Chapter 406: Master Zhou

Qin Huai didn't expect that his meeting with Master Zhou would actually happen under such circumstances.

He was holding lemon tea in his left hand, his right hand was still sticky with oil from eating an egg tart without wiping it clean, there were some egg tart crumbs on his clothes that hadn't been shaken off, and his mouth hadn't been wiped either. The whole person looked a bit drowsy, and his mental state and appearance must be quite abnormal.

But the smile was a very standard social smile.

And Qin Huai reacted quickly. After realizing that his right hand wasn't very clean, he quickly took out a tissue from his pocket to wipe his hand clean and had a historic handshake with Master Zhou.

Fortunately, there was no photographer nearby, otherwise it would have been a "click" to record Qin Huai's eternal dark history.

Master Zhou's eyes looking at Qin Huai were full of appreciation. After looking Qin Huai up and down for the last time, he asked in a tone that didn't have a trace of sarcasm and was all genuinely gentle: "Where is Su Gan?"

"I'm a bit carsick, Su Gan directly helped me put the suitcase up, he should still be tidying up." Qin Huai explained honestly, "This is my first time coming to Hangcheng, so I'm just strolling around the surroundings first."

Master Zhou nodded with satisfaction, his brows relaxed as much as they could be, and every small expression was revealing that he was in a very good mood now.

"So you came to the entrance of Zhi Wei Ju to wait for Su Gan, and ate an egg tart by the way."

Qin Huai continued to nod.

"How is the taste?"

Qin Huai was stunned again. He didn't expect that Master Zhou's focus was actually on how the egg tart tasted. In fact, Qin Huai didn't have much of an impression of the egg tart he just ate. People feel very nauseous when they are carsick and have no appetite at all.

Qin Huai could be said to have felt that the egg tart was fragrant and tasted quite good, while also feeling a bit nauseous, struggling between nausea and appetite to finish the egg tart.

As for the specific taste...

Qin Huai tried hard to recall, and could only say dryly: "Quite... quite fragrant, I just passed by and smelled the egg tart fragrance and was a bit greedy, it tasted... quite good, maybe it's because I'm a bit carsick so I can't taste anything too specific, but it feels a bit different from the egg tarts I usually eat."

A strange smile appeared on the corner of Master Zhou's mouth.

Qin Huai:?

Su Gan and Tan Weian only told him that Master Zhou liked to be sarcastic, was a radical among reformers, had high requirements for apprentices, and his temper might be relatively eccentric, but they didn't say he was this eccentric.

It's fine that the focus is on the egg tart, but why does this person look both easy to talk to and have a problem with his brain.

Is this the eccentric temper of an industry leader? Absolutely must not let outsiders see his inner thoughts from his expression, so his expression is very chaotic and completely unguessable.

Master Zhou said lightly: "I made it."

"Ah?"

"That batch of egg tarts just now was made by me." Master Zhou repeated it again.

Qin Huai almost blurted out: "Do you usually... like making egg tarts?"

"Occasionally." Master Zhou said calmly, "Sometimes I also make tiramisu and mango pudding. I'm currently researching Western-style dim sum, starting from the simple ones."

Qin Huai:???

It's broken, he really has become a conservative.

Master Zhou seemed very satisfied with Qin Huai's surprised expression and continued: "I heard that you are a good seedling discovered by Zheng Da, and Zheng Da was the one who led you to Huang Ji at the beginning. Presumably, Zheng Da hasn't said less bad things about me to you."

Qin Huai:... That's not true. Zheng Da usually doesn't scold Master Zhou, he rarely scolds dim sum masters who are better than him. To be precise, Zheng Da doesn't usually scold people, and when he does, he usually only scolds Boss Su.

"Actually, no..." Qin Huai opened his mouth weakly, but was interrupted directly by Master Zhou before he could finish.

"I'm not some old-fashioned antique." Master Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly, "Both Chinese-style dim sum and Western-style dim sum have common merits. Zhi Wei Ju is different from restaurants like Huang Ji where the restaurant can't stand on its own once the head chef falls. We are richer, more open, more innovative, and more inclusive. Various styles, various factions, pastry dim sum masters from all over the country are all in Zhi Wei Ju, much more suitable for exchange than Huang Ji."

Qin Huai:... What a top-tier step-on-others-to-raise-self, worthy of being the number one pastry restaurant, it really has the confidence.

"Have you recovered from your carsickness?" Master Zhou asked again.

Qin Huai really wanted to say not yet, but maybe because he was a bit too shocked just now, he suddenly felt better, without any discomfort of nausea or wanting to vomit, and even wanted to eat another egg tart.

"I'm better." Qin Huai said honestly.

"Then go in and take a look, go through the employee passage." After saying that, Master Zhou turned and walked to the left, and Qin Huai hurriedly followed.

The so-called employee passage Master Zhou mentioned was actually a side door, a small door opened at the back of Zhi Wei Ju, which required swiping a card to enter, and it looked very formal.

Master Zhou took out his work ID from his pocket, swiped it with a "beep" to enter. Qin Huai followed Master Zhou inside at a distance of about one meter and found that entering from this side door led directly to the employee lounge.

It was indeed an employee passage.

Master Zhou led Qin Huai through the employee lounge to the changing room, took out a key from his pocket and handed it to Qin Huai: "Number thirteen, there is an employee uniform inside."

Qin Huai took the key and went in, while Master Zhou stood at the door waiting. The layout of the changing room at Zhi Wei Ju was similar to that of Huang Ji and the Cloud Middle Canteen. It could only be said that the changing rooms all over the world might be the same—like in TV dramas.

It's just that the changing room at Zhi Wei Ju was relatively much larger, which showed the large number of its employees.

Qin Huai found locker number 13, opened it, and found an employee uniform inside, with his own name on the uniform.

Qin Huai could only sigh in his heart that Zhi Wei Ju's efficiency was really high. He only knew two days ago that he would come to Zhi Wei Ju for exchange today, and Zhi Wei Ju could actually prepare the employee uniform in such a short time and even embroidered his name, worthy of being the number one pastry restaurant.

Qin Huai changed into the clothes at light speed and found that the size was just right. He simply tidied up his hem, and by the way, fiddled with his hair to make it look more formal, and Qin Huai straightened his back and walked outside.

Master Zhou was still standing at the door of the changing room waiting for him. Seeing Qin Huai come out, he looked Qin Huai up and down, and showed a very satisfied expression again, saying: "Follow me."

Qin Huai obediently followed behind Master Zhou and walked all the way into the back kitchen.

The back kitchen of Zhi Wei Ju was very large. As Su Gan said, the back kitchen of Zhi Wei Ju was divided into several areas. Baking, steaming, ingredient preparation, and stoves were all in different areas, and even the ingredient preparation alone had two areas, one of which was a relatively smaller area that seemed to be specifically used for kneading and leavening dough.

The several areas were separated from each other by transparent glass doors, and connected by corridors in the middle. Qin Huai just passed by the entrance of the smaller ingredient preparation area and could feel that the temperature inside was lower than in other places. ===== CHAPTER 407 =====