Pokémon, but cultural invasion

An old house with white walls and red tiles was shrouded in the rain.

Chapter 130 Even Rats Dream of Becoming Chefs (Part 1)

Listen carefully, and you can hear not only thunder and rain, but also the clanging of pots and pans and the old woman's cursing.

The camera gradually moved closer to the window of the small house, and the shouting and the sounds of pots and pans hitting the ground became clearer.

Suddenly, a small Radamanthys carrying a recipe burst through the window in a "T" shape, its expression terrified and its limbs flailing wildly.

The scene is frozen at this moment.

"This...is me—Xiaomi. Obviously, I should re-examine my life."

A calm voice, incongruous with the panicked little Rada, rang out, carrying a sense of helplessness and self-mockery.

"Where is the problem? First of all, I am a mouse, and life is not easy for mice."

The audience suddenly realized that this self-narration was actually a mouse's monologue, which made them burst into laughter.

After a few suppressed laughs, the screening room fell silent again.

They followed this monologue into Rada's memories.

"Secondly, I have an extremely sensitive sense of taste and smell."

A group of little Rattatas scrambled towards the wooden basket filled with leftover fruits and vegetables. One of them, particularly cute, lifted the wrapper of a hamburger, sniffed it, and muttered to itself:

[Flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla bean... oh, and a slice of lemon.]

Another, larger, brownish Rattata emerged from the hamburger, exclaiming in amazement, "Wow, you can smell all of these! That's amazing!"

"His name is Dami, my brother, and he's always making a fuss over nothing."

So what if you can smell the ingredients?

The middle-aged rat below squeaked, turning over the remaining fruit pits it had been gnawing on.

“This is my father. He’s always been serious and doesn’t smile much. He also happens to be the leader of our tribe.”

The calm monologue asks rhetorically: "Then... what's the use of keen senses?"

Hey, hey, hey, don't eat it!

Xiaomi snatched the apple core from her father, who was about to start eating, and amidst the puzzled looks of the mice, followed the strange smell and found the rat exterminator that the homeowner had hidden under the awning.

"That strange smell was actually the smell of rat poison."

Suddenly, my dad stopped saying my talent was useless.

“I was quite proud of myself until he gave me a job.”

The scene shifts, and Xiao Mi, his face full of sorrow, sits under a wooden stake. His tribesmen line up in a long queue, holding all sorts of food, and present it to him one by one.

"That's right, I became a poison inspector."

Xiaomi, with its head drooping, sniffed numbly and gave each of its products a rating of "clean".

"My dad is proud of me."

Don't you feel a great sense of accomplishment, Xiaomi? You're engaged in a noble profession.

He nudged the millet, watching the lively scene of his clansmen happily eating.

"Noble? We're thieves, to put it bluntly, we steal trash."

Xiaomi's reaction was unbelievable.

Taking something that someone else doesn't want doesn't count as stealing!

What's the point of taking it if others don't want it?

“At that moment, I realized that I am a little different from my people.”

[Since you're going to steal anyway, why not steal something better from the kitchen?]

Xiaomi pushed aside the rotten fruits and vegetables in front of her.

Dad scolded him: "First of all, we're not thieves. Secondly, cherish life and stay away from the kitchen and other people."

"I should hate humans, but they are truly extraordinary. They don't live to make a living; they explore and create. Just look at the way they treat food!"

Xiaomi climbed up the pipe into the wooden house at the beginning. The old woman was fast asleep in a rocking chair, and the TV was still on.

The God of Cookery on the screen, who was cooking, spread his hands and said, "What is food? It's music you can taste and colors you can smell!"

"You just need to stop and savor it."

Xiaomi agreed with the God of Cookery's point of view. He happily picked up the cheese and strawberries from the plate and closed his eyes.

The screen went black, leaving only Xiaomi's silhouette.

"Oh...the God of Cookery is right..."

Take a bite of cheese, and you hear Western-style drumbeats and shimmering yellow ripples; take a bite of strawberry, and you hear lyrical classical music and vibrant pink lines.

“Every food has a unique flavor, but if you can combine these flavors, you can get a completely new experience.”

Xiaomi bites into both at the same time, creating a harmonious symphony of colors!

Two colors dominate the entire screen, and the music suddenly rises to a beautiful crescendo.

"My secret life has begun."

Xiaomi began collecting various foods she encountered in her daily life and combining them together.

Lacking cooking tools, he even climbed the chimney to smoke mushrooms, only to be struck by lightning during a thunderstorm.

Xiaomi was more delighted with the electrically cooked mushrooms than with their charred fur.

His insatiable thirst for culinary delights led him to defy his father's ban and risk sneaking into the kitchen in search of spices.

The television was playing the God of Cookery's famous quote: "Great food is never made by a coward."

"Your background cannot limit your potential. Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can achieve greatness."

Xiaomi idolized the God of Cookery, but the next sentence on TV made his smile vanish instantly.

"But the good times didn't last long. Due to a barrage of criticism from top food critic Mr. Ke Bo, the God of Cookery was downgraded from five stars to four stars."

"This was a fatal blow to the God of Cookery. He was heartbroken and soon passed away."

"The beautiful city of Miare has lost another shining star."

The shocked Xiaomi was still unaware when the old woman woke up and discovered her, until she picked up her shotgun and fired repeatedly at the little Rada who had broken into the house.

By a twist of fate, the shotgun shattered the ceiling chandelier—the hiding place of the Xiaomi family.

Hundreds of rats fell from the chandelier, the old woman screamed, and the Xiaomi family began their great escape.

In the torrential rain, Xiao Mi could have kept up with the large group traveling in wooden basket boats, but he couldn't bear to leave the cookbook in the kitchen.

Ultimately, they missed each other at the fork in the sewers, the intricate terrain meaning they might never see each other again.

After suffering the double blow of losing her clansmen and the death of her idol overnight, a heartbroken and exhausted Xiao Mi sat in a sewer, feeling dejected.

...

Cattleya noticed the low spirits of the audience around her, and her humorous monologue clearly won Radamanthys a lot of goodwill.

In the eyes of the audience, it was not an ordinary little Rada, but a special little Xiaomi.

Even Cattleya herself had to admit that Mimi was very interesting, special, and different from other Radamanthys.

But witnessing firsthand how a group of people's emotions were swayed by a single image still left Cattleya deeply moved.

...

When she was feeling down, the illustrations of the God of Cookery in the cookbook that Xiaomi treasured suddenly came to life.

The ideal is realized at this moment.

The God of Cookery broke free from the book and guided him out of the sewer in the form of a cloud of smoke; Xiao Mi knew it was just her imagination.

Following the sewers uphill leads to a bar. Xiaomi tries to steal some bread but is stopped by the God of Cookery: "Xiaomi, you're not a thief! You're a chef!"

Under the God of Cookery's patient guidance, Xiaomi followed the pipe upwards, upwards and upwards again.

He climbed to the rooftop, where the brightly lit, bustling city and the magnificent Prism Tower came into view.

"Miare City?"

"It turns out I've been living in the sewers of Miarei all along."

To the strains of the melodious violin, Xiaomi looked around at the magnificent night scene and was awestruck by the splendor of the human world.

"It's so beautiful."

This is not only Xiaomi's praise, but also the sentiment of the audience.

Xiaomi turned her head, and there stood a large sign with the image of the God of Cookery not far away at the God of Cookery restaurant.

Chapter 131 Even Rats Dream of Becoming Chefs (Part 2)

Wanlong quickly picked up her pen to take notes, just as she had said, the films from Tingxiang were excellent source material.

However, she had some doubts. Compared to the fox and rabbit characters in the previous "Crazy Elf City," Xiaomi was a mouse that was even harder for the public to accept.

There's no sign of her boyfriend on the promotional posters. Is this really the right thing for Tingxiang to do?

They could easily continue using the adorable Pokémon theme to pursue a romantic relationship, which would undoubtedly be a winning decision.

While the idea of ​​a mouse becoming a chef is certainly eye-catching, Wanlong couldn't imagine how a little Rattata could overcome the difficulties to become a chef.

As a fan, she began to worry that Tingxiang's overemphasis on gimmicks led to a lack of content and plot.

Wanlong doesn't want to see Tingxiang's reputation fall from grace.

But as time went on and the plot unfolded, her worries evaporated thanks to the brilliant plot design.

...

A young man arrived at the kitchen of the God of Cookery restaurant, and his mop was flying through the air.

Led by his own fantasy, Xiao Mi leaned against the glass window on the roof, gazing absently at the bustling kitchen, the place he had always dreamed of.

Waitstaffs came in one after another, carrying platters of delicious food out of the kitchen. A waiter carrying an order shouted, "Two salmon, three salad platters, and three flambéed steaks!"

It added a boost to the bustling kitchen.

Some assistants stir-fried seasonal vegetables, some pan-fried pork chops, some tasted piping hot broth, and some cooked mushrooms with cooking wine.

This made the tall, simply dressed young man in the corner stand out; he was a disillusioned man searching for work with his mother's letters, and a complete novice who had never been exposed to cooking.

"Xiao Kuan?"

The short, insignificant head chef, Mr. Shi, scrutinized the timid young man.

After a series of physical actions that made the audience burst into laughter, Boss Shi, considering the other chefs' feelings, reluctantly gave them the job of kitchen cleaner.

He reported for duty and took office on the same day.

Xiao Kuan pushed a mop cart full of washing water through the busy kitchen.

"He's just a handyman."

On the glass window, Xiaomi is discussing the job divisions of everyone in the kitchen with the God of Cookery.

"They can only wash dishes and take out the trash; they can't cook."

Xiaomi turned his head and solemnly introduced the work of the kitchen cleaner. In a corner that he couldn't see, the cleaner had already overturned a bucket of soup that was being simmered.

In a panic, Xiao Kuan quickly lifted the overturned iron bucket, made sure no one was paying attention to him, and turned on the tap to pour out the water.

"How do you know? Don't forget I said everyone can cook."