Chapter 53: Chapter 53: CookxShopping
Hanzo's training is over for the day but there's still much to be done, and I can't afford to keep juggling the duties of cooking, cleaning, and training. I need someone who can handle the responsibility of preparing meals while maintaining the same level of discipline required for our living arrangements once the real training begins. The penthouse is starting to feel a bit too chaotic with so many moving parts, and I can't afford distractions when the stakes are this high.
I head out into the city, looking for someone who fits the bill of a cook with a strong enough body to keep up with training and endure the work required in the kitchen, but also someone who can keep things running smoothly without being overwhelmed by the demands of our many hungry children. I need someone who's organized, disciplined, and able to handle themselves if something goes awry.
After visiting a few local restaurants, I stumble across a promising candidate a middle-aged man named Taro, who works in a small but reputable diner. His arms are thick with muscle, and his posture is one of quiet confidence. He's obviously not an experienced fighter, but his build suggests he can handle most physical tasks with ease, and he moves with the agility of someone who's been working with their hands for a long time. He's also apparently a seasoned cook.
I watch as he expertly chops vegetables with perfect speed and accuracy, never pausing, his movements as precise as any cool I've ever personally seen.
After a brief conversation, Taro agrees to come by for an interview at the restaurant during his break in a few minutes. I can tell by the way he listens to my explanations and asks questions that he's not only capable in the kitchen but also serious about the job. His calm, efficient demeanor gives me the feeling that he'll fit in well with the atmosphere I'm trying to maintain.
After a few minutes of cooking Taro takes his break and walks to the table I'm currently seated at. Sitting down he asks an important question, "Why do you want to hire me to cook for your personal penthouse, and why me? I'm sure you can find better cooks willing to work for an obviously rich man such as yourself why would you specifically choose me to ask?"
"I choose to ask you because the penthouse you would be working in has its own challenges. To start everything is at the very least 100 kilograms (220 pounds)." To this statement, Taro's eyes go wide in surprise almost popping out of the sockets like a cartoon character.
"Okay and how the hell am I supposed to cook if even the smallest things in the kitchen are too heavy for me to lift?"
"Well that's simple you get stronger. Oh and also the gravity can go up to five times the normal amount of the ground. When doing real training the temperature of the air is a regular 150 degrees."
"WHAT!!! how would I even be supposed to cook in that type of temperature? Why would you even need that temperature for training anyways?!"
"Don't worry you get used to it. Now for the pay, for the inconvenience of being forced to live, train, sign a 'legal' document, cook for us, and train with us you would be paid a sum of 47,018,850 Jenny a year."
Once again his eyes almost pop out in shock, "47 million Jenny?! Are you insane that's above slightly overpaying I'll take the offer! So when do I start?"
By this point in time, most of the patrons in the restaurant are looking at us either seeing the shocked look Taro keeps getting or the fact that he was just yelling something or other about being paid 47 million Jenny.
"You can start today get your stuff and we will talk over the details when you move in."
Next in order, I have a cook but no food. It's about time to go grocery shopping.
It may take every store in the city to get all the food I need but I start at a meal market across the street. Walking in it looks a lot bigger on the inside than the outside, they have a variety of 'healthy' things but in my time being personally trained by martial arts masters, I've picked up some tips on what to eat to gain muscle or stay fit.
I grab a few carts and head over to the dairy aisle, where eggs would be. Surprisingly it gets me to almost half of the eggs I need. I fill up my cart over the brim with 165 egg cartons. In total, I would need 315 but I can get the rest from other grocery stores. Moving through the aisle I get all of the cheese they have in my other cart and proceed to checkout.
While the cashier is checking all the items with a very astonished look I sneak over to the bathroom and make sure nobody is looking before making 3 giant bags that are made of Dyneema. When the cashier is done I pay my bill and rush off at full speed to the arena. Even though I'm going full speed to save time I'm very careful, eggs are one of the most breakable items in a grocery store and I don't want to waste all the eggs I've bought by being dumb.
After unloading the eggs and cheese next to the elevator, I go back to the store walking to the next aisle, produce and pantry. From this aisle, I buy bananas, apples, nuts, flax seeds, mixed berries, avocados, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and oranges. Luckily I don't need nearly as many of any of these allowing me to fill up only 3 buggys on this aisle.
The next aisle is baking so I skip it and head to the frozen meats section. This is a series of aisles having most meats you would ever want but all I need is chicken, tuna, and steak. Sadly I need a whole bunch of all these items. It would probably fill 5 carts and they still wouldn't have enough meat to fulfill the needs for the week.
In total, I go back and forth 5 times from this grocery store getting peanut butter, Quinoa, vegetables, dark chocolate, brown rice, and oatmeal, but I'm still missing some meat, supplements, and pre-workout.
By noon, I bought everything I needed for the week from only 3 stores, for only 2,725,818 Jenny.