Can you handle my Hikigaya's cooking?

Chapter 6: Hikigaya, thank you for being gentle to the world (Second update k!)

Hikigaya Hachiman, the guy who was ordered to drop out of school by himself, is now even more incomprehensible. Judging from this bold combination design or the tacit cooperation between these two people, they didn't seem to be participating in a food battle that would decide to drop out of school from the beginning. They simply downplayed it all and concentrated on making the food.

This determination is also what Shigong once had.

At the same time, with the addition of mayonnaise and osmanthus sauce, the whole dish once again reaches a new taste. The push and pull of different levels at this moment make the seemingly simple banana bitter melon foie gras roll become a little different.

If Shinomiya is a magician in the world of vegetable cooking, then it is no exaggeration to call the cooking of the combination of Yukinoshita and Hikigaya the pioneering adventurers in the culinary world.

Dojima Gin: "Now, the three judges, you can choose the dishes you like."

Having said this, Dojima Gin tossed the coins in his hand to the three people respectively.

"Put the coin in your hand into the corresponding plate. The outcome of this food battle will also be decided at this moment."

The winner was not decided by the traditional scoring method of food battles, but the winner was decided by simply placing a coin in the winning number based on who had the better hand. This was quite simple and crude, but...

For Shinomiya, this was obviously a battle that could not be controversial, and also a food battle that could not be controversial. In his heart, he would be like his past self and face the challengers with only failure.

It was under such circumstances that he finally climbed to the top spot step by step.

To be honest, he hadn't felt failure for a long time. As the first chef, even if the dishes he made were just casual, they were definitely top-notch. But...

Although she was the person who knew him best, she was faced with a dilemma at this moment, which made Shinomiya instantly angry.

"Are you kidding me?! Do I need to think about this?"

"I don't think my cooking is worse than these two brats!"

Mizuhara: "Shigong, your cooking is indeed not bad, but... there is nothing to fault with their cooking. Whether it is the taste, the processing of ingredients, or the surprises, they are all comparable to this dish, so..."

The remaining two chefs also nodded.

The entire underground floor fell silent in an instant. Even Hachiman thought that this was a food battle without suspense, but such an accident happened. It seemed that the goddess of victory did not lean towards the other side.

Shinomiya: "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not so arrogant as to call myself the best in the world, but... you said my cooking is not as good as these two guys. How is that possible!"

"You guys also said that the time they both spent as chefs combined is less than a year, right?!"

Perhaps because he thought that all his efforts had been denied, Shigong's emotions collapsed for a moment. The scene he had never imagined still happened, and at this moment his pride was severely crushed.

However, even in the face of such roars, the three judges remained silent. As chefs, they were naturally excellent, and as judges, they would also abide by their inner principles. But now, it was precisely because their hearts could not give them an answer that they were stuck here.

Dojima Gin: "It seems that the result cannot be decided today? However, there is another way now."

Shinomiya: "What method!?"

Dojima Gin: "Eat the opponent's food, and then... admit defeat voluntarily."

Shinomiya laughed coldly: "I don't think my cooking is worse than anyone else's. How can that be possible? Forcing the other party to admit defeat is simply impossible."

Gin Dojima took the dish from Hikigaya and handed it over without any nonsense: "The so-called cooking story is to taste the other party's food first and then evaluate it. Is that right, Shinomiya?"

Speechless at Dojima Gin's words, Shinomiya just kept looking around at this ordinary dish, and finally took it with an unconvinced expression.

And the other side.

Dojima Gin: "What about you guys?"

Hachiman: "I won't have any opinions. After all, I am the only one who knows my level best."

Yukinoshita: "If Shinomiya-senpai's cooking is better than ours, then I won't break my promise."

Dojima Gin smiled slightly and put the three coins into the hands of Yukinoshita Hikigaya and Shinomiya again: "Okay, next you will also have a vote of your own choice, let's start the tasting!"

...

If you look carefully, you will notice that this dish did not take much effort at all. Although the heat, ingredient selection, processing, and even the taste are all impeccable and can even be called perfect, but... it seems like something is missing.

The taste of the food is simply impeccable. The moment it enters the throat, one can already feel the strong aroma that comes from experience. This is a dish that can only be made by an extremely good chef. Whether it is from the calluses on the hands or the expression on the face, one can capture it all.

That alone is not enough.

After just a small taste of the other party's food, Hachiman was not very surprised, because according to Senior Shinomiya's ability, he could obviously make better dishes, but for some special reason, he only made this kind of semi-finished product.

The moment the food failed to meet his expectations, Hachiman put down his chopsticks, and Yukinoshita, who was standing next to him, also put down her chopsticks after taking a simple bite.

Shinomiya: "What? Are you not satisfied with my cooking?!"

Hachiman: "No... To be honest, I can't possibly cook such a dish. You are truly worthy of being called Shinomiya-senpai. I am very convinced and I admire you. Perhaps this is the strength of the No. 1 seat."

Before Shinomiya could even smile, Hachiman added:

"If Senior Shigong uses all his strength, we will lose miserably, but... Senior Shigong, are you no longer able to show your peak strength?"

Startled by this sudden sentence, the entire underground floor became silent in an instant. At this moment...even Hinatako, who was usually noisy, opened her eyes wide.

Be it the three judges, Hinatako, or even Yukino, their attention was completely focused on Hikigaya. Their slightly opened mouths seemed to express their shock.

Only Dojima Gin still had that indifferent smile on his face, as if everything was still under his control and he was not shocked at all.

After hearing these words, Sigong's body trembled completely uncontrollably. Although he subconsciously wanted to deny it, the words were on the tip of his tongue and he couldn't say them.

The man in front of him, Hikigaya, the man he had expelled from school, had already given him enough surprises, from the way he handled the ingredients in the beginning, to making dishes that the three judges couldn't make up their minds about, to now, he had directly determined his bottleneck of the past few years with just one bite. Moreover, this guy had only been a chef for less than a month!

Shigong: "What! You...you...you, how could you..."

Guan Shou: "No, wait, Shigong, so you don't cook your best dish because of your own reasons?"

Mizuhara: "I thought it was Shinomiya. You didn't take your opponent seriously at all. You deserved to lose."

Hinatako: "Well, after all, Shinomiya-senpai is a narcissist and a show-off!"

He was no longer in the mood to pay attention to the few people who were still making sarcastic remarks. Sigong's pupils simply grew dim. At this moment, he could no longer look at this guy with his previous identity.

Hachiman: "Actually, I was wondering just now, maybe you think we are not worthy of you using your full strength, Senior Shinomiya. However, when I saw your food being served, I was sure..."

"Senior Shinomiya, your cooking is stagnating, isn't it!"

Once again, there was complete silence. After a brief silence, only Shigong's questioning voice could be heard from the basement:

"How do you know? You just ate a bite of my food. You don't know my past, my manager, or what happened to me!"

Hachiman: "Indeed, I don't understand you at all. In the final analysis, it is just a self-righteous behavior to think that you understand the other person. Although I can't do that, but..."

"From the beginning, whether it was the occasional glances, the stagnant movements due to lack of confidence, or the completely different aura from that in the classroom, I couldn't accept that this was a top chef, and he was simply not worthy of those hands that had already gone through countless hardships."

"Your words, your breath, your expression, everything has exposed you."

"Indeed, no matter what I do, I can never beat you in your prime. But if I lose to you now, I think even I, who have no ambition, will not allow it."

Listening to Hikigaya's words, Shinomiya's emotions seemed to stagnate.

Yes, the emotions that just exploded did not originate from this food battle at all.

He wanted to be recognized, but he was unwilling to admit the fact that he had regressed, so at that moment...

Completely lost myself.

Confidence, pride, everything was lost, so I fled here.

But... I can't stay here any longer.

Just as Hikigaya once said, to the mortals in the lower world, the gods in the lower world are nothing but a trouble.

Hikigaya's words continued to echo in the basement, and the burning gazes he felt had changed from doubt at the beginning to respect.

Senior Shinomiya covered his face with one hand and laughed as if he was mocking himself:

"hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"I hid for so long, but was discovered by a little kid. What a failure..."

"That's right... for a chef, stagnation is regression."

"Even though I have found countless ways to solve it, there has been no progress to date."

"But if you think that I will lose to you, that's really wishful thinking."

Before Shinomiya finished speaking, Dojima Gin raised his eyebrows and said:

"After eating that dish, perhaps everything will become clear, and this food battle will finally have a winner."

...

Ten years ago, Shinomiya was once a genius in Totsuki Academy. In such a highly competitive environment, no matter who it is, as long as they can successfully graduate from the top seat, they will definitely attract the attention of thousands of people.

As the top seat at that time, Shigong's ambition has always remained far away. Obviously, many famous hotels have offered him olive branches, but...

However, he did not accept any of them. Instead, he planned to go to France alone to continue to hone his cooking skills. Yes... like every young student, he had lofty ambitions at that time. After walking out of the gate of Yuanyue School, even if he was the first seat, he was just like an ant. After all, there are always people who are better than you. The cuisine of this world has never been limited by rules.

Practicing in France and opening his own restaurant was Shinomiya's dream, but reality was always contrary to one's wishes. At such a young age with such great achievements, after arriving in France, he could only become an ordinary kitchen staff.

This certainly did not defeat him at that time. After all, Shinomiya, who had worked hard to get out of Totsuki, already had the motivation to climb up, and he would never fall down before achieving his dream.

Soon, he was promoted all the way up, and with his age advantage and rich experience, he won the love of the locals. Seeing that Shinomiya was so popular, the supervisor quickly promoted him to head chef.

However, what is truly dark in this world is always human nature.

Because he was from outside the area, and because of his constantly promoted position and the jealousy he received, many people soon became unhappy, and their rejection of Sigong, an outsider, became increasingly obvious.

At that time, there was no one around him whom he could truly trust, which led to the deliberate destruction of his signboard later. Shinomiya's entire reputation was ruined. The chef who had just climbed to the top had his position vanished in an instant, from a glamorous existence to a rat that everyone wanted to kill.

Only he knows this memory, and only he understands that the kitchen is like a battlefield, and the only person he can trust is himself.

He decided to start all over again and build his own restaurant brand in France. He quickly made a name for himself again through his special vegetable dishes and superb memory. However, he would never allow himself to make the same mistake a second time. Because of this, he had become accustomed to years of high pressure, to having no one behind him, and to treating the kitchen as a battlefield.

He marked his recipes in great detail on paper, and the only requirement for employees entering the restaurant was to follow his recipes without any unnecessary mistakes or troubles.

Because, he is right.

Chosen by Heaven, the only one.

In the seventh year of his struggle, he finally received his own Bruce Boer Medal, and his restaurant had already become famous in France, but...

When he looked back, he found that his cooking skills had completely lost their former vitality since he didn't know when.

The single-plank bridge that had supported him all the way to where he is now suddenly broke quietly, as if everything was saying a silent farewell to him.

At that time, he might have been confused.

Although he was standing on a high place, he could not see the direction to the future at all. It was like a fog that completely enveloped his body, as if forever.

Over the years, he has tried different methods, but up to now he has not been able to recover to his peak strength. He has been troubled, but...

Some things cannot be solved by worrying, so he gradually accepted it all and buried it all in the deepest part of his heart.

He had been hiding it for so many years, and every customer's smile seemed to ease his inner displacement. Even his classmate Totsuki, who was once the one who knew him best, didn't notice it. Yet... the guy he expelled from school, discovered it.

Now, Hikigaya's food was placed in front of him.

Obviously, she is not outstanding or outstanding, but for some reason, she has a unique charm. He wants to know...

What secret lies behind this?

Without any further ado, Sigong, who had tasted countless delicacies, directly put the remaining banana, bitter gourd and foie gras roll into his mouth.

The aroma of foie gras explodes with the heat, and the combination of banana and bitter melon makes the sweetness outstanding. This is a perfect dish...

No, that's not right!

Until the smell of osmanthus sauce and mayonnaise burst out, Sigong, who had a calm expression just now, was instantly shocked by the unique smell. The spoon in his hand lost its support and fell directly to the ground.

"Ding ding ding..."

As the spoon dropped with a harsh sound, everyone was waiting for Shigong's final evaluation.

His pupils trembled slightly, but the chewing action in his mouth never stopped. He was sure that even though he had tasted so many dishes and even though there were so many dishes in his own recipes, there was no dish that could compare to this one.

Do you think it tastes good? Yes, but not to the point of exaggeration.

But what really impressed Sigong was not its taste.

But the feeling.

Just as it went down his throat, the unique comfort felt like it soothed his soul and stabilized his emotions.

"why why..."

"How could I..."

His hands trembled slightly, and he simply turned his back and gently wiped away his tears.

Hinata: "Huh? Shinomiya-senpai is crying?!"