Chapter 242: A Rich Variety of Ways to Die

Compared to the Qianhua Palace Lantern Diced Baozi, the rabbit bun is practically on easy mode.

During the steaming of the Qianhua Palace Lantern Diced Baozi, Qin Huai easily finished making the remaining rabbit buns, regaining control of his hands, and finally no longer needing to scream in his heart for his dead hands to move faster.

He didn't know if it was his imagination, but Qin Huai even felt his hands were a bit more nimble than before.

Of course, this was definitely Qin Huai's imagination; it wasn't as if he hadn't leveled up his skills before, and there had never been such a rapid, leap-forward effect.

While Ouyang was in the restroom, Qin Huai took the opportunity to glance at the status of his finger techniques after the upgrade.

Finger Techniques (Intermediate): You have finally started to shape dim sum. (9/10000)

Qin Huai:...

Who exactly did this game system learn its snarky attitude from? He didn't have anyone that snarky around him.

Regardless, with his finger techniques reaching the intermediate level, all of Qin Huai's essential skills (except for knife work) had finally escaped the struggle of the beginner level, making his panel look a little less unsightly.

Only when you truly grind for panel proficiency do you realize how difficult a "hexagonal warrior" like Zheng Da is to achieve.

Chen Huihong carried the rabbit buns home, and on her way out, she casually swiped two packs of cheese sticks from Qin Huai's refrigerator. Qin Huai checked the time; it was getting late, so he hurriedly carried the freshly steamed Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns to Gong Liang's house.

Although Ouyang had some issues with his sense of taste, his aesthetic sense was definitely fine.

At least his eyes were fine.

What he said was actually correct; the Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns Qin Huai made were a bit crooked. This was because Qin Huai's finger technique level wasn't high enough, his hands weren't steady enough, and his movements weren't skilled enough, so he hadn't pinched the lace edges well, leading to some being long and others short.

The raw dough pieces were a bit crooked, and after steaming, this crookedness was magnified.

This is also why dim sum styling is difficult to do; every small problem has the potential to be magnified during the steaming process. If you want to avoid failure, you must minimize mistakes during the production process.

These two Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns were undoubtedly a failure.

But the failure wasn't severe; although they were a bit crooked, one could vaguely tell they were Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns, and there were still commendable aspects to the styling, so it wasn't too ugly.

Qin Huai knocked on Gong Liang's door.

It was as if Gong Liang had been squatting right by the door; it opened instantly, giving Qin Huai a start.

"Master Xiao Qin, you've worked so hard, making buns for me so late at night. It must have delayed your sleep, right?"

"A while ago, a friend recommended a really useful sleep-aid aromatherapy to me. I'll buy some and bring it over to you in a couple of days; it's especially good for sleep."

As Gong Liang spoke, he deftly took the plate and tried to usher Qin Huai inside.

Qin Huai waved his hand to indicate he wouldn't go in; it was indeed very late, and he said he had to go back to wash up and sleep after a few words, otherwise he would be late for work tomorrow.

"Mr. Gong, this is indeed my first time making the Qianhua Palace Lantern Diced Baozi, and I'm not very skilled at finger techniques, so it turned out a bit ugly. Please don't mind."

"I don't know what the Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns you ate before were like, so I'll have to trouble you to recall and compare them with the previous ones. If there are any problems or shortcomings, please let me know on WeChat. It's this late, so I'll head back first. I'll come by to pick up the plate tomorrow morning."

"No, no, no, how could I trouble Master Xiao Qin to come and pick it up? I'll send it over to you tomorrow morning!"

After Qin Huai left, Gong Liang looked at the Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns on the plate with a moved expression, just looking without eating.

"Old Gong, are you going to eat these buns or not? They'll be cold if you don't eat them soon. If you're not eating, I'm going to eat them first." Guo Mingzhu couldn't help it anymore.

"I'm recalling what the Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns I ate before were like. It's been so many years, I don't quite remember, just that they were quite beautiful. Mingzhu, do you remember?"

Guo Mingzhu shook her head, indicating how could she remember that; so many years had passed, she couldn't even remember the taste, let alone the styling.

"Are you eating or not?" Guo Mingzhu didn't want to recall; she just wanted to eat the buns now.

"Mingzhu, you eat first. I'll recall a bit more, otherwise I won't be able to report back to Master Xiao Qin." Gong Liang continued to recall.

Guo Mingzhu looked at the buns, then at her husband, thought for a moment, gritted her teeth, and decided not to eat either. She sat at the dining table and stared at the buns on the plate just like Gong Liang, trying hard to recall.

What were the Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns she ate back then like?

She couldn't remember at all, just that she had eaten too many Four-Joy Tangyuan that day. Tangyuan made of glutinous rice really fills the stomach; she was so full she couldn't sleep at night.

Qin Huai had no way of knowing how long Gong Liang and Guo Mingzhu spent recalling the Qianhua Palace Lantern Buns that night; he only knew that when he woke up the next morning, he saw a long string of WeChat messages from Gong Liang that rivaled a work report.

Facts proved that if people don't push themselves, they don't know how good their memory can be.

The WeChat message Gong Liang wrote was vivid, as if there were a Qianhua Palace Lantern Diced Baozi made by Master Jing right beside him for comparison.

The WeChat message was very useful.

Although Gong Liang, as a layman, had no idea of the actual difficulty of the Qianhua Palace Lantern Diced Baozi, based on his description, Qin Huai could roughly tell that the Qianhua Palace Lantern Diced Baozi made by Master Jing was better looking than the one Zheng Da made.

He still had to practice.

Damn it, there were too many skills to grind; why was it so hard to become a hexagonal warrior?

After going to Huang Ji, Qin Huai didn't tell Zheng Siyuan about his new discovery from last night.

Qin Huai planned to try making it a few times himself first, and only tell Zheng Siyuan after he was sure his guessed direction for bluffing was correct.

He also had to leave himself a few days to make up an excuse.

He knew that Chen Huihong was the "Crazy Young Lady" back then, and there was a Taifeng Building in Beiping City. The head chef of Taifeng Building back then was Jiang Chengde, and Master Jing happened to be Jiang Chengde's son, Jiang Weijin. Therefore, he could establish a connection between the Roasted Pig and the Hundred-Fruit Filling Glutinous Rice Balls through these relationships, and guess the logic behind the Hundred-Fruit Filling Glutinous Rice Balls having so many raw materials.

But Qin Huai couldn't say it to Zheng Siyuan like that.

He had to make up a reasonable excuse that a normal human could accept.

If this excuse was based on the great success of his Hundred-Fruit Filling, then even if this excuse wasn't that reasonable, normal people would still accept it.

Ouyang went to buy winter melon sugar for Qin Huai, so when Qin Huai rested in the afternoon, he didn't make Four-Joy Tangyuan, but instead made hedgehog buns to practice.

Hedgehog buns were at least a bit harder than rabbit buns.

The Qianhua Palace Lantern Diced Baozi was too difficult, and Qin Huai knew the principle of not forcing growth, so he planned to practice hedgehog buns first to find the feel.

Discovering that Qin Huai had a new favorite, Zheng Siyuan already had an expression of "I knew you were that kind of person."

Even when practicing stir-frying meat in the afternoon, Huang Shengli couldn't help but tease Qin Huai while eating a hedgehog bun: "Xiao Qin, the dim sum you're practicing is too miscellaneous. I see Xiao Tan wants to practice with you, but he can't keep up with your rhythm. You're doing Four-Joy Tangyuan one moment, rice cakes the next, and hedgehog buns after that; you've got Xiao Tan all confused."

Qin Huai could only smile embarrassedly: "It's not that I'm not used to making the same dim sum every day, so when practicing dim sum, I practice a few more types to change the feel, right?"

Hearing Qin Huai say this, Huang Shengli felt a bit ashamed: "It's also Huang Ji dragging you down; are you tired these days?"

"Not tired, not tired at all."

Saying he wasn't tired was a lie, but it was true that he wasn't too tired.

Qin Huai was now working full-time on the "Guo'er," and the helpers couldn't help, so basically every step had to be done by himself. Therefore, although the amount of Guo'er wasn't too large, the workload was very heavy.

However, for Qin Huai, Guo'er was also a very magical type of dim sum.

Admittedly, it was difficult and the steps were complex, but for Qin Huai, Guo'er actually wasn't that hard. Shaping wasn't that hard, coloring wasn't that hard, and after doing it for a long time, he even felt a bit bored; problems rarely occurred, and he hadn't encountered any bottlenecks. If he weren't practicing other dim sum every day, Qin Huai might really be bored to death by only making Guo'er.

Huang Shengli smiled: "How could you not be tired? Look at Huang Jia, Qi Tian, and the others; they are like walking corpses every day after work. I have to keep an eye on them to make them do less, fearing they'll get sick from exhaustion."

Huang Shengli kept an eye on Huang Jia every day to make him do less, and Huang Jia kept an eye on Huang Shengli every day to make him do less; this master and apprentice pair had realized a cycle in a certain sense.

"I see everyone is exhausted these days. Money can't be earned all at once, and the reputation has already been built. Just now during the break, I discussed it with Xiao Cao, and we felt that Huang Ji should take a day off so everyone can have a good rest for a day."

"Xiao Cao suggested that it's better to take the day off in a week, after all, the private rooms within 7 days have already been booked, and it also leaves time to notify new and old customers."

"So it's tentatively scheduled for the 16th. If you're free that day, Xiao Qin, go to your Master Zheng's house; Master Zheng and I will make you something delicious."

Qin Huai said: "Everyone is resting, and I'm still troubling you and Master Zheng to make food for me; isn't that a bit too hard?"

Huang Shengli said repeatedly: "What's hard about that? Your Master Zheng can't stop now; once he stops, he gets lazy. Only when you go over will he have the motivation to make dim sum, otherwise, if I were the only one going over, he'd probably just buy two steamed buns at the entrance of the residential area and dismiss me."

"Look, you're distracted by chatting; this meat is obviously overcooked."

Qin Huai:?!

Fishing for a confession, Master Huang, you've changed!

After practicing the heat control, there were only 15 minutes left until work. Qin Huai went outside to buy a cup of milk tea to reward his mouth, and when he came back, he happened to catch Dong Shi chatting away about gossip at the entrance.

The last time he gave Dong Shi the task of inquiring about gossip, Dong Shi still hadn't had any news. Even when working in the kitchen, Dong Shi would avoid Qin Huai.

Seeing Dong Shi still wanting to slip away, Qin Huai hurriedly called him: "Dong Shi."

Dong Shi knew there was no avoiding it, so he could only face the difficulty head-on.

"How did the inquiry about Xiao Xu that I asked you to help with last time go?"

Dong Shi had a troubled expression.

Qin Huai knew this task might be a bit arduous, so he comforted him: "It's okay, it doesn't matter if you can't find out; after all, so many years have passed."

Based on the pattern of how the game system provides memories, Wang Gensheng's memories are definitely related to Xiao Xu. Qin Huai asked Dong Shi for help in inquiring, just wanting to know a little more background information so he wouldn't be confused and unable to understand the plot when he first entered the memory.

It didn't matter if he couldn't find out; at worst, he would just watch it after the task was completed.

"Actually, I did find out." Dong Shi's expression was even more conflicted, "I asked my master, and I also asked Master Zheng; this matter was actually quite famous back then. Not only do my master and Master Zheng have an impression, but even Mr. Gong and the neighbors in the neighborhood all have an impression. I asked many people, and almost everyone could tell me a thing or two."

"It's just... everyone's version seems to be a bit different."

Qin Huai:?

It could still be different?

"How so?" Qin Huai was suddenly a bit curious.

"It's like this." Dong Shi was about to start his performance.

"After my extensive inquiries, the things that can be confirmed are as follows:"

"This Xiao Xu's real name is Xu Nuo, and he is the youngest son of Factory Manager Xu of the cotton mill. Factory Manager Xu also has an older son who went to be a soldier, so only the youngest son was left at home, which is why Factory Manager Xu and his wife pampered this youngest son very much."

"Xu Nuo loved to eat, and whenever he had some money or coupons, he would run to the state-run restaurant. Plus, he was diligent, had a sweet mouth, and didn't put on airs, so he had many friends. It is said that my grandmaster also liked him quite a bit and often cooked special meals for him."

"He also had a very famous incident. After he graduated from high school, his grandmother gave him a sum of money. Maybe four or five hundred yuan, anyway, it was quite a lot. It was money for him to date and eat and drink, but he didn't date, and spent it all on eating and drinking. He spent 780 yuan to buy a recipe for Double Crab Buns and gave the recipe to my grandmaster, asking him to specially make Double Crab Buns for him to eat, which made Factory Manager Xu so angry he threatened to kick him out of the house."

"Later, although he wasn't kicked out of the house, Factory Manager Xu gave an ultimatum, telling Xu Nuo to work in the cotton mill, otherwise he wouldn't give him money. At that time, the cotton mill was a hot commodity with the best benefits, but Xu Nuo refused to enter the factory no matter what, insisting on being a temporary worker at the state-run restaurant, and would rather stay at the state-run restaurant even without money."

"If it weren't for his friends helping him out, Xu Nuo wouldn't have been able to eat a single good meal."

"And then?" Qin Huai asked.

This sounded like a comedy story about a foodie youngest son of a factory manager.

"Then he died."

Qin Huai:?

The development of this story was truly unexpected.

No, was there no foreshadowing in the middle? Just died directly.

Looking at Qin Huai's confused eyes, Dong Shi hurriedly explained: "Then it's the part where the versions are different."

"Xu Nuo's death was actually very sudden, and since Factory Manager Xu's whole family refused to talk about this matter, everyone actually didn't know how Xu Nuo died."

"Only that he died."

"Some say he was speculating and was stabbed to death by a black-on-black deal."

"Some say he was showing off his wealth and was beaten to death with a brick by a wandering robber."

"Others say he died of a sudden illness."

"Some say he was two-timing, dating several girls at the same time, and was pushed into the river and drowned by a girl's suitor."

"This one is the least reliable."

"There are also those who say he was backstabbed by his best brother and committed suicide because he couldn't think straight for a moment."

"There are also those who say he was troubled by love and committed suicide because he fell in love with a married woman."

"Of course, what I heard the most is that he might have just died in a simple accident. Factory Manager Xu was very sad to lose his beloved son, and since he didn't talk about it, others didn't dare to ask, so everyone is not clear about the specific reason."

"Anyway, he just died, but no one is clear about the specific reason why."

Qin Huai:...

Although he knew it was a bit disrespectful to the deceased to say this, but, what a rich variety of ways to die.

Suicide, homicide, accident.

It's all there.

Even crime dramas don't have such a rich variety of ways to die.

Dong Shi said conflictedly: "I originally wanted to inquire more and filter the news before telling you. These news are too messy, and some of them I even find outrageous."

"But since the Sixth Senior Brother happened to be dating these two days, I really couldn't help but care about him, so I was a bit negligent when inquiring about the news."

Qin Huai:...

6.

I got the rules for unlocking the side story with monthly tickets a bit wrong. I haven't done this before, and I thought that anyone who voted for a monthly ticket this month could watch the side story. It was only after readers reflected it to me that I realized that you have to vote for a monthly ticket in that chapter to watch it.

After this event ends, I will pin that side story in the comment section. Readers who have already voted for monthly tickets don't need to worry, just wait a few days.

The side story chapter does not affect the reading of the main text.

I wrote Luo Jun's tea party on New Year's Day just because today happens to be Luo Jun's birthday, which is quite fitting.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 243 =====