Chapter 291: Flattery

To give the new and old diners of Yunzhong Canteen a surprise, Qin Huai specifically got up early on March 9th and arrived at Yunzhong Canteen at 3 o'clock.

Qin Huai thought he must be the first to arrive.

Because the working time for the breakfast shift staff of Yunzhong Canteen is 3:40 AM; previously, Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen would come very early, but later the canteen recruited many new helpers, and with more people, the work efficiency was fast, so the two didn't come so early.

Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen were used to getting up early because they had been selling breakfast for many years; it wasn't that they didn't love sleeping, but if they could have a normal routine and get up at five or six o'clock, they certainly wouldn't be willing to get up at 2 AM.

As a result, when Qin Huai arrived at Yunzhong Canteen at 3 o'clock sharp, there were already people in the canteen.

The outer door of the canteen was ajar, there were lights in the warehouse, and the kitchen lights were also on. When Qin Huai entered from the inner door, he was a bit shocked to find that there were people in the canteen, so he followed the sound and found An Youyou in the warehouse.

Qin Huai hadn't seen this excellent employee whose name he remembered for a long time. In his memory, An Youyou was a thin, small girl with a bit of baby fat, especially fond of making money, often wearing some loose, easy-to-fade clothes; she used to be a waitress, and later transferred to the kitchen as a helper because she wanted to make more money.

An Youyou was carrying a bag of flour.

"An Youyou?" Qin Huai looked at the time to confirm it was only 3 o'clock, "Why did you arrive at the shop so early? Didn't I say I don't encourage everyone to come to work early?"

An Youyou showed a happy smile and explained: "It's not because Master Xiao Qin, you're back. Sister Xi said you would definitely come very early this morning. Let us pick one person from the helpers to open the shop and come over early to help you, with a 50 yuan bonus; I live close, so I came."

"Did you move?" Qin Huai asked; he remembered that An Youyou didn't live close.

"Yes, the daughter of the landlord of the apartment I rented before wanted to get married, so she sold the house. The new landlord didn't want to rent the house, returned all the deposit to me, and gave me an extra 500 yuan; it just so happened that at the end of the year, I got a year-end bonus, and I also won 1000 yuan in cash in the annual meeting lottery, so I rented a nearby single apartment."

"It's a bit expensive, but the environment is great; there's even an elevator on the 17th floor!" An Youyou said with joy.

Qin Huai could see that An Youyou really liked good houses, especially those with good renovation, good location, and good facilities.

"Does our canteen have an annual meeting?" Qin Huai was confused; as the boss, how did he not know the canteen had an annual meeting.

"It was held two days after the Little New Year; actually, it was nothing, just eating a meal together in the canteen after work and drawing a lottery." An Youyou said.

Qin Huai nodded; during that time after the Little New Year, he was making Guo'er and Four-Joy Tangyuan in Huang Ji's kitchen day and night. Unless specifically called, Qin Huai might not even look at messages. He felt that maybe Huang Xi said it, but he didn't pay attention at all.

He, the boss, really didn't manage the affairs of Yunzhong Canteen much; Yunzhong Canteen was usually watched by Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen.

"Then what was the prize?" Qin Huai asked casually.

"Cash red envelopes, ranging from 200 to 5000; Master Pei was so lucky, the only 5000 cash red envelope was drawn by him!" An Youyou said with an envious tone.

Qin Huai understood again; this prize was probably decided by Zhao Rong. Zhao Rong previously complained when participating in supermarket lotteries, community lotteries, and the like, saying that the prizes were always set to be things that looked expensive but were actually flashy and without substance; it was better to draw cash directly, which was more practical.

Now that it was Zhao Rong's turn to decide what the prize was, she directly realized her wish.

Seeing that An Youyou was not struggling to carry flour, Qin Huai didn't step forward to help. He only thought about the many snacks he had to make this morning, so he had to come early, ignoring that Yunzhong Canteen and Huang Ji's kitchen were actually different.

Huang Ji had a roll king led by Gu Li; no matter how early Qin Huai was, he couldn't be earlier than Gu Li. Every day when he arrived at Huang Ji, many things were prepared, even during the New Year; the helpers from the village arrived one after another, and they didn't even eat breakfast, just holding bowls and waiting to eat the employee meal.

An Youyou coming so early was indeed a big help to Qin Huai.

"Have you practiced knife-work during this period?" Qin Huai asked.

An Youyou's eyes lit up: "I have, I chop meat filling every morning, and Master Chen An and Master Li Hua have given me a lot of pointers!"

"Then come to the kitchen to help me chop meat filling later." Qin Huai said and went to the changing room to change clothes.

An Youyou chased out: "Old... Master Xiao Qin, what snacks are you making today? What things do I need to prepare?"

"Snacks... I'm going to make many snacks; just do as I say later, and I'll also just see how your basic skills are practiced."

Qin Huai indicated that he was no longer the Master Xiao Qin from before; he was an apprentice Xiao Qin who graduated from the first phase of Cao Guixiang's knife-work training camp.

Regardless of the level of knife-work, he could still see whether the posture of holding the knife was correct.

The first helper to help Master Xiao Qin today was lucky and could get Master Xiao Qin's limited-time 1v1 guidance.

After changing clothes, Qin Huai entered the kitchen to knead dough.

According to the normal order, Qin Huai should first knead the dough for fermented rice steamed buns. The leavening time for steamed buns is long, and the morning exercise old men who come for the first wave of breakfast will arrive at the shop at 6 o'clock; only by making steamed buns first can he ensure that the old men can eat both buns and steamed buns.

But today Qin Huai didn't intend to do that.

There was only one purpose today, which was to grind the main quest.

Fermented rice steamed buns had already met the standard, so he wouldn't divide the busy breakfast time for fermented rice steamed buns; if there was time, he would make them in the afternoon.

Qin Huai first kneaded the dough for San Ding Bao.

He hadn't made San Ding Bao for a while; when he first touched the recipe for San Ding Bao, Qin Huai made it for a period of time, and the premium San Ding Bao once dominated Huang Ji's pastry menu, but it was soon replaced by Guo'er.

Qin Huai had been chopping radishes at Cao Guixiang's house for a while and hadn't made snacks much. If it could be said that he had muscle memory because he had been making Four-Joy Tangyuan for a long time, then San Ding Bao was indeed rusty.

But it didn't matter; Qin Huai was good at it.

He had been making San Ding Bao for many years, and after touching the recipe, he learned many small techniques and improved the previous recipe.

After kneading the dough, Qin Huai saw that the ingredients on An Youyou's side hadn't been chopped yet, so he clicked on the game panel unhurriedly, found the illustrated book column, and started watching the video tutorial for San Ding Bao.

What to do if you are rusty because you haven't made a snack for a long time?

It doesn't matter, just watch the tutorial.

After watching, you won't be rusty anymore.

Returning to Yunzhong Canteen is good; the old employees here all know Qin Huai's problems, so Qin Huai can click on the game panel anytime and anywhere without scruples.

When he was at Huang Ji, if Qin Huai checked the task, he would click it, but he still had to go to the bathroom to watch the video tutorial.

The acceptance of the employees at Huang Ji wasn't as high as that at Yunzhong Canteen; the chefs in Huang Ji's kitchen hadn't seen Qin Luo much and couldn't be brainwashed by Qin Luo's sentence: "My brother has always been like this for so many years; this is his habit; he always teases me like this."

An Youyou looked up at Qin Huai from time to time while chopping meat filling; seeing Qin Huai standing there in a daze without moving, she felt a bit strange, but after thinking carefully, she felt it was normal.

Master Xiao Qin is like this; this is his habit.

An Youyou continued to chop meat filling seriously.

Qin Huai watched the video tutorial for San Ding Bao by skipping, and finished watching it in about ten minutes. After reviewing it and having a number in his heart, Qin Huai went to look at the ingredients An Youyou chopped.

How to say it, very normal.

It was the helper level of a very normal ordinary restaurant.

Unfortunately, Qin Huai's previous helpers weren't ordinary.

His previous helpers were apprentices from Zhi Wei Ju and formal employees from Huang Ji, and even disciples of Huang Shengli.

When he returned to the village to make Four-Joy Tangyuan, he could find a few people in the village with decent knife-work, and coupled with the fact that Four-Joy Tangyuan didn't have high requirements for knife-work, Qin Huai still felt nothing.

The filling for San Ding Bao was richer, and the requirements for the helper's knife-work were higher, so the sense of falling came out all at once.

Sure enough, it is easy to go from luxury to frugality, but difficult to go from frugality to luxury.

"The knife is not held like this." Master Xiao Qin, who had just learned the correct way to hold the knife, began to impart his learning experience from the past two days, "Look at how you hold the knife, the knife edge is inward, the posture is wrong."

"The posture is wrong, the point of force is wrong; you not only use your wrist to exert force like this, but your upper arm also exerts force; after a long time, you will... oh, you are also used to it, but it is best to correct the posture."

An Youyou followed what Qin Huai said in a daze.

Three minutes later, An Youyou also didn't know how to hold the knife.

Qin Huai felt comfortable in his heart.

Great, it turned out that he wasn't the only one who didn't know how to hold the knife after learning. "There should be radishes in the warehouse; go get radishes and practice chopping; leave the rest to me." Qin Huai pointed to the ingredients that An Youyou had almost finished processing.

What he needed to do was to chop the meat filling that hadn't been chopped yet two more times; there was no technical content, he could chop it.

An Youyou went to the warehouse to find radishes.

"Remember to count how many radishes are in the warehouse; if there are not many radishes, let Huang Xi contact the supplier in the morning and send a few hundred jin of radishes before 4 PM; the quality doesn't need to be too good, but they must be fresh; I have a use for them."

"Okay, Master Xiao Qin."

Qin Huai continued to chop meat, and after chopping the meat, he started to season the filling.

Master-level seasoning allowed Qin Huai to have a deeper understanding and more detailed control of the filling for San Ding Bao.

Qin Huai found that master-level was indeed different from other levels; if Qin Huai felt that the progress from primary to intermediate was only a little bit, and the progress from intermediate to advanced was a small stage leap, then the progress from advanced to master-level was a qualitative leap.

After the seasoning was upgraded to master-level, Qin Huai started to see problems.

Seeing in the physical sense.

Whether the filling is good or not, you know at a glance.

This is the result of extremely rich experience accumulation.

Very magical; clearly, the progress from advanced to master-level was only a moment, but when the seasoning was only advanced, Qin Huai rarely could see it so directly.

It could only be said that master-level is worthy of being master-level.

After a beautiful filling was seasoned, Qin Huai couldn't help but take a photo and send it to Cao Guixiang, Zheng Siyuan, Huang Shengli, Zheng Da, and Tan Weian in turn.

Too beautiful!

After seasoning, Qin Huai started to boil the filling.

Soon, the fragrance of the meat filling for San Ding Bao permeated the kitchen, and with the stirring, the fragrance became stronger and stronger, making An Youyou, who was originally obediently chopping radishes according to Qin Huai's words, couldn't help but look up and stretch her neck toward the stove.

So fragrant.

An Youyou thought.

Is it because she hasn't eaten the snacks made by Master Xiao Qin for too long? Why does she feel that today's filling is especially fragrant, the most fragrant she has ever smelled, making her want to take a spoon and scoop a spoonful from the pot to taste the flavor.

Clearly, Qin Huai used to boil the filling for San Ding Bao and Five Ding Bao in Yunzhong Canteen every day, and Qin Huai returned for a few days during the exchange at Huang Ji, making San Ding Bao for a few days; An Youyou had smelled the fragrance of the filling for San Ding Bao and Five Ding Bao for a long time.

Thinking of this, An Youyou could only despise herself in her heart: An Youyou, An Youyou, the New Year really made you greedy; you weren't like this before.

Actually, it wasn't just An Youyou who had this feeling; Qin Huai also felt the same.

He himself was a bit confused.

Qin Huai knew very well whether his heat control had improved.

It improved, but not much.

Heat control is really too hard to grind.

Heat control didn't have obvious progress, but the filling was much more fragrant than before; is seasoning really that important?

Thinking of this, Qin Huai couldn't help but gasp.

Master-level seasoning, terrifying.

5:30 AM.

"Come, the Four-Joy Tangyuan is out of the pot. Everyone has worked hard this morning; eat some Tangyuan to pad your stomachs first. An Youyou, you remembered the time for boiling Tangyuan just now, right? Four pots boiling four kinds of Tangyuan; don't be afraid of boiling too much."

"Start boiling from 5:50 AM; after boiling, you must let it cool for 3 minutes and 50 seconds after serving, otherwise it won't be easy to explain if the guests get burned when eating."

"The wrapped San Ding Bao and Five Ding Bao, start steaming at 6 o'clock. Keep the radishes just chopped; I'll make radish cake later."

"Chen An, come over here."

"You received the picture I just sent, right? The meat filling for Four-Joy Tangyuan must be made according to this standard; the meat filling just chopped won't do; the bun filling can make do, but the meat filling for Four-Joy Tangyuan absolutely cannot make do; chop some more fat into the meat filling just now, and take it to my dad or you to wrap buns."

Master Qin held the Four-Joy Tangyuan, eating while assigning tasks to the capable generals he could name and use.

An Youyou was afraid she wouldn't remember, so she specifically took a sticky note, wrote down the things Qin Huai ordered, and stuck it on the wall.

Qin Huai rarely got up so early, and when boiling the filling for San Ding Bao, he made himself hungry; now he held the Four-Joy Tangyuan and wolfed down two first, and seeing that everyone was very restrained and didn't eat, he said:

"Eat, the first pot boiled is for everyone to eat."

There were quite a few people in the kitchen, most of them were helpers, and Qin Huai didn't know these helpers, nor could he call their names.

Similarly, these helpers were the same; Qin Huai hadn't returned to Yunzhong Canteen for several months, and everyone only heard his name but didn't see his person.

Chen An and An Youyou, who were relatively familiar with Qin Huai, were busy recording the tasks Qin Huai ordered and didn't eat first; Huang Xi was outside contacting the supplier to order radishes, and others didn't dare to eat.

As for Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen, after they had no work pressure, their routine was basically with Qin Luo, and they wouldn't come to the kitchen with Qin Luo until after 6 o'clock.

Hearing Qin Huai say this, everyone started to eat one after another.

These people were all eating Four-Joy Tangyuan for the first time, and many were even knowing for the first time that there was a snack called Four-Joy Tangyuan.

Almost every helper's first reaction to seeing Four-Joy Tangyuan was: such a big Tangyuan, and it's strange-shaped.

Everyone bit down the first bite together.

"Holy crap."

Don't know who made the first "holy crap."

"Awesome."

Don't know who made the first "awesome."

"Our canteen ate so well before; no wonder those old men and women outside are so reluctant to leave the boss."

"Will my salary be deducted if I eat two bowls?"

"Will you eat if your salary is deducted?"

"Eat!"

"Holy crap, I've never eaten anything so delicious in my life."

Chen An heard the discussion of everyone who seemed to be whispering but actually had a loud voice, thinking in his heart that you people are too good at flattering; the flattery is so deliberate in front of the boss.

The boss's snacks are very delicious, but they aren't delicious to such an exaggerated extent.

Chen An thought in his heart how he should flatter later, while scooping up Tangyuan and biting down the first bite.

He ate the bean paste filling one.

One bite.

The outer skin is soft and glutinous, the bean paste is warm, and you can taste the sandy touch when you purse it in your mouth; it's sweet and not deliberate, and even tastes a silky feeling.

Holy crap, is this bean paste filling?!

If this is bean paste filling, then what are the bean paste buns he ate for so many years before?

"Holy crap!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 292 =====