Chapter 142

On the morning of the second day, Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan boarded a plane to the Magic City. After landing, they transferred to a high-speed train to Gusu. After all that tossing and turning, it was already noon by the time they arrived in Gusu.

"I truly admire you now. You received Uncle Zheng's call in the afternoon, and by the next morning, you were already at our canteen." Qin Huai, who rarely traveled far and whose most frequent trips were the four-year university commute between home and school, deeply admired Zheng Siyuan's superb ability to take action.

"It's alright, I'm just used to it." Zheng Siyuan glanced at his phone. "My dad said someone is coming to pick us up."

"Ah? Do we really need a pickup?" Qin Huai asked, bewildered.

"You're the newcomer, so let's just go through the ritual of a pickup."

Qin Huai:?

An hour later, Qin Huai learned what it meant to "go through the ritual of a pickup."

The person who came to the high-speed rail station to pick them up was Dong Shi, an old acquaintance of Qin Huai's—a genuine internet friend with whom he had chatted about a lot of gossip inside the restaurant during video calls.

The gossip Dong Shi had shared with Qin Huai over these days included, but was not limited to:

How inept Huang Shengli's son was at managing the restaurant, and how he had made a complete mess of the marketing plan.

How Huang Shengli's sixth apprentice had been dumped by his girlfriend again because his hair loss made him look old. Dong Shi had casually remarked that the cooking fumes in the back kitchen were indeed a bit too heavy, so the hair loss couldn't be blamed entirely on the Sixth Senior Brother.

A certain guest, whose name could not be revealed but whom everyone in the restaurant knew, had held his first, second, third, and fourth weddings all at the restaurant, and the bride was the same person every time. This led everyone to suspect they just wanted an excuse to hold more weddings and eat the wedding-exclusive dishes at Huang's Restaurant.

Huang Shengli's back hadn't been bad just in these last few years; ever since that guest's second wedding, the restaurant had started having exclusive dishes that could only be ordered for large banquets like wedding feasts or birthday celebrations, and only regular, long-time customers had the chance to book them.

These precious bits of gossip made the internet friendship between Qin Huai and Dong Shi exceptionally solid.

It also allowed Dong Shi to break through the encirclement and become the representative sent to the high-speed rail station to pick them up.

The main purpose of Dong Shi coming to pick them up was to take Qin Huai to the apartment Zheng Da had rented for him.

The apartment was right across from Huang's Restaurant; it only took 6 minutes to walk from the residential complex to the restaurant's back kitchen, making the commute very convenient. It was so convenient that Qin Huai almost wanted to ask Dong Shi, "Does your Huang's Restaurant sell breakfast too? Do I need to come over at 4:00 every morning to make Five-Diced Baozi?"

"This apartment was carefully selected and rented for you by Uncle Zheng. Uncle Zheng originally wanted to rent a place for you in his own complex, but his place is just too far from Huang's. Our restaurant has long prep times and we start work early; basically, we have to be at the shop by 9:00. If you came from Uncle Zheng's place, you'd have to get up at 8:00 every morning, which is too early." Dong Shi had a mouth that couldn't stay idle; he had to say everything and couldn't keep a single word to himself.

Qin Huai, who got up at 4:00 every morning:...

Zheng Siyuan, who had gone from getting up at 6:00 to starting work at 6:00 during this period:...

"But our restaurant has its perks too; the lunch break is especially long. Basically, the back kitchen rests after 1:00, we start work at 4:00 in the afternoon, and get off at 8:00 in the evening—absolutely no overtime. I remember you get off at 4:00 every afternoon, Qin Huai. We don't have a pastry chef, so if you want to go to bed early at night, you can also get off at 4:00. We have food ready by 4:00."

Qin Huai:...

Is this the treatment for a randomly dropped chef?

Zheng Siyuan, I'm sorry for letting you be a beast of burden.

The apartment Zheng Da rented for Qin Huai was a move-in-ready one-bedroom unit. It was cleaned very thoroughly, with no extra things needing preparation; there were even brand-new, unopened toothbrushes and towels, which made Qin Huai suspect for a moment that this place might have been a homestay before.

There wasn't much to tidy up in the room, so Qin Huai put down his luggage and went across the street with Dong Shi to see Huang Shengli, while Zheng Siyuan dragged his luggage home to tidy up first.

For his first meeting with his online course teacher, Qin Huai brought a small gift he had prepared himself—

Apple-shaped dough fruits he had made the night before.

Proper apple-shaped dough fruits. The filling was prepared with Zheng Siyuan's help; they were pure, clean, and legitimate apple-shaped dough fruits.

Not the heretical meat-filled kind.

Qin Huai followed Dong Shi to Huang's Restaurant.

Huang's Restaurant was considered a long-standing establishment in the local area; it was started by Huang Shengli when he was young as a small eatery and had grown into the large restaurant it was today. Because it had been around for some years and hadn't been renovated in the last two, it looked a bit old from a distance. Of course, thinking about it from another angle, one could also say it had historical depth.

Although this depth was a bit short, only about 20 years.

Qin Huai entered the shop at a little past 1:00 in the afternoon, barely counting as mealtime. There weren't many guests in the restaurant, and the main hall was only half full. At this time of day, such an occupancy rate wasn't bad for a weekday, but it really didn't match the resounding reputation Huang's Restaurant had built over the years. It seemed Dong Shi's complaints were spot on; Huang Shengli's son was indeed not good at management.

Dong Shi led Qin Huai to the entrance of the back kitchen, pushed the door open, and walked in, happily shouting at the top of his lungs: "Master, Master! Qin Huai is here! I've brought him back! He even brought you a gift; come out and see!"

"What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket? There are still guests eating outside." Huang Shengli walked out of the back kitchen slowly.

This was the first time Qin Huai had seen him in person.

Compared to the videos, he was slightly darker and thinner in person.

Huang Shengli looked at Qin Huai with a smile: "Xiao Qin is here! Why be so formal and bring a gift? Let me see what you've brought."

Qin Huai handed over the gift box.

The gift box was one he had asked for from Chen Yingjun, the leftover box from packing dough fruits.

Huang Shengli opened the gift box, stared at the four apple-shaped dough fruits inside for a moment, picked one up to feel its texture in his hand, examined it carefully before his eyes, and asked:

"Did you make these yourself?"

Qin Huai nodded: "Basically. Zheng Siyuan helped me prepare the filling; I still can't quite grasp the proportions yet."

"My goodness." Huang Shengli muttered to himself, "So there really are people born knowing how to make dough fruits. They didn't forget to drink the Meng Potang completely, did they?"

"Master, what did you say?" Dong Shi hadn't heard clearly.

"It has nothing to do with you." Huang Shengli ignored his closing disciple, putting all his attention on Qin Huai, his smile deepening.

"Xiao Qin, you and Siyuan rushed over early in the morning, right? You must be tired."

"It's alright, not very tired." Qin Huai said truthfully.

"Have you seen the apartment? Are you used to it?"

"It's quite good."

"Since you've come from afar, theoretically I should make you a welcome banquet. But my back isn't cooperating; I woke up this morning in severe pain. Never mind cooking, even sitting is uncomfortable."

"Master Huang, you don't need to be so formal. You've taught me for so long on WeChat, you're already half a master to me. How could I trouble you to make a welcome banquet for me?" Qin Huai said hurriedly.

"If you don't mind, then I'm relieved. Dong Shi, what are you still standing there for? Give Xiao Qin his work uniform."

Qin Huai:?

Dong Shi immediately pulled a set of back-kitchen staff uniforms out of a cabinet on the side like a magician and handed them to Qin Huai: "Master had these custom-made according to your size. I don't know if they'll fit."

Qin Huai looked at the work uniform and discovered that there was embroidery on the chest of the jacket with a name embroidered on it.

Qin Huai.

Very well, time to start work.

Qin Huai very consciously hugged the work uniform and asked: "Where is the changing room?"

"Since I'm new here and don't know what to do, I'll just make a few steamers of my best fermented rice steamed buns for everyone!"

(End of chapter)