Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 129 - 110 A Minor Derailment

Chapter 129: Chapter 110 A Minor Derailment

In the afternoon, Qin Huai was surprised to find that Chen An did not leave after work.

Ouyang had been playing hooky since 2:00, just sitting in the restaurant.

Chen Huihong and Chen Yingjun arrived early and found a good spot by the window with their own snacks, Chen Yingjun even brought two packs of spicy strips.

The afternoon tea chat group, led by Xu Tuqiang and Mr. Cao, was also particularly full, with Grandma Ding and her partner joining in.

Mr. Wang Gen Sheng and Chen Juan mysteriously wandered over in the afternoon and ended up sitting in the cafeteria of Yunzhong District after their walk.

Of course, none of this really mattered much.

The heaviest hitters were Luo Jun and Qu Jing, who showed up twice in one day. The former visited again at 3 PM after drinking Dried Tangerine Peel Tea in the morning, and the latter appeared again at 3 PM after serendipitously meeting Master Xiao Zheng in the morning, having sat there until 10 AM just waiting for the flaky pastries to be ready before leaving with a full load, making Qin Huai suspect she might have taken the day off.

Qin Huai not only suspected but also asked.

"Mr. Luo said his back wasn’t feeling well today, suspected something went wrong during his last therapy session, and insisted I come to take a look instead of letting the rehabilitation department’s doctor do a house call, so the hospital sent me out for a diagnosis," Qu Jing explained, bending over and wearing a mask in the window, looking quite like an undercover operative meeting her contact from afar.

Qin Huai understood, Luo Jun was using his traditional skill of medical fuss.

"Qin Huai, are you making grapes?" Qu Jing pointed to the dough in Qin Huai’s hand and then to the one in Zheng Siyuan’s hand, "Why do I feel like your grapes are different from Master Xiao Zheng’s... are you making raisins?"

Qin Huai: ...

Qin Huai could only say Qu Jing had a way with words, but not much.

Qin Huai knew exactly why there were so many people in the cafeteria this afternoon.

It must have been because of Qin Luo’s three WeChat Moments yesterday.

Qin Luo used to be a middle schooler who loved adding friends on WeChat during the summer, and now she’s a high schooler who does the same.

What changed was her education level, not her enthusiasm.

During the summer break, Qin Luo added almost all the regulars at the cafeteria on WeChat. At that time, food patrons led by Grandma Ding, who bought buns for their grandchildren, tried to bribe Qin Luo into having Qin Huai make the buns their kids love, giving very supportive thumbs-ups on Qin Luo’s social media.

Back then, Qin Luo would post regularly every morning and forenoon, all pictures of snacks, and those not in the know might think it was Yunzhong Restaurant’s official account, making her cousin in Qiu County drool.

Now that school was open, Qin Luo posted less, but everyone still treated her social media like an official account.

Yesterday’s apple dough ball stunned everyone.

Normal people seeing such posts would react with amazement, but patrons of Yunzhong Restaurant led by Grandma Ding would think about the cost and wanting to buy one to try.

As they say, actions speak louder than words, so everyone took action this afternoon.

Zheng Siyuan had originally planned to make peach and jujube paste ones today, but at Qin Huai’s suggestion, he switched to grape and jujube.

It’s not that grapes taste better than peaches, but they sell better.

Qin Huai knew well that dough balls would become the cafeteria’s afternoon random drop one day. Now he was learning, helping Zheng Siyuan, waiting for his Finger Skill to reach Intermediate, and for the stats panel to look decent enough to start making them when the cafeteria regularly features random drops.

Luo Jun’s task needed completion.

Qin Huai thought it was important for regular customers at Yunzhong Restaurant to first taste the proper dough balls and then try his random ones to avoid tainting the dough ball’s reputation in the future.

Zheng Siyuan couldn’t care less, as he opened a pastry shop at the gate of a district in Gusu because he loved making and selling things. He enjoyed the process of making snacks and even more the feedback from customers buying and liking them.

The regulars at Yunzhong Restaurant were masters at giving great feedback; if not for reluctance to leave the pastry shop patrons, Zheng Siyuan even considered working here for a couple of years wasn’t a bad idea.

Improving together with Qin Huai, after all.

Qu Jing was the only one not showing up for the dough balls this afternoon, standing at the window chatting with Qin Huai briefly, then sat back at Luo Jun’s table when she confirmed Luo Jun indeed was just stirring up a medical fuss, leaving Qin Huai to continue his battle with the dough.

Yes, battle.

Qin Huai today and Qin Huai yesterday were two different people indeed.

Yesterday, he was almost divinely guided while making apple dough balls, nearly causing Zheng Siyuan to question reality.

Today was an absolute reversal; he lightly failed during the morning red bean paste buns, and then lost touch making grape dough balls in the afternoon.

Grapes were small in size and looked round and smooth, appearing to be the easiest dough ball.

But Zheng Siyuan stated that grapes were actually much harder than apples. Just as there are no two identical leaves, chefs cannot make two identical grape dough balls.

The dough expands differently during steaming, so naturally, steamed grapes can’t be identical, but chefs shouldn’t rely solely on the same mold; they should make some big and some small to achieve a complete grape bunch appearance.

It was the first time Qin Huai found kneading dough so difficult.

The first time he realized his ten fingers didn’t fully obey his brain.

Brain: Got it?

Fingers: Buzz off!

Failing wasn’t unusual.

But failing after success made it a little embarrassing.

Especially when the success was captured and sensationalized online with rainbow praise, and a rating of 15 stars, the subsequent failure felt very embarrassing.

Qin Huai looked around at the familiar faces in the hall, then at the dough he had worked hard on but which didn’t turn out great, and sincerely asked Zheng Siyuan:

"Si Yuan, do you think there’s still time to make apple dough balls now?"

Zheng Siyuan: "... Yes, there is."

Zheng Siyuan looked at his dough that was grape-shaped and also felt like he had failed a bit.

Dough ball fillings aren’t as complex as those of the Five Fillings Bun, which require sauteing and cooking, making the process cumbersome. The challenge with dough ball fillings is material combination.

The most difficult part had already been tackled by Zheng Siyuan’s grand master, Master Jing, so Zheng Siyuan simply had to follow the formula.

In reality, most dough balls sold in the market nowadays use a uniform jujube paste filling for convenience. Regardless of the shape of the dough ball customers consume, fundamentally, they’re tasting jujube.

Zheng Siyuan quickly made a batch of apple dough ball fillings; Qin Huai returned to his old ways, crafting apples and regaining yesterday’s groove.

"You really never made this before?" Zheng Siyuan couldn’t help but ask again.

"No, but I think what you said makes a lot of sense. Apples are indeed the simplest dough ball, much easier than grapes!"

Qin Huai thought he’d better listen more to what Zheng Siyuan says; these formally trained pastry chefs really teach professionally!

Zheng Siyuan: ...

I said apple dough balls are the easiest dough balls, meaning for me... I meant I’m better at it... The thing about dough balls is that they’re not simple... When did apple dough balls get associated with simple... no, I was...

Zheng Siyuan decided it was best to keep quiet.

At 5 PM, the apple and jujube dough balls were done.

After securing Zheng Siyuan’s approval, Qin Huai announced to everyone that the dough balls today were free, as a token of epic feedback.

After all, those who could view Qin Luo’s social media were core customers of Yunzhong Restaurant.

The reason being Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan hadn’t figured out the pricing yet.

Despite running a pastry shop for years, Zheng Siyuan had never sold a dough ball before, having no clue about the price.

Chen Yingjun, being the master sponsor, received 11 jujube and 4 apple ones.

Chen Yingjun’s wife, Hu Yue, also came along.

Hu Yue looked at the dough balls on the table and was a bit puzzled: "Yingjun, didn’t you say yesterday that Master Qin and Master Xiao Zheng were making other dough balls today? Why are there still apples?"

Chen Yingjun had already started munching on an apple dough ball and mumbled, "The chef’s business, don’t worry about it."

"Just eat it."