Gourmet of Another World

“What? Did you just say Old Chi?”

Chi Si immediately squinted her charming eyes and looked at Lin Damei intently, her slender fingers lightly touching the table.

“Are you that jealous of my beauty? For you to actually call me old?”

Chi Si then looked at Bu Fang. It was the first time she saw him as he wasn’t present when she went to see the Empress in the palace.

Chi Si lightly said, “Is this the man who made a bet with the Empress? As long as he’s able to satisfy her at the imperial feast, he’d be permitted to go to God Vanishing Mountain?”

Her voice contained the charm of a mature woman.

When Chi Si finished talking, many people were sent into an uproar. Everyone’s eyes once again fell on Bu Fang, seeing him now as an even more special existence.

Lin Damei grabbed the wine jar and shook it impatiently. “Chi Si, you have yet to answer my question.”

Chi Si held her chin in one hand as she looked at Lin Damei. “Do you take me for a fool? I, as a general, can afford to buy food worth one hundred thousand Nether crystals. Being a great general, you should be able to do the same, right?”

“If you’re not willing to lend, then don’t. I don’t get why you’re still acting like this…” Lin Damei rolled his eyes. After that, she turned her head, her gaze falling onto Chef Jing Yuan.

Jing Yuan seemed to be in a daze. She didn’t seem to understand why Lin Damei was looking at her.

Her attention returned to the wine jar in Bu Fang’s hands. As the aroma of the wine wrapped around her nose, realization seemed to have surfaced on her face.

“Yellow Spring Grass… Flower of Helplessness… This jar of wine unexpectedly used such rare ingredients,” Jing Yuan murmured.

Bu Fang wouldn’t have thought that the chef, from just smelling the aroma of the wine, would actually be able to recognize its main ingredients.

“Chef Jing Yuan, don’t look at the wine first. Look at your own wine!”

Lin Damei raised another wine jar and shook it in front of the chef, attracting the latter’s gaze.

Confused, Jing Yuan asked, “Hm? What’s up?”

Lin Damei stared hard at Chef Jing Yuan and said, “Chef, this man said that this wine wasn’t completely made by you… He said that the wine here is three parts yours and seven parts your apprentice’s.”

Meanwhile, Chi Si held the knife and fork and began to cut the Vermillion Fruit Wine Dragon Chops elegantly, releasing a really strong aroma of the meat.

She cut a piece of meat, revealing that the outer layer of meat to be dark brown, while the inner layer of meat was lighter in color and looked really tender.

Chi Si, satisfied, picked up a piece of meat and brought it to her mouth.

When her luscious red lips bit down, juices seeped out and overflowed from the gap in her lips. She gasped quietly, then stuck her tongue out to lick the corners of her mouth.

Chi Si made the dish look even more tempting.

Bu Fang took a look and felt a sense of awe at how masterfully used the flame was for the dragon steak. The technique had a near-perfect grasp of heat, such that the aroma of the dragon meat would only be released once it was cut.

Bu Fang then turned towards Chef Jing Yuan, who was being questioned by Lin Damei.

What he was seeing wasn’t the powerful and mighty chef that he had imagined. Instead, the chef of Spring Wind Pavilion, the one in charge of the imperial feasts… seemed to be a rather introverted little lady.

The chef seemed to be perspiring under Lin Damei’s questioning.

Finally, Jing Yuan opened her mouth and said, “Don’t worry, General Lin. I’ll try this wine… If what you said is true, then I’ll compensate for it.”

Bu Fang frowned.

It seems that in this matter, Chef Jing Yuan herself was unclear about the truth. In that case, this was most likely the doing of the boss of Spring Wind Pavilion.

The boss of Spring Wind Pavilion was, after all, a businessman. Such being the case, doing certain things that would allow them to profit more wouldn’t be that strange.

Playing such small tricks… When it came to business, it would be considered the normal course of action.

Lin Damei became silent as she continued to look at the Chef Jing Yuan.

When Chef Jing Yuan drank a cup of wine, her brows furrowed in an instant. As the one who made the wine, she found that she could only taste a mouthful worth of the wine she had made. As for the rest, it wasn’t hers.

“I apologize for my negligence…” Chef Jing Yuan sighed. She was no fool, she understood what had happened right then and there.

When Lin Damei saw the chef’s expression, her face froze.

So what Bu Fang said was actually true?

She was drinking tampered wine this entire time?

She looked at Bu Fang in disbelief. She didn’t think that he would’ve been able to figure that out after just a sip.

“You…” Lin Damei wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what to say.

Bu Fang said, “Told you so… Now, don’t forget to treat me.”

Chef Jing Yuan suddenly looked at Bu Fang and asked nervously, “Can I have a taste of that wine?”

Faced with a man, she was truly quite nervous.

Now that Chef Jing Yuan was right in front of him, Bu Fang was no longer in a hurry to do anything. He pulled a chair for himself and sat down opposite Chi Si.

Chi Si, who was gracefully eating delicious food, raised her brows and looked at Bu Fang.

Bu Fang looked at Chef Jing Yuan and said, “I made a bet with your Empress. She said that as long as I can satisfy her during the imperial feast, she would take me to God Vanishing Mountain. I have something important to do there, so I’d like to know… How would I be permitted to cook at the imperial feast?”

He took out a blue-and-white porcelain cup, poured the wine, and flicked his finger, making it float towards Chef Jing Yuan.

Chef Jing Yuan, dressed in a neat chef outfit, calmly took a step backward. She caught the cup that Bu Fang sent towards her, and with both hands, drank the Yellow Spring Helplessness Wine.

The liquor flowed down her throat, causing her face to redden a bit.

Instead of answering Bu Fang, she just stood there quietly, seemingly relishing the taste of the wine.

After a long time, her eyes were trembling violently as she let out a sigh. “Good wine… It’s really good wine.”

She now looked at Bu Fang with a complicated look in her eyes.

The chef had nothing to hide, so she explained, “The process to become qualified to cook at the imperial feast is rather simple. You just have to beat me at cooking. Goddess City has always screened the imperial feast’s chefs through a competition, and I’ve always won. So only by making me admit defeat will you be qualified to cook for the Empress. However, although the dishes to be served will be your choice, I will still have to cook with you. All of them need to have my approval first to assure everyone that you did not tamper with the food.”

Bu Fang was surprised to actually hear an answer. He had thought that the chef of Spring Wind Pavilion would be reluctant to tell him how to get the qualifications to cook for the imperial feast.

He seriously didn’t expect the other party to be so straightforward. But when you think of the other person’s previous embarrassment when asked by Lin Damei, he will do the same.

Chef Jing Yuan was a lady who didn’t overthink things, nor was she someone shrewd.

Chi Si watched the exchange between Chef Jing Yuan and Bu Fang with great interest.

Is there going to be a cooking competition between these two?

Interesting. Chef Jing Yuan can be considered the best chef of Goddess City, yet this man seems to actually want to challenge her to a cooking competition?

Also, this man seems to be planning to go to God Vanishing Mountain. That place is known to be a forbidden area, and those who go in pretty much never return…

Is he crazy?

Chef Jing Yuan finished drinking the wine and handed back the cup with both hands. “Here’s your cup.”

Bu Fang took the cup, looked at her, and said, “A cooking competition? Alright… When are we going to have it?”

Is this man really going to compare cooking skills with Jing Yuan?

Chef Jing Yuan solemnly replied, “Tomorrow… Your wine has made me believe that your cooking isn’t of a low level, so… I want to carefully prepare.”

Bu Fang nodded. “Alright, tomorrow, I’ll come to Spring Wind Pavilion. Then… that will be when you and I shall compare our skills.”

Lin Damei, who was between the two chefs, could only listen to them as they speak one sentence at a time. She couldn’t help but feel a little confused.

After a short while, she had come to understand the situation and said excitedly, “Then it’s settled. It just so happens that this general is free tomorrow, so I shall be a judge in your little cooking competition!”

Lifting her fork with a piece of dragon meat on it, Chi Si said, “Well… This general is also free tomorrow.”

Suddenly, a loud shout could be heard.

“Compete? Compete in what?!”

An old lady could be seen walking towards them.

Bu Fang’s eyes involuntarily looked towards the old lady.

The old lady’s voice was full of anger. In an instant, she appeared in front of Bu Fang and thundered, “Comparing cooking skills? Is anyone even qualified to compete with the chef of Spring Wind Pavilion? What do they think my Spring Wind Pavilion’s chef is?!”

Chef Jing Yuan seemed to become uneasy. Her face reddened as she took a step back and said, “Madam Jin.”

The old lady glanced at her and exclaimed, “You little girl. When did you learn to do things without my permission?”

“Oh my, Madam Jin is truly powerful…” Chi Si held the knife and fork in her hand and looked at the old lady with a hint of coldness in her gaze.

The old lady turned towards Chi Si with a smile.

“General Chi Si, I do sincerely wish that the dishes here are still to your taste. Jing Yuan may be insensitive sometimes. I’ll keep in mind to take better care of her.”

When the old lady finished speaking, her eyes then fell on Bu Fang and scolded him. “A man? Hmm… Do you think that just because you’re a man, you can compare your cooking skills with the chefs of Spring Wind Pavilion? You want to cook at the imperial feast? Who do you think you are?!”

The old lady is the boss of Spring Wind Pavilion. It seems that she believed that it wouldn’t be favorable for Jing Yuan to have a cooking competition with this man.

Chef Jing Yuan said, “Madam Jin, if his cooking is truly better than mine… then it would only be proper for him to be the one to cook for the imperial feast…”

“Better than you? Better than a fart! Do you really think that this man is capable of cooking for the imperial feast?” the old lady retorted.

Jing Yuan was shocked. She then turned silent and stepped back, her eyes watering and turning red.

Lin Damei instantly became incensed. She gnashed her teeth and said, “You old lady, were you the one that instructed people to tamper with the wine? The nine thousand Nether crystals that I worked hard for were exchanged for a fake?”

The old lady looked questioningly at Lin Damei and asked, “Is that what this man said? So, now, you just believe whatever this man tells you?”

The old lady raised her voice. “I suspect that the wine was tampered with by this man! I suspect General Lin has arranged a scheme with this man to frame my Spring Wind Pavilion!”

Jing Yuan’s face flushed red at the shame of having such a shameless boss.

Lin Damei looked like she was about to lash out at any second.

Chi Si placed down the cutlery she was holding, as though she had lost her appetite.

Bu Fang looked on coldly.

The old lady didn’t want him to compare his skills with Jing Yuan as she only cared about Jing Yuan’s reputation. If she lost, the business of Spring Wind Pavilion would be greatly affected.

Moreover, the dishes at the imperial feast, which had always been cooked by Jing Yuan, had been their way to boost their reputation.

If they lost the cooking competition and lost the right to cook for the imperial feast, then the price they paid was so high that it just wasn’t worth the risk.

Therefore, the old lady would absolutely never agree to the cooking competition that Bu Fang and Jing Yuan wanted to have.

The old lady glared at Bu Fang. “Don’t even think about holding a cooking competition, let alone even think about getting the right to cook for the imperial feast. The imperial feast will always be the responsibility of a chef of my Spring Wind Pavilion. Scram! Leave, or I’ll call the guards over to kick you out!”

The old woman’s voice echoed throughout the entire Spring Festival Pavilion. As she reached that last sentence, she even raised her hand up and pointed a shaking finger at Bu Fang’s nose.

Everyone was dead silent.

Chi Si and Lin Damei coldly looked at Madam Jin.

Jing Yuan seemed to be about to burst into tears.

Bu Fang looked at the old lady calmly. He then slowly stood up and put away the jar of wine.

Taking off his black cloak, he revealed the red-and-white Vermillion Robe.

Bu Fang then slowly breathed out.

A moment later…

Golden light burst out.

One, two, three…

Seven gold balls appeared around his body, blooming brilliantly.

Bu Fang raised his fingers and tightly held a golden meatball, his eyes frighteningly cold as he spoke, “Old lady… are you seriously telling me to scram?”