After getting off work, Qin Huai made three flavors of mixed fruit filling glutinous rice balls.
One was Zheng Da’s Faction’s traditional simple peanut and sunflower seed filling, another was Zheng Siyuan’s style of almond and walnut filling which was more advanced and complex, and the last was an almond and peanut filling that he himself loved, of medium difficulty.
Yes, the mixed fruit filling research team actually branched into three research directions, with three pastry chefs each pursuing their own ideas.
The reason Zheng Siyuan only argued with Zheng Da and not with Qin Huai was that Zheng Siyuan believed Qin Huai’s filling was also difficult and worthy of study, unlike his father’s filling, which was purely lazy.
At times , Qin Huai would absolutely not speak, nor would he reveal why he made almond peanut filling.
Qin Luo loves almonds, Qin Huai loves peanuts.
Especially near the New Year, Qin Huai felt that his gene to love eating peanuts, engraved in his DNA, was about to be activated.
Granny Qin had a great skill for roasting peanuts; mixing shelled peanuts with clean sand to roast, and the peanuts afterwards were deliciously fragrant. If Qin Huai didn’t have to make snacks, he and Qin Luo could each be given a bucket of peanuts and almonds respectively, and the siblings could sit in the courtyard eating them all afternoon without watching TV.
Even though Qin Huai had his favorite mixed fruit filling, he also dabbled in the other two, knowing how to make both.
In snack fillings, as long as it tastes good, it’s a good filling.
Qin Huai wrapped a lot of glutinous rice balls for the evening, enough to fill a large bowl, but aside from Ouyang, he didn’t invite anyone else over, even specifically mentioning in the taste-testing group: Since Huang Ji is on vacation tomorrow, I want to go to bed early and won’t make glutinous rice balls tonight.
Even though a large bowl was prepared, only four were cooked.
Ouyang, looking at the bowl of wrapped glutinous rice balls, curiously asked: "Are these glutinous rice balls to be mailed back to Luoluo? But isn’t Luoluo coming home on holiday in a couple of days? Or are they for Mr. Luo? Is Mr. Luo, at his age, able to eat so many glutinous rice balls? I’ve seen in the news that the elderly shouldn’t eat too much glutinous rice products, as it can cause choking."
"Mr. Luo doesn’t like overly sweet things." Qin Huai, watching the Fire Control in the pot, began stirring, "Tomorrow, I’m going to Master Zheng’s house for dinner, won’t be making snacks, so the remaining glutinous rice balls will go in the fridge for now. Tomorrow morning, please run by and give some to the elders in the taste-testing group."
Ouyang was even more confused, feeling this was completely unnecessary: "Why not eat them today, and tell them not to come tomorrow?"
Having taste-tested for so long, gaining some experience, Ouyang commented that he might not understand everything, but glutinous rice balls freshly wrapped and cooked taste the best, and once they’re frozen in the fridge, they aren’t as good anymore.
Qin Huai wanted to say, of course it’s to give Gong Liang a surprise tomorrow and directly complete these tasks.
After successfully landing the task to make Four Happiness glutinous rice balls tomorrow afternoon, Qin Huai suddenly realized this was actually an opportunity.
Gong Liang is someone who can become very sentimental in specific situations, something Qin Huai had already noticed during the side quest of making Crab Dumplings.
Gong Liang is the type who, when you serve him a bowl of food, which speaks of ties, friendship, and memories, even if the taste isn’t quite up to par, one bite can trigger a flood of memories, mixed emotions, and complete the task through sheer emotional impact.
Flavors might not suffice, but memories will make up for it.
After getting back to work in the afternoon, Qin Huai used the excuse of going to the restroom to review and re-review the side quest details of [Gong Liang’s desire] for about ten minutes, discovering ways to exploit loopholes.
Game tasks have exploitable loopholes, something Qin Huai had discovered long ago and succeeded at before.
In the quest details of [Gong Liang’s desire], there was a great deal of description about the status of Qianhua Gongdeng Bun and Four Happiness glutinous rice in Gong Liang’s memories, as they represented his fond recollections of the past, youth, and familial and friendship love. In other words, these two foods were stacked with buffs for Gong Liang.
The quest detail described: Gong Liang wanted to once again taste the Four Happiness glutinous rice balls and Qianhua Gongdeng Bun that satisfied him at his birthday feast.
The birthday feast was a scene that limited the buff potential, and before, Qin Huai thought that to stack buffs effectively, serving these two snacks on Gong Liang’s birthday would be very impactful.
Birthday feast, right on theme!
But the detail actually left a loophole there, which was it didn’t require who had to make the snacks.
Just getting Gong Liang to eat them was enough.
The rest just needed the buffs to be stacked.
Provided the buffs are enough, making Gong Liang so touched by one bite to directly complete the task is not a dream.
Qin Huai thought tomorrow was a chance.
Because tomorrow was a small-scale gathering with everyone present.
The only ones participating in the meal activity tomorrow would be Zheng Da, Zheng Siyuan, Huang Shengli, Huang An Yao, Qin Huai, Gong Liang, Guo Mingzhu, and Gong Baozhu.
In a way, it’s a friend combo for Gong Liang.
Originally, only Zheng Da and Huang Shengli were agreed upon to cook, with one responsible for the pastry, the other for the meat, and together they comprised Master Jing’s skills.
Huang Shengli said not to expect particularly high-difficulty exquisite dishes, as a few simple and convenient home-cooked dishes would be prepared. The main thing was to gather everyone together on this rare break and let Zheng Da make some snacks to keep in practice.
Qin Huai’s unwavering dedication to researching mixed fruit filling glutinous rice balls during this time, persisting even in the face of darkness and repeated failures, had deeply moved Gong Liang.
In Gong Liang’s words: Master Qin has me in his heart!