Food Wars!: Delicious Food of the Heavens

Chapter 108 Hunting and Gathering

Yoshino Yuuki urged Lin Yu to hurry up and act, but received no response.

She turned around in confusion and found Lin Yu standing still, staring at the crowded riverbank in the distance, his brows slightly furrowed.

"What's wrong, Lin Yu-jun?" Yoshino Yuuki asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing..."

"6

Lin Yu shook his head, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I was just thinking... it always gives me a weird feeling when everyone flocks to the river to fish."

Upon hearing this, Yoshino Yuuki had a big question mark above her head.

"A strange feeling?"

Although she was very puzzled, seeing Lin Yu standing there with his eyes closed in deep thought, Yoshino Yuuki chose to remain quiet and not disturb him.

"Yuuki!"

Lin Yu suddenly spoke up: "Senior Qian didn't say that the cooking theme was limited to fish dishes, right?"

"I didn't say that!"

Yoshino Yuuki shook her head and shrugged. "She only said that the assignment required a Japanese-style dish."

"I see..."

""

Lin Yu suddenly realized something and a smile appeared on his lips.

"I think... I understand."

"Got it?"

Lin Yu nodded. "Yes, I've completely figured it out."

Yoshino Yuuki was completely baffled by Lin Yu's sudden realization.

She scratched her head, looking embarrassed, and stuck out her tongue shyly.

"I'm sorry, Lin Yujun. I still don't quite understand. What have you figured out?"

"I've figured out her trap!"

Lin Yu looked at Yoshino Yuuki, whose face was full of confusion, and smiled, "Or rather, you've figured out Inui-senpai's real intention in assigning this project!"

Lin Yu glanced at the crowded and chaotic riverbanks, then turned around to look at a dense forest in the opposite direction of the river. His eyes narrowed, and a smile curved his lips.

"That's a bit of a perverse sense of humor... Senior Inui!"

After saying that, Lin Yu took Yoshino Yuuki's hand and was about to leave.

"Yuuki, let's go!"

"Huh? Aren't we going fishing?"

"Of course not, I'll take you to find something better."

"oh!"

Yoshino Yuuki didn't pry into the matter and obediently let Lin Yu pull her away.

"Although I still don't quite understand, since you're so confident, Lin Yujun, I'll listen to you!"

Deep in the dense forest, beside a bush.

"Found it!"

After a long search, Lin Yu finally found his target home.

Parting the bushes, several tender green wild vegetables grow in the damp soil hidden by the bushes.

Lin Yu excitedly and carefully picked the wild vegetables.

"Lin Yujun, what are you doing?"

"This wild vegetable has such a strong, grassy smell, it must be hard to cook it well, right?"

Yoshino Yuuki, standing behind him, recognized the wild vegetables in Lin Yu's hand, her tone a mixture of surprise and confusion.

After picking the wild vegetables, Lin Yu turned to Yoshino Yuuki and said with a smile, "Yuuki, these aren't for me to eat, although these few wild vegetables are indeed related to whether we can pass this project smoothly."

"Here, help me with this."

"Oh well."

Yoshino Yuuki took the wild vegetables Lin Yu handed her and examined them curiously.

Lin Yu stood up and continued leading Yoshino Yuuki forward. Yoshino Yuuki didn't ask any questions, trusting him completely as he led her through the forest.

Lin Yu wandered around in the lush forest, stopping occasionally to squat down and use his hands to push aside the bushes or weeds on the ground, carefully observing something.

Time seemed to slip away second by second in this aimless wandering and stopping.

Just as Yoshino Yuuki was finally unable to contain her anxiety and was about to ask, Lin Yu, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and let out a soft cry of surprise.

"Got it!"

Upon hearing Lin Yu's voice, Yoshino Yuuki excitedly ran to Lin Yu.

"Lin Yujun, Lin Yujun, what have you found?"

Lin Yu smiled and pointed to a spot on the ground. "Come on! Yuuki, look at this."

"Let me see!"

Yoshino Yuuki looked in the direction Lin Yu was pointing and noticed several small black spheres among the grass blades.

"This seems to be..."

""

Yoshino Yuuki frowned slightly; she felt a sense of familiarity about these small black spheres.

"Oh dear!"

Yoshino Yuuki excitedly slapped her thigh and exclaimed.

"Isn't this rabbit droppings?"

"You recognized me?"

Lin Yu was in a very good mood at the moment, smiling broadly.

"That's right, it's rabbit droppings."

"And it looks fresh."

Yoshino Yuuki looked at Lin Yu with delight, "Lin Yu-kun, do you want to hunt rabbits?"

Lin Yu nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking."

Lin Yu raised his hand and pointed to a patch of bushes a few meters away. "Yuuki, look!"

Yoshino Yuuki looked in the direction Lin Yu was pointing and found that there was nothing in the bushes.

Yoshino Yuuki was confused. "What are you looking at?"

Lin Yu gently patted her head and said with a helpless smile, "Look carefully under the bushes."

Upon hearing this, Yoshino Yuuki's eyes widened as she carefully observed every detail beneath the bushes.

"That's... the animal path?"

Looking at the grassy path that had been trampled on but with very faint traces, Yoshino Yuuki was somewhat unsure of her guess.

"Impressive! Yuuki, you can even spot the rabbit's tracks?"

Faced with Lin Yu's praise, Yoshino Yuuki suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

"I used to go hunting in the mountains with some hunter uncles."

"Although I was just an assistant, I still learned some basic hunting knowledge from those hunter uncles."

Yoshino Yuuki chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Actually, I'm not sure if that was a rabbit's trail. I just guessed it after Lin Yujun mentioned it."

"Hehe! I didn't expect to get lucky like this, it seems I'm on a roll!"

Looking at the lively girl, Lin Yu felt quite pleased and smiled as he ruffled Yoshino Yuuki's hair.

"Then let's hope your good luck will work its magic again today!"

Upon hearing Lin Yu's words, Yoshino Yuuki patted her chest with a grin.

"Leave it to me!"

"But..

'

After the lighthearted banter, Yoshino Yuuki raised the crucial question.

"Now that we've found the rabbit's trail, how should we catch it?"

"We can't possibly catch it with our bare hands, can we? After all, wild rabbits are very agile!"

"rest assured!"

Lin Yu gestured to Yoshino Yuuki not to worry, "I had already thought it through on my way here."

7

"Come on, Yuuki, give me the fishing rod."

"Give!"

Yoshino Yuuki handed over the fishing rod she had been holding, and then stared at Lin Yu with curious eyes.

She was incredibly curious about how Lin Yu was going to catch a wild rabbit with a fishing rod!

Lin Yu deftly removed the fishing line from the fishing rod, and then found a small tree about the thickness of a bottle cap next to the bushes.

Lin Yu bent the sapling with his hand to test its elasticity and strength, and nodded in satisfaction.

Then, Lin Yu used his hands to break off the obstructing side branches on the sapling, leaving only the slender, straight trunk.

Next, without damaging the original structure of the beast path, Lin Yu simply cleared away any debris that might be in the way, and then picked out a few thin branches from the broken branches and stuck them into the soil.

"Lin Yujun, are you setting a trap?" Yoshino Yuuki, who was watching from the side, asked curiously.

"yes."

"Wow! I didn't expect Lin Yujun to know this too!"

"It seems like Lin Yujun can do everything."

Yoshino Yuuki counted on her fingers one by one, "Not only is he good at cooking, but he also knows a lot. It seems that Lin Yu has a background in all the culinary fields that we are good at."

"Now you can even set traps to catch wild rabbits without any trouble!"

"It's always good to have more skills!" Lin Yu replied nonchalantly.

"By the way, Yuuki, didn't you say you'd been hunting before? Didn't you take the opportunity to learn how to set traps?" Lin Yu teased.

"Those times I went up the mountain with others, mainly to buy fresh game hunted in the mountains for culinary research."

"As for myself, I've only fired a hunting rifle a few times under the guidance of those hunter uncles."

Yoshino Yuuki pouted, her mood somewhat downcast, and said, "I'd love to learn how to set up traps, but I've never had the chance."

""

"What's so difficult about that!"

Lin Yu let out a hearty laugh and made a promise. "I'll teach you next time I have time!"

"real?"

"Of course it's true! Why would I lie to you?"

Without looking up, Lin Yu answered Yoshino Yuuki's question while kneeling on the ground and carefully setting up the trap.

"And during the holidays, we can go hunting in the mountains together."

"I consider myself a pretty good shot, and I'm confident in my ability to locate animal tracks!"

Hearing Lin Yu's words, Yoshino Yuuki was overjoyed.

"Okay! It's a deal!"

Seemingly still worried that things weren't quite right, Yoshino Yuuki spoke again, "A gentleman's word is his bond..."

"7

"What's done is done!"

Lin Yu felt somewhat helpless, yet also somewhat amused.

"Don't worry, Yuuki, I won't lie to you."

"But now, can I finish setting up the trap in peace? This is crucial to whether we can successfully pass Senior Qian's assignment later."

"If you mess up the upcoming accommodation and training camp, then I think you definitely won't be in the mood to go deep into the mountains anymore."

"You don't want your holiday hunting trip to be ruined, do you?"

"Oh, you're right." Yoshino Yuuki chuckled. "Then Lin Yu-jun, you can continue! I promise I won't say anything."

Yoshino Yuuki shut her mouth, took two steps back, then squatted down, looking at Lin Yu's serious profile with eyes full of admiration, her pupils sparkling like countless tiny stars.

After setting up the equipment on the ground, Lin Yu stood up, made one end of the fishing line into the shape of a lasso, and then tied the other end of the fishing line to the end of the sapling.

Lin Yu bent the sapling with his hand, causing the lasso to hang down above the trap. Then he used a small twig as a trigger to lock the mechanism, and the trap was set up.

"Lin Yujun, are you done?"

"Shh, don't rush, there's one last step."

Lin Yu took out the wild vegetables he had picked earlier and gently rubbed them in his hands a few times, causing the surface of the vegetables to crack and oozing juice with a strong grassy smell.

Lin Yu placed the wild vegetables, which emitted a strong odor, into the trap, and the trap was finally completed!

This grassy path is a regular route for wild rabbits. Whenever a rabbit is attracted by the smell of wild vegetables, it will touch the trap while eating the bait.

The sapling, bent into a bow, has accumulated a large amount of energy, and will spring back rapidly the moment the mechanism is triggered.

The lasso made of fishing line will fit perfectly around the rabbit's neck, and as the sapling bounces back and the rabbit struggles, it will tighten further and further.

"That way, we can catch a rabbit."

"That's amazing!"

Yoshino Yuuki cheered and pumped her fist.

"So what do we do now? Hide here and wait?"

"Of course we're going to find side dishes!" Lin Yu said with a smile.

"After all, you forgot what Senior Qian said: the classroom will only provide cooking oil and seasonings."

"If you only have one rabbit, you can't cook without rice."

Lin Yu stretched his body and looked at the dense forest in front of him, his expression relatively relaxed.

"Fortunately, there should be no shortage of wild vegetables this season."

"Let the trap stay here and continue its work. Let's go, Yuuki!"

Yoshino Yuuki always seemed so lively; upon hearing Lin Yu's words, she immediately exclaimed happily, "No problem!"

"Target: Wild vegetables!"

"Set off!"

Yoshino Yuuki cheered and rushed out.

Looking at this seemingly energetic girl, Lin Yu smiled and then chased after her.

And so, the two strolled through the deep forest.

It wandered back and forth among the tall trees, low shrubs, and flat meadows, searching for any usable ingredients.

"Snap!"

With a crisp sound, Lin Yu broke a bamboo shoot in half.

"Not bad!"

"It's quite big."

Hefted the bamboo shoot in his hand, pressed it with his fingers, and felt the tightness and tenderness of the bamboo shoot under the layers of husk. Lin Yu revealed a genuine smile of joy.

"Lin Yujun!"

An excited shout came from outside the bamboo forest.

Yoshino Yuuki rushed in excitedly, stood in front of Lin Yu, and couldn't hide her joyful smile.

"Lin Yujun, guess what I found?"

"It's a shiitake mushroom!"

Before Lin Yu could answer, Yoshino Yuuki raised her hands high behind her back, showing off the harvest she was holding.

Those were a few wild shiitake mushrooms, round and plump, with full bodies.

Unlike the shiny and smooth surface of common shiitake mushrooms, the cap surface is evenly covered with countless tiny cracks.

But this is precisely the unique symbol of wild shiitake mushrooms.

Wild shiitake mushrooms are also known as "flower mushrooms".

Those dense cracks on the caps are naturally formed when wild shiitake mushrooms grow in the wild, exposed to wind, sun, and rain, and in an environment with strong temperature differences between day and night.

Wild shiitake mushrooms grow much slower in the wild than their counterparts grown in greenhouses with constant temperature and humidity and careful human care.

But it is precisely in this harsh growing environment and demanding growth rate that wild shiitake mushrooms have a richer and more delicious flavor than cultivated shiitake mushrooms!

Whether it's the bamboo shoots in Lin Yu's hands or the shiitake mushrooms picked by Yoshino Yuuki, they are both gifts from nature!