Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 268 - 179: Scammer (Part 3) (Additional reward for the alliance leader of the city that never withers!)

Chapter 268: Chapter 179: Scammer (Part 3) (Additional reward for the alliance leader of the city that never withers!)

When Gong Liang returned home, Mrs. Gong didn’t say much. She just informed the neighbors that there was no need to search for Gong Liang anymore and then warmed the meal in the stove, urging him to eat quickly.

In the lunchbox were quail eggs cooked with pork and cornbread. The cornbread looked wrinkled and misshaped, clearly made from pure coarse grain. The quail eggs with pork were set aside by Gong Liang when heating the dish that afternoon; neither Mr. nor Mrs. Gong had touched it.

Gong Liang remained silent throughout, washed the lunchbox after eating, performed a simple wash-up, and went to his room to rest.

The next day, when Gong Liang got up, Mrs. Gong was not at home. A cooked corn was placed on the table, and the door to Mr. and Mrs. Gong’s room was tightly shut. Gong Liang glanced inside to see Mr. Gong still sound asleep and said nothing as he headed to work.

Without a god’s eye perspective, Qin Huai couldn’t see clearly while wandering around the house. He saw Mrs. Gong get up before dawn to boil medicine, clean, sort laundry, and manage sewing tasks, always keeping busy out of fear that if she did less, someone else would have to do more.

A quarter hour before Gong Liang awoke, Mrs. Gong had taken her sewing task outside to mend clothes, likely calculating the time to avoid being seen by Gong Liang.

The styles of the clothes Mrs. Gong was mending varied and were quite miscellaneous. Those clothes probably didn’t belong to their family; it was work she took from outside.

As for Mr. Gong, he wasn’t really asleep either; he had been awake for a while.

Most of the time, he lay there with open eyes, lost in thought, and occasionally tried to move to see how paralyzed he had become, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Gong Liang walked to work, munching on corn as he went.

Though the sales department had an office, it was rarely fully staffed. Qin Huai counted, there were 11 spots in the office, meaning at least 11 people should be there in theory, but only 4 showed up in the morning.

Mr. Chen, Gong Liang, Liu Hai, and a middle-aged man he hadn’t seen before were present. The middle-aged man who had told Liu Hai to stop talking yesterday wasn’t there, probably out conducting business.

Conducting business is tough, but lounging around the office is not an option either. Gong Liang was tasked with information collection, which meant reading newspapers, writing letters, and making calls.

He read newspapers from across the country, searching for factories that might be interested in ordering silk. For those with a fair chance, he called directly; if the odds seemed slim, he wrote. These tasks couldn’t be done simultaneously, so in the morning, Gong Liang mainly read newspapers and recorded information.

Qin Huai observed from the side, realizing that Gong Liang was indeed a natural salesperson.

Not only was he articulate and thick-skinned, adept at persistent persuasion, but he was also skilled at gathering, discerning, and extracting information. Even content in newspapers that was clearly advertising, like handicrafts and toys, he noted down, marking what could be promoted.

Even news about a pearl farm receiving high praise and successful foreign currency generation in last year’s exhibition made him take note, indicating that silk packaging might be needed.

With this ability and patience, Qin Huai fully believed that when Gong Liang lost the order in Shanghai earlier in the year, it wasn’t due to a lack of ability but rather a mindset issue.

No wonder Mr. Chen had such faith in the fresh young talent of Gong Liang, letting him lead in important deals.

After the morning work ended, instead of heading to the canteen, Gong Liang went to Mr. Chen to ask for leave. He directly stated the reason without concocting a story, simply saying that Master Jing wanted him to visit the state-owned restaurant in the afternoon.

Mr. Chen agreed without hesitation, didn’t ask for a leave slip, and told Gong Liang that if the matter at the state-owned restaurant concluded early, there was no need to return to the office, he could go straight home.

Only after having a meal at the canteen did Gong Liang set out for the state-owned restaurant.

The food at the Silk Factory’s canteen was quite perfunctory, serving coarse grain steamed buns, minced meat with braised cabbage, and stir-fried white radish. Apart from a bit of oil sheen in the braised cabbage, the stir-fried white radish looked barely different from being boiled.

With provisions like these, it’s no wonder the workers at the Silk Factory were trying to transfer to other factories, as the poor meals reflected the low operational efficiency of the factory.

Upon arriving at the state-owned restaurant, they had just finished service, and the waitstaff were dining on what appeared to be white noodles, indicative of a decent meal.

Seeing Gong Liang enter, the round-faced, chubby waiter pointed towards the kitchen with his eyes, reluctantly stretching out his words, "Master Jing is waiting for you in the kitchen."

Somewhat perplexed, Gong Liang walked into the kitchen.

Inside was only Jinglixiang.

"You’ve come." Jinglixiang smiled benignly at Gong Liang, gesturing to all the visible ingredients on the countertop, "Is there anything you’d like to eat?"

Implying that whatever he desired to eat, today’s dishes would be covered and prepared by Master Jing.

At that moment, Gong Liang felt very uneasy.

The first thing he saw was the beautiful pork belly on the chopping board, which he quickly looked away from. Then he saw chicken, looked away. Duck, looked away. Fish, which he didn’t look away from for a while, followed by crabs.

Gong Liang pointed at the crabs.

Qin Huai noticed a pattern based on the sequence of ingredients that Gong Liang scrutinized.

He dared not gaze at the expensive items, always choosing the cheaper ones.

In those days, crabs, fish, and shrimp were absolutely cheap commodities, abundant and easily caught in the rivers. To make these dishes delicious required ingredients, which implied expenses, and plain boiling was not tasty. Moreover, without fats, it provided none of the satiety of pork.

Even though it was the fattest crab season, all those crabs scuttering in a large bowl might not be as valuable as the small piece of pork belly on the cutting board.

"Crabs, huh? They’re indeed good this season, fat and full of roe. Let me think, crabs can be used for many dishes, but cooking them seems too extravagant, I could be accused of misusing privileges."

"How about making snacks, like crab dumplings?" Jianglixiang suggested.

Gong Liang shook his head vigorously, aware that crab dumplings required pork, which was too pricey.

Jinglixiang saw through his thoughts, smiling wryly, "Since Xiao Liang doesn’t want pork-stuffed items today, how about making Crab Dumplings with shrimp stuffing, and crabs, though it’s a bit fussy, it’s easy to get the ingredients and not costly."

Gong Liang nodded blankly.

Jinglixiang began making Crab Dumplings.

Qin Huai was very familiar with this dish, to the point where he could guess what to do next even with his eyes covered.

Qin Huai learned how to make Crab Dumplings from Zheng Da, who was taught by Jinglixiang, hence their methods were essentially from the same lineage.

All of Jinglixiang’s actions were familiar to Qin Huai, yet felt somewhat foreign.

In what way, exactly, was his skill in pastry making too high?

In theory, when physical strength isn’t a factor, a pastry chef’s skill can improve continuously.

Unlike meat chefs, where strict control over strength and technique is required, roasted techniques decline with age, although experience becomes richer, the body cannot keep up with the brain, especially as it’s highly labor-intensive work that older chefs couldn’t keep up within the kitchen environment.

Women are relatively less in demand as meat chefs but are more commonly found among pastry chefs for this reason.

Although Jinglixiang was over fifty with a lame leg, his pastry skill was still at its peak, leaving Qin Huai watching in awe, mouth agape, pondering when, if ever, he could reach such heights.

His actions surpassed descriptions like effortless and seamless.

Qin Huai regarded Jinglixiang as the second-best chef he’s encountered, the first being the enigmatic Jiang Chengde, whose instructional videos were hard to follow.

Jinglixiang’s methods were at least somewhat comprehensible.

"Did you ponder a lot about it at home last night?" Jinglixiang asked while kneading the dough.

Gong Liang nodded.

"Did you come up with anything?"

Gong Liang remained silent, signifying nothing.

"Making decisions is often tough, but once you’ve made up your mind and start on the difficult task, it’s often not as hard as you imagined," said Jinglixiang, "Just like when Shengli cut his hand the first time, since then he’s always been very cautious, always afraid of cutting himself again."

"But in reality, a person doesn’t continue to fail because of one setback. Learning how to cook doesn’t mean you’ll cut your hand repeatedly after the first time."

"From failure, people gain lessons, they correct mistakes, so they don’t make them again."

"If you lack even the courage to try, you won’t even have the opportunity to know if you’ve corrected those mistakes."

Gong Liang stood there quietly, saying nothing.

Jinglixiang laughed softly, "Do you feel like your mentor is preaching again, talking nonsense?"

"No," Gong Liang hastily denied, "I just... just... thinking about these things now is pointless; the exhibition slots are all taken. I don’t even have the opportunity to attempt."

"Opportunities are always there, though."

"I still remember your parents telling me excitedly about how you secured your first order."

"With no orders at the Silk Factory, you sought potential factories through newspapers, calling them one by one. Mr. Chen felt you were making too many calls, increasing costs, so you wrote letters, waiting for responses."

"Others traveled to Jinling for business, simply visiting scheduled places. You prepared thoroughly beforehand, visiting more than those on the itinerary. Even if a gatekeeper denied entry, you waited for their purchasing managers outside."

"Wasn’t your first order secured by being persistent like that?"

Surprised, Gong Liang hadn’t realized Jinglixiang remembered so clearly.

"Mr. Chen is strict, but he’s not unkind; he values talent. Otherwise, even before you were confirmed, he wouldn’t have trained you as core personnel, appointing you to handle deals in Shanghai."

"One failure and you give up? That’s not the Gong Liang I’ve watched grow up."

"I remember when you were little, during New Year, craving for my snacks. If at first unsuccessful, you’d try again, always flattering, trying different tactics when one didn’t work. You were never one to give up after a single setback."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Gong Liang lowered his head, cheeks reddening, "Master Jing, that was all when I was little."

"Weren’t you still playing Shengli and Zheng Da tricks when you were in middle school..."

"Master Jing!" Pleaded Gong Liang, increasingly uncomfortable.

Laughing, Jinglixiang refrained from further teasing as he continued making Crab Dumplings.

Preparing Crab Dumplings doesn’t take long, and soon they were steaming in the pot.

"I meant, Xiao Liang, over the years, I’ve seen you grow; you’re not someone who accepts the fate just because an exhibition slot isn’t available."

"You found a way when Mr. Chen forbade calls by writing letters; I believe you can do it now too."

"It’s just that you’re hesitating internally, hesitating whether to do this."

"But there’s something I want to tell you: opportunities can slip away in an instant – not every chance presents itself in front of you waiting to be seized."

Still silent, Gong Liang remained.

Jinglixiang spoke no more, waiting for the Crab Dumplings to be ready.

Seven or eight minutes passed, and the Crab Dumplings were out of the steamer.

After cooling slightly, he picked one up and took a bite.

Gong Lia’s eyes widened without speaking, yet everything was said.

As he chewed, Jinglixiang smiled, "What do you want to eat tomorrow?"

Gong Liang: !

Quickly swallowing, he declined, "Master Jing, no need, tomorrow I..."

Jinglixiang interrupted, "Don’t stand on ceremony; ask for whatever you like. One must confront their desires, face their hearts. Once you know what you want, you will have the motivation to choose and strive."

"Your mentor here doesn’t just spout empty words."

After a moment of thought, somewhat shy, Gong Liang said, "Master Jing, I’d like some meat buns."

Jinglixiang laughed heartily, "I knew it, from the moment you entered the kitchen, your eyes never left the pork belly. Alright, tomorrow I’ll prepare meat buns for you!"

"Specially made meat buns, Three Meat Buns."

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