Chapter 604: Currying Favor with the Boss Lady
Nakiri Senzaemon had the foresight to recognize that Ren's household was far from small. Rather than cramming everyone into a fleet of sedans, the Food Demon had arranged a spacious private bus. Given the sheer volume of luggage required for five girls, anything less would have been a logistical nightmare.
Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was split. Erina sat rigidly in her plush leather seat, her hands clasped tight enough in her lap to turn her knuckles white. Beside her, Hisako mirrored the exact same high-strung anxiety. Across the aisle, however, Alice remained exceptionally calm, her silver hair falling over her shoulder as she diligently flipped through a stack of high-level recipe manuscripts.
Ren watched them from across the aisle, a faint, dry smile crossing his face. "Erina, this isn't your usual style. It's just a casual assessment. There is no need to treat it like an execution."
Erina let out a slow breath, the tension in her shoulders easing just a fraction. "Shopkeeper Ren, what exactly will we be required to do?" she asked, her refined voice still carrying a tremor of nerves.
Riven leaned back in her seat, taking a long sip of the orange juice she had coaxed out of Akanegakubo Momo earlier. "Ren mentioned you girls were heading straight into the kitchen, right?"
Ren nodded, his tone gentle but firm. "That's right. Since it is an assessment, the kitchen is your battlefield. Once we return to the shop, lunch will be entirely in your hands."
Kobayashi Rindou flashed a sharp, feline grin, leaning over the back of her seat. "Easy, easy! Leave the heavy lifting to me. Speaking of which, where did Lucifer and the others run off to?"
"They headed over to the WGO construction site," Ren replied.
Rindou nodded knowingly. She deliberately kept her mouth shut about Nakiri Mana's presence. As far as Erina and the others were concerned, the WGO business was strictly about Courage and the inspection.
"Um... Sister Rindou," Erina began, her golden eyes shifting nervously. "What exactly are we supposed to make for lunch?"
"I have absolutely no idea. We'll figure it out when we get there." Rindou tilted her head toward Ren. "Is there a specific theme you want us to aim for, Ren?"
Ren considered it for a moment, the hum of the bus tires filling the brief silence. "There is a structure to it. It is currently ten in the morning. I want a finalized menu from you girls before noon. Every single one of you must prepare one main dish. On top of that, the five of you must collaborate to produce one appetizer, one dessert, and one drink. Once you lock in your choices, I will supply the ingredients."
Momo timidly raised a hand, clutching her stuffed bear close to her chest. "S-Shopkeeper Ren... what about the staple food?"
"Pair it according to your main dishes. Nobody here is a picky eater." Ren paused, his gaze sliding sideways. "Well, except Yuko. She can be a bit difficult."
Ichihara Yuko blinked, her elegant posture stiffening in sheer offense. "I am a picky eater? Since when?"
"Since always. If you complain, I'll just change your portion to Pearl Jade White Jade Soup."
Hisako looked up from her notepad, utterly bewildered. "Wait... isn't that just leftover dough drop soup, or cabbage and tofu boiled with rice?"
"No, no, absolutely not! I refuse to eat peasant food!" Yuko snapped her fan open, glaring at Ren. "Wait a second, I remember now! Didn't you promise us a massive feast today?!"
Ren kept his expression entirely deadpan. "Fine. I'll add three shrimp to your cabbage soup."
Yuko shot him a deeply resentful glare, her crimson eyes narrowing. Rindou, however, practically vibrated with excitement. "A massive feast? Ren, what kind of top-tier deliciousness are you hiding? Tell me right now, I need the motivation!"
Erina and the Totsuki students leaned in, their culinary curiosity overriding their nerves.
Yuko's irritation melted into a sly, theatrical smile. "Ren told me what he plans to make, but just blurting out the name ruins the fun. How did the old poem go again?" She tapped her fan against her chin, her voice taking on a melodic, storytelling cadence. "'When the jar is opened, the fragrant aroma wafts far and wide. Even the Buddha, upon smelling it, abandons his meditation and leaps over the wall to partake.' That was it, wasn't it?"
Ren gave a single nod of confirmation.
Rindou's golden eyes widened to the size of saucers. Momo let out a soft gasp of surprise. Alice simply tilted her head, thoroughly confused by the poetic riddle, while Erina remained frozen, her encyclopedic culinary brain rapidly processing the clue.
It was Hisako who connected the dots first. She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Shopkeeper Ren! Are you actually making that dish?!"
"Yes," Ren replied calmly. "Yuko has been nagging me about wanting to eat it for weeks. Since we have a full house today, brewing a vat of it won't be an issue."
Yuko leaned in close, her dark hair brushing Ren's shoulder as she whispered directly into his ear. "You speak so beautifully. I will be sure to reward you properly later."
Rindou cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "A feast! This is a genuine, world-class feast!"
"What feast?" Alice demanded, looking between them with wide, impatient eyes. "What kind of dish is named after a poem about a monk jumping a wall?"
"Buddha Jumps Over the Wall," Hisako murmured, her voice laced with awe.
Alice wrinkled her nose. "What an incredibly ugly name. Why would anyone call food that?"
Erina finally snapped out of her daze, shooting her cousin a sharp, reprimanding glare. "You really need to read more useful literature instead of just modern gastronomy journals, Alice. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is a legendary delicacy. The poem implies that the moment the simmering jar is unsealed, the aroma is so overwhelmingly divine that even ascetic monks, who have sworn off worldly desires for decades, would abandon their vows and scale monastery walls just to get a taste."
Alice blinked, her dismissive attitude vanishing instantly. "Does a dish with that much power actually exist? That sounds amazing!"
Momo nodded slowly, her soft voice carrying a heavy, professional weight. "It does exist. The poem is a romanticized description, of course, but the reality is just as intimidating. Traditional Buddha Jumps Over the Wall requires dozens of premium ingredients and takes days of careful processing and simmering to complete."
Hearing the sheer scale of the dish, Riven and Yuko's eyes lit up with predatory hunger. Justice leaned against the window, a cool smile of anticipation on her face, while Nami looked slightly overwhelmed, trying to imagine what a soup made of that many expensive things would even taste like.
Yuko waved her fan, looking incredibly smug. "And let the record show, it is the exact dish I ordered!"
"Excellent work, Yuko!" Rindou praised.
Erina swallowed hard, her heart pounding with a completely different kind of anticipation now. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. She had studied its history and theory extensively, but she had never actually tasted a genuine, master-crafted version. And knowing Ren's terrifying level of skill, she knew his rendition would shatter every expectation she had.
The bus finally rolled to a smooth halt outside the restaurant.
Stepping out onto the pavement, the morning sunlight washed over the group. Rindou stretched her arms high above her head, popping her back with a satisfied groan. She looked down the familiar street corner, her feline eyes softening. "Man... it has been a really long time since I came to the shop at this exact time of day."
Yuko paused, eyeing the red-haired girl with mild curiosity. "Oh? You used to come around this early? Was it during your summer vacation?"
Rindou shook her head, a wild grin spreading across her face. "Nope! During summer vacation, I'm usually running through jungles on the other side of the planet hunting for rare ingredients. Remind me to take you guys to the Amazon rainforest to catch crocodiles bare-handed someday!"
Yuko stared at her, utterly deadpan. "You. Alone. Bare-handed. Wrestling crocodiles in a rainforest."
"Isn't that totally normal?" Rindou blinked, genuinely confused by the reaction.
"That is the furthest thing from normal," Yuko sighed.
"Actually, it sounds quite normal to me," Riven chimed in, crossing her arms.
Yuko shot the white-haired exile a withering look. "You stay out of this. You are a complete exception to the rules of human biology."
Riven scratched her cheek. "Eh? I don't see what the big deal is..."
"Let us ignore the crocodiles for a moment," Yuko said, turning her attention back to Rindou. "If it wasn't during summer break, when did you use to come here so early? Don't you usually have academy classes or field surveys?"
Rindou's grin softened into something far more intimate and secretive. She rocked back on her heels, her gaze drifting toward Ren. "That... is a secret. You just need to know that the last time I showed up at the shop at this specific time, it was the exact day my ambition to become the boss lady was officially cemented."
Yuko, Erina, and the others froze, the weight of the implication hanging heavily in the air. Good heavens, there is a serious story there, Yuko thought, her eyes glinting with amusement. It was obvious that something deeply personal had transpired between the two of them that morning. After all, Kobayashi Rindou was universally recognized as the leader of their chaotic little group—the undisputed first to claim her spot.
Ren ignored the sudden shift in atmosphere, effortlessly hoisting a massive stack of heavy suitcases into his arms as if they weighed nothing. "You girls head inside first. I will bring the luggage around back. Riven, Nami, help Erina and the others pick out their rooms. Rindou, your room is exactly as you left it."
Rindou clapped her hands together, her energetic aura returning in full force. "Oh! Got it! Erina! Alice! Hisako! Momo-chan! Let's go, let's go! I'm telling you right now, the guest rooms in this shop are ridiculously luxurious. Even a five-star hotel can't compete!"
Alice's eyes sparkled. "Oh? Really?!"
"Why would I lie to you, Alice?" Rindou puffed out her chest, placing her hands on her hips. "In fact, considering how nice the rooms are, I think you juniors ought to start currying favor with me. I am the boss lady, after all!"
Alice rolled her eyes playfully, immediately linking her arm through Yuko's. "Tch... There are plenty of boss ladies around here. I think I'll stick with Sister Yuko~"
Yuko chuckled, tapping Alice's nose with her closed fan. "Smart girl."
[Akarin's Note: "Pearl Jade White Jade Soup" (珍珠翡翠白玉汤) is a famous, somewhat comedic dish in Chinese folklore. Legend has it that a starving Zhu Yuanzhang (the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty) was given a bowl of leftover soup made from spoiled tofu, wilted cabbage, and crusty rice by an old woman. Because he was starving, he thought it was the most delicious thing in the world. After becoming Emperor, he demanded his royal chefs recreate the "Pearl Jade White Jade Soup," only to realize it was just peasant scraps.]
[Akarin's Note: "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" (佛跳墙 - Fó Tiào Qiáng) is a world-renowned delicacy from Fujian cuisine. It is famous for its rich taste, usage of highly premium ingredients (like abalone, sea cucumber, and shark fin), and its special manner of preparation which involves simmering the ingredients in a Shaoxing wine jar for one to two full days.]
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