Reborn in Japan as a Chef God

"No more, just a sample cup. Let me know what you think."

Xia Yu replied. Ichise Hui looked disappointed. It took him about two or three minutes to gather his thoughts and push away the distractions, regaining his usual efficiency and composure.

"Well, how should I put it—the sake goes really well with the juice!"

Ichise Hui held back these words for a few more minutes.

"It does match..."

Zhu Qing leaned at the kitchen doorway, "Pure and mild, devoid of anything superfluous beyond the alcohol. If you know a bit about handling Fantasy Ingredients, you'd understand what that implies, right?"

"Um, it's like a blank canvas, and the vibrant Rainbow Fruit are the paintbrushes, while the chef is the artist holding the brush, capable of painting whatever he desires on that canvas."

Xia Yu nodded.

With that statement, the 'Snow Maiden' brand of sake, just like the female protagonist accidentally discovering chewed sake with the juice of the miracle fruit, perfectly paired like a golden boy and jade girl.

"I never dared to imagine a Pure Rice Daiginjo as delicately flavored as this," Yuchuan Meisha said with her hands resting on her cheeks, smiling playfully in front of the counter, "Southern Doshu's hand-crafted Daiginjo sake carries a fruity aroma. Those from Tanba Doshu usually taste relatively spicy. Then there's from Nara, which tends to be refreshing and sweet. These flavors and tastes, besides being related to water and rice, yeast is the key ingredient in the brewing process that ultimately shapes these flavors and tastes... Hey, Boss Xia, when you toured that private craft sake brewery, did you discover any secrets about their fermentation process?"

Yuchuan Ayaka patted her shoulder and gently glared at her sister, "The fermentation process usually occurs in a sealed koji room, a place where no one besides the Doshu themselves can enter. Off-limits!"

Xia Yu also laughed, "Right, I am curious too, but indeed we can't peek at others' business secrets. Anyway, the intent to cooperate was settled, thanks to Reiko's help. She's acquainted with that Female Du. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to get this sake."

"How about it?"

Turning to Ichise Hui, whose emotions had stabilized, Xia Yu asked, "This low-alcohol beverage, lying between sake and fruit wine, if we were to list it in Xia's Farm online store, would it attract attention?"

"More than just attention!"

Hearing this, Ichise Hui's eyes sparkled, he stared intently at Xia Yu, and excitedly exclaimed, "Please, Instructor, deliver as many finished products as you can to me within the next two days. I guarantee that just this specialty alone will make Xia's Farm renowned in the agribusiness world, and no one will dare to underestimate us!"

"Two days, huh?"

After sending Ichise Hui on his way, Xia Yu watched him leave, then rested his chin in his hand and returned to the kitchen to ponder.

Zhu Qing came over and said, with a sideways glance, "It's tight on time, I suggest you use the simplest home-brewing method. Remember our practical experience during the Sapporo event? 'Rainbow Fruit' actually infuses easily into sake, and doesn't even need the pits removed or to be crushed. Just mix the fruit with sake and let it soak for about half a day—a 15-degree low-alcohol sake is enough to foster the initial fermentation."

"And also, aside from the fruit, no sugar, water, yeast, or any other additives need to be added—everything is completely natural. There's no need for later filtering either, because the real brewed Rainbow Sake will contain no sediment impurities at all."

"Two days, that's enough!"

Finishing his thought, Zhu Qing with a bang placed a clay jar on the counter; Xia Yu was startled, "A Lotus Leaf Jar?"

"Look, I've even found the container for brewing—it's something from the house, seems it was originally used by the old man to store pickles, got a few of them, just wash and let them dry in the courtyard and they are ready for use."

The Lotus Leaf Jar, a very traditional thing, had been idling in the storeroom ever since the old man returned to China.

Though the appearance of these jars might not be appealing, their practicality could make up for it.

Just one phrase—when the appearance isn't enough, what fills the gap?

Before leaving, Ichise Hui pleaded repeatedly. Xia Yu also hoped to invest more in the farm before returning home, intending to build his culinary empire as much as possible and stabilize it quickly.

Thus, he called the Yuchuan Sisters, and even Zhu Qing, who lately got accustomed to napping during the day. Perhaps noticing a sudden decrease in the prying eyes on the small shop, they also rarely had a chance to lend a hand.

Making a quick trip to the farm and back, he brought a new batch of 'Rainbow Fruit', not many—just three, similar to before. When Xia Yu filled each Lotus Leaf Jar with sake and dropped a fruit into them, he roughly calculated in his mind.

Despite the fruits' small quantity, if strictly following the ingredient specs, a single drop of pure juice could turn the water in a 25 cubic meter swimming pool into juice—considering this...

Uh!

Thank goodness he had mastered the supreme kitchen skill 'Spices Inequality', flashes of thought crossed Xia Yu's mind:

"The density of sake is a bit less than water, but it's easier to calculate with the density of water. Water in a 25 cubic meter pool is roughly 25,000 liters, which in weight is about 25 tons... Yikes, this output is a bit frightening, one drop of pure juice can dilute down to 25 tons of diluted fruit wine; if using a bigger bottle, say, roughly a 2-liter high-class glass, wouldn't one drop yield over ten thousand bottled commercial Rainbow Sakes?"

Ding ding ding!

In an instant, the sound of countless gold coins falling echoed, the vision of a sea of gold coins overwhelmed him, and Xia Yu couldn't help feeling a bit frightened.

"It seems like we've struck a massive gold mine!"

After all, it's the top-quality daiginjo exchanged with "Rainbow Juice," a healthy beverage brewed from two expensive raw materials. Naturally, the price couldn't be too low. With bare minimum cost calculation—Snow Maiden's original sake plus packaging, transportation, and various labor costs—it would roughly amount to three to four hundred RMB.

At this cost, it's amongst the top tier in many well-known sake brands in Japan.

Take another world's example. Neon Prime Minister Abe once gifted United States President Ao Guanhai a bottle of gift sake, named 'True Dream in Visions,' a 1-liter bottle which retailed for about 1,500 RMB.

With that comparison, pricing became easy to set.

"Um…" Xia Yu finally wasn't dazzled by the numbers or blinded by the gold mine. He remembered his original vision and purpose when founding Xia's Farm and inviting Ichise Hui to join—

Popularity!

Let the world really understand "Fantasy"!

"Not 10,000, just 9998—not RMB, but yen!" Xia Yu recited, propping his chin.

"9998 yen?"

Zhu Qing had just stored the Lotus Leaf Jar in the cabinet, straightened her back, and smilingly reminded, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, three fruits are enough to brew fruit wine for a long time, but what about the sake? Can the small artisanal sake brewery you mentioned keep up with the production?"

Xia Yu slapped his forehead, "Damn, I almost forgot that the base wine supply can't keep up!"

His expression shifted rapidly.

…

In the short term, Xia Yu found it difficult to find another high-quality, high-output sake to replace "Snow Maiden" and mix with the Rainbow Juice.

No choice. Like "Snow Maiden," like the Snow Maiden's chewable wine, each had unique characteristics. Finding a substitute was almost like finding a needle in a haystack.

While Ichise Hui was busy using the simplest home brewing methods, apart from keeping an eye on the soon-to-be-launched website and maintaining contact with the coder setting up the site, she also had to handle the publicity and advertising.

Two days later, at the farm's office.

"Thank you for your painting!"

Ichise Hui emailed back using her phone and quickly downloaded the packaged images from the email, sending them to the awaiting coder on the other side to hang them across various pages of the website—an act that would truly finalize its design.

"No worries. I had to take on Chef Xia's commission, and there's also a good commission, hee!" replied the artist known as 'Bai Muying'.

Ichise Hui looked puzzled.

The mention of 'Bai Muying' always made her unconsciously think of Sapporo's contemporary doujinshi that remained popular to this day.

Reportedly, those books had been selling well at manga conventions everywhere recently. Ichise Hui wondered if Instructor Xia had received any character use fees from the official Sapporo event. It was just a light-hearted complaint as she proceeded to admire this artist's work.

Purely anime style.

Especially the banner prepared for the homepage, a tranquil-faced woman clothed in white as snow, barefoot on a colorful bridge, eyes gently closed, the background starkly wintry yet oddly warm.

She couldn't help but commend the composition and the use of colors and shadows—directly hitting Ichise Hui's cute factor. Her heart fluttered slightly as her eyes moved to the corner of the desk where bottled liquid stood.

Opening the cap, she took a small sake cup, tasted the Rainbow Sake, which was already stockpiled in the farm's warehouse, and her eyes narrowed with a lazy and blissful expression.

"This style is perfect!"

After a gulp of sake, the Snow Maiden became even more vivid in Ichise Hui's mind.

Observing the gracefully dancing white-clad woman, it took a while for Ichise Hui to snap out of her fantasy, fiddling with a tuft of blond hair on her forehead, she chuckled softly, "Even a super poser like me can't resist, let alone thirsty—oh, I mean, warmth-seeking nerds; they should be easily captivated and become addicted!"

"Good timing. Christmas is coming…"

"The 'Seven-Colored Snow Woman,' a health and leisure drink, should stir quite a trend…"

Ichise Hui's eyes sparkled with anticipation. She had done everything she could to the best of her abilities.

Now, it was time to see how the market would react.