Chapter 128: Florencia’s dawn (1)

 

 

Doing something with a good will didn’t always show good results . And like that, the dish Rachel made for the king with all her power brought an unexpected bad……no, a little weird situation .

Jeremy was right like that . Could his satisfaction because of Rachel’s back rib have been instantly raised? He spat out bad comments on every restaurant he went .

“You just seeped in the smell and the flavor can’t even be felt properly . I told you to cook but you are doing fraud . ”

As he was an epicurean, he could do that much of an evaluation . But what made the situation complicated wasn’t that he was talking by himself, but that he was saying those things to the chef himself . Even so, if it was on English he would be able to understand…… But he searched on a thai dictionary and complained really earnestly .

Could the grudges of those people reach the heaven? The day before they were supposed to leave Thailand, a sound of the clouds tearing was heard and soon rain fell as if it was exploding . In the end, the flight got extended, and the staff and the participants all had to stay in the waiting room of the airport .

 

While sitting on a not that comfortable chair, Jo Minjoon organized the dishes he ate while he was in Thailand on a palm sized note . And on that note, it didn’t simply had the things he ate in Thailand . Dishes he ate on Brazil, and even when he was at Grand Chef, the recipes and tips and the characteristics of dishes by countries were written .

For example in India, there was a thing like the preferred spices when cooking dishes with fruit and chilli, and excluding the ones that had dairy products . How perplexed was he when he first heard that . Fruits and chilli . It wasn’t a combination to be easily imagined because of his culture .

Sera, who glanced at Jo Minjoon’s note, expressed amazement .

“You are really meticulous . ”
“I decided to become a chef . There’s only one path I have to walk, so I need to at least do it well . ”
“…… . A man that works hard, how cool . Minjoon . Keep maintaining that posture . You look really **** . ”
“Is that sexual abuse?”
“What a woman as charming as me does isn’t abuse, but seduction . ”

Sera talked like that and flew a kiss on the air . It was at that moment she thought that Jo Minjoon lowering his head was quite cute . Emily pulled Sera and then sighed .

“Don’t bother an innocent person . ”
“Lecturing me again, I’m not a kid anymore . ”

Jo Minjoon just looked at the two of them . There was one thing he realized while being with them, and that was that Sera was quite aware of Emily . At first it seemed that Emily lost some pace because of the blunt character, but after a while it rather felt that Emily was taking care of her spoiled niece…… . Sera was strange . Could you say that she was a little sister admiring her older sister and acting that she wasn’t? And actually the difference of ages was like that . Sera was 24 . Emily was 31 .

“Hey, look at this . ”

Anderson called Jo Minjoon . His finger was pointing his cellphone . Jo Minjoon, that extended his head, soon smirked .

“It looks like she is doing well . ”

It was Chloe’s picture . She was wearing a chicken costume, and was cooking for children . As she went to a 5-minute recipe broadcast constantly, it seemed that she was also being called from other places . It was also because there were children, but looking at her face that was blooming with a smile he felt good . Anderson, that wasn’t only showing pictures of Chloe but on Marco, Hugo, etc . opened his mouth .

“Aren’t you thinking of starting Starbook?”
“I have never thought of it . ”
“You don’t lose anything by using it . It’s also important for chefs to improve their image . ”
“……I thought that you were going to be quite reserved on these things, you are quite open minded . ”
“I’m realistic . If it’s helpful I’ll do it . Rather than eating something without knowing who I am, it would be more delicious to be expecting me . Then, is there a reason not to do it?”
“If you tell me to find a reason, it’s not that it doesn’t exist . You know that . Things like blind test . Simply evaluation without looking at the exterior of the dish . ”
“That’s a method used in competitions . In the end, the image of the chef is also put in the dish . Before the food touches your tongue, raising your expectation isn’t only the aroma and the appearance . ”
“I understand what you are trying to say . In the end, you are telling me to start Starbook, right?” (PR: So it was at this point that I realized that it’s like Facebook . Sorry I’m slow . )

Anderson touched the screen . Many familiar faces appeared .

“Look . Kaya is also using it . Although she’s not the type to upload many things frequently, look . She already has ten thousand fans . ”
“And how many do you have?”
“…… . Uh, I started recently . ”
“So how many do you have?”

At Jo Minjoon’s stubborn question, Anderson smacked his lips for a moment as if he was perplexed and then lowered his head with a sulky expression .

“Two thousand seven hundred . ”
“Oh, that’s a lot . But why are you putting that dispirited face?”
“It’s not a lot . Compared to the others, it’s so so . Even Chloe passed six thousand people . ”
“You said you started recently . ”
“……Actually I was the first to start after the competition ended . ”

At the attitude of confessing an important secret, Jo Minjoon couldn’t hold his laughter anymore . Anderson frowned .

“What is so funny?”
“Kuhu…… . . It is . For the unparalleled Anderson to be suffering with these things . ”
“I’m not . ”

Anderson snorted as if was spouting nonsense . Jo Minjoon smiled brightly and said .

“One day, you will naturally pile them up . What will happen if teacher Rachel joins Starbook? How many tens of thousands……No, won’t it be possible to get some hundreds of thousands?”
“I wonder . She is indeed famous, but she also has her age . The fans of teacher don’t have the age to be looking for famous people on Starbook……”
“You are a fan but are young . ”
“There aren’t many like me . ”
“Now that I see, why are you following teacher like that? No, I know she’s someone you can only follow……Perhaps, did you go when you were small? To Rose Island’s main branch . ”
“Yeah . ”

It was a short reply but Jo Minjoon’s eyes shone even more brightly . He asked with eyes filled with curiousness .

“How was it?”
“It’s impossible to tell me to express it with words . Even so, at an age that my tongue was sensitive… . . It was shocking . I can’t say more than that . ”

His chest heaved just by imagining the restaurant . Maybe, 10-point menus would have been waiting in line on that restaurant . Just what kind of heaven could have been? Jo Minjoon regretted that he wasn’t born earlier . If perhaps he had, he would certainly go there . And meet him . The husband of Rachel in his younger days . There were many things he wanted to ask, learn and feel from them .

But he still had an opportunity . Although he wasn’t at his best, he still had Rachel next to him . He remembered the words Emily said to him . That getting the attention of Rachel is something most chefs can only dream of . And Jo Minjoon wasn’t planning to let go of that chance .

Jo Minjoon looked at Rachel . His eyes, which was looking at the tired Rachel who was sleeping with her head tilted, wasn’t normal . It was at that moment when Anderson glared at Jo Minjoon . Martin approached them .

“I got contacted just now . They say that the flight will be released in one hour . ”
“Ah, we will be able to leave immediately?”
“Yes . If you have things to prepare before you leave, do it now . And if you want to go to the store you can also go . ”
“Where are we going after Italy?”
“That’s of course a secret . You will get the fun of expecting . You can guess . ”
“Well . Actually, it’s too much just expecting for where we are going right now . Italy . Personally, I like Italy’s dishes from Europe the most . ”

Jo Minjoon gulped down the gathered saliva . He had many things he was curious of . When he went to Italian restaurants in Korea, the cooking point was different for each chef, and he also wanted to know how an ideal al dente felt like…… . . And he also wanted to know how the flavor of an Italian meat would be, and the flavor of the sauce or purée made with Italian fruits was . Thinking that he would soon be able to experience it, his heart beat as if he was going to an excursion .

After everyone talked for a moment, it became silent . Some chose to sleep, and some looked at their cellphones . Jo Minjoon was the latter .

[ Me : Are you busy? ]
[ Kaya : No . I’m going to the airport right now . ]

Fortunately, it didn’t seem that they missed the time . As it was a message from quite a while, Jo Minjoon moved his fingers with a really excited face .

[ Me : Can I call you? ]
[ Kaya : Yes . ]
[ Me : I will call you . Wait a moment . ]

Jo Minjoon pressed the call button and brought his cellphone to his ear . As Anderson looked at him with a weird face, Jo Minjoon smirked and moved his mouth to say ‘Kaya’ . Anderson turned his head after putting an astringent face .

The signal was long, perhaps because it was an international call, but soon a familiar voice was heard . Kaya opened her mouth . If perhaps what came out of her mouth was a dish, it would be good to express it as it was fermented with sleepiness and roughly cooked .

[ I’m tired . ]
“Why are you saying that since the start? Are you sleeping nowadays?”

As Jo Minjoon started the conversation, Martin sent an eye sign implying who it was . Next to him, Anderson opened his mouth instead . “He say’s it’s Kaya . ” Martin sent an eye sign towards the cameramen and asked them to zoom in on Jo Minjoon . Jo Minjoon didn’t even know that situation and continued the call with a comfortable expression .

“No . It’s still not the time to sleep . How’s over there?”
[ It’s dawn . Don’t tell me to sleep . How do you know when we will speak again? ]
“What’s that important? Your body becoming bad is more of a problem . ”
[ This is a problem for me . I don’t know when was it since I had a conversation like conversation . The people I meet are always residents, customers, or other chefs . When I contact you and the others at times, I feel that I’m resting . ]
“Who do you contact with aside of me?”
[ It’s obvious . Mom, my sister, and……Marco . Chloe and I couldn’t match our times that easily . So we send and receive messages once a day . ]
“Chloe is also busy . So, is your body okay?”
[ I don’t know . They don’t even send me to the hospital so how should I know? I don’t . When I get to know later on, I may have an incurable disease . ]

Jo Minjoon frowned . He didn’t feel good even with imagining it .

“Don’t say that . So, where are you now?”
[ Germany . But in a few hours I will be at Italy . ]
“…… . . Italy? I’m also going there . Are you appearing on our broadcast?”
[ No way . They say they are doing a Grand Chef broadcast on Italy, and they told me to show myself as the winner . Even though I don’t know any Italian . ]
“Will we be able to meet?”
[ If it’s near we will be able to . Escaping when it’s dawn . ]
“It would be good if it’s near . ”

The conversation between the two didn’t finish for a while . Ten minutes, thirty minutes, fifty minutes . Only after it became time for the plane to depart did Jo Minjoon finish the call .

“I soon have to get on the plane . At least get some rest on the plane . ”
[ Yeah . I will hang up . ]

Only after he ended the call did he realize that the other people were all looking at him . He said with an awkward expression .

“Is there a problem?”

–

The flight time was a bit more than 12 hours, but because of the time zone difference, it was exactly 2pm when they arrived at Florencia . As they passed the immigration post and got outside, Martin cleared his throat and gathered everyone . Then he opened his mouth .

“This is Italy . And today, we brought a special guide that will lead you . ”
“A special guide?”

Emily asked with a strange voice . At that moment Jo Minjoon thought up of Kaya . Kaya certainly said that she was coming to Italy . Although she said that she was going to Italy’s Grand Chef… . . Maybe? He thought of that .

Martin just looked back instead of replying . The man that was a bit farther away than him slowly walked towards them and took off his sunglass . At that instant, Emily gulped some air .

“Alan…… . . ?!”

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