"...That's how it is, Mr. Heath. If you don't mind, would you take May as your apprentice and teach her to cook?" Looking at the earnest Norman and the smiling Mitsuko beside him, Heath scratched his head. For some reason, he kept feeling as though something had been missing just now, as though the timeline had jumped straight here in the blink of an eye. Still, looking at May's serious expression, Heath decided to try talking her out of it first. After all, some things seemed wonderful to outsiders, but only insiders understood the suffering involved.
It was like the Civil Engineering Forum on the message boards in his previous life. Sometimes a few hot-blooded young people who had just started studying civil engineering would show up, utterly disdainful of the forum veterans' talk of packing up and running away. They would even declare that they would definitely make a name for themselves after graduation. Only after they actually graduated and started working on construction sites did they learn just how much suffering was involved. Then they began reflecting on their earlier arrogance, providing the forum veterans with one classic example after another.
Being a chef was much the same. Back in his previous life, when Heath watched cooking anime and food shows, he thought cooking really was something easy and relaxing. Only later did he learn that it wasn't all that simple. Of course, if someone only intended to make a little food for themselves at home, it wasn't that much trouble. But if they wanted to become a proper chef, they had to practice the fundamentals.
Tossing food in a wok looked simple, but it was actually quite difficult-it could even be described as extremely difficult-because it was exhausting, truly exhausting. Afterward, beginners might even feel as though