Everyday Life Starting with Food Wars

Suddenly, Ibuzaki Shun, who had been leaning against the corner and hadn't said much, spoke up. His glasses, hidden by his hair, stared at Chen Yuxing. "The cabbage was picked this morning. Daigo didn't even realize the taste was different before he served it. The oil temperature was 30 seconds lower. You can taste such a subtle change?"

Chen Yuxing turned around, looked at him, and nodded.

Ibuzaki Jun was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded and said nothing more.

Marui Zenji, standing next to him, took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on, looking at Chen Yuxing as if he were looking at a living encyclopedia of cooking.

Isshiki Satoshi stood by the door, holding a cup, his smile even wider than before.

He suddenly spoke up: "Ah Xing, is your tongue on the same level as Erina's 'God Tongue'?"

The room became quiet again.

This time the quiet lasted longer than before.

Ryoko Sakaki put down the bottle of rice gluten juice in her hand, Yuuki Yoshino covered her mouth, and even Daigo Aoki and Shoji Sato, who were rolling on the ground, stopped.

"God's Tongue?" Tadokoro Megumi repeated the word softly, her voice trembling slightly.

“Of course!” Soma Yukihira slammed his hand on the table.

Marui Zenji pushed up his glasses, his expression turning serious: "Yukihira-kun, do you know what 'God's Tongue' means? In all of history, there are no more than five people who have ever possessed God's Tongue. Each of them was a figure who changed the landscape of cuisine. This is not just ordinary taste sensitivity, but something that has exceeded the limits of human physiology."

“But A-Xing can definitely do it!” Yukihira Sori said confidently.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Hui."

Yoshino Yuuki suddenly turned to the corner, "You're in his group today too, right? Is he really that amazing?"

When Tadokoro Megumi was suddenly called out, she jumped up as if she had been burned.

"That...he...Chen Yuxing is indeed very talented..."

Her voice trailed off, the last few words almost uttered in a breath, "Today in class, he could tell I was nervous just by looking at how I chopped vegetables, and he even taught me how to control the angle of the knife..."

Tadokoro Megumi added quietly, "Today in Professor Chappelle's class, it was also Chen Yuxing who, after just one sip, knew that the tannins in red wine needed to be softened beforehand..."

After she finished speaking, she lowered her head again, her ear tips so red they could steam an egg.

Yoshino Yuuki stroked her chin, looked thoughtfully at Tadokoro Megumi, and then at Chen Yuxing.

"Is there something between you two—?"

"No," Chen Yuxing said first.

"I haven't asked anything yet."

"Then don't ask."

Yoshino Yuuki chuckled twice, her expression saying, "I understand."

“Besides, that’s just basic skill,” Chen Yuxing interrupted her. “It has nothing to do with the tongue.”

Isshiki Satoshi tilted his head: "The kind of talk about basic skills only carries weight when it comes from someone who gets an A in Professor Chappell's class on the first day of school. Most first-year students are already sweating buckets just trying to do it."

Chen Yuxing picked up the rice cereal and took a sip, no longer wanting to discuss the topic.

He does indeed have an exceptionally sharp tongue, which his master described as a "gift from God" in his previous life.

But unlike Erina Nakiri's innate divine tongue, his tongue was honed through experience—more than a decade of kitchen experience, thousands of tastings, and each seasoning was etched into his mind.

If he had a choice, he would rather have a slightly duller sense of taste, so that at least he wouldn't feel that the MSG ratio in the seasoning packet was too high when eating instant noodles.

But clearly, the others weren't going to let him off so easily.

One million yen.

"What?" Chen Yuxing looked up.

Isshiki Satoshi held up one finger: "Erina charges a starting price of one million yen for each restaurant tasting session. And you have to make an appointment, and it's normal to wait in line for several months. The restaurant's head chef will come to your place with a full set of cooking utensils to cook it on the spot, and after it's done, you stand there nervously waiting for the feedback."

Chen Yuxing paused for a moment while holding the cup.

Is it really that exaggerated?

"This is still the base price."

Marui Zenji picked up the thread, "If it's about in-depth tasting and improvement of a single dish, the price would be several times higher. A person with a divine tongue can find flaws in food that ordinary people can't even perceive, which is irreplaceable for top-tier restaurants that pursue perfection."

Daigo Aoki stood up blankly, walked up to Chen Yuxing, and bowed.

"I owe you one million yen for that plate of mixed vegetables, based on market price."

Chen Yuxing pushed him back: "Don't give me that. The cost of your dish is at most three hundred yen."

"So just a token gesture will suffice!"

Daigo Aoki pulled a handful of coins from his pocket and handed them to him, saying, "Please be my human food tasting device."

Shoji Sato also leaned over and slipped a coin into his hand: "I'll treat you too."

Yoshino Yuuki jumped off the bed: "I'll give you a duck in exchange for a taste test!"

"Stop fooling around."

Chen Yuxing was both amused and exasperated as he tried to return the coins, but the two men refused to accept them, insisting that they were a deposit.

Satoshi Isshiki laughed so hard he slapped his thigh as he looked at the chaotic scene.

After the commotion subsided, he slowly spoke up: "But Ah Xing, I'm a little curious, since your sense of taste is so amazing, how do you feel about the dishes you make?"

Before Chen Yuxing could answer, Yukihira Soma interrupted, "Of course it's delicious! The shumai he made tonight, the wrappers were made entirely with egg liquid, and after steaming, the wrappers were so springy, it felt like chewing rice cake."

"Using only eggs to make the dough?"

Marui Zenji's eyes widened behind his glasses. "That's not scientific, is it? Gluten formation requires water molecules, and the water content in egg liquid is unlikely to meet the minimum requirements for kneading dough."

"So it probably wasn't kneaded using the conventional method."

Ibuzaki said he had been listening quietly when he suddenly spoke up. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone could hear it clearly.

Chen Yuxing glanced at him. This boy, whose face was covered by his hair, didn't talk much, but every time he spoke, he got straight to the point.

"What special techniques did you use when kneading the dough?" Ibuzaki asked.

Chen Yuxing thought for a moment, then stretched out his hands and made a pushing motion: "This kind."

He pushed the base of his palm outwards to its limit, then folded it back, and pinched the edge of the dough with his knuckles.

Laymen might not understand it, but Ibuzaki Shun's eyes, which were covered by his hair, clearly lit up.

"Push, pull back, pinch. Adding finger pressure in between is to break up the over-formed gluten network and stimulate the formation of new gluten."

He said in a low voice, "This is an advanced kneading technique for Chinese pastries. It is recorded in ancient books, but very few people can do it purely by hand nowadays."

Chen Yuxing couldn't help but look at this guy with new respect.

"You know a lot."

"It's just that I've read a lot of books." Ibuzaki Shun shrank back into the corner.

At this moment, Isshiki Satoshi clapped his hands: "Alright, alright, let's put the theoretical discussion aside for now. Since this is a welcome party, why don't we all bring something new? There's no time limit in the kitchen tonight, and you can pick your own ingredients from my little vegetable garden. This is a rare opportunity to let our new classmates see the true strength of Polar Star Dormitory."

As soon as he finished speaking, the group darted out.

Chapter 5 Megumi Tadokoro

Daigo Aoki and Shoji Sato were at it again, each fighting over a stove. Yuuki Yoshino ran outside to catch chickens, and the sound of chickens flying and dogs barking echoed down the corridor. Ryoko Sakaki put away the bottle of rice koji she had brewed and took out a bag of homemade starter from the cupboard, saying she was going to make a fermented dish.

Even Tadokoro Megumi, who had been huddled in the corner, stood up and quietly moved towards the door.

Chen Yuxing was also heading to the kitchen when he turned around and almost bumped into Tadokoro Megumi.

She took a step back, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Ah... I'm sorry..." Tadokoro Megumi apologized with her head down, even though she hadn't done anything wrong.

"fine."

Chen Yuxing stepped aside and prepared to walk towards the door.

“Um… Chen Yuxing…” Tadokoro Megumi suddenly spoke, her voice so soft it was almost drowned out by the noise in the corridor.

He stopped in his tracks.

"About this afternoon..." She gripped the corner of her apron, her knuckles turning white, "I'm so sorry!"

Chen Yuxing was taken aback: "Why are you apologizing?"

"Because...that...bathroom..." Her face was flushed red, "I know it was an accident...but I'm so sorry for causing you trouble!"

She bowed deeply to Chen Yuxing, her braids swinging down to her shoulders.

Chen Yuxing paused for a moment.

"I should be the one apologizing," he said. "I didn't pay attention to the time of day and barged in recklessly. It's my responsibility."

Tadokoro Megumi looked up, her eyes watery, whether from nervousness or something else, it was hard to tell.

"But......"

"No buts." Chen Yuxing interrupted her. "This matter ends here, and we won't mention it again."

Tadokoro Megumi paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

But her face was still red, and her ears were still red.

Chen Yuxing felt he probably wasn't qualified to judge others, since his neck was also a little hot.

"Let's go."

He cleared his throat and walked towards the door, his steps quickening slightly. "Didn't you say you were going to cook?"

The two walked toward the communal kitchen, and behind them they could hear Soma Yukihira and Satoshi Isshiki talking.

"Isshiki-senpai, you're one of the Elite Ten, right?"

"Only the seventh seat."

"Have a match with me."

"Now?"

"Right now."

Isshiki Satoshi smiled and said, "Okay."

The kitchen suddenly became lively.

Daigo Aoki and Shoji Sato each occupied a stove; the former made fried pork cutlets, and the latter made tempura. The two were competing in front of the oil pan. Yuuki Yoshino killed a chicken and was squatting on the ground plucking its feathers, humming an off-key song as she did so. Ryoko Sakaki was kneading dough not far away, and her koji emitted a faint aroma of sake.

Chen Yuxing found a seat by the window, with Tadokoro Megumi beside him.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

Megumi Tadokoro took out a few potatoes and a small piece of butter from the refrigerator: "Mashed potatoes... I want to try and see if I can make them smoother..."

Her voice was still not loud, but she was noticeably more composed when talking about cooking.

Chen Yuxing nodded, leaned against the counter, and watched her begin peeling potatoes.

Megumi Tadokoro's peeling technique is quite good, even more so than most of her peers.

She peeled the potatoes very thinly, wasting almost no flesh, and her knife skills were steady. She cut the potatoes into uniform pieces, each about the size of a mahjong tile.

"Do you often do this at home?" Chen Yuxing asked.

Megumi Tadokoro nodded, then shook her head: "I've been helping my mom in the kitchen since I was little, and I can do basic things like chopping vegetables... but that's not enough here, everyone is just too amazing."

“A solid foundation is a good thing,” Chen Yuxing said. “Skills can be honed over time, but it’s very difficult to correct a wrong foundation.”

Upon hearing this, Tadokoro Megumi's fingers trembled slightly.

This was the first time she had been praised for having a "solid foundation" since arriving in Far Moon. Others either said she was "slow," or that she was "too nervous," or simply shook their heads and said nothing.

Tadokoro Megumi gave a soft "hmm," put the chopped potato chunks into the pot, added water, and turned on the heat to cook.

She kept her eyes on the water in the pot while boiling the potatoes, as if they would overcook in the blink of an eye.

Chen Yuxing did not disturb her.

When the potatoes were cooked until chopsticks could be easily pierced through them, Megumi Tadokoro drained the water and began mashing the potatoes.

She mashed it very carefully, pressing it with a spoon again and again to make sure there were no lumps left before adding butter and milk, and then a small amount of salt.

She hesitated for a moment while stirring.