"If I wasn’t worried about Huaihuai, I would have gone back to sleep already. His mom couldn’t hold on past 3 o’clock. Luoluo went back at 2. I estimate I can hold on a bit longer until 5, by which time Luoluo should be waking up and can come take over for me."
"Do you guys know what’s really going on with Huaihuai? I wasn’t around last night. Did something happen while he was making buns that upset him? Did someone criticize him? Mock him? Call him trash? Say he’s terrible at making buns? Say he’s worse than others? Call him a loser?"
Why are you so familiar with these disparaging words that you can just blurt them out?
Ouyang said, "No, last night I ate some, Luoluo ate some, and Sister Xi and a few others also ate some. It was all rave reviews!"
Huang Xi nodded, "That’s right, last night, Master Qin suddenly came to the shop wanting to make fermented rice with steamed buns and even asked me to find some fermented rice for him. By the time the buns came out of the steamer, there weren’t many customers left in the shop and it wasn’t a large amount, so just a few of us shared them."
"Exactly," An Youyou nodded vigorously to affirm, "We all said the buns were especially delicious, and they really were, tasting just like today. The Boss’s reaction was normal too. Sister Xi asked him if the fermented rice with steamed buns would be the canteen’s new item and if it should go on the menu, and he nodded and said yes, asking Sister Xi to handle the menu board."
"Could he have been upset by something today?" A concerned Chen Huihong asked, turning to Chen Huixi, who was eating buns as an afternoon snack, "Huihui, did your Brother Qin ask you how today’s buns taste?"
Chen Huixi shook her head, a bit disappointed: "Brother Qin Huai was in the kitchen all afternoon and didn’t talk to me."
The prospect of losing her precious job as a taste tester made Chen Huixi feel sad.
Sunshine fell on the fermented rice bun in Chen Huixi’s hand, and she took a big bite, swallowing the warm sunlight and sweet bun together.
"I just remembered!" Qin Congwen slapped the table, "This morning, I think I overheard Uncle Wang saying that Huaihuai’s buns weren’t as good as the ones he had back in Gusu when he was young."
"Could that be the comment that upset him?"
Ouyang was even more surprised: "No way, Qin Huai wouldn’t get worked up over a few words and work for 12 hours because of it, right?"
If I had known Huai was this type who spurred into action with a little pressure, I would have told Qin Huai back in college that his buns weren’t as good as those at the Sixth Canteen, and he’d probably eat buns to his heart’s content every day.
"Doesn’t seem likely," Chen Huihong didn’t think so, "I doubt Master Qin would get over a single comment. It feels more like something has really gotten to him."
Suddenly, a dreadful thought crossed Qin Congwen’s mind.
"Wendy," Qin Congwen muttered, "I knew I didn’t misread those lips."
"Could it be our Huaihuai got into an online romance and that foreigner named Wendy wants to eat fermented rice with steamed buns?"
In the kitchen, Qin Huai was unaware of the speculations outside.
If he knew, he would definitely hold up the dough and shout: Reject rumors, start with me, starting with not letting Qin Congwen misread lips again.
Qin Huai stood by the steamer, yawning.
All these years, he only yawned when getting up early for work, this was the first time he yawned when about to get off work.
He didn’t even know what was wrong with himself, he just felt annoyed.
For so many years, or rather never before, had he felt such a strong sense of defeat.
Since his first knead at the orphanage, he had never encountered such a situation.
He would always follow what others taught him, follow recipes, follow the steps in the tutorials, only to find the end product unsatisfactory, realizing it was the fault of the people, recipe, and tutorial, then he’d modify it.
Being able to fix it naturally was a delight for all, not fixing it couldn’t be blamed on him.
The feeling of following a detailed tutorial, yet failing to produce a satisfactory product was utterly unprecedented.
The crux was after so many attempts, he couldn’t figure out where he went wrong.
He was so close, just a tiny step from B- to B, but he just couldn’t make that leap.
Qin Huai stood by the steamer, knowing the time was just about right.
His intuition told him this batch wouldn’t work out either.
[Fermented Rice Buns B-]
Really want to scratch my head.
But according to kitchen rules, no touching hair in the kitchen.
If you ask who set these rules, they were set by him.
Qin Huai silently left the kitchen.
A group of people at a corner table immediately stood up, like students caught chatting during evening study when the Class Leader entered from the back, flustered with a hint of guilty conscience, at a loss what to do, so they just stood up pretending to leave.
Chen Huihong, Ouyang, and Chen Huixi realized after standing up, wait a minute, why were they acting guilty?
They were simply warm-hearted neighbors who heard Qin Huai wasn’t in a good state and came to support while snacking on buns!
"Dad, the last batch of buns is ready, they’re in the steamer, remember to take them out when it’s time," Qin Huai said, "I’m heading back to sleep."
Qin Congwen quickly nodded, "Go on, get a good sleep."
Qin Huai had barely taken a couple steps towards the Inner Door when he stopped, turning to say to Huang Xi, "Sister Xi, the fermented rice is all used up, remember to restock, get more."
"If you can buy homemade fermented rice, that would be even better. It should be quite easy to find. There used to be a shop specializing in selling such homemade fermented rice on the pedestrian street back home."