Chapter 370: True Warriors

When Qin Huai and the others officially began making the Double Crab Buns, Qin Huai discovered that things were going even more smoothly than he had imagined.

How to describe this feeling?

Even though he knew clearly that there were still problems with what everyone was doing now, and these problems existed in every aspect—such as a lack of adaptation, poor coordination, imperfections in certain areas, or simply insufficient technical skill—he knew exactly where the issues lay.

Knowing where the problem lies means there is no problem.

Qin Huai had never felt his team coordinate with such tacit understanding; perhaps this was because there had essentially been no team coordination before. When making the Four Joys Soup Dumplings, it was mostly him and Zheng Zheng Zheng Siyuan discussing things together, while everyone else worked independently.

As for that tacit understanding, it had actually been honed during their previous failures.

Zang Liang was very skilled at coordinating with others; perhaps because he was not yet a head chef capable of standing alone, his daily work consisted of assisting the head chef. Tan Wei'an's skills might not have been that good, nor his coordination, but it didn't matter, because he truly wasn't that important.

As for Zheng Zheng Zheng Siyuan, he and Qin Huai knew each other far too well.

He knew Qin Huai's habits when making pastries, knew Qin Huai's strengths and advantages, and understood himself even better; therefore, in the matter of coordinating with Qin Huai, Zheng Zheng Zheng Siyuan was actually performing the best.

After six batches of coordination, each with its own issues, starting from the seventh batch, the four-person team's Double Crab Buns finally began to take shape.

"Taste this." Qin Huai handed a bun that had just come out of the pot, cooled for two minutes so it was slightly hot but edible, to Tan Wei'an, asking him to do a taste test.

Right now, Tan Wei'an was the best taste tester.

A taste tester like Seeing Seeing Ouyang, who could only handle quantity but not guarantee quality, was useless at this moment; it required a professional like Tan Wei'an, even though Tan Wei'an had already eaten six buns earlier and had even gnawed on two more during lunch.

They could only ask him to eat a bit more.

Tan Wei'an tried very hard.

He knew that the organization asking him to help process sea cucumbers was just to find him some work to do; the organization assigning him to taste-test the buns was the true sign of trust, and this was where he truly needed to shine and generate heat.

Tan Wei'an forced himself to take a bite, his eyes lighting up while his stomach felt so full he was nauseous; he chewed diligently, covering his mouth to prevent himself from spitting the bun out, but in the end, he couldn't hold it back and spat it out while chewing, accidentally bringing up a bit of the buns he had eaten earlier that were already stuck in his throat.

The scene became extremely chaotic for a moment; anyone who didn't know better would have thought Tan Wei'an was carsick.

"I think this batch is better than all the previous ones," Tan Wei'an insisted on working during his intervals of vomiting. "Ugh... the dough skin is the same as before, feeling like there's no room for improvement, and the crab roe paste isn't much different either, but I detected a slight unusual taste from the sea cucumber, yet I feel this flavor pairs very well with the crab roe paste."

"It's just... just... ugh... this is the feeling the Crab Roe Pork Diced Baozi gave me; the previous buns were all lacking a bit. I can clearly taste that it is a bun made from a dish created with sea cucumber and crab roe; it wraps a good dish inside a bun, making the taste very unique and delicious."

"It has the intense fresh flavor of crab roe, the unique texture of sea cucumber, and even that unusual sea cucumber taste one wouldn't normally encounter when eating a regular dish. But it isn't a dish; it is a bun, and this unusual taste inside a bun creates a very special sensation."

"It's just... just... ugh... I think that's exactly it! This time it's right, no problems!"

All three of them were moved by Tan Wei'an's dedication to his duty.

Actually, when Tan Wei'an ate the fifth bun, everyone could clearly see he was struggling to eat more. Zang Liang had also advised him to stop taste-testing, noting that there were three other people here who could do it, so there was no need to rely solely on Tan Wei'an; previously, during taste tests, Tan Wei'an never ate this many buns.

But Tan Wei'an insisted on doing all the taste-testing until they saw the dawn of victory, because a good tongue should be used where it matters most. He, Tan Wei'an, was not only the weakest and most useless member of the team, but also the most suitable person to identify problems when it came to taste-testing.

During this phase of identifying problems, it should be him eating; only when the buns were perfected and required refinement would it be necessary for Qin Huai and the other two to step in.

Qin Huai poured a cup of tea for Tan Wei'an, Zang Liang brought over a chair, and Zheng Zheng Zheng Siyuan found a new trash can for him, telling him that his work was done and he could rest and recover.

This was truly a work-related injury from eating.

"I don't want to sit now; sitting down makes me want to vomit even more, just let me stand," Tan Wei'an said weakly after vomiting, looking up at Qin Huai. "Does this mean our bun is finally successful?"

One could see that Tan Wei'an really wanted to create the Double Crab Diced Baozi; even if he wasn't the one making the bun, he very much wanted to see a successful Double Crab Diced Baozi.

Qin Huai didn't speak; instead, he picked up a bun, took a bite, savored it carefully, then nodded followed by shaking his head.

"It's better than all the previous ones, but it should still be lacking a little."

Tan Wei'an: qaq

"Ugh..."

"You've probably eaten so much you've upset your stomach; let me find someone to accompany you to the hospital. Wait a moment, I'll call Seeing Seeing Ouyang. You shouldn't have finished all those previous buns; with your appetite, you simply couldn't handle that many buns, and you should have stopped long ago."

"Ugh... I just felt we were so close, maybe if I ate two more it would be perfect, ugh..."

Upon learning that Tan Wei'an had tried so hard at taste-testing that he ate until he was overly full and needed to go to the hospital, Seeing Seeing Ouyang, who had frequently eaten until overly full himself during these days, was deeply moved. He felt that although Tan Wei'an lacked ability, his spirit was simply a model for their taste-testing community, and he immediately borrowed a car to drive Tan Wei'an to the hospital.

After sending Tan Wei'an off in the car, Zang Liang sighed, "This is the first time I've seen Tan Wei'an work this hard, even if it wasn't on cooking."

"Even when he couldn't make pastries as a child and was scolded by his grandfather, he never showed such determination; does he really want to make the Double Crab Diced Baozi that much?"

Qin Huai, however, somewhat understood Tan Wei'an: "Perhaps it's because he participated, and this is the closest he has ever been to success."

"Last time when making the Four Joys Soup Dumplings, although he helped with the research, there was actually no real work for him to do; he was just watching from the sidelines."

"Actually participating and observing coldly from the side are two different experiences. Tan Wei'an is very lazy, but that doesn't mean he lacks ambition. Not to mention that the recipe for the Double Crab Diced Baozi actually belongs to his great-grandfather, and he loves crab roe pastries so much; perhaps in his heart, he wants to make the Double Crab Diced Baozi more than any of us, he just lacks the ability and has never said anything."

"Is that so?" Zang Liang said thoughtfully. "So it turns out his grandfather's previous teaching method of combining the stick with the carrot didn't suit him; beating Tan Wei'an is useless, and setting rewards for him is also useless; he must be forced to practice."

"Forced hard."

"I must tell Master Zhou this good news; right now, in the entire Zhi Wei Ju, the person Tan Wei'an fears most is Master Zhou."

Qin Huai:...

Although Zang Liang did seem to be Tan Wei'an's good brother, since they could both experience a 'buff' when eating Crab Roe Pork Buns and the first person they thought of was each other, this brotherhood of theirs seemed a bit...

... like they wanted to kill each other.

"Let's continue," Zheng Zheng Zheng Siyuan said. "Tan Wei'an said this batch of buns is better than the previous ones, so let's press our advantage and pursue victory."

The three of them, Qin Huai included, continued making the Double Crab Buns.

They worked until 7 PM in the afternoon.

The office workers who came to the Yunzhong Canteen after getting off work in the afternoon to snap up food were ecstatic, especially those who had taken leave in the morning to successfully purchase the Crab Roe Pork Buns.

Taking leave in the morning was done specifically to rush and buy them; with a mindset of being determined to succeed or die trying, even if their bosses blew up their phones threatening to deduct all their bonuses, they persisted in queuing at the Yunzhong Canteen until they bought the Crab Roe Pork Buns.

When they had already managed to buy and eat them in the morning, their mindset while queuing again in the afternoon was different.

Just queue casually; maybe we can buy some?

As it turned out, it was quite coincidental; Qin Huai, Zheng Zheng Zheng Siyuan, and the others rarely made pastries until 7 PM in the evening, after all, they basically started work at the canteen shortly after 7 AM, and they had very little break time in between.

Excluding half an hour for eating and half an hour for resting, if one worked from 7 AM to 7 PM, Qin Huai would be working eleven hours a day. As a pastry chef not from Zhi Wei Ju, this working hours were undoubtedly an excessive workload.

Even the head chefs of Zhi Wei Ju wouldn't work with such high intensity, after all, the head chefs had long passed the stage where they needed to frantically learn their craft.

Under normal circumstances, even if Qin Huai worked overtime, his pastries should have sold out by five or six in the evening.

But today was abnormal; Qin Huai and the others worked until 7 PM before getting off work.

Moreover, it was a 7 PM finish involving a three-person coordinated mass-production mode.

The Double Crab Buns continued selling until 7:40 PM before selling out; basically, as long as one didn't arrive too late, office workers who rushed over to queue immediately after getting off work could buy the Double Crab Buns.

Those who were abnormal, having to attend meetings after work and thus missing out, could of course only curse their bosses' entire families.

Eating Crab Roe Pork Buns in the morning and Double Crab Buns in the evening, all at special prices; for a moment, all the new and old diners of the Yunzhong Canteen were immersed in an ocean of crab roe buns, forgetting all about the Fermented Rice Steamed Buns and Four Joys Soup Dumplings, with everyone becoming temporary members of the Crab Roe Party.

Crab roe buns are the best!

And Tan Wei'an, the true lover of crab roe pastries, was at this very moment receiving an IV drip in the emergency room.

"What? He didn't vomit like this because he ate too much; it's because he rode the roller coaster five times yesterday, his stomach was churning so he went back and secretly vomited all night without telling us, then this morning he ate three bowls of shaved ice at the amusement park, and this afternoon he binged on so many buns, causing gastrointestinal spasms that led to him vomiting like this."

"Because the situation is severe, he needs to be hospitalized for observation, staying for at least one day."

"How did he get himself into this state? He actually ate three bowls of shaved ice this morning; has he gone mad?"

Qin Huai, who had originally planned to call to check on Tan Wei'an's condition and report the latest progress on the Double Crab Buns, was stunned the moment he heard the cause of Tan Wei'an's illness.

"That's how it is; anyway, that's what the doctor said," Seeing Seeing Ouyang's voice came from the other end of the phone. "His condition definitely requires hospitalization today, but I think his situation is slightly better than my uncle and the others during the New Year; it's no big deal."

"Wait a moment, Tan Wei'an has something he wants to say to you guys."

As soon as Seeing Seeing Ouyang finished speaking, Tan Wei'an's weak voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Qin Huai, how are your Double Crab Buns coming along? Are they much better than the last one I ate?"

Qin Huai:...

Ours is a perfectly normal food novel; no one dies, there's no need to use a tone of entrusting orphans when saying this.

"Not much better, but a little better," Qin Huai told the truth. "It should be soon; by the time you are discharged from the hospital, you should be able to eat the successful version of the Double Crab Diced Baozi."

"Don't go to the amusement park and ride the roller coaster five times in a row again."

"If you really love riding roller coasters that much, don't eat three bowls of shaved ice the next day."

"You wouldn't want to be the last person to eat the successful version of the Double Crab Diced Baozi, would you?"

(End of Chapter)