In order for Uncle Wang to recall better, Qin Huai brought him a plate of steamed buns, asking him to reminisce while eating.
Uncle Wang slowly said with a reminiscing tone, "It’s just... delicious."
The crowd, who had perked up their ears expecting to hear something extraordinary:...
"The overall feeling of those buns is just different. When you lift the steamer lid, you feel that this is the taste. Those buns are especially fragrant with a strong bun aroma. Do you understand what I’m saying, Master Qin? The fragrance is like the scent of rice wine blended with the aroma of buns — just smelling it makes your mouth water."
"I remember back then, the state-run restaurant only sold fermented rice with steamed buns on Sundays, once at 7 a.m. and once at 11 a.m. On Sundays, the streets were so crowded with kids joining the excitement, not to buy buns, but just to stand on the street corner and take a whiff to satisfy their craving."
Seeing that Uncle Wang was getting more off-topic, Qin Huai quickly brought the conversation back, asking, "So, what did it taste like when you ate it?"
"More chewy, softer, more fragrant, the sweet aroma of the rice wine seemed to seep into the buns, and eating it, you only tasted the fragrant wine without any odd flavor. I remember back then everyone praised Master Jing for his excellent dough-kneading skills. Our factory’s Purchaser Xue went on a business trip, and his wife bought him three buns to take on the train, and after being squashed all night, the buns fluffed back up. Amazing, right?"
Xu Tuqiang, who had started sipping soy milk after finishing his bun, snorted, "That’s just bragging. How can a bun be squashed all night and still expand? It would have become a flat cake by then."
Xu Tuqiang didn’t believe it, but Qin Huai did.
"Uncle Wang, did you ever see how those buns were made?" Qin Huai asked.
Uncle Wang shook his head, "The kitchen of the state-run restaurant didn’t allow unrelated people in. It was lucky enough for us to queue up to the door, let alone see how they were made."
Qin Huai thought about it and agreed, thinking that such dough-kneading and yeast techniques were certainly ancestral skills, not casually shown to others.
Qin Huai smiled, "Thank you, Uncle Wang. I’ve been researching fermented rice with steamed buns lately. If you have time, please come over to help me taste test. I remember you like the crab shell cake with fresh shrimp filling, right? Coincidentally, that snack will be available tomorrow. Come at 6 a.m. to enjoy it fresh from the oven."
Uncle Wang took a bite of the bun, almost moved to tears.
Great, his beloved crab shell cake has finally been acknowledged by the company again!
After Uncle Wang and the aunties left, Yunzhong Restaurant returned to its brief tranquility.
Qin Huai thought about Uncle Wang’s descriptions while making buns.
Indeed, Uncle Wang’s descriptions definitely had elements of exaggeration. Everyone who knows Uncle Wang knows that his job as an accountant at the Gusu Textile Factory decades ago was all of his youth and beautiful memories. So anything related to Gusu is beautiful, augmented by a filter, like having a buff spell applied.
Under such a lens, elevating the taste and quality of the fermented rice with steamed buns to another level is quite normal.
But there’s no doubt that Uncle Wang had tasted better fermented rice with steamed buns before.
Qin Huai wasn’t sure whether the secret skills of Qin’s Steamed Bun had been passed down, but he knew there’s always someone better out there.
After finishing the basic dishes, Qin Huai made another batch of fermented rice with steamed buns.
This time, he was even more serious and meticulous, controlling almost every step precisely with a thermometer, almost enough to write an experiment report and do some data analysis.
[Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns B-]
But where was it off?
Qin Huai believed his dough-kneading skills weren’t inferior to those in Qin Wan’s video tutorials. He closely monitored the fermentation process, stood by during the steaming, and watched the video tutorials repeatedly to ensure he missed no steps.
He acknowledged that Jiang Chengde’s culinary artistry was beyond him, so he hadn’t even attempted the locust flower buns.
But the fermented rice with steamed buns shouldn’t have been this way!
These buns shouldn’t be made several times without knowing where they went wrong!
Qin Huai locked himself in the storage room, watched the video tutorial again, and headed back to the kitchen to battle once more.
Qin Congwen felt his beloved son Qin Huai seemed a bit obsessed.
Even though from over 20 days ago, Qin Huai had seemed somewhat unusual, determined to master the Buckwheat Bun. Back then, it was still normal.
At that time, Qin Huai still adhered to his own principle of working two hours and taking a break for one hour, clocking out at noon sharp and considering making buns in the afternoon as overtime.
But today, it was not normal!
Today, Qin Huai didn’t rest at all!
Not only did he not rest, but he also didn’t clock out at noon to take a nap!
He worked from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m., a total of 12 hours. Aside from shutting himself in the storage for a bit, he was making buns in the kitchen. This was beyond abnormal; it was almost obsessive.
This was definitely triggered by something!
At 4:05 p.m., the kitchen had seemingly become a restricted area.
Aside from Qin Huai still guarding the steamer in the kitchen, everyone else was lurking outside the kitchen, crouching not in the best spot at table 9 but in a tucked-away corner out of view from the kitchen.
"Uncle, did you say Qin Huai worked for 12 hours straight without stopping?" Ouyang, who had skipped work with his boss, asked in surprise while gnawing on a bun, "Did he accidentally drink quadruple concentrated iced Americano instead of soy milk this morning and couldn’t sleep?"
Qin Congwen automatically ignored Ouyang’s latter half of the sentence and yawned with a troubled look, "Since 4 a.m. he’s been in the kitchen. Do you see all those buns over there? They used to be snatched up in the afternoon, but today they’re being given away, with each person receiving a bag, and there are still so many left now."