Qin Huai’s fermented rice with steamed buns became famous after a single battle. Each and every chef in the kitchen had a taste and praised them, then eagerly asked if Qin Huai would like to participate in making the staff meals.
It’s not that others’ cooking wasn’t delicious, it’s mainly because everyone loves snacks. For three years, they hadn’t seen any pastry-related dishes in the staff meals.
Even Huang Shengli’s only son, the future heir of Huang Ji Restaurant, and the young master whom Dong Shi criticized for doing a horrible job with marketing plans, Huang An Yao, came all the way to have the last fermented rice bun and showered it with compliments.
Then he asked if Qin Huai would like to make the staff meals.
Qin Huai got lost in the sea of praise from everyone.
Initially thinking there wasn’t much to do upon arrival, Qin Huai decided to show his skills by making fermented rice buns. Seeing how enthusiastic and expectant everyone was, he felt he couldn’t let them down. In a mood of happiness, he made some Three Meat Buns and Five Fillings Buns and brewed two large pots of Dried Tangerine Peel Tea.
Everyone sensibly refrained from asking why the dried tangerine peel, white fungus, and lotus seed soup was called Dried Tangerine Peel Tea.
Don’t ask, it’s Qin Huai’s little whim.
Sitting on a small stool sipping tea and nibbling on sunflower seeds from afar with Huang Shengli, Zheng Siyuan watched Qin Huai, full of energy, diving into work and saw a reflection of his former self from a while ago.
Indeed, everyone has their suitable way of deception.
"I never thought Xiao Qin would have such a character." Huang Shengli chuckled, watching his disciple and son join forces to coax Qin Huai into making snacks, "I always thought Xiao Qin was a very calm and steady person."
"I never thought Xiao Qin was like you, appearing calm on the surface, but losing his bearings when praised." Huang Shengli looked at Zheng Siyuan.
Zheng Siyuan refused to admit he was the same.
He would never lose himself to compliments from peers.
He would only PUA himself because of a client’s disappointment.
"Actually, Qin Huai isn’t usually ..." Zheng Siyuan felt he had to say something on Qin Huai’s behalf lest his own image be affected, "When he was at Yunzhong Restaurant making snacks, he was quite casual, making whatever he felt like, mainly catering to the tastes of his friends and sister."
"I heard about that." Huang Shengli took a sip of tea, "Xiao Qin had no mentor, no one to teach him, and no systematic training in making snacks. He made whatever snacks his sister wanted. When I first heard your dad say that, I thought he was joking, wondering how such a self-taught genius could exist in this world."
"And now?" Zheng Siyuan asked.
"Now I have to admit, there are geniuses in this world beyond my imagination. I was too shortsighted." Huang Shengli said with a bitter smile, "Xiao Qin even learned Fire Control techniques from online courses. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it."
"I never imagined one day, it would be possible to teach people Fire Control through video."
"So, you asked me to see if Qin Huai would be interested in learning and exchanging ideas for a while, to instruct him face-to-face?" Zheng Siyuan asked.
"Not entirely." Huang Shengli said, casting another glance at Qin Huai, who was cooking the filling, "I’m familiar with Xiao Qin’s situation. He has a business, employees, family, familiar customers, and friends in Shan City. It’s unlikely for him to come to Gusu for a long stay to learn."
"Moreover, I am a meat chef and Xiao Qin is a pastry chef. Even if I want to take him as a disciple, it would be inappropriate. As for your dad..."
Huang Shengli clicked his tongue disdainfully, "If he hadn’t gone into business back in the day and stayed with me managing the restaurant, practicing culinary skills diligently all these years, perhaps he might still have the qualifications to take Xiao Qin as a disciple."
"At present, with Xiao Qin’s age, practicing Fire Control for two more years, honing his Knife Skills, he wouldn’t need a master. With systematic learning, within five years, he could surpass your dad. With your dad’s current skills, he shouldn’t even dream of poaching him as a disciple."
Zheng Siyuan nodded, agreeing with Huang Shengli’s assessment of his dad, "So, uncle, your intention is..."
"To have Xiao Qin make more friends in the community." Huang Shengli said, "To change his current mindset."
"I feel he doesn’t have much awareness of his culinary prowess, maybe he’s a bit too unconventional. Your dad, although proficient in cooking, seems quite unreliable. Your pastry skills are outstanding among your peers, yet you are stuck selling pastries at the community gate, showing no signs of prodigy."
"Me, I have reputation but not the health, just an old man soon to retire."
"I have no problem with Xiao Qin getting up at 4 AM to make breakfast, it’s just a personal habit. As long as his skills suffice, even if he gets up at 1 AM to make breakfast, there will still be customers willing to queue at his doorstep at 2 AM."
"But up to now, Xiao Qin still considers himself a Breakfast Shop chef, treating breakfast sales as his main job, with pastries as a sideline. This way of thinking poses a significant problem."
"It’s not that I look down on breakfasts, but if Xiao Qin indeed makes it a habit, he’s likely to spend the next twenty to thirty years just making buns and steamed buns, casually making pastries, limiting his development."
"Look now, even though Xiao Qin knows how to make apple dough balls, his first reaction in displaying his culinary skills is still to make buns and steamed buns."
"That’s his habit, and while I don’t find it bad, I believe he surely has more adept, higher-difficulty snacks, but he just doesn’t think of them first."
"He should have a broader path, a wider perspective."
"That’s why white-collar pastry chefs from all over aim to make a name at Zhiwei Restaurant, because they know it gathers the nation’s top pastry chefs. To make a name at Zhiwei Restaurant is to make a mark in the culinary world, where one can learn and broaden one’s vision from esteemed pastry chefs of various factions."
"Even if one can’t manage to stay at Zhiwei Restaurant and goes elsewhere later, one is still welcomed greatly."
"Xiao Qin is different from you, you are your father’s son, with skills taught by him, benefiting from his reputation. Whether you venture out or not, you have a name for yourself. You can comfortably sell pastries at the community gate, and whenever you wish to leave, you’ll find places welcoming you wherever you go."
"Xiao Qin is different, he’s a true maverick. Without anyone to take him out to see the world, he might really spend his whole life in the community canteen, selling breakfasts, living a lifetime as a breakfast chef."
Zheng Siyuan seemed to understand a bit.
"So, uncle, you want Qin Huai to come out and see the world?"
"No, I want him to come out, to let the world see him." Huang Shengli said.
"Let everyone know that Shan City houses such a young, remarkable pastry chef."
"And also let Xiao Qin know how incredible he is, that he’s no longer just the chef selling breakfasts at a Breakfast Shop. He’s the pastry chef at a restaurant adored by everyone."
"As a genius, he should have some flair of a genius and enjoy the treatment of a genius. If he continually sees himself as unremarkable, how does that equate to being called a genius?"
"Weren’t you as a child also exaggerated by me, your dad, and all my disciples here?"