.

"Winning first place in the main road area isn't something you can do just by talking."

Jiang Yan looked at Alice and gave her a sincere warning.

"I think you should focus on improving communication first."

"This is a shop that the three of you own together."

"Moreover, rather than striving for first place, what you need to do first is to survive in this Moon Festival."

After hearing Jiang Yan's warning, Alice snorted defiantly but did not refute him.

After all, she knew in her heart that what Jiang Yan said was indeed true.

However, Alice also decided that she must make a profit tomorrow.

After a few more casual words, Jiang Yan turned and went back to the Polaris Dormitory.

Meanwhile, Soma Yukihira and his team began preparing for the next day's business by staying up all night.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Jiang Yan heard a commotion.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw Isshiki Satoshi excitedly holding a stack of photos.

Jiang Yan silently offered his blessings to Marui Zenji and the others in his heart.

I hope they can maintain their purity today as well.

After washing up, Jiang Yan left the Polar Star Dormitory and headed towards his shop.

As soon as Jiang Yan got near the shop, he froze on the spot.

-

At this moment, a long queue had formed in front of his already small bunk, and the queue was almost entirely made up of girls, who were chattering away about something.

Jiang Yan approached and listened to their conversation, quickly understanding what had happened.

The main reason is that the Baofen product he sells has such an outstanding effect on improving skin texture. After the people who bought it yesterday went home, they spread the word and it caused a sensation among the girls.

So much so that even before the store opened today, many girls made a point of arriving early to queue up, afraid that they wouldn't be able to buy anything if they were late.

Having understood the cause and effect, Jiang Yan felt somewhat pleased.

Without delay, Jiang Yan went into the kitchen and made two hundred servings of Baofen in one go, then put them into the vending machine.

Seeing the bustling queue in front of the vending machine, Jiang Yan clapped his hands, turned around, and slipped away.

Although Jiang Yan was indeed very happy that Bao Fen was so popular, for him, the most important thing was to enjoy all the delicious food at all the stalls during the Moon Festival, rather than staying in the shop to sell goods.

Following the road, Jiang Yan headed straight for the main road area, ready to continue trying the shops he hadn't eaten at yesterday.

As soon as I reached the edge of the main road area, a strong, distinctive stench, with a pungent, fermented smell, hit me on the wind and went straight into my nostrils.

Following the stench, Jiang Yan spotted Zhenjia Nao's stall.

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow and walked over.

Since we're going to try all the stalls at the Moon Festival, we can't miss Nao Sakai's cooking.

"Give me one of your signature dishes."

Jiang Yan walked up to the stall and spoke.

Nao Satsuka was fiddling with the fermented fish in her hands when she heard the sound, looked up, and her eyes lit up instantly when she saw who it was.

"It's you! Jiang Yan."

The two often attended classes in the same classroom and had exchanged ideas about cooking a few times before, so they were quite familiar with each other.

Then, Nao immediately picked up a string of dried mackerel and handed it over, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"Come and try some! This is dried mackerel that I fermented and matured using my unique method."

"Thank you very much."

Jiang Yan took it and took a bite.

The outer skin is crispy and fragrant, but when you bite into it, the fish inside still retains its soft and oily texture, and the rich umami flavor brought by fermentation explodes on the tip of your tongue.

It smells strongly of stench, but upon tasting it, it completely transforms into a mellow and lingering fragrance. It's not greasy at all; on the contrary, the more you chew, the sweeter it becomes.

"The taste is very good. The fermentation process is just right, and the umami flavor is completely locked into the fish."

Jiang Yan gave his evaluation, and then finished the whole skewer of dried fish in a few bites.

Faced with his praise, Nao Satsuka was also very happy and immediately picked up another string of skewers to hand over, but Jiang Yan smiled and waved his hand to refuse.

Eating too much might prevent him from enjoying other delicious foods.