Chapter 103: The Taste of Warmth

The dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup in the pot was about to be ready.

Qin Huai was gnawing on a shaobing he had just made while tilting his head to quietly observe the lucky diners squatting in the first-floor lobby for randomly dropped dim sum.

There were quite a few people.

All-star lineup.

Xu Tuqiang, Grandpa Wang, Grandpa Cao, Grandma Ding, Ouyang, the boss of the convenience store opposite, several grandpas and grandmas who had never had names from beginning to end, Chen Huihong, Luo... Luo Jun? Qu... Qu Jing?

Qin Huai suspected he had seen wrong and took another bite of the shaobing.

His shaobing-baking technique was now very mature. Whether using an oven or a stove, the shaobing he baked were fragrant and chewy, and delicious even when cold.

He hadn't seen wrong; it was Chen Huihong, Luo Jun, and Qu Jing. Luo Jun was also standing with the dutiful Zhang Shumei, and the three were chatting, looking like they were chatting quite happily.

What was going on?

Isn't it not even 9:30 AM? How could Luo Jun and Qu Jing meet in the canteen at this time?

Shouldn't Luo Jun be sleeping at this time?

Shouldn't Qu Jing be at work?

What's wrong with you guys? The one who should be sleeping isn't sleeping, the one who should be at work isn't at work, and there's one who skipped work standing by, and the one who skipped work even brought his colleague along to skip work.

Qin Huai really wanted to go over and ask, but there was no time, because the dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup was ready.

【Dried Tangerine Peel Tea, Grade D+】

As a dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup, this grade was already quite good.

Qin Huai lifted the lid and instructed Chen An, who had already started making sponge cake, to pay attention to the time. In a few minutes, the dried tangerine peel tea could be sold. He himself walked straight out.

Chen An, who had already witnessed Qin Huai imagining that he had a system that would issue side quests and clicking in the void by the pot, accepted the boss's behavior of running out to slack off and chat halfway through work quite well. He set an alarm on his phone and continued making sponge cake.

He didn't forget to ask Qin Huai, "Master Xiao Qin, do you want me to help you cook the elm bark water?"

"If you have time, help me cook a pot." Qin Huai had already walked out of the kitchen.

Qu Jing noticed Qin Huai had arrived immediately and greeted Qin Huai while wearing a mask: "Master Xiao Qin, good morning."

"Good morning." Qin Huai nodded at Qu Jing. "Why does Dr. Qu have time to come buy dim sum this morning?"

"In order to improve medical standards and service quality, our hospital has opened a late-night clinic department in our neurology department. I'm on the late shift today. Yesterday, Dean Qu told me that it's not easy for you to run a canteen alone, and you earn hard-earned money. Since you're so hardworking and still willing to take time to do volunteer work at the welfare institute, he asked me to come to the canteen more often to take care of your business, Master Xiao Qin."

"So I came."

It was clear that Qu Jing really listened to Dean Qu; she even believed such outrageous nonsense.

"It's just that I didn't expect Mr. Luo's schedule to be so regular now. He personally came out to the canteen for breakfast at 9:12 AM; it's simply a pleasant surprise."

Luo Jun felt that Qu Jing was being sarcastic and said unhappily, "This is because the recent TV series are too ugly, and I sleep early because there's no show to watch at night."

None of the three exposed Luo Jun's nonsense.

"What about the dried tangerine peel tea? Isn't it cooked yet? Didn't your canteen waiter say you started cooking it early in the morning? Does it take that long to cook dried tangerine peel tea? Do you even know how to cook dried tangerine peel tea? Did you look at the tutorial carefully?" Luo Jun threw the familiar six question marks at Qin Huai again.

Qin Huai understood.

Luo Jun came specifically to drink dried tangerine peel tea, and for this, he didn't hesitate to get up early and come out for breakfast in person.

The spirit of drinking tea was moving.

"It's already cooked. If you're in a hurry, I'll have Xiao An scoop a bowl and bring it over to cool down now."

Luo Jun didn't speak, which was his default. Qin Huai beckoned to An Youyou, asking her to scoop a bowl and bring it over first.

Among the waiters and handymen in the Cloud Canteen, the only two Qin Huai could name were Huang Xi and An Youyou. Huang Xi was the store manager and the only one who had work content to coordinate with Qin Huai, so they had more contact. An Youyou was simply because her name was easier to remember.

The ABB-format name was catchy, and the characters were simple, making it easy to remember.

A good name lets the boss remember you the first time.

An Youyou was very observant and scooped four bowls, one of which was for Qin Huai. Other customers squatting for dim sum saw that the dried tangerine peel tea at this table had been served and placed orders one after another, demanding to be served.

An Youyou looked at Huang Xi somewhat helplessly. Huang Xi skillfully came forward to tell everyone that the dried tangerine peel tea had just come out of the pot and was very hot, so for everyone's dining safety, they would have to wait a while before it could be served.

As for why Qin Huai's table was served in advance, it was because Luo Jun strongly demanded it.

Those who could squat in the canteen at this time were loyal customers, and more than half were residents of the Cloud Community, so naturally, they knew Luo Jun's big name.

Everyone expressed understanding and condemned the guy surnamed Luo in their hearts for not being a good person, picking on their dear Master Xiao Qin as soon as he came out.

Some diners from outside the community didn't understand why the two words "Luo Jun" were so convincing and quietly asked for the reason. The boss of the convenience store opposite appeared in grief and indignation, saying that Luo Jun had given their convenience store's tea eggs a bad review!

The melon-eating crowd gasped in shock.

Qin Huai, who had also listened to a few sentences, said: "... Did you really give the tea eggs at the convenience store opposite a bad review?"

Qin Huai was shocked. How can you give a bad review for tea eggs? Not enough tea leaves or not enough eggs?

"When they cooked the tea eggs, they didn't even tap them, so they weren't flavorful at all. What's wrong with me giving a bad review?" Luo Jun looked at the convenience store boss, who was no longer wearing a mask, with disdain. "And they charged me a 5-cent packaging fee for one tea egg. Shouldn't I give a bad review?"

After speaking, Luo Jun picked up a spoon and stirred the dried tangerine peel tea. Seeing the dried tangerine peel, white fungus, lotus seeds, and goji berries in the bowl being stirred evenly by the spoon along with the slightly viscous soup, he nodded with satisfaction. "Today's looks alright." Luo Jun gave a good review.

Of course it's alright. Qin Huai's ingredients for the dried tangerine peel tea today were completely according to Liu Tao's cooking method in the video tutorial.

Although it didn't matter much if there were more or fewer ingredients, and putting more white fungus in the dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup didn't affect the main taste, Qin Huai was someone who would try his best to do it according to the content in the tutorial if there was a standard video tutorial, and only change it if there was a problem with the tutorial.

Liu Tao's dried tangerine peel tea itself was only Grade D, with no room for decline and no room for improvement, so Qin Huai simply replicated it 1:1 according to the video tutorial.

Luo Jun scooped up a small spoonful, blew on it gently for more than a minute with great patience, slowly sent the spoon into his mouth, tasted it, and swallowed.

No evaluation, no expression. Luo Jun ate it calmly, naturally, and slowly, one mouthful after another, as if he had to drink water at a fixed time every day.

Chen Huihong was impatient. She originally wanted to listen to Luo Jun's comments, but since Luo Jun didn't comment, she simply tasted it herself.

Chen Huihong scooped up a full spoonful, blew quickly to cool it down, and then swallowed half a spoonful in one mouthful.

"Hmm." Chen Huihong made the first syllable of the comment. "The taste of white fungus and lotus seed soup."

Without chewing, Chen Huihong swallowed it directly and licked her lips slightly, as if she was savoring it, and also as if she was trying hard to hold back words.

"The taste... is quite average, but the texture is very good. It's stewed very... silky? I don't know if I should describe it like that, but it's quite comfortable to eat. It's a bit like drinking ginger tea in winter, feeling warm." Chen Huihong completed the evaluation task and continued to bury her head in eating.

Qu Jing took off her mask and stirred it slowly with a spoon for a few minutes, and only started eating the first bite after Chen Huihong's bowl was almost bottomed out.

At the same time, the waiters began to serve dried tangerine peel tea to the waiting diners one after another.

The canteen usually didn't have table service, but the situation was special today. Everyone had been waiting in the canteen for so long, there weren't many people, and the dried tangerine peel tea was quite expensive—15 yuan a small bowl—so Zhao Rong felt that the service quality of the dried tangerine peel tea still needed to be improved.

"It's really like what Sister Hong said. After one mouthful, my body feels warm, like drinking ginger tea in winter, and also like hiding a small sun in my stomach." Qu Jing's adjectives were more interesting. "There's also a taste of home, very much like the feeling written in compositions about coming home from school in winter when I was a child, when my mother would prepare a cup of hot water or hot milk at home to warm the child's body."

Hearing Qu Jing say this, Qin Huai also tasted a mouthful.

The taste was indeed not stunning.

The Grade D+ dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup was only a little better than ordinary homemade dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup. It might be considered not bad among the lotus seed soups sold on the market, but this dish was too homemade and was a taste that everyone could imagine.

Without absolute strength, it was hard to make a stunning taste.

But this taste was very consistent with its buff.

Warm, very homemade, very comfortable.

Qin Huai even drank a kind of warmth and happiness that he had just been adopted by the Qin Congwen couple, and the first time he ate, it was with his family, not with the children in the welfare institute.

For a time, everyone in the lobby was drinking dried tangerine peel tea quietly.

An Youyou was greedy on the side and sighed with some longing: "The dried tangerine peel tea Master Xiao Qin cooked looks so delicious."

"Youyou, if you want to drink it, go scoop a bowl yourself. I'll help you report it to Master Xiao Qin," Huang Xi smiled.

"Really, Sister Xi? Thank you!" An Youyou ran into the kitchen excitedly, not forgetting to ask Chen An, Qin Congwen, and Zhao Rong in the kitchen if they wanted to drink, and she would scoop it.

In three minutes, An Youyou came out of the kitchen with two bowls of dried tangerine peel tea, one for herself and one for Huang Xi.

"Sister Xi, Sister Rong is really too good. She had already scooped our portions long ago. This is yours. I just drank a bowl in the kitchen and applied to Sister Rong to drink another one," An Youyou said happily.

"Is it that delicious?" Huang Xi couldn't laugh or cry, put down her tablet, and picked up the small bowl. "Master Xiao Qin's level of cooking... hmm."

Everything was in silence.

"Delicious, super delicious! Although Master Xiao Qin's salad mixing taste is weird, the duck soup doesn't smell very good, and the beef soup taste is average, this dried tangerine peel tea is really delicious!"

"But Sister Xi, why does Master Xiao Qin call dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup 'dried tangerine peel tea'?"

Huang Xi indicated that she didn't know, and employees shouldn't worry about the boss's business.

Huang Xi took a shallow sip and suddenly remembered that she hadn't cooked soup for her daughter for a long time.

This dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup was quite good. She could cook a pot at home next time she was off.

She could also pack two portions before getting off work today and bring them back for her husband and child to taste.

On Qin Huai's side, Ouyang had already scurried to Qin Huai's table with a bowl.

"Qin Huai, don't cook mutton soup this afternoon; just cook this dried tangerine... tea. I found that you Cantonese people are still suitable for cooking herbal tea. You must have talent in your bloodline. This dried tangerine peel tea of yours is better than the white fungus and lotus seed soup my mom cooks at home!"

Qin Huai and the other three:...

Why don't you listen to what you're saying?

Do you accept the fact that the bowl of dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup in front of you is dried tangerine peel tea so easily? And you even said it's herbal tea.

You really, I'm crying to death.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 104 =====