"I didn’t expect it either." Qin Huai said casually, "The recipe you casually gave me turned out to be a secret recipe."
"What’s there not to expect? You’re a pastry chef, so there are few recipes I can give you. If you were a meat chef with this talent, I’ll tell you, I’d have as many secret recipes similar to cold sea cucumber salad as you need. You could learn one a month, and I could guarantee you wouldn’t repeat any for three years."
"Have you ever thought about taking on an apprentice?" Qin Huai asked.
In the video, Cao Guixiang paused while drinking water, thought about it carefully, then shook her head.
"Not my turn, I have two senior brothers. Although both have gone abroad and I don’t have their contact information, I’ve heard they took on many apprentices before leaving and brought them abroad."
"I’ll leave the lineage inheritance to my senior brothers. I’ll just be the lazy little sister enjoying a leisurely life down south."
Qin Huai wisely didn’t continue asking, and silently chopped vegetables.
While chopping, Tan Wei’an’s message popped up, asking if Qin Huai was busy since he couldn’t get through on a video call earlier.
This was rare. Although Tan Wei’an liked forwarding pictures, he hardly ever called Qin Huai on video; even in urgent matters, he usually used voice calls.
It seemed to really be an emergency of emergencies, the kind that needed face-to-face discussion.
"Master Cao, I have a friend wanting to video call me, seems like something urgent. I’ll take it first."
"Go ahead, deal with your matter first." Cao Guixiang nodded.
Qin Huai put down the kitchen knife, hung up, and immediately made a video call to Tan Wei’an.
The call was answered instantly.
From the background, Tan Wei’an seemed to be at Zhiwei Restaurant, crouching stealthily at a possible warehouse entrance to take the call.
"What’s up?" Qin Huai asked.
"It’s... a not-too-big, but possibly big matter." Tan Wei’an hesitated, "You know, before the New Year, my junior brother and I returned from Huang Ji?"
Qin Huai wasn’t clear on what Tan Wei’an meant, so he guessed, "Is Guli facing some trouble with his snacks? He’s too shy to ask me directly, so he let you ask on his behalf?"
"No, no, no. Definitely not." Tan Wei’an eagerly denied, saying "no" five times to truly emphasize it’s not, "It’s that everyone’s improvement is too great."
"Truthfully, though you can’t tell, I really gained a lot researching the Four Happiness glutinous rice."
"Guli too, I now even feel his Ruyi Roll is showing potential, truly on the brink of success."
"The others too, they didn’t initially have proper masters, just ordinary workers, learning a bit here and there at Zhiwei Restaurant. This time at Huang Ji, they advanced rapidly—it seems like they’ve become apprentices there."
"So..." Qin Huai hesitantly asked, "You want to video call me to express gratitude?"
Couldn’t be, Tan Wei’an, this isn’t your character profile script.
"Not really, it’s ." Tan Wei’an took a deep breath and finally got to the point, "Our Boss Su wants to discuss something with you."
"The Boss Su whose daughter was set up with Zheng Siyuan?"
Tan Wei’an hurriedly whispered, "Yes, yes, keep your voice down, Boss Su is walking towards me."
Qin Huai immediately turned serious: "What matter?"
"As you know, our Zhiwei Restaurant, being the top group on Bai’an Road, is never short of named disciples—helpers."
Just as Tan Wei’an finished speaking, a deep male voice interrupted.
"Xiao Tan, what are you talking about? Give me the phone, I’ll talk to Master Qin myself."
Soon the screen shook vigorously as the phone was handed over, and a middle-aged man with a quintessential upright face appeared in the camera.
The middle-aged man smiled warmly.
"You’re Master Qin, right? I’m the boss of Zhiwei Restaurant. Just call me Boss Su, everyone calls me that."
"Boss Su." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fire.net
"Here’s the thing, Master Qin. This morning, Xiao Tan mentioned you need some helpers."
"Isn’t that convenient? We at Zhiwei Restaurant happen to have many helpers who need your guidance. Your advice last time was so successful, even our Master Zhou was full of praise for your teaching!"
"How many do you need? Just give a number, and I’ll have Xiao Tan lead a team. We’ll start an exchange learning session for 1~2 months."
"Feel free to use them as needed, just like at Huang Ji. I’ll have Xiao Tan send you my WeChat, so if you’re unhappy with anyone, tell me anytime, and I’ll replace them for you."
"You don’t need to worry about accommodation; we’ll handle everything here."
"If you’re available, it would be great to visit Zhiwei Restaurant for an exchange for 1~2 months either mid-year or later in the year. What do you think?"
Boss Su looked at Qin Huai with great anticipation.
Is this the legendary protagonist treatment—offering helpers? No, offering workers?!
"Well... certainly good." Qin Huai nodded, "Shouldn’t we discuss the specifics a bit more?"
"Of course, Master Qin, let’s first add each other on WeChat. You’re still working, right? I won’t bother you now; we’ll chat on WeChat later."