Side Story 2: YES, CHEF!! (Patreon)

Note: The following events take place shortly after the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect arrived at the Azure Mountains. From the perspective of Mingzhi, the creator of the Surprise Dumplings.

Despite the circumstances of their arrival, the loss of his private kitchen, and much of his accumulated tools he couldn’t bring with him, Mingzhi was excited to explore a brand-new world of food. When his business partner Hu Yan had informed him that he needed time to accumulate wealth and influence before starting a few businesses in the Azure Mountains Sect, Mingzhi understood. 

This new sect had stricter rules. It wasn’t as simple as opening a food cart and selling his surprise dumplings. There were permits to acquire, local gangs to pacify, and staff to hire. He was confident his trusted business partner could handle that side of things. In the meantime, rather than indolently wait, Mingzhi decided to continue his education in the art of food.

As an outer court disciple, he had been allocated a small space to live in, but Mingzhi couldn’t be bothered travelling back and forth. So like many others, he intended to find work in the southern city of the outer court, where they had first landed in the Azure Mountains. Instead of relying on rumors or hearsay, he chose to trust his nose and walked around, visiting the most popular restaurants. 

So many new scents and ingredients he couldn’t recognize. So many different styles of preparing food, and so many new cuisines! Mingzhi was in a chef’s paradise! Everything smelled amazing, and he forced himself not to run into the very first one and beg to be taught. But he resisted and was proved right in no time! Every place he visited seemed to follow similar standards. Their food was excellent, but very few stood out from their competition. Mingzhi desperately wanted to learn, but he wanted to follow someone who, like him, took risks and strived to advance their skills in pursuit of greater heights. 

It was the smell of burnt food that finally stood out amongst the enchanting aromas his nose was surrounded by. Pulled by curiosity, he followed his nose to the back entrance of a restaurant, and from it, a coughing man covered in soot emerged and bumped into him. A stream of smoke trailed behind him. 

“Dammit, I was so sure it would work! Cough! That Fire Honey was too volatile!” The man began pacing and mumbling to himself amidst coughs. When he finally noticed Mingzhi, he asked,

“And what do you want? Come to steal my recipes, have you?! I’ll shout for the patrol if you try to force matters!” 

Minzhi was taken aback but answered honestly. 

“I’m looking for work. I’m a chef too, and I do want to learn, but I won’t steal your recipes.”

“Haah?! Are you trying to say they aren’t worth stealing? I may not have the biggest restaurant, but I’ll have you know, we regularly send chefs to that group!”

Even more uncertain now, Mingzhi just stayed quiet. The enraged man seemed to calm down a little. 

“Come on then. I’ll test you first, and if I find that you’re wasting my precious time, then I’ll kick you out without a moment’s hesitation!”

Afraid to say anything that might change his mind, Mingzhi followed quietly but eagerly. 

**************

In the months since he joined Chef Xiu in his restaurant, Mingzhi advanced his skills and knowledge by leaps and bounds. At first he had struggled to match pace with the other cooks in the kitchen, but despite his gruff demeanor, Chef Xiu didn’t abandon him. He had some of the other cooks teach him some skills. Mingzhi’s self-taught skills were quickly polished with the refinement of traditional practices. 

In the early morning, Mingzhi would accompany the irritable chef to the markets to pick the ingredients for the day. It seemed to be the only time he would genuinely smile, and Mingzhi took advantage of his mood to ask about the different ingredients and the dishes they went into. The chef was a font of knowledge, and Mingzhi gulped it all down as fast as he could. Each new recipe was studied thoroughly. The properties of the ingredients, how their qi interacted with other items and how best to prepare them. 

3 months into his training, he had already melded into the scenery of the kitchen. Scoldings for mistakes were scarce, and the speed of preparation was improving daily. He was even beginning to attract jealous glances from other cooks who had been there far longer than him. It wasn’t just them; Chef Xiu had been treating him even better, even letting him witness his experiments.

Mingzhi may not have slept much at all during this time, and his hands were perpetually covered in cuts and burns, but he couldn’t deny that he was the happiest he had ever been. There was just so much to learn, and he had barely scratched the surface! Each dish had a tale to tell, a history that made it that much more fascinating. That dish was made to melt the heart of a jade beauty, and this dish was first cooked on a battlefield to invigorate soldiers! That dish was said to have started a century-long war because a certain ingredient had been illegally obtained for a competition. The Azure Mountains had broadened Mingzhi’s horizons more in this brief time than all the years he spent in the Heavenly Sword Sect. 

One day Mingzhi made an unconscious change to a recipe, and the vigilant chef immediately spotted it. He stopped the dish from being carried out, tasted it, and called Mingzhi aside. As nervous as he was, the gentle smile on the Chef’s face calmed the young cook. 

“I’ve been watching you carefully, and I think it’s time. You’ve honed your knife well and devoured all the knowledge we served you. Staying here any longer will not help you improve any further. Here, take his token and go join them if you want to keep walking the path of a true chef."

“But Chef, I can’t…”

“I can’t hear you, Young Mingzhi. Do you want to keep walking the path of a true chef?” Chef Xiu tilted his head and pointed toward his ear. 

Tears brimming in his eyes, Mingzhi yelled, "YES, CHEF!!” and bowed deeply in heartfelt gratitude.

**********

Mingzhi stood outside the gate of the large compound behind the outer sect’s dining hall. The massive dining halls were sponsored by the sect, where anyone could eat excellent food for a cheap price. There was even food that was free to eat, a path the sect left for those overwhelmed by misfortune.

He checked the token once again to ensure Chef Xiu hadn’t sent him to the wrong place. The characters on the gate were boldly carved.

“One Tongue Tastes the Heavens”

'It seems suggestive somehow…' he thought awkwardly. He steeled his resolve, sucked in a breath, and pushed open the gate to be greeted by a vision of structured chaos. In a large open area there were multiple areas, each tended by one person.

A fire was blazing out of control, and before it was a laughing man with a smoking beard, holding a large pan. Of the 6 others in the area, only one paid any attention to it. The others were focused on rapidly creating their own dishes with the most intoxicating ingredients Mingzhi had ever seen, many that sparkled with qi to his senses. The enchanting aroma from the dishes was driving his nose wild, and his mouth watered to get a taste of them. Each one on a tier above anything he had seen in his time with Chef Xiu.

“I’ve done it! I’ve created a water attribute dish that tastes better charred!” 

“Head chef, please collect yourself! The fire is spreading!”

“Grahaha! Let it spread, my young trainee! It can only enhance this dish I’ve created, the Smoky Lotus Stem! " The head chef brushed aside a young man wringing his hands with worry.

“Stop cackling like a madman and put out that fire!” his neighbor shouted. “The fumes are interfering with my soup! Even my precious artifact can’t fix something like that!”

“Hah?! You’re just jealous of my success, aren’t you? And stop calling that ladle a precious artifact. So what if you found it in a crypt? All old things aren’t precious!” Came the sharp rejoinder from the still smoldering chef.

“What success, you fool! Just because it may taste better charred doesn’t mean it’s worth eating! And if old things aren’t precious, then what are you still doing here?!” His neighbor yelled, waving the aforementioned ladle. 

Mingzhi watched as the doors leading to the dining hall opened and a man entered, acting oblivious to the chaos, simply yelling out 3 orders of food and leaving. 

Someone finally spotted Mingzhi watching with his mouth hung open and shouted, “What’re ye doin’ boy?! Are ye stealing recipes? I’ll knock yer teeth out!” while waving a massive rolling pin.

The squabble froze as everyone turned their gaze toward the ‘recipe thief’. Mingzhi knew better than to answer that question.

With shining eyes, Mingzhi shouted out his heart’s desire without thinking, “Please let me work here!”

AN: Here is the side story I promised! The start of a Chef's Journey. Dang, I could write this a whole separate novel! I wanted to broaden the world of the Azure Mountains from a perspective Ren wouldn't normally indulge anytime soon.