Chapter 5 The Shock of Keiji Kiri and the Divine Chef’s Connection
At the headquarter of Tōyama Academy, the leader of the Neon food industry, the renowned “Food Demon King” Keiji Kiri, was hosting a distinguished guest.
After some polite exchanges and a couple of cups of tea, the two men got straight to the point.
“Chairman Zhang, you’ve traveled all the way from China to see me. What is it that you need?” Keiji Kiri asked, his voice loud and clear despite his age of over sixty, his booming voice easily heard from a distance.
Zhang Haoran, accustomed to Keiji Kiri’s loudness and their long-standing friendship, got straight to the point. He and Keiji Kiri had known each other for years, with Zhang Haoran serving as the Chairman of IGO’s Jinghai City branch, as well as the Secretary-General for the IGO Asia-Pacific region, and maintaining relations with well-known chefs across the continent.
“General Keiji, I would like to invite you to China in three days to grade a newly promoted Star Chef!” Zhang Haoran stated plainly.
Keiji Kiri’s eyes narrowed instantly, his gaze fixed on Zhang Haoran with intensity.
“IGO’s newly promoted Star Chef?”
“To have someone of my rank, a Lin-level Chef, come to grade them. You think this person has the strength of a four-star or five-star chef?”
This was the most shocking thing to Keiji Kiri. IGO’s Star Chef grading system followed a strict hierarchy. Typically, Tiger-level Chefs graded chefs from one to three stars, while Lin-level Chefs graded four to five-star chefs. The grading of Tiger-level and Lin-level chefs required a Dragon-level Chef, stationed in restricted areas, to perform the grading.
For a chef to be graded for the first time and have a Lin-level Chef grade them—skipping the one to three-star level and going straight to four or five stars—was an immense shock to Keiji Kiri.
Tōyama Academy, a world-renowned culinary institution, had produced only about a hundred Star Chefs over the years. While every Tōyama Ten Chef had the potential to become a one-star chef, how far their talents would take them was still unknown.
Among the highest-achieving chefs from Tōyama Academy were two individuals: one was the head chef of the Tōyama Resort and a board member, who was the highest-scoring graduate in the history of Tōyama Academy—Islandsou Gin. The other was Yukihira Souichiro, the “Food Shura,” who had earned his reputation in culinary circles. Both were five-star chefs within IGO.
Now, Keiji Kiri was hearing that a chef from China, during their first grading, would be compared to his two best students. At this moment, Keiji Kiri couldn’t quite accept it. Even if the chef was a genius, could they really be that exceptional?
Had they somehow bypassed the normal process?
He stared at Zhang Haoran, wanting a clear answer. Zhang Haoran smiled faintly, calmly sipping his tea, then slowly spoke.
“I believe this person has that level of strength… One to three stars wouldn’t do justice to the miraculous effects of his dish.”
“If Liu Longchef and Lan Longchef weren’t stationed in the restricted areas, I would even consider inviting one of them to personally grade this person!”
Keiji Kiri jumped up in shock, his knee hitting the table and causing tea to spill over, but he paid no mind as he stared at Zhang Haoran in disbelief.
“Chairman Zhang, what are you joking about?”
“Even if you say this person is a genius, why would you need to involve the two Dragon Chefs?”
“This is absurd! It’s too much!”
Keiji Kiri felt that Zhang Haoran was making a big fuss, and he was dissatisfied that he had brought up the two Dragon Chefs. Liu Longchef and Lan Longchef were the only two Dragon-level chefs in China, and their influence extended far beyond China, radiating throughout Asia. Even in Neon, they were held in the highest regard.
Furthermore, Keiji Kiri had a special relationship with the two Dragon Chefs, referring to them as “Uncle” due to his family ties. Zhang Haoran gestured for Keiji Kiri to calm down.
“General Keiji, please sit down. You don’t know, the Golden Fried Rice I ate last night was so stunning, it was unparalleled.”
“I’ve had the privilege of tasting the Sun Fried Rice made by Liu Longchef, and I consider it the best fried rice in the world…”
“But when I ate the Golden Fried Rice made by this person, I was stunned—it was no less impressive than Liu Longchef’s Sun Fried Rice!”
Zhang Haoran’s words left Keiji Kiri even more shocked. He jumped up again, this time with a look of urgency and disbelief on his face as he stared at Zhang Haoran.
“What did you say this dish is called?”
Zhang Haoran, confused, replied, “Golden Fried Rice. Why, General Keiji, have you heard of this dish?”
Keiji Kiri stood frozen for a moment, murmuring to himself, “Heard of it? It’s more like it’s thunderous in my ears!”
“But… maybe I’m overthinking it. It’s probably just a coincidence. What you ate couldn’t possibly be the Golden Fried Rice I know!”
Zhang Haoran grew even more confused.
“General Keiji, what Golden Fried Rice are you talking about?”
Keiji Kiri’s voice boomed as he responded, “It’s Sun Fried Rice, but the most authentic Sun Fried Rice!”
“Liu Longchef used the ancient recipe fragments passed down through his family, combined with his childhood memories, to recreate the Sun Fried Rice, which was similar to Golden Fried Rice.”
Keiji Kiri paused for a moment, then slowly sat back down, explaining carefully, “Chairman Zhang, you should know that my Kiri family has a special relationship with Liu Longchef.”
“My father, Kiri Shirou, was born in China, of mixed Chinese and Japanese heritage, and was once a disciple of Liu Longchef’s father. That’s why I address Liu Longchef as ‘Uncle.’”
“Liu Longchef’s father was the number one person beneath the Divine Chef a hundred years ago. He was the most likely to become a Divine Chef, but in the end, he failed and disappeared.”
“The world erased all traces of him, leaving only fragments of words.”
“I found part of his diary in my father’s belongings, which included records of several extraordinary dishes, and Golden Fried Rice was one of them, along with Magical Mapo Tofu…”
“Apparently, the extraordinary dishes created by his master broke all boundaries and couldn’t be measured by normal star levels.”
“It’s known that the dishes made by Star Chefs emit light: a one-star dish shines for one inch, a five-star dish shines for five inches.”
“A Tiger-level Chef’s dish shines for one foot, a Lin-level Chef’s for three feet, and a Dragon-level Chef’s for five feet or more.”
“But the extraordinary dishes made by his master, even though they weren’t high in level, radiated light for over ten feet!”
Zhang Haoran suddenly remembered the Golden Fried Rice he ate last night. The light had shot up to the ceiling.
It was nearly ten feet!
This time, it was Zhang Haoran’s turn to jump up in shock.
“General Keiji, the Golden Fried Rice I ate seems to be the one you’re talking about!”