Chapter 159: 【Apple-Shaped Pastry, Grade B】

At noon, Gong Liang finally got his wish and ate the Apple-Shaped Pastry made by Qin Huai, posting three times about it on his social media.

While eating his staff meal, Qin Huai scrolled past Gong Liang's posts, not quite understanding them, so he gave them three perfunctory likes before burying his head back into his food.

Today's staff meal was, as usual, a special dish prepared by Huang Jia.

Lion's Head Meatballs with Crab Roe, stir-fried cauliflower, and stir-fried shredded trio.

Worried that Qin Huai would get tired of eating the same special dishes every day, Huang Jia thoughtfully rotated the menu.

Qin Huai mixed his rice with the Lion's Head meatball, muttering to himself, truly unable to understand why these people had such an inexplicable obsession and pursuit for these pastries.

Huang Anyao was like that, Gong Liang was like that, and even the highly skilled Huang Jia could be seen to be very fond of the pastries, treating them as a rare delicacy.

Personally, Qin Huai felt the pastries were just okay, good for a fresh experience. If he had to choose one snack to eat every day, Qin Huai would definitely choose fermented rice steamed buns or Five-Diced Baozi.

Of course, that was mainly because his own skills were limited.

Qin Huai took a large bite of his food.

"I heard you don't need to stir-fry greens this afternoon." Zheng Siyuan, who had already finished eating, put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked.

Qin Huai nodded: "Master Huang said my stir-fried greens have been pretty good these past two days. I'm not really planning to switch careers to become a savory chef; having this level of skill and control is enough."

"What are you stir-frying today?"

"Stir-fried shredded meat."

After these few days of intensive training, Qin Huai's proficiency in heat control had increased significantly. Before he left this morning, the values on his game panel were already:

Player Name: Qin Huai

Unlocked Illustrations: 5/12

Skills:

Dough Leavening (Intermediate): Your dough leavening technique has surpassed 93% of pastry chefs nationwide. (9227/10000)

Filling Preparation (Advanced): Your filling preparation level has surpassed 96% of pastry chefs nationwide. (4632/100000)

Finger Techniques (Beginner): You don't do any styling for your pastries at all. (673/1000)

Oil Frying (Intermediate): The fried dough sticks you make are not bad. (333/10000)

Knife Skills (Beginner): Household level. (103/1000)

Heat Control (Intermediate): Barely passable. (3222/10000)

Food Tasting (Advanced): Fine, you're quite the foodie. (Cannot be upgraded)

Management (Intermediate): You're decent at business; you won't lose money. (1179/10000)

Lying (Master): Saying what people want to hear, that's you, isn't it! (24391/1000000)

Based on the current workload and proficiency growth, Qin Huai estimated that his dough leavening would reach Advanced by the day Zheng Da returned.

Zheng Da was returning the day after tomorrow.

Although Advanced dough leavening wouldn't be of much help in learning Crab Roe Shumai, Qin Huai believed that the astonishing fact that his hard practice of heat control had led to a sudden leap in his dough leavening would surely shock Zheng Da, who would then teach him everything he knew, thereby helping him complete the side quest.

"Your progress is quite fast. A normal person with good talent would take at least a month to stir-fry greens," Zheng Siyuan remarked. "But you aren't without foundation, and you won't be staying long. Master Huang probably wants you to learn systematically and quickly."

Qin Huai understood; he was in a crash course.

The kind of crash course that teaches you all the skills of English in three days and lets you understand the 7 secrets of reading comprehension in five days.

Qin Luo really needed this kind of crash course.

"What are you practicing lately?" Qin Huai asked.

For the past few days, Qin Huai had been following Huang Shengli in the Huang Ji kitchen every afternoon to learn how to stir-fry greens. Huang Shengli's disciples often watched intensely, but Zheng Siyuan was never among them.

Zheng Siyuan wasn't even in Huang Ji.

He disappears right on time every day after eating the staff meal; he is very mysterious.

"I'm practicing my feel," Zheng Siyuan said. "I haven't tossed sand in many years, and I've completely lost the feel needed for the big spoon toss. Since I want to learn the big spoon toss, I have to get that feel back. I've been going home every afternoon to toss sand."

Qin Huai instantly felt a sense of respect for Zheng Siyuan.

He had thought Zheng Siyuan was just tired from being a workhorse at the Yunzhong Canteen and had decided to relax and rest upon returning to the familiar Gusu, slacking off every afternoon. He hadn't expected him to be secretly working hard to amaze everyone.

"Any results?" Qin Huai asked.

Zheng Siyuan:...

Did you think you could get results in a few days like you?

If learning to cook yielded results in a few days, every single chef at Huang Ji would be a super master.

"I have a slight feel for it," Zheng Siyuan said euphemistically. "Even if I don't learn the big spoon toss in the end, tossing sand can exercise hand strength and strengthen control over force. Practicing this basic skill is definitely not a loss."

Qin Huai was a bit tempted.

"You don't need to practice," Zheng Siyuan interrupted Qin Huai's temptation. "You farmed when you were young... your control over force is already very good."

Even as Zheng Siyuan said it, he felt it was absurd. Farming practiced control over force? Since when did pastry chefs practice strength through farming?

"Do you want to go back later this afternoon?" Qin Huai asked. Seeing Zheng Siyuan looking at him, he hurriedly continued, "I asked Master Huang yesterday; after a few days of physical therapy and rest, his waist has recovered quite well."

"Of course, normal work is not allowed. For his waist to fully recover, he needs to persist in treatment and rest for at least three more months. But daily activities are no problem, and the intensity of cooking at home is also no problem."

Zheng Siyuan seemed to have guessed what Qin Huai had done yesterday.

"So I asked Master Huang yesterday if he could help me make the filling for the pastries today."

"I've inquired clearly these past few days. Although Huang Jia knows the big spoon toss, it's limited to just knowing it; he can't necessarily do it well. I showed him the recipe for the pastries and told him that stir-frying the filling requires the big spoon toss. He went back and studied it for a few days, then clearly told me he might not be able to achieve the effect I want."

"He said something about being a Huaiyang cuisine chef and that the big spoon toss is a Lu cuisine technique he isn't good at. He also said the chef who provided the recipe was clearly a Lu cuisine master. I didn't quite understand, because if I remember correctly, that chef should be a Sichuan cuisine chef."

This fell into Zheng Siyuan's blind spot of knowledge; he was just a pastry chef and didn't understand the techniques of savory chefs.

"That's all beside the point. The key is that Master Huang said yesterday it was no problem. He has also always wanted to study the pastries with me; he is very interested in the filling for this snack."

"With Master Huang's help this afternoon, I think we should be able to achieve the effect the recipe theoretically presents. The opportunity is rare; do you want to stay and study together?"

Qin Huai had originally agreed to come to Gusu for exchange and study for the sake of the pastries.

Without an excellent savory chef helping, it was very difficult for Qin Huai to make Grade B pastries.

This snack had too high a requirement for savory skills.

And the game system's judgment on whether a snack was made by Qin Huai was also very interesting. Qin Huai had tried it before, and the conclusion was that if half of the process of a snack was completed by his own hands, or the core process was completed by his own hands, the game system would judge the snack as being made by him.

Then he could see the snack's rating.

This also gave Qin Huai a chance to cut corners. If he did one part very poorly, he could ask for outside help to raise the overall grade of the snack. Just like using the high-quality stock Huang Jia made for Longevity Noodles, or using the filling Huang Shengli made for the pastries.

But this was destined to be a corner-cutting method that couldn't be used long-term.

Because the grades of the snacks Qin Huai needed outside help for were not low; Longevity Noodles were Grade A. If Qin Huai's level of making handmade noodles was only Grade B, and his noodle-boiling technique was also average, then even if the stock used was Grade A, the grade of the Longevity Noodles wouldn't reach Grade A.

Grade S stock was a different matter.

But how difficult it was to make high-quality stock! Huang Jia was already considered a chef with very good skills, and the stock he made could probably only barely reach Grade A, maybe not even that. In Qin Huai's mind, Grade S stock could probably only be made by chefs of Huang Shengli's level.

Was it possible for such a top-tier master in the industry to be your assistant?

Once or twice could be considered taking care of a junior, studying together, but over a long time, it was simply impossible. The dishes at Huang Ji that required Huang Shengli to personally make the stock could be counted on one hand, let alone a mere bowl of Longevity Noodles.

What grade of Longevity Noodles would require Huang Shengli to personally make the stock?

This has to sell for 999 a bowl, to go head-to-head with the 888 golden egg fried rice.

If he wanted to operate long-term, or rather, if he wanted to stably make high-grade buff dishes, Qin Huai knew he could only rely on himself.

But if he wanted to cut corners to complete a task briefly—

Asking for outside help was not a bad method.

Time was running out for Luo Jun.

Bifang was already a genuine 92-year-old man, the kind who was too lazy to even leave the house. If he didn't let him eat the Grade B pastries to complete the side quest, Qin Huai would really have to inherit all his assets.

Facing Qin Huai's invitation, Zheng Siyuan agreed immediately.

He wanted to practice the big spoon toss precisely for the sake of the pastries. Now that there was a chance to see successful pastries, he naturally couldn't miss it; this was the goal he would strive for in the future.

At two in the afternoon, Huang Shengli leisurely strolled into Huang Ji.

Ever since Huang Shengli started physical therapy, and Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan were hired as pastry chefs, Huang Shengli had never come to Huang Ji during lunch hours.

Before, Huang Shengli would set up a small table in the kitchen every day because he was worried.

It was indeed hard not to worry.

Huang Ji was a reputation he had built single-handedly. Suddenly taking temporary sick leave, with disciples whose skills hadn't been fully honed yet and couldn't fully take over his shift, turnover dropped, and customer traffic also decreased somewhat.

The restaurant business was just that cruel, especially high-end restaurants; once the signature master chef was gone, diners would immediately switch to other places.

This was truly a critical moment of survival; Huang Shengli was also afraid that if he didn't come to sit in the kitchen every day, the morale would scatter.

Anyway, it was different now; the diners at Huang Ji Restaurant were being diverted.

During the lunch period, they were basically all here to eat pastries, while the evening was for eating dishes. If everyone had doubts at first, worrying that the pastry chef was just a sudden flash in the pan, then after selling pastries stably for nearly a week, and having fermented rice steamed buns every day, the diners felt much more at ease.

There were even many diners who treated Huang Ji at noon as a breakfast shop, calculating the time the fermented rice steamed buns came out of the pot, coming over on time to queue for buns, and leaving after buying them.

Huang Shengli fully trusted the skills of Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan, so he simply didn't come at noon, only sitting in charge in the evening.

Huang Shengli came today with a new teaching plan.

As a gold-medal teacher renowned in Gusu, Huang Shengli was well-versed in teaching according to aptitude. Stir-frying greens was a basic course, and the scope of change wasn't large, but stir-frying shredded meat was different.

Stir-frying shredded meat could involve many fancy tricks.

When necessary, one could stir-fry meat filling.

Just because Huang Shengli hadn't taught pastry disciples didn't mean he hadn't learned pastry skills back in the day. This time, Huang Shengli brought excellent teaching materials for stir-frying meat filling for pastries.

Huang Shengli walked into the kitchen full of confidence and found Zheng Siyuan there too, quickly reacting that they were waiting for him to show off his skills in making the filling.

Just right; he had been strictly watched by the doctor these past two days and could only stir-fry two plates of greens. He hadn't done anything difficult for a long time; it was time to show off and satisfy his craving.

Huang Shengli glanced at the cooking station and found that the dough was already resting on it.

"So you were waiting for me." Huang Shengli laughed.

"Of course, we were just waiting for you. Zheng Siyuan and I have limited skills in stir-frying filling, and we've been looking forward to you giving us a textbook-style demonstration for a long time," Qin Huai said.

Qin Huai didn't know if it was because he had been reading Gong Liang's messages too much lately, but compliments just rolled off his tongue; he felt uncomfortable if he didn't say something nice.

Huang Shengli had already rolled up his sleeves.

Huang Anyao had already moved a stool over in the distance.

"What is that pastry?" Huang Anyao asked curiously.

He should have slipped away long ago, but hearing there might be something delicious this afternoon, he stayed from 8:30 in the morning until now. "A meat-filled pastry," Huang Jia said. "It's a recipe Qin Huai got from a customer's hands back home. Although it's a pastry, it has very high requirements for the filling. Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan have been studying it for nearly a month and haven't had any clues."

"It's that difficult?" Huang Anyao was shocked. "How delicious must it be?"

Huang Anyao was even more expectant.

Huang Jia:...

You don't care about your father's waist at all, only whether there's something to eat.

However, Huang Jia didn't say anything, because indeed, there was no need to worry too much about Huang Shengli's waist; he just needed to avoid excessive labor now.

Huang Shengli began.

Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan were very familiar with the process of stir-frying filling.

Before coming to Gusu, the two of them basically spent every day stir-frying filling. You toss it, I toss it, the brothers took turns tossing; there was nothing they couldn't do.

Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan could be said to be very familiar with the several difficult points in the process of stir-frying filling that were prone to failure.

No way around it, they were too familiar.

Just like old friends.

The filling was being stir-fried in the wok.

The minced meat, coated with carrot puree, was stir-fried in the wok along with diced bamboo shoots and diced shiitake mushrooms. The oil was rendered out, coating the diced bamboo shoots and mushrooms; from afar, the bright colors looked very beautiful.

No condiments were added, yet the aroma was very rich. The most primitive meat fragrance permeated the air, and one could faintly smell a hint of carrot sweetness.

As time passed, the filling in the wok was stir-fried to its best state—the color was just right, the fragrance was just right, the heat was just right, neither greasy nor dry, perfect enough to be photographed on the spot for a textbook.

Friends with good memories all knew that this segment had appeared in Qin Huai's dream before, word for word, completely copy-pasted.

That time it was a dream.

This time it was right before his eyes.

In the dream, Qin Huai only dreamed up to this step; there was a more difficult step ahead that he hadn't dreamed of.

The big spoon toss.

At the moment when the filling was stir-fried to its best state and was about to be taken out of the wok to be stewed, a perfect big spoon toss was needed to fully integrate the ingredients that had been stir-fried separately, achieving a perfect average in heat.

Qin Huai counted the time silently in his heart.

Three.

The carrot puree and minced meat were still fighting their own battles.

Two.

The diced bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms looked very fresh and bright because they were lightly coated with a layer of oil.

One.

The rendered oil made a sizzling sound.

Big spoon toss!

Huang Shengli moved.

Only to see him exert force from his waist, carrying his elbows, arms, and wrists into action together; the filling in the wok instantly flipped 180 degrees. The carrot puree and minced meat that were fighting their own battles two seconds ago were now tightly hugging each other.

A beautiful big spoon toss!

Qin Huai had no concept of the big spoon toss; after all, the few times he had tried it before, he either didn't flip it or flipped it out.

He only felt it was beautiful, truly beautiful, as beautiful as in the video tutorial.

If he had to say there was any shortcoming, it was that it wasn't flipped gracefully enough, not aesthetically pleasing enough, looking truly like a technique, rather than the way Jiang Weiming's spoon toss looked like he was just showing off.

When Qin Huai watched the video tutorial for the first time, he really thought Jiang Weiming's big spoon toss was just purely to show off.

Excellent stir-fried filling.

After stir-frying came stewing.

Compared to stir-frying filling, stewing had lower requirements for heat; Huang Shengli was relatively much more relaxed when stewing.

The recipe Qin Huai recounted based on the video tutorial could be called a fool-proof textbook, detailed to the point of how much the filling in the wok should bubble, how to adjust the heat, when to stir, and what state was best for stirring.

Let's put it this way: according to the recipe, as long as you stared at it and did exactly what was written, even Qin Luo could stew the filling.

Whether it was stewed well or not was another matter, but at least it could be stewed.

By the time the filling was taken out of the wok, the kitchen was already filled with a rich meat fragrance.

Huang Anyao's saliva was almost flowing out.

Huang Shengli's work ended, and he retreated to the side. Huang Jia timely moved over a comfortable chair and brought a cup of tea.

Next was the performance of Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan.

After the filling cooled slightly, the two began to wrap the filling, knead, shape, and color.

Huang Anyao could see it a bit: "Aren't these the steps for making Apple-Shaped Pastries? I remember Qin Huai was doing Apple-Shaped Pastries just like this at noon, but isn't it a bit perfunctory?"

No one could answer him.

If Qin Huai had heard, he would definitely nod and tell him, that's right, it was perfunctory, the more perfunctory the better.

Qin Huai began the delicate wrapping, casual kneading, abstract shaping, and messy coloring.

His abstract-style pastries formed a sharp contrast with Zheng Siyuan's pastries, which retained the most basic aesthetics.

Zheng Siyuan:...

Zheng Siyuan looked at the color he had brushed, then looked at Qin Huai's color, which looked like it had fallen into a dye vat; it was hard to believe Qin Huai was a chef who could make Apple-Shaped Pastries.

He knew that many chefs, when not constrained by rules and regulations, liked to let themselves go and make things they liked.

But the things Qin Huai liked were too strange.

Could his aesthetic really have any development on the path of pastries?

Although making pastries mainly relied on the chef's imagination, it also required the most basic aesthetics.

Steaming in the steamer.

This was the link that determined the fate of the pastries.

Qin Huai stared at the steamer with burning eyes, his expression tense, which made Zheng Siyuan inexplicably nervous as well.

The steaming time for the pastries wasn't long.

Soon, Qin Huai saw it.

【Apple-Shaped Pastry, Grade B】

【Apple-Shaped Pastry, Grade B-】

【Apple-Shaped Pastry, Grade B+】

It's done!

Huang Shengli is awesome!

Outside help is awesome!

Luo Jun's task was nailed down and completed!

Hahahahahaha!

Qin Huai didn't hesitate at all, leaving behind a sentence, "It should be fine, Siyuan, you take the pastries out, I'm going to the bathroom," and quickly escaped.

This time, Qin Huai wasn't going to open the game panel.

He was calling Luo Jun to report this good news!

"Hello?" Luo Jun's impatient voice came from the other side of the phone.

"Good news, the Apple-Shaped Pastry has reached Grade B!"

Luo Jun on the other end of the phone was stunned.

"So what?" Luo Jun's reaction was flat. "What's the use of staring at my side quest? If you have the ability, go complete Qu Jing's side quest. You aren't even at the Yunzhong Canteen; how can you still have us in your heart? I thought you were only thinking about new side quests."

Qin Huai:...

Had Luo Jun stopped watching Xianxia dramas and started watching palace intrigue dramas lately?

"Look at what you're saying," Qin Huai said. "I'm also going out to improve myself in order to better complete the task."

"Let's talk business. Master Huang helped me make the filling for these Apple-Shaped Pastries. He definitely can't go to the Yunzhong Canteen. Luo Jun, see when you have time to come to Gusu, let's complete this side quest first."

"Not going," Luo Jun decisively refused. "He can't come to the Yunzhong Canteen; can I, at my age, go to Gusu?"

Qin Huai:?

"Really not coming?"

"Not going, not going, not going," Luo Jun decisively refused. "Isn't it just a lousy pastry? Not going."

Qin Huai knew Luo Jun's stubborn nature; he didn't like to lie, so if he said he wasn't going, he definitely wasn't going.

"How about I make some raw dough, and you call a courier to bring it back from Gusu?" Qin Huai suggested.

Luo Jun:...

"You're determined to complete this side quest of mine, aren't you?"

"Don't even think about it. You send it to me yourself. If you call a courier to bring it, I eat it and complete the task, but you're secretly watching the memories in Gusu alone, what do I do?" Luo Jun said unhappily.

Qin Huai hesitated a bit.

This was also a method; although it was a bit troublesome, he wasn't a person afraid of trouble.

Qin Huai was clear about Luo Jun's temper; unless Qin Huai was in front of him, Luo Jun definitely wouldn't eat the pastries to let Qin Huai complete the side quest and get the memories.

Better go back to Shanshi.

Who told him he was the first heir to Luo Jun's estate?

"Fine," Qin Huai said. "I'll ask for leave and go back the day after tomorrow."

Luo Jun hung up the phone ruthlessly.

It seemed he knew very well in his heart what the last memory Qin Huai would see was, and he really didn't want Qin Huai to see it.

Qin Huai sent a message to Chen Huihong, telling her that he planned to go back to the Yunzhong Canteen the day after tomorrow.

He told Chen Huihong not to spread the word; after all, he didn't have time to make pastries, so as not to let the grandpas and grandmas in the Yunzhong residential area have empty hopes.

Chen Huihong: OK.

Chen Huihong: Can you bring back 40 jin of crispy cakes while you're at it? My brother and I both really want to eat them.

Chen Huihong: It would be even better if you could bring some lard rice cakes, glutinous rice cakes, Ding Sheng cakes, and fermented rice steamed buns.

Chen Huihong: My brother really wants to eat them.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 160 =====