Have you ever seen glowing food? That's why you draw a food-themed anime.

Then she actually cried while eating.

"..."

When Xu Zhou drew this part, he hesitated for a moment: "Could it be that my shop is going to have dishes that can make people cry from eating them?"

"Anyway, it's the customers who are crying, not me."

They quickly continued drawing.

...

After the competition, the blissful life that followed was short-lived, and then the training program at the Far Moon Resort began.

The advanced training program is extremely brutal; not only do you have to undergo all sorts of trials, but you also have to be eliminated.

Soma Yukihira's first assessment involved his group consisting of Megumi Wada.

The exam question required students to cook a dish using ingredients found in the mountains.

Among them were two brothers working at an Italian restaurant called Aldini, who were eager to test their skills against Soma Yukihira. After provoking him, they took the lead and cooked an Italian dish.

Roasted Hybrid Duck

...

Xu Zhou's eyes lit up when he saw the dish.

Hybrid duck!

This new dish is really special!

It would be suitable to sell it in your own store.

I stopped drawing and uploaded the file only after I got to this point.

Upload successful

The Food Wars! manga has been updated!

After the notification popped up, Xu Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and silently waited to be scolded.

Today, a single dish has reminded people of the past; I'm sure I'll get scolded again.

Before the comments even refreshed, my phone started buzzing.

Almost all of the messages came from Songnan University.

It's news about Jiang Mingzhu and Jiang Yonghua.

[Jiang Mingzhu: Great news!]

[Jiang Mingzhu: Congratulations! I have some incredibly great news! I just received it!]

Chapter 126 Ochazuke (rice with tea) is nominated

Jiang Mingzhu didn't keep them in suspense any longer.

[Jiang Mingzhu: Your tea-soaked rice has been nominated for the 51st Songnan City Best Potential Dish Award.]

[Jiang Mingzhu: Look, the nomination list just came out today. This award is for newcomers, and the "potential hotpot" award only applies to new talents emerging between the end of each award and the start of the next nomination period.]

Xu Zhou clicked on it to take a look.

All that was seen was that ochazuke (tea rice), which had been submitted before the nomination, was already on the list.

Several of the nominations featured familiar faces.

I took a closer look at the nominations on the webpage.

The Best Chef and Most Popular awards are given to solo chefs, all of whom must be certified and have a certain number of years of experience in the industry.

I am clearly not eligible for this nomination at present.

Among the nominees for the year's most promising dishes, besides ochazuke (rice with tea), there's also Daikichi's recently popular beef bowl, a favorite among working people.

...

While watching, Xu Zhou chatted with Jiang Mingzhu, first congratulating her on being nominated for Best Potential Chef.

After chatting for a while, the topic turned to the nominated dishes.

"This beef bowl must be a popular dish at that restaurant in the park, right?"

"Yeah, but this is probably just a runner-up position, there's definitely no hope."

Jiang Mingzhu paused for a moment, then said, "Although Songnan City is not big, for example, this Yu'er restaurant is probably an investment of one of the Zhong family's descendants, and it follows the Zhong family's specialty of medicinal cuisine."

"And this beef bowl is not only not as good as your ochazuke, but it also doesn't have the backing of the Zhong family. It's definitely just a runner-up."

...

Upon hearing about medicinal cuisine, Xu Zhou became interested.

"Medicinal cuisine? Does it really work?"

"Yes, because the Zhong family ancestors actually produced imperial chefs and physicians, so the medicinal cuisine is indeed effective. However, it can only be eaten at the restaurants run by their own family members in big cities; the effects are limited at other restaurants."

Jiang Mingzhu sighed, "Moreover, the Zhong family specializes in medicinal cuisine. Their recipes are all passed down from their ancestors and are never made public. Even the procurement and planting are handled entirely by their own family members."

Medicinal cuisine…

Right.

Almost all of the world's traditions have been preserved, so it's quite normal for some shops to specialize in medicinal cuisine.

Upon seeing these two words, Xu Zhou instantly thought of the medicinal cuisine comics he had previously considered opening.

If I had started a medicinal cuisine comic and used the name of medicinal cuisine, wouldn't I have inevitably clashed with the Zhong family?

The thought flashed through my mind, but then I was drawn to the rustic vegetarian restaurant.

This shop…

Isn't this right next door?

I hadn't looked at the store closely before, but I thought its decor was stylish.

The store's exterior is inconspicuous.

The interior of the store, however, is a completely different story.

Even though Li Ge's casual dining has seen a significant decrease in customers, this vegetarian restaurant remains standing and has its own loyal customer base.

...

Xu Zhou examined the dish closely and muttered with some confusion, "Three Treasures Tofu...aren't they usually eight treasures?"

I've only ever seen Eight Treasure Duck and Eight Treasure Tofu, what the heck is Three Treasure Tofu?

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingzhu immediately said, "Eight Treasure Tofu is a dish of the Ye family. The Ye family mainly makes vegetarian food."

"This local vegetarian restaurant must be a place invested in by the Ye family when they were bored. It's run by a talented amateur chef, and they just gave us a cheap meal."

As Xu Zhou listened, he clicked on his own name on the nomination webpage.

Upon opening it, there was surprisingly an introduction.

Salmon/Mackerel Ochazuke (rice with tea)

[From: Yizhou Izakaya Xuzhou]

[Brief introduction: The salmon or mackerel is pan-fried using different methods, and then a secret tea soup is poured into a green jade teapot.]

The mackerel ochazuke has a mild flavor, while the salmon ochazuke has a relatively rich flavor; all the flavors blend together very well…

Below are even photos of their own tea-soaked rice posted on Meituan.

...

Although it's just a nomination.

However, this webpage had a very high number of views, and Xu Zhou immediately felt the prayer value for ochazuke (tea-soaked rice) rising rapidly.

Each person contributes only a fraction of a point to the prayer points, but the sheer number of people doing it makes a huge difference…

Yesterday, the sukiyaki rice bowl and the fried beef steak rice bowl sold very well.

Sukiyaki rice bowls have been upgraded.

[Upgraded Sukiyaki Rice Bowl Recipe]

【Sukiyaki Donburi: 2350/10000(3)】

Current ingredient discount: 9% off

[Currently, the daily purchase limit for ingredients is 150 servings.]

"good."

Xu Zhou nodded in satisfaction. The amount of barbecue had increased by 300, and even the Chaliapin steak would soon be upgraded.

Seeing my recipes flourishing instantly gave me a sense of satisfaction, like carefully nurtured seeds beginning to grow.

The entrance exam for transfer students is now mandatory.

Otherwise, what if he encounters Erina Nakiri from "Food Wars!" who seems to be stronger than Soma Yukihira on paper, and she turns around and leaves as soon as she sees that he is just a temporary student?

Given Erina Nakiri's personality, it's not impossible...

Just as I was lost in my daydreams during my vacation, the joy of the holiday was finally shattered as evening fell.

...

night.

Xu Zhou received a message from the school on his phone.

[Jiang Yonghua: Xiao Xu! Look... many students emailed me today strongly requesting that you teach the course. Are you willing to teach it?]

Jiang Yonghua glanced at his email.

My head hurts.

[2589 unread emails]

At a glance, almost all the emails I opened were related to Xu Zhou.

[Dean! I'd like to ask how to select Professor Xu's courses? When do he start his classes?]

[Dean! I'd like to take Professor Xu's class!]

The entire area was filled with people either asking about Xu Zhou's class schedule or petitioning.

Just looking at it was dazzling to his eyes.

...

in the office.

"Dean, Mr. Xu is too busy with his own shop to possibly be willing to teach."

"Yes, that makes sense."

Jiang Yonghua pondered.

That definitely means the benefits aren't enough.

He immediately sent a bunch of messages, promising a lot of benefits.

[Jiang Yonghua: If you're going to offer classes, I'll pay double the hourly rate! Even if you only teach the basics, it's fine!]

[Jiang Yonghua: One class a week is enough!]

[Jiang Yonghua: If you're willing to teach, or if you want to adapt your own textbook specifically for the Culinary Arts Department of Songnan University, that's fine with me!]

"..."

Xu Zhou drank until late last night and was originally planning to take a good day off today, but when he saw the messages sent by the principal in the evening, he didn't refuse.

One class a week, double the hourly rate, and such a beautiful house... it's really hard to refuse.

Xu Zhou: Okay, tomorrow's Saturday, so let's do it every Saturday afternoon.

As soon as the message was sent, even through the screen, Xu Zhou could feel the visible excitement of Dean Jiang.

[Jiang Yonghua: Okay! Teacher Xu, I'll tell the students right away and add your elective course.]