Chapter 330: Pei Xing

After finishing the radishes, Qin Huai went to taste the crab roe sauce that Zheng Siyuan had processed for the second time. He pointed out two portions that he felt were the best for crab roe noodles, and which might also be good for double-crab buns.

It was rare for Zheng Siyuan to disagree with Qin Huai. Qin Huai was now leaning towards the crab roe sauce having a less heavy seasoning, but Zheng Siyuan insisted that since they were using crab roe sauce, it had to make people taste that it wasn't fresh crab roe.

The two rarely had such a major disagreement, yet this was a matter of fundamental philosophy and direction. Neither could convince the other; everyone had their own intuition and ideas.

After discussing for five or six minutes, Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan unanimously felt that both directions could be researched.

The crab roe sauce version of the double-crab bun was originally derived from the foundation of the original double-crab bun. If Master Jing could create a new recipe, there was no reason Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan couldn't. The two of them were meant to modify the recipe anyway.

Since they had already violated the ancestors' decision, they might as well violate it to the end. Who said double-crab buns could only have two versions?

What if the third version was also delicious?

In the end, the two did not reach a consensus on the flavor and research direction, but they reached a high degree of consensus on being unconventional. Zheng Siyuan decided to process the crab roe sauce in both directions simultaneously. Following Qin Huai's line of thought, they would first use the crab roe sauce to make crab roe noodles, and only after making what they felt was the most suitable version would they make the double-crab buns.

At this point, someone might ask: why not just make the double-crab buns directly? Is it that they don't know how?

Yes, they don't know how.

The last time the double-crab buns failed, it caused Zheng Siyuan a great deal of psychological trauma. Although Zheng Siyuan didn't say it out loud, Qin Huai could tell from the fact that he insisted on stir-frying a large amount of crab roe sauce every day but never mentioned the words "double-crab bun" that until Zheng Siyuan made a satisfactory crab roe sauce, he would not make double-crab buns.

Qin Huai really didn't know how to make them.

He was still researching sea cucumber, and he needed some time. At the very least, he had to thoroughly understand the ingredient of sea cucumber before he could start learning how to make double-crab buns.

Because Zheng Siyuan stir-fried enough crab roe sauce, Qin Huai spent the rest of his afternoon basically making hand-pulled noodles. The crab roe noodles were sold from 5:00 PM until 6:30 PM, and many office workers managed to catch them.

The office workers who caught them ate a bite of cheap mung bean cake and a bite of high-priced crab roe noodles. The mung bean cake was light and sweet but not cloying, with the unique, fresh taste of mung beans, while the crab roe noodles were relatively rich in flavor, full of the umami of crab roe, and were a heavy, simple carbohydrate bomb brought about by the starch thickening. They didn't pair well, but that didn't matter.

The point was that the mung bean cake was cheap. After buying the crab roe noodles, it was hard to make a painful decision and kill their wallets to eat other expensive desserts.

What? You ask why they didn't eat radish cake, when radish cake was clearly cheaper?

That might be because they weren't that poor yet, or it might be because everyone had a sense of taste and felt that mung bean cake tasted better than radish cake.

Currently, the crab roe noodles were on special for 138 per portion. The hand-pulled noodles were wrapped in plenty of crab roe; eating them was about satisfaction and chewiness. Eating them meant earning a profit.

Old customers of Yunzhong Canteen all knew that the specials at Yunzhong Canteen were real specials.

These special-priced desserts would only appear when Assistant Xiao Qin was practicing extensively. Once Qin Huai finished practicing, the quantity wouldn't be as large as before, and the price wouldn't be as cheap as before.

Missing a special-priced item was a mistake.

Now that they had caught them, 138 for crab roe noodles wasn't cheap if you looked at the price alone. But it was crab roe noodles, it was crab roe stir-fried personally by Master Xiao Zheng, and noodles hand-pulled personally by Assistant Xiao Qin. Selling them at this price was simply moving.

If you were short on cash, even if you only had 130 in your pocket, you had to call a good brother to borrow 8 to eat this bowl of noodles, and then consider how to get home later.

Of course, the above behavior belongs to advance consumption and is not supported. After all, you wouldn't want to find that your Engel coefficient was maxed out this month when looking at your monthly bill.

After Qin Huai finished the crab roe noodles and ate two portions himself, he began to communicate with Boss Su on WeChat about the specific details of the exchange.

How many people would come from Does Zhi Wei Ju and who would come didn't matter. Just as Zheng Siyuan said, as long as it was Does Zhi Wei Ju's capability, it was guaranteed, and they would be more than enough as helpers.

Two or three wasn't too many, eight or nine wasn't too few.

As a community canteen, Yunzhong Canteen's kitchen was definitely big enough, arguably on par with Huang Ji. At the same time, the kitchen staff was far fewer than Huang Ji's. If Boss Su was really willing to send a few more people over, for Qin Huai, it was just a matter of ordering cooking stations.

Since they were bringing their own dry rations and coming to work for free, Qin Huai was still very willing to pay that cost.

The focus of their discussion was when Qin Huai would go to Does Zhi Wei Ju for the exchange.

In Boss Su's opinion, this date should naturally be as soon as possible. It would be best to go to Does Zhi Wei Ju in May or June and exchange until August or September. By then, there would be no need to worry about Yunzhong Canteen's business; Does Zhi Wei Ju had plenty of pastry chefs, and Boss Su could send two more capable generals to work at Yunzhong Canteen, realizing a true exchange of space.

In Boss Su's words, Does Zhi Wei Ju was already eager to welcome Qin Huai with open arms. Whether it was apprentices or master chefs, everyone was very much looking forward to Qin Huai's arrival.

Even Does Zhi Wei Ju's top dog, the true number one pastry chef, Master Zhou, appreciated Qin Huai very much. He felt that Qin Huai learning from Zheng Da was misleading the youth; what results could he learn following Zheng Da? That Zheng-surnamed guy was not attending to his proper duties, doing business and opening factories, and he couldn't even speak clearly. He didn't understand at all what kind of exchange should exist between pastry chefs.

Huang Shengli was not bad, but Huang Ji was ultimately just a restaurant focusing on savory dishes; they couldn't find anyone with real insights into pastry.

Exchanges between pastry chefs still had to look at their Does Zhi Wei Ju. Their Does Zhi Wei Ju was the well-deserved number one faction in the pastry world, the Whampoa Military Academy of the pastry world, the regular army, with famous teachers gathered, and the teaching staff was visible and guaranteed.

By the end of the chat, Boss Su had even sent the glorious resumes of all the master chefs at Does Zhi Wei Ju. He was just short of sending an advertisement directly to Qin Huai, and he had even thought of the slogan: for exchange and learning, coming to Does Zhi Wei Ju is the right choice.

Qin Huai's feedback to this was:...

Qin Huai didn't care much about the resumes and slogans of the master chefs sent by Boss Su. In fact, there was no need for Boss Su to send them; when he was at Huang Ji a few days ago, Tan Weian would also promote them casually. As a direct descendant of Does Zhi Wei Ju, Tan Weian was also very familiar with the situation of Does Zhi Wei Ju's master chefs, knowing exactly which master was good at what and what the signature desserts were, and he would often recommend them.

What shocked Qin Huai was that the grudge between Boss Su and Zheng Da was actually so deep that when promoting his own restaurant, he didn't forget to spend some words to belittle Zheng Da.

According to Tan Weian's description of Master Zhou, Qin Huai felt that the above words were not said by Master Zhou.

Master Zhou would definitely think so, but he would definitely not say it like that.

Combining the Moments posts of Boss Su scolding people that Qin Huai had liked these days with his scolding style, Qin Huai felt that the above words were the original words Boss Su wanted to scold Zheng Da with in his heart.

In the end, Qin Huai didn't finalize the specific exchange time with Boss Su, but Qin Huai was more inclined towards July to September.

During this time, Qin Luo would be on summer vacation. The tutors recommended by Gong Liang were all in Gusu, and Does Zhi Wei Ju was in Hangcheng. Gusu was relatively close to Hangcheng. By then, Qin Huai could take Qin Luo with him, and it would be convenient for Qin Luo to take tutoring classes.

After all, if the tutors were to come from Gusu to Shancheng, the journey was so long that some tutors might not be willing.

And by September, crabs would be on the market. It was the season when crab roe was plump and delicious. The authentic double-crab buns and crab roe shumai could be put on the agenda. Qin Huai could just seamlessly transition to Huang Ji for an exchange in September, giving Huang Ji's diners a big surprise.

Just thinking about it, Qin Huai felt that he was really too thoughtful.

Oh, he was really a thoughtful good brother.

After the matter was settled, Boss Su immediately indicated that he would select people tomorrow, arrange for the exchange personnel to set off the day after tomorrow, and the exchange students would be on duty the day after that.

Efficiency was just that high.

In the evening, Qin Huai briefly mentioned this matter in the employee group, informing everyone that a batch of Does Zhi Wei Ju exchange students would come to work the day after tomorrow, and asked everyone to prepare to welcome the new colleagues. As a boss, Qin Huai rarely spoke in the employee group, and he had also muted this group all year round. After sending the message, Qin Huai didn't pay attention to the group, played with his phone for a while, chatted with Tan Weian for a few sentences, and asked Tan Weian if Gu Li would come along for the exchange.

Qin Huai quite liked Gu Li's personality of not talking much and just burying his head in work. If talent wasn't enough, sweat would make up for it. Gu Li was also a king of involution among kings of involution at Does Zhi Wei Ju, where kings of involution frequently appeared. No boss would dislike such a king of involution.

Tan Weian indicated that if Qin Huai named him, Gu Li would definitely go. After all, Gu Li's status at Does Zhi Wei Ju was also quite awkward. His master had already passed away, and he himself was indeed a direct disciple. The other master chefs would often give Gu Li a few pointers out of respect for the late Master Tan, but that was all.

After all, he wasn't their own disciple, so it wasn't right to really teach him as a personal disciple. Not to mention that Gu Li's talent wasn't very good, and many master chefs weren't very willing to teach him.

While chatting with Tan Weian, Qin Huai finally understood why Cao Guixiang would say that Qin Huai was more suitable for exchange without a master. Disciples of famous teachers would have the halo of famous teachers, but at the same time, they would also be bound by famous teachers. Casually giving pointers to other people's personal disciples would sometimes lead to some unnecessary trouble, and many people would simply not give pointers to avoid these troubles.

After chatting about gossip with Tan Weian for a while, Qin Huai thought about having to get up early tomorrow to make crab roe noodles, so he put down his phone and fell into a deep sleep, continuing to research sea cucumber in his dreams.

What Qin Huai didn't know was that he was asleep, but someone couldn't sleep.

That person was Pei Xing.

When Pei Xing saw the message Qin Huai sent, he only felt that the sky had collapsed.

Out of the basic quality of being a Does Zhi Wei Ju apprentice, Pei Xing knew well that apprentices could not pry into the private lives of master chefs, especially when it involved culinary exchange techniques. Therefore, every time Qin Huai made a video call for an online class, Pei Xing and Li Hua would stay far away.

Of course, even if they stayed far away, they could occasionally hear some things.

Pei Xing swore he wasn't eavesdropping on purpose.

Alright, actually a little bit on purpose.

But his eavesdropping technique wasn't very good, and he couldn't lip-read, so the things he could hear were very limited, and every time he could only hear a few keywords.

This afternoon, Pei Xing felt as if Qin Huai was talking about Does Zhi Wei Ju or something, but Pei Xing didn't pay attention.

Working in the pastry chef industry, it was really hard not to get involved with Does Zhi Wei Ju. What new product Does Zhi Wei Ju had released, which peerless genius apprentice Does Zhi Wei Ju had produced that had been favored by a master chef, which master chef at Does Zhi Wei Ju had made further progress.

In the pastry chef circle, Does Zhi Wei Ju was the eternal center of gossip. Not to mention that Pei Xing was a graduate who couldn't keep up with the involution at Does Zhi Wei Ju and had voluntarily given up and run out to find a job. He would also often care about the situation of his alma mater on weekdays and eat the melons of his alma mater.

But Pei Xing didn't expect it to be this kind of relationship.

He had been at Does Zhi Wei Ju for so many years and had only ever heard of others going to Does Zhi Wei Ju for exchanges. When would Does Zhi Wei Ju send apprentices out for exchanges?

Is this reasonable? Is this right?? Is this supposed to be???

One An Youyou was already difficult enough to deal with. Although she wasn't very good at involution, she was very good at flattering. If a few more from Does Zhi Wei Ju came...

How to involute? What to use to involute?!

Pei Xing had run out to find a job back then because he couldn't keep up with that group of kings of involution at Does Zhi Wei Ju. Who knew they would still chase and kill him.

Pei Xing only felt that the sky had collapsed.

Pei Xing contacted Li Hua at the first opportunity, asking him what to do.

As a chef from Does Zhi Wei Ju, Pei Xing knew the nature of these former colleagues too well.

In order to leave a good impression on the master chef, they would do anything. Basic skills like making tea, serving tea, rubbing shoulders, and massaging didn't need to be mentioned; the scripts were exactly the same.

Starting with "Master XX, I have a question I want to ask you," and ending with "Shut up, thank you so much, I have realized."

Interspersed with some admiring expressions, exclamation words, humble bowing, and inquisitive eyes in the middle, the specific operation depended on individual acting skills, but anyway, everyone came through like this.

Those who were more advanced would come very early, leave very late, clean up, be busy, and show concern. They would inquire about the master chef's taste, what tea they liked to drink, what hobbies they had, what small desserts they liked to eat, and what style of chair they liked to sit on.

Active, but with a sense of proportion.

Involuted, very involuted, very and extremely especially involuted.

The company stipulated that work started at 7:00, and this group of kings of involution could make you feel that arriving at the company at 6:30 was already late.

Previously, Pei Xing felt that An Youyou was the number one enemy. Now, Pei Xing felt that An Youyou was nothing more than that.

Admittedly, Master Qin valued An Youyou very much, treated her differently, and took extra care of her, but An Youyou was bad at cooking.

She was bad to the point of having no threat. Many times, if he wanted An Youyou to ask Master Qin fewer questions and leave the opportunity to ask to himself, Pei Xing only needed to go over and teach An Youyou himself.

Now it was different. Now many competitors had come, and even Tan Weian had come.

Heavens, what is the situation at Does Zhi Wei Ju now? How come even direct disciples have come out to involute!

Pei Xing asked Li Hua almost desperately what to do tomorrow.

Li Hua replied to the message in seconds.

Li Hua: Just do your own job well. Master Qin is not that kind of person.

It was comforting, but not completely comforting.

Pei Xing could only move his alarm clock forward by another hour, quietly go to work early, and involute Li Hua to death before the group of kings of involution from Does Zhi Wei Ju arrived.

The next day, 6:00 AM—

Pei Xing walked into Yunzhong Canteen with the determination that today he would involute Li Hua to death, only to find that Li Hua had already finished kneading two batches of dough in the kitchen.

"You're here, morning." Li Hua greeted with a smile, "You came at a really good time. I'm helping Chen An fry dough sticks. Luo Luo wants to eat dough sticks today."

Pei Xing:???

He thought he was on the second floor, but it turned out Li Hua was in the atmosphere.

Holy crap, even curve-saving the country, frying dough sticks for Qin Luo, and using Qin Luo's mouth to let Qin Huai know that he came to the canteen to work so early today, you Li Hua can even do such things!

Holy crap, why didn't I think of that?

Pei Xing's intestines were green with regret, and his teeth were about to be bitten to pieces.

He was really stupid, really. Last night he only thought about the group of kings of involution from Does Zhi Wei Ju coming, forgetting that Li Hua was also a king of involution from Does Zhi Wei Ju before, the kind that was more involuted than himself.

He himself counted as half a connection, while Li Hua was a proper apprentice, always in the most involuted track.

Pei Xing: qaq

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 331 =====