"Can cooking actually blow up a kitchen?" Master Mao was quite surprised, but he also felt somewhat lucky. Fortunately, he had stepped out for a moment instead of helping Raiden Ei cut vegetables; otherwise, the consequences would have been truly unimaginable.
"I'm sorry..." Raiden Makoto smiled awkwardly. They were currently on someone else's property, and Raiden Ei had just blown up the kitchen of Wanmin Restaurant. How was she going to compensate Master Mao and Xiangling?
"My sister isn't suited for cooking..." Raiden Makoto's words made even Xiangling nod. While she sometimes had issues when developing new dishes, no matter what, she would never blow up the kitchen.
Because the commotion was so loud, quite a few people were now gathered in front of Wanmin Restaurant. After some time, a few soldiers walked over.
"What happened?" The sound of the explosion was massive, echoing through the skies above Liyue Harbor, so much so that even the Millelith soldiers patrolling Liyue Harbor heard it. They even thought it was an enemy attack.
"It was just an accident while cooking that blew up the kitchen, nothing major." Master Mao smiled at the Millelith soldiers. "No major harm done."
"Cooking can blow up a kitchen?" Although the Millelith soldier found it hard to believe, as he observed the scene of the accident, it seemed that was indeed the case.
"You should be careful when developing new dishes; it wouldn't be good if you accidentally injured others." After the Millelith soldiers gave Master Mao a few instructions, they left.
Only the Liyue citizens remained, still lingering to watch the excitement.
Raiden Ei stood guiltily beside Raiden Makoto. She had no idea that such a thing would happen. She had been trying her best to suppress the Electro element from flowing out, but it seemed some had still leaked into the ingredients.
"Sister, I really was just trying..." Raiden Ei said cautiously. "I also want to try entering the Culinary King Competition."
"???" Raiden Makoto was stunned for a moment. She then looked at Raiden Ei and asked with an uncertain expression, "Are you serious?"
Her sister actually wanted to participate in the Culinary King Competition? Raiden Makoto could hardly believe it.
"Yes..."
Didn't she also want to have some common ground with her sister? Aside from discussing martial arts with Raiden Makoto, she didn't know how to do anything else.
That way, when Raiden Makoto was chatting enthusiastically with others, she wouldn't be left out of the conversation entirely.
For instance, just now when Raiden Makoto and Xiangling were chatting so warmly, the way Xiangling looked at Raiden Makoto was a bit unusual, while she could only watch quietly from the side, unable to join in at all.
After a long while, Xiangling finally snapped out of it, having overheard the conversation between Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei.
"Sister Ei wants to participate in the Culinary King Competition? Of course that's fine... though whether you can win the title is another matter."
Xiangling actually hoped Raiden Ei would participate in the Culinary King Competition, as Raiden Makoto would then likely teach her. For someone who could blow up a kitchen just by cooking, winning the Culinary King Competition was definitely out of the question, and she could take the opportunity to learn from Raiden Makoto.
"Sister Makoto can also teach Sister Ei." Xiangling added afterward. Raiden Makoto probably wouldn't see through her little scheme, right? But even if she did, it didn't matter.
"Are you sure you want to participate in the Culinary King Competition?" Raiden Makoto blinked. Her sister wasn't participating in a culinary competition; it was more like a culinary destruction competition.
"Yes!"
Raiden Ei had already made up her mind. She wasn't just going to participate in the Culinary King Competition; she was going to win it.
"Dad, look, Sister Makoto just taught me a lot of cooking experience. The kitchen wasn't that big anyway; if it collapsed, it collapsed."
"We can just rebuild it later? It's the perfect time while Wanmin Restaurant is closed for a few days for me to develop new dishes. I'm definitely taking the championship in this year's Culinary King Competition."
"You..." Master Mao nodded. He had no intention of making Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei pay. He just couldn't quite figure out how cooking could blow up a kitchen. That commotion was certainly not small.
"Our Xiangling will be in your care for the time being." Master Mao smiled, then shot a glare at Xiangling. "You, when will you ever be as mature and steady as the Traveler and her friend?"
"Every single day, you should give me some peace of mind."
"Hehehehe." Xiangling gave a sheepish laugh, then rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Dad, how can you say that about me?"
"It's not like I don't know you."
With one sentence, Xiangling had saved Raiden Makoto from the danger of having to pay for damages. Raiden Makoto also breathed a sigh of relief. They couldn't find a single Mora on them. If they really had to pay, wouldn't she have to go to Morax to borrow money?
If she couldn't borrow any, she might have to work hard in Liyue with her sister to earn money. Debts definitely had to be paid.
Fortunately, she didn't have to pay now.
"Xiangling, thank you." Raiden Makoto had a gentle smile. "Our Ei isn't very sensible..."
"Isn't that nothing? Besides, Sister Makoto taught me so much experience... that's something money can't buy." Xiangling was quite excited. "But Sister Makoto, some of the dishes you mentioned are completely non-existent in Liyue."
"Are those Inazuman dishes?" Xiangling looked at Raiden Makoto curiously. She was somewhat confused because some of the dishes Raiden Makoto described to her weren't Liyue dishes, yet the cooking methods were identical to Liyue's.
It couldn't be that Inazuman dishes and Liyue dishes used the exact same methods, right? Xiangling didn't quite believe it.
It wasn't as if she had never been to Mondstadt. The dishes there were completely different from theirs, let alone Inazuma, which was separated by a vast ocean.
"No."
But she couldn't tell Xiangling that those were all Huaxia dishes. After all, on the continent of Teyvat, the country of Huaxia had never existed.
"You could say they are new dishes I developed by summarizing the experiences of predecessors." Raiden Makoto's words made Xiangling nod; she finally understood.
As Raiden Ei watched Raiden Makoto start smiling again while talking with Xiangling, she became increasingly certain in her heart. She must participate in the Culinary King Competition and even win the championship to make her sister see her in a new light.
"Sister Makoto is truly amazing!" The look in Xiangling's eyes as she watched Raiden Makoto held several hints of adoration. Although some people had never shown their cooking skills, in Xiangling's imagination, she had already become a master chef.
Xiangling also trusted her own intuition.
"Sister Makoto, why don't you take me as your disciple!" Xiangling felt it was necessary to apprentice herself to Raiden Makoto and then learn the preparation methods for those dishes from her. Based solely on Raiden Makoto's descriptions, she was already very much looking forward to the flavors of those dishes.
Looking at the excited Xiangling before her, Raiden Makoto's thoughts drifted to her past life.
In her past life's memories, her master had also performed a song in front of her. At that time, she had also excitedly said to her master, "Master, please take me as your disciple," hadn't she?
"Alright." Raiden Makoto nodded subconsciously. Passing on Huaxia cuisine to Xiangling could be considered another way of continuing Huaxia culture in an otherworldly land, right?
Speaking of which, as Raiden Makoto's memories fully returned, she paid less and less attention to that dispensable national style master system.
"Master, please accept your disciple's bow!" Xiangling was quite excited. To her, learning more dishes was her greatest wish, and the dishes Raiden Makoto had described were things she had never heard of or seen before.
Master Mao watched Xiangling's apprenticeship. Although he was a bit bewildered—Xiangling was indeed not steady enough in other aspects, but her attainments in culinary arts were profound, even making him feel inferior.
Since it was someone Xiangling acknowledged, it wasn't easy for him to say much.
"Xiangling, as the saying goes, 'a teacher for a day is a father for life.' You must think this through clearly," Master Mao said earnestly. "This matter cannot be handled carelessly."
"Dad, it's not like I don't understand anything." Xiangling rolled her eyes at Master Mao. "Master will always be my master from now on."
The fact that Raiden Makoto could pass on her culinary experience was what excited Xiangling. One had to know that in Liyue, chefs almost never exchanged experiences with one another. Those insights and experiences were the foundation of one's livelihood; if they didn't take a disciple, they would never pass them on.
There was also significant competition among peers.
So when Raiden Makoto was sharing her experience, Xiangling already had the idea of apprenticing herself to Raiden Makoto; she just hadn't made up her mind then.
"Our Xiangling will be in your care from now on." Master Mao nodded. He only hoped his daughter would be a bit more sensible in the future. Raiden Makoto seemed steady, so he was at ease.
"Yes."
Xiangling was likely her first disciple in her past life, and even in this one, right? She had to pass on thousands of years of Huaxia's culinary attainments to Xiangling. As for how much Xiangling could learn, that would be up to her.
Whether Huaxia dishes could flourish in this other world would depend on Xiangling. As for her, she had more important things to do now.
"Guoba, Guoba is back." Xiangling noticed her Guoba starting to do somersaults at the door, as if telling her he was back.
"Guoba?"
When Raiden Makoto followed Xiangling's gaze, she saw a bear that looked like a stuffed animal doing somersaults at the door. The bear was brown and looked a bit like a cartoon bear toy.
"A God?" Raiden Makoto was stunned for a moment because she discovered that the bear seemed to be a God, but the divine power inside Guoba was now very, very weak.
"I haven't introduced him to Master yet; Guoba is my best friend." Xiangling smiled. "I found him in a cave a long time ago."
"Speaking of which, it's funny. At that time..." After telling Raiden Makoto an interesting story about how she met Guoba when she was a child, Xiangling rolled her eyes at Guoba. "Guoba, why have you been running out every day lately? Did you go out and do something bad again?"
Guoba's two bear eyes blinked, and he looked at Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei beside Xiangling.
"Jiligulu..." Guoba spoke a sentence, but no one could understand what he said, including Xiangling, who had been with Guoba for so long; she still couldn't understand Guoba's language.
But she and Guoba had developed a rapport, and she could roughly understand what Guoba meant.
"She is my master and will be a very important person to me in the future. Guoba, you can't behave recklessly."
"Cute." Raiden Makoto simply felt that the current Guoba was very cute. "Can I hold him?"
"Gulu..."
"Guoba shouldn't mind. If Master wants to hold him, she can." Xiangling was naturally very happy that Raiden Makoto liked Guoba.
When Raiden Makoto went to hold Guoba, the Little White Snake poked its head out from Raiden Makoto's sleeve again and flicked its tongue.
Its gem-like eyes stared at Guoba, as if it were also sizing him up. It felt that Guoba was just like itself.
Guoba also sized up the Little White Snake wrapped around Raiden Makoto's arm, feeling that the Little White Snake also seemed just like him.
As for Raiden Ei, watching her popular sister from that spot, she felt a bit uncomfortable. How could her elder sister just casually hold a strange God?
She could also see that Guoba used to be a God, but she didn't know why the divine power in Guoba's body was now so scarce.
"Cute." Guoba didn't just look like a teddy bear; he even felt like one when held. She rubbed Guoba's head, and Guoba even seemed to enjoy it a little.
The aura Raiden Makoto radiated made Guoba feel a sense of closeness, and besides, Raiden Makoto was so gentle.
She just didn't know why exactly Guoba had lost so much divine power. Raiden Makoto was somewhat curious, as Guoba's state was completely different from those Gods who were reborn after passing away—like the current Orobashi, who didn't even have a trace of divine power in his body.
Guoba's situation should be entirely different from Orobashi's; Guoba must have lost most of his divine power due to other reasons.
"Eh... Master, you're keeping a Little White Snake?" Only then did Xiangling notice the Little White Snake wrapped around Raiden Makoto's arm. "That's a bit like Director Baizhu."
"He also keeps a Little White Snake." Xiangling was a bit curious. The Little White Snake currently wrapped around Raiden Makoto's arm looked a bit like the one Baizhu kept; they were both very cute.
"Baizhu?"
"He's the owner of Bubu Pharmacy. Speaking of which, I can take you to meet him later, Master."
"It's just that the snake Boss Baizhu keeps is quite a bit larger than this one," Xiangling said thoughtfully. Her original goal was to have Lumine and Paimon go with her to the streets of Liyue to ask others and see what their tastes were like.
That would make it easier to develop new dishes.
And now it seemed she could still do that. She could take Raiden Makoto along and, while she was at it, introduce her to her friends, telling them that she, Xiangling, now had a master.
The Little White Snake flicked its tongue at Xiangling after hearing her words, then wrapped itself back around Raiden Makoto's arm.
"Xiangling, how can I sign up for the Culinary King Competition?" Raiden Ei had completely made up her mind. She definitely wanted to participate in the Culinary King Competition. During that time, her sister could teach her, and she could spend good time with her sister.
"Sister Ei, I'll take you to sign up when the time comes?" Xiangling couldn't help but wonder if Raiden Ei would blow up the venue if she participated in the Culinary King Competition. She was a bit skeptical.
She just didn't know how a major explosion could happen while cooking. She still couldn't figure it out.
Was it a problem with the heat? No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't understand.
"Yes."
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