Chapter 276

Under Qin Huai's professional training, the villagers' helper skills became more and more proficient, and the helper team became larger and larger.

How should I put it, relatives are still better to use when they are close.

Every time a few more relatives whose names could be called out came to pay their respects, a few more excellent helpers whose names could be called out would be added to the kitchen. With more helpers, it became saturated, and they not only accepted various leave and shift adjustments, but also had to arrange shifts to work.

For a time, the competition among relatives became fierce. Qin Huai's cousins, with whom he didn't have a deep friendship in the past, all displayed their various skills like peacocks opening their tails, and brought their own bowls and chopsticks to help.

Those who lived nearby came back on the same day, and those who lived far away found places to stay.

Qin Huai's eldest uncle and third uncle had stayed at the Qin family since the second day of the New Year and hadn't gone back.

Don't ask, asking means they have a deep friendship with their little sister and haven't seen each other for a long time, so they have endless things to talk about.

At this time, some people might ask: isn't it tiring to help in the kitchen? People who have helped make large banquets in the countryside or helped elders make New Year's Eve dinner on New Year's Eve know that this is definitely not an easy job, even chopping firewood and tending the fire is not easy. Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan are delicious, but they are essentially large Joy Tangyuan; after eating them for a few days, the freshness wears off and they aren't as loved, so why are the villagers so enthusiastic about helping?

The answer is that the food for the helpers is different.

From the time the fortune teller came to the Qin family village and calculated that Qin Huai had a younger brother and a younger sister in his fate, and Old Master Qin was overjoyed and gave 5 yuan and also provided a meal, it could be seen that the Qin family had a very simple tradition of providing meals for people.

The helpers who successfully competed for the job ate with the Qin family.

It's true that Qin Huai wanted to build proficiency in Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan, and he had also built a lot of proficiency in Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan at Huang Ji before, but Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan were made for others to eat, so how could he eat Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan every day just to build proficiency?

Who could handle Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan for three meals a day?

The neighbors next door ate them every night, and ate normal meals at other times.

As a pastry chef proficient in a variety of pastry snacks, Qin Huai still liked to eat something different on weekdays.

Things like Three-Ding Bao, Five-Ding Bao, Four-Joy Dumplings, fermented rice steamed buns, crab shell yellow, glutinous rice cakes, hibiscus cakes, mung bean cakes, the village head's preserved vegetable braised pork, the old branch secretary's braised pig's trotters, the eldest uncle's glutinous rice steamed meatballs, the town's white-cut chicken and roast goose, and the freshly stir-fried small green vegetables pulled from the neighbor's field.

Qin Huai's three meals a day were still very rich. After mixing in the Qin family for several days, the eldest uncle was so happy that he almost forgot that his home wasn't here.

The rich He Cheng and Qin Luo hadn't been holding large bowls to eat Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan for the past two days, just chopping firewood.

Yes, Qin Luo taught the skill of chopping firewood to He Cheng, and the sister and brother chopped firewood together.

In terms of telling gossip, Qin Luo couldn't compete with the old branch secretary at all. The old branch secretary would bring his own teacup and stool to the kitchen every day and sit there to tell stories. Moreover, the old branch secretary was also proficient in making tea, and the tea was quite good; he was an indispensable pillar in the entire kitchen.

The indispensable old branch secretary would be absent on the sixth day.

He had already reported in advance that someone was coming to pay their respects, and the old branch secretary was going to bring Carpenter Zhang's family over to eat Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan.

Eating until the sixth day, the Qin family was still full of guests.

No one will love eating Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan forever, but there will always be people willing to come to pay their respects and eat Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan.

Qin Huai had already let out the word on the first day of the Lunar New Year that during the entire New Year period, as long as someone came to pay their respects, they would definitely not let the other party return empty-handed. Even if they stood outside the courtyard holding a bowl to eat, they would at least be able to eat a bowl of fresh and hot Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan.

Qin Huai had also explained to Old Master Qin and Grandma Qin that he had a big job in March, which concerned his reputation, had a lot of money, a large scene, and could broaden his horizons, and was very important. For this big job in March, he had to train hard on Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan, and asked his grandparents not to feel bad about the material costs of making Joy Tangyuan. Everyone wasn't coming empty-handed to pay their respects, and their grandson was successful, and the New Year red envelopes were all received in checks, so the Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan made during the New Year period could be considered a return to the fellow villagers.

Qin Huai had explained it to this point, so Old Master Qin and Grandma Qin naturally wouldn't object, and were afraid that their eldest grandson would be tired from searching for good helpers everywhere.

For the sake of helpers, Grandma Qin almost made peace with her younger brothers and sisters, and picked among her own nephews and nieces.

And then she didn't pick a single one.

No matter how she looked at it, she felt they weren't as good as the Zhao family's.

During this period, Qin Huai's second great-uncle tried to fish in troubled waters and come to pay his respects on the fourth day, but was discovered by Grandma Qin on the spot. Using the excuse that "Second brother, you are really old and can even remember the wrong day to pay respects, and you can see the situation at home, there are really too many people to entertain. Things? Take the things back too, we have to follow the process, if we don't follow the agreed time to pay respects, wouldn't it be chaotic with so many relatives at home," she drove him back.

Qin Luo, who witnessed the whole process, ran back to the kitchen to gossip with Qin Huai while chopping firewood, saying that after so many years, Grandma was still so vengeful, and her rhetoric hadn't changed at all.

As a result, this was reported by He Cheng to Grandma Qin's ears, and Qin Luo happily received Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan all-you-can-eat but nothing else to eat.

On the morning of the sixth day, Qin Luo, who had already eaten Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan for a day and a half, squatted at the kitchen door holding a large bowl, eating Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan bitterly.

Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan were delicious, of course.

But.

Three-Ding Bao, Five-Ding Bao, Four-Joy Dumplings, and fresh meat crab shell yellow were also delicious.

Grandma, I was wrong! I will never say you are narrow-minded and vengeful again, your granddaughter really wants to eat meat-filled pastries!!

The three sweet fillings in the Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan are really too sweet!!!

The old branch secretary led Carpenter Zhang's family to the Qin family early, and seeing Qin Luo squatting at the kitchen door holding a large bowl, he was happy: "Did Luo Luo, eating Joy Tangyuan early in the morning!"

"How long has the last batch of Joy Tangyuan been out of the pot? When will the next batch be out? Why are you pulling a long face, who made you unhappy? I know, did your brother tell you to do your homework? You have to hurry up and do this homework. The boys in my family rush their homework in the last few days of the holiday every year, and the things they write are a mess, wasting time and useless."

After speaking, the old branch secretary first quietly poked his head in, and seeing that the kitchen was orderly, he knew there was no mistake, so he said loudly and confidently: "Huaihuai, Xiao Zhang... Carpenter Zhang and the others are here."

Hearing the old branch secretary say this, Qin Luo thought of the many test papers she hadn't finished writing, and felt even sadder. She sniffed, and tears almost fell into the soup bowl.

The old branch secretary noticed Qin Luo sniffing and asked with concern: "Did you catch a cold? You child, why are you sitting in the draft? Even if it's not cold today, you shouldn't sit here."

Just as Qin Luo was about to be moved to speak, the old branch secretary continued: "Go sit in the house where it's warm, and you can do your homework."

Qin Luo:...

Qin Luo lowered her head and took a bite of Joy Tangyuan.

Since things have come to this, let's eat some Joy Tangyuan.

The old branch secretary stood at the kitchen door waiting for Qin Huai to come out. During the Spring Festival, the kitchen was a restricted area, and unrelated personnel were prohibited from entering; the old branch secretary understood this principle.

Carpenter Zhang's family also stood outside the kitchen waiting, not knowing why.

The old branch secretary had already introduced Carpenter Zhang's family situation clearly when telling gossip. Carpenter Zhang's name was Zhang Chu, a native of Beiping, who came to Qu County when the educated youth went to the countryside, and was an educated youth in several villages near the Qin family village. Later, because of the old branch secretary's intelligence, he worked as a carpenter in the county's timber mill for a few years, and then the whole family moved to the city.

Carpenter Zhang's wife was named Cao Cao Guixiang, and her cooking was unique. She was also a famous Xiao Cao in the ten miles and eight villages back then, and it is said that she worked as a chef in Qu County in her early years. The old branch secretary saved money for a long time just waiting for the day to be extravagant and eat a meal at the restaurant where Cao Cao Guixiang worked, but the money hadn't been saved enough before Cao Cao Guixiang quit, which made the old branch secretary unable to eat for three days.

Today, Carpenter Zhang led the whole family to come, but Cao Cao Guixiang was the only one missing. It is estimated that Cao Cao Guixiang was showing off her skills at the village head's house in their village.

Carpenter Zhang had a son and a daughter; the son was named Zhang Zhang Chiyuan, the daughter was named Zhang Zheng Siyu, the grandson was named Zhang Zhang Zhiyun, and the granddaughter was named Chang Chang Qingqing.

Carpenter Zhang would bring his whole family back to the village to pay their respects every year, intending to let the younger generation see the place where their grandparents had struggled and fought, cherish their current life, and recall the bitterness and think of the sweetness.

When the old branch secretary was talking outside, Qin Huai was seasoning the filling and couldn't get away for a while, so he could only let He Cheng go out to move chairs for Zhang Chu's family, so as not to let the guests stand.

Seeing that He Cheng had a task, Qin Luo felt that she couldn't lose either. If she didn't perform well, she would only be able to eat Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan for this Spring Festival holiday, so she hurriedly put down her bowl and went to move chairs.

"Sit!" Qin Luo put the chair in front of Zhang Chu's grandson Zhang Zhang Zhiyun and said very loudly.

Zhang Zhang Zhiyun was startled by Qin Luo.

In terms of age, Zhang Zhang Zhiyun was about the same age as Qin Luo; the old branch secretary mentioned that Carpenter Zhang's grandson was in the second year of junior high school this year.

Qin Luo didn't know at all that she had frightened the new guest, and ran around looking for chairs without stopping, running fast with one in each hand. This made Zhang Chu sigh:

"This little girl really has a lot of strength."

After the Zhang family was all seated, Qin Luo very perceptively made tea and handed it over, which left He Cheng dumbfounded, not understanding why his cousin suddenly became so competitive.

It seemed like she was competing with him.

After the Zhang family all drank tea, Qin Huai also freed up his hands and went out to greet the guests.

"Grandpa Zhang, I've long admired your name. I've long heard that your carpentry skills are particularly good, and I've always wanted to find a connection to find you to customize a set of molds, but unfortunately you moved away from Qu County many years ago, and I don't have your contact information here, so I originally thought I didn't have this fate."

"I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence; the old branch secretary told me two days ago that he knew you, and that you would come to our village to pay your respects every year. I specifically asked the old branch secretary to help introduce me when you came today."

"Have you had breakfast? It doesn't matter if you have; it's almost lunch time, so stay and eat something casually. I don't have anything else here; there are Four-Joy Joy Tangyuan in the pot now, which have been served and are cooling down and can be eaten immediately. Did Luo Luo, go see if the buns, steamed buns, and dumplings in the steamer are ready? If they are, serve them." "I'll make a few more portions of hand-rolled noodles later, boil them in chicken soup, and put some green vegetables and mushrooms in them, which will be just as delicious."

Qin Huai's enthusiasm made Zhang Chu unable to figure it out. Zhang Chu thought for a long time in his mind but couldn't figure out who Qin Huai was.

Zhang Chu looked at Qin Huai's age and felt that with the age of the little Master Qin in front of him, he shouldn't have ordered molds from him.

So enthusiastic, could it be a trap?

Zhang Chu hesitated and asked: "Qin... Qin..."

"You can just call me Xiao Qin."

"Did your family order molds from me before?" Zhang Chu asked carefully.

Qin Huai nodded: "My dad ordered them back then; I probably wasn't born yet. My dad said that it was very popular to use molds to make pastries in Qu County at that time, and my dad also wanted to open a pastry shop, so he ordered 4 sets of molds from you, some ordinary and some complex, and one set was the Journey to the West series."

"The molds were very good, but it's a pity that my dad's skills weren't up to par and he didn't know how to use them after ordering them. So those molds didn't come in handy later, and my dad didn't open a pastry shop, but opened a breakfast shop."

Zhang Chu's heart skipped a beat.

It's over, it really is a trap.

He had earned that black-hearted money for a period of time just to buy a house in the city in his life, and it hadn't been exposed for 20 years, but now he was being sought out by the victim 20 years later.

"Xiao Qin." Zhang Chu started to repent on the spot, "The matter of the molds back then was indeed because I was blinded by greed because I was short of money; there's no way around it, the houses in the city are really too expensive. My wife alone earning money made me feel bad, and the timber mill only had that little fixed salary, so I couldn't think straight for a moment and used some crooked ways..."

Qin Huai was also saying: "Although my dad basically didn't know how to use those molds, after I started using molds to make pastries, I found that the quality of that set of molds was really good, but it was a bit difficult for ordinary pastry chefs. I came here this time to ask you to make a few sets suitable for the current..."

The two were stunned at the same time, looking at each other.

Zhang Chu: "You want to ask me to make a few sets of molds?"

Qin Huai: "Crooked ways, blinded by greed?"

After looking at each other a few times, Zhang Chu confessed everything.

He confessed in a corner.

The pastry business in Qu County was hot back then, and it was popular for a while, but that pastry business was brought up by Zhang Chu's wife, Cao Cao Guixiang. Those high-end pastry gift boxes that really made passing wealthy merchants flock to them and buy them at high prices were all made by Cao Cao Guixiang.

The so-called mold sets for Cao Cao Guixiang to make pastries were also rumors that Zhang Chu let out to earn some mold money.

The purpose of this couple doing all this was only one—to save money to buy a house.

Buying a house in the city; at that time, Zhang Chu and Cao Cao Guixiang felt that the education in the county was still not good enough, and wanted to move to the city to let their son and daughter receive better education, which led to the subsequent pastry heat.

As for the rising price of molds that followed, Carpenter Zhang's price was particularly high because his skills were particularly superb, which was all hyped up.

Of course, it was a fact that Carpenter Zhang's skills were good.

It was also a fact that the molds he made had no problems and could be used.

But ordinary molds could be used, while the Journey to the West series and the Twelve Zodiac series molds couldn't be used by ordinary pastry chefs at all. It just so happened that these molds were valuable, and Zhang Chu, in order to earn quick money, could be considered to have hidden the fact that these molds were bought but had a threshold, and would only persuade them a few words when the sucker was really too much of a sucker, and then continue to earn this money.

Qin Congwen was undoubtedly the leader among the suckers back then.

"Xiao Qin, the matter back then was indeed not done properly by me. It has nothing to do with my wife; it was mainly me who didn't do it properly."

"You are a pastry chef now. If you have this need, I can make a few batches of simple molds for you for free."

"The styles that children like now can all be made; Peppa Pig, Pikachu, Doraemon, Hello Kitty, Teletubbies, those are all no problem."

"If it really doesn't work, come to my house for a meal when you have time; my wife will cook a good meal for you, just consider it an apology to you."

Zhang Chu repented silently.

Qin Huai's eyes lit up as he listened: "So, the one who used that batch of molds from the Twelve Zodiac series and the Journey to the West series to make pastries back then was Grandma Cao."

Zhang Chu nodded: "Yes, those pastries had high prices, and if they were really purely hand-kneaded, it would be troublesome. Although using molds couldn't be done in one step, it could ensure quality and also speed up the speed."

"So those molds can be used, at least Grandma Cao knows how." Qin Huai's eyes were even brighter.

These years, Qin Congwen's Journey to the West series molds could be said to be 99% new and basically hadn't been used much. Qin Huai hadn't used them much either, because Qin Huai actually didn't know how to use those complex molds.

"Of course they can be used, and I wouldn't sell molds that couldn't be used for money. But these molds are too difficult for ordinary chefs, unlike ordinary molds that can be used after pressing; these molds need to be individually shaped after pressing."

"Do you know anything else?"

Zhang Chu:?

Why is the focus of this Master Qin so strange?

"Know... know some." Qin Huai made Zhang Chu unable to figure it out.

"That's great!" Qin Huai was extremely happy, "Grandpa Zhang, let's add each other on WeChat first."

"I'll have to trouble Grandma Cao to tell me how to use the Journey to the West series molds on WeChat later, and you can make me a few more batches of the same difficulty; I really need to use these molds to practice finger techniques now."

These molds were good props for practicing finger techniques.

They could simplify very complex pastries, but at the same time they weren't that simple, which was very suitable for Qin Huai at the current stage.

Zhang Chu:?

Did he just repent in vain?

Why is this Xiao Qin so stubborn? As stubborn as his dad was back then.

Zhang Chu indicated that he had already remembered who Qin Congwen was when he was repenting just now.

He also advised Qin Congwen back then, saying very implicitly that the Journey to the West series was too difficult and the cost was high and not cost-effective, but Qin Congwen didn't listen and just wanted the most expensive one.

"Xiao Qin, the requirements of this mold for the chef himself..."

"Grandpa Zhang, you haven't had lunch yet, have you?" Qin Huai interrupted Zhang Chu's words.

Zhang Chu:? Did he lose his memory? Did Qin Huai say this at the very beginning?

"No," Zhang Chu said.

"Then eat some pastries to pad your stomach first." Qin Huai led Zhang Chu back to the kitchen door, and the Zhang family was already eating.

Eating wolfishly.

Zhang Chu was shocked; it wasn't that he was bragging, but his family rarely ate like this outside.

The food at home was already delicious enough, and they usually ate like this at home.

Zhang Chu's grandson Zhang Zhang Zhiyun ate the most exaggeratedly, holding a large bowl, sitting next to Qin Luo, his face almost buried in the bowl, and he didn't forget to say very loudly:

"The Joy Tangyuan your brother made are really delicious, just a little bit worse than what my grandma makes!"

"Nonsense, what my brother makes is definitely better than what your grandma makes!" Qin Luo fought back with an even louder voice.

"What my grandma makes is delicious!"

"What my brother makes is delicious!"

"What my grandma makes is more delicious than what all the restaurants outside make!"

"What my brother makes is also more delicious than what all the restaurants outside make!"

"Anyway, what my grandma makes is the most delicious!"

"It must be what my brother makes that is the most delicious!!!"

(End of chapter)