Chapter 536: Kitchen Chaos
Translated by Crystal of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
By dinner, Chef Wan and his assistant’s hope for You XiaoMo to borrow their kitchen was crushed. It wasn’t that he couldn’t get out of bed, it was that after being messed around by Ling Xiao, he was no longer in the mood of cooking.
On the second morning, he made himself a meat congee, and because he made too much, Chef Wan and his assistant finally got what they wished for; his food.
It was lunch when You XiaoMo went, once again, to the kitchen. He was greeted there with puppy eyes from Chef Wan and his assistant.
People of the River Town were not very picky about their food, as long as it was filling, it was enough for them. Chef Wan was a chef from River Town and made food for a large group of people all year round, in a huge pot nonetheless. Therefore, his dishes couldn’t be elaborate and good at the same time.
Thus, Chef Wan’s cooking skill was at most what one would see on the tables of a normal household. As for the Spicy Sour Chicken they ate yesterday, he hadn’t even heard of it before, much less tasted it.
The two volunteered to be You XiaoMo’s assistants, and this time, they didn’t even ask for money, all they wanted was for You XiaoMo to save some food for them.
You XiaoMo agreed without much thought.
Cooking by himself would take quite a while, like the day before, he had to kill the chicken and wash the vegetables while paying attention to the stuff cooking in the pot, he almost couldn’t do it. Thus, having someone help would reduce the time by at least a third.
You XiaoMo told the two to each kill two chickens. The chicken was still used for it’s thighs to make Spicy Sour Chicken Cubes. Since Ling Xiao liked this meat dish, he specifically asked him to make it.
The second meat dish he was making was Crispy sesame duck, in comparison, it was more visually appealing. Not only was it crispy but also tender, the texture was top notch.
He had ready told Chef Wan to prepare for this dish beforehand when he came in the morning. For two hours a cleaned duck was marinated in wine, table salt, sugar, pepper, garlic and ginger.
When You XiaoMo arrived, they just had to take it out and steam it.
This time he made a little more of everything, since after his and Ling Xiao’s share, all of it was going to Chef Wan and his little assistant.
Although there were more dishes, the time it took was a little less than yesterday, when he was by himself.
This time, the little assistant helped You XiaoMo carry the food back to their room, leaving Chef Wan to look after the kitchen. If something like what happened the day before occurred again, they were really going to cry themselves to sleep.
After the little assistant brought the food to You XiaoMo’s room, he hurried back, even forgetting to close the door behind him. You XiaoMo had close up after him.
It wasn’t long before the door was closed that the door beside them opened.
A man walked out, it was the one of the three guys that brushed past You XiaoMo at noon the day before. He wiggled his nose and looked suspiciously at You XiaoMo’s room.
Right at this moment, someone walked out from another room and that someone was the other man’s comrade, Wang Hua. His nose caught the lingering scent of food in the air and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Something smells really good! If I recall, the food we ate yesterday afternoon also had this smell.”
“Right, I remember it too. I didn’t think something made by a common folk would taste so good.” Yang Ding nodded in agreement. His hunger was also triggered by such delicious smell. The portion from the day before was way too small for it to be filling, but even then it was enough for them to remember it.
“How about we call that Chef to make us a meal?” Wang Hua suggested.
“That’s a great suggestion, lets call Zhao Er too.”
Zhao Er also smelled it from his room. Hearing that they were going to find the chef, he joined in instantly. But they arrived a bit late so by the time they arrived, Chef Wan and his assistant had already finished everything.
No one would mind more good food, only that they were too late to the party.
Chef Wan and his little assistant were almost fighting for the food. All Wang Hua and the others did was talk a little before Chef Wan was finished eating and started to clean up.
The kitchen still had the lingering smell of delicious food.
The few dishes that You XiaoMo made were all strong in flavor thus the smell dissipated slower too.
“Hey, make us a full course.” Yang Ding threw a spirit gem at Chef Wan with a look of disdain. Against normal people, they were used to feeling superior and talked with orders instead.
After taking a look, Chef Wan recognized them from the day before. He wasn’t surprised at their attitude since he had seen many practitioners like them, those who believe that by having cultivated, they were superior to common folks. To put it simply, they think way too highly of themselves.
Chef Wan told them to wait outside for a bit before cooking with his little assistant in the kitchen.
Chef Wan guessed that they may like meat dishes and thus made five meat dishes with three vegetable dishes. After having a table full of food, he then called the three in to eat.
The three could smell the sour and spicy aroma coming from the food, similar to the one before.
What they didn’t know was that Chef Wan learned it from You XiaoMo.
By helping out You XiaoMo, Chef Wan learned about twenty percent of the dish, thus he tried making them. The end result wasn’t comparable to what You XiaoMo made but was still satisfactory by his standards.
What he didn’t expect was that, just as they left the kitchen, an angry voice came from within. The two looked at each other quizzically.
Yang Ding threw his chopsticks onto the ground and coincidentally it landed right by Chef Wan and his little assistant’s feet. He let out a cold snort and said with displeasure to Chef Wan, “What kind of food is this, how is it so disgusting?”
Both of his friends, Wang Hua and Zhao Er, looked dissatisfied too, since the taste of the food was different from what they had expected. The Spicy Sour Chicken Cubes, which Chef Wan learned from You XiaoMo where thrown on the ground and the chicken smashed against the oven. The other dishes had been touched too, but clearly disliked by their tasters.
Seeing their dislike towards his food, Chef Wan was angry but he couldn’t show it, since he couldn’t afford to offend them. Swallowing his anger, he explained, “Practitioners, this is the flavor of my dishes.”
“I think you’re just displeased with us and trying to fool us, aren’t you?”
Zhao Er’s expression darkened and from his body erupted a formidable force. But raising his hand against a commoner, if the word spread, he would be looked down upon by all practitioners.
Both Chef Wan and his little assistant fell onto the floor, weak and drenched in sweat, as their face turned pale white.
“Mis-mister practitioners , I’m not playing any tricks on you I swear, this is what my food tastes like.” Chef Wan stuttered out in explanation.
Yang Ding squinted his eyes, he didn’t think a commoner would dare lie to him and asked, “Then you tell me, why does this food taste different from yesterday’s?”
They had not suspected that the food from yesterday was made by You XiaoMo.
For one, practitioners rarely cooked, they would have never guessed that You XiaoMo would have the appetite to make his own food. Secondly, they had seen Chef Wan bring the food to You XiaoMo’s room and the last being that Spicy Sour Chicken Cubes.
The plate the day before was relatively small and couldn’t fit everything, so they ate the rest.
Chef Wan was dumbfounded, he finally understood. They were comparing his food with You XiaoMo’s, no wonder they would reject his, it wasn’t even comparable. Now that was just an unjust treatment.
“Mister practitioner, the food from yesterday wasn’t made by me.”
“If it wasn’t you, then who?” Yang Ding squinted his brows as he only believed a fraction of what he said. The reason being that on this merchant ship, only he was a chef, if it wasn’t him then who?
Just as Chef Wan was about to respond, a silhouette appeared by the door.
The one who came was You XiaoMo, who carried his finished plates and chopsticks. Coincedently he saw this scene and a look of surprise flashed across his face.
As if he saw his savior, Chef Wan pointed to him and said, “It’s this young man, the food was made by this young man.”
You XiaoMo looked to the chicken cubes by the oven and the unfinished food on the table, combining that with what Chef Wan said, the situation began to take form. By the looks of it, these three were the ones that the little assistant was talking about the day before?
Yang Ding looked suspiciously at You XiaoMo. Looking back, he they did see this boy carrying a tray of pastries back to his room and the two times they smelled something nice also came from his room. Therefore what Chef Wan said may very well be the case.
“Hey, you, the food you ate, you made them?” Yang Ding said unwelcomingly as he looked at You XiaoMo from head to toe. They couldn’t tell You XiaoMo’s level but with the knowledge they had, they already placed You XiaoMo into the ‘non-threatening’ category.
You XiaoMo only bothered to answer him after he dropped the plates in the sink, “Is there a problem?”
Yang Ding got out two spirit gems and threw them on the table. With arrogance he said, “Make us something good and the two spirit gems are yours.”
You XiaoMo glanced at the two spirit gems on the table and felt that this person’s actions were beyond belief. Not mentioning whether he wanted to cook for them or not, that demanding attitude of theirs really pissed him off. Moreover, they wanted to hire him with only two spirit gems? Keep dreaming!
“Sorry, I don’t want to!” You XiaoMo rejected instantly.
Thinking he thought two spirit gems was too little, Yang Ding added three more and said with impatience, “I’ll give you five, now that should be enough.”
You XiaoMo smiled without showing his teeth, “I don’t think you understand, what I said was, I don’t want to. I’m unwilling, do you understand now?”
The expression on their faces changed.
With a cold laugh, Zhao Er said, “You little brat, throwing away the face we gave you, refusing the toast only to drink the forfeit, the fact that we are letting you cook is thinking highly of you.”
“I need you guys to think highly of me? Who the hell are you?!” You XiaoMo was not the same You XiaoMo from his previous life, his temper grew.
But this simply provoked the group of three conceited people. The first one to make a move was Zhao Er as he his right hand slammed against the table. Before the table broke however, he disappeared.
When he appeared, he was in front of You XiaoMo.
You XiaoMo acknowledged that these three were all formidable. Take Zhao Er for example, he was a human practitioner at the one star Emperor level, not low by human standards. If he was in a small place, his level was enough to be king or ruler.
No wonder they were so arrogant, there was a reason to their madness.
However, this time they were destined to fail. As Zhao Er’s sillouhette appeared, You XiaoMo landed a kick, on his balls, without hesitation. The person didn’t fly away and instead kneeled with force in front of You XiaoMo. With so much force, he made two indents in the floor.
With a cry of pain, Zhao Er covered his balls with a painfully twisted expression. Fuck, they had shattered!
Yang Ding and Wang Hua were completely dumbfounded and it took them a few seconds before they came to their senses. The two looked at each other and both could see the anger as well as killing intent flaring. They thought that You XiaoMo had only been able to kick Zhao Er by accident. The two came together, from right and left, in a clear as day fashion to make a killing blow on You XiaoMo.
One three star and one two star Emperor level practitioner.
Even if there were ten more, You XiaoMo could’ve still handled it with ease.
Freaked out, Chef Wan and his little assistant cuddled together as worry grew in their hearts. With alot of experts fighting on their boat, by the looks of things, they could easily sink the ship.
However, what You XiaoMo did after told them clear as day that their worry was unfounded. If he couldn’t even beat Yang Ding and Wang Hua, Ling Xiao would mock the hell out of him, he was definitely not giving him the chance.
You XiaoMo’s punch landed squarely on Yang Ding’s nose, it was so fast that Yang Ding couldn’t even capture his movements. Before he could react, due to the pain, You XiaoMo pulled him by his shirt and instantly swapped positions. By the time Wang Hua realized this, there was nothing he could’ve done and his vicious kick, using ninety percent of his force…landed directly on Yang Ding’s bottom.
“Ah!”
According to some, Yang Ding’s cry could be heard from the other merchant ships.
