Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 159 - 137 Are You Interested in Going to Gusu?

Chapter 159: Chapter 137 Are You Interested in Going to Gusu?

Qu Jing’s move did not change the menu of Yunzhong Restaurant.

Qin Huai still followed his own rhythm, making breakfast every morning, snacks in the morning, and practicing dumplings in the afternoon. He focused on both fire control and finger skill, with sticky rice cake becoming a staple at the restaurant. It was either glutinous rice cake or lard rice cake, and occasionally, he would cook rice cake soup on a whim, only to find it wasn’t as good as the sticky rice cake.

However, Qu Jing would occasionally buy two pieces of white rice cake home to cook red bean rice cake soup, which Chen Huihong quite liked. She often brought Chen Huixi to Qu Jing’s house for dinner, and sometimes, she didn’t forget to pack a portion to bring to Qin Huai.

Of course, if you were to say who in the entire Yunzhong District was most welcoming of Qu Jing the new neighbor, it would certainly be Mr. Xu Tuqiang.

As a devoted fan of sticky rice cakes, Xu Tuqiang loved them deeply long before they became a staple dessert at the restaurant, sticking with them from their lows to their highs.

Now that the contact who elevated sticky rice cakes to their debut position moved into the neighborhood, how could Xu Tuqiang not be delighted?

If conditions allowed, and if he didn’t lack any such illness, he would have loved to go to Qu Jing’s hospital and register for Qu Jing’s outpatient service, giving her a boost in performance.

Time quietly arrived at the end of October.

Qin Luo’s academic performance still showed no noticeable improvement; she didn’t understand math, didn’t grasp physics, and her chemistry was a mess—she was just beginning in computing. Except for her soaring English scores, only her Chinese showed slight progress. There was no visible result of her effort in studying to be seen.

But the child did seem to have lost some weight.

Her face had slimmed, turning a round face into a small round one.

Qin Huai suspected that Qin Luo’s weight loss was not due to tireless studying but because she wasn’t allowed to eat Three Meat Buns and Five Fillings Buns due to her recent poor academic performance. She had no appetite eating Qin Congwen’s buns every morning, had to eat at the school canteen for lunch, and only ate well in the evening.

Reportedly, after Qin Luo discovered that her second brother was sincere and wouldn’t allow her to have Three Meat Buns and Five Fillings Buns without improved grades, she secretly resolved to study hard and turn over a new leaf, refusing to eat her father’s buns in the morning, determined to reclaim what was lost.

As to how Qin Huai knew about Qin Luo’s resolution, it was because Qin Luo posted those words on her WeChat alternate account.

And why Qin Huai saw it...

Because he was friends with Qin Luo’s alternate WeChat account.

When Qin Luo initially created her alternate WeChat account, it was because a new milk tea shop opened behind her junior high school, offering a free milk tea for reposting and garnering likes in Moments. Qin Luo wanted two milk teas, so she created an alternate account and added Qin Huai as a friend to help her like the post.

Qin Huai guessed that Qin Luo might have forgotten to delete him.

This unlucky kid.

Ouyang formed a stark contrast with Qin Luo. Although Qin Huai no longer brewed soups daily as before during this period, he still occasionally brewed a pot.

Ouyang, indulging in Three Meat Buns, Five Fillings Buns, Suzhou-style snacks, various rice cakes, dumplings, and soups daily, had become plump, with running and fitness proving ineffective. All the weight Qin Luo lost seemed to have found Ouyang.

However, Ouyang expressed that it was all for his friends; a little occupational hazard from eating was nothing. He had a big appetite and could eat more!

Qin Huai thought that such peaceful days would continue for a while longer.

After all, he had no conditions to stir up any waves recently.

To complete Luo Jun’s side mission, the fire control level was short, and the B-level apple dough ball couldn’t be made.

To complete Qu Jing’s side mission, his luck wasn’t there.

Qin Huai had made all the kinds of rice cakes that Zheng Siyuan knew. He even searched online and found out there was indeed meat-filled rice cakes in the world, tried making shredded meat rice cakes, but still did not strike it lucky.

They weren’t the taste in Qu Jing’s memory.

Now, Qin Huai had given up the exhaustive method and decided to completely gamble on luck.

Ever since he uncovered Qu Jing’s secret, and since Qu Jing moved into the district, her relationships with Qin Huai, Chen Huihong, and Luo Jun improved by leaps and bounds. Everyone often gathered at Luo Jun’s house for tea parties, enjoying the high-end fruits he bought. Only Qu Jing’s awakening was missing for everyone to become friends without reservations.

In this context, Qin Huai also straightforwardly, without explaining the reason, asked Qu Jing what type of rice cakes she liked. The answer was simple—just glutinous rice cakes and rice cake soup. Other fancy rice cakes, although she loved them, these two were her favorites.

Having locked down the type, the rest depended on luck.

Now, Qin Huai made just glutinous rice cakes and rice cake soup every day, betting on getting lucky one day to complete the side mission by feeding it to her.

As Zheng Siyuan said, rice cakes are a very simple ingredient. In the past, they were exceptionally precious due to regional issues; essentially, there isn’t much artistry to be done with rice cakes.

Qin Huai did not think there was any fatal technical issue in making rice cakes, and not completing the side mission could only be attributed to lack of luck.

Anyway, Qu Jing had already moved in; he had all the time in the world. According to Chen Huihong, at least Qu Jing could live another 8 years.

With 8 years, Qin Huai did not believe he couldn’t complete a single side mission.

Unexpectedly, the peaceful life was interrupted by an unexpected incident.

It was a pleasant surprise.

On October 29, a day destined to be forever remembered by most residents of Yunzhong Restaurant.

The weather was great, with crisp autumn air, a gentle breeze, and pleasant temperatures. When Grandma Ding strolled around the neighborhood with fermented rice with steamed buns, she thought the weather was nice enough to go for an extra lap.

At around 3:00 p.m., Zheng Siyuan and Qin Huai, as usual, were making dumplings in the kitchen.

The loyal customers inside the hall were waiting to eat the dumplings.

Zheng Siyuan felt he wasn’t at Yunzhong Restaurant to teach Qin Huai finger skill.

He was there to join Qin Huai in mastering fire control with a do-or-die spirit.

Never did Zheng Siyuan expect that at his age, he’d still be practicing fire control, and even feel a little urge to relearn basic skills, like mastering the big spoon stir-frying technique.

How could there be snacks in this world that demand such precise fire control?

Qin Huai was stir-frying the filling.

He was not only stir-frying the filling but attempting to do a stir-frying flip too.

Zheng Siyuan had become accustomed to it, and having been alongside Qin Huai for so long in mastering dumplings, sometimes when he stir-fried the filling to a crucial moment, he also felt the need for a sweeping stir-frying flip to render a perfect ending to the stir-frying.

Suddenly, Zheng Siyuan’s phone rang, and he glanced at it—a call from his father. He looked at Qin Huai, and then at the filling in the pan, hesitated for two seconds, and sidestepped two steps to take the call.

The call was very brief, with Zheng Siyuan barely talking, just grunting twice, and then hanging up.

"Did your dad have something important for you?" Qin Huai asked as he had also seen the caller ID, and by now, the filling in the pan had entered the simmering phase, allowing for some leisurely chat.

"He said he found two pastry chefs willing to work at your restaurant." Zheng Siyuan replied.

Qin Huai: !

Wow, Zheng Da is so reliable!

"Are they professional pastry chefs? Not breakfast shop pastry chefs, right?" Qin Huai found the surprise too sudden, almost catching him off guard and barely believable.

Zheng Siyuan nodded, "They’re all people who studied at Zhiwei Restaurant, worked at other hotels afterwards, and have connections with their masters. Pretty much reliable own people."

"Such professionals are willing to work at the restaurant?" Qin Huai was astonished.

"It’s not a conventional restaurant either." Zheng Siyuan quipped, "Many top-tier restaurant pastry sections are not as good as Yunzhong’s."

"These two pastry chefs are from Shan City, tired of roaming outside and wanting to work back home. Originally, they applied at different hotels, but my dad intercepted them. Anyway, your salary and benefit package aren’t bad, and with a convenient location and subway access, it allows for easy commuting. Cooking for a living, well, it’s the same everywhere."

"They’re coming tomorrow, and I’ll assist with the interviews."

"I really have to thank you and Uncle Zheng. I definitely have to invite Uncle Zheng for a meal sometime!" Qin Huai exclaimed.

"Don’t wait for a chance."

"Huh?" Qin Huai didn’t understand this sentence.

"My dad and Uncle think that as long as these two pastry chefs are willing to join, Yunzhong Restaurant will have reliable pastry chefs, making it possible to operate normally without the two of us."

"Uncle asked if you’d be interested in taking a trip to Gusu."

"He is very interested in dumplings and would like to meet you face-to-face. My dad and I have worked at your restaurant for so long, and as reciprocation, you should work at my uncle’s hotel for a stint."