Can you handle my Hikigaya's cooking?

Hachiman simply tapped the smart screen on the stove, and within five seconds, an extremely intelligent robot came to him and brought him the necessary materials.

First, soybeans are ground into powder using a grinder, and then the powder is rinsed with brewed green tea. The tea brewed from green leaves is then added to the powder to start the production process.

This dish, called Green Tea Tofu Duck, is the result of Hikigaya's combination of his father Shiroichiro and Takumi's cooking skills. The key is to maintain the stability of soybeans during the production process and add an equal amount of green tea...

The series of operating procedures are extremely detailed. If there is a mistake in any of them, the final dish may be unbearable to look at. The process is even more complicated and indescribable.

Seeing that Hikigaya was still taking action, everyone in Polaris Dormitory seemed to be relieved. Ryoko was the first to breathe a sigh of relief and said:

"It's finally started..."

On the contrary, Alice said unconvincedly:

"This guy is trying such a difficult dish in such a competition again..."

Kurokiba: "That's the charm of Hikigaya, miss..."

Alice: "I know, idiot."

Tadokoro Megumi: "As long as there are no problems in the next steps, then no matter what the result of this cooking duel is, Hachiman has tried his best."

Yoshino: "I say, Xiaohui, you can't keep pampering him like this. As a chef, you have to give your all at all times!"

Tadokoro Megumi: "But, I don't want to see Hikigaya-san like last time..."

Ibusaki: “Well, this is good.”

Shiomi Jun: "Yukinoshita...what happened?"

Ye Shanliang: "I just noticed that the guy's condition seems to be completely different from usual."

Yuigahama: "Xue, she looks really bad."

Not only the people in Polaris Dormitory, but all the audience at the scene noticed Yukinoshita's strange condition. They saw that her hands were shaking uncontrollably and her expression was rarely shaken.

Erina: "This guy, is he okay..."

Feishazi: "It looks like he has encountered some difficulties..."

Erina: "This is not the kind of stupid mistake that Yukinoshita would make. No matter what, she should know that two hours is a very short time. If she doesn't start now..."

At the same time, Hinata, who was sitting on the judges' bench, also quickly revealed a worried expression:

"Ms. Yang No, is it really okay for Yukino to be like this?"

Everyone noticed that Yukino was in a somewhat abnormal condition, so whether she could continue the game became a problem. However, for Yang No, there was no trace of worry on her face, and she even kept smiling and said:

"Huh? When did Hinata-senpai become so gentle? Don't worry, Yukino will be fine."

Shinomiya: "If you, as my elder sister, say so..."

Without further ado, the game continued, but... this time even Hachiman discovered that Yukino behind him had fallen into a state of complete autism.

'She told me to win this game, is this the way?'

"I don't understand it at all... But, even though I don't understand it at all, this kind of victory is no different from charity."

With this in mind, Hachiman gently turned off the burning fire, leaving the audience completely confused.

"What happened to Hikigaya? Is this really the finals? How could such a low-level mistake happen?"

"No, I don't think so. He seems to have done it on purpose..."

"Intentionally? What on earth is he going to do? If we turn off the fire now, all the previous work will be wasted. Now half an hour has passed... In other words, they have already wasted half an hour."

"Who knows..."

Feishazi was also a little surprised and covered her mouth with the document, and just said in disbelief:

"Hikigaya-san has also stopped..."

"what happened?"

Erina: "These two guys, what do they think of the finals..."

As the actions of the two came to an abrupt halt at this moment, the entire scene was instantly filled with discussions. Most of the audience were very dissatisfied with their performance. After all, there were many food lovers from all over the world gathered here, but they were somewhat disappointed to see this scene in the end.

As the voices of discussion became more prominent, many people began to question whether the two were conducting a "fixed match", while the commander-in-chief and Dojima Gin listened to all of this.

Dojima Gin: "Commander-in-chief, is it really okay if it continues like this?"

The commander-in-chief shook his head and seemed very calm, as if everything was still under control.

As time went by, a full half hour had passed, but Yukinoshita's condition did not seem to have improved at all. She was just breathing heavily from time to time and putting her right hand on her left arm from time to time. She had lost all her usual calmness and strength.

At this point, Hachiman could only sigh softly, and then, under the gaze of everyone, he slowly walked behind her and gently patted her shoulder.

There was no reaction at all, and Hachiman could only speak:

"Yukinoshita, what's wrong?"

"me..."

"It's very impolite not to look at others when you speak. You said that yourself, Yukinoshita."

After hearing Hachiman's gentle words, Yukinoshita lowered her head and slowly turned her body around. However, the closer she got, the more Hachiman could feel the invisible pressure emanating from Yukinoshita, which was constantly crushing her spirit.

Still showing no sign of speaking, Hachiman could only continue to ask:

"Yukinoshita, I'm your partner, right?"

Yukinoshita didn't say anything, but just nodded gently like a well-behaved kitten.

"I still remember what you asked me to do. It was a promise to actually beat you in the finals, right?"

Nodding obediently again, Yukinoshita just clenched her teeth but still said nothing.

"You know, I hate charity. If the agreement you're talking about is like this, without any resistance, then... I'll just give up this game..."

"Anyway, if you hadn't given up on that game, I probably wouldn't have had the energy to play overtime, and I wouldn't have been able to get to this stage, so... everything happened so naturally."

"Is this also okay?"

After hearing Hikigaya say that she wanted to give up, Yukinoshita suddenly raised her head, her face full of pain. Now she no longer had any strength in her heart. She was no different from an ordinary girl. When she was mentally collapsed, she shook her head bitterly and begged for something.

"no, do not want..."

"I don't want to do this...but...I've been following in my sister's footsteps and I can't cook properly anymore."

“No matter what I cook, it’s just a copy of my sister’s past dishes. No matter how hard I try, I can’t surpass my sister. In the end, I will only be labeled as useless…”

"I'm... powerless."

Hearing Yukinoshita speak her inner thoughts for the first time, Hachiman finally understood the difficulties Yukinoshita had been facing.

The so-called collapse was not caused in an instant, but was the result of constant pressure. With such an outstanding sister, Yukinoshita had already spent all her strength just to catch up.

Even so, it didn't matter. What was even more terrible was that when she tried to cook her sister's food, she received praise from everyone. However, only she knew that the praise did not belong to her. She was just a thief, a shameless robber who took the honor for herself without permission, and finally it turned into such a situation.

She clearly wanted to deny herself and the path she had taken, so she sought failure, but unknowingly, she walked onto this stage.

However, she was the only one who understood deep down in her heart that she had never relied on herself to get here, but only because of the ability of the Xue family, or in other words, because of her outstanding sister.

Therefore, Yang No's arrival only accelerated the occurrence of all this.

According to her original plan, she wanted to bring out her sister's best dish and then lose to Hikigaya. In this way, she would be able to let it go and there would be no need to compete for the top ten anymore, but...

But now, she couldn't serve that shameless dish in front of me.

At this point, everything is clear, and Hachiman's inner confusion is finally answered at this moment.

It's no wonder that Yang Noi came here at this moment. Perhaps... she had known it for a long time, but... she still forced Yukino to make her own choice.

Should he stay as his original self, being useless, or should he hide in the shadows forever and be just a substitute for her, Yang No.

...

"Actually, you have a third choice."

Hachiman's words made Yukino's breathing stop abruptly, and also made Haruno, who had been watching all this from the judges' seat, reveal a meaningful smile:

"Hikigaya-kun, you are really interesting."

Yukino: "Hikigaya-kun..."

Looking at the fragile girl in front of him, Hachiman simply walked gently in front of her and stared at her beautiful face with eyes that no longer avoided him.

But no matter what, Hachiman would still turn away as if he was shy.

Yukino: "If you're shy, stop staring at people like that, idiot. You'll be mistaken for a pervert."

Hachiman: "That's undeniable, but... Yukinoshita, have you forgotten? We are partners..."

Yukino: "Partner? Do you really think so?"

Hachiman: "Although I resisted this statement a long time ago, but now thinking back, if you and I hadn't teamed up, I might have been expelled a long time ago. So... there has never been a statement that I helped you, or that you helped me. It is precisely because we are partners that we choose to walk side by side."

Yukino's expression finally eased, and she just smiled faintly:

"You're Hikigaya-kun, but you said something totally out of character."

"Well, I never thought I would say something like this. It's just like a real person. But even so, you can understand it. When we were partners, the dishes we cooked together were dishes that belonged only to us. So... the dishes you can cook are not inferior to your sister Yukinoshita Haruno's. They are simply dishes that belong to you, Yukinoshita Yukino."

Listening to Hachiman's words, Yukinoshita's expression froze again, but the look in her eyes became bright again. Finally, she blushed shyly and turned her face away, muttering:

"Idiot, that's not just my food, it's also yours... I can't deny that..."

Seeing that Yukinoshita was able to recover her spirit again, Hachiman was sincerely happy for her. He just smiled faintly and thought so.

"This guy is really a troublesome guy..."

"But, although it's troublesome, it's surprisingly cute."

At the same time, the discussions on the stage had stopped at some point, and everyone turned into a group of spectators. After all, no one would have thought that as an opponent in the final, they would actually stop to help each other. You know, as the champion of the autumn selection, the future is promising. A normal person would win the final championship by any means necessary, but Hikigaya was the complete opposite. In order to present a wonderful duel to everyone, he actually took the initiative to make psychological adjustments to his opponent.

It’s incredible! Even in the entire culinary world, these two people are extremely explosive.

Although the audience couldn't hear what the people on the stage were saying, after all, contestants were not allowed to bring microphones during the cooking process. As for what the two said during the performance, probably only the judges knew, but... this did not affect the already scary rumors becoming even scarier.

"Hey, it's confirmed that these two are a couple..."

"Is it really okay to show affection in public? This is the final..."

"It turns out that Totsuki Academy invited so many people here just to let them eat dog food. It's funny to think about it!"

"Hahahaha, I guess people from other countries are dumbfounded. But even I have never heard of such a situation in Totsuki's decades of history."

At the same time, seeing Yukinoshita, who was back to normal and in harmony, Erina obviously wanted to know what the two people had said to each other, but she had a depressed expression on her face, and it seemed that her whole eyes were dim.

Could this be the lost art of transferring the spirit of the pupils? It can make a person with dull eyes become bright, and vice versa...

Some are sad while others are happy. Yuigahama is probably the one who can't hold back her excitement the most. After all, both of them are her good friends. She certainly doesn't want the final result to be in vain. To be able to turn out like this is the best choice for her, but...

Even she noticed that the small business seemed to have changed a lot now.

Ryoko: "These two people are not as simple as they seem..."

Mito: “That’s really nice…”

Alice: "I don't know what Erina's expression is right now, hahahaha..."

Kurokiba: "Miss, you are laughing too arrogantly."

Takumi: "I've always felt that there's something wrong with these two people..."

Tadokoro Megumi: “That’s good…”

Shiomi Jun: "Is this okay? If things continue like this, will it really be good for Hachiman?"

Among these people, she is the only one who knows the most about the Yukinoshita family, but even so, what she knows is only superficial, and she does not know much about what kind of family it actually is.

However, no matter what, the current situation may be what the public wants.

Under everyone's gaze, Hachiman finally returned to his stove, and Yukinoshita also began her own actions. Compared to her trembling hands just now, she was obviously much more determined now, but...

After all, forty minutes had already passed. To use the remaining eighty minutes to complete a delicious dish was definitely not an easy task for the two of them, because their basic skills, which were not strong enough to begin with, would affect their speed to some extent. And now, if there was a mistake in one move, not to mention the quality of the finished dish, it would even become a problem whether they could even prepare a dish at all.

Noticing that Yukinoshita had already started cooking, Hachiman finally felt relieved. He just sighed softly and clicked on the screen again.

“Now, the cooking has just begun!”

A lion's head goose was soon served, and Hikigaya continued to brew green tea while starting to process the parts of the goose. The part he needed was the goose liver. It was too late to finish a new serving of green tea tofu duck, but since he had already chosen this dish, Hachiman was not the kind of person who would give up halfway. He just brewed the green tea and lion's head goose separately, and through the control of the heat and the effect of the siphon pot, he completely locked in the original flavors of the two ingredients.

This is not enough. The technique required to brew green tea is definitely not something a novice can do, so what is needed is not how to save it, but to replace the way of thinking.

Use tea as a condiment, mix the boiled duck soup with goose liver like ice cream, add a little bit of thin starch for the final mixture, it doesn't look strange, and it's even no different from boiled water, but...

The fragrance emitted by high temperature is irresistible.