Food Wars!: Delicious Food of the Heavens

First day of joint training in accommodation.

The first topic.

The examination room.

The college will send the daily schedule to each student's mobile phone. Everyone just needs to follow the instructions on their phone to find their assessment room or venue.

Following the text message sent to his phone, Lin Yu arrived at a rather secluded classroom.

When Lin Yu entered the classroom, he found it was already full of people, with a student standing behind most of the cooking stations, waiting attentively.

It was clear that, perhaps due to a lack of information, everyone was quite nervous about the first assessment.

Some people stood there frowning and staring blankly, some were nervously talking to themselves, and others were talking to each other with uneasy expressions.

Even after Lin Yu entered, everyone only glanced at him before looking away.

However, Lin Yu still noticed that several people in the classroom were looking at him with rather unfriendly eyes.

However, Lin Yu didn't care, or rather, he had gotten used to it.

Almost all the students in the high school had joined Totsuki Academy during junior high school, studied diligently for three years, and passed the difficult junior high school entrance exam before successfully entering the high school.

Therefore, Lin Yu and Yukihira Soma, who entered Totsuki Academy's high school directly through the transfer student exam without experiencing three years of junior high school, naturally became thorns in the side of all the first-year students.

After all, in the eyes of some students, transfer students like Lin Yu and Yukihira Soma who "took shortcuts" were an insult to those of them who had come up through the regular exams, as if they would smear their efforts.

So ever since Lin Yu started his first formal class at Totsuki Academy, this unfriendly gaze has always followed him like a shadow. He encounters it in almost every class, and he doesn't even try to avoid his gaze.

Of course, this was after Lin Yu defeated Mito Ikumi in the Food War a few days ago.

Moreover, they defeated Mito Ikumi, a well-known elite student in Totsuki Academy, by using "beef," a subject the opponent was most proficient in.

From then on, Lin Yu felt significantly fewer of these unfriendly stares in class, and they also became much more restrained.

For example, right now.

Looking around the classroom, only a few students in the corner still looked at Lin Yu with such hostility.

Moreover, when Lin Yu looked directly at them, the students guiltily looked away, lowered their heads, and dared not meet Lin Yu's gaze.

"A solo project?"

Lin Yu looked around the classroom but didn't see anyone familiar. All the students were standing alone behind a cooking counter.

Lin Yu pulled out the text messages on his phone and found his cooking station by the number.

Lin Yu had no intention of communicating with strangers. He stood there, arms crossed, eyes closed.

"Yo! Lin Yu!"

When there were only one or two minutes left before the start of the project, a familiar voice rang in my ears.

Lin Yu opened his eyes and saw a familiar head of red hair.

"What a coincidence! Lin Yu, we're in the same research group!"

Lin Yu looked at Yukihira Soma, who was standing on the cooking counter next to him with a grin on his face, waving excitedly at him.

Lin Yu did not respond to him immediately, but instead glanced at the clock on the classroom wall out of the corner of her eye.

"Yukihira-kun, why are you only arriving now?"

Lin Yu's words left Yukihira Soma speechless. Hearing Lin Yu's somewhat stiff tone, he scratched his head sheepishly and said awkwardly:

"I...I wandered around a bit on the way here, and...I almost got lost, hehe..."

Soma Yukihira gave an awkward but apologetic smile.

"That kind of excuse... Anyway, don't do it again next time."

Lin Yu sighed.

"I can only say that you're pretty lucky, Yukihira-kun. Our instructor for this class is someone who likes to be on time even more than you do."

"Otherwise, if our tutors were even a little more diligent, you would most likely have been kicked out by now for being late."

Soma Yukihira pouted, "I'm sorry..."

"I don't want you to apologize to me."

Lin Yu looked at Yukihira Soma, "Remember, Yukihira-kun!"

"During this residential training program, the instructors wield considerable power. Even a small mistake could lead to expulsion!"

"We promised everyone at Polaris Dormitory that we would all successfully complete this residential training and return to Polaris Dormitory!"

Looking into Lin Yu's earnest eyes, Soma Yukihira felt a deep sense of guilt.

But soon, this feeling of guilt turned into a firm resolve.

"Don't worry, Lin Yu, I definitely won't be eliminated."

Seeing the determination in Yukihira Soma's eyes, Lin Yu nodded, then looked at the clock on the wall. According to the schedule, it was time for the first assessment of the day!

"The tutor is here!"

Suddenly, someone let out a low growl, and the entire classroom fell silent instantly.

Under the watchful eyes of all the students, a middle-aged man with a somewhat decadent demeanor strolled into the classroom, arriving just in time.

"Greetings, fellow students of Totsuki Academy. My name is Ando, ​​and I am your instructor for today's class..."

"Ha~~~"

Professor Ando seemed to have not slept well last night; his skin was dull, he had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked tired and listless. He even yawned several times while standing on the podium.

Lin Yu vaguely remembered that this morning in the auditorium, among a large group of Totsuki Academy graduates on the stage, this mentor, Ando, ​​was standing in the far corner.

Compared to those outstanding graduates, Professor Ando seemed particularly unremarkable.

"So sleepy~"

Professor Ando sat down, slumped onto the podium, and said in a weak voice:

"Unlike other mentors, I don't think about selecting promising talents from among you."

"So please rest assured, my judging criteria will be very lenient, probably the most lenient of all the mentors."

"Anyway, unless your cooking is so bad that it's unbearable, I definitely won't expel you from school."

After Professor Ando finished speaking, many students in the classroom breathed a sigh of relief, and their tense minds relaxed a bit.

"So, Professor Ando, ​​what's the topic of our lesson today?"

Ando yawned and pointed to the densely packed supply cabinets on both sides of the classroom.

Today's topic is: Fried Rice!

"There are plenty of ingredients and seasonings in the classroom. Feel free to use them and make a fried rice that I'm satisfied with."

"fried rice?!"

In the classroom, all the students instinctively gasped in surprise.

It's not because the topic is too difficult.

On the contrary, this topic is too simple!

Those present were all Totsuki students who had studied cooking for several years and successfully entered the high school. Who among them didn't know how to cook a few plates of fried rice?

"Professor Ando, ​​is it... just fried rice?" a student asked again in disbelief.

Ando snorted through his nose, sounding somewhat impatient.

"Otherwise what?"

"That's it, no more questions, everyone, let's begin cooking!"

After saying that, Ando slumped his head onto the table, seemingly having fallen asleep.

Less than a minute later, a soft snoring sound came from the podium.

The students looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Professor Ando... just fell asleep like that?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just that...it feels a little strange."

"Alright, stop dawdling and start frying the rice! The sooner we do it, the sooner we pass the test!"

Everyone got busy, and the kitchen was filled with the clattering of pots and pans.

Surprisingly, the sleeping instructor, Ando, ​​was not awakened at all by the noises made by the clumsy students.

Fried rice is a dish that can be made in many ways, with a wide variety of options and an astonishing number of choices.

Amidst a flurry of flames, in just over ten minutes, a student finished his cooking and was the first to carry his dish to the podium.

"Master Ando, ​​my dish is ready, please enjoy!"

Ando, ​​who was lying on the podium, did not react.

"Master Ando?"

"Professor Ando, ​​please wake up!"

The student was getting a little anxious.

During the cooking process, he deliberately sped up and was the first to finish his dish. He wanted to take advantage of the fact that his mentor was hungry and had no idea about everyone's cooking skills, so he could get a head start.

After all, the instructor usually only takes a bite of each student's work.

But with so many students in a classroom, even if each student only takes a bite of each dish, the total amount adds up to a considerable portion.

Even the most delicious food will lose much of its appeal if the person consuming it is already full.

Moreover, he was self-aware of his own abilities; he knew that among all the first-year students at Totsuki Academy, he was actually ranked near the bottom.

In that case, we should strike first.

If a mentor tastes a dish prepared by a particularly skilled student and finds it delicious, they may raise their expectations for the next dish. If the next dish fails to meet those expectations, they will feel disappointed and give it a low score.

Although Professor Ando himself said that his judging criteria were very lenient, it is always best to be cautious.

The student who was served the first dish couldn't help but praise himself for his resourcefulness.

The plan should have been flawless, but now he has encountered the most troublesome aspect.

Professor Ando is asleep!

"Master Ando?"

The student, holding the fried rice in his hands, was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to go forward or backward. In the end, he couldn't hold back any longer.

"Master Ando, ​​please forgive me!"

He stepped forward and, with a little force, shoved the sleeping instructor Ando awake. Just as he was about to speak, he was startled by the cold glint in Ando's eyes as he looked up, and his whole body trembled.

"Professor Ando, ​​I'm sorry, I... I just finished cooking and wanted you to review it."

Waking up, Ando was clearly grumpy, looking displeased and giving the student a rather unfriendly look that made the student feel uneasy, his back almost soaked with cold sweat.

The student, holding a dish, was so startled that he froze on the spot, his legs stiff with nervousness, and he stammered, unable to speak.

Ando glanced at the plate he was holding and gestured for him to come closer.

"Oh, Mr. Ando, ​​please try my dish..."

"Hmph! Fried rice with egg?"

Ando let out a soft, ambiguous hum.

The student, who had been trying to take a shortcut, was so frightened that he almost dropped his plate.

The next moment, Ando slowly spoke:

"Do I look...easy to fool?"

"No! That's not it!"

Ando glanced at the other person, and with just a few words, the student was immediately trembling with fear.

Ando ignored the other person and just sighed.

"I have said that my standards are very lenient."

"I don't mean to look down on fried rice, a common dish."

"but....."

Ando leaned closer to the student's plate, merely smelled the aroma, then picked up a spoon, gently parted the surface of the fried rice, glanced at it a few times, and without even considering tasting it, tossed the spoon aside.

"You're really trying to fool us!"

"The fragrance is just so-so."

"As for the cooking time... judging from the gloss and looseness of the rice, well, the cooking time isn't very good either."

"Take it back and redo it!"

The spoon was thrown onto the edge of the plate with a crisp clinking sound, startling the student out of his fright.

"Professor Ando, ​​you...you haven't even eaten yet, at least try a bite first..."

The student's incessant chatter annoyed Ando; he felt as if the student was a wailing crow, giving him a headache.

"Enough! Shut up!"

Ando interrupted him sharply, his gaze filled with irritation and coldness.

"I know even if I don't eat it."

"This fried rice has too much oil; it smells greasy, and you didn't even know how to control the oil temperature for frying rice."

"The eggs either need to be tender or fluffy, and you haven't done either."

"The seasoning is too heavy, and the aroma of the rice is completely suppressed."

"And the final stir-frying was a complete mess. The temperature wasn't right, and the rice was mushy and sticky. I prepared rice with different levels of firmness for you, didn't you even notice?"

Ando glanced at the student in front of him.

"How many minutes did it take you to cook this dish?"

"Can you honestly say you cooked this fried rice with your heart?"

Every word Ando spoke was like a sharp knife; with each word, the student felt as if a knife was being plunged into his body.

Seeing the other person trembling with fear, Ando felt a surge of anger, but reminded himself not to stoop to the level of these students who were still on campus.

"alright!"

Ando frowned. "I get annoyed just seeing your cowardly face!"

"Let me tell you, don't think I don't know what you're up to by being the first to serve the food!"

"I was once a student of Totsuki Academy too. These tricks you're playing are all things I've already done before!"

After saying that, Ando took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

"Hmph! Kid, you should be grateful!"

"My course allows an unlimited number of retakes within a specified time, so you won't have to drop out after just one failure."

"Now, go back and redo it properly!"

Ando emphasized the pronunciation of the word "serious" very much.

Then he looked at the students in the classroom.

"You too!"

"Just cook honestly, don't try to fool me, and don't try anything funny, understand?"

Ando looked around and saw that most of the students who met his gaze instinctively lowered their heads the moment his eyes swept over them, not daring to meet his eyes.

When Ando's gaze swept over Lin Yu, Lin Yu remained unmoved, his expression calm, meeting Ando's gaze directly.

"Oh? Finally, someone with some backbone has arrived."

Ando looked away and couldn't help but yawn again.

"Honestly, first grade is such a hassle!"

Ando muttered a few words of frustration, then slumped back onto the podium to catch up on his sleep.