Chapter 28: Kitchen God Space
After placing the ingredient order through the IGO app, Xia Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. The rest would depend on his skills.
"Today's menu will be a mix of Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine," he muttered, jotting down the items in his notebook.
Sichuan dishes:
Fish-Fragrant Shredded Pork
Mapo Tofu
Spicy and Sour Shredded Potatoes
Cantonese dishes:
Shacha Beef
Sweet and Sour Pork with Pineapple
Claypot Tofu with Fermented Bean Curd
Six dishes total—each one familiar to Xia Yu. If he put in a bit of effort, he could reliably earn a passing score of 60 from the God of Cooking System.
As for tomorrow's menu, he planned to repeat today's three signature dishes while introducing three new Shandong dishes: Braised Prawns, Nine-Turn Intestines, and Seafood Tofu Deluxe.
Looking closely, one might notice a recurring ingredient—tofu.
This wasn't a coincidence. It was Xia Yu's only practical move.
Ever since studying and refining his "Magic Mapo Tofu," he had nearly maxed out his tofu-handling techniques. While he wouldn't claim to be invincible, his confidence when it came to tofu dishes was through the roof.
However, the two Shandong dishes—braised prawns and large intestines—were outside his comfort zone. Occasionally he could hit a passing score, but consistency was still elusive.
He needed practice, lots of it.
With that in mind, Xia Yu went to rummage through the kitchen for ingredients… and came up short.
The fridge was nearly empty.
Not a single shrimp in sight. No pork intestines either. Even the secondary vegetables and side ingredients had been completely depleted.
I just placed an order, Xia Yu thought bitterly, but it won't arrive until tomorrow. There's no way I can practice anything until then.
What made it worse was the cold truth he realized next.
Practicing with store-bought ingredients? Not sustainable.
When his grandfather was still around, the old man always stocked the fridge without a word. Xia Yu had never needed to think twice. He just cooked, experimented, and learned freely.
But now...
Now every failed dish burned through precious resources. Just the attempts at "Magic Mapo Tofu" over the last week had filled baskets with rejects. The tofu consumption alone was absurd.
In the beginning, he soaked 5kg of soybeans daily. By the third day, that jumped to 10kg. By the fifth, 15kg. He'd made enough tofu to open a specialty shop.
It was wasteful, and worse—expensive.
That was the cruel truth behind becoming a chef: if you didn't attend a place like Totsuki, you needed years—decades, even—of experience under the guidance of a master. From peeling vegetables to prepping side dishes, only those who lasted in hotel kitchens or restaurants could one day be promoted to head chef.
The most important resource wasn't talent or time.
It was money.
Xia Yu clenched the bank card his grandfather left behind.
Only one million yen. And every yen was earmarked for the restaurant's survival.
He couldn't afford to keep blowing ingredients for practice. The numbers just wouldn't work.
But giving up practice? Out of the question. That would be suicide.
Unless he recycled the same limited menu every single day just to scrape by... No. That wasn't who he was.
He had already cut the menu down from twelve to six dishes—a ruthless compromise.
Going any lower would feel like self-exile. Without pressure, where would motivation come from?
"System," he muttered under his breath. "Is there any way I can practice without wasting real ingredients?"
"The host currently has 220 reputation points. Would you like to unlock the [Kitchen God Space] for practice? One hour of use consumes 10 reputation points."
Xia Yu's eyes widened.
Kitchen God Space?
He hadn't expected a real answer, much less a solution like this. He was ecstatic—before quickly forcing himself to calm down.
"System," he asked, "what can I buy from the God of Cooking Store with 220 points?"
"Blue-tier Recipe: ~500 reputation pointsBlue-tier Permanent Kitchenware: ~1000 reputation pointsBlue-tier Skill Book (Extended): ~1000 reputation points"
As expected.
A single blue recipe would cost him more than double what he currently had.
In contrast, spending 220 points on practice only bought him 22 hours.
The recipe was a permanent asset, one that could unlock another luminous dish and serve as a powerful trump card.
But right now… he lacked the skills to make full use of even one more recipe.
Unlike Soma Yukihira—who had been trained in the kitchen since he was three—or the Aldini brothers from Italy, who had been professional chefs even before enrolling at Totsuki, Xia Yu had only a basic foundation.
His knife skills were sharp. In fact, they could rival the best students at Totsuki.
But his hands-on experience as a real chef?
Pitifully lacking.
He needed to run his shop, serve real customers, and accumulate the kind of battle-hardened experience that only came from the front lines of a working kitchen.
The shop had to stay open. And to do that...
He needed to practice.
"Let's do it," Xia Yu muttered, determination flashing in his eyes. "System, give me 22 hours in the Kitchen God Space."
"Confirmed. The Kitchen God Space is now open.Note: Time within the Kitchen God Space is frozen relative to the real world. The host may enter and exit at will."
Perfect.
Without hesitation, Xia Yu dashed upstairs, closed the bedroom door, and flopped onto the bed.
"Start!"
The world around him shifted.
When he opened his eyes again, Xia Yu found himself standing in an immaculate, traditional kitchen.
Smooth marble countertops, sleek gas stoves, polished wooden cabinets—everything was as pristine as a showroom. Pots, pans, and kitchen utensils glimmered like new. A nearby refrigerator was stocked with glowing containers of ingredients, all chilled on beds of crushed ice.
Xia Yu walked over and picked up a large salmon from the fridge. The moment he touched it, a scent bloomed in the air.
The fresh, oceanic aroma ignited a spark in his mind. Dishes formed in his imagination—knife work, plating, spices—flashing like a slideshow behind his eyes.
For the first time, just holding the ingredient gave him a rush of creative energy.
"The countdown begins.The host may use all ingredients within this kitchen freely. There is no supply limit.Bonus: If the host produces a dish scoring 90 or above, a mysterious reward will be granted."
The system fell silent.
Xia Yu raised an eyebrow.
Mysterious reward?
It sounded just like those suspicious banner ads: "Click here and get a free dragon-slaying sword!"
Still… it stirred his ambition.
"90 points, huh?"
He smirked.
"Watch me!"
And so, he plunged into the fire of culinary practice—sweat dripping, blades flying.
Meanwhile, in the real world, rain poured steadily over Tokyo.
Inside the quiet shop, two Chinese tourists—Anya and Mu Xiaoyue—lounged with their laptops, tethered to the free Wi-Fi.
It was almost comical: the young store owner had vanished at 2PM, leaving the restaurant under the care of two girls he'd only just met.
"Xiaoya, we've got a dinner meeting tonight," Mu Xiaoyue said, yawning as she stretched.
"I finally digested lunch." She rubbed her belly with a satisfied grin.
"What's for dinner tonight?" Anya leaned over the counter and peered at the still-empty menu board.
Just then, the door creaked open.
Knock knock.
"Excuse me, is anyone here?"
A young couple stepped into the shop, umbrellas dripping from the storm outside.