Chapter 397: The Chef

With the lifting of the steamer lid, intense steam surged out from the steamer, spreading in all directions. Along with the steam, the meaty aroma of the Four-Joy Rolls also spread.

Yes, a meaty aroma.

Friends who often eat ham know that whether ham is stir-fried or steamed, the aroma is very rich. It is extremely ultimate and delicious, and one can even smell the salty and fresh meaty aroma.

Four-Joy Rolls must use high-quality ham. With Huang Ji's supply source, no matter how poor the young proprietor's business ability was, it was impossible to get ham of poor quality. The raw materials were absolutely top-notch.

Therefore, the Four-Joy Roll was also top-notch fragrant the moment it came out of the pot.

The aroma composed of ham cubes, sesame oil, and green onions mixed together was simply synonymous with salty and fresh, making one feel that one should eat some staple food just by smelling it.

The Four-Joy Roll was a staple food.

Zheng Da deftly took the Four-Joy Rolls out of the steamer one by one, cut them in half, and plated them. Qin Huai and the others immediately surrounded them to witness this historic moment.

There were cloud patterns, and the shape was not bad, but the quality control was not very good.

Zheng Da told everyone with practical actions that a failed reverse roll could also roll out cloud patterns, but these cloud patterns might not be very "cloud-pattern-like" and not very good-looking. But one could tell they were cloud patterns. After all, aesthetics are diverse; what if someone likes this kind of cloud pattern?

Some of Zheng Da's Four-Joy Rolls could show unique aesthetics, but most were very normal, not particularly outstanding or beautiful, but absolutely qualified.

It was also Qin Huai's first time seeing successful cloud patterns, knowing what the shape would be like after cutting open Gu Li's Ruyi Roll if it were successful.

Qin Huai and the others were all marveling at Zheng Da's Four-Joy Rolls.

To tell the truth, this batch of Four-Joy Rolls was more successful than Qin Huai had imagined, because Zheng Da's reverse roll really had many obvious problems, and Qin Huai thought Master Zheng would fail several times. As a result, the final finished product was unexpectedly not bad, which showed that the Four-Joy Roll had high fault tolerance.

Huang Jia was also very emotional, his face full of relief, obviously relieved that his junior brother was finally not secretly making Four-Joy Rolls at home during the New Year and feeding them to the dog.

Only Gong Liang, without admiration or appreciation, had eyes full of desire for the Four-Joy Rolls.

Gong Liang stated that he had finally found an opportunity to mix into the kitchen today, so of course, he had to sit in the kitchen openly and eat to his heart's content.

As for the ghost talk Gong Liang made about having something to do today and needing to send an assistant to get dim sum, Gong Liang had long ago selectively forgotten it.

But Gong Liang didn't ask the words "Can I eat it?", because even though he was some distance from Zheng Da, he could see that Zheng Da's emotions were not right at this moment, and everyone was waiting for Zheng Da to give a reaction.

Zheng Da's expression was very complicated, very "un-Zheng-Da."

In his expression, there was a trace of melancholy, a trace of loss, a trace of nostalgia for the past, and a trace of memories of youth unique to middle-aged people.

It was Qin Huai's first time seeing Zheng Da show such a complicated expression. Most of the time, Master Zheng was a very simple person.

A simple lazy person, a simple person who didn't seek progress, a simple person who didn't think about making progress, a simple person who liked to send red envelopes, a simple person who liked to throw money, a simple person who wanted to take him as an apprentice.

It might be because Zheng Da himself was a very simple person that he would run from Suzhou to Shanshi to give pointers to Qin Huai on the basis that he didn't know Qin Huai at all, only had one video call, simply guided Qin Huai to make Huaihua steamed buns, felt that Qin Huai had talent, and discovered that relying on video calls alone might not solve the problem.

Thinking about this matter carefully would make one feel it was so incredible and incomprehensible, but it was so reasonable when placed on Zheng Da, because Zheng Da was such a person.

Even though he hadn't been a chef for many years and had gone into business to achieve financial freedom, his essence was still a pure chef, still Master Zheng from the state-run restaurant back then who couldn't become a master chef because of the leader's prejudice against white-case dim sum, was so angry that he cried at home for several days, and then resigned indignantly.

Master Zheng stared blankly at the Four-Joy Rolls on the plate.

This was the Four-Joy Roll he made with his own hands, the same method, the same imperfection, but the filling had changed, the recipe had been changed, from the fatty pork cubes, pork belly cubes, pure lean meat cubes, and minced meat he didn't understand, to fragrant ham cubes.

Zheng Da slowly stretched out his hand and accurately picked out the ugliest, most failed one with the most problematic-looking cloud patterns from the crowd of Four-Joy Rolls.

Picked it up and took a bite.

A big bite.

Just like a teenager who had worked for a day at seventeen or eighteen, hungry enough to eat a cow, and could stuff a big bun in two bites, he took a big bite, and his cheeks bulged when he chewed.

Zheng Da chewed quickly, muttering vaguely in his mouth:

"It's ham cubes, it's actually ham cubes, it's really ham cubes."

"Master, I said this filling was wrong. I finally know what the right filling is."

"It's ham, it's actually ham."

Zheng Da murmured, his eyes blinked, and two bean-sized tears fell instantly, and then the tears surged out uncontrollably like a broken river. Zheng Da was still chewing the Four-Joy Roll he hadn't swallowed, and he just burst into tears while eating.

Everyone was stunned. Gu Li even retreated two steps in fear.

Even Zheng Siyuan looked at his own father with incredible eyes, as if he had never known this father before.

Although Qin Huai didn't understand why Zheng Da would cry at the Four-Joy Roll like he did in the dream he had last night, he didn't feel surprised, just felt some melancholy and loss.

Even felt a little happy for his dear Master Zheng.

Gong Liang originally wanted to eat Four-Joy Rolls, but seeing Zheng Da like this, he looked at Huang Jia with some surprise. After understanding the meaning in Huang Jia's eyes, he quietly stepped forward, gently patted Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan, signaling everyone to leave here first, even if it was just walking to the door of the back kitchen.

At least leave this place and all the Four-Joy Rolls on the plate to Zheng Da.

The others also had social awareness and didn't approach or ask. Even the most gossiping Dong Shi controlled his eyes at this moment and honestly cut vegetables in front of the cutting board.

A group of people walked to the door of the back kitchen, ensuring that Zheng Da, who was crying from a distance, couldn't hear them talking. Only then did Zheng Siyuan ask with slight shock: "Senior brother, my dad is... what's the situation?"

Huang Jia sighed.

"I didn't expect your dad to react so strongly either. This matter, Xiao Tan and Xiao Gu, you shouldn't understand. Ask Xiao Jiu directly later."

"Siyuan, how did your dad tell you about the Four-Joy Roll?" Zheng Siyuan thought for a while: "My dad said this was a dim sum that the state-run restaurant would make every New Year when the grandmaster was still around. He wasn't very good at it, couldn't sell it for a price, it wasn't too simple, nor too complicated, so he didn't like making it."

"But he has been eating Four-Joy Rolls every New Year since he was a child, and he and my mom are used to eating it, so they would make it themselves at home every New Year."

"I always thought this was an excuse for him not doing well, because I heard Uncle Gong say that when the grandmaster just retired, my dad was cursed very miserably by customers when he made Four-Joy Rolls, so he had psychological trauma and only secretly made it at home."

Huang Jia nodded helplessly: "I thought so too before, but now it seems that we all underestimated him a bit."

Qin Huai could see from Huang Jia's expression that this story should have another version, and with Huang Jia's current attitude, it was obvious that this version of the story could be told directly here.

"Then Master Huang, what is the actual situation?" Qin Huai asked.

Gong Liang also cast a questioning expression at Huang Jia, his face full of "there are things I don't know?" "Weren't we all good brothers back then?" "Are you guys forming a small group behind my back?"

"Zheng Da was indeed cursed very miserably by neighbors behind his back when he made Four-Joy Rolls back then, but it wasn't as bad as you imagined. At most, they muttered a few words when chatting, saying that Zheng Da's level was really not as good as the master's, and then sighed a few times about why the master suddenly had poor health and retired due to illness. Everyone felt that he could work for a few more years."

"The state-run restaurant at that time was different from now. The state-run restaurant was actually more like the community canteen you opened, Xiao Qin. The people who came to eat all year round were neighbors who knew the roots and knew the bottom for many years. I was a red-case chef, and Zheng Da was a white-case chef. I just had to stir-fry in the kitchen every day. Zheng Da also had to sell buns outside. Especially in the years when he was an apprentice, all the buns, steamed buns, and shumai in the entire state-run restaurant were sold by Zheng Da alone."

"To use the words popular on the internet now, both I and Zheng Da were watched growing up by the customers and neighbors of the state-run restaurant."

"With such feelings and relationships, do you think that even if Zheng Da didn't make the Four-Joy Roll well during the New Year, how miserably could he be cursed?"

Hearing Huang Jia say this, Gong Liang also nodded in agreement: "Indeed, if you want to say cursing face-to-face, that's definitely not there. The curses Zheng Da suffered in those years, added together, are probably not as many as I suffered in one month as a salesperson."

"However, his temper and personality are just like this. If someone really points at his nose and curses that the dim sum he made is worthless, he might not be so angry, at most just unconvinced. But if everyone looks at him with disappointed eyes, or just sighs and shakes their heads and says nothing, he will really be sad."

"I thought so before too." Huang Jia said, "But now it seems it's not like this."

"At that time, the master retired due to illness very suddenly. The chef industry, to put it bluntly, is physical labor. If your body is not good, you can't be a chef. Although the master had a lame leg, his physical condition had always been good. Originally, he could work for a few more years."

"No one expected that the master's body would become a bit poor because of a cold, and his physical strength couldn't keep up, so he retired due to illness logically. Actually, there was nothing at the time, including the first year Zheng Da took over. That year, the Four-Joy Roll was made like that. He actually didn't... didn't care too much about this matter."

"After all, the reputation of every dim sum he made that year was not very good, but the reputation of the Four-Joy Roll was the worst."

"It was the second year after the master had an accident that Zheng Da began to care very much about the Four-Joy Roll."

"Accident?" Qin Huai didn't react too much.

"At that time, the master was cooking alone at home with a coal stove. As a result, the coal stove fell over, and the coal balls all covered the master's good leg. The master fainted directly from the pain, and it wasn't until I and Zheng Da came back from work that we discovered it."

"Originally, we were going to take him to the hospital by cart. Later, Gong Liang was smart and went directly to the factory to borrow a car, which saved the master's life in time, but that good leg was also ruined."

"Since then, the master's physical and mental condition has been much worse than before. The master began to stay at home alone often and not go out. Even though I and Zheng Da found a carpenter to customize a wheelchair for the master, he didn't go downstairs."

"Later, Gong Liang found a way to find a family on the first floor to change houses with the master, but this situation did not improve. We all felt at the time that the master couldn't accept reality, so he was in a bad mood, and tried every means to make the master happy. That year, we even spent the New Year with Gong Liang's family."

Gong Liang showed a sudden realization expression, indicating that he remembered.

"I remember when we had New Year's dinner that year, did Zheng Da mention that he felt the filling of the Four-Joy Roll was not right, and shouldn't use fatty pork cubes?" Gong Liang asked.

"Yes, Zheng Da said it, but it was already very late at that time, and the master didn't have much energy. I guess he didn't hear clearly."

"At that time, Zheng Da was actually looking for an excuse to explain why his Four-Joy Roll was not done well. He himself didn't care much about this. It was only when he made Four-Joy Rolls again during the second year of the New Year that he brought it up again."

"But at that time, the master's body was already very bad, his memory was much worse than before, and he was even a bit confused."

"I don't remember what the master said at the time. It should be that there must be a better recipe, but it needs Zheng Da to explore it himself."

"Did Zheng Da also say that he would definitely make a Four-Joy Roll better than Master Jing on New Year's Eve?" Gong Liang asked again.

"Yes." Huang Jia nodded again, followed by a sigh, "Actually, Zheng Da said that sentence at the time to make the master happy during the New Year. As a result, the master didn't live to the second New Year and passed away in the autumn."

"We all know that Zheng Da has been secretly making Four-Joy Rolls at home every New Year for these years, but no one exposed him, just because of this matter."

"It's just that I thought he was touched by the scene because of the Four-Joy Roll. Just like when the leader didn't let him be a master chef, he was obviously angry to death but refused to admit it, asked for leave to cry at home for several days with swollen eyes, and still had to be stubborn and say it was beaten by his mother."

"I didn't expect that he had always remembered what he said to the master that New Year."

"He would one day make a Four-Joy Roll better than the master's on New Year's Eve."

Huang Jia's eyes also turned red as he spoke.

Qin Huai quietly glanced at Zheng Da, who was no longer crying, but just silently eating Four-Joy Rolls while sobbing.

Zheng Da, who was a white-case chef in his 20s, would cry for several days because he felt that the leader had a prejudice against white-case, and resigned indignantly in a fit of anger, thus being dissed by his peers for more than ten years for not doing his proper job.

Zheng Da, who was a successful businessman in his 50s, was crying because he had fulfilled a promise that was 30 years late.

"Siyuan." Huang Jia said, "Your dad is such a person. You don't have to have an opinion on him because you feel he is not doing his proper job and wasting his talent."

"No matter whether he is a chef or not, he has a chef's heart."

"Just a bit lazy."

Zheng Siyuan looked at his father, without too many expressions, very plain, but plainness explained everything.

"I know, senior brother."

"I won't urge him to make dim sum every day in the future."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 398 =====