Chapter 192: This is a plot that only exists in my dreams

In the evening, after making snacks for Qin Luo, Qin Huai didn't stay at the Yunzhong Canteen to wait for her to come back from school, but instead took the freshly made snacks directly to Luo Jun's house for a tea party.

Qin Huai wanted to announce the good news to everyone that Qu Jing's status had changed.

When Qin Huai arrived, Zhang Shumei was no longer at home, and Chen Huihong was still in the kitchen picking fruit. Seeing Qin Huai come, she asked loudly:

"Xiao Qin, Zhang Shumei bought a lot of navel oranges. They look quite good in quality and look delicious. Do you want me to pick some for you?"

"Sure." Qin Huai nodded, then asked a question, "Why put navel oranges in the refrigerator?"

Luo Jun was sitting at the dining table drinking tangerine peel tea, slowly looked up, stared at Qin Huai expressionlessly, and spat out three words: "None of your business."

Qin Huai took his seat.

"If you have something to say, say it. Why are you like Chen Huihong, coming to my house for tea parties for no reason, treating my house as a fruit wholesale market? You come empty-handed and leave with your hands full. I might as well renovate the kitchen and put two fruit shelves in it so you can pick them when you come," Luo Jun said irritably.

Qin Huai said with a serious face: "Don't say that, your fruit has really come in handy."

Luo Jun:?

Qin Huai told the two of them about the amazing discovery this afternoon in detail. Chen Huihong was overjoyed, didn't even close the refrigerator door, and poked her head out of the kitchen with an orange in her hand to join the discussion.

"Really? The status has really changed? That's great, Yunzhong Xiaoqu is saved!"

"I'll quickly pick a few more oranges and take a bag to Yunzhong Xiaoqu later!"

Luo Jun opened his mouth, seemingly having a lot to say, glanced at Chen Huihong's back, thought for a moment, closed his mouth, and lowered his head to continue drinking tangerine peel tea.

"Now that Qu Jing's status has become 'about to awaken,' does it mean she might be like Gong Liang, able to awaken successfully without my help?" Qin Huai asked.

Luo Jun didn't speak.

Chen Huihong poked her head out again with two oranges: "You can't say that. 'About to awaken' means she hasn't awakened yet; it just increases the probability of awakening."

"If Qu Jing's probability of awakening before was one in a hundred thousand, now it might be one in a thousand."

"This progress is already a very gratifying improvement for a spirit with a deep obsession in her final lifetime, especially under my help and care," Chen Huihong said happily. "If Yunzhong Xiaoqu really passes her tribulation, I will definitely write a book when I go back, titled '10 Little Tips for Helping Spirits Awaken'."

Luo Jun spoke: "That book already exists."

Qin Huai & Chen Huihong:?

"I've read it; it's useless."

Simple words, a heartbreaking process.

"However, what Chen Huihong has done is already the limit of what an ordinary spirit can do to help its own kind," Luo Jun said.

"Are there extraordinary spirits?" Qin Huai asked curiously.

"Yes. The types of spirits are strange and varied; even Luo Jun and I couldn't possibly know all the races and abilities. Some spirits have powerful abilities but are of no help to passing tribulations, such as the *Bifang*. Some spirits have weak abilities but are actually very practical, such as me."

Chen Huihong quietly gilded her own face and continued: "There are also spirits whose abilities have no effect at all, such as the *Tulu*, whose ability is to eat people. I have never seen or heard of how a *Tulu* passes its tribulation. Sometimes when I see information about perverted serial killers or cannibals, I suspect they are *Tulu*."

Qin Huai:... What a niche spirit.

"Everyone's abilities are strange and varied, so naturally there will be some very special ones," Chen Huihong said, weighing her words. "For example... for example... there is..."

"The *Luan* bird?" Qin Huai answered.

Chen Huihong thought for a moment: "The *Luan* bird is indeed very special. It is a noble divine bird but has no ability to protect itself, yet its blessings are very powerful. Theoretically, as long as the *Luan* bird is willing to pay the price, it can fulfill any wish in the world without any restrictions."

Qin Huai didn't respond.

"But for an ordinary spirit like me, all I can do is pull a fellow spirit at a critical moment so she doesn't sink deeper. If you really want to help a fellow spirit awaken, it still has to be someone like you... a system-novel protagonist."

Qin Huai: Alright, stop talking. The system-novel protagonist still hasn't figured out where to start with that damn side quest.

"This business trip to Gusu should be an opportunity for Qu Jing," Luo Jun said calmly. "The types of snacks she likes are all Jiangnan-style; Suzhou-style pastries should be very much to her taste."

"If Qu Jing can really awaken successfully in Gusu, Chen Huihong will have indeed made a great contribution this time."

"If it weren't for her stealing fruit from my house every day to send over, given Qu Jing's previous personality, even if the hospital wanted to send her to the branch in Gusu to study, she would have refused."

Qin Huai nodded in agreement.

Indeed, Qu Jing previously refused to socialize, refused to go out, and refused to sunbathe.

Except for leaving Shanshan to study abroad when she was in school, she wished she could live a three-point-one-line life between the hospital, home, and the welfare academy, not even willing to stroll through the supermarket. She bought things by ordering delivery directly to the door without contacting the delivery person, so it was impossible for her to accept an assignment from her unit to go to another place.

Chen Huihong proudly raised her head and picked oranges even more vigorously.

Luo Jun's peripheral vision swept over the oranges Chen Huihong picked out, his pupils shook, his tone was no longer calm, and he raised his voice: "Chen Huihong, leave some for me!"

"I really want to eat this!!"

That night, Qin Huai and Chen Huihong returned home with several large bags of fruit. Qin Huai went home to contact Gong Liang to help Qu Jing rent a house, and Chen Huihong went to Qu Jing's house to deliver fruit and incidentally guide Qu Jing in packing her luggage.

For a small matter like renting a house, Gong Liang agreed very readily, saying it was no problem and he would have his assistant help handle it. It would be done by tomorrow, and Qu Jing could move in as soon as she arrived in Gusu.

Gong Liang himself and his wife and children were not in Gusu now. Qin Huai was not at Huang Ji, Zheng Da had skipped work and run away, Huang Shengli didn't have much interest in random drops, and even Huang Jia was unwilling to make staff meals.

Seeing that there was no good food, Gong Liang directly ate according to the publication order of *Zhi Wei*, starting from the first restaurant in the first issue, and was now enjoying himself in Beiping.

After asking Gong Liang to rent a house, Qin Huai specifically checked the address of the hospital branch where Qu Jing worked in Gusu; it was very far from Huang Ji.

Huang Ji was in the old city, and the hospital was in the newly developed CBD business district. The subway didn't go directly there, and it was a full 40-minute drive, and that was under smooth traffic conditions.

Qin Huai felt that Qu Jing would likely not be able to come to Huang Ji for snacks on weekdays, so she could just have special meals on weekends.

The next day, Qin Huai sold *san ding bao* as usual.

With the explosive sales of the previous day as a cushion, both the customers and the employees of the Yunzhong Canteen accepted the booming business well.

With Qin Huai sitting in the kitchen and Huang Xi directing in the lobby, the Yunzhong Canteen operated in an orderly manner from beginning to end. Even though the queue didn't decrease but increased, and the number of delivery riders in the queue made people suspect that half of the delivery riders in Shanshan were queuing at the Yunzhong Canteen to buy buns, Huang Xi handled it well, even urgently opening a dedicated queue for buying buns to avoid affecting normal dining.

On the third day, *san ding bao* continued to sell well.

The employees of the Yunzhong Canteen were all numb from working. Pei Xing and Li Hua had almost forgotten that they were no longer apprentices but snack masters who could stand on their own.

Every day when they opened their eyes, they were cutting vegetables and cooking fillings. Their first reaction upon seeing Qin Huai was to bow their heads and greet him, saying: Master Qin, you're here.

Their attitude was as humble as could be, and their work was as deft as could be. Anyone who saw them would have to praise them, saying that a formal education really is different, and that someone from Does Zhi Wei Ju is professional at helping out!

December 22nd, the last day for the Yunzhong Canteen to sell *san ding bao*.

Because Qin Huai would return to Gusu on the 23rd.

There was no way; this vacation was only 6 days in total.

When Huang Xi announced to the new and old customers that Qin Huai would return to Gusu on the 23rd, there was almost wailing in the major customer groups, the surrounding residential owner groups, and even the hospital work groups. Everyone who had eaten *san ding bao* in the past few days felt that the sky had fallen.

Everyone wanted to grab Qin Huai by the neck and shake him crazily, screaming, wailing, twisting, and crawling in the dark, shouting: Master Xiao Qin, you have no heart!

How could you do such an inhumane thing?!

How could you sell *san ding bao* for a few days, let us just get a taste of it, feel that life had some hope, and then run away!

What's so good about Gusu? Are the customers in Gusu as enthusiastic as we are? Why must you go to Gusu?

What can you learn in Gusu???

What, you say Master Xiao Qin's craftsmanship improved by leaps and bounds after going to Gusu, and the *san ding bao* became particularly delicious?

I don't care, Master Xiao Qin, you can't leave; I haven't eaten enough yet!

How can we live without the *san ding bao* you make!

No matter how the customers wailed crazily in their hearts, Qin Huai had to return to Gusu.

He still had to practice his heat control.

Not to mention that he had promised Zheng Siyuan that he would definitely work in Gusu until the end of the year, waiting for Huang Shengli to fully recover his waist so he could officially return to the kitchen before leaving. For Qin Huai, if he could do it and had already promised, he couldn't break his word.

For example, he had already found a tutor for Qin Luo, just waiting for the end of this semester for Qin Luo to go to Gusu for tutoring.

Of course, Qin Luo wouldn't know about this.

Even though Qin Huai had emphasized it to her many times, Qin Luo didn't take the winter vacation tutoring to heart. She was now holding her brother's arm at the airport, reluctant to part, saying with teary eyes that the snacks Qin Huai made could only be frozen in the freezer for a week, and would lose their flavor after a week.

"Brother, can't you stay for a few more days before leaving? I feel like I haven't eaten a few meals and you're going back again. Do you know how reluctant everyone is to let you go? Yesterday, Grandma Ding queued from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM just to buy a few more *san ding bao* to take home and hoard," Qin Luo tried to play the emotional card to make Qin Huai stay for two more days.

"Weren't you in class yesterday? How do you know? And yesterday's *san ding bao* only sold until 1:00 PM. I spent the rest of the time making other snacks for you. How did Grandma Ding manage to queue from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM?" Qin Huai didn't buy it.

Qin Luo's already brewed emotions stalled: "I made it up."

"This is an exaggerated rhetorical device, Brother, you don't understand."

Qin Huai felt that with Qin Luo's failing grade in Chinese for the high school entrance exam, she shouldn't talk to him about rhetorical devices.

"Alright, stop acting. Your semester is about to end, you won't be eating the buns Dad makes for many more days. This morning you pestered me at home and insisted on asking for a few hours off to send me to the airport. Now that you've sent me, hurry back to class." Qin Huai patted Qin Luo's shoulder, signaling her not to use this opportunity to skip class again.

Qin Luo pouted, put away her sad expression, and walked back silently.

Qin Huai smiled at Chen Huihong, who had also come to see him off: "Sister Hong, thank you for making a special trip to see me off, and sorry to trouble you to send Did Luo Luo back to school later."

Chen Huihong said with a smile: "It's just a matter of convenience. But Xiao Qin, once you leave, our good days are gone again. We'll have to eat snacks sent from Gusu again, sigh."

Qin Huai expressed that he really didn't understand the world of you rich people who order cross-province delivery.

"By the way, you..." Chen Huihong opened her mouth to say something, but quickly stopped. "Remember to report your safety after getting off the plane. When Huihui is on winter vacation, I will take her to Gusu for a short stay. Then we can all get together and eat snacks."

Qin Huai nodded: "Let me know when you and Huihui come to Gusu. When you come to Huang Ji to eat, I'll arrange a private room for you, so it's more convenient to have special meals."

After speaking, Qin Huai waved his hand and went through security.

Qin Luo watched Qin Huai enter security and asked Chen Huihong: "Auntie Chen, why didn't you tell my brother that Brother Yang resigned and bought a plane ticket and high-speed rail ticket to Gusu this afternoon?"

"Ouyang told me not to tell Qin Huai; he wants to give Qin Huai a surprise," Chen Huihong said. "I'm not worried about anything else, just that he resigned this time to start a business again, opening a milk tea shop specializing in hand-beaten lemon tea, which makes me a little worried."

"But the investment in a milk tea shop is small; he definitely won't lose 6.6 million this time."

"Let's go, Did Luo Luo, I'll send you back to school." Chen Huihong led Qin Luo away.

On the other side, while Qin Luo had already returned to school and the plane Qin Huai was on hadn't landed yet, a car that looked very expensive stopped at the entrance of the Yunzhong Canteen.

A middle-aged man who looked gentle and elegant got out of the car, holding his mobile phone, comparing the picture on the phone with the sign of the Yunzhong Canteen, looked at the storefront with some confusion, and walked in.

In the canteen, the sad old customers led by Grandpa Wang were sitting in the canteen sighing.

Grandpa Qian and Xu Tuqiang were not there today. These two were too sad and didn't even want to stay in the canteen to avoid being reminded of the scene, choosing to sit at home and eat the *san ding bao* they had snatched yesterday to eliminate their sadness.

Grandpa Wang glanced at the middle-aged man who came in.

Rich.

Although the clothes on his body didn't have an obvious logo, one could tell at a glance that they were custom-made. As a professional accountant who had become rich in his old age, Grandpa Wang could tell at a glance that the man's assets were at least one zero more than his own.

It didn't matter; what if there were two more zeros.

Master Xiao Qin had gone to Gusu again. When would this boring life, which one could see the end of at a glance, finally end?

The first day Master Xiao Qin wasn't at the Yunzhong Canteen, I miss him.

Grandpa Wang only glanced at the middle-aged man, then withdrew his gaze and continued to sigh on the table.

After the middle-aged man came in, he was clearly shocked by the mental state of the grandpas and grandmas shrouded in sadness in the canteen. He paused in confusion, subconsciously took half a step back, and then walked quickly to the window where snacks were sold to inquire:

"Excuse me, do you have *san ding bao*?"

The grandpas and grandmas sitting near the window instantly understood; another one who came for the reputation and was destined to return disappointed.

Before the waiter could answer, a warm-hearted grandpa closest to the middle-aged man spoke: "You're late. Master Xiao Qin has already gone to Gusu and said he won't be back until after the New Year."

"If you want to eat *san ding bao*, you have to wait until after the New Year."

"Gusu?" The middle-aged man was a little surprised. "Master Xiao Qin... is the pastry chef who makes *san ding bao*, right? He went to Gusu to..."

"Said he went to some Huang something restaurant for study and exchange, sigh." Grandpa sighed sadly.

The middle-aged man replied: "Is it Huang Ji Restaurant in Gusu?"

"Yes." Huang Xi stepped forward. "The only one in our canteen who can make *san ding bao* is Master Xiao Qin. You're from out of town, right? If you had come yesterday, you would have caught him. Today, Master Xiao Qin has already set off for Gusu, and at this time, he should still be on the plane."

"It's really a pity, making you run for nothing."

"It's rare that Huang Ji even has a pastry chef going over for exchange," the middle-aged man muttered, walked to the grandpa who had just replied, and asked, "May I ask how the *san ding bao* made by Master Xiao Qin tastes?"

Hearing the middle-aged man ask this, Grandpa almost slapped the table and stood up: "Good, of course it's good, good beyond words!"

"You didn't catch it today. Let me tell you, if you had come yesterday, let alone entering the canteen, the queue would have reached the corner of the road ahead!"

"Master Xiao Qin came to the canteen at 8:00 AM, and the people queuing to buy buns started queuing at 6:00 AM. Xu Tuqiang and those few queued from 6:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and actually bought four rounds in one day!"

"Can they finish buying so many buns? Sorry for getting off track, brother, let me tell you, Master Xiao Qin's craftsmanship is absolutely impeccable. He only made *san ding bao* for these few days after returning from Gusu. You're from out of town, so you don't know. Master Xiao Qin makes many delicious snacks, even the tangerine peel... pfft pfft pfft, tangerine peel tea, that's hard to get even with one cup!"

"Limited to more than 1,000 cups a day, you have to snatch it. I have to come to the canteen early every morning to queue just to drink a cup of tangerine peel tea."

"If you have time to come after the New Year, you must eat the *san ding bao*, *wu ding bao*, fermented rice buns, locust flower buns, *Jiang Mi* rice cakes, crab shell yellow made by Master Xiao Qin..."

Grandpa started reporting the names of the dishes, making the middle-aged man stunned, wrote down a bunch of snack names, and left.

Grandpa watched the middle-aged man leave and sat down contentedly, feeling that he was really great today.

Although this out-of-town customer who came for the reputation didn't get to taste the snacks made by Master Xiao Qin because of bad luck, he helped Master Xiao Qin maintain this rich fan and stabilized Master Xiao Qin's style!

Grandpa didn't notice that when he was bragging and blowing hard, the two pastry chefs in the back kitchen who should have been silently making snacks were stunned.

Both of them stopped moving their hands and stood silently in front of the cooking table, staring blankly at the middle-aged man outside.

After the middle-aged man left, Pei Xing slowly spoke, his face full of disbelief: "Was that just now..."

"Xu Cheng, the founder of *Zhi Wei*?!"

"Seems like it." Li Hua was still shocked.

"Xu Cheng actually made a special trip to our canteen just to eat Master Qin's snacks!" Pei Xing's voice broke. "This is a plot that only exists in my dreams!"

"Is our canteen going to be in *Zhi Wei*?!"

"Is my value going to rise with the tide!"

Li Hua really wanted to tell Pei Xing to wake up; what does Master Qin being in *Zhi Wei* have to do with them?

"Should we send a message to Master Qin and tell him about this?" Pei Xing asked.

Li Hua thought for a moment and shook his head: "I don't think so."

"Didn't Huang Xi just say it? Master Qin went to Huang Ji for study and exchange. If Xu Cheng is really interested in Master Qin, he will go to Gusu himself."

"This kind of plot where Xu Cheng pushes the door and enters, smiling and telling you that he came for the reputation and wants to taste your signature dish, should be felt by Master Qin himself without any preparation."

Li Hua glanced at Pei Xing and felt that Pei Xing was already substituting himself for Qin Huai.

Li Hua silently said in his heart:

This is also a plot that only exists in my dreams.

It's really...

Too enviable.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 193 =====