Chapter 270

In the kitchen, all the Qin family members who could lend a hand were already at work.

Everyone in the village who could help was also involved.

Everyone knew that Qin Huai had returned home late this year, and many of the ingredients for the dim sum needed to be prepared in advance.

In previous years, besides returning to the countryside for a meal on the day of the Little New Year, Qin Huai would return to the countryside by the 28th at the latest to prepare supplies for the upcoming 15-day long battle.

This year, Qin Huai didn't return to the countryside until New Year's Eve, and many villagers in Qin Family Village were worried that Qin Huai had made a fortune outside and didn't want to work anymore, planning to slack off significantly during the New Year.

Seeing Qin Huai head straight to the kitchen as soon as he arrived home, everyone finally felt relieved.

In the kitchen, the helpers were already at their stations.

Back on the minibus, Qin Huai had already revealed to Qin Luo the dim sum they would be eating tonight. In addition to those, Qin Huai also planned to brew Chen Pi tea, stew Gastrodia with pigeon, and stir-fry cabbage with meat, bringing a perfect end to this year.

Due to the tight schedule and heavy tasks, the helpers they had cultivated for years were clearly not enough. Qin Huai asked Master Qin and Grandma Qin to urgently issue a call in the village to find helpers with excellent professional skills and rich work experience.

The pay was a blind box of dim sum.

A large bag of it.

An auntie from a family at the entrance of the village ran a hand-beaten beef ball shop in town. Hearing about such a good deal, she immediately decided not to make her own New Year's Eve dinner, grabbed a kitchen knife, and came to Master Qin's house.

Master Qin, who had returned from advanced studies in Gusu, began to assign tasks to the helpers.

"Mom and Dad, you are familiar with the ingredients for the three-diced buns, five-diced buns, meat buns, char siu buns, vermicelli buns, mushroom buns, and radish buns. Your task today is to lead Auntie, the younger aunt-in-law, the second uncle, and the second cousin in processing these ingredients, and then wait to help wrap the buns."

"Uncle and Did Luo Luo, your task today is to chop firewood. Chop it whenever it runs low; looking at the firewood Grandpa and Grandma prepared today, it's clearly not enough."

"Grandma, when the steamer starts later, stay by the side and use your phone's clock to keep track of the time. Timing is very important; whether the dim sum steamed today tastes good or not depends entirely on you."

"By the way, the chicken soup I asked you to boil yesterday is all done, right? Seven old hens were stewed. If it's not enough, should we stew more? It's enough, it's enough."

If we stew any more, the chickens raised at home this year will be wiped out.

"Grandpa, your task is to chat with the village chief and the others outside and receive gifts. Don't let them into the kitchen today; it's really too busy in there, and there's no time for small talk."

"Auntie Wang, your task is the most important. How to cut the meat for the hand-beaten beef balls in the early stages, and how to mince today's meat—but it can't be made too firm; it needs to be a bit looser. Can you understand this requirement of mine?" Qin Huai asked.

Auntie Wang, who had brought her own kitchen knife to apply for the job, nodded heavily.

"Third Great-Aunt, Sixth Great-Aunt, the heavy responsibility of tending the fire is handed to you."

Seeing that Qin Huai had assigned tasks to everyone, He Cheng, who was suddenly unemployed, felt a bit lost. In previous years, he would chop firewood while tending the fire; why was he unemployed this year?

"Brother, what about me?" He Cheng asked, seeking a job.

"Your task is also very important. You are mainly responsible for brewing tea and serving it."

He Cheng:?

He Cheng didn't understand, so he went to his grandfather's room to look for tea leaves.

Under Master Qin's direction, the various helpers in the kitchen performed their duties, starting the tense and intense preparation of dim sum.

The first thing Qin Huai had to do was, naturally, knead the dough.

Although his main task for the New Year this year was to make the Four-Joy Tangyuan reach A-grade, today was New Year's Eve, and the dim sum for New Year's Eve had to be rich and colorful. Among the dim sum Qin Huai excelled at, flour-based items still accounted for the majority.

Qin Huai first kneaded the dough for the fermented rice steamed buns.

More fermented rice steamed buns needed to be made; they were unique, had a long fermentation time, and were simple. With so many relatives and villagers coming to help today, making more for everyone to take home could be considered promoting the fermented rice steamed buns of Huang's specialty to Qin Family Village.

Back when Huang's was still a state-run restaurant and Master Jing was still there, it was very popular for nearby residents to rush to the state-run restaurant before the New Year to buy fermented rice steamed buns for the holiday. Huang Shengli and Zheng Da said that in their childhood, the taste of fermented rice steamed buns was basically synonymous with the taste of the New Year.

Having a plate of braised pork at home for the New Year wasn't that impressive; having a large basin of fermented rice steamed buns at home for the New Year was the real deal.

This year, it was time to let the villagers of Qin Family Village taste the New Year flavor that the people of Gusu had enjoyed decades ago.

Qin Huai began to knead the dough skillfully.

Third Great-Aunt and Sixth Great-Aunt, whose task was to tend the fire and hadn't started working yet, began to praise him skillfully.

"Huai Huai's craftsmanship—one look at his kneading and you know his skills must be exceptionally good," Third Great-Aunt praised.

Sixth Great-Aunt was not to be outdone: "That's for sure. I've watched Huai Huai grow up, and I knew he was different. This kneading motion is just like what they show on TV."

"Yes, yes." Third Great-Aunt couldn't think of a better word for a moment and could only echo.

Third Great-Aunt and Sixth Great-Aunt were blindly flattering, but Qin Congwen was truly stunned.

If one had to find a second person in this kitchen today who could barely be called a pastry chef, that person would definitely be Qin Congwen.

To tell the truth, Qin Congwen felt that his level of making buns had grown this year.

Previously, Qin Congwen only knew that his son was amazing at making dim sum and that the dough he kneaded was delicious, but he couldn't learn it and didn't know what was good about it. If he asked Qin Huai, Qin Huai couldn't explain the reason either.

Qin Huai could only tell Qin Congwen that he felt it should be kneaded this way, and if the feeling was right, then it was right. This kind of stream-of-consciousness communication could only be conducted normally between Qin Huai and Zheng Da.

Unable to learn his son's skills, Qin Congwen's technique for making buns remained the same for decades.

This year was different; this year he had truly learned the technique.

At first, he secretly learned techniques from Chen An. Chen An's buns were slightly better than Qin Congwen's; he was a professional breakfast chef.

People are like this: if someone else is much better than you, you can't see where they are better because you don't understand it at all. But if someone else is only slightly better than you, you can still see a thing or two.

Qin Congwen secretly improved based on this "thing or two."

Later, after Pei Xing and Li Hua came to the Cloud Canteen, his progress was very fast. Both of them were professional pastry chefs, from Zhi Wei Ju, regular troops, and formally trained. They were not on the same level as breakfast chefs like Chen An; they had theoretical knowledge, understood the pastry system, and most importantly, they spoke with substance, so teaching Qin Congwen was a piece of cake.

As the boss and father, Qin Congwen humbly asked for advice, and they taught him.

Pei Xing and Li Hua were still counting on Qin Huai to return and teach them well.

Under the guidance of Pei Xing and Li Hua, Qin Congwen's pastry level could be said to have advanced by leaps and bounds, and he now had the possibility of becoming a professional breakfast chef.

With his level improved, Qin Congwen could see more things.

Qin Congwen didn't know if it was because he hadn't seen his son knead dough for too long, or if he could understand it after improving, but why did he feel that Qin Huai's kneading level had improved so much compared to before?

The phrase "things are not what they used to be" was surprisingly not first applied to him.

Qin Congwen rubbed his eyes and whispered to Zhao Rong: "Wife, do you feel that Huai Huai is different from before?"

"Of course. Look at how fast Huai Huai is working now, and how skilled his tone is when assigning tasks. How much work did he actually do at Huang's? It's a good thing we didn't send him to Zhi Wei Ju back then, otherwise, our son would have been exhausted," Zhao Rong said.

Qin Congwen:... I want to discuss some professional knowledge with you, and you give me emotional output?

"Yes." Qin Congwen felt heartache instantly. "Our Huai Huai must have suffered a lot at Huang's!"

Qin Huai, who had suffered a lot at Huang's, was kneading dough while thinking in his heart that He Cheng's tea brewing was too unprofessional. How could such an important task be handed to him, and why hadn't he brought the tea over after so long?

Master Qin had come to work in such a large kitchen, and he hadn't had a sip of tea for so long. Was this right?

Master Qin continued to knead the dough uncomfortably.

On the other side, in the courtyard, because it wasn't very cold in winter in Qiu County, it was even a bit hot after sitting in the courtyard in a cotton-padded jacket basking in the sun for a long time, and Master Qin didn't have the habit of insisting on chatting indoors.

Master Qin was earnestly completing his task, chatting with villagers who came to visit to inquire about the kitchen's progress and those who brought gifts to pay an early New Year's call.

Since they were chatting, tea naturally had to be served.

Seeing that his grandson was actually brewing tea, Master Qin was overjoyed and immediately ordered his grandson to boil some water to brew tea for the guests as well.

There was no need to boil water in the large kitchen; there was a small kitchen at home for normal cooking, so he could just go there. Under the orders of his cousin and his own grandfather, He Cheng could only transform into a heartless water-boiling machine, frantically boiling water and brewing tea.

Unfortunately, he had no experience, and the tea leaves were added too much in the first few times. Each paper cup was almost half-filled with tea leaves, and the tea was so strong that every guest who came to the door was wincing.

He Cheng took a sip himself and also winced.

Of course, he was scalded.

How could He Cheng dare to serve such tea to his dear brother? He hurriedly took out his phone in the small kitchen to search online for how to brew tea, and then discovered that there was a rule that the first brew of tea should be poured away, that different tea leaves had different methods, and that water temperature also mattered.

The tricks were too deep, and He Cheng was so overwhelmed that he was at a loss. Fortunately, there were enough guests coming to the door, and everyone loved drinking tea for some reason, giving him enough lab rats to experiment on.

As for the guests who came to the door... everyone actually had no complaints about the tea He Cheng brewed.

The tea wasn't important.

The crispy cake that Old Man Qin brought out was just too delicious!

Although they didn't know why the crispy cake was broken into crumbs, everyone was picking up the crumbs to eat, but these crumbs were just too delicious.

So delicious that they didn't want to go home at all.

They just wanted to sit stiffly in the courtyard and chat awkwardly. To show that they didn't come specifically to eat the crispy cake, they had to drink a few sips of tea from time to time, and they even wanted to call their family members over to chat awkwardly.

For a time, the Qin family's courtyard was bustling with noise and excitement, with only He Cheng running in and out frantically serving tea.

In the kitchen, Qin Huai was truly thirsty.

Qin Huai hadn't eaten breakfast in the morning and hadn't drunk much water. After arriving in the countryside, he started working as soon as he entered the kitchen, without stopping.

Didn't he not eat breakfast? He had to hurry up and make some buns and steamed buns to pad his stomach.

As a result, the steamed buns were now in the steamer, the dough for the bun skins had been kneaded in several batches, and Qin Huai had even started to season the filling in a large basin to hand over to Qin Luo to stir, but the tea hadn't been sent in yet.

"Did Luo Luo, go help me pour a cup of hot water. If there's no hot water, warm water or a drink will do—orange juice, cola, or Sprite are all fine. If that doesn't work, fruit juice is also fine," Qin Huai said.

When Qin Luo heard Qin Huai say this, she knew her brother was truly thirsty, so she immediately ran out of the kitchen to find He Cheng.

He Cheng was too outrageous. She, a sister without blood relation, was busy in the kitchen, while He Cheng, a cousin without blood relation, was secretly slacking off outside.

In the small kitchen, He Cheng was brewing tea so hard that sparks were almost flying.

Seeing Qin Luo come, He Cheng hurriedly said: "Did Luo Luo, come help me see which of these cups of tea is more normal. I've studied online for a long time and haven't learned how to brew a cup of good tea. I think they all taste terrible."

Qin Luo:?

Qin Luo tasted a sip of each cup: "They're all the same."

"Do you just not like drinking tea?"

He Cheng:?

Thirty seconds later, Qin Luo returned to the large kitchen with a cup of warm tea. Qin Huai drank it in one gulp and then said: "Did Luo Luo, help me get a bottle of cola."

At this moment, Qin Huai finally understood that he didn't like drinking tea; it was just that the tea brewed by the people at Zhi Wei Ju suited his taste.

Next time, he had to ask Tan Weian what kind of tea the people at Zhi Wei Ju brewed for him.

Ten minutes later, the fermented rice steamed buns were out of the steamer.

Almost the moment the buns were out, the fragrance of fermented rice permeated the air.

The villagers of Qin Family Village had never seen such a scene. The villagers who were originally gathered in the courtyard chatting and eating crispy cake crumbs stopped eating the crumbs and started inhaling deeply, then asked blankly:

"What is this smell?"

"It feels like the fragrance of rice wine."

"No, no, it seems to be the smell of steamed buns, the smell of fermented rice steamed buns."

In the kitchen, Third Great-Aunt and Sixth Great-Aunt, who were responsible for tending the fire, were also stunned.

Of course, the others weren't not shocked; it was mainly because these two were the most idle, so they had time to be stunned.

Qin Luo skillfully picked out the buns and asked while picking: "Brother, should we eat these buns now?"

"Yes, if you think the temperature is about right, hand me two. I've been starving since this morning."

Qin Luo handed over two directly.

Qin Huai:... Did Luo Luo, your brother's tongue isn't as heat-resistant as yours.

Then Qin Luo gave everyone in the kitchen two buns equally. The first batch of buns was steamed in large quantities, with several rural earthen stoves steaming together, and the quantity steamed was enough for the breakfast shop to sell for a while.

After asking Qin Huai, Qin Luo went out holding the buns to distribute them. The villagers in the courtyard were suddenly overjoyed, not expecting that today they would not only be able to eat broken crispy cake crumbs but also eat freshly steamed buns.

These days were truly getting better; on New Year's Eve, they could actually eat buns freshly steamed by Qin Huai!

Qin Luo went out and distributed a round, and the ones not distributed were put away. These buns would all have to be distributed by the evening. There were still a bunch of relatives on the He family's side counting on Qin Xiuli and the others to return fully loaded before dinner.

Qin Huai was eating a fermented rice steamed bun.

The people in the kitchen were also eating fermented rice steamed buns.

The people outside the kitchen were also eating fermented rice steamed buns.

At this moment, the unique sweet fragrance of the fermented rice steamed buns occupied everyone's taste buds.

Everyone who was eating the B-grade fermented rice steamed buns for the first time had only one thought in their hearts at this moment: Can we just eat this for New Year's Eve dinner tonight?

Family members, this is the true taste of the New Year!

Sitting stiffly in this courtyard without leaving, drinking a stomach full of tea and wanting to go to the bathroom but still not leaving, was indeed a wise decision!

There is more during the day.

(End of chapter)