Strange World Alchemist Chef – Book 1
Chapter 001 – Chef Wu Xuan
Translated by Prosperousfood.com
Rehosted and re-translated by Gumihou
Edited by Pill Bug
“Little Xuan, wake up! What happened to you? Why is your head bleeding like this… please wake up…”
As though being shaken from a deep sleep, Wu Xuan shook his head in a daze. It took some trouble to force his heavy eyelids to open. When it finally did, the first thing he saw was the wrinkled and anxious face of an old man.
Seeing that Wu Xuan had finally opened his eyes, the old man sighed with relief. “What on earth are you doing lying down here? And your head…” his eyes travelled to the ladder next to them and all the way to the top.
Understanding suddenly dawned and he sighed again, “And here I was wondering why you were so slow with the dried mushrooms. You must have slipped from the ladder. How are you feeling now?”
[Gumihou 1: Not even 4 paragraphs in we’ve already clocked in 3 sighs]
I… did not die?
[1] Just wha- [1] “Argh…” Wu Xuan clutched at his head. He vaguely heard what the old man cried out, but he was too preoccupied with the pain in his head… and the sudden barrage of information flooding his mind. The pain was so overwhelming that it nearly made him black out again, but thankfully, it soon subsided.From the amount of information sitting in his head, it felt like he had been under for a long time, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed. Wu Xuan could only sit in a daze as he tried to understand what was going on.
He was… a stranger in a strange body!
From the memories he had gleaned, the original goods was also Wu Xuan. They had the same name, but they are not the same, ah!
The Wu Xuan of this world was just 17 years old. He was part of a large clan but his status was nothing to write home about. After all, how high could the status of a kitchen hand be?
In short, he was just a member of the support team.
Inevitably, Wu Xuan’s thoughts drifted back to his own life.
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
In his original life, Wu Xuan was an accomplished chef. An all-rounder who could cook pretty much any dish in the world. Well, rather than chef, he was closer to a cook, since he was basically self-taught and held no cooking license.
However, as long as he was given edible ingredients, he could make something delicious. Give him a simple recipe and he could make it extremely delicious!
This skill was developed from his days as a hungry child who would eat anything he could get his hands on. Eventually, he fell in love with cooking and eating the food he made with his own hands. Even after his quality of life improved, he still preferred to eat his own cooking.
According to the myth of Shennong [2], the Divine Farmer had tasted over a hundred herbs in his lifetime. As a modern man and self-proclaimed chef, Wu Xuan had tasted over a hundred different kinds of ingredients. He was a single man with no relatives and few friends. Wu Xuan grew up as an orphan and hence grew up under very poor conditions. Therefore, he gave no thought to his habit of going wherever he wanted and eating whatever he could get his hands on.
Also, for your information, he did not die from eating some kind of bad or poisonous food, okay?
On the day of his death, he climbed a mountain in search of some rare ingredients when the heavens suddenly changed. What had once been a perfectly cheerful blue sky suddenly darkened and thunder smashed into the mountainside. The last thing Wu Xuan remembered was throwing up his hands before pain exploded through his body and he blacked out.
[3] When he came into consciousness, he was already lying on the floor of… a storeroom? In ancient China? Not only that, but if the memories downloaded into his brain could be trusted, a Xuanhuan ancient China?Just what kind of fantasy land had he fallen into, ah?!
Wait, was he dreaming?
[3] Some of the things he was seeing in his memories looked so fantastic that he would have thought that this was a dream. [3] However… the pain on the back of his head, the hard scratchy ground and Uncle Wu’s breath on his face…They were all real!
He had somehow… crossed over into a different world…
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“Little Xuan, don’t scare me, ah! Is your head alright?” the old man leaned over anxiously. [3] The source of the breath across Wu Xuan’s face. “Has this child been knocked silly by the fall?”
Wu Xuan managed to force a smile and sat up. He said, “I’m fine. [4] My head hurts a little, but a little rest should fix me right up.”
He tentatively prodded the downloaded memory and realized that his old man was part of the Wu Clan, just like he was. Both of them work in the kitchens, but this man, [4] Uncle Wu, he finally recalled, had been at it much longer.
Seeing Wu Xuan sitting up and answering questions without issues, Uncle Wu heaved a sigh of relief. The strangled feeling in his chest loosened and he stood up, “I’ll fetch some medicine and bandages for you. Just lie down and rest. I’ll be back soon.”
After Uncle Wu stepped out, Wu Xuan slowly shuffled to the wall and leaned back. He closed his eyes and tried to process the information dump. After some housekeeping, he found out a little more about the world he had been dumped into.
This was an ancient world with no advanced technologies.
It was similar to the ancient China he knew from books and history. The one thing that was respected here was strength.
[1] That’s right.The Might is Right mentality was great here.
The weak gets no justice, the strong gets to make the rules. It was a lopsided society that favours the powerful!
The Wu Xuan of this world was a member of the Wu Clan. Rather, he was an orphan that has been adopted into the Wu Clan. [1] Wu Xuan had to smile grimly at this similarity. As a child he had been taken in due to his potential, unfortunately after many treatments and effort, his meridians remained blocked and he was unable to cultivate or practice martial arts.
By this world’s standard, he was no better than a cripple.
A person who could not cultivate could only opt to become a servant or a labourer. Here, though he was called a support disciple, his main job was to manage the clan’s food supply. In short, he was the family cook.
Today’s dish happened to require some dried mushrooms and the original goods had fallen off a ladder while attempting to reach the highest shelf in the storeroom. Unfortunately, though the fall was short, he landed badly and broke his head in a freak accident. Which allowed modern world Wu Xuan to transmigrate into his body.
Just what kind of twisted fate is this?
Wu Xuan closed his eyes, before quickly opening them again. Didn’t he read somewhere that one should always make sure the person with head injury should stay awake?
[5] Eyes wide open, he stared at the many cupboards and cabinets in the room. Thinking back to this original good’s career in this Might is Right world.A cook.
Wu Xuan has nothing against cooks. He was a chef, or a cook, depending on who you’re talking to, but regardless. A person who makes food was practically nothing in this world, a mere servant.
[5] He had not worked his ass off for a better life only to slip down and be trodden on by a bunch of ancients. [5] Then again, what could he do? Sighing, Wu Xuan leaned back, and oww. The lump on the back of his head really hurt. He carefully touched the wound before checking his fingertips for blood. [5] Wu Xuan blinked and rubbed his fingertips together. Wow, the original goods had really nice hands. In fact, too nice! Did this guy ever do any work in his life? In his past life, Wu Xuan’s hands were covered in the scars of his profession. Cut marks, burns, callouses littered his fingers up to his elbows. He had lost so much feelings in his palms that he could lift piping hot pans off the stove with his bare hands without wincing.
Before he could dwell on his existential crisis any more, Uncle Wu was back with medicine and bandages. The kind man helped to apply medicine and tied on the bandage. It was not very well done and [1] Wu Xuan ended up hissing in pain several times. Still, it was better than letting the flies land on his wound and lay eggs…
“Are you feeling better now? If you’re still ill, it’s better to go to the Elixir Pavilion and get one of the alchemists to check you out. He could give you better medicine for your head,” even after dressing Wu Xuan’s lump, Uncle Wu was still worried.
The Elixir Pavilion is where the alchemists of the Wu Clan practiced their art. The conditions to become an alchemist were stricter than that of a mere martial artist. The various pills and elixirs demanded by warriors were virtually endless and not something that any old pharmacist could throw together. Therefore, alchemists enjoyed a very high status within the Wu Clan.
Of course, this had nothing to do with him. This Wu Xuan character could barely practice martial arts, how was he going to do alchemy?
Wu Xuan touched the bandages on his head and said gratefully, “No, it’s fine. I’m feeling much better now.”
For a lowly cook to look for one of these lofty alchemists to look at a bump on his head? If he’s lucky, they would merely sneer at him and drive him out of that sacred place.
In fact…
[6] This body practically flinched at the word ‘Elixir Pavilion’. Wu Xuan traced that feeling to a memory and found that this guy’s position was so low on the Wu Clan’s totem pole he was not even qualified for the ‘privilege’ of taking spoilt or less effective elixirs.“Yi? What happened to your hands? It wasn’t like this earlier,” Uncle Wu’s brows scrunched up in confusion at the hand touching Wu Xuan’s bandage.
Wu Xuan paused, his mind racing again. So, were these hands unusual? Did they… come with him during the transmigration?
However, these were thoughts for himself to ponder. He casually lowered his hand and smiled, “I’m not sure. I’ve done nothing different. I did soak them in a pan of water, but, I didn’t think it would end up like this.”
Right, let’s go with that excuse.
Uncle Wu looked like he wanted to ask more, but Wu Xuan interrupted with, “By the way, I’m very grateful for Uncle Wu’s care, but, don’t you have some cooking to do?”
“Ah, I almost forgot!” Uncle Wu jumped to his feet. “I need to prepare the meal.” He was about to run out of the storeroom before he stopped and turned around. “Why don’t I help you back to your room first?”
Wu Xuan waved him back with a smile, “No need, no need, I can move fine.” To prove this, he got to his feet and… only swayed a little bit.
Uncle Wu looked at him anxiously before speaking quickly, “If that’s the case, Little Xuan, you take the rest of the day off today. I shall make dinner.”
With that, the older man left.
They were servants after all, if dinner was not served no matter what the reason, all the cooks would be blamed.
Wu Xuan moved slowly, [5] allowing his body to go on autopilot as his mind churned over different facts. His soul has transmigrated. This body has changed too, or at least the hands. Why was he pulled into this body? What’s the purpose of these sissy looking hands?
Also, he looked up at the area where the dried mushrooms were supposedly stored and frowned. A fall from that height might be unpleasant but it certainly should not be something that would kill a person. This body is really weak, ah.
[5] This guy sure is brave, deciding to work in a kitchen with a body like this. He should have just gotten a floor sweeping job. A kitchen is a battlefield, you know?! I hope Uncle Wu is doing fine on his own. [5] He really wanted to go and help, if only to see more of this place with a guide, but this body! It’s too weak. He rubbed his arms.“Why is it so cold? Isn’t it summer now? Is this weak-ass body catching a cold now?!”
As he mulled over this, his mind overloaded with thoughts and hurrying towards the sunshine, Wu Xuan never noticed the ground that he had been laying was covered in a thin layer of ice.
As the sun rose higher, the ice quickly melted, turning into a puddle of water that soon evaporated out of existence.
[Gumihou: Hoho, what do you think of this MC?]
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[1] Adjusted Sentences for Dramatic Reason: I mean it is the opening scene of the very first chapter after all. [2] Shennong, also known as Divine Farmer – is the legendary originator of Chinese herbal medicine is recognized for tasting hundreds of herbs in one day with more than 70 herbs with medicinal value.
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/shennong.htm
[3] Embellishments for Dramatic Purpose: Because this is the Opening Chapter and love should be lavished generously upon it. Gumi slathering embellishments with a marinade brush. [4] Adjustment for Logistic Reason: Wu Xuan called ‘Uncle Wu’ before he poked the memory… Gumihou is just finicky, alright? Anyway, it’s fixed. [5] Wu Xuan’s thoughts: See, Gumihou has reached Book 2 Volume 3 of the translation and was taken aback by a lot of things that were not hinted at in this first chapter. Wu Xuan’s thoughts were all very superficial and expository, bla bla bla, I got here, I’m a cook, my head hurts, I’m surprised by my hands, why my hands so pretty… The preoccupation with the hands went above and beyond, reign it in! Do you have a hand fetish?!A cook’s hands is a worker’s hands. Just ask Nigella Lawson. She has, in her own words, ‘hands like asbestos’ and has to remind herself to use gloves instead of her bare hands to take things out of the oven.
[6] USMiC – Original Wu Xuan: There was barely any indication of this character anywhere, but, it’s weird how OP this Wu Xuan’s ability to just know. At least make use of original goods Wu Xuan’s bodily reaction as hints to the past.
