"I know a bit. I heard Master Zheng mention it. He can actually make Double Crab Buns, but for some reasons, he doesn’t make them, so others thought the dish was lost."
"But now isn’t the time to make Double Crab Buns. They’re a seasonal dish, and you have to wait until autumn when the crab yellow is rich. Even if you give me the recipe now, I can’t practice it." Qin Huai explained.
Uncle Wang, although not very skilled in culinary arts, knows what a seasonal dish is.
"But I remember Xiao Xu also had Double Crab Buns in the spring, and he even gave me a bite. It tasted just as good as in the autumn." Uncle Wang was somewhat puzzled, took out his phone, squinted his eyes, opened the photo album, and scrolled through until he found a photo to show Qin Huai.
The photo was a picture of the recipe taken by Uncle Wang.
"This is the recipe Xiao Xu gave me. There’s a step in the middle that’s different; one uses sauce, and the other uses fresh crab yellow. Xiao Qin, take a look. I remember Master Jing used to make Crab Buns all year round."
Qin Huai took the phone and had a look; wow, these were actually two recipes.
One is the regular recipe using fresh crab yellow to make Double Crab Buns.
The other uses a long-lasting crab yellow sauce to make Double Crab Buns.
The instructions were very detailed, reminiscent of Jiang Weiming’s foolproof teaching style, afraid that whoever saw the recipe wouldn’t understand it. Every step explains what to do, what the correct situation is, and what indicates a problem, making it understandable why Uncle Wang could follow it.
Because it was so detailed, the two recipes appeared quite similar, and Uncle Wang, who never cooks beyond boiling noodles and steaming buns, understandably confused them as almost the same.
The version of the recipe Zheng Da hasn’t learned is in Uncle Wang’s hands.
"Can you make it?" Uncle Wang asked.
"I can." Qin Huai nodded affirmatively.
Zheng Da can make crab yellow sauce, and Uncle Wang has the recipe for making Double Crab Buns with it; combining both makes it possible.
Qin Huai didn’t ask about who this Xiao Xu was who gave Uncle Wang this recipe because he already guessed it.
This Xiao Xu, the youngest son of the textile factory director, was probably the young man Qin Huai saw in Gong Liang’s memory sitting in the State-owned Restaurant, who loved Double Crab Buns so much that he paid a high price for the recipe and asked Master Jing to make more.
No need to ask Uncle Wang what happened to Xiao Xu later; just ask Huang Shengli and Zheng Da, who surely know.
"Uncle Wang, could you please send me this picture? I’ll study it in the meantime, and if I make any progress, you’ll be the first to know." Qin Huai said with a smile.
"Sure, sure, thank you, Master Qin."
"No trouble, this is a rare recipe. If you sold it to Zhiwei Restaurant now, you’d make a lot of money. You’re letting me see it for free, so I’m the one gaining here."
Wang Gen Sheng chuckled and left without saying anything.
Qin Huai returned to the kitchen, with 5 minutes left before his shift started.
Wang Jun hadn’t come back yet.
He must really be in love, squeezing every minute outside.
Dong Shi put down his cup, took a quick step towards Qin Huai, eager to continue gossiping with him.
Qin Huai spoke first, disrupting Dong Shi’s rhythm.
"Dong Shi, I want to ask you for a favor," Qin Huai said.
"I want to ask you to find out about a person from Master Huang or Master Zheng. His surname is Xu, a friend of an elderly gentleman from his youth. Don’t know his full name, only that he’s the youngest son of the textile factory director, and he’s the protagonist of the Long Fish Banquet that An Yao just mentioned, for his birthday."
"Just think of it as me needing material for writing a novel. Use that angle to inquire. I want to gather all the information about him."
Dong Shi was shocked: "You want to write a novel?"
"... That’s not what I mean, just a metaphor."
"Alright." Although Dong Shi didn’t understand why Qin Huai was suddenly interested in someone who is now an old man, he knew Master Qin had his reasons. Being the officially designated gossip expert at Huang Ji, he was the right person for this job.
"Just wait, I’ll get it for you in two or three days."
With that, Dong Shi headed towards Huang Shengli.
"Master, Master, I have something to ask you!"
"The person An Yao just mentioned, with the birthday who had the Long Fish Banquet made by the grandmaster, do you know who it is?"
What a straightforward inquiry.
No surprise, Dong Shi.