Chapter 109

Zheng Zheng Siyuan was a man of action.

Chen Chen Yingjun was also a man of action.

The next day, the two men of action met at Yunzhong Canteen.

The apartment Zheng Da bought for Zheng Zheng Siyuan in the neighboring complex was fully furnished, so he just had to bring his luggage and move in. After tidying up his new home, Zheng Zheng Siyuan went straight to Yunzhong Canteen to find Qin Huai.

It wasn't for work, but to ask Qin Huai what this so-called big order was, as it hadn't been made clear on WeChat, and also to help Huang Huang Shengli and Zheng Da check the level of Qin Huai's soup-hanging technique on the spot.

When Zheng Zheng Siyuan arrived, Chen Chen Yingjun, Chen Huihong, and Qin Huai were sitting at a table drinking broth. There were no idle seniors chatting in the canteen; everyone knew Qin Huai had serious business to discuss today and had left one after another.

"Zheng Siyuan, you're here." Seeing Zheng Zheng Siyuan arrive, Qin Huai hurriedly stood up. "Shall I go get you a bowl of soup?"

Zheng Zheng Siyuan nodded, Qin Huai went to the kitchen to get the soup, and Chen Huihong greeted Zheng Zheng Siyuan warmly.

"Master Xiao Zheng, long time no see. I couldn't believe it when Xiao Qin said you were coming over to exchange techniques. Everyone has been waiting and hoping for you to come back! This is my younger brother, Chen Chen Yingjun. If you don't mind, you can just call him Jun Ge."

Chen Chen Yingjun immediately stood up: "Master Xiao Zheng, I'm your loyal fan! I had my assistant go specifically to your pastry shop in Gusu to buy some. I wonder if you remember? I had him buy 40 jin of crispy cakes all at once!"

Zheng Zheng Siyuan:...

"I remember." Zheng Zheng Siyuan nodded with difficulty.

It was hard not to remember.

The three exchanged a few pleasantries, Chen Huihong acted as the intermediary to briefly introduce the details of the big order, and Qin Huai brought the broth to the table.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan picked up the soup, first stirring it with a spoon, seemingly checking if it was clear, and then took a small sip.

"Your heat control has indeed improved significantly. This soup actually tastes even better than it looked in the videos." Zheng Zheng Siyuan was never stingy with praise. "The scum was skimmed off very cleanly, but the time on high heat was a little too long, so the soup isn't clear enough. Even if it's not a clear soup you're hanging, the clarity of the soup is one of the key factors determining the texture and flavor."

"But it's much better than the chicken soup you cooked before."

Chen Chen Yingjun was a bit bewildered, clearly not understanding why Master Xiao Zheng started teaching the moment he tasted the soup.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan just said a few simple words, put down the bowl, and looked at Chen Chen Yingjun with a serious expression: "Master Chen, I've understood your requirements. I'd like to ask, do you have specific requirements for the pastries in the three-tier gift box?"

"No, I fully trust the craftsmanship of both Master Xiao Zheng and Master Xiao Qin." Chen Chen Yingjun might as well have had the words "I am a rare and excellent client" written on his face.

"Since the gift box is divided into three tiers, how about we put basic pastries in the lowest tier, lotus flower crisps in the middle tier, and dough fruits in the high-end tier?" Zheng Zheng Siyuan suggested.

"Dough fruits?" Chen Chen Yingjun's face mirrored the same confusion Chen Huihong had shown the day before.

"A type of pastry that comes in many shapes. I happen to be making some today. If you don't mind, you can wait here for a few hours, though the dough fruits I know are only the most basic styles."

"Today... let's make apples." Zheng Zheng Siyuan was already prepared to start working, proving with his actions that he was indeed a man of action.

Chen Chen Yingjun looked at Chen Huihong in confusion. Chen Huihong gave him a look, signaling him not to ask and just wait to eat later; otherwise, why would she have called him here today?

Chen Chen Yingjun understood.

The two moved their chairs to the window to watch from the outside, while Qin Huai and Zheng Zheng Siyuan changed their clothes and went into the kitchen to start working.

Qin Huai had already prepared the ingredients, as Zheng Zheng Siyuan had given him a list the night before.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan started kneading the dough, and Qin Huai pulled up a small stool to sit on the side and watch.

"In all honesty, I really don't recommend you learn dough fruits right now." Zheng Zheng Siyuan said. "If Luo Luo wants to eat them, I'll make them for her a few times, and after she eats them, she'll realize that dough fruits are actually just like that, and the novelty will wear off quickly."

"Ah, are dough fruits not tasty?" Qin Huai was shocked.

"It's not that they aren't tasty, it's that my dad and I aren't good at making them." Zheng Zheng Siyuan said.

The dough soon took shape under his hands; he kneaded it forcefully and repeatedly, his technique skillful, with more rubbing than kneading—one look and it was clear it was a fixed procedure.

"Dough fruits require imagination." Zheng Zheng Siyuan said.

"I know, you said that yesterday." Qin Huai nodded. "Their shapes are varied, and how exquisite and beautiful they can be made depends mainly on the chef's imagination and artistic aesthetic."

"It's not just the shape." Zheng Zheng Siyuan shook his head. "The flavor is the same. Whether the flavor of a dough fruit is stunning actually tests the chef's imagination as well."

Qin Huai:?

"Take this simplest apple as an example. A successful dough fruit should look like an apple at first glance, look like an apple when cut open, taste like an apple, and smell like an apple's fresh fragrance—only then is it qualified."

"But the shape is easy to replicate, and the fragrance can be achieved, but the flavor is very hard to guarantee."

"To make an apple dough fruit taste like an apple, you must mix apple puree or apple juice into the dough, but is it still apple-flavored after steaming?"

"If you simply mix apple into the dough, can the filling inside look like the color of an apple when you cut it open?"

"If you use traditional date paste filling, what does that have to do with apples?"

"Apples are like this, bananas are like this, walnuts are the same. Not to mention kiwis, peaches, lychees..."

"For traditional fruit and vegetable dough fruits, the flavor is the difficult point."

"And the even harder ones: Green Bamboo Welcoming Spring, Phoenix Flying to the Heavens, Fish Leaping over the Dragon Gate. How do you make a pastry taste like fish? What should a phoenix taste like? How can such dough fruits make the diner feel it's reasonable and stunning? This depends entirely on the chef's imagination and creativity."

"That's why I said my dad and I aren't good at making dough fruits. We only know how to follow the formulas left behind by our master's master. How the master's master did it, that's how my dad does it; how my dad does it, that's how I do it."

"In Master Huang's words, if a sect can only pass down its craft from generation to generation in this mode, it will surely be worse with each generation. The lost crafts will become more and more numerous, and eventually, the sect will decline."

Qin Huai was already a bit stunned.

This was out of his depth; it was completely out of his depth.

Such profound things were not what a wild-path practitioner like him should be thinking about.

"Even if the formula is proficient, it's very hard for a chef to control the degree of expansion of the dough fruit during the steaming process. Moreover, for better shaping, the dough must be kneaded a bit harder, which affects the texture. Whether one can compensate for this in the subsequent production process also tests the chef's imagination."

"According to the formula left by the master's master, our apple dough fruit filling is date paste mixed with yam puree and apple juice, which allows you to taste the apple without affecting the overall feeling."

Zheng Zheng Siyuan started mixing the filling.

"Under normal circumstances, the easiest dough fruit to replicate the flavor of is the date one; you just use date paste filling."

Qin Huai indicated he had learned something.

After the filling was done, Zheng Zheng Siyuan pinched the dough into small balls, rolled them into thick skins, and started wrapping the filling.

He didn't just wrap them himself; he also gave half the dough to Qin Huai.

"Wrap them round, shape them into apples. You can use your own imagination; make it look like whatever you think an apple looks like." Zheng Zheng Siyuan said. "If you want to practice technique, simply wrapping these is also quite useful."

Holding the dough, Qin Huai realized for the first time that he really didn't have much imagination.

Eh, what does an apple look like again?

Round. Is it round?

Seeing Qin Huai holding the dough skin in confusion, Zheng Zheng Siyuan smiled and demonstrated one in front of him.

Without using any extra tools, just a simple wrap, knead, and roll with his right hand, then poking two points with his pinky and slightly shaping it, a small dough ball that didn't look very much like an apple was born.

"Whether the dough ball before steaming can become the intended shape after steaming doesn't require imagination; experience is enough."

Qin Huai followed suit, also wrapping, kneading, and rolling, poking two points with his pinky, and slightly shaping it.

A dough ball that didn't look very much like an apple, but looked very much like the small dough ball Zheng Zheng Siyuan had just made, was born.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan:?

The two continued wrapping.

Midway, Zheng Zheng Siyuan even took the time to roll out the apple stems; it could be said that the details were handled very well.

Put them in the steamer.

Qin Huai stayed by the steamer, closely watching the movement of the dough balls inside.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan stood on the side, looking at Qin Huai with a complex expression.

"Have you really... never learned this before?" Zheng Zheng Siyuan felt like questioning his life.

"No, I didn't even know what dough fruits were before; I only found out when I read a novel in college."

Zheng Zheng Siyuan felt a bit autistic.

He kind of wanted to book a flight back; the pastry shop hadn't started renovations yet anyway.

"Do you know how long it takes for a normal chef to master technique, even if they're just imitating others?"

"How long?" Qin Huai asked curiously.

"2 to 3 years."

Zheng Zheng Siyuan looked at Qin Huai, leaving one thing unsaid.

But you seem to have only used 2 to 3 minutes.

Although he hadn't mastered it, he didn't look like a beginner at all.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan seemed to understand a little why his dad wanted so badly to take Qin Huai as an apprentice; knowing there was no hope, he still stubbornly bought an apartment in the neighboring complex.

He kind of wanted to, too.

Although Qin Huai lacked creativity, his ability to imitate was perhaps a bit too strong.

The dough fruits were out of the steamer.

After steaming, the dough fruits had expanded by a whole circle; the shape of an apple, which hadn't been visible before, now looked somewhat like one at first glance.

"Now there's only the last step: coloring." Zheng Zheng Siyuan put away his desire to take an apprentice and continued explaining.

"Natural pigments are used to color dough fruits. Generally, cocoa powder is used for brown, beet for red, spinach juice for green. Of course, purple yam, purple sweet potato, carrots, and yellow fruit can also be used for coloring."

"Still, as I said, it all depends on the chef's imagination."

"As for whether you can mix the right color, it requires a lot of trial and error. Of course, I have the fixed formula left by the master's master here."

Zheng Zheng Siyuan mixed a bowl of the fixed formula color with beet juice, gave Qin Huai half a bowl, and picked up a brush: "There are many ways to color. Brushing is more delicate, but you can also use your hands to smear it. In necessary cases, you can even soak the whole dough fruit in it or roll it in it."

Zheng Zheng Siyuan started coloring the dough fruits. Qin Huai knew this was the moment that truly tested an art student's foundation.

So, did Qin Huai have the foundation of an art student?

No. If he had, he would have earned that 100,000 yuan himself.

Qin Huai held a dough fruit in one hand and a brush in the other, with half a bowl of beet juice in front of him.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Huai quietly moved two steps toward Zheng Zheng Siyuan and leaned over to see how he was brushing.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan:...

Zheng Zheng Siyuan brushed once, Qin Huai brushed once.

He dipped into the beet juice, Qin Huai dipped into the beet juice.

Even Chen Chen Yingjun, who was watching from outside, could see it and muttered: "Why does Master Xiao Qin keep copying Master Xiao Zheng? Whatever Master Xiao Zheng does, he does."

"Don't worry about it." Chen Huihong indicated that he should worry less about chef matters.

After a while, an apple that was realistic enough to pass for the real thing was born in Zheng Zheng Siyuan's hands.

Two seconds later, an apple that was also realistic enough to pass for the real thing was born in Qin Huai's hands.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan:...?

Qin Huai:!

Although the shapes were slightly different, the result was good.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan looked at Qin Huai: "Have you really never learned this?"

"No." Qin Huai shook his head. "But I don't know why, it feels especially smooth. I've rarely felt this smooth when learning a dish."

Zheng Zheng Siyuan put down the dough fruit, went to wash his hands, and glanced at his phone.

His dad, Zheng Da, had sent him a WeChat message an hour ago.

Dad: Zheng Siyuan, how's the situation? Has Xiao Qin been hit hard? Just make your best apple dough fruit, make it while letting him learn, give him a comparison, let him know that finger techniques can't be mastered in a day. The urgent priority now is to practice heat control well.

Dad: Don't be overly ambitious, don't have one idea after another. Practicing heat control well is more important than anything else; finger techniques can be practiced slowly later.

Dad: How is it? Has he been hit hard!

Zheng Zheng Siyuan replied silently.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan: No, he's quite happy.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan: I'm a bit hit hard.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan: 【Image】

Zheng Zheng Siyuan: Dad, guess which of these two apples is his? Which one is mine?

Dad:???

(End of chapter)