The people at the table started to move.
Qian Zhongheng immediately spotted the flashy Four Happiness Dumplings, reached out with his chopsticks, and steadily picked up one along with the carrot slice beneath it. He looked at it before switching to holding the carrot slice with his hand.
Qian Zhongheng examined the carrot slice for a few seconds, clearly not understanding whether the slice’s role was decorative or for flavor. Without reaching a conclusion, he took a bite.
With just one bite, the Four Happiness Dumplings, with a recipe once again improved by Qin Huai, completely conquered Qian Zhongheng’s taste buds.
Four Happiness Dumplings and Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns are two completely different snacks.
No matter how delicious, fragrant, unique, or unforgettable the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns are, they are still just ordinary buns.
At least they look like ordinary buns.
But at first glance, many might not recognize the Four Happiness Dumplings as dumplings.
The Four Happiness Dumplings primarily boast a flashy appearance, looking quite expensive.
Qin Huai’s craftsmanship is worthy of the flashy Four Happiness Dumplings.
It’s worth noting that the chefs who came to work today had all eaten breakfast before coming.
Huang Jia is considered the second in command in the Huang Ji Restaurant’s kitchen, aside from Master Huang. Although his skills don’t quite match up and he’s often criticized by regular customers, outside, he’s still recognized as a Gusu chef.
This morning, before coming to the restaurant, Huang Jia had a bowl of noodles.
Then, upon arriving at the restaurant, he found that Zheng Siyuan had made both Zhou Sha Wontons and Paopao Dumplings. He was tempted but restrained himself, eating just four of each type of dumpling, nothing more.
When he got to the Four Happiness Dumplings, he couldn’t resist.
He felt full all morning, right up until now. Even though Huang Jia is still flipping the wok in the kitchen, if you observe closely, you can see him often sneaking a rub of his stomach.
Huang Jia has seen a lot of the world, but he’s never seen Four Happiness Dumplings like these.
And the same goes for Qian Zhongheng’s family.
It’s fair to say, aside from residents of Yunzhong District and those near Qiu County Third Road District, no one has seen such Four Happiness Dumplings. Even the residents of Third Road District haven’t seen many; Qin Huai didn’t like to make them before.
Because when Qin Huai was trying to make Four Happiness Dumplings that Qin Luo would love to eat, look beautiful and resemble golden ratio shaomai, he altered the recipe beyond recognition, and now he’s even directly incorporated guo’er’s filling into them.
In a sense, these dumplings could be called Four Happiness Dumplings, Four Mouthful Dumplings, or Golden Ratio Shaomai. Whatever you want to call them, like Dried Tangerine Peel Tea, as long as Qin Huai dares to name them, someone dares to accept them.
Qian Zhongheng was immediately captivated by the flashy dumplings.
Only after finishing the entire dumpling did he realize he forgot to feed a bite to his granddaughter.
Qian Zhongheng glanced at his granddaughter, who was still intensely gnawing on her bun, and thought it was fine for kids to eat something simple.
His son took a Five Fillings Bun.
He didn’t take it because he disliked the flashy Four Happiness Dumplings; he mainly wanted to see why this ordinary-looking bun with meat could be so expensive.
His son bit angrily into the first mouthful.
Eagerly bit into the second mouthful.
Lustfully bit into the third mouthful.
Sadly had to stop before biting into the next one...gone.
His son, savoring the lingering taste, felt a sense of loss, as if a beautiful dream had shattered before it was fully formed.
He wanted dearly to shout at the waiter, ordering four more buns.
But he couldn’t shout out, they were too expensive.
An 18-dollar Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns could be forced down as breakfast, but a 65-dollar Five Fillings Bun was just too much.
His son felt like crying.
Why wasn’t he a rich man, why couldn’t his boss pay him more? Boss, don’t you know your employee is so poor he can’t even afford buns!
"Burp." His son released a sad burp.
But those flashy dumplings looked like they tasted really good. Forget it, he would sacrifice his stomach to eat another.
His son reached out with his chopsticks.
His father was quicker.
"If you’re full, don’t force yourself to eat. You’re not a child anymore, don’t you have any self-control?" Qian Zhongheng mercilessly pinched the dumpling from the plate, took the half-eaten bun from his granddaughter’s hand, and gave her the dumpling, "Come on, Mengmeng, eat this. If you can’t finish it, give it to Grandpa. Let’s not eat the bun now; we’ll take it home and have it for dinner, okay?"
"Okay." His granddaughter thought the flashy dumpling looked better, happily biting into it, not noticing her father’s thunderstruck expression.
Son: Dad, I can eat it, I really can eat it! QAQ
With this tasting and promoting at Qian Zhongheng’s table, other guests in the hall also ordered the Four Happiness Dumplings and Five Fillings Buns, although not as much as the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns earlier.
After all, considering the price, even if the table next door found it delicious, not everyone could accept a 65-dollar bun.
The customers at Huang Ji Restaurant weren’t originally attracted by the pastries; on weekdays, most diners are regulars who know the level of Huang Ji’s pastries.
When there were pastry chefs, the level was just the average of city restaurants, much inferior to the meat cooking.
People only have one mouth and one stomach, Huang Ji’s meat cooking far surpassed its pastries, who would skip good dishes to eat snacks?
Today, though, it seemed like the situation had reversed a bit.
Following the trend of eating the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns, Four Happiness Dumplings, and Five Fillings Buns, diners suddenly realized that this unknown pastry chef at Huang Ji appeared to have a high skill level.