Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 282 - 185 The Birth of the Scroll King_2

Qin Congwen yawned, nodding repeatedly: "Yeah, yeah, luckily we didn’t send him. I could tell the day Huaihuai came back, he was so exhausted he lost weight!"

"It’s all my fault for being useless, my skills are lacking, and I couldn’t help Huaihuai knead the dough!" Qin Congwen wished he could beat his chest in frustration.

An Youyou, who had been standing beside Zhao Rong wrapping buns:...

Was her memory failing, or was it just that the weather was cooler and Qin Huai was wearing more clothes? She thought Qin Huai hadn’t lost weight but actually gained a bit.

Moreover...

An Youyou rotated her right hand, which cramped from wrapping buns for several hours, and glanced at Zhao Rong, who wrapped more buns than she did, then looked at Qin Congwen, who was frantically mixing fillings after wrapping buns earlier.

And Chen An and Li Hua, who never stopped dicing ingredients.

Facing several large pots, Pei Xing was staring at the fillings cooking inside, his eyes almost popping out from focusing on the fire control.

The other helpers, who never had their names mentioned, didn’t need further explanation. Today there were double wages and extra bonuses. Just looking at the sales and price of the Three Meat Buns, even someone who’s failed math since first grade could imagine how high today’s bonus would be.

Though everyone knew that as an ordinary helper, you wouldn’t receive much bonus.

But...

What if?

Honestly, Yunzhong Restaurant doesn’t stingily distribute bonuses to its employees. As a helper, An Youyou earned 8,000 yuan last month simply because she worked long hours and accumulated a lot of bonuses.

Motivated by money, everyone worked with great enthusiasm, eager to give 150% efficiency.

In such a situation, An Youyou felt Qin Huai didn’t seem that busy or tired.

Qin Huai was the master chef and only needed to handle technical tasks, while the real hard menial work didn’t involve him.

Thinking of this, An Youyou’s eyes brightened.

Great, she also wanted to be a master chef in the future!

That way, she could exert the least effort while earning the most money, maybe one day be able to buy a house in Yunzhong District and become a homeowner, never having to ride an electric bike to work and start walking to work directly!

An Youyou continued wrapping buns excitedly.

Noticing An Youyou’s sudden enthusiasm, Qin Congwen & Zhao Rong:...

Did this kid drink coffee?

Next time they’d have to remind Youyou that as breakfast sellers, you can’t drink coffee at this time, already waking up at two or three in the morning is early enough, drinking coffee would be too much for the body to handle.

By the time selling ended completely at 2 o’clock, every employee in Yunzhong Restaurant was so exhausted they almost collapsed onto the chairs.

Huang Xi had declared that no Three Meat Buns would be sold after 1:30, but the kitchen couldn’t truly stop operating at 1:30. Buns needed to be steamed, kitchen utensils and machinery needed cleaning, and kitchen waste needed disposal.

Even Huang Ji, often criticized for its business hours, stopped taking orders after 1 pm, with the kitchen usually not allowed to clock out until after 1:30.

Pei Xing felt like he had returned to his time as an apprentice at Zhiwei Restaurant.

Being a distant relative of the renowned Huaiyang cuisine master Pei Shenghua, Pei Xing entered Zhiwei Restaurant through connections and found himself a decent mentor.

The price of being a famous chef’s disciple was competition, intense competition, especially for those who entered through connections without enough talent.

Talented ones only needed to work 12 hours a day, while the less talented had to work 13, 14, or even 15 hours.

Moreover, the kitchen didn’t care whose connections you had; once you entered, you were an apprentice, a disciple, reliant on skills to earn your keep. Less competent connection-backed individuals were more prone to ridicule, more obliged to strive hard, and more likely to become the king of hard work.

Pei Xing couldn’t endure facing making snacks as soon as he opened his eyes every day, year-round, feeling as if he had to make 366 days of snacks in a year. Seeing colleagues work even harder when he thought he was dedicated enough led him to decide to return home, seeking a well-paid, leisurely, and nearby job to relax.

The pay might be good, and the place might be close to home, but leisurely...

Pei Xing admitted that the days Qin Huai was not around were indeed quite leisurely.

But today, Pei Xing felt like he returned to a familiar battlefield, reliving the tough years of being an apprentice, even doing the same tasks as an apprentice, and the master chef in the kitchen today was just like every master chef he had seen during his apprenticeship days.

Calm, composed, gentle, and skillful.

Damn, Pei Xing found he couldn’t control his urge to compete.

Despite feeling exhausted and wanting nothing but to rest on a chair, when he saw Qin Huai get up and head to the steamer’s side, he only wanted to rush over and offer Qin Huai a cup of tea, saying: Master Qin, you must be tired, have some tea and take a break.

He didn’t even want to say Master Xiao Qin.

Because calling him Master Xiao Qin disrespects the master chef’s skills.

Pei Xing lay painful on the chair, sighed deeply, and let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

Li Hua, slumped on another chair:...?

Is it that tiring? Is competing that hard? Which teacher trained you?

Li Hua quietly asked Chen An: "What kind of tea does our Master Xiao Qin usually like? Pu’er, Longjing, Tieguanyin, or cold tea? I remember Master Xiao Qin is from Guangdong Province."