Everyday Life Starting with Food Wars

Chen Yuxing waved his hand without answering.

That's just how he is. When he's cooking, he can be so serious it's almost frightening, but once he's done, he immediately goes back to his lazy, laid-back self.

Afterwards, the three of them carried their luggage upstairs to find their own rooms.

Chen Yuxing pushed open the door to room 301. The room was quite large, with a tatami mat, a large bed, a small sofa, and a desk. He pulled back the curtains and looked around. The window faced the vegetable garden downstairs, and he could see the lights of the school's teaching building in the distance.

Chen Yuxing threw his bag on the bed and lay down on his back.

If the first day is this hectic, the days to come are unlikely to be easy.

But thinking about it, it doesn't really matter. He's always been a person who takes things as they come. Since he's already here, he might as well cheer up and keep going.

After lying there for about half an hour, he felt sticky all over, so he took out a change of clothes and a towel from his bag and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Mrs. Wenxu said the bathroom was at the very end of the corridor. When Chen Yuxing walked over, he found the door ajar, the light was on inside, and there was a faint sound of water.

Without thinking much, he opened the door and went inside.

Then he froze.

Megumi Tadokoro stood under the showerhead, her wet braids plastered to her shoulders, completely naked, and was rinsing her hair with the showerhead.

Their eyes met, and time seemed to freeze for two seconds.

"what--!"

Megumi Tadokoro screamed, and the showerhead in her hand clattered to the ground.

Chen Yuxing immediately turned around, closed the door, and leaned against the wall to take two deep breaths.

He then remembered that Mrs. Fumio had said that eight to nine o'clock was the time for girls to use the facilities.

He took out his phone and glanced at it.

8:40.

The sound of Soma Yukihira opening a door came from the other end of the corridor: "What's wrong? Who shouted?"

Chen Yuxing cleared his throat: "It's nothing, Tadokoro Megumi saw a cockroach in the bathroom."

Another scream came from inside the bathroom.

"Oh..." Soma Yukihira yawned and closed the door.

Chen Yuxing walked quickly back to his room, locked the door, and sat on the bed in a daze for a long time.

He rubbed his face and muttered to himself, "This is awkward."

The room was extremely quiet, with only the chirping of insects outside the window and the faint sound of cars in the distance. He lay on the bed staring at the ceiling for a while, and drowsiness gradually crept in, his eyelids slowly drooping.

Then, just as he was about to fall asleep, the ceiling above his head was suddenly pushed open.

A face peered down, and a boy with short apricot hair grinned: "Yo, a new first-year student! Welcome, welcome!"

Chen Yuxing sat up as if on springs: "Who are you?!"

"I am Isshiki Satoshi, a second-year student, and I live upstairs from you."

The boy jumped down from the ceiling passage and landed on his floor. "Come on, there's a welcome party in the living room downstairs. Everyone's waiting for you."

"...Could you please use the door?"

"Going through doors is so boring."

Isshiki Satoshi had already opened the door to his room. "Hurry up, Yuuki made some new dishes. If we don't go now, they'll all be gone."

Chen Yuxing stood up, rubbed his eyes, and knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

Then a thought suddenly popped into his head—would Tadokoro Megumi be downstairs later?

He paused for a moment.

Isshiki Satoshi turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Chen Yuxing sighed. "Let's go."

Chapter 4 Welcome Party

Chen Yuxing followed Isshiki Satoshi down from the third floor to the second floor, his feet creaking on the old wooden stairs.

A door at the end of the corridor was ajar, and the light shining from inside cast a golden slit in the floor.

Noise squeezed out from under the door—there was laughter, the clatter of dishes clashing, and several voices clearly arguing.

Isshiki Satoshi pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Chen Yuxing in.

The room was much larger than Chen Yuxing had imagined, but it was now packed with about ten people. The bookshelves against the wall had been pushed aside, and the books that should have been on the table were all stacked on the floor. The space that had been cleared was covered with several blankets, on which were placed plates of various sizes.

"They're here! The new students are here!"

Yoshino Yuuki was the first to jump up, holding a bowl in her hand, almost spilling it.

Chen Yuxing glanced around. He hadn't seen most of the people in the room before, but judging from the noise he'd heard in the kitchen and the frequency with which Mrs. Wenxu called out names, they were probably all long-time tenants of the Polaris Dormitory.

Tadokoro Megumi huddled in a corner, clutching an open notebook, as if the noise in the room was separated from her by a pane of glass.

Chen Yuxing's gaze lingered on her for a moment.

Then it was moved away.

They moved quite quickly.

Tadokoro Megumi also saw him.

She slammed the notebook shut, her face flushed red to the roots of her ears, and she shrank further into the corner, wishing she could disappear into the gap between the bookshelf and the wall.

About three hours ago, Chen Yuxing had looked her body over from head to toe.

Although it was purely an accident, and he didn't push the door on purpose, is it okay if it's not intentional? For a girl like Tadokoro Megumi, who blushes even if someone says a few words to her, being seen naked is probably as damaging as being expelled from school at the end of the semester.

Chen Yuxing scratched the back of his head and looked up at the ceiling, pretending to examine the chandelier.

"Cough cough."

Isshiki cleared his throat and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

But nobody paid him any attention.

Aoki Daigo and Sato Shoji, sitting on the blanket, were still shoving each other. Sato Shoji was holding a fried shrimp in his hand and almost poked Aoki Daigo in the nose.

My fried assorted dishes are a hundred times better than your pathetic shrimp!

"Bullshit! Your mixed vegetable dish can't even control the oil temperature properly, the batter is all rancid and oily!"

Say it again!

"I'll say it as many times as I want—"

Isshiki Satoshi watched the scene with a smile, not in a hurry, waiting for them to finish arguing.

Finally, Yoshino Yuuki couldn't take it anymore and grabbed a cushion, throwing it at them: "Can you two just shut up for a bit! The freshmen are still standing!"

Isshiki Satoshi didn't mind at all, and said with a smile, "To celebrate the arrival of a new member to the Polar Star Dormitory, let's—"

"cheers!"

Everyone shouted together, and all the cups were raised and clinked together. Ryoko Sakaki carried a large bottle and poured the wine into each cup. When she poured it into Chen Yuxing's cup, she smiled at him and said, "This is rice koji juice that I brewed. The alcohol content is very low, so it's fine."

Chen Yuxing took the cup and took a sip. It didn't taste like alcohol at all; instead, it had a sweet, rice-fermented flavor. After swallowing, his tongue felt slightly numb, which was very pleasant.

“It’s delicious,” he said.

Ryoko Sakaki smiled, her eyes crinkling.

While pouring the drinks, Isshiki Satoshi began to introduce each person in turn.

"That man with glasses is Zenji Marui, from room 205. He's very knowledgeable about classical culinary literature, from ancient Roman sauce recipes to Edo-era kaiseki menus. You can't go wrong asking him."

Marui Zenji pushed up his glasses, and before he could say anything serious, Yoshino Yuuki interrupted, "And then hand in your paper last during the exam."

“That’s because research takes time!” Marui Zenji’s face darkened.

"Come on, you always cram at the last minute."

Marui Zenji opened his mouth, but found himself unable to refute it, so he sullenly took a sip of rice gluten juice.

“The one leaning against the corner is Shun Ibusaki, from room 208,” Satoshi Isshiki continued.

Chen Yuxing followed his gaze. A boy with hair so long it covered most of his face sat leaning against the bookshelf, holding a cup in his hand. He didn't say anything, but simply nodded slightly at Chen Yuxing.

“He’s good at smoking dishes,” Isshiki Satoshi added. “His smoked bacon is so good that everyone in the Polar Star Dormitory wakes up to the smell.”

Ibuzaki Shun's voice came out muffledly from behind his bangs: "It's not that exaggerated."

"And you already know these two." Isshiki pointed to Yoshino Yuuki and Sakaki Ryoko. "Yuuki is good at cooking wild game; those chickens, ducks, and geese behind the dormitory are all raised by her. Ryoko is good at cooking with rice koji; the rice koji juice in your hand is her creation."

Yoshino Yuuki raised her hand: "If you want to eat any wild game, you can come to me—but you have to bring your own ingredients to exchange! Last time I made wild boar meat for Daigo, and he didn't even say thank you after eating it."

"Because it's too tough!"

Daigo Aoki called back through several people, "You almost knocked my dentures out."

"That was an early work! It has been improved since then!"

Isshiki Satoshi smiled and shook his head, then turned to look at the blue-haired girl in the corner.

“That’s Megumi Tadokoro, from room 302. You should already know her.”

Tadokoro Megumi jumped up like a schoolchild whose name had been called on, almost dropping her notebook. She bowed, her face still as red as a boiled shrimp: "N-Nice to meet you! I'm Tadokoro Megumi! Please take care of me!"

She seemed to genuinely mean "nice to meet you."

It's as if what happened in the bathroom three hours ago never happened.

"Hello," he said, his tone so calm that even he was somewhat impressed with himself.

Tadokoro Megumi secretly glanced at him, but her gaze snapped away as soon as it met his shoulder. She lowered her head again, her ear tips glowing red.

Yoshino Yuuki's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them twice.

Her intuition told her that there was definitely something between the two of them.

Chen Yuxing was pulled over and sat down by Yukihira Soma, where two dishes were placed in front of him.

The mixed vegetables were fried to a golden brown, with various vegetables cut into small pieces and coated in batter, looking crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The fried shrimp on the side also looked good, with the batter fried into scaly patterns, making it look quite appetizing.

"You try it first." Soma Yukihira handed him the chopsticks.

Chen Yuxing picked up a piece of mixed vegetables.

Taking a bite, the crust is crispy, and the cabbage inside still has a slightly crunchy texture, but—

He put down his chopsticks and picked up another fried shrimp.

The shrimp meat was springy, the scales on the batter were fried beautifully, and there was a good amount of shrimp MSG, but the umami flavor was a bit mixed.

"How was it? How was it?" Daigo Aoki leaned closer, his eyes wide open, like a bulldog waiting to be fed.

"They're all pretty good," Chen Yuxing said.

"That's it?" Daigo Aoki was dissatisfied. "You need to give me a conclusion. Who is better?"

Are you sure you want me to explain in detail?

"nonsense!"

Chen Yuxing pointed to the plate of mixed vegetables: "The cabbage must have been picked this morning and left out for most of the day, so it lost some moisture. When frying it, it was put into the pot with other vegetables, but different vegetables have different water content, so some cook quickly and some slowly, resulting in uneven crispness in the final product. Also, the oil temperature was high enough at first, but after the vegetables were put into the pot, the temperature wasn't adjusted back down in time. There was a period of about 30 seconds when the oil temperature was low, so the batter absorbed the excess oil."

Daigo Aoki stared, his mouth agape, completely petrified.

Chen Yuxing then pointed to the fried shrimp: "The shrimp are frozen, so the freshness is well preserved, but the flavor itself isn't enough. Adding shrimp flavor enhancer to improve the flavor is a good idea, but the shrimp flavor enhancer you're using is different from the shrimp itself, so the two flavors don't go together. If you taste it carefully, you can taste a crack in the middle. The scales on the batter are fried very nicely, which means you've controlled the oil temperature well, better than the vegetable medley dish."

Just as Sato Shoji's smug expression appeared, Chen Yuxing added, "But the shrimp itself was a bit overcooked; you fried it for about twenty seconds too long."

This time it was Shoji Sato's turn to be petrified.

There was a moment or two of silence in the room, then Daigo Aoki slammed his fist on the floor: "I knew I shouldn't have been lazy and used the cabbage from the morning!"

"So, what's the conclusion?" Soma Yukihira asked, "Who won?"

Chen Yuxing thought for a moment: "If we only consider these two dishes today, Zhao Er's fried shrimp is slightly better because he has his own creative ideas and controls the oil temperature better. But the difference is not big, and it is hard to say who will win next time."

Daigo Aoki sighed, while Shoji Sato slapped his thigh with delight.

"and many more."