Chapter 223

After eating, Zheng Siyuan tidied up and prepared to get off work and go home.

Qin Huai's working hours have changed, but Zheng Siyuan's haven't. Other than the Guozi, the other pastries at Huang Ji are still only sold at noon. Although Zheng Siyuan helped Qin Huai make a lot of San Ding Bao in the morning, his own fresh meat mooncakes were not taken off the menu, and he even made the morning crepe wontons and bubble wontons.

It can be said that Zheng Siyuan's workload is super doubled.

Now, the super-doubled Zheng Siyuan decided to go home and research mixed-fruit filling to take revenge on society.

If Zheng Da is at home this afternoon, the person being retaliated against will be his father, because Zheng Da has to be responsible for tasting the flavor.

Zheng Siyuan went to the changing room to change clothes.

Qin Huai also went to the changing room to get his phone. Ouyang had already successfully delivered the pastries to the hospital, helping Qu Jing become the coolest person in their department once again.

As an unqualified errand runner, Ouyang regretfully told Qin Huai that because he rode a bike and then transferred to the subway to save money, the soup for the Four-Joy Tangyuan spilled out.

At the same time, the unqualified errand runner also complained about the unqualified merchant.

Qin Huai didn't separate the packaging when packing; the Four-Joy Tangyuan and the soup were in the same container. By the time Ouyang brought the pastries to the hospital, the Tangyuan had become a bit soggy due to the long soaking time, and the texture wasn't very good.

Plus, the hospital didn't have good equipment to heat Tangyuan, and Qu Jing didn't think to go to the canteen to borrow a pot; she just simply poured the Tangyuan into a bowl and put it in the microwave, nearly heating the Four-Joy Tangyuan into sesame sticky rice cake soup.

Not leaking the filling was the Tangyuan's final stubbornness.

However, even though the Four-Joy Tangyuan had become a shape that even Qin Huai, the chef, didn't recognize, Qu Jing still sent a five-star review because she loves drinking sticky rice cake soup.

Regarding this, Qin Huai held his phone in silence for two minutes, not knowing what message to reply. After thinking it over, he could only reply with one sentence:

As long as you like it.

Qin Huai even wanted to ask Qu Jing if she loved drinking sticky rice cake soup because Director Qu's skill at boiling Tangyuan wasn't good, often boiling frozen Tangyuan into sesame sticky rice paste and deceiving the children at the Fuli Academy by saying it was sesame sticky rice cake soup, which is why Qu Jing loved drinking sticky rice cake soup.

Qin Huai hesitated for a moment and didn't ask.

He still believed in Director Qu's skills.

Boiling frozen sweet glutinous rice balls into sesame sticky rice paste and then deceiving children by saying it was sesame sticky rice cake soup was something Director Qin of the Sanmalu Children's Welfare Academy did.

At this very moment, Director Qin of the Sanmalu Children's Welfare Academy, far away in Qu County, sat in the director's office, sneezed, then closed the window and continued to happily count money.

Having received such a large donation for the first time in history last year, and having a budget surplus for the first time in so many years instead of calling to cry poor to the superiors, Director Qin indicated that she had never calculated such a wealthy account.

Director Qin glanced at the paintings drawn by the children of the Fuli Academy on the table and happily added cheap watercolor pens to the procurement list.

Hehe, with money, I can buy new watercolor pens before the last batch is completely used up!

Our Sanmalu Children's Welfare Academy has also stood up; the children no longer have to draw blue grass and white trees.

When Qin Huai comes back for the New Year this year, she will definitely lead the children of the Fuli Academy to make a meal of dumplings for Brother Bao Bao.

Qin Huai didn't know that Director Qin had this plan; if he knew, he would definitely call to persuade Director Qin to forget it.

Brother Bao Bao doesn't want to eat dumplings that much.

If Director Qin really feels bad, she can just destroy those ugly paintings he drew when he was a child. Don't carefully put them in a file bag to treasure; every year when the children of the Fuli Academy go to see Director Qin during the New Year, they have to take them out and display them once. He has stolen them several times but hasn't managed to steal them back.

After replying to Qu Jing and Ouyang's messages, Qin Huai stood outside the changing room waiting for Zheng Siyuan. As soon as Zheng Siyuan came out and saw Qin Huai waiting for him, he knew that Qin Huai must have something to talk to him about privately.

"Do you have a new idea for the mixed-fruit filling?" Zheng Siyuan asked.

"No, it's not that."

"You don't have time to make Jiang Mi sticky rice cakes, so let me help you make them tomorrow. Fine, I'll go back later tomorrow afternoon."

"It's not that either. I think it's quite good to occasionally make sticky rice cakes to relax," Qin Huai waved his hand and, facing Zheng Siyuan's look of seeing a pervert, continued, "Do you know how to make Double Crab Buns?"

"I searched online and found that it seems to be buns made with crab roe and sea cucumber together. But I didn't find the specific method; I didn't find a single method."

Under normal circumstances, even the most obscure recipes can be found online with one or two completely wrong methods. But the Double Crab Diced Baozi is very strange; Qin Huai searched simply, and not only did he not find the method, he nearly didn't even find this pastry.

Very obscure.

Zheng Siyuan's expression instantly changed to: You really only loved the Four-Joy Tangyuan for a short time; it's only been a few days, and you've already changed your heart.

"Did Mr. Gong say he wanted to eat Double Crab Buns?" Zheng Siyuan asked.

"That's not it," Qin Huai felt it wasn't necessary to pin every pot on Gong Liang's head. "It's a friend of mine who knows this pastry and wants to eat it a bit."

"Crabs are off the market now. Double Crab Buns need to be made with the fattest crab roe and sea cucumber; it can't be made at this time of year," Zheng Siyuan said. "It's normal that you can't find information online; this bun is a true secret recipe."

"The reason my grandmaster had the recipe for Double Crab Buns back then was also because a customer loved eating Double Crab Buns very much and specifically spent a high price to buy the recipe and begged my grandmaster to learn it."

"Later, because this customer loved eating it too much, they wanted to eat it all year round. My grandmaster then researched a formula that could use crab roe paste to make Double Crab Buns, turning the fat crab roe into crab roe paste that could be stored for a long time, but my father only learned the formula for crab roe paste and didn't learn the formula for making Double Crab Buns using crab roe paste."

"Is it very difficult?" Qin Huai was a bit surprised; this was the first time he had heard from Zheng Siyuan about a recipe that Zheng Da hadn't learned.

Zheng Siyuan shook his head: "It's not because of the difficulty; it seems to be because of some other reasons, maybe it's because this recipe was bought by someone at a high price and became exclusive and couldn't be made, or something like that. I remember my father mentioned it when chatting with his senior fellow apprentice, saying that since he wouldn't know how to make it anyway, it was better to just not learn it."

Qin Huai nodded, half-understanding.

It was not uncommon for wealthy people to be extravagant and buy out recipes at high prices back then. For example, Luo Jun actually bought out the recipe for Guozi at a high price.

It's just that the recipe for Guozi is relatively special because the chef himself didn't want to reveal that he created this recipe, and he didn't really want to make it either.

"It seems that if I want to learn Double Crab Buns, I have to wait until next year," Qin Huai sighed.

Zheng Siyuan nodded: "However, you should be able to get the hang of Double Crab Buns very quickly. The key to Double Crab Buns is the seasoning. This pastry is actually a bit like crab roe shumai; both require not adding too many auxiliary ingredients while retaining the original flavor of the ingredients, removing the fishy smell while ensuring freshness, and having no off-flavors."

"It's just that the difficulty of Double Crab Buns is greater because the combination of crab roe and sea cucumber is much harder than the combination of crab roe and shrimp. It is said that the reason my grandmaster was able to research the new method for crab roe shumai back then was that he got the inspiration from Double Crab Buns."

"Gusu is not coastal, and sea cucumber was hard to come by back then. In a certain sense, crab roe shumai is actually a flat substitute for Double Crab Buns."

Qin Huai's eyes lit up instantly.

Seasoning is great; he loves brushing up seasoning proficiency the most!

The skill he has the highest points in right now is seasoning.

Last time he practiced crab roe shumai for a month and brushed up 30,000 seasoning proficiency; if he practices Double Crab Buns for a month next year, this proficiency will surely skyrocket—master-level seasoning is just around the corner! "Siyuan, let's start practicing Double Crab Buns in September next year!" Qin Huai issued a team-up invitation.

Zheng Siyuan:?

Has your fickleness toward pastries reached the point where you have to book pastries for September in advance?

"Okay," Zheng Siyuan nodded. "September is when crab roe is fat and beautiful, and it's also the harvest season for sea cucumber; it couldn't be more suitable for making Double Crab Buns."

"So, are we still practicing Four-Joy Tangyuan?"

"Practicing, of course practicing! Although there is no clue for the mixed-fruit filling yet, I think practicing more and matching more is never wrong. I only have one feeling right now: we must have ignored a very important factor that caused our mixed-fruit filling to turn out like this, just like when we made Huaihua steamed buns before."

"As long as we solve that one core problem, the rest can be solved easily."

Zheng Siyuan indicated that practicing Four-Joy Tangyuan was fine: "Then I'll go home and make Four-Joy Tangyuan. Do you really not need my help with the Jiang Mi sticky rice cakes tomorrow?"

"No need, it's just sticky rice cakes for one or two people; I can handle it."

Qu Jing rarely expressed a strong intention to eat Jiang Mi sticky rice cakes, so Qin Huai naturally had to satisfy it.

For Qin Huai, making Jiang Mi sticky rice cakes is not complicated; it's just relatively troublesome.

Sticky rice cakes have to be made by hand; if you use sticky rice cakes bought outside to make Jiang Mi sticky rice cakes, the quality cannot be guaranteed. Previously, when Qin Huai was at the Yunzhong Canteen, he would make a large basin of Jiang Mi sticky rice cakes at a time, and he would set aside two hours in the afternoon one day in advance specifically to make them.

This time period is best when Ouyang can skip work; making sticky rice cakes requires repeatedly stirring and steaming the sticky rice. If you are only stirring a small bowl, it is a relaxing and stress-relieving job.

If you are stirring a large basin, it is undoubtedly a super physical job, and you have to find a strong helper.

After the lunch business hours ended the next day, Qin Huai began to make sticky rice cakes in a relaxing and stress-relieving way.

Yesterday was Four-Joy Tangyuan, today is Jiang Mi sticky rice cakes; just looking at these two days of stress-relieving methods, those who don't know would definitely think Qin Huai likes sticky rice products very much.

Since it is a relaxing and stress-relieving way to make sticky rice cakes, the bitter job of stirring naturally cannot be completed by Master Qin himself.

When Tan Weian was stirring the sticky rice cakes with force, he only had one thought in his mind.

Qin Huai also knows how to make sticky rice cakes?

It's one thing that he knows how to make buns, steamed buns, dumplings, shumai, Shaobing, Tangyuan, and hand-rubbed noodles, but how come he even knows how to make sticky rice cakes?

Could it be that the legend is true, that Qin Huai was really an all-around breakfast shop master before?

The variety sold in their breakfast shop is too rich, right? How come they even sell sticky rice cakes?

"Master Qin, your friend is here, waiting for you outside," a round-faced waiter stood at the kitchen door and shouted loudly.

Qin Huai knew it was Ouyang coming to pick up the special meal, so he walked out carrying the packed Guozi, not forgetting to instruct Tan Weian before leaving: "Use force; when making sticky rice cakes, you must stir continuously. There is no technique; you just have to use force. The principle is the same as beating sticky rice cakes."

Tan Weian smiled bitterly and nodded, indicating that he understood the principle, but the key was that the conditions didn't allow it.

Do we really have to use such a primitive method to make sticky rice cakes? Machines can do it too!

"Junior Brother, come and take over for me to stir for a while," Tan Weian grabbed Guli who was passing by. "There is also a technique to stirring sticky rice cakes; come and feel it."

"Didn't Master Qin just say there was no technique?" Guli asked.

"There is!" Tan Weian said decisively. "Come and feel it; there is still one!"

Guli didn't understand, chose to believe his senior brother, took over Tan Weian's work, and started stirring hard.

On the other side, Qin Huai didn't know that the work of stirring sticky rice cakes in the kitchen had changed hands; he met Ouyang successfully at the back kitchen door and handed the packing box to Ouyang.

As soon as Ouyang took the packing box, he couldn't wait to open it, take out a Guozi, and start gnawing.

"This Guozi was from the last batch steamed; I forgot to put it in the insulation box after picking it up to the side, so it should be cold now. Why don't you..." Qin Huai advised.

"It's delicious even if it's cold!" Ouyang indicated that whether it was cold or not was not important; eating two bites first was important. He took two big bites before stopping and looking into the bag.

"There is no Tangyuan today."

"It's impossible to have Tangyuan every day; today I'm making Jiang Mi sticky rice cakes. You know about sticky rice cakes; after they are made today, they have to be covered with a damp cloth for more than 12 hours before they can be eaten tomorrow."

Ouyang gnawed on the Guozi again, chewing with a face full of happiness and saying: "Don't say, no wonder this pastry of yours is so popular. The line last night stretched until past 9:00 PM, and there were still people who didn't want to leave. This is truly delicious."

"It is simply the most delicious pastry you have ever made."

Being able to get Ouyang's affirmation shows the charm of the A+ grade pastry.

"When you saw Physician Qu yesterday, what was her state?" Qin Huai came out specifically to send pastries to Ouyang, not for idle chatter. He could chat with Ouyang whenever he wanted; there was plenty of time at night.

Except for last night.

When Qin Huai got off work and went home last night, Ouyang wasn't at home. Chen Huihong heard that Ouyang had also rented a house but hadn't moved in yet, so she waved her hand and helped Ouyang replace a batch of smart furniture. Ouyang went to see the furniture excitedly last night and didn't return until 1:00 AM.

According to informed sources, there was a household in the residential area last night whose lights were not very stable, always tripping the breaker, turning on and off. An old gentleman thought it was a spy passing messages via Morse code and reported it.

Ouyang returned from the police station at 1:00 AM.

"Pretty good," Ouyang thought carefully. "Don't say, Physician Qu has changed quite a bit after changing her environment. She has become more cheerful, doesn't wear a mask in the office, and gets along quite well with her colleagues."

"When I went yesterday, others didn't know I was there to deliver pastries. They were chatting in the office about how the hospital canteen has become increasingly unpalatable recently, and there were quite a few snacks on Physician Qu's desk given to her by colleagues."

"As for the Guozi you asked me to bring to Physician Qu, Physician Qu kept one for herself and shared all the others with her colleagues. One male doctor was so excited that he started helping Physician Qu write medical records."

Qin Huai:...

This can't be criticized; this is genuine excitement.

"Physician Qu also asked me if your work intensity is high recently. She said there are several items in the rehabilitation department that are quite suitable for you. Master Huang's waist was injured because the work intensity was too high when he was young, and going to the bone-setting shop treats the symptoms but not the root cause. If you have time, it's best to go to the rehabilitation department to take a look and do some relevant examinations."

"If you hadn't mentioned it just now, I would have almost forgotten. I was supposed to tell you this last night, but I don't know who reported me, and I was caught and taken to the police station in the middle of the night."

Qin Huai:...

Qin Huai suggested sincerely: "Don't play with smart home appliances when you have nothing to do in the future."

"And don't stare at the lights if you do play with them."

"There are many functions, not just turning lights on and off."

(End of chapter)