When Qin Huai arrived early at the cafeteria, he was surprised to find that the two snack masters had already been there for quite a while.
The dough was kneaded, the filling was chopped, and they even brewed two pots of tea. Seeing Qin Huai arrive, Pei Xing holding the dough and Li Hua holding the filling, approached him together, their eyes eager for Master Qin’s guidance. Get full chapters from novᴇlfire.net
After Qin Huai gave his advice, he walked over to the culinary table and was surprised to find, in addition to the cutting board, utensils, seasonings, ingredients, and his must-have phone stand, two fruit trays.
One fruit tray was large, the other delicate.
Each piece of fruit in the large tray was big and plump, comparable in quality to Luo Jun’s house.
The delicate fruit tray had all the cuttable fruits diced, and those for styling were specially designed. Bunny-shaped apples, sunflower oranges, which are the kind of high-end fruit trays sold at KTVs, at least for 298 per serving.
Qin Huai gave Pei Xing and Li Hua a curious look.
What were these two snack masters up to today?
Qin Huai had already noticed something off between them; lately, Pei Xing had been gritting his teeth, battling wits against Li Hua, An Youyou, and even the air, all of which Qin Huai had seen.
Qin Huai thought it was purely their personalities. Pei Xing loved to play, competitive yet unable to win, fond of comparisons but unable to outdo, as a result, he could only silently grind his teeth daily, thinking others couldn’t tell, while in fact, everyone could.
In contrast to Pei Xing’s lively personality, Li Hua was much more composed. Rarely calculating, always silently working hard, surpassing others, in this regard, Qin Huai thought Li Hua more resembled a chef from Zhiwei Restaurant.
Their relationship had always been good.
Pei Xing loved to win but couldn’t, Li Hua loved to compete and could, and kept winning.
Moreover, they often helped Qin Huai with auxiliary tasks requiring cooperation, so as colleagues, they had no conflicts, getting along well.
Qin Huai reached out, grabbed a cherry from the large fruit tray, and glanced subtly, indeed seeing the joy on Pei Xing’s face.
Next, Qin Huai took a bunny apple piece from the delicate fruit tray, took a bite, and nonchalantly glanced at Li Hua, indeed seeing the unique pride and triumph of a competitor in his eyes.
Are these two in a competition?
Qin Huai moved the fruit trays to the side; he didn’t like eating fruits early in the morning. Usually, he ate fruits in the afternoon or when he visited Luo Jun’s house for a tea party, where the fruits were abundant.
"Is anyone free today? Could you help me prepare the ingredients for the Four Happiness glutinuous rice? I’ll only be responsible for the seasoning; the rest of the steps might need to trouble you guys. This morning, I want to focus on practicing cold sea cucumber salad," Qin Huai said casually, but his gaze was directed at both of them.
Pei Xing was good at kneading dough, and Li Hua excelled in knife skills. Without one of them, Qin Huai couldn’t fully entrust the miscellaneous tasks of the Four Happiness glutinuous rice to others.
Both said simultaneously, exchanging glances, seeing in each other’s eyes a determination to outdo.
"Master Qin, I really have time! I just couldn’t sleep, came early, and finished the prep work!"
Once again, they spoke in unison.
Qin Huai couldn’t help but marvel internally. Truly different being from Zhiwei Restaurant, even such long phrasing could be echoed word for word, with tone, expression, and pauses nearly identical.
Professional, truly professional.
Qin Huai gave a masterly smile, "Well then, I’ll trouble you today."
Although he didn’t understand why Pei Xing and Li Hua suddenly became competitive, Qin Huai was still quite adaptable, a habit formed back at Huang Ji.
With miscellaneous work handed over, Qin Huai could focus on studying sea cucumbers.
Yesterday’s cold sea cucumber salad wasn’t very satisfactory. Cao Guixiang also said the recipe for cold sea cucumber she gave Qin Huai was a secret one, its difficulty higher than ordinary ones. Today, Qin Huai intended to try an ordinary recipe easily found online to see how challenging it normally was.
Then Qin Huai understood why a secret recipe was secret.
The secret recipe was difficult but delicious.
"So, will I be eating these every day?" Ouyang looked at the table full of cold sea cucumber salad and feared for his future.
Sea cucumber... is a tonic, right?
This way of eating... will his weight loss still be possible?
"Of course not." Qin Huai waved his hand, indicating how could he harm his buddy like that, legitimately duck soup, beef soup, and the slightly less tasty Four Happiness glutinuous rice, "I mainly called you to help taste the flavor today."
"Don’t you feel it’s not quite there?" Qin Huai asked.
Ouyang sincerely nodded, pointing to the cold sea cucumber salad in front of him: "It’s all wasabi and soy sauce flavor, and a bit fishy."
"But I can’t say it’s not there," Ouyang smacked his lips, "Mainly, I don’t particularly like wasabi, and the slight fishiness is normal, as my mom’s sea cucumber porridge has the same taste, yours is better."
Okay, now he knew why Ouyang’s taste was so accommodating; credit to Ouyang’s mom.
If Ouyang said it was not there, it must indeed be not there.
Qin Huai cleared away the cold sea cucumber salad on the table, making new ones. Indeed, practicing cold sea cucumber salad with an ordinary recipe couldn’t improve his skills in handling sea cucumbers. He would still need to work with the secret recipe given by Cao Guixiang.
Seeing he had no role to play, Ouyang rose to head back to Xiao Ou Handmade Lemon Tea Store to continue making fruit tea but was suddenly stopped by Xu Tuqiang.
As a well-known resident of Yunzhong District, Ouyang naturally recognized him. Seeing him stop him, Ouyang thought he wanted to skip the line to buy fruit tea, so he said before Xu Tuqiang could speak:
"Mr. Xu, our Xiao Ou Handmade Lemon Tea Store has very strict policies and normally doesn’t allow queue-cutting. But we’re all from the same district, known each other for years, and you supported the neighborhood committee when I was there. So, what would you like to drink? I’ll prioritize it for you. Are you in a hurry to see your daughter?"
When did he say he wanted to cut in line for milk tea?
"Mango No.1 and Coconut No.1." Xu Tuqiang cut in line first, then got to business, "Xiao Ou, Mr. Xu seeks some information."
"Wang Laogen, oh no, Uncle Wang, recently been often eating crab meat noodles with you guys?" Xu Tuqiang asked, his eyes bright.
Ouyang didn’t understand why Xu Tuqiang was asking, but nodded naturally, "Yeah, Uncle Wang has been eating crab meat noodles with us these nights."
"Why?!" Xu Tuqiang’s voice was filled with confusion and jealousy, "Does he understand crab meat noodles? How did he get to eat at the same table as you?!"
Ouyang spoke honestly, "Uncle Wang really understands."
"I heard from Qin Huai that Uncle Wang, in his youth, ate a particularly amazing bun called the Double Crab Bun. The version he ate is now lost; no one knows how to make it. Uncle Wang tasted the exclusive version, and only he knows what it tastes like."
"So, what Qin Huai is doing with the crab meat noodle is actually for Uncle Wang. Once Uncle Wang eats and nods that the crab yellow sauce tastes like it, Qin Huai will continue."
First shocked, then envious, extremely envious, extremely jealous, followed by a twist, then he suppressed the twist, suppressed the envy, gradually calmed down, and fell into thought, finally with his eyes shining.
Xu Tuqiang looked at Ouyang: "Xiao Ou, you just said it’s called Double Crab Bun, right?"
"Since it’s ’Double,’ apart from crab, what else?"
From the name alone, Xu Tuqiang guessed Double Crab Bun required two ingredients.
"Seems like sea cucumber, Qin Huai has been researching sea cucumber these days, he just called me to taste the cold sea cucumber salad."
"Sea cucumber, right." Xu Tuqiang muttered, "I get it."
Is it his illusion? Why does it seem that Mr. Xu wants to outdo Uncle Wang?
The competition among the elders is truly intense.