Chapter 3: Warming the Pot Meal (Thanks to Mrs. Gou for drawing the cover!)

"What's so hard?" Qin Luo returned with a pack of original-flavor potato chips and the iced black tea Ouyang wanted, handing the drink to him. "Brother, where are we eating later?"

"Your brother Ouyang says you can't find a cleaning job nowadays for less than 5k a month; it's really tough." Qin Huai replied nonsensically despite having read the message. "We'll have stir-fry. There's a place right next to the nearby mall; the renovation looks decent in the photos."

Qin Luo's eyes immediately lit up. "5k! Cleaning pays 5k! Brother, hire me as a cleaner when your canteen opens. I don't start school until September; I'll work for just 4k."

"If that's too much, 3.5k works too!"

Qin Luo immediately started undercutting herself.

Ouyang: ...Has this kid gone money-mad?

"Is your family in such dire straits?" Ouyang whispered to Qin Huai.

Dire enough that his own daughter, fresh from her high school entrance exams, needs to work as a cleaner to subsidize the household?

Qin Huai: "...Not exactly. It's mainly that Luo Luo owes me a lot of money."

The look in Ouyang's eyes instantly changed to one of horror: You beast! You even swindle your own sister's money; are you even human?

"To motivate Luo Luo to study, my parents set a rule: she can only order specific dim sum if she ranks high enough in her exams. Otherwise, she can only eat the buns our family sells."

"But Luo Luo has a sweet tooth. If she couldn't have them, she'd throw tantrums, cry, and threaten to hang herself, insisting on using her allowance and New Year's gift money to buy them. Since her academic performance throughout junior high was less than ideal, she kept buying them. Up to now, she already owes me..." Qin Huai checked his phone's memo app, "18,612 yuan."

Ouyang: ?

"Does your family eat a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast every day?"

"Not really. Just some simple dim sum, like Crab Shell Crisps, Five-Dice Buns, Four-Joy Dumplings, Pea Yellow Paste, Donkey Rolls, White Jade Frost Cakes, Victory Cakes, Hibiscus Cakes, Eight-Treasure Cakes, Lotus Starch Balls, Buddha's Hand Pastries, Golden Thread Shumai, Sugar Fire Buns, and Kidney Bean Rolls. I set very affordable prices; it's just that the portions are large, so over time she accumulated this much debt."

Ouyang: ???

Isn't your family running a breakfast shop?

Do breakfast shops in your Guangdong county town sell these things?

During lunch, Ouyang's mind was filled with Crab Shell Crisps, Five-Dice Buns, Four-Joy Dumplings, Pea Yellow Paste, Donkey Rolls, and White Jade Frost Cakes; he didn't even hear what everyone else at the table was saying.

What, you want to know if Ouyang disliked the remaining dim sum? He could only say there were too many to remember.

"Xiao Ou, what do you think of Xiao Qin's idea?"

Ouyang, whose mind was still full of Crab Shell Crisps, was jolted awake by Chen Huihong's words. He belatedly uttered an "Ah?" and asked, "What idea?"

"Xiao Qin thinks that with the Yunzhong Canteen being so large, using both floors solely as a community canteen is wasteful. Instead, the first floor could sell dim sum while the second floor serves dine-in meals. This would increase variety and create a unique feature. I think it's a great idea. There are plenty of restaurants in our area, but not many dim sum shops, and certainly none with such a large dine-in space. Xiao Qin said you've tasted his cooking, so your opinion carries weight," Chen Huihong said.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ouyang replied, "Xiao Qin's dim sum skills are undoubtedly top-notch. Sister Hong, if you go ask around our school now, you might still find senior students who remember Master Huai's brand meat buns."

Chen Huihong grew interested. "You sold dim sum at your school?"

"Not exactly sold. One year, our school followed a trend and held a cooking competition, seemingly organized by the contractor of Canteen Six. The top ten participants could earn academic credits, ranks two through four received cash prizes, and first place not only got a cash prize but also a one-year unlimited dining card for Canteen Six," Qin Huai explained.

"And you took first place?" Chen Huihong asked curiously. Even Chen Huihui, who had just recovered from a fever and still looked pale, lacking appetite and energy, tilted her head to look at Qin Huai.

"No, I came in second. Probably because I made dim sum, which was easier to distribute in portions. The stir-fries other students made had limited serving sizes. Many students tasted my dim sum, so they remembered me more vividly."

Ouyang waved his hand, cutting in: "What do you mean 'easier to distribute'? The person who took first place was the contractor of Canteen Six's nephew; he rigged the competition. His boiled fish clearly tasted like it was made from a pre-packaged seasoning mix; the flavor was identical to what my mom makes. I've eaten it for twenty years, so I recognized the brand immediately. How could that compare to the buns you made, Qin Huai? Your meat buns had thin skins, generous fillings, meat juices soaking into the dough without leaking oil, and the skin was chewy. They were eight hundred streets better than Canteen Six's overnight meat buns!" As he spoke, Ouyang nearly started drooling, his face filled with nostalgia. "Pity that you only cooked that once. Later, during our club activities, when we asked you to cook, the stir-fry you made... sigh, let's not talk about it."

Qin Huai: ?

Hearing Ouyang say this, Qin Luo nodded in agreement. "My brother's stir-fry isn't good; it's not even as tasty as the ten-yuan stir-fry place next door. My mom says it's like God opening a door for you while shutting a window."

Qin Huai: ??

Hearing the two of them speak, Chen Huihong smiled. "Then Xiao Qin's idea is certainly worth a try. Listening to you both, I'm tempted to taste it myself."

Before he could throw out three question marks, Chen Huihong's words caused a slight shift in Qin Huai's expression.

In his side quest log, the quest [Chen Huihong's Approval] was still waiting.

Although the title [Chen Huihong's Approval] might not be useful, Qin Huai still considered the reward of +100 popularity traffic to be quite good.

What Ouyang said earlier was actually correct. The canteen space itself was free, but labor, utilities, and other costs represented a significant expense. With such fierce competition in the nearby catering industry, the community canteen might not necessarily make a profit.

In such circumstances, attracting traffic during the opening was crucial.

Twenty years ago, when Qin Congwen's Qin Ji Breakfast Shop opened, everyone knew to offer free soy milk with purchased buns and set off dozens of strings of firecrackers to boost popularity and draw crowds.

Qin Huai was worrying about how to get closer to Chen Huihong and bring up the Parent-Child Cooking Day; Chen Huihong's remark was like a pillow delivered just as he was feeling sleepy.

"Sister Hong, if you're interested, you can taste it tonight. My stir-frying might indeed be lacking, but my dim sum is quite good. Since we're moving and need to warm the pot, if everyone doesn't mind, come to my place tonight for some dim sum as our main meal. Consider it warming my new home," Qin Huai said with a smile.

"Is there anything specific you want to eat?" As he spoke, Qin Huai glanced at Chen Huihui and repeated the question with a beaming smile.

Chen Huihui, being rather timid, quickly shrank her neck upon seeing Qin Huai staring at her and instinctively looked toward her mother, Chen Huihong.

"Brother, I want Four-Joy Dumplings!" Qin Luo ordered eagerly.

"Brother... ah, no, Qin Huai, I want meat buns!" Ouyang blurted out as well.

As soon as he finished speaking, Ouyang regretted it. Why order meat buns? At a time like this, he should have ordered Crab Shell Crisps, Five-Dice Buns, Four-Joy Dumplings, Pea Yellow Paste, Donkey Rolls, and White Jade Frost Cakes.

Regardless of the flavor, he should have ordered everything he hadn't tried first.

Seeing that both had ordered, Chen Huihong thought for a moment and said, "Red bean buns, then. Huihui loves sweets."

Chen Huihui nodded.

"Alright, those three items then. I'll also wrap some small wontons. Everyone come to my place at 6:30 tonight for the house-warming meal," Qin Huai decided firmly, settling the matter.

The cover art is super beautiful! (Super loud!!!)

(End of Chapter)