Looking at the restaurant owner's confident face, clearly expecting a reaction from his guests—
Yukima Azuma imdiately knew, this guy was definitely about to get wrecked by his own mapo tofu.
Sora Ginko scooped a spoonful of mapo tofu.
She gently blew on it a few tis, then brought it to her mouth.
"૮₍ ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა nom-nom~
The mont it entered, the girl's eyebrows furrowed tightly.
Without saying a word—
But to the middle-aged owner, that expression hurt more than any words ever could.
"Um… may I ask… is there sothing wrong with the dish?"
(｡Ó﹏Ò｡)
Clinging to a sliver of hope, the owner spoke up.
But Sora Ginko rely frowned slightly and shook her head.
And with that, the last bit of hope in the owner crumbled into pieces.
ヽ༼ಥ_ಥ༽ﾉ
His Chinese restaurant had only just opened not long ago.
He had even gone all the way to China to learn in person.
All he wanted was to create the most authentic Chinese cuisine possible.
Because he had studied so thoroughly, he was extrely confident in his flavor.
And yet, right after opening the restaurant, he'd already gotten such a bad reaction.
"If it doesn't suit your taste, I'll refund you both,"
(ಡ᎔ಡ)
he offered.
At this point, the owner was already debating whether he should just clean up, shut the place down, go into seclusion and train for another 30 years before trying again.
Yukima Azuma also picked up a spoon and tried a bite.
All in all, the flavor was very good.
The numbing spiciness brought out the soft, fresh texture of the tofu.
It didn't include any of the bizarre ingredients sotis added in Japanese-style adaptations.
At least there were no strawberries.
Overall, this mapo tofu could definitely be rated Level 7 Cooking Skills.
Thinking about it again, the reason Sora Ginko frowned was probably because it was too spicy.
Authentic mapo tofu is like that.
But generally speaking, Japanese palates don't handle strong spiciness well.
A lot of dishes that made it over here had their spiciness toned down to so degree.
"No need to refund, it's delicious,"
Yukima said.
"Owner-san, maybe you could consider adjusting the heat a bit."
"After all, most people in Japan can't really handle too much spice."
"Food should adapt to local tastes anyway—it's ant to be eaten, right?"
Yukima Azuma knew this because once, when he cooked, he'd accidentally made Eriri cry from the heat.
That was back when he was still just starting to level up his cooking skills.
Hearing Yukima Azuma's advice,
The middle-aged owner looked like he'd just had a sudden revelation.
"Naruhodo! I get it now! I get it!"
w(°o°)w
Muttering those words,
The owner bowed slightly to Yukima Azuma.
Then imdiately dashed back into the kitchen.
With no one else around anymore,
Sora Ginko finally dropped her composure—she stuck out her tiny pink tongue, her eyes welling up with tears from the spiciness.
Yukima Azuma handed her a cold can of soda.
Watching Sora Ginko sip it like a kitten lapping up water,
Yukima Azuma couldn't help but smile.
"You're… still laughing!"
( ｡ •̀ ⤙ •́ ｡ )
Sora Ginko grumbled through half-mumbled words, throwing a mild accusation at Yukima Azuma.
He imdiately bowed in apology:
"I didn't expect it to be that spicy either."
It had been ntioned before—Sora Ginko's palate had developed back when she was hospitalized as a child.
The hospital food had always been bland.
So she beca especially attached to things like mayonnaise.
And because of that, she couldn't handle spicy foods at all.
Seeing Yukima Azuma sincerely apologize,
Sora Ginko let out a little hmph, feigning haughtiness.
Then, the owner brought out a few more of the house specialties.
So of them weren't even dishes Yukima Azuma had ordered.
When he asked, the owner simply said they were on the house.
The following dishes had their spiciness well-controlled.
Even Sora Ginko could taste a little before stopping.
When it was ti to pay and leave,
The owner flatly refused to take any money.
...
After Yukima Azuma and Sora Ginko had left—
This newly opened restaurant, which originally didn't have many custors, sank back into silence.
But soon, a woman stepped inside.
If Yukima Azuma were still here,
he would've recognized that this woman was none other than the cooking teacher from Toyogasaki.
"One order of mapo tofu,"
she said softly after sitting down.
The middle-aged owner nodded slightly, as though facing a formidable enemy, and headed into the kitchen.
Not long after, a freshly made plate of adjusted mapo tofu was brought out.
The cooking teacher first carefully examined the appearance of the dish.
Then she slled the aroma.
Finally, she scooped a small spoonful and brought it to her mouth.
She closed her eyes and chewed slowly, savoring it.
When she opened her eyes, there was a complicated expression on her face.
"Senpai, you've improved."
Upon hearing that, the tension on the middle-aged owner's face lted into a smile.
(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)
The cooking teacher took a few more bites.
Then she set her spoon down and fell into deep thought.
"Back then, when sensei opposed you going to China for training, you stubbornly went anyway."
"Now, it seems reality has proven that you really have taken another step forward on the path of culinary arts."
"Maybe… I should go train in China too?"
The two of them had studied under the sa Master.
But their personalities were different.
The owner—senpai—was of average talent but had a burning passion for cooking.
Whereas the cooking teacher—kouhai—was exceptionally gifted, yet when her skills hit a bottleneck, she began looking elsewhere for direction.
That was… until the first half of this year.
When a student stirred sothing inside her—a nerve only a true chef would understand.
Since then, the cooking teacher had started feeling a desire to push forward again.
Now, seeing her senpai who, despite their Master's objections, had gone to China and clearly improved—
She couldn't help but consider following that path as well.
But the middle-aged owner shook his head.
"To be honest, sensei was right. I shouldn't have gone to China."
"Though China has a long culinary tradition, finding a true master to learn from was far too difficult."
"All I really learned was how to cook dishes—I never touched the true essence."
"The reason I've improved now… is because a young man gave just two small pieces of advice earlier."
As he recalled the youthful figure of Yukima Azuma,
The middle-aged owner couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Hearing this, the cooking teacher felt a jolt in her chest.
A young man?
But the middle-aged owner was completely oblivious to the subtle change in his kouhai's expression.
He simply continued musing beside her:
"That young man's cooking skills… might honestly be better than mine."
"A once-in-a-millennium culinary genius."
"If sensei were to see him, he'd probably go wild with joy."
"Oh right—didn't I hear sensei recently took on a new apprentice? What's their like?"
"Kouhai-kun? Are you even listening to ? Ah, the snow's started. I need to go bring the signboard in."
(note: umm, after adding the emojis, i feel like i accidentally cooked a middle aged uncle into an emotional young girl)
...
Outside the glass window, white snow danced and fluttered.
Even in Japan, snowfalls like this were rare.
The phrase "snow falling like goose feathers" may be old-fashioned,
but it painted a vivid picture.
On the streets of Chiba,
White snowflakes had already gathered on the heads of Sora Ginko and Yukima Azuma.
Because Sora Ginko had silver hair, it wasn't very noticeable.
But Yukima Azuma looked as if he'd aged several decades.
Sora Ginko stood on tiptoes and reached up to brush the snow from Yukima Azuma's hair.
But more snow quickly landed again.
The snowfall was only getting heavier.
Watching Sora Ginko seriously battling the snow,
Yukima Azuma chuckled softly, then suddenly pulled the girl in front of him into his arms.
"W-what are you doing?!"
(💢,,>﹏
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