Chapter 538: Unexpected Twist (18)
Chapter 538: Unexpected Twist (18)
Minjoon said, “There’s nothing wrong with your dishes. At first, I wanted to criticise your plating for looking so typical, but now that I’ve tasted your food, I feel even that simplicity is beautiful. Chef Dave, you’re clever. Your dishes aren’t ordinary because you failed to make them colourful; rather, you deliberately make them plain to create something unique. Those two are very different.”
Picasso’s drawings might resemble children’s scribbles in some ways, but no one claims they hold equal value. That was the “ordinariness” of Dave’s dishes. Just as someone with a good figure looks great even in simple clothes like a white T-shirt and jeans, the plainness of Dave’s plating possessed an extraordinary quality that overwhelmed its simplicity.
“Honestly, I feared that I’d keep seeking the traces of your dishes without truly understanding them,” Minjoon added.
“So you’re saying I’m considered a strong winner of this competition?” Dave asked with a smile.
Surprised by his nonchalant attitude, Minjoon nodded.
“Yes, given the current state.”
The hemp in Nathan’s pipe glowed red. He inhaled deeply but soon coughed hard, as if unused to it. When his senses dulled, he rose and headed to the kitchen. June was there, raising an eyebrow.
“I thought you’d quit smoking. Haven’t you?”
“None of your business!”
“It smells awful, and it bothers me!”
She didn’t mention marijuana explicitly. In this country, smoking cannabis wasn’t taboo, but was it suitable for a chef?
“Think about your long-term career,” she said softly.
She knew many chefs used marijuana to spark creativity, but over time it dulled their taste. In that awakened state, while high, their tongues and bodies might temporarily experience heightened perception, even better than Minjoon’s or Kaya’s perfect palate.
Nathan was crushed by the judges’ rejection and colleagues’ criticism. Even Dave, his rival and colleague, won absurd praise. Nathan likely sought to achieve something with cannabis, though it wasn’t easy as he wished.
He drank milk, savouring its spreading flavour. Why couldn’t he replicate this in his cooking? Dave’s dishes brought sensations Nathan’s couldn’t. Dave’s cooking stretched his palate to the limit—he couldn’t even evoke Dave’s flavours himself.
“How did this happen to me?”
Staring blankly at his knife, Nathan felt every blood vessel pulsate in his fingertip, yet felt lifeless.
“I wanted to be the best chef, but I didn’t know what that meant.”
Trying Dave’s dishes reminded him how amateurish he was to call Dave a rival when he didn’t truly understand cooking.
He looked at June, wondering what she thought. He placed his hand in his pocket and caressed his pipe.
“Maybe you want to smoke more than I do right now. Want some?”
“No, thanks. I don’t want a fake victory that sells my future.”
“Fake victory?” He laughed bitterly.
He felt miserable—he couldn’t deny her point. He no longer understood June. Even he, far from winning, struggled. How did she stay so calm? Was she pretending?
“Are you confident you’ll win?” he asked bluntly.
She met his gaze, unreadable. Her calm eyes concealed her thoughts and feelings. She had always been like that, somehow unreachable, much like Dave. Though their styles differed, both resided in a world apart from his.
“I fight by two principles: either when I can win unconditionally, or when I expect no loss even if defeated.”
“But you can’t avoid loss if you lose. Do you think you can win unconditionally now?”
“I don’t apply those principles to this competition. I’m just fighting. Even if you suffer loss because I lose, Nathan, don’t feel sorry if you lose here.”
“But I’ve already lost.”
“It hurts. It’s painful. But no amount of marijuana will change that. Maybe momentary inspiration helps, but only temporarily. You won’t find true inspiration in drugs. You’ve seen many ruin their lives that way.”
She said it firmly. Nathan stayed silent.
She didn’t claim confidence in victory—she had also tried Dave’s cooking today, and perhaps that weighed heavily on her.
He sensed a gulf between her anguish and his and wished to probe it.
“Can you win?”
She sighed. His question was meaningless; so would be her answer.
In that moment, she recalled Minjoon and imagined his likely sly smile.
She answered subtly in his style: “Well, I don’t know how.”
Her problem was simple: she didn’t know how to surpass Dave.
A cynical smile crossed her lips, not at Nathan but herself. She had devoted so much time to cooking, yet still felt far behind Dave.
She ended the conversation.
Now, June cooked alone. Nathan, drugged, was barely present; for long stretches, he stared emptily before suddenly cooking, producing varying quality dishes.
If he starts relying on drugs, he won’t stop.
Though cannabis addiction is less severe than alcohol or tobacco, for creatives like chefs, the allure is strong. High on cannabis, they borrow a genius-like sense; less talented chefs feel elated.
Ultimately, their addiction is fueled by yearning—for talent, refined senses, and access to that surreal realm blending instinct, reason, consciousness, and unconsciousness. They crave to dive into that murky clarity.
June understood Nathan’s turn to hemp. Because of her own weaknesses, she secretly wished to borrow some talent from cannabis smoke.
But she saw drug reliance as failure. Even if she defeated Dave with this help, she’d not be proud—like an athlete winning sober is more satisfying than winning doped.
Others might differ, but June lived for self-satisfaction. She refused to ruin decades of effort with weakness. Even if she lost, she wanted her effort to remain pure and whole.
She was now preparing the course for judges’ evaluation—namely, ingredients for the sauces of main dishes. First came red cabbage gazpacho, planned to be served with formal grain mustard ice cream.