After they had visited the shrine, they went to various places until night.
They felt a bit hungry, Erina told him to go to the famous restaurant or something, but Haru told them to leave everything to him.
“So where are we going to eat?”
“Calm down, leave everything to me.”
Erina wondered whether they would go to a restaurant with a very long history or something else, but she didn’t expect that they would go to a food street. She looked at the alley that was a bit similar to street food in Taiwan, but because of that…
“…….”
Erina was stunned, and she swore if Haru didn’t hold her hand, she would kick him immediately!
Erina might be alright with B-kyu Gurume (B Rank Cuisine), but the ingredients should be the best. Her tongue was sensitive and it was impossible for her to eat something that was made from defective ingredients (cheap ingredients).
“Haru, are we really going to have dinner here?”
“Is there something wrong?”
“This kind of mass food…” Erina pursed her lips, but then, she didn’t say anything bad. In front of Haru, her personality had been eased and she wouldn’t get angry easily at him, however, if it was changed to another person then she would walk away without hesitation.
Although the knot on her heart had been solved by Haru, the cognition of food that had been cultivated over the years couldn’t be changed overnight.
“Food should be like art. If it isn’t then it is only a feed.”
Although Erina hated her father in her heart, the food concept that had been planted by her father still affected her life.
“Don’t rush to make a conclusion. Let’s take a look at it first.”
Erina, whose hand was being held by Haru, walked forward, observing the food shops on both sides of the alley, and the deeper she walked, the frown on her face became more noticeable.
The hygiene was barely up to standard, but the service wasn’t up to standard. As for the food… the smell of various foods gathered together was simply disastrous on her nose.
Erina wouldn’t taste these foods no matter what!
Although she loved Haru deeply, Erina wouldn’t budge on her principle.
Just when Erina was in deep thinking, Haru took her to sit on the bench in front of the food shop.
[Takanashi’s Pepper Buns]
These words were written in front of the food shop.
The pepper buns were made with minced pork belly that was flavored with black pepper, wrapped in dough, kneaded with all-purpose flour, and baked in special clay oven.
It was one of the famous street snacks in the east.
Haru had never tried it before so he ordered two pepper buns.
Takanashi, the owner of food shop, a grandma over sixties tremblingly wrapped two pieces of pepper buns.
“Do you want to eat it too?”
Haru handed Erina a piece, but Erina twisted her head firmly and refused to eat.
Haru didn’t care much and ate the pepper buns himself. He raised his eyebrows and took another bite. “Well, not bad.”
The juicy mince meat and the slightly numb taste of pepper impacted his taste buds, and Haru had to admit that the taste was quite good.
“Grandma, the pepper bun in your shop tastes good, but why are there so few customers?” Haru asked strangely.
Apart from him and Erina, there were no other people in this food shop.
“I’m getting old and clumsy, so some customers have stopped coming.” The grandma shook her head and said, “Furthermore, young people nowadays are after exquisite cuisine. My pepper bun is only a low-grade food after all, and this kind of food is outdated so a lot of people won’t like it anymore.”
“No one is helping you?”
“My grandson has been helping me before, but since he has been admitted to To, Tootsu–”
“It’s Tootsuki Academy!” Erina emphasized.
“Oh, yes! After, he came back from Tootsuki Academy, he said that our pepper bun can’t become an elegant food…”
“That’s normal,” Erina said.
Haru thought for a while and said, “Erina, let’s help the grandma. At least for tonight, let’s let Takanashi’s pepper buns become the most famous street food in this place.”
“No! I don’t agree!” Even though the person who invited her was her fiance, Erina refused without hesitation.
The grandma shook her head and said, “Although the pepper bun is very easy to make, it is still very difficult for you youngsters to make it… However, I appreciate your kindness.”
The grandma didn’t know that the one who sat in front of her was one of the Elite Ten of Tootsuki Academy, one of the top celebrities in the food industry; the other one wasn’t that well known in the culinary world, but his culinary skill was definitely the best, and she thought of them as laymen in cooking.
“Don’t worry, grandma, we’re just doing our assignment.”
Haru said to the grandma first then said to Erina,” As far as I know, there is an assignment that tasked the students to save a restaurant with a poor business? In that case, shouldn’t we just think of it as an assignment?”
“Um…” Erina was a bit surprised, but she nodded.
“And this is our special date. Let’s make it more special, shall we? Otherwise, when we recall it a few years later, we might forget this day,” Haru said.
“Okay.” Erina was persuaded, but she also made her own condition. “But I’m just assisting you, and I’ll never help you to cook.”
“No problem.” Haru agreed with a smile.
Although the grandma didn’t believe it at first, when Haru and Erina showed their amazing cooking skills one after another, she stepped aside automatically.
“How about making mince meat like this?”
“Add ten milligrams more of the five-spice powder and chop the green onion a bit.”
“What about peppers?”
“Soak for five more seconds.”
“The dough is my speciality.”
“Crush it three more times with a rolling pin.”
“….”
Erina, who possessed the tongue of God, may not be the best at cooking, but her taste in food was definitely the best.
Frankly, even if Erina didn’t help him, Haru could do this alone and make the pepper bun several times more delicious, but he wanted to make his fiancee to be able to break the shackle on her heart after all.
All kinds of seasoning were added in the right amounts in Haru’s hands. In the fragrant bright red meat sauce, he added freshly round black pepper, sesame oil, allspice, and star anise, then mixed all of it together.
Even if she had said that she wouldn’t help him, Erina was by his side, and helped to roll Haru’s sleeve so it wouldn’t be dirtied by the mince meat.
Haru smiled and really thought that this girl was really cute and felt that he was really lucky to have her beside him.
Erina blushed and hurriedly explained, “It’s not because I want to help you! It’s just your clothes will be smelly later so… so….” It might be because it had been a while since she showed her “tsundere” side that she stuttered and wasn’t sure what to say.
“Thank you.”
Haru smiled slightly at Erina, and then devoted himself to cooking again.
Erina blushed, and saw that the grandma was looking at them so she didn’t dare to kiss him at this moment.
Carefully kneading the meat filling for three minutes to ensure that all the seasonings had been evenly incorporated, Haru took the dough, divided the dough into equal parts, and then wrapped the meat filling perfectly. Then he stuck it on the special clay pot.
Time passed by minute by minute.
Takanashi and Erina might have underestimated Haru’s ability, but this guy was a master of dough.
As long as he kneaded something, it would turn into perfect. It might be because he often kneaded someone’s b.r.e.a.s.ts that his ability at kneading was very powerful.
If Haru knew what grandma Takanashi was thinking then he would laugh and told her that he often kneaded something soft everyday.
Then the lid of the special clay oven was lifted, and a strong fragrance came from it.
Even Erina, who was determined not to eat this kind of mass food, almost gulped her saliva and licked her lips.
Putting the hot pepper bun in front of Erina, Haru smiled and said, “My dear Erina, what do you think of this pepper bun?”
Erina wasn’t sure whether it was because of that “dear” or some other reason, but a light flush appeared on her face, but she still insisted. “Indeed, this pepper bun is very fragrant. The bold spicy taste of black pepper and overflowing gravy meat juice can capture the stomach of everyone, but… even if it’s delicious, it is useless if it doesn’t enter the customer’s mouth!”
Because Haru didn’t say anything, Erina added, “Because this dish has only ‘flavor’ and ‘scent’, and there is not enough ‘color’ to attract people’s attention. Failure to attract a customer means that no one is going to taste it so even if it is delicious, it is useless.”
“Really?”
Haru smiled, walked toward the grandma, and asked, “Does your store have a large electric fan or something? It’s the one that is usually used to cool down the temperature during summer.”
“There’s.”
The grandma nodded, and not long after, she took an electric fan from the store.
Haru placed the electric fan behind the special clay over, the lid of the oven was still open, and a strong fragrance wafed out of it.
Haru plugged in the power source, pressed the button, and suddenly a violent wind blew!
Standing in front of the fan with curiosity, Erina almost caught guard. If she didn’t wear pants instead of skirts, she was sure that this naughty wind would show her panties.
It was May, the temperature was quite warm since it would be summer soon, so no one seemed unputured by this wind, but then this wind brought a very delicious smell which made their stomach growl.
“Where does this smell come from? It smells really good!”
“How can something smell so good?”
“It seems that this smell comes from that pepper bun shop.”
Haru was a master of marketing and also propaganda. It was very easy for him to attract everyone’s attention.
“Takanashi’s pepper bun! Only 180 yen a piece! A taste of an ancient recipe that was personally composed by a member of Elite 10 of Tootsuki Academy, Nakiri Erina! If you doubt it, you can check it online!”
“Hey!”
Erina glared at Haru since this bastard used her name!
“That beautiful lady, why don’t you try this pepper bun?” Haru showed his best smile which swooned a number of girls, women, little girls etc instantly, even the grandma also blushed at this moment.
“…….”
Erina twitched her lips and thought that her fiance was really a bastard!
In an instant the grandma’s food shop became crowded, but Haru was very skillful in selling the pepper buns to everyone.
Though, no one would think that the one who sold this pepper bun was a billionaire.
Some beautiful woman wanted to ask Haru’s LINE, but Erina quickly stopped them and stood beside him, telling that this man had been owned.
Besides Haru’s handsome appearance, the name Elite 10 of Tootsuki Academy attracted a lot of people.
“I want five pepper buns!”
“Give me ten!”
“…..”
The dozen or so pepper buns that were originally baked were sold out in an instant, but it couldn’t satisfy the appetite of the customers.
“It smells amazing!”
“The texture of the bun is hard, crunchy… and the spicy flavor of the meat filling, the large amount of green onion is great, the pork filling is soft and mellow, and the umami taste is constantly rising…”
“It’s f.u.c.k.i.n.g delicious!”
After many customers tried to eat on, they quickly asked for more, because of this phenomenon, other passersby were also attracted to join the line in front of the shop.
In a short time, nearly a hundred people gathered around the originally deserted food shop!
Haru didn’t disappoint them and let them know why his nickname on culinary word was “Bread King”. He asked the grandma to prepare the other five special clay ovens that hadn’t been used, then everyone saw his hands turned into a shadow, controlling six special clay ovens at the same time.
If it was broadcasted on Nico Nico then without doubt, there would be a lot of people who thought that Haru was a decesdant ninja or powerful martial artist.
Erina was also watching quietly.
For her, it wasn’t difficult to control six special clay ovens at the same time, but it was impossible to copy Haru’s movement.
It was like when they met for the first time, he didn’t play the card according to common sense. Haru broke her father’s car with a punch, and at the same time, he knocked her guard forcefully.
Now, he also used this breaking common sense and rogue method to attract so many customers.
“Why are you looking at me like this? You’re going to assist me, right? Get the pepper buns quickly!”
Haru’s urging sound made Erina come back to her senses, she who was the member of Elite 10 of the Tootsuki Academy had been reduced to waiter position.
But surprisingly, she didn’t hate it or didn’t have much resistance in her heart. On the contrary, she thought that both of them were a couple that ran the shop together, so she felt very happy.
From seven o’clock in the evening to ten o’clock in the evening, for a full three hours, the seats in the food store were not available.
And now, although there were still a lot of customers, because the ingredients in the store had been emptied, they had to close in advance.
The customer dissipated with regret.
At this time, Erina, who felt tired, sat next to Haru, the golden silk hair stuck on her face because of sweat, and the fragrant sweat slipped down her cheeks and flowed down her elegant white neck.
“….”
Haru felt that he really wanted to eat Erina right now.
