Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 88 - 70 Dried Tangerine Peel Tea

Chapter 88: Chapter 70 Dried Tangerine Peel Tea

Everyone’s eyes were on Luo Jun. Some gazes were serious, some whispered among themselves, some looked evasive, while others sent messages to announce to the world that Luo Jun had indeed ventured out.

Zhang Shumei, who had consecutively won the Yunzhong District’s ’Most Coveted Nanny’ award for five years, pushed a wheelchair in. She was startled to see so many people in the dining hall, all staring intently at Luo Jun in the front.

Yet Luo Jun remained unfazed, calmly walking to the window under everyone’s gaze and said to Qin Huai, "I’ll have two baskets of Five Fillings Bun and two liang of flaky pastry."

"We don’t have flaky pastry," Qin Huai replied.

"How long until the flaky pastry is ready?" Luo Jun asked.

"The flaky pastry is made by the two Masters Zheng, and they’ve returned to Gusu. The dining hall isn’t selling flaky pastry today," Qin Huai explained, noting that the randomly available flaky pastries were now gone, and his own were indeed not as delicious as those made by Zheng Siyuan and Zheng Da.

Practice makes perfect. Qin Luo loves stuffed foods, preferably with meat. Flaky pastry is just an occasional snack for Qin Luo, so Qin Huai doesn’t make it often.

Luo Jun’s eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief that only a few days ago he had gifted him two snack boxes to whet his appetite, and now he was told they’re not available.

How outrageous!

"But the flaky pastries I last brought you were made by Master Xiao Zheng, and he has a pastry shop in Gusu. You could ask someone to bring them back from Gusu," Qin Huai suggested helpfully.

"What’s the name of his pastry shop? Where is it located?" Luo Jun gritted his teeth and compromised, "I’ll hire a runner."

Qin Huai: ?

Hire a runner?

You wealthy solitary elders are really quite capricious.

The elderly men and women sitting far from the window couldn’t hear the conversation between Luo Jun and Qin Huai, so they craned their necks and curiously asked, "What’s Old Luo saying? Why does it seem like he’s gritting his teeth?"

"I knew he came to cause trouble!"

"Yet Master Xiao Qin welcomes him with a smile, what a good man he is!"

Three minutes later, Luo Jun, who was slowly eating at the one available small table, approved Qin Huai’s friend request on WeChat. He forwarded the address Qin Huai sent him to Zhang Shumei, asking her to find a runner who could buy the flaky pastry as quickly as possible and fly it over.

Zhang Shumei, experienced and composed, began searching for a runner, meanwhile, she also inquired if Luo Jun supported the idea of temporary runners from nearby cities to take the high-speed train to buy it. She had a cousin near Gusu who would be willing to earn the money.

The atmosphere gradually grew tense.

The elderly crowd, determined to protect the best Master Xiao Qin in the world, didn’t want to make Qin Huai uncomfortable. Each ordered 1-2 breakfast items but didn’t eat them, pretending as they held their chopsticks/spoons, occasionally sipping on soymilk/green bean soup, never taking their eyes off Luo Jun.

The waitstaff were a bit confused about the current situation inside the store, with everyone inexplicably becoming very nervous.

When people are nervous, they tend to do inexplicable things to cover their awkwardness, like holding a cloth and pretending to wipe a cabinet for 10 minutes, staring at a form without reading a word and looking around for 10 minutes, or simply standing straight in a corner pretending to work seriously for 10 minutes.

The people in the kitchen didn’t even need to be mentioned.

Having run the shop for many years and witnessed all sorts of big events, including the spectacular scene of delinquents/society idlers/gang members suddenly starting a fight while eating, Qin Congwen, while making buns, nervously pondered whether he should heroically step in to stop a potential fight outside or wisely stay out of it.

Zhao Rong was a bit unclear about the situation. She suspected Luo Jun might be inspecting food safety, causing her to absentmindedly make buns.

In the corner, Qin Luo was racing against time on his phone.

As for Qin Huai, he was genuinely a bit anxious.

He wasn’t worried about whether he could complete the side quest, but rather simply concerned that Luo Jun might disparagingly mock his Dried Tangerine Peel Tea, saying he’s a frog at the bottom of a well who can’t even brew cold tea properly, yet had the audacity to argue about the proper way to make Dried Tangerine Peel Tea.

Before today, Qin Huai had never worried about such a scenario.

However, after hearing the elderly patrons at table 9 telling Uncle Wang about Luo Jun’s past exploits this morning, Qin Huai thought Luo Jun had really mellowed out over the past two years due to staying home.

When the neighborhood committee visited the other day, Luo Jun’s combativeness was less than half of what it used to be.

Now that Luo Jun has returned to the world, it’s hard to tell if his aggressiveness has also returned to its peak.

Luo Jun was still placidly eating his buns.

His eating manner seemed quite refined. How to put it: some people gobble their food, some eat slowly, and some appear quite affluent when eating.

Luo Jun was the last type.

He ate buns with an air of old money.

Elegance, sheer elegance.

Of course, it could simply be that he’s older and his teeth aren’t good, eating slowly.

But if he has bad teeth yet still loves flaky pastry...

Qin Huai could only admit he couldn’t figure him out, truly couldn’t.

Luo Jun’s breakfast went on until 10 o’clock.

Only after Zhang Shumei’s nephew had already set off did Luo Jun leisurely wipe his mouth, glance at his phone, eat a mint, and then give Qin Huai a look from the window’s side.

"Master Xiao Qin, have you brewed the Dried Tangerine Peel Tea?"

"Yes, according to the recipe you provided last time, I brewed all three flavors, and added two new ones—would you like to try them all?"

Luo Jun nodded, and Qin Huai went to fetch the cooled Dried Tangerine Peel Tea, which Zhang Shumei came to collect at the window.

At this moment, Chen Huihong and Qu Jing arrived at the dining hall just on time.

As soon as Chen Huihong entered, she exclaimed, "So many people today!"

Qu Jing, on the other hand, took off her hat and sunglasses, kept her mask on, and with a smile in her eyes, nodded at Luo Jun in greeting, "Good morning, Mr. Luo."

"Good morning," Luo Jun stubbornly insisted with his language that it was still morning.

"Have you had any?" Qu Jing directly sat across from Luo Jun, and Chen Huihong sat next to her.

Luo Jun didn’t answer directly, glanced at Chen Huihong, then hinted with his eyes towards Zhang Shumei’s direction, and they both instantly understood.

They hadn’t had any yet, just in time.

Zhang Shumei found a tray to use as a container, steadily carried five small bowls of Dried Tangerine Peel Tea, her hand so steady she could immediately be employed as a waiter at a high-end restaurant.

Luo Jun didn’t drink any immediately but asked Qu Jing, "You really came; is it so leisurely for doctors during work hours?"

"Since you’re one of our hospital’s VIP clients, visiting specifically for your health is a regular part of the job," Qu Jing replied, pulling out a file folder from her bag, "This is the result of your last medical exam. Although it’s already complete, I still advise you to go to the hospital for a specific checkup—the hospital has more equipment."

"Since you’re willing to come out for cold tea, surely you wouldn’t mind a special trip to the hospital for a checkup, right?"

"Don’t try to pua me," Luo Jun, who regularly surfed the internet, flatly refused.

Then he lifted the cold tea in front of him for a sip to soothe his throat.

"That’s right, that’s the taste of Dried Tangerine Peel Tea; young people these days don’t know how to brew it," Luo Jun remarked, taking another satisfied sip.

Qin Huai watched Luo Jun expressionlessly, as he took sip after sip, sampling each bowl.

The game notification sound didn’t chime at all; the side quest wasn’t completed.

According to Luo Jun’s recipe, the brewed Dried Tangerine Peel Tea was quite good in taste. He himself even praised it, yet it wasn’t the flavor he loved.

Indeed, the world’s most perplexing customers are children and the elderly.