Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 127 - 108: Dumplings (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone~)

Chapter 127: Chapter 108: Dumplings (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone~)

A plate of apple dough balls, half made by Qin Huai, the other half by Zheng Siyuan.

At first glance, you couldn’t tell that this plate of dough balls wasn’t made by the same person.

All from the same mold, the shape of apples, the color of apples, even the details like the apple stem.

Looking from afar, you wouldn’t think it’s a plate of pastries at all.

Zheng Siyuan felt a bit introverted.

But Qin Huai felt there was nothing to it; in his view, this plate of dough balls was still made by Zheng Siyuan, and he just assisted Zheng Siyuan.

The dough was kneaded by Zheng Siyuan, the filling was mixed by Zheng Siyuan, and even the beet juice used for coloring was prepared by Zheng Siyuan. Qin Huai felt he merely got involved to practice his Finger Skills.

To be honest, he had quite a talent for Finger Skills.

Qin Huai looked satisfied at the indistinguishable dough balls on the plate, regaining all the confidence lost after days of hard training in Fire Control, all in today’s dough balls.

His Knife Skills are at the Basic level, because that’s the minimum.

But his Finger Skills are at the Basic level, only because he never had the opportunity to practice before.

To be honest, Qin Huai felt he recaptured the long-lost feeling of innate skill from his first time kneading dough when he made the apple shapes and brushed the colors on the apples.

This is the feel!

"Si Yuan, where do you think I should start practicing my Finger Skills?" Qin Huai asked, weighing an apple dough ball in his hand, "Should I begin with simple snacks like soups?"

Zheng Siyuan: "...No, just start with simple dough balls first."

"You only need to focus on shaping, I’ll handle the rest, purely practice Finger Skills."

Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan walked out of the kitchen one after the other, where Chen Yingjun and Chen Huihong were already staring, dumbfounded, at the dough balls on the plate.

Chen Yingjun, acting out of character, reached out tentatively to poke the dough balls on the plate, trying to determine if they were real apples.

"Sis, these really aren’t apples." Chen Yingjun was astonished.

Qin Huai: ...

He began to doubt whether Chen Yingjun had really built his current empire entirely through his own skill and hard work.

From the very first time he laid eyes on Chen Yingjun, Qin Huai thought that Chen Yingjun must have achieved everything today through his own efforts without any deceit or trickery.

He also felt that there was a reason why Chen Huihong’s mother gave him that name; with such looks, he did need to be called handsome for a touch of good fortune.

Chen Yingjun had a typical sneaky, shady scoundrel’s face.

In TV dramas, that face, with a turn of the eyes, would make the audience believe he came up with 1,000 bad ideas.

Now in middle age, a bit out of shape, he doesn’t look as sneaky as he did when he was younger, but Qin Huai couldn’t imagine how he looked when he was slim.

Such a face paired with that expression is quite a contrast.

"Master Xiao Zheng, Master Qin, are these the dough balls you intend to put in the snack gift box?" Chen Yingjun picked one up, gently pinching it, "Are these kinds of snacks even for eating?"

"As long as they are snacks, they are for eating," Zheng Siyuan said, "Right now, they’re slightly warm on the surface, not fully cooled, which is the best time to eat. Once the dough balls are completely cooled, the texture might feel better in hand, but the taste won’t be as good as now."

Hearing Zheng Siyuan say this, Chen Yingjun had no hesitation and took a bite of the artwork in his hand, even eating the apple stem along with it.

As he bit into it, the dough ball revealed its filling inside.

The filling was a mix of jujube paste and yam paste blended with apple juice. When Zheng Siyuan was making the filling, Qin Huai thought too much jujube paste was added, making it look too dark, but surprisingly, after steaming, the color lightened a lot.

Up close, it didn’t look much like apple color, but from afar, it could still be deceptive.

"Actually, the apple dough ball I made is a lost version," Zheng Siyuan said to Qin Huai, "My dad said that the apple dough balls made by my grandmaster had a lighter color closer to the flesh and a grainy texture. Eating it felt like chopped apples blended with yam paste and steamed inside."

"But when it passed to my dad, he couldn’t replicate that texture anymore. By the time I started learning to cook, the grandmaster had long passed, so that’s why I say some snacks require imagination. My dad is a typical example of lacking imagination, which is why it was lost."

"I’m slightly better than my dad, but it’s still just that. Plus, I’m not very fond of dough balls, boat-shaped pastries, and other such snacks. They’re too complicated for me; I prefer making something more mainstream, so I didn’t study it much."

While Zheng Siyuan was speaking, Chen Yingjun had silently finished chewing up an entire apple pastry and was reaching for a second one.

Only to have his eager hand slapped away by Chen Huihong.

"One is enough; how many are there on this plate? Do you think it’s easy for Little Qin and Little Zheng to make a plate? It’s just for you to taste, and you’re actually eating them?"

"Doesn’t Huihui want some? Doesn’t Jia’ai want some? Doesn’t your wife Xiao Yue want some? Don’t Little Qin and Little Zheng want some? Doesn’t Little Qin’s sister Luoluo want some?" Chen Huihong began to chastise her brother.

Chen Yingjun pitiably withdrew his hand and gazed longingly at the remaining dough balls on the plate: "I just wanted to taste it again, to make sure."

Saying this, Chen Yingjun smacked his lips as if savoring: "It really is delicious; I never thought eating snacks could taste like fruit. It feels like chewing a dough-made apple... no, an apple-made dough... no. Anyway, it’s just... delicious!"

You could tell he was very short of adjectives.

Zheng Siyuan said, "It’s fine, I won’t eat. President Chen, if you feel like tasting it again, go ahead and have another. There’s not much time today; putting only one apple dough ball in the gift box seems a bit plain, while two might be repetitive. I don’t know many different kinds — just apples, pears, bananas, peaches, grapes, red dates, and longans."

"If you have time tomorrow, why not come by in the afternoon again, and I’ll make two more styles of dough balls for you to taste? The gift box will contain three different kinds."

Chen Yingjun already started to salivate.

"Yes, of course, Master Xiao Zheng! Whatever you make is fine! I always said I’d trust your skills implicitly!"

"So, what are we eating tomorrow?"

Zheng Siyuan: ...

Qin Huai’s customers really have a certain inexplicable harmony.

"Tomorrow..." Zheng Siyuan racked his brain for anything he was particularly good at to avoid embarrassment, "Red jujube and grape then."

"Great! Red jujube and grape are my favorites, Master Xiao Zheng, we’re just on the same wavelength!" Chen Yingjun exclaimed excitedly.

Qin Huai nibbled on an apple dough ball and quietly watched Chen Yingjun’s performance.

There’s no denying it — it really was delicious.

Though the date flavor slightly overshadowed the apple, while eating, you could smell the apple’s aroma.

The exterior dough was perfect in texture, combining with the sweet filling inside and the exquisite shape, Qin Huai felt that no one would resist this snack.

Is this a snack? This is simply a work of art!

Even those who don’t like apples would be tempted to try a bite upon seeing this snack.

As for the version of the dough ball that Zheng Siyuan mentioned, tasting like grainy apples with more apple flavor, Qin Huai couldn’t even imagine that.

In his eyes, the current dough ball was already perfect, and if it could reach an even higher level... Master Jing was truly astonishing.

Qin Huai sent a message to Luo Jun, asking him to have Zhang Shumei come and get the dough balls.

When Chen Huihong was counting earlier, she didn’t realize that Qin Huai still had an extra one on hand, just right for Mr. Luo Jun, the issuer of the side quest, to be the first to taste.

To see if it tasted like the forgotten dough ball.

While Qin Huai was sending the message, Chen Yingjun was already discussing payment matters with Zheng Siyuan.

Chen Yingjun couldn’t wait to transfer the money to Zheng Siyuan now and set the number of dough balls.

Completely forgetting that the cafeteria boss was actually Qin Huai.

Qin Huai forgot too, cheerfully watching Chen Yingjun add Zheng Siyuan’s WeChat.

The dough ball was indeed tasty.

Another bite.

Slurp.

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