"Grandpa Qing! Erina!"
Seeing the two approaching one after the other, a joyful expression appeared on Alice Nakiri's face, and she quickly trotted forward. Seeing this, Okabe followed behind her.
"Slow down, you two. The dirt is soft, be careful not to fall."
Watching Alice Nakiri and Okabe trot towards him, Liu Anqing gave a reminder, and as he spoke, he stepped onto the dirt path himself, ready to catch them.
"Okabe, Alice.
I brought you a specialty from Hokkaido, Shiroi Koibito chocolate cookies. I thought they were delicious, so I brought some back. You should eat them with gratitude!"
Looking at Okabe and Alice Nakiri who had come before her, Erina Nakiri took out two exquisitely wrapped cookies from her shoulder bag, her voice tinged with a hint of tsundere arrogance.
"Thank you."
Okabe took the cookie and nodded slightly.
"You actually remember us? We haven't heard from you in so long, I thought you'd forgotten about us. Don't think you can bribe us with just one cookie!"
Looking at the cookie offered by Erina Nakiri, Alice Nakiri couldn't help but grumble.
For a child, even a single day feels very long, let alone the half-month Erina Nakiri had been gone. She had tried calling several times during that period, but the other party ignored every call! The accompanying assistant would only say that Lady Erina was already resting.
"This tastes pretty good, munch munch munch. But don't expect me to forgive you so easily, munch munch munch. The chocolate filling is amazing, munch munch munch."
Alice Nakiri continued to complain while eating the cookie, savoring the sweet taste of the white chocolate filling, her eyes happily narrowing into crescent moons.
"It'll take ten cookies... no, twenty cookies!"
Looking at the empty wrapper in her hand, Alice Nakiri held up one finger, then after a moment of thought, raised a second.
"The texture of the cookie is wonderful, so light."
A look of amazement appeared in Okabe's eyes. It was probably because he hadn't eaten many good cookies in his past life, but this was the best he'd had in two lifetimes.
"There's one for you too, Grandpa Qing."
Erina Nakiri ignored Alice Nakiri's complaints, simply reaching into her bag when Liu Anqing looked over and handing him a cookie.
Although Liu Anqing didn't eat cookies often, seeing the little girl's expectant gaze, he still reached out, took it, unwrapped it, and popped the cookie into his mouth.
"A combination of a langue de chat cookie and white chocolate?
The cookie has a fluffy texture, and the chocolate is sweet. Together, when you bite down, there's a gentle, caramelized butter aroma and a rich, milky flavor. Not bad."
Sensing the cookie on the tip of his tongue, Liu Anqing nodded slightly. For a souvenir product to reach this level was already quite impressive.
Before long, the three of them finished their cookies, conveniently stuffing the wrappers into their pockets.
"You've all been to this vegetable garden many times. Before, it was mostly for sightseeing and experience, teaching you to recognize these fruits and vegetables, and briefly explaining their characteristics and what types of dishes they are suitable for.
Today, I will teach you how to distinguish their quality. When cooking with ingredients of different qualities, even if the preparation method is the same, the final taste will have a huge gap."
Compared to taking the children to a food market, Liu Anqing preferred bringing them to the vegetable patch. This way, they could see the fruits and vegetables more directly and gain a deeper understanding.
Of course, he couldn't teach too much at once, otherwise they wouldn't remember anything in the end.
For the past two years, every one to two weeks, he would bring Okabe and the two girls to the vegetable garden to see and observe, and at the same time, let them try to cultivate crops themselves.
Experiencing vegetable growth firsthand, watching them grow from a tiny seed into a mature plant, is an excellent form of enlightenment for young children.
In addition to that.
During these two years, they also visited ranches, strolled by riversides, and camped in mountain forests, encountering all sorts of different ingredients and gaining various experiences.
Of course, this part was less frequent and more focused on the experience, happening only a few times a year.
After all, seasoning and vegetable-based cooking were his true areas of expertise. It was impossible for him to neglect his fundamentals to teach things he wasn't skilled in.
This was also the fundamental reason why Senzaemon Nakiri had specifically invited him.
He possesses Super Taste.
And Erina Nakiri possesses the God's Tongue.
Senzaemon Nakiri did not want Erina Nakiri to walk the same tragic path as Nakiri Mana.
To achieve this, her cooking level had to be raised, allowing her to have the ability to satisfy herself, so she would not be consumed by the God's Tongue too early.
For this reason, he had made many plans in private.
He secretly collected information on the most talented chefs of Japan's younger generation, dispatched personnel to persuade their parents, and had them send their children to be trained at Totsuki.
Using these exceptionally talented children as whetstones for Erina Nakiri, he would forge a new Golden Age of talents!
However, this plan was still just in its infancy.
After all, it was impossible to discern the level of talent in very young children, and it would be too much trouble to gather and train all of them. The plan could only be implemented when they reached at least eleven or twelve years of age.
Nevertheless, he already had a number of candidates in mind.
At the director's seat of Totsuki Culinary Academy, holding a personal file, Senzaemon Nakiri's gaze was deep, as if he were pondering something.
·
·
"So this is Totsuki Academy? Japan's top culinary school... it's really magnificent!
The young lady with the God's Tongue studies cooking in a place like this? That's incredible. No wonder she's so highly regarded by so many people."
A girl with short, pinkish-purple hair and brown eyes, wearing a bluish-purple top and a plaid pleated skirt, clung to an adult's hand. In her other hand, she clutched the latest gourmet magazine, her voice tinged with excitement.
On the cover of the magazine was a girl with golden hair. If Okabe were here, he would surely have recognized the person on the cover as Erina Nakiri.
"Hisako, you must do your best once you get inside. The hopes of the Arato family are all riding on you."
The man looked at the young girl beside him, a flicker of reluctance in his eyes, but he quickly composed himself, schooling his expression.
And the girl standing at the foot of Totsuki's mountain at this moment was none other than the most orthodox beautiful girl from Shokugeki no Soma, Hisako Arato.
She just looked a little childish at the moment.
"I understand, Father."
Gazing at the towering Totsuki before her, Hisako Arato's small face was filled with aspiration. Then, led by her father, she stepped into the school.
All sorts of buildings she had never seen before, beautiful garden landscapes, and road decorations that could be called luxurious.
Besides that, there were the pained wails of students, the resentful muttering about the injustice of receiving yet another D-grade, the tragic laments of those who would be expelled if they received one more E-grade or lower, and even the sound of people being forcibly dragged away, scraping against the ground as they refused to leave. Was there something not quite right with this Totsuki?!
"Arato, you're finally here!"
Passing through a scene of widespread misery, Hisako Arato's initial anticipation turned into apprehension. She tightened her grip on her father's hand as they walked to the academic building and met the man who held the position of the academy's director.
____
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