Kitchen Xiuzhen Chapter 17

The aroma engulfed everyone, and seemed to expand their pores [1].

Everyone was attracted by Luo Xiu’s dish.

The mouth-watering aroma seems to tease their deepest taste buds.

“When… when will it be ready for consumption?"

Manager Chen was asking Luo Xiu, but his gaze was transfixed on the plate of food that Luo Xiu had just cooked.

This aroma was too tempting and it is taking all his willpower just to wait until it is ready.

The alluring aroma of the Deeson Fruit constantly whiffed around him, as if trying to enter all the pores in his body.

Li Yuan, seem to have forgotten the fact that he and Luo Xiu were compet.i.tors. His eyes were gazing at the steaming Deeson Fruit threads.

The drool that was dripping from his mouth told him that he wanted to eat this dish, and wanted it very badly.

“This… what the h.e.l.l is this?”

He couldn’t help but look up at Luo Xiu. The next second … he reacted instantly.

Luo Xiu is his enemy!

How can you ask the enemy?

"Stirred Fry Deeson Fruit Threads! Why? You want to try it?"

Luo Xiu smiled, but Lee Yuan bit his teeth and grunted: “I do not want it!”

"Yo, your mouth may say no, but your body is quite honest!" Luo Xiu teased Li Yuan.

Li Yuan was about to refute this, but Luo Xiu did not pay him any further attention. He indicated to his sister that the dish is ready, and could be served to Manager Chen.

"Ready?"

Manager Chen was grinning when he looked at Luo Xiu. He had completely forgotten to try the Phoenix Tail [Ban Zi] Egg Custard that Li Yuan had made.

This dish that Luo Xiu had cooked, its smell had suppressed the aroma of the egg custard.

Moreover, the advantage of stir-fry is that the scent of the food is exceedingly overflowing… Unless a food is stewed for a long time, it is totally impossible to match the aroma of stir-fry.

"First, let's examine the Spiritual energy of this dish?"

Luo Xiu stopped Manager Chen, who was ready to taste this dish. Frankly speaking, Manager Chen really could not wait to try it.

That aroma is too provoking - it seduces, lures, tempts and makes you lose sight of everything but the food.

n.o.body could withstand the temptation of this alluring aroma.

However, when Luo Xiu said this, Manager Chen was suddenly left speechless and did not know what to do…. his spiritual stone had become a rock and could not be used to evaluate this dish.

"Use mine!"

Li Yuan gritted his teeth and pulled out a better quality spiritual stone from his pocket.

This spiritual stone looks better than the one that Manager Chen had. The surface has a white colour jade-like texture. It is as white the Weiqi white chess pieces that Luo Xiu used to own.

"Medium level Spiritual stone!"

Manager Chen couldn’t help but exclaim, and his pupils shrank instantly.

This piece is worth as much as his income for one year.

A medium level spiritual stone is worth 10 pieces of the lower grade spiritual stone.

This spiritual stone may be used as a currency in addition to being used to judge the spiritual energy of a dish.

Because it contains spiritual energy, it can be used to cultivate and restore the spiritual power in the body. Therefore, spiritual stones are also accepted as a currency in the Country of Fine Cuisine.

Of course, Luo Xiu does not have any spiritual stone. He does not even have any low-grade spiritual stones, let alone the medium grade ones.

The cashier in Nine Gates Restaurant does not have any low-grade spiritual stones, and only have spiritual crystals.

1 low-grade spiritual stone is worth 1000 spiritual crystals.

Therefore, when Li Yan took out a medium grade spiritual stone, all the people in the restaurant were a little shocked. This is like the son of a rich man casually throwing out 1 million gold pieces.

Li Yuan ignored the looks on everyone's eyes, and quickly placed his medium grade spiritual stone above the dish that Luo Xiu had just cooked.

He wants to see what grade Luo Xiu's dish is.

He had no confidence.

But…. the spiritual stone did not even emit a single ray of light.

"Yi? There is no reaction!"

Li Yuan was stunned. Luo Xiu was also stunned.

This is not scientific.

Why is there no reaction?

Manager Chen also felt disappointed. This dish that had such a heavenly scent is not even a [Fine Food]?

"Hahahaha…."

In the next second, Li Yuan just stood there laughing. He looked at Luo Xiu, and sneered, "Luo Xiu, the food you cooked is not even a [Fine Food] grade!"

After all, if the spiritual stone had no reaction, this means that the dish does not contain any spiritual energy.

Just when Li Yuan was ecstatic and felt that he had won the chef battle, Luo Xiu noticed a ray of light emitting from Li Yuan's medium grade spiritual stone flashed by.

"Really?"

Suddenly Luo Xiu broke out in peas of laughter.

His behaviour is weird to the extreme.

"This …. This is…"

Manager Chen eyes were so wide that they looked as if they would almost burst out of the eye sockets. Everybody was looking at Li Yuan’s hands in a daze, and then their expression turned rigid. They were stoned.

"Yi"

Li Yuan looked back. His instinct told him that there is something going on with Luo Xiu's dish.

'Sha!'

At the exact moment when he turned his head, a bright flash of light shone in his eyes. It was so bright that he almost became blind.

Rays of bright light, like the morning sun, suddenly burst out from the medium spirit stone.

The intensity of these rays of light was so bright that Li Yuan's dish seems to be inferior in comparison.

The light emitting from the spiritual stone when evaluating Li Yuan's dish and Luo Xiu's dish could be described as the difference between fireflies and the light of the sun.

The light continued to increase in intensity. Manager Chen just looked on, dumbfounded. Suddenly he shouted, "[Delicious Food]!"

[Delicious Food] is a category higher than [Fine Food]. It could make a spiritual stone continuously emit light.

The spiritual energy contained within [Delicious Food] grade is able to harmonise with the spiritual energy contained within the stone.

[Great Chef]!

This means that Luo Xiu is a [Great Chef]!

Everyone looked at Luo Xiu in a daze. They are completed stupefied.

At this moment, the light emitting from Li Yuan's spiritual stone suddenly dimmed.

"Oh?"

Luo Xiu was wondering what had happened. Manager Chen immediately sighed and explained, "Aiya! Just a little bit more. Just a bit more, and it would be cla.s.sified as [Delicious Food]!"

"Just a bit more!"

Manager Chen looked at Luo Xiu. In his eyes, you could see surprise and delight.

This young man standing before him had surprised him again and again.

He almost cooked a dish that could be considered [Delicious Food], and from the intensity of the light, the dish that he made is very close to [Delicious Food].

That means that this dish is a [Fine Food], and is at the apex of the [Fine Food], a perfect [Fine Food]. Of course, it is so much better than Li Yuan's flawless [Fine Food] by miles.

Everyone could tell that Luo Xiu's dish was superior in terms of spiritual energy.

The difference between them is like the distance between heaven and earth.

4 rays of light could not be compared to unlimited rays of light.

Luo Xiu shook his head and sighed in his heart, "As I expected, using only one ingredient and having only salt to season it, could not create a dish that is anywhere near my current standard. This dish, could not even be considered as half my usual standard, and it could almost be considered a [Delicious] food."

"If I have enough ingredients and spices, I should be able to create something much better than [Delicious Food]. That is [Spiritual Food]!"

Luo Xiu thought, and his eyes suddenly look as sharp as ever.

This means that he was right all along. His skills in modern cooking are enough for him to defeat most of the chefs in Snow Moon City.

"Next, I will need to create new seasonings and new dishes!” Luo Xiu thought.

Suddenly Luo Xiu saw something strange…. Li Yuan’s spirit stone is turning black at a very rapid pace.

“Ah… my spiritual stone!”

Li Yuan was screaming in rage. He was so furious that he could almost spout fire from his eyes.

The food that he had made is inferior to Luo Xiu, and he did not think that this restaurant is so strange, and could absorb all the spiritual energy in his spiritual stone.

[1] 让他们的毛孔都仿佛瞬间扩张了起 - seemed to expand their pores. This sentence sounds very funny to me. I still do not understand what the author meant by this sentence.