Chapter 128

Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan each ate an apple dough fruit, and there were more than ten left on the plate.

This time point was exactly lunchtime, and more than ten dough fruits were clearly not enough for a random drop, and the price was hard to set.

Originally, Qin Huai had no intention of selling dough fruits in the Yunzhong Canteen. During his practice a while ago, the dough fruits made in the afternoon were randomly dropped in batches, and the pricing was quite casual.

Dates and apricots were cheap, while apples and pears were expensive. Sometimes he felt that both he and Zheng Siyuan performed well, so he sold them a bit more expensively; if they performed poorly, he sold them cheaper.

Anyway, those who squatted for random drops in the afternoon were the regulars among regulars, and their common characteristics were having money, few things to do, and plenty of time. For these regulars, as long as there was something to sell, it didn't matter how much it cost or what was being sold.

But now it was different. Qin Huai had unlocked a new main quest, and the main quest required five types of signature snacks. Currently, the canteen only had two, and Qin Huai felt that apple dough fruits had a high hope of becoming the third.

If Qin Huai could make B-grade apple dough fruits, the grade of the dough fruit itself was already there, and the taste would certainly not be inferior to any snack in the canteen.

Not to mention that qualified apple dough fruits also had a buff.

D-grade Chen Pi tea could leap to become a signature product of the canteen relying on its buff, and Qin Huai believed that B-grade apple dough fruits would certainly work too.

To be a signature product, it first had to be a permanent item.

Being a permanent item meant it couldn't be priced casually.

If the price was cheap, it would be troublesome, losing money, and not profitable, not to mention that it would damage the prestige of the dough fruits. As the aesthetic peak of pastry snacks, a super high-difficulty snack that you couldn't even find on review software under normal circumstances—if you sold it for 8 yuan each, and the price wasn't even more expensive than a San Ding Bao, how would you let the diners view dough fruits?

But if you sold them for 88 each... of course, this price wasn't too expensive for dough fruits, but what Qin Huai was making were pirated dough fruits.

They were dough fruits that even made Zheng Siyuan feel sorry for his ancestors.

They were dough fruits that, if you wanted to get the buff, the uglier the coloring, the better.

It could be said that it lacked everything a dough fruit should have: taste, filling, styling, and color.

Eh, if it lacks everything, is it still a dough fruit?

Qin Huai's eyes lit up, feeling that he seemed to have thought of a good idea.

"Siyuan, what do you think of this recipe?" Qin Huai asked.

Zheng Siyuan had already started eating the second one, eating it with a critical mindset, but the more he ate, the more he felt that this steamed bun filling paired with the dough fruit skin was surprisingly suitable. If this filling were simply stuffed into a steamed bun, it might not feel as good as this when paired with the fluffy bun skin.

"It's quite good." Zheng Siyuan said from the bottom of his heart, "This recipe is very bold, but surprisingly fitting. The chef who thought of this recipe must be a savory chef with deep skills in heat control, very good at using their own strengths to cover up their shortcomings."

Qin Huai picked up the only apple dough fruit he had brushed that was incredibly ugly; after being steamed, the dough fruit expanded, and the color turned into even more uneven patches, looking quite ugly.

"Then what do you think about adding this snack to the canteen's permanent menu?" Qin Huai asked.

Zheng Siyuan:?

Zheng Siyuan didn't know for a moment whether he should praise Qin Huai's courage or say that he was truly whimsical.

Dough fruits, canteen, permanent snack—what niche terms.

"That shouldn't work, right?" Zheng Siyuan tactfully poured cold water, "The production difficulty and time for dough fruits are right there. Even if the filling has become meat filling, the overall difficulty hasn't decreased, and for you, it might even have increased."

"Even if you worked 24 hours a day, without stopping, without sleeping, you wouldn't be able to make many dough fruits. This kind of high-end snack isn't suitable for mass sales."

"What if I shorten the production time?" Qin Huai pointed to the dough fruit in his hand, "Apple dough fruits are difficult because you have to mold the dough into the shape of an apple, but what if I don't have such high requirements for the shape, and only need a rough fruit shape? I don't have such high requirements for coloring either, just this level is enough."

"In this way, although this style of dough fruit will still be a bit troublesome to make, it will be much faster. Once I become proficient in the later stages and have a deeper grasp of the filling and dough, I can even find a carpenter to customize molds, and the speed will be even faster."

Zheng Siyuan:??

Zheng Siyuan asked a soul-searching question: "Is this thing still a dough fruit after it's made?"

"That's what I think too!" Qin Huai felt that Zheng Siyuan really understood him, "So I think this snack should have a new name."

"Guo'er!"

The abbreviation for apple dough fruit! Zheng Siyuan was deeply shocked, feeling that it was good to have a wild background. Doing such rebellious and ancestor-forgetting things didn't cause any psychological burden, because there were no ancestors to betray, and no path to rebel against.

Damn it, thinking about it this way, I'm even a little envious.

"As long as you're happy." Zheng Siyuan squeezed out a smile, "The recipe Mr. Luo gave you, as long as Mr. Luo is satisfied, you can play with it however you want. Even if you change the name, I believe Mr. Luo, as a diner, won't mind."

"Just don't tell anyone in the future that this Guo'er is actually an apple dough fruit."

"Don't worry, I won't. I think this Guo'er is really good. The filling can be used to practice heat control, and the fruit itself can be used to practice finger techniques. Why don't we make a few more batches this afternoon, and say it's a new product and ask Grandpa Xu and the others to help test the dish? I happen to be practicing stir-frying the filling." Qin Huai suggested.

Regarding this suggestion, Zheng Siyuan certainly had no objections. He felt that what Qin Huai said made a lot of sense; as long as this Guo'er wasn't a dough fruit, it was indeed a very good dish specifically designed for Qin Huai to practice his techniques.

Zheng Siyuan readily agreed.

Since they were going to practice in the afternoon, there was no need to save any for Qin Luo separately.

Qin Huai first took care of his own people, calling over An Youyou and Chen An, who had finished their meal and taken off their uniforms, ready to get off work and go home. He stuffed two Guo'er to each of them, letting them eat on the way back and taste the results of today's teaching.

The remaining savory chefs still working in the kitchen got one each, Huang Xi got one, Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong got two each, and Ouyang, who happened to come to the canteen for a meal, happily got two, and that was it.

Chen An ate small-batch meals every day when he came to the canteen and was already used to it. Today, eating a high-end small-batch meal, he happily carried the dough fruits to catch the subway.

An Youyou was eating such a high-end small-batch meal for the first time and wasn't used to it. She couldn't bear to eat it directly, and she was afraid of crushing it if she put it in her bag; after all, she still had a long way to go on her electric scooter.

"Brother Chen, is this the dough fruit that Master Xiao Zheng has been making every day these past few days?" An Youyou asked.

"Yeah, apple dough fruit. You can tell by the shape, can't you?" Chen An nodded, looking at the milk tea shop opposite, thinking about whether to reward himself with another cup of milk tea.

"Is this expensive?" An Youyou asked.

"Expensive!" Chen An said affirmatively, "Didn't Director Chen's younger brother come to the canteen to talk business a while ago? What he ordered was this dough fruit, adding up to 125 each!"

An Youyou's pupils shrank in shock. Looking at the dough fruit in the bag, she felt that this simple plastic bag didn't deserve it at all, and she held it in her hands on the spot.

She had 250 yuan in her hands; rounding it up, she had earned two salaries today!

An Youyou didn't hesitate at all, picked one up, and took a bite.

The Guo'er was currently warm and at the best temperature for eating. The meat filling, which locked in the juices, mixed with the carrot puree and spread in her mouth, and the shiitake mushroom cubes and bamboo shoot cubes were chewed between her teeth. An Youyou, who usually found it hard to even eat San Ding Bao and Wu Ding Bao, was now eating this level of pastry, and she narrowed her eyes in happiness.

Chen An was amused by An Youyou's exaggerated expression: "Is it that delicious? You're exaggerating like you're acting."

"It's so good to have money." An Youyou opened her eyes and looked longingly at the wall of the Yunzhong residential area, "I also want to be as rich as Grandpa Qian and Grandpa Wang, living in the Yunzhong residential area, and being able to eat snacks made by Master Xiao Qin every day."

Chen An didn't expect An Youyou to eat a pastry and come up with a life ideal, so he shook his head: "Yunzhong residential area, we working-class people should stop thinking about it."

"If I can afford the down payment for the Yunzhong residential area in this lifetime, I'll be satisfied."

"I must live here in the future." An Youyou looked at the wall, her eyes unusually firm, "I want to be a rich person; this is the life I want!"

"Brother Chen, see you tomorrow. I'm going home to sleep; I have to come to work at 2 o'clock tomorrow, bye."

An Youyou stuffed the remaining Guo'er into her mouth and finished it quickly. She packed the other Guo'er in the bag well, tied a dead knot for fear of it falling out, and rode her second-hand electric scooter, which you could tell was bought cheaply, home from work full of energy.

Leaving behind a confused Chen An.

"2 o'clock... didn't you say 2:30 this morning?"

"The boss doesn't encourage coming to work too early!"

(End of chapter)