When Qin Huai left Zheng Siyuan’s house, he was carrying half a jar of crab yellow sauce made by Zheng Da.
According to Zheng Siyuan, it’s unlikely that Qin Huai could have authentic double crab buns nowadays, so tasting some relatively authentic crab yellow sauce would suffice.
Zheng Da only makes a few jars of crab yellow sauce each year. The jar from Zheng Siyuan was snatched from Zheng Da by force. Half for research, half for Qin Huai to eat — a reasonable distribution.
Qin Huai cheerfully carried the half jar of crab yellow sauce home, forgetting to tell Zheng Siyuan that there were some snacks he brought on the entryway shelf.
This directly led to Zheng Siyuan simmering sauce in the kitchen until after 8 p.m., and only when he cleaned up the kitchen and walked to the entryway did he notice some additional items.
Two familiar snacks and one not-so-familiar one.
Zheng Siyuan had already eaten the pan-fried radish cake and green bean cake in the afternoon and gave them high praise. These two are common home-style snacks, not difficult to make, and it’s rare to make them delicious.
Zheng Siyuan truly appreciated Qin Huai’s idea of selling pricey snacks at high prices and regular snacks at low prices, since Zheng Siyuan had been doing that for years.
His bakery at the community entrance sold items at normal prices, just two to three times higher than other bakeries. Most customers are local residents and students, with only a few of Zheng Da’s friends and old Huang Ji patrons visiting.
While selling cheap snacks over the years, Zheng Siyuan would occasionally do a stint at Huang Ji, selling high-priced snacks. Although essentially the same, the venue change justified a price change.
Zheng Siyuan enjoyed listening to customers’ feedback on his snacks, loved seeing the expressions when they ate them. To him, pricing was another way customers could feel satisfied. Previously, while researching Four Happiness glutinous rice at Huang Ji, Qin Huai and Tan Wei’an specifically asked Zheng Siyuan whether he intended to keep his bakery low-key or one day make a name for himself in the Bai’an world at a grand hotel.
To that, Zheng Siyuan replied maybe, depending on the situation.
He felt inadequate at the moment, unable to stand out in a big restaurant, let alone overpower the meat chefs and dominate the pastry field. Not to mention dominating, even holding his own was tough, as seen in the rankings on the Chef Record.
But Zheng Siyuan was confident he’d venture into a well-known restaurant someday, just like Qin Huai joined Huang Ji, staying obscure for years before gaining world renown.
To this, Tan Wei’an secretly complained to Qin Huai that Zheng Siyuan liked to boast.
He wasn’t obscure at all; he wasn’t unknown in the pastry chef circle. This guy was just too reclusive, not competing, not attending exchange meetings, nor working in big hotels; people wanted him to be famous but had no opportunity.
Then Qin Huai asked Tan Wei’an if he didn’t wish to do the same, which left Tan Wei’an speechless.
Tan Wei’an equally detested anyone who could boast, excelled at it, or had the skill to back it up.
Sorry for the digression, let’s return to Zheng Siyuan.
Upon discovering only a plain bun among the snacks he hadn’t seen before, he took it without hesitation and placed it in the steamer to reheat.
The taste and texture of reheated buns aren’t as good as fresh, but as an excellent pastry chef, Zheng Siyuan could minimize the difference.
At 8:47 p.m., Zheng Siyuan sat at the dining table with the freshly steamed steaming buns, answering a video call from Zheng Da.
Zheng Da was still on vacation in Sanya, enjoying it so much that he bought a house there, soaking up the sun on the beach daily, and had significantly tanned.
"Si Yuan, you’re still eating buns this late?" Zheng Da was surprised his son was eating buns at this hour, revealing a concerned expression, "Didn’t you have dinner?"
"Dinner should be eaten on time, or it’s bad for your stomach. Did Xiao Qin have a video call with his knife skills teacher this afternoon? Were you eavesdropping? What’s that teacher’s background, name, and appearance?"
"I inquired everywhere today; there are only a few known retired chefs near Qiu County, none of them match. Who is it? Where did they come from?" Zheng Da’s face was filled with confusion.
Zheng Siyuan didn’t want to mind his dad, stuffing the bun into his mouth expressionlessly, taking a big bite.
Hmm, a delicious vegetable bun.
Very ordinary, very plain, very pure, yet a tasty vegetable bun. Chapters first released on novel•fire.net
He glanced at the green bean cake on the entryway, stood up, grabbed it, and ate a piece of green bean cake.
Zheng Da kept on rambling, saying the world’s really declining, and people’s intentions were malicious. Good seedlings stand out only to be snatched away. It’s dangerous; Qin Huai went home for the New Year and encountered a retired chef. You really can’t guard against it.
Those who know understand Qin Huai’s a pastry chef; those who don’t might think he’s Tang Seng.
Zheng Siyuan still didn’t reply to his dad, taking another bite of the vegetable bun.
Hmm, the taste of happiness.
He realized Qin Huai wasn’t only adept at making seemingly high-end snacks but also excelled in simple home-style ones.
Qin Huai had never made cabbage buns before. When he made them in the afternoon, Zheng Siyuan didn’t pay much attention, left work without watching. He felt a bit regretful now, thinking he should have observed carefully in the afternoon.