Chapter 110

A plate of apple dough fruits, half made by Qin Huai, half by Zheng Zheng Siyuan.

At first glance, it was impossible to tell that this plate of dough fruits wasn't made by the same person.

They were all carved from the same mold: the shape of an apple, the color of an apple, the texture of an apple, and even the stem of an apple.

Looking from afar, it was impossible to tell that this was a plate of pastries.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan felt a bit autistic.

Qin Huai, however, didn't think much of it; in his view, this plate of dough fruits was still made by Zheng Zheng Siyuan, and he was just helping out.

The dough was kneaded by Zheng Zheng Siyuan, the filling was mixed by Zheng Zheng Siyuan, and even the beet juice for the coloring was prepared by Zheng Zheng Siyuan. Qin Huai felt he had just participated and practiced his finger techniques.

To be fair, his talent for finger techniques was quite good.

Qin Huai looked at the indistinguishable dough fruits on the plate with satisfaction; the confidence he had lost after days of bitter practice on heat control had all been regained with today's dough fruits.

His knife work was beginner level because that was the lowest level.

But his finger technique was beginner level because he hadn't had the conditions to practice it before.

To tell the truth, Qin Huai felt that when he was shaping the dough into an apple and using the brush to color it, he had regained the long-lost feeling of being self-taught the first time he kneaded dough.

This was the feel!

"Zheng Siyuan, where do you think I should start practicing my finger techniques?" Qin Huai held an apple dough fruit, weighing it back and forth in his hand. "Should I start with simple pastries like I did with the soup?"

Zheng Zheng Siyuan: "... No, just start with simple dough fruits."

"You only need to focus on shaping; I'll handle the rest. It's pure practice for finger techniques."

Qin Huai and Zheng Zheng Siyuan walked out of the kitchen one after the other. Chen Chen Yingjun and Chen Huihong were already staring at the dough fruits on the plate in a daze.

Chen Chen Yingjun even reached out his finger, very un-CEO-like, and tentatively poked the dough fruit on the plate to determine if it was a real apple.

"Jie, this really isn't an apple." Chen Chen Yingjun was stunned.

Qin Huai:...

He began to doubt the fact that Chen Chen Yingjun had started from scratch and built up his current family business entirely through his own ability and hard work.

From the first moment Qin Huai saw Chen Chen Yingjun, he felt that Chen Chen Yingjun must have reached where he was today through his own hard work, without any trickery or deceit.

At the same time, he also felt that there was a reason Chen Huihong's mother had given him that name; since he had grown up looking like that, he had to be called "Chen Yingjun" (Handsome) to soak up some good luck.

Chen Chen Yingjun had a standard villain face—sly, treacherous, and cunning.

If he were in a TV drama, the audience would think he had come up with 1,000 bad ideas the moment his eyes shifted.

Now that he was middle-aged and had put on some weight, he didn't look as much like a villain; Qin Huai didn't dare to imagine what he would have looked like if he had been thinner when he was young.

A face like that paired with this expression had quite a contrasting effect.

"Master Xiao Zheng, Master Xiao Qin, are these the dough fruits you intend to put in the pastry gift box?" Chen Chen Yingjun picked one up and squeezed it gently. "Are these pastries meant to be eaten?"

"As long as it's a pastry, it's meant to be eaten." Zheng Zheng Siyuan said. "Right now, with the residual warmth on the surface and not yet completely cooled, it's in its best state for eating. Once the dough fruit is completely cool, it might feel better to hold and play with, but the taste will be far inferior to what it is now."

Hearing Zheng Zheng Siyuan say this, Chen Chen Yingjun didn't hesitate at all; he opened his mouth and took a bite of the artwork in his hand, eating the apple stem along with it.

With one bite, the dough fruit revealed the filling inside.

The filling was date paste mixed with yam puree and apple juice. When Zheng Zheng Siyuan was mixing the filling, Qin Huai had felt that there was a bit too much date paste, and the color looked a bit dark; he hadn't expected the color to fade quite a bit after steaming.

Up close, it didn't look much like the color of an apple, but from a distance, it should still be able to fool people.

"Actually, this apple dough fruit I made is a lost version." Zheng Zheng Siyuan said to Qin Huai. "My dad said the apple dough fruits the master's master made had a lighter color, closer to the fruit flesh, and tasted sandy. It felt like chopped apples mixed with yam puree wrapped inside and steamed."

"But by the time it reached my dad, he couldn't create that feeling anymore. By the time I started learning to cook, the master's master was long gone. That's why I said some pastries require imagination; my dad is a typical example of someone without imagination, which is why it was lost."

"I'm slightly better than my dad, but that's about it. Plus, I don't really like pastries like dough fruits or boat-shaped pastries; they're too complicated for me. I prefer making more popular ones, so I haven't really studied them." While Zheng Zheng Siyuan was speaking, Chen Chen Yingjun had already silently finished chewing the entire apple dough fruit and wanted to reach for a second one.

His eager hand was slapped away by Chen Huihong.

"Eating one is enough. How many are on this plate? Is it easy for Xiao Qin and Xiao Zheng to make a plate? It's just for you to taste the flavor, and you're really eating it?"

"Doesn't Chen Huihui want to eat? Doesn't Jia'ai want to eat? Doesn't your wife Xiaoyue want to eat? Don't Xiao Qin and Xiao Zheng want to eat? Doesn't Xiao Qin's sister Luo Luo want to eat?" Chen Huihong started lecturing her younger brother.

Chen Chen Yingjun retracted his hand aggrievedly, looking longingly at the remaining dough fruits on the plate: "I just wanted to taste the flavor again to be sure."

As he spoke, Chen Chen Yingjun smacked his lips, still wanting more: "It's really delicious. I never thought I could taste fruit flavor in a pastry. It feels like I'm chewing on an apple made of dough... no, dough made of apples... no. Anyway, it's just... delicious!"

It was clear his vocabulary of adjectives was very limited.

Zheng Zheng Siyuan said: "It's okay, I'm not eating. Master Chen, if you want to taste it again, go ahead and have another one. There isn't enough time today; one apple dough fruit in the gift box is a bit monotonous, and two is a bit repetitive. I don't know many varieties; I only know apples, pears, bananas, peaches, grapes, red dates, and longans."

"If you have time tomorrow, please come by again in the afternoon. I'll make two more styles of dough fruits for you to taste and see if they're okay. The gift box will have three styles."

Chen Chen Yingjun was already starting to swallow his saliva.

"Yes, of course, Master Xiao Zheng, you can make whatever you want! I said from the beginning, I fully trust your craftsmanship, Master Xiao Zheng!"

"What are we eating tomorrow?"

Zheng Zheng Siyuan:...

The customers on Qin Huai's side really all had a kind of inexplicable harmony.

"Tomorrow..." Zheng Zheng Siyuan tried hard to think of what else he was good at, so he wouldn't fail and lose face tomorrow. "Dates and grapes, I guess."

"Great, I love dates and grapes the most. Master Xiao Zheng, we are truly of one mind!" Chen Chen Yingjun said excitedly.

Qin Huai chewed on his apple dough fruit, quietly watching Chen Chen Yingjun's performance.

Don't say, it really was quite delicious.

Although the date flavor was a bit heavy and covered up the apple flavor, you could still smell the fresh fragrance of apples when eating it.

The dough skin on the outside was soft and firm, mixed with the sweet filling inside, plus the perfect shape—Qin Huai felt no one would not love this pastry.

Was this a pastry? This was simply a work of art!

Even people who didn't like apples would have to try a bite when they saw this pastry.

As for the version Zheng Zheng Siyuan mentioned earlier—the one with the sandy texture of apples and more apple flavor—Qin Huai couldn't even imagine it.

In his view, the current dough fruit was already perfect. If it were to go up another level...

Master Jing was truly terrifying.

Qin Huai sent a message to Luo Jun, asking him to call Zhang Zhang Shumei to come and get the dough fruits.

When Chen Huihong was counting earlier, she hadn't noticed that Qin Huai actually had one more on his hand; this extra one would be perfect for the side quest giver, Mr. Luo Jun, to taste first.

To see if it was the taste of the dough fruit he had forgotten.

While Qin Huai was sending the message, Chen Chen Yingjun was already discussing the payment with Zheng Zheng Siyuan.

Chen Chen Yingjun couldn't wait to transfer the money to Zheng Zheng Siyuan right now to set the quantity of dough fruits.

He had completely forgotten that the owner of the canteen was actually Qin Huai.

Qin Huai had also forgotten, happily watching Chen Chen Yingjun add Zheng Zheng Siyuan on WeChat.

The dough fruit was really delicious.

Take another bite.

Slurp.

(End of chapter)