Izakaya.
It continued to operate tonight.
Rindo, who hadn't visited the Izakaya for two days, finally appeared again!
Before.
She would come to the Izakaya.
She usually wore the blue and white Totsuki uniform.
It wasn't that this uniform wasn't beautiful; on the contrary, whenever she wore it, she truly looked like a Far Moon student, pure and full of youthful vigor!
But today, she was wearing a deep red short bolero jacket, exquisitely tailored, making her appear petite and delicate, with her beautiful collarbone visible at the round neck.
Such a fashionable outfit, on the contrary, better accentuated her excellent figure.
At the same time, paired with a light black velvet knee-length skirt and a pair of black high boots, she exuded a unique charm somewhere between maturity and youthfulness!
At this moment, Rindo casually found a seat and sat down.
Immediately after, she became distraught, occasionally sighing, appearing very distressed!
"What's wrong?"
"Is something on your mind?"
At this moment, Sosuke gently placed a bottle of low-alcohol sake in front of her and asked casually.
Rindo slightly raised her head, glanced at Sosuke, but didn't reply; instead, she quickly opened the sake bottle cap and took a gulp.
"Phew~"
"That's refreshing!"
After speaking, Rindo put down the bottle, but her eyes suddenly dimmed again.
...
"In two days."
"The entrance examination will begin."
"As a result, Eishi Tsukasa held a Totsuki Ten Masters Council meeting two days ago, and he assigned me to be the interviewer for this examination!"
Subsequently, Rindo, feeling very puzzled, spoke softly.
"Oh."
"Is school starting?"
Upon hearing this, Sosuke merely responded calmly.
"Yes!"
"In a few more days, I'll be a third-year student."
With that, Rindo sighed slightly.
"So you haven't been to the Izakaya these past two days because you've been busy with school matters?"
Sosuke thought for a moment and finally understood why Rindo hadn't been to the Izakaya for the past two days.
According to the timeline of the original plot, at this time, the "male protagonist" Yukihira Soma should still be running the Yukihira Diner with Chen Yilang.
He probably wouldn't truly enter Totsuki Academy until after the entrance examination, when he takes the transfer student admission test overseen by Erina, right?
However, these matters had nothing to do with Sosuke, so he didn't bother to pay attention.
...
"Shopkeeper."
"Are you raising fugu recently?"
Rindo, who hadn't been there for two days, couldn't help but survey the interior of the Izakaya with curious eyes.
When she saw a large fish tank placed in the corner, with 10 fugu fish swimming inside.
Her eyes couldn't help but light up slightly.
"Hmm!"
"Not exactly raising them, I suppose?"
Sosuke was stunned and could only reply vaguely.
Upon hearing this, Rindo quickly got up and approached the fish tank, her large, watery eyes staring intently at the fugu.
Perhaps she herself specialized in rare ingredients, so she couldn't help but be interested in fugu.
Of course, it was also possible that the fugu were relatively cute, deeply melting her heart.
"Shopkeeper."
"Can I pick them up?"
"Yes, you can do whatever you like!"
After getting Sosuke's permission, Rindo reached into the fish tank and grabbed a fugu by its small tail, letting it swing gently in the air.
And this fugu, perhaps angered by Rindo's actions.
After making a "squeak-squeak" sound, its belly quickly puffed up, like a round little ball, very cute!
"Hehe!"
"It's really interesting."
Seeing this, Rindo smiled inadvertently.
"Do you like it?"
"I like it."
"Who wouldn't like such a small animal?"
Rindo replied truthfully.
"If you like it, I can butcher it on the spot and make it into fugu Sashimi for you to taste!"
Unexpectedly, just as the atmosphere seemed warm, Sosuke, beside her, uttered devilish words.
"Ah?"
Rindo was stunned!
...
Before preparing the fugu.
One must wash and disinfect hands, then use running water to remove surface dirt and mucus, cleaning it thoroughly.
Then, with a pair of scissors, quickly snip off the fugu's mouth, and only then switch to a filleting knife, cutting along the base of the pectoral fin close to the fish body, from top to bottom, to remove both pectoral fins.
Next, it's time for the skinning process.
This process requires the chef to maintain extreme caution, as they must not damage the internal organs while skinning, otherwise, toxins will spread throughout the entire fugu.
Sosuke first took a few deep breaths to relax himself.
Immediately, he turned the blade upwards and cut the skin along the dorsal and ventral dividing lines from head to tail, the entire process was extremely meticulous!
So much so that even Rindo, who was quietly watching from the side, couldn't help but feel nervous.
Finally, the entire fugu skin was peeled off intact by Sosuke.
"That's amazing!"
"The knife skills for preparing fugu are truly remarkable."
Rindo, who had been watching the entire process intently, couldn't help but blink her bright eyes.
Clearly, she felt a sense of admiration for Sosuke's performance.
...
Afterward.
Wipe the fish body with a clean, dry towel to absorb moisture.
Use the tip of the knife to remove the left and right eyeballs, placing them separately.
Separate the gills along the gill cover bone, cut the gill arch, connecting the gills and tongue to the internal organs, and separate the internal organs from the muscle connections.
As time gradually passed, Rindo was increasingly able to perceive that Sosuke's fugu preparation process, though slow, was exceptionally smooth, without the slightest flaw.
Finally, Sosuke changed to another chef's knife and began to slice the fugu.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
As the chef's knife constantly swung.
Slices of fugu fish, as thin as cicada wings, were neatly arranged on an exquisite plate.
"Hiss!"
"Truly worthy of Sosuke."
"Such knife skills are truly masterful."
Seeing the sliced fugu fish, which were as thin as transparent paper, as if they could be punctured with just a gentle poke of a finger, Rindo couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
Undoubtedly, from cleaning, skinning, slicing various parts of the fugu fish, to handling the internal organs and toxins, Sosuke did everything perfectly.
At the same time, the fugu slices he cut were primarily characterized by their "thinness."
And the precision of such knife skills was simply...
Unparalleled!
...
Subsequently.
A plate of fugu Sashimi was placed in front of Rindo.
Under the faint light, it was as magnificent as a peacock displaying its feathers, but upon closer inspection, it resembled a green gauze palace fan.
The fugu meat on the tail feathers reflected specks of light, like countless tiny mirrors, appearing dazzling.
"It's truly beautiful."
"I've never seen fugu Sashimi presented with such a beautiful plating!"
Seeing this, Rindo was so startled that she quickly covered her mouth.
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