Yin Chef, With Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

It was only natural to pay someone for helping you.

But twenty thousand? Where was I supposed to get that much money?

Feeling troubled, I said,

"Uncle Yu, I don't have that much money.

My family isn't doing well either.

Could you see if you can... lower it a little?"

Afterward, I briefly explained my situation to Uncle Yu.

I really couldn't come up with twenty thousand yuan.

I had thought Uncle Yu would haggle with me, maybe even tell me to take out an online loan or something.

But to my surprise, Uncle Yu merely smiled.

He casually waved his hand at me.

"Don't worry.

If all I wanted was money, I wouldn't be running a grilled squid stall outside this school.

You can put the money on credit.

I don't need you to write an IOU either.

When you have money, or when you start working in the future, you can pay me back slowly.

But the twenty thousand can't be a cent less.

You just have to agree to that amount in person."

After hearing Uncle Yu's words, I was a little dumbfounded.

Who did business like this?

Putting it on credit was one thing, but he didn't even need an IOU.

All I had to do was verbally agree to it face-to-face?

To put it bluntly, what the hell was a verbal promise worth?

It wouldn't even hold up in court.

How was that any different from doing it for free?

I was rather surprised.

Seeing my expression, Uncle Yu smiled as well.

"Some people live for money, while others live for something else.

The price I gave you is the rule in our line of work. I can't reduce it by even a cent.

You only need to agree to that number in front of me.

Besides, out of all those people, you happened to run into me.

That means we're fated.

Just give me three hundred yuan as a deposit.

I'll earn myself some blessings and put my old craft to use."

Uncle Yu spoke bluntly and never beat around the bush.

I understood clearly.

Twenty thousand yuan was the price for him to step in, and it was the rule of his profession.

All I had to do was agree verbally.

But in reality, he was only charging me three hundred yuan as a friendly price.

At that moment, I was deeply moved.

Uncle Yu really was a wonderful person.

Then I nodded and agreed.

"Alright, Uncle Yu. I agree."

After saying that, I hurriedly scanned the code.

I transferred three hundred yuan and handed it to Uncle Yu.

Uncle Yu gave an "Mm" and began packing up his cart.

He even had me help him.

While we worked, I asked Uncle Yu what I should do tonight.

I asked what method he had to help me avoid being haunted by that filthy thing.

Uncle Yu merely said casually,

"People care about relationships and social customs. Ghosts care about warmth and kindness too.

Don't let Uncle's grilled squid stall fool you.

I used to be a Yin Chef."

"A Yin Chef?"

I stared at Uncle Yu in surprise.

I knew what a chef was.

But this was the first time I'd ever heard of a Yin Chef.

Seeing the confusion on my face, Uncle Yu smiled and explained.

He said that those who cooked for the living were called Yang Chefs.

They were the chefs found in all kinds of restaurants.

But people like him cooked for the dead, so they were called Yin Chefs.

Although I had never encountered this profession before,

I figured that since it was divided into yin and yang,

there had to be plenty of rules involved.

Perhaps it was like the difference between a surgical operation and dissecting a living person.

One saved people, while the other harmed them.

So I didn't ask further and kept listening.

Uncle Yu then briefly introduced his abilities and explained how he would help me tonight.

Uncle Yu said that Yin Chefs differed from Yang Chefs.

Yang Chefs emphasized color, aroma, and taste, serving people.

Yin Chefs emphasized truth, goodness, and beauty, serving ghosts.

In ancient times, the offerings of the three sacrificial animals and the eight bowls of offering dishes all had to be prepared by Yin Chefs.

Therefore, there were major differences in ingredient selection, ingredient pairings, and cooking methods.

Yang Chefs lit their fires during the day, while Yin Chefs opened their stoves at night.

When living people ate Yang Dishes, they became healthy in body and happy in mind.

Likewise, when filthy things ate Yin Dishes, their resentment could be dispelled, their baleful energy dissolved, and they could enter reincarnation.

He said that although he was a Yin Chef and not like those masters who wielded yellow talismans and wooden swords,

Yin Chefs also had their own methods of warding off disaster.

Tonight, he would use a Yin Chef's method to make six Yin-Sending Dishes for me.

By using offering food to awaken the truth, goodness, and beauty within that filthy thing, he would dissolve the resentful and baleful energy around the ghost and help it enter reincarnation.

As long as the filthy thing haunting me was sent away, my problem would be solved.

In their profession, his method was known as Civil Sending, also called inviting a ghost to dinner.

As long as the ghost haunting me was sent away,

all I needed to do was get more sunlight and avoid places heavy with yin energy. Then I would naturally return to a normal life.

He also said that the reason he had ignored me yesterday

was largely because there hadn't been enough time.

He had wanted to help, but lacked the ability to do so.

Even if he had wanted to help, he couldn't have prepared six Yin-Sending Dishes in such a short time.

I could only rely on my own luck.

But who would have thought that I had survived? That proved we were fated.

That was why Uncle Yu had taken the initiative to call out to me when he saw me on the street today, leading to everything that followed.

I was already extremely grateful that Uncle Yu was willing to help, so I didn't care whether it had been yesterday or today.

At the same time, I learned that such a magical profession actually existed in reality.

Through cooking, they could send departed souls on their way.

I began to feel a little admiration for Uncle Yu.

As we pushed the cart past the market, Uncle Yu had me wait outside for a while.

He went into the market alone to buy the ingredients he would need tonight.

I waited for roughly twenty minutes before Uncle Yu returned.

But when he came back, he had bought two bags of ingredients: chicken, fish, meat...

I was completely stunned.

The three hundred yuan I had given him didn't even seem enough to cover the ingredients.

Not to mention Uncle Yu's lost work time and all the time he was spending on me.

Yet Uncle Yu didn't say a word and was still willing to help me.

Other than gratitude, I didn't know what words could describe how I felt.

My pockets were empty, and I couldn't take out more money to thank him.

I could only silently remember this kindness in my heart.

If I made it through this ordeal, I would definitely repay Uncle Yu generously someday.

But Uncle Yu seemed to see through my thoughts and didn't care.

He said he sought blessings, not wealth, and that helping me was simply fate.

More than half an hour later, Uncle Yu led me to a small alley behind Xuefu Road.

Uncle Yu's rental apartment was there, a shabby one-bedroom, one-living-room place on the first floor.

After parking the cart, Uncle Yu checked the time and said,

"It's five ten now. We're a little pressed for time.

But we'll definitely make it.

Xiao Jiang, give me a hand. Kill the chicken and bring back the chicken blood.

I'll start making the Soul-Sending Meal now."

"Alright, Uncle Yu!"

I immediately nodded, then picked up the tied-up Big Yellow Rooster.

I found a knife and a bowl, then went to the doorway to kill the chicken.

For a medical student, killing a chicken was actually quite simple.

Once I identified the positions of the blood vessels and windpipe, I plucked away the feathers and finished it with one cut.

The yellow rooster struggled a few times, and steaming-hot chicken blood flowed into more than half the bowl.

Uncle Yu was kneading dough at the time. He took the freshly collected chicken blood and poured an entire bowl into the dough.

The white dough was quickly dyed red with chicken blood.

It looked bloody, and the stench of chicken blood filled the air.

But Uncle Yu said,

"Don't let the fishy stench of this chicken-blood dough fool you.

The first Yin-Sending Dish

is Chicken Blood Flower Cake made from this blood dough..."