Reborn in Japan as a Chef God

"Everyone, just a bit longer, it's almost ready!"

Yuchuan Meisha, dressed in a Christmas maid outfit, yelled at the top of her lungs to the long line of people queued in front of the stall tent.

Zhu Qing folded her arms, standing beside the stove, watching Xia Yu's live cooking.

A Heavenly Craft Wind Box lay on the ground, ceaselessly blowing air into the stove.

And in the large pot resting on the stove was a full pot of red liquid—a huge pot of red wine!

On the table were neatly laid-out spice boxes. Rarely donning a Santa Claus suit, Xia Yu reached for a few spice boxes, murmuring to himself in a voice only he could hear:

"Star Anise, cloves, cinnamon."

"Cinnamon sticks, cardamom powder, lemon slices."

"Forget it, let's use fresh lemons instead of dried lemon slices. Mmm, for a whole pot of red wine, probably one and a half lemons. Fresh apples are essential, sliced and put in, about two, and oranges..."

Besides the spices, the fresh fruits used were dazzling to the eye.

Under the nighttime street lamps, the little wine stall was occasionally targeted by the flashes of mobile phones. Xia Yu ignored these glimmers and tossed all the ingredients into the pot of red wine at once. Although the aroma didn't seem to change much, after a sniff, he squinted his eyes and muttered to himself, "It's still not balanced!"

Seeing this, Zhu Qing's eyes showed a hint of astonishment.

"Super sense of smell?!"

She couldn't help but suspect as she watched Xia Yu sniff and judge the amounts of spices.

Sensing his aunt's astonished gaze, Xia Yu secretly chuckled. Super sense of smell? Wrong. Actually, this was simply a natural affinity granted to Xia Yu after achieving a perfect "Spice Inequality," or rather, apart from practical use, he could also discern the quality of spices through his smell and control the quantity of spices, feeling it was a very special "Nose of Spice."

This "Nose of Spice," in the professional field, was far more powerful than a generic super olfactory sense or Divine Sense of Smell. After all, it belonged exclusively to the emperor of spices—how could it be ordinary?

All set!

He sprinkled some indeterminate spice dust into the pot, and ding—a golden scale of absolute balance appeared in Xia Yu's mind, a confidence that he could tangibly feel. Or rather, it signified that he had a superior true sight, granted by the flawless "Spice Inequality," which meant the spice formula was established.

He couldn't help but smile and clap his hands, "The rainbow is gone!"

"The rainbow is gone?"

Zhu Qing and Yuchuan Ayaka looked at the pot of red wine, finally remembering that Xia Yu had been holding a reagent bottle filled with rainbow juice from the start, like an alchemist carefully pouring just a tiny bit of colorful droplets into the pot.

As everyone knew, rainbow juice possessed the mighty power to tint colors. Any dish mixed with even a bit of it should emit a seven-colored radiance when it was about to be served, due to the inherent properties of this taboo juice. By logic, that sort of...

But where was the radiance?

The two stared intently at the pot of red wine, which was gradually emitting steam; the liquid appeared semi-transparent. Fruits like apples, lemons, and oranges, as well as star anise, cinnamon sticks, and other ingredients, were as conspicuous as fish and shrimp in a clear stream within the warming red wine.

"Clang, clang!"

Soon, the sound of a spoon striking the cooking pot spread, and the crowd that had been quietly waiting surged with excitement.

Yuchuan Meisha hung up the sale sign in front of the wine stall:

Xia's Christmas Hot Red Wine, 500 yen per cup, one per person, limited holiday luxury gift!

"500 yen?"

"What a bargain! Truly a holiday treat!"

Even if they didn't understand what precious ingredients had been put into the so-called 'Xia's Christmas Hot Red Wine,' the crowd recognized the Xia brand, and 500 yen, about 30 RMB, was considered the most affordable snack on the food festival grounds.

A high school girl in a JK uniform, holding a ten-thousand-yen bill, hesitated for a good while before she took out her pink wallet, returned the bill, and began searching her bag. Eventually, she found a 500-yen coin in the corner of her handbag.

Ding!

Ding!

One coin after another dropped into the money jar, producing a pleasing sound.

Yuchuan Meisha, dressed in a Christmas maid outfit, handled the flat, open-mouthed kitchen tool for scooping wine, serving up a cup with every spoonful, while she smiled and handed out hot spiced wine to the coin-tossing customers. It was fortunate that Xia Yu had ordered plenty of glass cups, as behind the wine station there was not only a mountain of wine boxes but also a considerable number of clean glass cups.

Xia Yu had no time to idle; as soon as he had a pot of wine ready, he moved on to the second stove, where he placed a blackened pot that was a wok rather than a soup pot for making spiced wine.

The bellows now shifted to this side, and as the fire blazed brightly, the pot quickly began to steam. Xia Yu turned his head and took out a large number of chestnuts from a big bucket that had been draining water. With a small knife in one hand and taking chestnuts from a basket with the other, he skillfully sliced each nut, cracking them open to reveal the flesh inside.

The number of chestnuts in the wok rose rapidly, and in less than half a minute, Xia Yu poured oil over them and began to stir frantically with his spatula—swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The brown nuts all took on an oily sheen, and they emitted a tempting aroma as they sizzled in the black wok.

Roasted chestnuts!

It wasn't just a matter of "Spice Non-Equality" tonight; Xia Yu intended to make no secret of his skills. Utilizing the complete "Bursting Flame" technique to control the heat, in just a few minutes, a pot of roasted chestnuts emerged like a bursting fountain of nuts, with a rich aroma that made a young couple who had just tossed their coins for some Christmas spiced wine yearn for a taste, their eyes brimming with hunger.

With a brush in hand, he meticulously coated each chestnut with sugar syrup, and after a minute or two, Xia Yu banged the wok again, personally hanging a second sign at the front of the roasted chestnut stall:

Xia's Christmas Roasted Chestnuts, 10 per bag, 500 yen.

Facing the gazes of the customers, Xia Yu cleared his throat and announced, "I heard that hot spiced wine goes even better with roasted chestnuts!"

Thus, the young couple eagerly tossed two more coins and each grabbed a bag of piping hot roasted chestnuts, their shells glistening black with bright golden flesh inside, which left an oily imprint in the bags.

Right by Xia's food festival stall, the couple stopped, each taking a sip of the steaming, spice-laden wine, and in that moment, a warmth spread through their limbs. Despite the rainy night, they felt comfortably warm, and the hot mist they exhaled seemed to carry a playful background tune. Apples, lemons, oranges, and various spices transformed into little minions of the Dream Kingdom, dancing through the mist in their colored garments, which made the haze seem vibrant.

Another sip of wine, another hearty exhale.

Somehow, the hubbub around Xia's stall dissipated, and a fantastic tranquility enveloped the area naturally.

After drinking and eating the chestnuts, the guests all seemed to drift into the fantastical, rainbow-colored Christmas kingdom.

"Ah..."

Yuchuan Meisha's soft exclamation caused Xia Yu, who was preparing the fourth pot of spiced wine, to look up at the front of the stall, only to meet the expectant gaze of Chen Yang and the blonde woman beside him.

"Hey there!" Xia Yu greeted cheerfully, "Haven't seen Chef Chen for several days!"

But Chen Yang was quick to act, pulling out a ten thousand yen bill and tossing it into the money jar, "Two glasses of spiced wine and two bags of roasted chestnuts, please!"

"All right!"

It was Yuchuan Meisha who cheerfully replied.

Seeing Chen Yang and the blonde grabbing their snacks, Xia Yu gestured with his mouth, "Would you like to come in and sit down?"

Chen Yang hesitated for a moment.

Xia Yu blinked playfully, "This is VIP treatment, you know."

Having a seat to enjoy their food and drink at leisure was naturally ideal. Chen Yang crossed the threshold into the building, and the moment he entered, he felt a shiver run through him as the eyes of several people swept over him, causing his glass of hot wine to wobble.

There were quite a few people seated inside.

From IGO, there were Shinohara, Aoki, and the female general.

From the Far Moon Lineage were Dojima Yin, Senzemon, and Saito Chiyokuro, and even Tiqie Zongwei and his wife were present, along with a number of other Japanese VIPs that Chen Yang could vaguely recognize by name. Alice, sitting beside her parents, held her glass tightly, her cheeks flushed.

"When did these guys get here?!"

His inner voice screamed uncontrollably as Chen Yang regretted not pinching the flesh of his thigh. He had waited anxiously in line for nearly an hour, yet the VIPs inside had clearly bypassed the queue and helped themselves to Christmas snacks early on, filling up the place.

"Find an empty seat yourself, I won't be hosting you today."

Zhu Qing, at a nearby square table, waved her hand and continued her idle chat with the female general and Saito Chiyokuro.