Early the next morning.
At eight o'clock sharp, Fang Ye was woken by Ikaros.
After finishing the milk she had prepared for him as breakfast, he arrived at the classroom at eight-thirty under her escort.
Calling it a classroom was a bit generous. In truth, it was only a quiet room no larger than necessary, with seven standard cushions laid out inside.
At the very front of the room stood a fully equipped cooking station.
By the time Fang Ye arrived, the two Nakiri sisters were already there. Both were sitting upright on their cushions, perfectly well-behaved, without the slightest trace of impatience.
Beside them, Mana Nakiri and Leonora Nakiri were also wearing serious expressions.
They were here today as accompanying guardians, seated in case anything unexpected happened.
"Since you're here, don't just stand in the doorway gawking. Hurry up and come in."
Seeing Fang Ye lingering at the entrance, still sizing up the room, the old man turned and spoke.
"Yes."
Fang Ye answered softly, took off his shoes, and strode forward. Behind him, Ikaros gave a polite bow and followed him inside.
"Over here, little Fang Ye, over here."
"Good morning, Brother Fang Ye."
"Good morning to you too."
As Fang Ye walked over, Leonora waved him closer, while Alice Nakiri beside her gazed at him with wide eyes. The moment he came and sat down next to her, a bright smile bloomed across her face.
On the other side, Erina Nakiri watched the scene and wanted to shift seats.
But then she remembered the rules her mother had taught her before setting out.
Once seated, one should not casually change places, lest it leave a bad impression on the teacher.
So she could only remain where she was, looking a little sulky.
"A day's plan begins in the morning. Today, what we will be exploring together is how flavor is constructed."
The old man's gaze swept across the three young students before him as he slowly spoke, his expression solemn.
"But before we begin, I imagine each of you has questions in your heart. Who am I? And what gives me the right to stand here and teach you?
"My name is Liu Anqing. I was once the head chef of Juxia Lou in Sichuan. I've been retired for more than ten years now. You may call me Grandpa Qing."
At that point, Liu Anqing chuckled inwardly. He had no idea how much of that introduction these three tiny children could understand; by tomorrow, they would probably have forgotten it all.
Still, the proper etiquette could not be omitted.
This was the starting point of their apprenticeship, and it was important that they know from whom they were learning.
"Juxia Lou?!"
The moment he heard that name, Fang Ye—who had still been a little sleepy from waking up early—instantly became alert.
Could it be that this isn't just the world of Food Wars! but also includes the later timeline of Cooking Master Boy? Is the man in front of me a descendant of Liu Maoxing?
Beneath his calm face, his heart was in total upheaval.
Because Juxia Lou was no ordinary name—it was precisely where everything had begun for Liu Maoxing, the protagonist of Cooking Master Boy.
If it were only the same name, Fang Ye might have dismissed it as coincidence.
But the restaurant was in Sichuan, and this old man called himself Liu Anqing—surname Liu. Taken together, all the signs pointed toward this world being an extension of the Cooking Master Boy world as well.
"Good morning, Grandpa Qing." ×3
Though thoughts churned rapidly in his mind, Fang Ye kept his face composed and joined the two Nakiri sisters in greeting him.
"And good morning to you as well. The flavors of this world are many and varied. If one were to classify them in detail, there would be well over a hundred. But if we take a broader view, they can be divided into five fundamental categories: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.
"If I try to tell you too much at once, you'll only get indigestion. So today, what I'll be discussing is sweetness in cooking."
Hearing the three children address him so obediently, Liu Anqing nodded in satisfaction and began introducing the five fundamental tastes of cuisine. As he spoke, he walked to the cooking station set up at the front of the room.
"Next, I'm going to make your bodies remember what sweetness is."
At some point, a kitchen knife had appeared in Liu Anqing's hand. Before anyone in the room quite realized it, he hooked a foot upward, sending the pumpkin and sweet potatoes prepared on the floor flying into the air.
A silver flash cut through the room.
The pumpkin and sweet potato skins fell away all at once, piling up into two little mounds of different colors.
At the same time, the peeled pumpkin and sweet potatoes landed steadily on the counter.
What incredible knife work! Peeling round ingredients like pumpkin and sweet potato in midair—what kind of outrageous skill is this?!
Watching Liu Anqing's flowing movements, Fang Ye could not help the look of admiration that rose in his eyes.
He was not the only one. Erina Nakiri's and Alice Nakiri's gazes were equally captured by the old man's technique, their eyes sparkling as if they had just discovered the most fascinating toy in the world.
Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak...
Liu Anqing's knife rose and fell, flashes of steel dancing rapidly across the cutting board. The pumpkin and sweet potato were cut into evenly sized cubes, and in the next instant they sprang into the air and flew into the steamer as if summoned. The entire process took no more than a single breath.
The steamer was promptly placed over the flame and set to medium heat.
Once the pumpkin and sweet potatoes were taken care of, Liu Anqing wasted no time. His gaze shifted to the pearl rice that had already been soaking for two hours nearby.
He casually picked up a few grains between his fingers. The rice had fully absorbed water, and with the slightest pressure from his fingertips, the grains broke apart. A trace of satisfaction crossed his face.
After soaking, the internal starch structure of the rice softened. Without soaking, it would be more likely to gelatinize improperly during cooking and produce undesirable off-flavors. Beyond that, soaking also affected cooking time, texture, and even nutritional content.
He set a small pot on the stove, poured in the soaked rice together with the water, brought it to a boil over high heat, then immediately lowered it to a simmer.
Throughout the process, Liu Anqing never stopped moving. With a long spoon in hand, he patiently stirred the rice slurry in the pot, preventing it from sticking to the bottom while ensuring the grains heated evenly, until every single grain bloomed and softened into paste.
This continued for fifteen minutes, and the air gradually filled with a rich fragrance of rice.
With a sharp thunk, the fire was extinguished. Liu Anqing poured the cooked rice paste into a blender. Then he lifted the steamer lid and pierced the pumpkin and sweet potato with a chopstick. Once he confirmed that both were fully cooked, he added them to the blender as well. Next came the formula milk he had prepared earlier, followed by a few key drops of walnut oil, rich in unsaturated fatty acids, to deepen the pudding's aroma.
Once blended smooth, the rice mixture was poured out, allowed to cool naturally, then transferred into molds and chilled in the refrigerator.
"Give it a try—Golden Pumpkin-and-Sweet-Potato Rice Pudding. There isn't a single seasoning added. What you're tasting is only the pure, natural sweetness of the ingredients themselves.
"I'm going to step outside for a while. Class is dismissed for twenty minutes. Take your time and really experience the sweetness of pumpkin and sweet potato."
Taking out the Golden Pumpkin-and-Sweet-Potato Rice Pudding he had prepared several hours earlier from the refrigerator, Liu Anqing handed portions to everyone present, then left the quiet room with a smoking pipe in hand, thoughtfully sliding the door shut behind him.
This dish used the sweetness and natural savoriness already present in pumpkin and sweet potato to build a rich, fragrant base of flavor. At the same time, by blending and cooking them down, he had achieved the smooth, dense, soft pudding texture that toddlers loved.
It was an extremely pure baby food.
Of course, if a three-hundred-month-old baby wanted to eat it, that was perfectly fine too.
At that moment, both Mana Nakiri and Leonora Nakiri looked at the pudding before them with naked longing on their faces. Without hesitation, they picked up their own portions.
The spoon sank in.
They dug out a generous bite from one corner and sent it into their mouths.
In the very next instant, dazzling light began to flow all over Mana Nakiri's body.
It was as though an invisible force had burst outward from within her, shredding through her clothes, while a flushed bloom spread across her face like the blush of a young girl overcome with passion.
That force radiated outward from her as its center, and Leonora Nakiri, sitting beside her, was caught in the blast as well.
At that moment, within a hundred-meter radius of the quiet room, the entire Nakiri estate was hit by a chain reaction.
"So even after walking that far, I still couldn't completely escape it? The Nakiri family's clothes-bursting curse, combined with the influence of the God Tongue, really has become terrifying."
Looking down at his torn, drooping clothes, Liu Anqing showed a trace of helplessness on his face, then turned back toward his room to change.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 130)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 105)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 105)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter99)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter91)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter65)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter80)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 58
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 62
From Junkman to Wasteland 45
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 32
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 35
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 31
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin