Pokémon: Start with an Admiral Crab!

During afternoon tea time, Lijia changed into a more formal kimono and demonstrated to Wang Yao the tea ceremony that she had been practicing.

"Please use."

Lijia poured the prepared tea into a beautiful porcelain cup and pushed it in front of Wang Yao.

"Let me try it—!"

Wang Yao picked it up and blew on it, then carefully sipped a mouthful of the green tea with foam on its face.

gudu~

"Tsk—why is it bitter?"

After swallowing the bitter tea with great effort, Wang Yao put down the teacup with a frown.

"...So Lord Ayao doesn't like strong tea?"

Lijia put her hands together and pressed them against one cheek, saying apologetically.

"Then I will prepare some lighter tea..."

Lijia was about to get up and prepare tea for Wang Yao.

"No, I'll just have some warm water - these snacks are delicious, do you have any more?"

Wang Yao picked up a small porcelain plate with a bunch of meatballs on it.

In addition, there are several plates of sushi, fried fish, dried tofu and other snacks.

Although there are many varieties, each dish is only enough for one bite...

"Okay~"

Bang bang——!

Rika clapped her hands, and the door of the tea room was opened. Outside was Misako, who was kneeling and waiting to be assigned.

"Go get some more kaiseki... Master Yao really likes the snacks in our gym."

Rika instructed Misako.

"Yes."

Misako is the little girl with twin ponytails that Wang Yao saw at the accident scene of the perfume truck.

As Lijia's assistant, in addition to participating in the perfume industry and gym battles...

She has always been by the side of Master Lijia in the cultivation of the tea ceremony, flower arranging and other spiritual practices.

"So this is Kaiseki cuisine... I've heard of it before, but I've never tried it."

Wang Yao’s favorite “Japanese food” before was octopus balls.

Especially the self-service snack stands in the snack street where one yuan per snack is sold, are places he often visits.

"Kaiseki cuisine originated from monks who practiced in temples..."

Seeing that Wang Yao was interested in this, Lijia also kindly introduced to him the origin of Kaiseki cuisine.

"Because the practice requires 'one meal a day', they cannot have a full meal in the afternoon - this was originally a simple snack they made in the afternoon to resist hunger."

"The name 'Kaiseki' comes from the fact that hungry monks often hug heated stones to relieve their hunger at night."

Lijia said with a hint of joking.

[There are actually two versions about the origin of Kaiseki cuisine, but the most popular one is the one about the hungry monk. The one about the Tao Te Ching is more like a product of domestic public intellectuals who are trying to curry favor with the powerful.]

"It's really hard to be hungry... It's better not to learn from those stubborn monks."

"If you want to cultivate willpower, you might as well go to the top of a mountain and move stones..."

Wang Yao poured the sushi on the plate into his mouth without any image, and said while chewing the sushi.

"But this sushi tastes good - pitted plums are hidden in the rice, and then covered with fish meat. It has a complex taste when chewed, and you won't get tired of it at all."

Wang Yao commented.

"Master Ayao is truly a unique person..."

Most of the guests that Lijia had invited before praised the monks for their firm determination in practice and their simple style.

Only Wang Yao was simply tasting the food and also "instructing" the monks on their path of practice.

Susu——!

The door was opened from the outside, and Misako was holding a wooden tray with six or seven dishes of various kinds on it.

Placing the dish between the two of them, Misako quietly stepped back.

"Ms. Lijia, you eat too~"

Wang Yao discovered that Lijia didn't move her chopsticks at all. She only took a sip of the freshly brewed matcha at the beginning, probably to get the feel of the taste.

"This is for the guests, little lady..."

According to the tea ceremony that Lijia practiced, these snacks were to be enjoyed by Wang Yao, the guest.

“Afternoon tea is meant to be shared—the monks who created Kaiseki cuisine were all hungry!”

Wang Yao picked up a string of meatballs and handed it to Lijia.

"This...that's okay."

Lijia took the meatballs, covered her face with her sleeves and tasted one.

This was the first time she ate while performing the tea ceremony.

"Come to think of it, I once met an old lady who ran a teahouse. The meatballs she made were the best I've ever tasted."

As he spoke, Wang Yao threw another piece of sushi into his mouth.

"After Xiaogang and I tasted it - oh, Xiaogang is the owner of the Dark Gray Gym..."

"…When I was practicing in the mountains, I also cracked the old woman's recipe. I was able to make a similar taste a while ago."

Wang Yao looked around, trying to find a pen and paper to share the recipe with Lijia.

The paper can be replaced by the mouth wipes available nearby.

But there were only cups, chopsticks, bowls and plates in the tea room.

There was a charcoal stove for making tea that was still emitting smoke.

Wang Yao opened the tea stove, picked up a small piece of charcoal with chopsticks, and threw it into the teacup to extinguish it.

Then start writing the recipe on the mouth towel with charcoal.

"The old lady should use chicken, but beef and fish can also be used..."

"The amount of fennel is within this range, and you can fine-tune it according to your taste... I personally like to double the amount, but Xiaogang thinks we should also take children's taste into consideration."

"...The ratio of onion juice to xiangluo fruit must be strictly controlled. Xiaogang and I spent a long time experimenting to determine the dosage..."

Wang Yao spread out the mouth towel with the recipe written on it in front of Lijia.

If Wang Yao had not forgotten the recipe of Yeli Island's juice, he might have shared it with Lijia.

What kind of tea ceremony is this...it's too bad.

He would rather drink a bottle of Pepsi that is still at room temperature.

"..."

Lijia held the charcoal-written towel in her hand in a daze, trying hard to remember Wang Yao's explanation in her head.

"These materials should be available in the kitchen... Misako, no - I'll do it myself."

Lijia carefully folded the towel in half, stood up and opened the lattice door.

"I'll go too—there are still a lot of details that haven't been introduced yet!"

Wang Yao thought about it and decided to follow.

For example, the particle size of the minced meat, the heat of frying or roasting...these are things that were not mentioned just now.

"..."

"What on earth is going on..."

Misako sat at the door, watching two figures leaving the corridor one after the other, and sighed silently in her heart.