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

It really is a budget version.

Only a chef truly understands how difficult it is to make porridge to this standard.

That's almost top-notch control over the heat and the ability to adjust every flavor.

Awesome!

It's so arrogant!

Liu Fang couldn't even find the words to praise Xu Zhou.

The people next to me were drinking loudly.

"Delicious! I feel restless if I don't eat this porridge every day!"

"This is amazing! It's the finest congee ever. If I could afford a bowl of beef stew in Burgundy right now, I'd be so happy..."

Everyone was completely captivated, offering heartfelt praise and exclamations, their faces beaming with happiness.

Liu Fang looked up.

Xu Zhou, who was behind the chef's counter, heard a lot of praise, but he just smiled calmly and then calmly went about his business.

Despite his young age, he possessed the profound simplicity of a highly enlightened monk.

Liu Fang felt a sense of inferiority and despair after taking a sip of porridge.

Is this a gifted monster?

Horror!

...

We opened early today.

Around lunchtime, more than a dozen people arrived one after another.

They were all unfamiliar faces.

The first thing I did was buy a fast food hamburger patty meal.

They quickly occupied several seats in the store in twos and threes.

Seeing that the ingredients were almost sold out, Xu Zhou went into the small room inside and took out fifty fried meat patties.

Before I even came out, I heard several new customers speaking with surprise in their voices.

"This is the Snow Melting Soup from the Su Family Imperial Kitchen! It's super expensive!"

"Yes, it seems that Su's Imperial Kitchen is going to make this dish its signature dish! And it was even developed by Jiang Wen!"

"I've never been able to bring myself to order a congee that costs over a thousand yuan."

Several unfamiliar customers naturally came because of Jiang Yonghua's recommendation.

I've never eaten here before.

Upon entering, their eyes lit up when they saw the two untouched servings of melted snow soup on Liu's table.

Seeing the longing in their eyes, Liu Fang quickly said, "I can give you these two bowls, but I have one condition..."

deliver?

The two customers were overjoyed and nodded quickly.

"What's the request? Tell me!"

"Yes!"

"It's very simple."

Liu Fang lowered his voice: "Go and order two bowls of oyster congee later. After you finish those, come and have these two bowls of snow-melting soup. Tell me what the shortcomings are."

The two new customers stared blankly: "Huh? Lacking... a flaw?"

Can you actually find the dishes from Chapter 48 of "Food Wars!" in real life?

The two strangers could hardly believe their ears.

Since when did Su's Imperial Kitchen start needing customers to point out its flaws?

That's one of the top ten stores in Songnan City!

But when they saw the two bowls of oyster congee that Xu Zhou had cooked in front of them, their eyes widened in amazement.

The clear porridge had a perfect consistency, with a layer of porridge oil floating on top, and you could vaguely see the tender, fresh oysters.

The two swallowed hard, feeling as if the porridge in front of them was a work of art. Their hands trembled as they scooped up a spoonful.

As the clear porridge slid down their throats, its perfection left them speechless, causing their eyes to widen in astonishment.

“Delicious!”

"Even the cheap version tastes this good! The authentic version must be so delicious!"

Their eyes sparkled, and they ate their porridge faster and faster.

Xu Kai, who was standing next to him, immediately became displeased. He straightened his face, raised his chin, and said, "Who are you calling the beggar version?"

"This shop."

The two customers asked in disbelief, "Could it be the Su Family Imperial Kitchen?"

"Hehe." Xu Kai rolled his eyes at them.

"Isn't this oyster congee just a poorly named 'snow melting soup'?"

Seeing the angry stares from the other customers in the store, the two shrank back and muttered under their breath, "We didn't say that, it was Jiang Wen's fans who said it."

"Tch." Xu Kai rolled his eyes. "Anyone who says that is a brainless fan."

"..."

Xu Zhou didn't seem to have much of an effect when he heard these words.

If two dishes are of similar quality, and you call me the budget version, I might even get angry.

Having clearly understood the difference between the two dishes, Xu Zhou felt no ripple of emotion upon hearing these words and turned back to continue making the Burgundy beef stew.

Beta version?

After you take a sip, look me in the eye and tell me who's the budget version?

...

After the two customers finished their oyster congee, their anticipation for the snow-melting soup reached its peak.

God!

If the porridge at this shop is this delicious, then the snow melting soup must be incredibly good!

When Liu Fang placed the melted snow soup from the Su Family Imperial Kitchen in front of them, they were extremely excited.

Even when I was unpacking it, my hands were shaking.

Su's Imperial Kitchen!

This is food from an eight-star restaurant!

The two carefully scooped up a spoonful of porridge and put it in their mouths, taking a sip.

When the porridge entered their mouths and they tasted it, their expressions cracked.

"Ok?"

"Wait a minute."

"Is this snow melting soup?"

The porridge in my mouth not only lacked oil, but the seafood didn't even taste as fresh as what I'd had at this restaurant; I could even taste a fishy smell.

Compared to the delicious oyster congee I just had, this snow melt soup was absolutely awful!

The two were stunned.

My hopeful heart was shattered on the ground.

no…

So you weren't joking after all?

This snow-melting soup really has a lot of flaws!

Liu Fang readily pulled out his notebook, completely unsurprised.

This genius can cook such amazing oyster congee! How can Melting Snow Soup compare?

really.

His idea was proven correct.

What do you think are the drawbacks of this snow melting soup?

"..."

Would you like to try some more?

"No... no need!"

The two customers waved their hands repeatedly, even pushing the snow-melting soup a little further away.

With such exquisite wine before us, how could we possibly drink this?

"We've already tried it."

"Okay, then tell me, what do you think are the drawbacks of the Snow Melting Soup?"

Seeing the two men's hesitant looks, Liu Fang paused, then said, "It's alright, you can speak freely!"

"Ok."

"It's too fishy. This cheap porridge is not even a fraction as good as the oyster porridge at the boss's place."

"The porridge wasn't thick enough, and the rice didn't have that soft, fluffy texture that comes with cooking rice until each grain is distinct."

The two of them kept talking back and forth, feeling that there were problems with every single aspect of the exquisite snow-melting soup in front of them.

People around him looked over, and Xu Kai chuckled. Didn't he just say that oyster porridge was the beggar's version?

Now you know who got the budget version after you've finished drinking it, right?

Liu Fang lowered his head further and further as they talked, and he could almost foresee the expression on his master Jiang Wen's face when he saw these shortcomings written down.

...

Xu Zhou stayed at the store until five or six in the afternoon. He waited until Cai Cai and the others came and sold out the remaining thirty-odd fast food hamburger patties before preparing to close up shop and go home.

I took stock of everything on the way.

Today we sold fifty fast-food hamburger patties, fifteen imitation barbecue dishes, ten oyster congee, ten egg rice dishes, and five Burgundy beef stew.

I earned 26,125 yuan.

"Hmm, there are quite a lot of people here today."

"It must have been Grandpa Jiang's recommendation that played a role."

Xu Zhou returned home satisfied.

As soon as I got home, I sprawled out on the sofa, casually flipping through TV channels with the remote while checking my phone for messages.

The message on my phone was from manga editor Aoyama.

[Aoyama: Your comic's data is good. I've already sent you the electronic version of the contract. Take a look, and if there are no problems, sign it.]

[Aoyama: Also, your book "Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma" will soon be featured in the new book recommendation section. This recommendation is a competition-style process, consisting of five rounds.]

Xu Zhou didn't know much about these systems; he only looked them up briefly before replying to the message.

Xu Zhou: Okay.

I took a closer look at the contract.

The contract was for the book "Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma" and did not restrict his pen name or his identity.

Xu Zhou saw that there were no problems and signed the contract for "Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma".