The beginning is only when you become a chef

Chapter 105 Neo Food Utopia (Two chapters in one)

A food utopia?
Xia An raised an eyebrow.

He didn't recognize this strange food institution with the abbreviation NEO.

Moreover, on Blue Star, there is no such person in the official organizations of various countries.

For example, the Late-Night Cooks Association does not prohibit netizens from discussing online, and people also know that only by joining this association can they engage in late-night food battles without any taboos.

Therefore, from the perspective of "popularity" alone, this NEO Food Utopia is obviously a much more niche and secretive organization than the Late Night Cooks Association.

"Did you mark this starred email?" Xia An asked Lu Jiaxin.

Now as his assistant, Lu Jiaxin is in charge of Douyin’s business cooperation.

"correct."

Lu Jiaxin said: "There are actually a lot of people who invite you, Boss Xia, to join their associations or organizations."

"In China, there are many officially recognized private organizations and clubs. For example, there are the "Luminous Cooking Association" and the "Eight Legendary Kitchenware Organizations."

"But you can find more or less information about these small organizations on the Internet, but this NEO Food Utopia is very strange. I even climbed over the firewall to check the external network, but I couldn't collect any useful information at all!"

Xia An nodded silently. He had long seen Lu Jiaxin's enthusiasm for work. He could only say that she was very reliable. She was so meticulous and serious even in screening work emails.

"Can't find it? Then just ignore it and reject it by default." Xia An said.

Lu Jiaxin said, “But I asked my brother a few days ago to help me check this NEO Food Utopia.”

"guess what?"

"My brother has actually heard of this name!"

"Then, I guess my brother told grandpa about this matter, and it even alarmed my grandpa——"

Lu Jiaxin opened her own WeChat account and displayed the chat interface of a friend.

This user's online name is a friend of "Liao Qingshan". His avatar style is very old-fashioned. If you look closely, you can see that it is an old man standing under an ancient archway, looking at the camera with a serious expression.

On the interface, the chat time span is very long, and it takes several months for the old man to talk in a casual manner. Lu Jiaxin's replies to the old man are usually "Oh", "I see", and "I'm busy".

This is a very classic example of the post-2000s generation’s attitude towards their elders in social circles.

Xia An's eyes narrowed slightly.

Noticed the latest news from the old man of the Lu family:
“Whether it’s a food festival, a food utopia, or even an IGO, an authoritative global organization respected by all countries.”

"Tell Boss Xia not to touch it now! Don't touch it!"

The old man of the Lu family did not tell the reason, but used slightly harsh words to warn Xia An through Lu Jiaxin.

Xia An couldn't help analyzing in his heart.

Is IGO an organization that is respected by all nations? The most authoritative official organization in the fantasy world?

Well, since they are mentioned in the same sentence of the old man, and based on the meaning of the words, Gourmet Club and NEO Food Utopia don’t seem to be good things?
"Becoming famous too quickly, it's easy to be noticed by some secret agency." Xia An thought for a moment, but he wasn't nervous. He just listened to the old man, didn't touch it, didn't get involved, and there wouldn't be any danger for the time being.

Let's put this matter aside.

"correct!"

Xia An looked at this business cooperation email box, which kept beeping and refreshing the list of new unread emails.

He has already realized how exaggerated the number of people who come to him seeking business cooperation is.

"I won't accept the endorsement because it's easy to fail."

Carefully tell Lu Jiaxin your demands.

"For now, we are only accepting official cooperation from local cultural and tourism bureaus and departments."

"Also, you can spread the word that the stall carts, kitchen utensils and equipment of all sizes, and the fantasy ingredients that I may use are all provided by local officials."

Lu Jiaxin nodded and smiled:
"I knew that you would take on this kind of work for the Cultural and Tourism Bureau, Boss Xia. I also strongly suggest that you go to the night markets in various places to play dungeons."

"Boss Xia, you may not know that after you recreated ancient dishes in the night market, they became popular all over the country."

"There are many cow and horse imitators appearing in night markets all over the country now. Anyway, it's very funny. Boss Xia, if you have time, you can watch Douyin and have fun by yourself."

Xia An was surprised: "There is such a thing?"

He paused.

Suddenly he thought of the little episode where Liu Shimeng made a bet with him just now. If he was willing, Liu Maoxing's classic recipe "Chameleon Noodle Bowl Tower" would soon be his.

But after Xia An restored "Catfish Noodles" to 90%, he discovered that Liu Maoxing's path was not his cooking path.

Panel in hand.

You should definitely give priority to those recipes that contain special skills to the liver!
"If there are many cultural and tourism bureaus seeking cooperation, let them line up. As for the order, it depends on which one can provide me with ancient recipes."

Xia An added this cooperation condition.

That's right.

Now he is the traffic code that is coveted everywhere, and he firmly holds the initiative in bargaining.

It would be better for him to let the local officials take the trouble to collect ancient recipes than to owe favors to others on his own.

“All Paleo recipes?”

"No, let's temporarily set the conditions to the ancient recipes of the dark cuisine world."

Hearing this, Lu Jiaxin was full of questions.

Good decent people don't want the classic ancient recipes.

Asking for ancient recipes from the dark cuisine world?

Fortunately, the dark cuisine world is already completely dead today, otherwise who knows what the local cultural and tourism bureaus would think.

"That's right, Boss Xia, our team should be expanded. I can't handle it all by myself." Lu Jiaxin said, "The first thing we need to urgently set up is a business cooperation team to help me connect and follow up on this kind of work."

Seeing her bitter face, Xia An couldn't help but laugh: "Two people are too few, you should let go and recruit more."

Then, workers Su Yan and Lu Jiaxin were in the lobby on the first floor, each doing their own things.

As soon as Lan Xiaoxi returned home, she fell asleep on the sofa.

Xia An himself was not in such a hurry to research new recipes for the next episode.

Lu Jiaxin mentioned it just now.

On Douyin, there are now many imitators of night market stalls.

He was sulking in his heart.

Quite curious.

He can do this only if he has a panel.

Where do these imitators get the courage?
So, he found a sofa to sit down, and Xia An was in a leisurely mood. He actually opened his mobile phone and started playing Douyin.

Under the power of big algorithms.

As long as he searched for the keywords "night market, ancient dishes".

A series of videos with related content can be continuously refreshed.

"what."

I accidentally came across a live broadcast room.

The title is "I'm here to add technology to Kaihua Guoba's Qimen kitchenware to modernize it"

Xia An: ? ?

He immediately became quite interested.

Watching this skinny young man in the Douyin live broadcast room, he welded a motor onto an alloy frame.

The installation process is nearing completion, but Kaihua Guoba’s iconic “big iron ball” is still suspended in the air by three small chains.

The young man pressed the switch to turn on the power, and the motor started to whir. Driven by the chain, the "big iron ball" began to spin rapidly without any control.

Witness this scene.

Xia An was not surprised at all that Kaihua Guoba's unique set of kitchen utensils was copied by others.

In fact, after deciding to set up a stall and live broadcast on Douyin, he made and sold the ancient dish Kaihua Guoba on the spot.

He had already anticipated that the video would be disassembled and studied repeatedly.

In this way, Qimen kitchen utensils will be imitated.

But having kitchen utensils is one thing, recreating and replicating ancient dishes is another.

"Good work deserves reward!"

Xia An was also very curious whether the alloy iron frame and the "big iron ball" with the motor added could achieve the perfect "temperature" in this link, so as to make Kaihua rice crackers that could glow.

He topped up his account and gave the anchor two of the most expensive gifts:
"Can ancient Qimen kitchen utensils, with the blessing of technology and electricity, make luminous dishes?"

This barrage was sent out.

The live broadcast room suddenly exploded.

Even the young man was stunned, his mouth opened wide, he took the live broadcast gimbal, rubbed his eyes in shock:

"Boss Xia himself?"

Xia An then realized that he had forgotten to switch accounts. He used the default mobile phone number to log in, but he logged in to the official Douyin account with the star-certified Douyin master.

While the barrage of comments was going viral, Xia An quickly slipped away.

call!
The number switching is complete! Xia An continued to play Douyin with great interest using the trumpet.

I watched it roughly for half an hour to an hour.

He found out.

The imitators in these Douyin videos are either trying to take advantage of the popularity, such as the guy who just added a motor to the Qimen kitchenware, who attracted thousands of viewers to watch him online.

Or it's just pure comedy.

In the night market, ancient dishes are truly turned into acrobatic performances.

The crowd watching obviously also wanted to find a fake meal replacement and kept cheering and applauding.

However, when the dishes were out of the pot and people could take their food, there were only a few brave diners who dared to try it.

For example, the video Xia An is watching now.

"Hey, everyone come and try it--" the stall owner took out the loudspeaker and shouted.

On his electric tricycle, a pot of fried dumplings was freshly baked and the flame of the Red Star Erguotou had just gone out. The diners watching nearby pinched their noses and could clearly smell a strong burnt smell.

"No, no, no."

"Farewell!"

"I can't eat this. I'm afraid I'll die on the spot!"

"Shit, I just saw the stall owner playing with fire in a fancy way. I thought he had some goods, but it turned out to be just a juggler playing with fire!"

puff--

Xia An was watching Douyin short videos while drinking a bottle of sugar-free Pu'er tea. When he saw the funny scene where the diners were not buying the food, he almost burst out laughing.

As for using fantasy ingredients to attract attention and traffic.

He looked around.

Didn't find it at all.

However, this is normal, as the price of fantasy ingredients is there and the purchasing channels are limited.

Chefs who can afford it won’t do these lousy things.

Rest finished.

Xia An put down his phone and went to the kitchen.

Open the recipe book.

[Recipe: "Big Galaxy Noodles" (100%)]

[Grade: Rare (Purple)]

【Progress: Beginner】

Xia An then opened the Late Night Cooking App and purchased fresh cuttlefish with cuttlefish ink at the fresh food mall.

To create the "galaxy" fluorescent effect, you don't have to grind the edible pearl powder by hand. You can just buy ready-made pearl powder.

Next, Xia An browsed through a list of fantasy ingredients from the Europa International Gourmet Association that was on Nakiri Managi's side.

Some simple introduction to the ingredients are noted on the list.

He wanted to find an ideal substitute for the two ingredients "squid ink" and "pearl powder".

Thus.

It's a normal reproduction trial, and an improvement in the direction of fantasy. I want both.

If any accidents or incidents occur during this period.

The recipe did not reach the strength that Xia An thought, and could not secure the first place in the second episode, so he had to find another way and switch to other ancient recipes.

But don't forget that he also has a very important golden ancient cookbook in his hand, which originated from the former Sichuan cuisine emperor Liu Maliu.

……

at the same time.

Japan.

In Totsuki Academy, there is an old European-style villa called "Polar Star Dormitory".

In fact, Pole Star Dormitory is a very special student dormitory building.

During the golden era, the fame of Polaris Dormitory even broke through the academy circle and spread throughout the Japanese food world.

The reason is that outstanding chefs such as Dojima Gin and Saiba Shiroichiro lived in Polaris Dormitory when they were students.

"Everyone, welcome home--"

At this moment, in the lobby on the first floor of Polar Star Dormitory, there was a handsome boy wearing only a bear half-apron, no pants, and no underwear. His back was completely bare, with his buttocks exposed.

I smiled and greeted my roommates who were returning home with their bags after the vacation with squinted eyes.

The boy showing his butt is called Isshiki Hui.

Although he has a perverted habit of wearing strange clothes.

But he is a real member of this year's Totsuki Ten Greatest Artists, ranking seventh.

And according to campus legend.

This squinty-eyed senior Isshiki Hui.

In fact, his real strength is hidden. His real cooking skills are estimated to be able to impact the top five, not far from the two perverts in the top two.

The following are the boarding students in Pole Star Dormitory.

First, the girls.

Megumi Tadokoro is a girl who came from the countryside to Tokyo's Totsuki Culinary High School and is a well-known last-place student in the school.

Within Totsuki, he ranked last in the entrance exam from junior high school to high school, but he was admitted with a narrow margin.

During the "residential training" in the first year of high school, he was expelled by Shinomiya Kojiro, and was saved and returned to school thanks to the protagonist halo of Yukihira Soma.

Sakaki Ryoko has a very gentle personality, like a caring older sister. She is good at cooking "koji" in Japanese cuisine. This word actually means fermentation.

Yoshino Yuuki, a cute and lively girl with a bun hairstyle, raises poultry near her dormitory herself, so she is an expert in cooking live poultry and game.

For boys.

There is Ibusaki Shun, a taciturn type who sometimes doesn’t speak for the entire day, but his cooking skills are among the best among the first-year students, and his specialty is smoking and grilling.

Zenji Marui, nicknamed Dr. Ami no Erudite, is a mini-encyclopedia character with extensive knowledge of cooking. In the "Miyasato Seminar", a club on campus that studies and analyzes classical literature related to food, he has become the ace of the club despite being a first-year student.

Of course, there is also the "King of Medicine" Soma Yukihira.

And the only second-year senior in the Quanjixing Dormitory, the perverted handsome boy who welcomes everyone in a naked apron, Isshiki Hui.

"Isshiki-senpai, how was your summer vacation?"

"Everyone, long time no see!"

"Oh my, where's Mrs. Wenxu?"

Everyone greeted each other and shared their summer vacation experiences with relish.

Suddenly, at this time.

Megumi Tanomo, a blue-haired girl with two big braids, noticed that her dormitory manager, Mrs. Fumo, had not shown up.

"Um?!"

At this time.

From the direction of the dormitory’s public kitchen, there is an unbridled deliciousness that spreads to the entire first floor lobby.

Isshiki Hui continued to smile with narrowed eyes:

"Because Senior Cai Bo has returned to the Polar Star Dormitory, and Aunt Wen Xu is quietly waiting for Senior's dishes."

What? ?

After the friends confirmed that Isshiki Hui was not joking, they all excitedly rushed to the public kitchen.

Sure enough, the middle-aged man with long red hair busy in front of the kitchen counter was the well-known Totsuki graduate "Shura".

"Dad?"

Soma Yukihira couldn't help wiping his eyes, looking a little dazed.

He basically stayed in Pole Star Dormitory this summer, studying "Curry", the theme of the autumn selection preliminaries.

"Didn't you just come here during your summer vacation?"

Soma Yukihira was awakened by the strong smell and couldn't help but complain loudly:
"How come the holiday is just over today and here it comes again!"

Saiba Shiroichiro did not answer. His back was steady as he carefully made bowl after bowl of handmade noodles and scooped up the delicious fish soup to pour over each bowl.

"Everyone come and taste it. This is the fantasy fish noodles I cooked by imitating someone else's dish."

Finally, Saiba Joichiro turned around and said this to everyone in Polar Star Dormitory, including his son, with a smile on his face.

Uh?
Imitating someone's dish?

Even though he is a "Shura" who has traveled around the world and become famous and has perfected his cooking skills, he still claims to be an imitator of others...

(End of this chapter)