Feeling somewhat bewildered, Master Qin decided to stop slacking off and head to the cafeteria to take a look and find out what was going on. He didn’t believe there could be a task that involved drinking herbal tea for no reason.
Before going to the cafeteria, Qin Huai went to the convenience store outside the neighborhood to buy a grilled sausage. Noticing the store owner looking at him strangely, Qin Huai kindly asked if he had a stomachache. After the owner repeatedly denied it and insisted he was in excellent health and would never close the store due to illness, Qin Huai left while munching on the sausage.
In the cafeteria, the two chefs had already gone to the second floor to find a cool place to lie down and sleep. Huang Xi was looking at her phone, while An Youyou and two waiters were wiping the menu spread out on the table.
Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong were not there; they had probably gone back to sleep. Qin Luo was happily hiding in the bushes in some game on a phone he got from who knows where.
"Where’d you get that phone from?" Qin Huai silently floated behind Qin Luo, scaring him so much that he dropped the phone.
"Brother, why are you scaring people on purpose? I’m hiding in the grass, waiting to ambush people!" Qin Luo quickly picked up the phone, complaining without even raising his head, "When you weren’t here this morning, so many people asked if you were sick. Dad was worried everyone wouldn’t be used to not having buns at lunch, so he made plenty of them."
"I mixed fillings all morning, and made at least 600 buns! My hands are going to break. Mom said I worked hard and rewarded me with unlimited phone time this afternoon, so don’t disturb me. If you talk to me, I might get distracted!" Despite his hands feeling like they were breaking, Qin Luo was determined to play on his phone, which was truly touching.
So that’s why you didn’t sleep at noon and are yawning with tears in your eyes?
"If you’re really tired, go and sleep quickly. If Mom finds out you stayed up to play games, she’ll definitely scold you tomorrow." Qin Huai left this caring advice and went to table 3 to find Huang Xi.
From the moment Huang Xi saw Qin Huai enter the shop, she put down her phone and stood up as Qin Huai approached.
"Sister Xi, sit down," Qin Huai waved his hand. "I just wanted to ask if we have any Gynostemma pentaphyllum in the store’s warehouse?"
"Gynostemma pentaphyllum?" Huang Xi was momentarily surprised and hesitantly shook her head, "I don’t think so. I’ll go check the inventory list. Is this needed for tomorrow’s snacks?"
"No rush," Qin Huai replied. "It’s been hot these days, so I’m planning to make some herbal tea."
Qin Huai thought about it and felt that making simple dried tangerine peel tea alone seemed insincere, so he decided to make it more challenging.
"When you check inventory later, see if we have honeysuckle, Hangzhou chrysanthemum, Lima bean flowers, frangipani, kapok flower, fresh Poria, coix seed, goji berries, yellow chrysanthemum, Poria, gardenia, lotus seed, and licorice. We can stock up a bit more," Qin Huai said, noting that brewing herbal tea was easy: a big pot with each brew, much easier than making snacks.
Huang Xi was dizzy from the long list of names and blurted out without thinking, "Master Qin, did you read the group chat messages?"
"What group chat?" Qin Huai asked.
He had always just looked at the order list every morning to see if more Five Fillings Bun or Three Meat Buns needed to be made, and he hadn’t even joined the group.
Huang Xi handed her phone to Qin Huai.
Qin Huai took about seven or eight minutes to skim the 999+ messages in the group.
This mysterious Luo Jun must be in the group.
Let’s see who’s in this group!
Qin Huai looked closely and saw group 1 was full with 500 people.
Group 2 had 227 people.
A mere 727 people, excluding the shop’s staff leaving only 719, finding Luo Jun among them was literally—
Like finding a needle in a haystack.
Qin Huai started contemplating the possibility of having customers place orders under their real names.
"Do we have a regular customer named Luo Jun in our cafeteria?" Qin Huai thought for a while and chose to ask the manager directly.
Huang Xi was even more confused, thinking that Master Qin hadn’t been acting normally these two days, and today was no exception. After thinking for a bit, she said, "In my memory... I don’t think so."
"Then pay attention for the next few days," Qin Huai said, then went to sit at the next table to search for a recipe for dried tangerine peel tea.
Just in case there’s an even more exciting and rich recipe online?
Huang Xi was thoroughly puzzled, wondering how she, as a community cafeteria manager, was supposed to observe the names of dining customers?
By staring at their name tags?
But many customers’ name tags weren’t outside; they were tucked into their pockets.
As Qin Huai was still browsing through recipes with diverse and complex ingredients that barely resembled dried tangerine peel tea, Qin Luo’s game round had ended. He ran over to Qin Huai, hopping and holding his phone.
"Bro, you’re making Five Flower Tea and Seven Spice Dampness Removing Tea, aren’t you?" Just by listening to the names Qin Huai listed, Qin Luo knew what herbal tea Qin Huai was going to make. "When the time comes, are you going to brew it or is Mom going to? Don’t let Mom brew Five Flower Tea; she doesn’t add sugar at all, and it’s terribly bitter!"
"Like Mom’s Seven Spice Dampness Removing Tea isn’t bitter?" Qin Huai asked a soulful question.
Qin Luo: "...Though Mom doesn’t add sugar to that, she at least adds a little."
If Five Flower Tea is the well-known herbal tea for clearing heat and detoxifying during the summer, then Seven Spice Dampness Removing Tea is Zhao Rong’s original creation—more accurately, an original creation from her village.
Dampness Removing Tea doesn’t have a fixed formula; everyone makes it at home, and each household is different. Qin’s seven-spice version got its name from its seven ingredients. But since Zhao Rong’s brew didn’t taste good, the neighbors never bought it, so it didn’t sell well at Qin’s Breakfast Shop.
Yes, Qin’s family breakfast shop would occasionally have a side gig of selling herbal tea.
Though it didn’t taste good, Zhao Rong had long believed that bitter medicine is more effective, with the more bitter tea having more benefits. Every now and then, she would brew a pot for Qin Huai and Qin Luo to feel their mother’s love.
Qin Huai was still studying the recipes, but Qin Luo didn’t continue gaming; instead, he smiled silly at Qin Huai.
"If you have something, just say it." Qin Huai closed a dubious recipe.
"Bro, since you’re going to make herbal tea, why not make some today?"
"You want to drink..."
Just then, An Youyou, busy wiping the menu, chimed in, "Master Qin, are you making herbal tea? Can I have a cup? I’ve never tasted herbal tea before."
"Of course," Qin Huai nodded, pointing at the people in the shop, "Anyone who wants to drink can have some."
minutes later, everyone in the shop was enjoying Qin Huai’s handmade—
Qin Luo took a big sip, ice cubes in his mouth, and mumbled, "Finally, found a time when Mom and Dad aren’t here and Bro is willing to make lemon tea. As expected, summer is for drinking lemon tea!"
Though not from Guangdong Province and not very knowledgeable about herbal tea, what on earth is handmade lemon tea...
Forget it, the boss’s handmade lemon tea tastes pretty good, even better than that mall’s specialty lemon tea shop.
"Sister Xi, tell the supplier to send more lemons tomorrow," Qin Huai said while sipping lemon tea.
If they can’t find the mysterious Luo Jun tomorrow and the Five Flower Tea, Dried Tangerine Peel Tea, and Seven Spice Dampness Removing Tea don’t sell well, at least they have handmade lemon tea as a safety net.
As for if it sells a lot, who will make it...
Qin Huai glanced at Qin Luo.
Despite her struggles with academics since childhood, lack of skills in kneading dough or making fillings, and her not-so-great bun wrapping, there’s one undeniable, well-known trait she possesses.
The child has always had a big appetite and great strength!
She’s got incredible strength.
It’s time for Qin Luo to shine in her own arena.