Five-year-old Hanayama-in Natsuki ran in from outside, crying.
"What's wrong, Natsuki? Were you bullied again?"
A woman squatted down, picked her up, and said with a smile.
Hanayama-in Natsuki sobbed and nodded.
"Do you want some snacks? Mommy made fried rice."
The woman handed a bowl of golden, fragrant fried rice to Hanayama-in Natsuki.
Seeing the full bowl of fried rice in front of her, Hanayama-in Natsuki momentarily forgot her crying, and a happy smile appeared on her face.
"Mommy's fried rice is the best!"
...
"The taste of mother."
Hanayama-in Natsuki closed her eyes, a blissful smile on her face.
This dish made her recall her childhood, the fried rice her mother often made for her. In her heart, it was the warmest taste in the world.
Seeing Hanayama-in Natsuki's face beaming with a smile, everyone present was stunned.
"What's going on? That female demon, known for her coldness, actually showed such a smile?"
"How is this possible?!"
Alpha and the others were somewhat incredulous. That was the female demon who struck fear into the hearts of all chefs, yet she was now showing a pure, childlike smile?
It was unknown how much time had passed before Hanayama-in Natsuki finally awoke from her illusion, her heart still warm, feeling a happiness she had never experienced before.
All the worries in her mind seemed to vanish at once, and she felt an unprecedented sense of ease and joy, as if she had returned to her carefree childhood days.
Satou was also a bit stunned; was the effect of this dish a bit too powerful?
Before, Hanayama-in Natsuki had been cold as ice, but now she was smiling like a carefree young girl—the contrast was too great.
"There's nothing to fault in the handling of every step of your dish, and it also has a unique Cream flavor."
Hanayama-in Natsuki looked at Satou gently and said, "Of course, more importantly, although this is just a commoner's dish, it has a taste that makes people feel happy."
"Thank you for the compliment," Satou said.
"Your name is Satou, right? I've remembered your name."
Hanayama-in Natsuki stood up from her chair and said with a smile, "I will publish the above evaluation word for word in the gourmet magazine."
"That's great!"
"That's fantastic!"
Upon hearing her words, Mr. Mita and the others cried out in surprise.
"Also, thank you for your dish; it allowed me to relive my mother's taste," Hanayama-in Natsuki said with a slight smile.
Now, she only felt an unprecedented sense of ease and joy, even wanting to hum a tune.
Even she herself found it a bit unbelievable.
Such behavior should not appear on her; it didn't fit her personality.
Perhaps it was because she tasted her mother's flavor, she thought.
"No problem, no need to thank me," Satou also couldn't help but smile.
...
Hanayama-in Natsuki left the restaurant, got into her car, thought for a moment, took out her phone, and posted a tweet on Twitter.
"Thanks to the young chef, I tasted my mother's flavor; it truly is a dish that makes one feel happy."
As a famous food critic, this tweet immediately sparked heated discussion among her fans.
How delicious must the dish be to make the venom-tongued female demon give such a review?
Not long after, this tweet received thousands of retweets and tens of thousands of likes.
On the other side.
"Student Satou, thanks to you, our restaurant was able to preserve its reputation this time!" Mr. Mita bowed to Satou and said.
Alpha, Ms. Sakai, and the others also had complex expressions, never expecting that it would be Satou who would ultimately save the restaurant's reputation.
"Manager, you're too kind," Satou quickly helped him up, as the other party had, after all, provided him with a part-time job opportunity.
"Student Satou, you are truly amazing!" Izayoi Tsuki also exclaimed, originally thinking that even if Satou's strength was great, it wouldn't be much stronger than hers, but she never expected him to surpass her so much.
"You're also very impressive; didn't Hana-yama'in also praise you?" Satou said.
"Host has completed the post-upgrade task and received rewards: two Almond Cabbages plus the Hand-pulled Cabbage recipe.
Additionally, the host has created a dish with a rating of 80 or above, receiving an extra reward of Cooking Level Two."
"As expected, with the God Tongue, progress is fast," Satou said gleefully.
"Oh, by the way, Student Satou, what ingredient did you use just now that had a Cream aroma?" Izayoi Tsuki suddenly asked.
"Oh, I used a special ingredient," Satou said.
"Can I see it?" Izayoi Tsuki quickly asked.
The others, hearing this, also looked over curiously.
They had all smelled the rich Cream flavor of the Yangzhou Fried Rice just now and had secretly wondered about it.
"Sure," Satou thought for a moment, agreed to her request, then walked into the kitchen and took out a bit of Cream Matsutake from his system space.
"It's this," He handed two somewhat wickedly long Cream Matsutakes to Izayoi Tsuki.
"Matsutake? What a rich Cream flavor!" Izayoi Tsuki leaned in to smell it, her eyes lighting up!
"Such high quality!" Ms. Sakai also cried out in surprise.
The most important factor in judging the quality of Matsutake is its scent; generally, high-grade Matsutake will have a faint fragrance, but the fragrance of this Matsutake was extremely rich, and it even carried a unique Cream flavor.
The chefs present were all connoisseurs; they had seen all sorts of high-end ingredients, but this was the first time they had seen Matsutake of such quality.
"Little Mu, can you sell me this ingredient? The price is negotiable," Ms. Sakai couldn't help but say.
"Student Satou, can you sell me some?" Izayoi Tsuki followed up.
The other chefs also looked on with eager eyes.
"Sorry, I don't have much myself," Satou shook his head; he only had one jin of Cream Matsutake himself, so how could he sell it to others?
"This... alright," Ms. Sakai and Izayoi Tsuki were clearly very disappointed, but they could understand that such high-grade ingredients were scarce.
"However, I can give you some for research," Satou said.
"Really?" Their eyes lit up.
"Of course. But I only have a little myself, so I can't give out too much," Satou said.
Next, Satou gave one to each of them; he himself only had six left.
The two of them were both surprised and delighted, looking at the Matsutake in their hands, wishing they could rush to the kitchen immediately.
Alpha and the others watched enviously from the side, especially Alpha, who was green with regret; if only he had known, he should have maintained a good relationship with Satou!