Chapter 42

Huang Xi's words for Qin Huai were not an exaggeration to say they woke the dreamer.

When Qin Huai was watching the video tutorial, he discovered that the most critical factor for rice wine steamed buns was temperature. So he was strictly controlling the temperature throughout the production process, from kneading, rubbing, fermentation, and even steaming. He thought he had done it very comprehensively, but just now Huang Xi made him realize that he actually had one place he hadn't controlled well.

Rice wine.

For rice wine, temperature is a key factor for yeast reproduction.

On the basis of not using a juicer, there are actually many ways to mash rice wine. Qin Wan in the video tutorial chose the slowest and also relatively low-efficiency method. Qin Huai initially thought it was because Qin Wan was a woman and had less strength, so she could only use a pestle to mash it slowly.

Now that he thinks about it, this might have been intentional by Qin Wan.

Because mashing slowly won't change the temperature of the rice wine.

And the high-speed rotation of a juicer will cause the rice wine to heat up.

Modern technology can indeed make cooking easier, but sometimes it may cause some small mistakes in the cooking process.

Qin Huai found the full set of tools for mashing spices from the cooking table: a pestle, a small container, and a plastic anti-splash cover.

The rice wine bought by Huang Xi was opened.

The rice wine had been refrigerated in the refrigerator's cold storage room for a night and was well-preserved. The temperature in the morning wasn't too high, and the journey Huang Xi took to get here just happened to let the rice wine return to room temperature.

Qin Huai poured the rice wine into the container and mashed it slowly.

One by one, the movements were gentle.

"Dad, keep an eye on the oven for me, just take out the crispy cakes when they are baked." Qin Huai didn't care about the crispy cakes in the oven anymore.

By the time Qin Huai had mashed the rice wine almost enough, Old Man Wang arrived late. However, he had a reason for being late today; he brought his wife.

"Juan'er, I said it, right? Assistant Xiao Qin definitely made fresh shrimp filling crab shell yellow today. You smell this taste, it's definitely just out of the steamer!" Master Wang said proudly in a loud voice as soon as he entered the canteen.

Master Wang's wife, Chen Juan, nodded impatiently, quickened her pace towards the window, and when she walked to Table 9 and saw their regular partners Old Man Cao and Xu Tuqiang, she even smiled and greeted the two.

"Sister Chen, you're here too." Old Man Cao was also very enthusiastic.

Chen Juan said: "I didn't want to go out on a rainy day, but it's all my old Wang. He insisted on saying that if he bought the 5-yuan crab shell yellow and brought it home, it would only be worth three yuan. He's so stingy. If it weren't for the fact that my Jianhua still has to go to work later, he would have wanted to pack me, Jianhua, Jianhua's wife, and Lele all together and bring us over."

Old Man Cao laughed loudly: "Wang Laogen, when will you be able to change this habit?"

Old Man Wang defended: "Crab shell yellow is meant to be eaten hot right out of the steamer. It's raining today, and by the time I take it back, it'll be cold. You guys simply don't know how to appreciate it."

After saying that, Old Man Wang went to the window, subconsciously wanting to say to Qin Huai: Assistant Xiao Qin, first give me 10 crab shell yellows to taste. But just as he looked towards the window, he found that Qin Huai was concentrating on kneading dough near the window, and seeing him so focused, he felt embarrassed to disturb him loudly.

Seeing this, Huang Xi stepped forward and clipped the crab shell yellow for Old Man Wang.

Old Man Wang sat at Table 9 with the crab shell yellow, squeezed away another old man who didn't deserve to have a name to let his wife sit, and asked in a low voice: "Why are the steamed buns made so late today, Assistant Xiao Qin?"

Xu Tuqiang snorted coldly and said in the same low voice: "It's all because of you. I've heard it all; it's because you hit Assistant Xiao Qin yesterday morning, saying that the rice wine steamed buns he made weren't as good as those in Gusu, which provoked Assistant Xiao Qin, so he made steamed buns for 12 hours yesterday and gave them away for free for a whole day."

"Go and ask around, among the residents in our neighborhood who come to the canteen to eat, who didn't have steamed buns with pickled mustard for dinner last night?"

Old Man Wang was stunned. He didn't expect that he had just simply told a little bit of the truth and caused such huge damage to a young person's young heart.

Old Man Wang scratched his head with some guilt and took a bite of the crab shell yellow. It was fresh, fragrant, and crispy, making him feel even more guilty.

"I just... accidentally said a bit of the truth. Really, the rice wine steamed buns made by Master Jing are really more delicious than Assistant Xiao Qin's. Assistant Xiao Qin simply can't compare to him." Old Man Wang said in a super low voice.

Crowd of old men:?

You're still saying it!

Old Man Wang glanced at Qin Huai behind the window, his whole person already drowned in guilt.

Should he ask an old colleague from the factory to inquire if Master Jing is still alive, and if so, where he lives? Let him make a phone call to comfort Assistant Xiao Qin?

Master Jing, who likes the younger generation so much, shouldn't mind making this phone call, right?

Old Man Wang thought to himself. Qin Huai didn't notice Old Man Wang had come at all; all his attention was focused on the dough in his hands.

From the moment the rice wine was mashed, filtered, and kneaded, he felt that the feeling was right.

This was the feeling of getting the correct answer.

Although the dough was still fermenting and didn't look much different from before, and even if Qin Congwen came over to observe, he might not see any difference, but Qin Huai had an intuition in his heart.

This intuition told him that this time it was stable.

The advantage is with me!

Under this good intuition, Qin Huai felt that he was very smooth when kneading. This feeling was like a doctor seeing a textbook-standard case when treating a patient, feeling that he was really awesome while being very happy, and even wanting to send a WeChat message to tell his colleagues this good news.

Qin Huai kept guarding the dough, and didn't leave even an inch when steaming, not even noticing that the morning peak had started unknowingly.

The morning peak period is the time when the Yunzhong Canteen has the largest passenger flow. Commuters coming out of the subway rush to the canteen, buy a baozi and eat it while walking, rushing to the company, never stopping during the period.

The only difference is that the rich eat Three-Diced Baozi and Five-Diced Baozi, and the poor eat vegetable baozi and big meat baozi produced by Qin Congwen. Now the waiters in the Yunzhong Canteen are all good at packing baozi, and their speed is so fast that you can almost see afterimages.

Customers who also patronized the canteen to buy baozi yesterday morning knew that the canteen's top chef, Assistant Xiao Qin, was making rice wine steamed buns.

Buy Five-Diced Baozi and get one free.

It is said that the taste is not bad.

Many customers who had already rewarded themselves with a Five-Diced Baozi yesterday decided to reward themselves with another one today for the sake of the rice wine steamed buns.

Customers who came a little earlier, upon learning that there were no rice wine steamed buns given away today and that the rice wine steamed buns hadn't been steamed yet, could only leave with a 1.5-yuan meat baozi, either feeling lucky or regretful.

That's great, not buying saves 35 yuan! / Damn, they aren't giving them away today, if I had known, I would have bought two yesterday.

Art student Xiao Zhang, who decided to reward himself but failed, turned around regretfully.

Looking at the 1.5 meat baozi in his hand and thinking about his bank card balance, Xiao Zhang decided that this month's reward would end here, and he would reward himself again after getting paid next month.

Suddenly, Xiao Zhang smelled a rich yet faint wine aroma.

Faint describes the aroma of this wine fragrance, and rich describes its status in his heart.

How should I put this taste?

Want to eat it.

Xiao Zhang had already eaten rice wine steamed buns yesterday and also felt that the rice wine steamed buns were indeed not bad, worth spending 35 to buy a Five-Diced Baozi and get 1 free.

But this fragrance was different.

This fragrance made Xiao Zhang feel that he could spend 35 to reward himself with a rice wine steamed bun.

Salary might have to wait until next month to be paid, but that doesn't mean steamed buns can't be eaten today!

Xiao Zhang turned back firmly, his expression resolute, his movements decisive, his voice loud, and his breath full.

"Beauty, are the steamed buns in your shop out of the steamer? Give me one!"

He didn't even ask for the price, he was just that confident!

And there's more

(End of chapter)