Chapter 415

The morning meeting at Zhi Wei Ju seemed very exciting and rich in content, but in reality, it only lasted about 15 minutes. Counting the time Boss Su arrived late and the time everyone wanted to chat a bit more after the meeting dispersed, Qin Huai left the lounge at 11:20.

Then Qin Huai was called over by Boss Su, who had finished dealing with all the issues.

"Master Qin, I have some things I would like to discuss with you privately," Su Qi said with a smile, looking as if he were about to talk about trivial matters like what you want to eat tomorrow.

Qin Huai nodded and followed Su Qi back to the staff lounge. After there was absolutely no one left in the lounge, Su Qi silently closed the door, his expression becoming very serious, and signaled for Qin Huai to sit down.

"It's like this, Master Qin, today is your second day at our Zhi Wei Ju. Do you have any thoughts or opinions about us?" Su Qi asked.

Qin Huai didn't expect Su Qi to actually ask him this. He had only just arrived; what thoughts or opinions could he have? He hadn't even recognized everyone yet.

Qin Huai shook his head and said blankly: "Of course I have no opinions. Boss Su, if you have anything you want to say, just say it directly."

Su Qi liked talking to smart people like Qin Huai, so he said directly: "It's like this. I believe it shouldn't be hard for you, Master Qin, to see that many of our master chefs at Zhi Wei Ju are very interested in you. Besides Master Zhou and Master Hua, as far as I know, there are some other master chefs who haven't revealed their intentions but are also very interested in you."

"Considering some precedents at our Zhi Wei Ju, such as fighting over apprentices by the lake, making appointments to fight at the entrance of the residential complex, fighting in the kitchen, fighting on WeChat... in order to prevent similar situations from happening this time, I would like to ask you for a favor."

Qin Huai:...? Is your Zhi Wei Ju a restaurant or a martial arts school? Why do the master chefs have to make appointments to fight whenever they are free?

Seeing the shocked expression on Qin Huai's face, Su Qi immediately realized that Qin Huai had misunderstood: "The fights I'm talking about don't refer to pure brawls. We at Zhi Wei Ju have both civil and martial competitions. Civil competitions are comparing dim sum craftsmanship, and martial competitions are... well, white-case dim sum chefs usually have relatively good physical fitness, are strong, and it's normal to be proficient in a bit of fisticuffs."

Qin Huai smiled reluctantly: "I can understand."

"So, Boss Su, what is it you want to ask me for?"

"It's like this. You are a master here for an exchange, and theoretically, you don't belong to the apprentices of Zhi Wei Ju. But our master chefs at Zhi Wei Ju are... thirsty for talent."

"In order to receive a desired disciple, sometimes they can do anything. I hope that when you can directly refuse, Master Qin, you will refuse as directly as possible, and you don't need to be too tactful. I've heard from Xiao Tan that you are a relatively smooth person in your work, watertight, but you don't need to be like that at our Zhi Wei Ju. At our Zhi Wei Ju, we generally say what we have to say, and if it really doesn't work, we'll make an appointment to have a fight by the lake. Many things are better said and done directly than being tactful."

"Of course, if you refuse directly and someone still pesters you, you must report it to me immediately, and I will definitely handle this aspect of the problem."

"I actually already said this at the meeting today, but I believe that most of the masters probably didn't listen. When they hold morning meetings, they generally only listen to the parts where they can watch the excitement."

"Finally, I also hope that you can have a pleasant exchange at our Zhi Wei Ju, Master Qin. Regardless of whether you have gained what you wanted to gain from this exchange, I hope Zhi Wei Ju can at least leave you with a good impression." After saying this, Su Qi smiled and sent Qin Huai out of the staff lounge.

When Qin Huai walked out of the staff lounge in a daze, he found Zhao Chengan waiting for him at the door. Seeing Qin Huai come out, Zhao Chengan first gave Su Qi an 'OK' look, then said: "I just applied to Master to move your cooking station to our side."

"However, Master said you don't need to make dim sum these few days, just watch. These few days you can stand between us and chat; once you're familiar, you can make dim sum and chat on the side."

"Why are you so absent-minded? What did Boss Su say to you just now? Did Boss Su want to poach you to be a master chef at our Zhi Wei Ju?" Zhao Chengan asked.

"No," Qin Huai shook his head. "I feel like your Boss Su is a bit like he wants to poach me to Zhi Wei Ju to be an apprentice."

Zhao Chengan:?

"But that's not the point. Just a moment ago, a question arose in my heart. Was your Boss Su a customer service representative before taking over Zhi Wei Ju? Why do I feel he is so proficient at being customer service?"

Zhao Chengan:??

"Hahahahaha, so Xiao Qin, you think Boss Su talks like customer service? That really cracked me up. It's the first time in so many years that someone has said Boss Su talks like customer service."

In front of the cooking station, Zhou Yan laughed so hard after hearing what Zhao Chengan said that she could barely straighten her back. She laughed for a full minute before continuing to knead the dough.

"I've always felt that Boss Su was coaxing Master and the others like children, and I never felt he was like customer service. Hearing you say that, I suddenly feel it's quite similar." Zhou Yan had originally stopped laughing, but after saying this, she couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

Wang Jiayi was relatively much more serious and earnest, and even began to analyze rationally: "Boss Su didn't talk like this before. It might be that in recent years, Boss Su has wanted to seek new models and has run all over factories across the country. He has come into contact with many people and learned the way customer service talks."

Qin Huai said while watching Zhou Yan knead the dough: "I heard Master Zheng mention to me that Boss Su intends to cooperate with him to improve the recipes of some of Zhi Wei Ju's dim sum and put them into assembly line production in factories."

"There is such a thing, but it's not going very smoothly," Zhao Chengan took over the conversation. "We are all dim sum masters; what do we know about that industrial production stuff? At first, seeing Master Zheng doing well, everyone felt it was quite simple, but only after Boss Su really had the idea to study it in depth did he discover that Master Zheng is indeed quite capable in this aspect."

"If it weren't for discovering that Master Zheng really has some skills, Master wouldn't have such a big change in his view of Master Zheng. Before, Master hated Master Zheng. He felt that he had fallen into the money pit, had no persistence or professional ethics as a chef, and was wasting his talent. What else did Master say..."

"Oh right, he said if one day I become like Master Zheng, neglecting my proper work to go into business, he would break my legs."

Qin Huai:... I can tell Master Zhou really hates Master Zheng; he's not even being sarcastic anymore, it's a pure threat.

"Then what about now?" Qin Huai asked with great curiosity.

"Now, what Master says more often is, can I be like Master Zheng, even if I neglect my proper work, and still be able to achieve something in dim sum? He tells me not to think about going out to travel all day long, and even when traveling, to put more thought into dim sum."

Qin Huai: 6

Zhou Yan rolled her eyes at Zhao Chengan: "Master is not wrong. If you put even a little more thought into dim sum, you wouldn't be at your current level. All day long you just think about where to go to play. Central Asia last year, Southeast Asia the year before, East Asia the year before that, where do you want to go this year?"

Zhao Chengan chuckled: "Across the ocean."

"Senior Sister, you don't understand. Me going out to play is also for the sake of making better dim sum. How does that saying go? Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles. Me making ten thousand kinds of dim sum also requires traveling ten thousand miles. When Xu Cheng was my age, he was eating everywhere around the world every day. Me going out to play is also eating everywhere around the world. He is a food critic, I am a white-case dim sum master; it's about the same."

Zhou Yan expressed extreme speechlessness at Zhao Chengan's twisted logic and turned to look at Qin Huai: "Xiao Qin, my Bai Yu Shrimp Rolls will be out of the pot in about two or three minutes. I heard from Xiao Tan that your tongue is quite good, so I would like to trouble you to taste a few more bites and see where the problem lies."

"This dim sum was inspired by the red-case Bai Yu Shrimp Rolls. I moved the corresponding filling directly into the white-case dough wrapper, steamed it in the pot, and then poured the sauce over it. I changed the ingredients many times in the middle, but I always feel there's a problem with the flavor combination; it's always missing something."

"To tell you the truth, I have already asked everyone in Zhi Wei Ju who can help me taste this dish, including many master chefs who have helped me taste it. Everyone has offered many opinions, but I always feel it's missing something."

"Xiao Qin, you are new here, and I feel you can definitely provide a different direction."

Qin Huai understood Zhou Yan's request and felt this was normal. A chef researching a new dish is inherently a painful and long process. If you torture yourself and can't get results, you can only seek help from others. Once you've sought help from everyone around you, you will cast your gaze toward the newly appeared person.

"Of course," Qin Huai agreed readily.