Chapter 298: Zang Liang

Chen Gong drove Qin Huai to the hotel.

Along the way, Chen Gong kept enthusiastically introducing the famous scenic spots in City A, telling Qin Huai that if Qin Huai wasn't in a hurry to go back, he could arrange for Qin Huai to play in City A for two more days.

Natural scenic areas, university snack streets, famous historical sites, even the several internet-famous check-in spots that have exploded on the internet in the past two years—Chen Gong introduced them one by one. It could be seen that he had specially drafted and prepared in advance.

After introducing these, Chen Gong naturally cut the topic to Yushianfang, where the birthday banquet would be held tomorrow, and took the opportunity to praise Qin Huai's glorious achievement of his snacks appearing on the cover of this year's "Zhiwei" opening issue, indicating that the guests responsible for the pastry at this birthday banquet would definitely be very satisfied with Qin Huai.

After the flattery, Chen Gong smoothly turned the topic to the Haoweidao Company, briefly recounting the wonderful rags-to-riches story of their boss, Han Guishan, and the love story of him and his wife, Wang Jing, who met when they were humble and were deeply in love.

Finally, he ended with the interesting story of the true protagonist of this birthday banquet, Han Youxin, grabbing a bottle of Haoweidao soy sauce during the "grabbing the first birthday" ceremony.

The whole chat had a beginning, middle, and end, with complete story-telling and good structure; it was an excellent work report.

Qin Huai listened quietly the whole time, giving appropriate feedback where feedback was needed from time to time.

Qin Huai feels that Chen Gong is really a very special monster.

He is too normal.

If you just interact and communicate with Chen Gong normally, he is absolutely a very normal normal person.

Quick-thinking, proper in doing things, appropriate in speech, extremely outstanding work ability; he is a model among workers.

He doesn't look like a monster at all.

Among the monsters Qin Huai knows, more or less all of them are a bit strange because of their obsessions, whether it's the ones from the middle lives or the ones from the last life.

Luo Jun, the Bifang who hasn't lost his memory, a professional medical troublemaker, a takeout bad-review giver, the most famous lonely old man in Yunzhong residential area. In the days when he didn't go out and stayed at home as a homebody, his legends always circulated in the residential area.

Chen Huihong, the plant monster of the last life. Among monsters, she is considered normal, but among normal people, she is indeed sometimes overly enthusiastic.

Qu Jing, the little bird of the last life. Her abnormality needs no words; before she woke up, Chen Huihong and Luo Jun were most worried about her suddenly dying one day.

Gong Liang, the E-beast of the middle lives, a legendary figure who divorced his wife three times for the Three-Head Banquet. Even this is considered normal among monsters.

Wang Gensheng, the Xie-zhi, a righteous and professional accountant who hasn't made a fake account or a wrong account for forty years; the gold content needs no words.

As for Chen Huihui...

The Luan bird who is still in elementary school and has already dissipated should just be a good elementary school student and do her homework seriously every day.

Compared with these monsters who are more or less abnormal, Chen Gong is abnormally normal.

What is most abnormal about him is the side quest.

When getting off the car, Chen Gong professionally helped Qin Huai with his luggage. After careful consideration, Qin Huai asked: "Assistant Chen, as General Manager Han's life assistant, you should be very busy at work, right?"

Chen Gong didn't expect that after listening to him talk for the whole way, what Qin Huai cared about most was whether he was busy. He was stunned for a moment, but quickly put away his expression and said: "Life assistant just has to deal with many trivial matters; it doesn't count as busy."

"I have followed General Manager Han since he first founded Haoweidao. General Manager Han treats me well, so it is only right to do my best."

Qin Huai recalled the history of Han Guishan's entrepreneurship that Chen Gong told him on the road. Han Guishan was a peddler who traveled from south to north in his early years, trading goods, and sold many things. After saving a large sum of start-up capital with his wife, he decided to start his own business and founded the current Haoweidao Company, with soy sauce as its main business.

Haoweidao was founded 13 years ago. At the beginning, it didn't sell soy sauce at all; it was just OEM trading condiments everywhere.

If Chen Gong had been following Han Guishan and working by his side since the founding of Haoweidao, at Chen Gong's current age of about 35 and his undergraduate degree, he started working at Haoweidao right after graduating from university. He is a veteran among veterans.

Qin Huai feels that he has found a clue to figure out Chen Gong's personality and more information.

Taking advantage of this birthday banquet, he must have a good chat with Chen Gong's boss, General Manager Han.

He hasn't met this gold-master father who paid him a 50% deposit yet.

Paying the deposit without even meeting; the boss is generous.

Just as Chen Gong said, the hotel is near Yushianfang. Saying "near" is humble; the hotel is right next to Yushianfang, and it's only 30 steps to the left after going out.

As the most famous high-end restaurant in City A, Qin Huai doesn't know if Yushianfang's dishes are worthy of its grand name, but the decoration is definitely worthy.

Just looking at the decoration, it's one word—expensive.

It's the kind of expensive that Qin Huai wouldn't even have the thought of walking in to look at the prices when he passed by this restaurant in college.

Chen Gong booked a private room, 666. When the two walked into the private room, Zang Mu and a young man were already sitting in the room.

"Master Zang, I'm sorry, the road from the airport was a bit jammed, making you wait for a long time. This is Master Qin Huai, Master Qin. Master Qin, this is Master Zang Mu, Master Zang. I have to trouble you both to take care of tomorrow's birthday banquet."

Zang Mu looked to be about forty, with no expression on his face, wearing a dark gray outfit; he is the kind of person you can tell at a glance is not good with words.

Zang Mu stood up and nodded to Qin Huai: "I've long heard of your name, Master Qin. Your *Guo'er* is indeed well-deserved. I specially went to Huang Ji to order it at the beginning of January; it is worthy of being a snack that can appear on the opening cover of "Zhiwei". I'm very happy to cooperate with you for this birthday banquet."

After speaking, Zang Mu pointed to the young man beside him who had already stood up in a respectful apprentice posture: "This is my apprentice, Zang Liang, specially brought here to help me."

"Hello Master Qin, Master Qin, please sit down and drink some hot tea." Zang Liang poured tea for Qin Huai enthusiastically.

Zang is not a common surname. Hearing that Zang Liang and Zang Mu have the same surname, Qin Huai couldn't help but look at Zang Liang and found that the two indeed looked a bit alike, but the age didn't match; Zang Liang should be a relative like Zang Mu's nephew.

It is very common for culinary masters to take apprentices among their own children and nephews; fat water doesn't flow into outsiders' fields. Teaching an apprentice is a painstaking and laborious thing, and it may be thankless. Under the same circumstances, one must prioritize one's own family.

Taking Pei Xing as an example, Pei Xing's resume even has the entry "distant relative of Pei Shenghua," which shows that having a powerful elder is very useful in the culinary circle.

Seeing Qin Huai look at Zang Liang twice, Zang Mu explained: "Zang Liang is my nephew."

Zang Liang showed a smile of a super-connected person.

Everyone sat down, and Chen Gong asked the waiter to serve the dishes. With Chen Gong, the golden-medal domineering president assistant who is good at dancing, present, the meal was eaten with everyone happy.

After the meal, Qin Huai understood a little why Han Guishan still had to spend a lot of money to invite chefs from outside to hold a birthday banquet for his son when there is a high-end restaurant like Yushianfang in City A.

There are also differences between high-end restaurants and high-end restaurants.

In terms of decoration, Huang Ji is far inferior to Yushianfang.

In terms of taste, Yushianfang can't catch up.

If rating high-end restaurants, Huang Ji can at least be rated A, while Yushianfang is at most C-, not even reaching C.

A powerful head chef is simply too important.

After the meal, Chen Gong asked Qin Huai and the others to rest in the private room for a while, while he went to contact the person in charge of Yushianfang to arrange the matters of visiting and familiarizing with the back kitchen.

Just as Chen Gong went out, Zang Mu received a call and followed him out. Only Zang Liang and Qin Huai were left in the private room. Zang Liang couldn't help it anymore.

Qin Huai saw that Zang Liang couldn't help it anymore.

From the start of serving the dishes, Zang Liang's eyes weren't on the dishes, but on Qin Huai. Qin Huai's intuition told him that Zang Liang must have something to say to him, and it would be within three seconds.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Holy crap, brother, you're too awesome!" Zang Liang's first sentence was a classic WeChat message from Tan Weian. "Let's add each other on WeChat. Tan Weian is also my good brother; he has been telling me how awesome you are since the end of December, and he has been saying it for several months."

"I've only heard of your name but never seen your person; today I finally saw you."

"How did you do that filling a few days ago? That bun filling, holy crap, it's really too awesome! If I had that seasoning level, I would walk sideways in the kitchen. I showed that photo to my master, and even my master, who doesn't like to talk, praised it several times."

"Last week, I heard that you were the one responsible for the pastry at this birthday banquet, so I begged my master to bring me along. After pestering him for four or five days, my master finally agreed."

"Tan Weian told me that you need a helper with good knife skills. Me, nicknamed 'Little Prince of Savory Dish Knife Skills,' my knife skills are superb, professional at cutting, and my track record can be checked."

"Brother, pick me as your helper; you definitely won't lose out!"

Qin Huai:...

How did a master as taciturn as Zang Mu bring up an apprentice as jumpy as you? Did the master not say the words, so the apprentice said them all?

"But... aren't you here to help Master Zang?" Qin Huai asked hesitantly.

"That's all superficial talk. I came here this time just to see if Tan Weian was bragging in front of me. Choosing me won't be a loss; my knife skills are much better than Tan Weian's!"

Qin Huai:...

Qin Huai discovered that although he had known Tan Weian for several months, and even spent a period of time together in the kitchen every day chatting about a lot of gossip, he actually knew nothing about Tan Weian.

Every time he sent Tan Weian a photo of the filling, Tan Weian seemed to only reply with "Holy crap, awesome," but in fact, he had been silently forwarding it.

This hobby is really puzzling.

"Okay, let's try it this afternoon." Qin Huai nodded in agreement.

He indeed needed a helper with good knife skills to help him chop the meat filling for the Four-Joy Tangyuan.

Qin Huai didn't expect Zang Liang's knife skills to be as good as Cao Guixiang's level, which could pull the Four-Joy Tangyuan to A-level just by relying on the filling. He only needed Zang Liang's knife skills to be better than Li Hua's, preferably being able to pull the Four-Joy Tangyuan to A+ level on the basis of being A-level.

Plus the special buff of the birthday banquet.

Tomorrow's Four-Joy Tangyuan will definitely be the most beautiful one at the birthday banquet!

Easily complete Chen Gong's side quest and let his dear boss, Han Guishan, shine at the birthday banquet.

When Zang Mu came back after answering the phone, Zang Liang and Qin Huai had already added each other on WeChat, and the two sat silently in the private room chatting via WeChat.

By the way, Zang Liang has many "holy crap" expression packs, the kind that can be sent in a row for a dozen without repeating.

Around 2:00, Chen Gong and a middle-aged man returned to the private room. Qin Huai initially thought this middle-aged man was Tong Deyan and was about to stand up to greet him and say hello to Master Tong, when he heard Zang Mu say faintly:

"Han Zong."

Han Zong!

Han Guishan!

Gold-master father!

The smile on Qin Huai's face immediately changed from seeing a peer master to seeing a gold-master father, and his voice also sounded much more enthusiastic: "Han Zong, I've long heard of your name, long heard of your name; I haven't been able to meet you."

Han Guishan didn't stand on ceremony either, saying happily: "I'm the one who has long heard of your name. Master Qin, I'm really sorry; it was agreed to go to Huang Ji to test dishes, but I really couldn't get away because of something here."

"Little Chen just received a call; Master Tong has already gotten off the plane and is on his way. Yushianfang's back kitchen has also been cleaned up. Shall we not waste time and go directly to the back kitchen to test dishes?"

"It just so happens that I can also taste the big dishes for tomorrow's birthday banquet in advance."

"Of course." Qin Huai nodded. "Assistant Chen, I don't know if the filling I sent before..."

"It's all in the freezer in the back kitchen."

"That's fine."

Seeing Qin Huai agree so readily, Zang Mu hesitated and walked to Han Guishan's side and whispered: "Han Zong, testing dishes is of course no problem; all banquets must be tested in advance. But many dishes need to be prepared in advance, and it's too late to make them now. This afternoon, I might only be able to make a few simple dishes. What do you think..."

"It's all fine, it's all fine; I'm just here to taste the flavor." Han Guishan indicated that he wasn't a difficult Party A. "Tomorrow's birthday banquet is all arranged by Little Chen; I'm at ease with Little Chen's work, and I'm also at ease with the dishes Little Chen tests."

Hearing Han Guishan say this, Chen Gong straightened his back even more.

"I just heard that there is dish testing this afternoon, so I came over to taste the flavor. You test however you test, and do whatever you should do." Han Guishan's face was full of "I don't understand, I'm just responsible for paying, not interfering, not intervening, only paying."

Hearing Han Guishan say this, Zang Mu was relieved.

Many chefs are unwilling to take such catering orders from big bosses because they are afraid that the boss doesn't understand the industry, but feels that he has spent a lot of money and doesn't want to lose out by not making some tricky demands. The "colorful black" and "brilliant white" will not only appear on design-type Party A, but also on banquet-type Party A.

Chen Gong led everyone to the kitchen, with Han Guishan and Qin Huai walking at the end.

Qin Huai's intuition told him that Han Guishan had something to say to him.

Sure enough, Han Guishan rubbed his hands and walked to Qin Huai's side.

"Master Qin, I heard from Xu Cheng that you are from Guangdong Province and know many kinds of snacks. I don't know if it's convenient..."

Qin Huai heard the string song and knew the elegant meaning: "What does General Manager Han want to eat?"

"Pickled vegetable dumplings!"

Qin Huai:?

What kind of snack is a pickled vegetable dumpling? It doesn't sound very delicious.

"It's a kind of snack from my hometown, solid dumplings made with pickled vegetables and corn flour. I haven't eaten them for many years. I don't know if you, Master Xiao Qin..."

Although Qin Huai didn't know what a pickled vegetable dumpling was, hearing Han Guishan describe it, he felt it should be a very simple snack, so he agreed without thinking: "After the dish testing is over, if there is time, I will try to make some for you, General Manager Han."

"But there are no such pickled vegetable dumplings in my hometown; I don't know if they will suit your taste when the time comes."

Han Guishan was overjoyed: "It's really troubling you, Master Qin; I've already prepared the ingredients."

"No trouble, no trouble, just a small matter."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 299 =====