Chapter 469

Xia Mubing agreed to Qin Huai's request to borrow the kitchen. Fearing that Zhao Cheng'an would stay in the private room alone and sneakily eat the fruit platter until he was too full to eat the potato dumplings later, Qin Huai took the lead and ate more than half of the fruit platter. Under the gaze of Zhang Guanghang—who thought, "You pastry chefs are truly baffling"—he entered the kitchen to start working.

Zhao Cheng'an didn't go to the kitchen; he sat in the private room.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go; he was truly a bit too full. Friends who often eat until they are stuffed know that if a person is really too full, they don't want to move, nor do they want to stand, because the stomach feels very uncomfortable. Even sitting is unbearable; they just want to lie down.

Zhao Cheng'an had no conditions to lie down now and could only sprawl on the chair, so even if he wanted to go to the kitchen to see what on earth Qin Huai was doing that required making something at such a time, he could only think about it.

Qin Huai was kneading dough in the kitchen.

Xia Mubing was quietly cooking on the side. For some reason, a patch of the monitor on the wall had gone black again, perhaps a malfunction. Zhang Guanghang had nothing left to do, so he held a small plate of yam cakes, eating while watching Qin Huai knead the dough.

Qin Huai's dough kneading was very average, trying hard to match the skill level of Zhao Cheng'an in his first life.

This kind of snack that makes a spirit creature wake up after one bite isn't about pursuing something better or more perfect, but about pursuing an original replica.

If he made it too well and it didn't wake him up after two bites, Zhao Cheng'an would really have to go to the restroom to vomit for a while before he could continue eating.

In any case, Zhao Cheng'an had to wake up today.

Qin Huai said so; he is the protagonist of the system novel, and in this book, he calls the shots.

To pursue the technique of Zhao Cheng'an's first life, he had to make it poorly, have some small problems, and imitate some of Zhao Cheng'an's bad habits.

Whether the imitation was accurate or not, Qin Huai didn't know, but halfway through, Qin Huai deeply felt that Zhao Cheng'an in his first life just hadn't practiced enough. If he had been locked in a kitchen and practiced diligently for a few years, it definitely wouldn't be like this.

After kneading the dough, he covered it with gauze and placed it on the kitchen counter, then Qin Huai started making the filling.

There were peeled potatoes in Fen Garden, and Qin Huai didn't need many; two were enough. If he made too much, Zhao Cheng'an wouldn't be able to eat it, and Qin Huai didn't dare to give the C+ grade potato dumplings to Xia Mubing and Zhang Guanghang to eat.

This was the Fen Garden kitchen, after all; it probably hadn't produced a dish of such a low grade in many years.

Thinking about it this way, he really felt sorry for the Fen Garden kitchen.

While thinking this, Qin Huai quickly steamed the potatoes, mashed them, chopped the cured meat, and seasoned it.

Would the potato dumplings be delicious?

Qin Huai believed that theoretically, they could be delicious.

Potatoes themselves aren't bad, and dumplings are a very versatile staple food that is very accommodating to fillings. As long as the ingredient distribution is controlled and a bit of meat and other vegetables are added to the potato mash to neutralize its overly rich and monotonous flavor, potato dumplings can be delicious.

However, this wasn't something Qin Huai needed to worry about now. The potato dumplings Chen Qiusheng and Chen Sheng made back then were purely potato dumplings; they couldn't find anything else in the house, and even the seasonings were very monotonous, which led to the very limited ceiling of the dumplings and made them very simple to prepare.

Qin Huai made them very smoothly.

Zhang Guanghang watched from the side and couldn't help but frown. He didn't doubt Qin Huai's culinary skills; he had already seen Qin Huai's pastry level in the afternoon, which was very high. A young pastry chef with such solid basic skills was absolutely a rare existence.

Zhang Guanghang himself was a famous genius, so he was even more aware of the preciousness and scarcity of genius. In his view, Qin Huai was a genius on par with, or even better than, himself.

How could a genius fall in less than half a day?

What was all that he just made?

The dough kneading was so much worse than in the afternoon, and this potato mash filling didn't look like a normal dumpling filling at all. Is Qin Huai...

Does he have some kind of fetish for bad-tasting food?

Some weird habit where he has to eat something bad after a big meal to neutralize it?

Zhang Guanghang felt he couldn't understand. He subconsciously looked at Xia Mubing, wanting his master to say something, wanting Xia Mubing to speak up and lead Qin Huai back to the right path. As a result, when he turned his head, he found Xia Mubing watching even more intently than he was.

He was staring at Qin Huai's movements with almost total concentration, without a trace of dissatisfaction, nor any impatience or disdain for making such a dish in front of him.

There was only shock and nostalgia.

So nostalgic that he couldn't bear to blink, just staring at Qin Huai's movements, fearing that if he blinked, he would miss something by watching for even a second less.

Zhang Guanghang:?

Is there some trick to this snack that he can't see?

Are their pastry secret recipes that secret? Even if he was just a savory chef, he shouldn't be unable to see anything at all.

Qin Huai finished the filling and waited quietly for a while, ensuring the dough was in the right state before starting to roll the wrappers.

Then he wrapped the dumplings.

He didn't wrap them all, just six, and then Qin Huai directly put them into the pot to boil. He said to Xia Mubing, "Old Master Xia, I'm sorry, they're waiting to eat dumplings over there and are in a bit of a rush. I'll boil these few first and come back to wrap the rest later."

Xia Mubing didn't react much, just nodded slightly. Ignoring the side dishes already prepared by the stove, he stood where he was, staring blankly at the dough and dumpling filling Qin Huai hadn't processed yet.

Qin Huai was in a rush.

For the first time, he despised that this version of Earth Online couldn't be sped up. The process of boiling dumplings was too long. Why weren't these dumplings floating yet? They weren't cooked yet, and he couldn't wait to shove the piping hot dumplings down Zhao Cheng'an's throat. ===== CHAPTER 470 =====