Capítulo 35: Chapter 35: Tea Art
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
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An Yilun was also quite troubled.
As a hardcore otaku and consumer pig, unlike other otaku, he didn't spend the entire holiday cooped up at home.
In fact, today he canceled his holiday part-time job, and from Akihabara to Ueno Station, he almost wasted the entire morning just standing around.
Listening to a Chinese woman explain to the crowd in English, An Yilun, despite his average grades in school, managed to understand that this Chinese Restaurant would only open for business at 6 p.m.!
"It's all because of that guy Eriri..."
He slightly lowered his head, adjusted his black glasses frame, and even though he was emotionally awkward, his eyes revealed a hint of annoyance.
"Have you arrived yet?" He took out his phone and sent a text message.
Beep beep. There was an immediate reply from the other side, "Sorry, I just finished a doujinshi, and I'm on the train now."
Sigh!
With a long sigh, An Yilun had absolutely no way to deal with his blonde, twin-tailed "childhood friend."
Actually, they had barely communicated for the past seven years, from elementary school, junior high, to Fukuzaki High School. When they met at school, they were like strangers, at most nodding to each other in greeting.
However, their relationship had been steadily improving, starting five years ago when they began greeting each other with short exchanges of two or three sentences. Before high school, they began to lend each other anime and games. An Yilun had regretted losing a sincere otaku friend and was striving to mend their relationship.
It was rather strange, though. Despite being a deep-rooted otaku, this "childhood friend" suddenly contacted him through email last night, inviting him to Ueno Station's old shopping street for Chinese cuisine on a whim.
An Yilun didn't understand, keeping his part-time job in mind, and planned to decline. However, a gradually forming game plan in his mind made it impossible for him to refuse the "childhood friend's" invitation.
After all, among his peers, that blonde, twin-tailed girl was a strong artist, and she also had another hidden identity – a renowned 18+ manga artist known for her delicate and gorgeous art style in the ACG community, referred to by otakus as "Teacher Bai Muying."
The game plan required an artist. An Yilun was eager to restore their relationship to its former harmony, so he canceled his job, took the train early in the morning, and then was left hanging like this all morning!
Lifting his head, An Yilun noticed that the crowd had dispersed, leaving only six people including himself waiting.
Three of them were young girls, full of youthful energy, probably in their third year of junior high to first year of high school.
The other two were a mysterious young couple wearing masks.
The beautiful Chinese woman continued to greet customers in English and invited them into the store.
Whew.
Upon entering the store, An Yilun was surprised to find the environment quite elegant, filled with a classical Chinese atmosphere, unlike Japanese style. He found a seat and sat down alone.
The young couple, after sitting, cautiously looked around and then removed their masks. An Yilun glanced over and vaguely felt that the couple looked familiar, but he couldn't recall who they were at the moment. He often visited nicovideo but was focused on animation and games, rarely exploring the dance and music areas; otherwise, he would have definitely recognized Ren Xue and Shuigu Jun.
As for the three young girls...
An Yilun utilized his observational skills and noticed that two of the girls were chatting excitedly since entering the store, while the other kept her head down, her beautiful face showing nervousness and unease.
Meanwhile, put aside the customers in the store, Xia Yu, after washing up, was suddenly blocked at the door by Mu Xiaoyue.
"Have you thought about properly running this place?" Mu Xiaoyue gritted her teeth.
She learned from Xia Yu that the little restaurant was currently managed solely by him, as both the manager and the chef, and his only relative had rushed back to China. Mu Xiaoyue was genuinely concerned, as her stomach had been captured.
"What do you think?" Xia Yu was speechless.
"Then what's with this service attitude!" Mu Xiaoyue was annoyed. "In the IGO restaurant rating assessment, service is also a crucial scoring item... Are you planning to let the restaurant stay at one star forever?"
"How could it be!"
"Then why aren't you going out to properly receive the guests?" Mu Xiaoyue glared.
Xia Yu didn't mind Mu Xiaoyue's overbearing attitude; instead, he felt a warm current in his heart.
The manager and chef should do what they're supposed to do, and entertaining guests is for the attendants. But the small restaurant hadn't hired staff yet. Xia Yu tilted his head slightly, observing the delicate Chinese lady in front of him, and with a smile on his lips, said, "I plan to hire you and Sister An Ya with a dish!"
"Huh?" Mu Xiaoyue was astonished.
Not giving Mu Xiaoyue the chance to explode, Xia Yu quickly added, "It's the same glowing dish as last time, but it won't be magical mapo tofu; instead, it'll be another vegetarian dish."
Regardless of the reasons, seeing the unexpected arrival of a large number of guests today, Xia Yu realized that the system's [First Show of Talent] task would be completed within these one or two days.
The task required him to serve 30 guests within seven days and receive positive feedback from them. In other words, the dish had to satisfy the customers.
So, isn't the blue Qingjiang Vegetable Stir-Fry recipe rewarded by this task practically within my grasp?
Upon hearing this, Mu Xiaoyue's eyes lit up.
"But, we're going back to China in a few days, the flight is already booked..." Mu Xiaoyue said reluctantly.
"That's okay, just help me cover for now. I'll quickly hire one or two attendants in the next few days. You can tour Tokyo during the day – it won't affect that – just arrive by 6 p.m. and leave at midnight." Xia Yu smiled, his hands in his pockets. "How about that? The glowing dish is a VIP treat in my vision. If I were to open a VIP dining area in the future, a dish like this would probably cost 100,000 yen a plate."
"No problem!" Mu Xiaoyue agreed without hesitation, filled with excitement and expectation in her heart. Ten thousand yen a dish of gourmet cuisine, I've hit the jackpot!
Having tasted magical mapo tofu once, Mu Xiaoyue found this price extremely reasonable.
"All right, then let's make some tea for the waiting customers first—"
Xia Yu gestured for Mu Xiaoyue to follow him into the kitchen.
Mu Xiaoyue noticed him drawing water from an old ceramic tank, filling two metal kettles, and placing them on the gas stove to boil.
"Aren't you using purified water or tap water?" She blinked.
Japanese tap water, also known as mizu, is potable. Some major attractions and supermarkets even offer free chilled tap water, which is quite convenient.
"Water for tea is very particular. Japanese mizu, while drinkable, doesn't compare to some spring water, at least not for tea brewing."
Xia Yu answered unhurriedly. While waiting, both pots of water boiled. He opened the kettles to let the steam escape, then took the tea set from a cupboard and invited Mu Xiaoyue to help with the cleaning.
Japanese people mainly drink green tea, so afterward, he took out a bag of green tea. At this point, the water temperature in the pots had dropped to 70-80°C, which was ideal for brewing tea. Boiling water would actually ruin the flavor of green tea.
Mu Xiaoyue watched silently from the side, feeling a bit frustrated at his expert tea-making skills.
Tea art!
How does this guy know everything? Comparing myself to him is truly vexing.
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