"After all, people need to eat. It's better to specialize than to learn too much. A dish that can be cooked for a lifetime is quite impressive."
"But more people cook a dish for a lifetime and still don't understand it. Otherwise, why would they be confined to such a narrow, dilapidated street, not even worth taking over?"
Well, there was a disagreement.
But it was also normal. With Erina Nakiri's strength, even if she participated in the competition, it would be a bloodbath for everyone present, unless Sanhe Street was hiding someone like Soma's father.
However, given Soma's father's personality, he would naturally not participate in a competition of this level. At most, he would let his son represent the restaurant.
"Whatever you want. If your participation in the competition causes the restaurant to close temporarily, those days will also be counted within this month. Let's make that clear beforehand."
"That's what you're worried about? Don't worry, the days I participate in the competition will be your holiday, counted within that one month of the wager. Even regular jobs have holidays, right?"
Hearing Erina Nakiri's response, Hoshino Sora nodded in agreement, only thinking that he would need to hire people soon, otherwise the restaurant would return to being incredibly busy.
"Then it's fine. It's time to close now, isn't it? Hisako Arato, let's go home."
Hearing Hoshino Sora's reply, Erina Nakiri stood up with satisfaction. She didn't have time to waste here any longer; she had accumulated work that she could take care of during the holiday.
Speaking of which, this was her first loss. The only thing she couldn't understand was why Hoshino Sora's skill varied so much.
Since he could replicate her dishes, his cooking skills should be exceptionally high. However, in reality, he was an absolute novice.
Erina Nakiri still couldn't understand this problem. When she asked Hoshino Sora, he said he could perform exceptionally well under extreme anger. But can cooking be done well just by being angry?
Erina Nakiri went back and tried it, and the result was undoubtedly a failure. Cooking with anger itself was unscientific, and believing this made her seem even dumber.
"Let's go home too. We'll be closed for a week starting tomorrow. Today, let's go check out the competition venue."
Considering the generous task rewards, Hoshino Sora decided to scout the location beforehand to understand the situation. Popularity doesn't necessarily represent cooking skill, and he didn't think those who weren't selected were necessarily worse than him.
"Closed for a week? Will that cause a loss of customers...?"
Hearing Hoshino Sora's words, Ya Xiang couldn't help but worry. The Hoshino Restaurant was currently in its rising phase, and suddenly closing might lead to a loss of customers.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I win the championship and get the golden signboard awarded by the competition, there will only be more and more customers in the future. Moreover, the secret to good business is cooking skill. Participating in the competition only has benefits for me now, no drawbacks."
"Exactly! With Sora's strength, he can definitely defeat everyone and win first place!"
Rika chimed in, hugging Hoshino Sora's arm as she spoke, provocatively intertwining her fingers with his and gently caressing his strong, powerful hand. It felt so good!
"Of course, I don't doubt Sora's strength. In that case, big sister will fully support you."
Seeing Rika's actions, Ya Xiang immediately became displeased. She no longer cared about the Hoshino Restaurant's popularity and directly lunged forward, not to be outdone, hugging his other arm and gripping the palm of his other hand.
"If you two act like this, people will gossip if they see you."
"It's okay, I don't care."
"Exactly, does Sora care?"
"I don't care. Let's go home then. We'll put up a notice at the door explaining the situation, so people don't think we've gone out of business and run away."
"Mmm." * 2
--------------
The next day, Hoshino Sora arrived early at the competition venue with the two sisters. The selection criteria for this preliminary round were simple: it only looked at the profits generated by the restaurants in the same area.
The organizers rented a plaza, advertised it as a food festival, and then rented out stalls. Restaurants operating there had to give 30% of their profits to the organizers.
Of course, the food festival wouldn't last only one day; it would continue until all the competitions were over. Those restaurants that didn't qualify for the main competition after their matches often chose to set up at the food festival because business here was much better than at their own restaurants.
The organizers profited from this. As long as the promotion was effective, the daily foot traffic in the plaza could easily exceed 100,000, generating unimaginable profits.
Of course, to attract participants, in addition to the three golden signboards, they also set up live broadcasts and prepared participation prizes for the contestants: 100,000 Japanese Yen in real money.
The higher the ranking, the more generous the rewards, and with the dual attraction of heavy profits and fame, many shops came to participate, of course, only restaurants in Sanhe Street.
There was no other reason; other streets were not under their jurisdiction.
"It's so lively! It's only six in the morning, and all the stalls are already set up."
All the stalls were neatly arranged, with their shop names written on them, and freshly made samples below. Early-rising tourists shuttled back and forth, and the sounds of hawking rose and fell, everyone striving for sales.
"Actually, the competition started at five. From five in the morning to ten at night, any type of food can be sold. It lasts a total of seventeen hours, and ingredients are uniformly purchased and priced by the organizers."
Having learned about the competition beforehand, Hoshino Sora walked along, introducing it to the two sisters. He had to admit that the cuisine here was truly exceptionally rich, with the aroma filling the entire venue.
"In the morning, it's still best to eat pan-fried buns. Let's go to that shop."
When it comes to breakfast, besides steamed buns, soy milk, and fried dough sticks, there are also pan-fried buns, sesame cakes, and chive boxes, among others.
"Shrimp pan-fried buns, don't miss them if you pass by!"
The rich aroma created a long queue at the stall, and Hoshino Sora was one of them. Since he had come here, he might as well enjoy this unique food culture!
"Fantastic! Let's have two days off a week from now on."
Eating pan-fried buns for breakfast, claypot rice for lunch, and snacks to fill his belly in the evening, he also bought three fruit teas on the way. When it came to happiness, what could be more refreshing than eating grilled squid on a hot plate while drinking a cold beverage?
"Wow, that's amazing, this is already the tenth bowl."
"These two young girls are so slim, yet they can eat so much. They're incredibly impressive."
"I want to see how many bowls they can eat."
"Boss, give me a bowl of noodles. I refuse to believe a big man like me can't out-eat these two young girls."
"I'll have a bowl too!"
"Me too, they make it look so delicious."
As he wandered around, Hoshino Sora suddenly noticed some excitement ahead. A crowd of people was gathered there. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he pushed through the crowd and walked in, then saw the five large characters: 'Big Eater Competition'.
His gaze dropped, and he saw Akame and Kurome, holding large bowls of beef noodles, devouring them. These two were like gluttons from the human world, eating without any regard for their image.
The surrounding passersby were stunned, shocked by the stark contrast between their physiques and their astonishing appetites.
-----------------------
TripleCrown Note:
➤ Want More? Get up to +30 Extra Chapters on Patreon!
➤ [email protected]/TripleCrown07
➤ Thanks for reading!