Chapter 218: Yunzhong Residential Area's Great Crisis

"What number has the queue at the entrance reached?"

"Seems to be over 500."

"Oh my god, it's only 10 o'clock now. If it reaches 12 o'clock, won't the numbers reach one or two thousand?"

"Yes, I heard Foreman Cao notified that *Jiu Niang Mantou* and *San Ding Bao* are also limited, with a maximum of 6 per person per purchase."

"Is this the first time Huang Ji has implemented purchase limits?"

"No way, even if there are only 1000 numbers, 6 per person is 6000 pastries. Even if Master Qin is exhausted, he can't make them."

"Isn't Master Zheng helping?"

"Master Zheng is slow."

Zheng Da, who was trying hard to help:...

What are you saying? What are you saying? What do you mean Master Zheng is slow???

Is he slow? He...

Zheng Da glanced at Qin Huai, who had almost caught up with the speed of a factory assembly line.

Alright, he is a bit slow.

But this can't be blamed entirely on him; after all, he hasn't made many pastries these years, and Qin Huai is also working too fast.

Zheng Da looked at Qin Huai with some worry, feeling that Qin Huai's state was not quite right.

Zheng Da knew this state too well; it was exactly the same as Huang Shengli. Huang Shengli was like this when he first operated Huang Ji; he couldn't bear to let customers wait in vain, so he could only force himself to do more.

A little more today, a little more tomorrow, day after day, plus the big wave when *Zhi Wei* came that time, the strain on his waist was produced just like that, directly affecting his chef career.

But Zheng Da also felt that Qin Huai was a bit different from Huang Shengli back then.

Huang Shengli was more forced by psychological pressure to do more; he was forced.

Qin Huai... seems to... actually enjoy it quite a bit.

Zheng Da was a bit confused.

Qin Huai doesn't usually look like a workaholic.

Could it be that this group of workaholics at Zhi Wei Ju corrupted him?

Not to mention Zheng Da feeling confused, Qin Huai himself felt it was very magical.

The number of people queuing outside increased sharply. Foreman Cao adopted an emergency plan to start issuing numbers to people queuing on-site, and then opened online queuing. He also sent waiters to persuade the customers who had taken numbers to leave, telling them that Huang Ji would only open after 11 o'clock, at which time the system would send notifications to their mobile phones in advance. It was still early, so everyone could stroll around the surroundings first, and there were pedestrian streets and the like nearby.

These situations were all clearly inquired about by the people in the back kitchen who sent Dong Shi.

The pressure in the back kitchen was also very high.

Because many customers took double numbers, both dine-in and takeaway pastry numbers, as a double insurance; if they couldn't queue for dine-in, buying some pastries was also excellent.

Not to mention that some customers queued at the entrance before eight o'clock, just to eat both pastries and dishes, fearing that they wouldn't see the mobile phone message and fail, so they were unwilling to leave and had to queue at the entrance.

It can be said that during the period of extreme popularity, Huang Ji's kitchen had the kitchen's pressure, and management had management's pressure.

Even the mascot, the young master, was constantly answering the phone, informing customers of the sales mode and sales time of *Guo'er*.

As Dong Shi passed one message after another to the back kitchen, everyone's pressure increased bit by bit.

Afraid of messing up.

Even the steady senior brother Huang Jia was afraid of messing up at such a critical moment.

In such an atmosphere, Dong Shi didn't even dare to gossip, seriously cutting and preparing, at most going out from time to time to take a look and inform everyone of the queuing situation outside.

In such an atmosphere, Qin Huai, who had the greatest work pressure, should theoretically be nervous.

But Qin Huai was not.

On the contrary, Qin Huai felt very comfortable.

Clearly, everyone was silent, and everyone was burying their heads in their own work for fear of making mistakes.

Clearly, the workload was so heavy that one couldn't see the end, and the 500+ queuing numbers outside were a level that would make every pastry chef's eyes go black.

Clearly, the working atmosphere was abnormally oppressive, and he himself was almost working as an assembly line worker for pastries, a ruthless experience-brushing machine, wishing he could grow eight hands to knead dough while mixing filling, and it would be best if he could chop filling and boil filling at the same time.

But Qin Huai liked this atmosphere very much.

This atmosphere where everyone was nervous, but everyone was working seriously, with extremely high efficiency, no mistakes, clear division of labor, and tacit cooperation.

In this atmosphere, Qin Huai felt that he was even more handy at kneading dough.

Qin Huai shook his arms.

A Zhi Wei Ju chef who knew a little bit about relaxation immediately stepped forward: "Master Qin, are your arms sore? Do you need me to massage them for you?"

"No need, no need." Qin Huai refused immediately.

Broken, he liked this atmosphere even more.

Qin Huai seriously thought, could he actually be a hidden workaholic?

That shouldn't be, he actually quite likes holidays.

Lying at home watching TV, eating fruit, drinking iced carbonated drinks, ordering takeout, etc., is the happiest.

At the entrance of Huang Ji, Foreman Cao and the waiters persuaded many people who were queuing far back to leave, and the queue looked much smaller.

Wang Gensheng stopped his shared bicycle panting, didn't even have time to lock it, and ran towards Huang Ji. While running, he sized up the queue, muttering in his heart that there weren't that many people, Qian Zhongheng was really reporting false information, while accelerating to run to the number-issuing place at the entrance.

"Issue... issue 2 numbers!"

"Old man, one person can only take 1 number." The waiter reminded.

Wang Gensheng was still panting: "My wife is still on the way here by bicycle, I took her number too."

Morning running is still useful; Wang Gensheng's speed of pedaling with 3 jars of *Huaihua* honey in his bag was faster than Chen Juan.

The waiter skillfully handed Wang Gensheng a number: "Old man, you have to be here to take the number. I can only give you one number here first. There is a pedestrian street nearby, you can stroll around first. You are number 555. If the speed is fast, you can queue up around 12:10. You can scan the code on this paper, and it will send a message to remind you when it's almost your turn."

"Do you know how to do it? If not, I'll help you scan the code."

"I know." Wang Gensheng nodded blankly; he was completely shocked by the number of people queuing.

Wang Gensheng stood on the side waiting for Chen Juan. During this period, seven or eight people came to take numbers. After Chen Juan arrived, the waiter issued a number, and took a look.

587.

Wang Gensheng:!!!

Wang Gensheng, who had been a professional accountant for decades, said that when he was an accountant calculating wages for people in the factory back then, he only calculated the wages of so many people in a month.

"Didn't only 7 or 8 people come just now?" Wang Gensheng was shocked.

"There are many who take numbers online, but old man, don't worry, we re-queue if the number is missed. Many online number takers are just trying their luck, not necessarily coming." The waiter comforted.

Wang Gensheng indicated that he was not comforted at all.

Just when Wang Gensheng and Chen Juan were deeply shocked by the number and speed of queuing, another girl stepped forward to take a number.

"Hello, I queued online, I want to ask when number 376 will be queued?" "Around 11:45, a message will be sent to you online at that time."

Wang Gensheng felt that the girl's voice was a bit familiar, turned his head and took a look.

Qu Jing!

"Doctor Qu." Wang Gensheng was shocked again.

What did he hear just now? Qu Jing was actually queuing, and only queued for number 376.

Qu Jing is Qin Huai's friend, the first priority for a small stove.

When in Yunzhong Canteen, when did Qu Jing ever queue? She always opened a small stove directly. Even if she went to the canteen after work in the afternoon, she could still eat a full set of pastries.

That guy Xu Tuqiang loved eating *Jiang Mi* rice cakes so much. Before Qu Jing came, Qin Huai might not have made it once a week. After Qu Jing came, Yunzhong Canteen sold *Jiang Mi* rice cakes every day, and the appearance frequency was higher than *Xie Ke Huang*.

Now in Suzhou, Qu Jing actually has to queue to eat pastries.

Wang Gensheng only felt that the sky had fallen.

He had just thought that if he couldn't buy it, he would send a message to Qin Huai, and with a thick skin, ask Qin Huai to open a small stove for himself, and it would be best to share two more cups of *Chen Pi* tea.

Now, what kind of small stove to open, Qu Jing has to queue.

"Old Man Wang." Qu Jing was a bit surprised, subconsciously wanting to put on her hat and mask.

Qu Jing was resting today and came to Huang Ji secretly to queue for pastries, thinking that she wouldn't meet anyone she knew, so she only wore gloves and a scarf, and didn't bring a hat or mask.

Wearing a scarf was because it was cold.

Since she started sunbathing secretly, Qu Jing felt that it was quite good to go out without covering up, exposing the skin that should be exposed, and even breathing was free.

"You came to Suzhou to play." Qu Jing smiled and greeted.

For Qu Jing, Wang Gensheng was half a patient and relatively familiar.

Wang Gensheng had consulted Qu Jing about the situation of Alzheimer's disease.

"Doctor Qu, your ultraviolet allergy has improved a lot, you don't even need to wear a mask when you go out." Chen Juan sighed.

Qu Jing was stunned, then nodded with a smile, very happy: "Yes, it's much better after treatment, and sometimes I can sunbathe."

"There is a pedestrian street nearby, do you want me to take you two for a stroll?" Qu Jing took the initiative to propose.

Since Xu Cheng posted on Weibo and Huang Ji's business became popular, Qu Jing didn't ask Qin Huai to open a small stove much.

As long as she thought that there were so many customers queuing outside Huang Ji for several hours and might not be able to buy pastries, and she clearly had no rigid demand for buying pastries but had to come to open a small stove, Qu Jing had an inexplicable sense of guilt.

As long as Qin Huai didn't mention it, Qu Jing wouldn't take the initiative to ask for a small stove.

Now, various departments in the hospital didn't come to Huang Ji for dinner, and even if they came, they couldn't grab it, so they just rode bicycles to exercise. Unless it was a child's birthday at home and they really wanted to eat, Qu Jing's colleagues wouldn't be so tactless as to ask Qu Jing to use her connections to buy pastries. Everyone knew that good relationships were not used like this.

Qu Jing loved eating soft and glutinous pastries, and Suzhou was not short of such pastries. Usually, Qu Jing just bought pastries at ordinary pastry shops, and on holidays, she would silently come to Huang Ji to queue.

After coming a few times, she became familiar with the surroundings.

Changing to a new environment, Qu Jing didn't need to explain to her colleagues how serious and exaggerated her 'ultraviolet allergy' was, and her colleagues just thought she was introverted, not unsociable.

After communicating and contacting with everyone more, Qu Jing also became more talkative. When leading Wang Gensheng and Chen Juan to stroll around, she could say something about everything.

Saying how popular Huang Ji's business was, how high the gold content of *Zhi Wei* was, how difficult it was to buy pastries, how serious the traffic jam was, and how difficult it was to grab a shared bicycle.

Listening to the two, they were stunned.

Wang Gensheng couldn't help but sigh: "This is no different from when we were young, all pedaling bicycles to grab *baozi* and *mantou*, fearing that if we pedaled slowly, we wouldn't grab it."

"When resting on Sunday, we all practiced pedaling, fearing that our technology would lag behind and be a step slower than others."

"Old Man Wang, how many days do you plan to play in Suzhou?" Qu Jing asked.

"Originally planned to go back the day after tomorrow, my wife and I still have to go back to take care of our granddaughter. Now I'm really reluctant, especially when I was pedaling the bicycle just now, I felt like I returned to my youth. When I was an accountant in the factory back then, that..." Wang Gensheng began to recall the past.

Chen Juan covered her face and supported her forehead.

"Probably have to stay for a while longer." Chen Juan ignored Wang Gensheng and said to Qu Jing with a smile, "Just stay in the hotel for another half a month, but the hotel we booked now is a bit far, so we have to change to a closer one."

"There don't seem to be any hotels nearby, they are all old residential areas. I heard Qin Huai say that many houses nearby are empty. You can consider renting for a month, which is more cost-effective than a hotel."

"By the way, Old Man Wang has been sending messages just now, is there anything wrong?" Qu Jing asked.

Chen Juan glanced at Wang Gensheng, who was still immersed in recalling the past, and said indifferently: "Must be bragging with friends who run in the morning, don't worry about him. Doctor Qu, tell me more about what's going on with that *Zhi Wei*? Why is it even harder to buy pastries after Master Xiao Qin appeared in *Zhi Wei* today."

At the same time, the Yunzhong Canteen was full of residents of the residential area.

Those who run in the morning and those who don't are all there.

Basically, they are all retired old men and women.

The atmosphere is very heavy.

Even more nervous and heavy than the Huang Ji back kitchen.

Old Man Qian, who was the leader, said in a deep voice: "Everyone has seen the message Wang Laogen sent to our owner's small group."

"The situation is very serious now."

"Master Xiao Qin is so popular at Huang Ji, and he appeared in that *Zhi Wei*. Everyone has read the article. It mentions Huang Ji throughout, and doesn't mention a word about our Yunzhong Canteen."

"Exactly. What's going on with that Xu Cheng who wrote the article? If you don't know, you'd think Master Xiao Qin is from that Huang Ji." An old woman was indignant.

"This is not important. The important thing is that according to Wang Laogen's intelligence, Master Xiao Qin is more popular at Huang Ji, the pastries are more expensive, and he is more famous."

"People pedal bicycles every day and queue for several hours just to eat."

"We can't sit still and wait for death. Who was the one who inquired last time that the boss of Huang Ji wants to marry his daughter to Master Xiao Qin? I feel this matter is not groundless."

"We must also take action."

An old man said weakly: "But I heard that the boss of Huang Ji only has one son..."

"Not important." Old Man Qian said sternly, "The point now is that we have to go to Suzhou."

"I know many of you have already booked tickets."

Xu Tuqiang:???

What ticket booking? Why don't I know about ticket booking?

"Everyone, put aside the matter of taking care of grandsons and granddaughters for now. If it really doesn't work, it's the same to pick them up to Suzhou to play when the children are on vacation."

"Old Sun, isn't your son running a travel agency? Book a hotel, let's go to Suzhou to see what's going on."

"What if Master Xiao Qin stays in Suzhou and doesn't leave, what should we do!"

"No, I have something to say." Xu Tuqiang finally found an opportunity to interrupt. "You surnamed Qian live in the next residential area, it's fine to be in the owner's small group of our residential area, why is Wang Laogen also in it?"

"And, I am the real owner of Yunzhong Residential Area, why was I just pulled into the group?!"

Everyone:...

Also

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 219 =====