The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 200: Zheng Da doesn't have much time left
At noon that day, Zheng Da almost died of exhaustion in Huang's kitchen.

Qin Huai felt that he was just generally tired. Although there were many customers queuing outside, Huang's kitchen was not like the Yunzhong Canteen. Qin Huai stayed in the kitchen and could not see them, so he did not feel much pressure.

Moreover, Supervisor Cao is indeed very professional. Since there is no purchase limit on Huang Ji’s dim sum, he can roughly calculate how many customers can buy the remaining dim sum in the kitchen, and reasonably persuade those customers who are not afraid of death and stubbornly queue up to leave.

Of course, Huang Ji does not have no purchase restrictions at all.

The last time Gong Liang was able to sit at the door and shout for 50 fermented rice steamed buns was because there were really not many customers at Huang's at that time, and there were not many people queuing. He bought hundreds of snacks by himself without affecting the rush to buy by the people behind him.

In the current situation, let alone buying 50 fermented glutinous rice steamed buns, even if it is 25 fermented glutinous rice steamed buns, people weighing less than 200 pounds should think twice before asking.

The old man's advice to Xu Cheng not to buy too much, otherwise he might get beaten, was not empty talk.

"Xiao Qin, how are you? Are you tired? Can you hold on in the afternoon?" While Qin Huai was eating the staff meal with the bowl, Huang Shengli walked to Qin Huai with a smile and asked softly.

Most of the time, Huang Shengli is smiling in the kitchen.

But this kind of smile also depends on the situation. Most of the time, smiling is Huang Shengli's subconscious reaction. As a gentle middle-aged man and the actual person in charge of Huang's kitchen, Huang Shengli needs to convey his encouragement to everyone through this expression.

Sometimes, this smile comes from the heart, accompanied by a gentle voice, a straight back, a slightly bent neck, and hands behind the back, this kindness will be released more obviously.

"Not tired." Qin Huai told the truth.

Although the number of customers today was a bit beyond his imagination, people started queuing outside to buy snacks since around 9 o'clock, and many customers felt they bought too little after making their purchases and queued up again. Not only were the fermented glutinous rice buns and three-diced buns sold out in seconds, even the mung bean cakes were in short supply.

But Qin Huai is really not that tired.

Zheng Da has endured too much for him.

Zheng Da is not just a helper. His level in all aspects, including the quality of the plain pastries he makes, is superior to all 53 contestants in Qinhuai's celebrity chef list.

The most important thing is that he can make glutinous rice wine steamed buns.

If you make it casually, it can be a B-grade fermented glutinous rice steamed bun, and if you make it carefully, it may be an A-grade fermented glutinous rice steamed bun.

Today, Zheng Da was in the Huangji kitchen, making steamed buns until his eyes were dull. He didn't even eat the staff meal, and he left immediately after lunch, and didn't even compete for the afternoon teaching position.

This afternoon, Huang Shengli is destined to be the only one teaching the red case.

"Since you're not tired, let's practice the fire control as usual this afternoon." Huang Shengli said, "Just practice for two hours. Mr. Xu tasted your mung bean cake at noon and thought it was pretty good. He wants to test the breadth of your dim sum making, so he asked me if you have time to make him some dim sum he hasn't eaten before this afternoon."

"Of course." Qin Huai agreed immediately.

If Xu Cheng thinks that the mung bean cake is up to standard, then there are too many snacks that Qin Huai can make.

I'm not bragging, just take out the dim sum encyclopedia, from page 7 to page 200, and flip through it, and you can make whatever you like, the quality of the mung bean cake will be the same.

Just for the mung bean cake, Qinhuai has no less than 4 ways of making it.

After dinner, Qin Huai rested for half an hour and began to practice the heat.

Qin Huai hasn't practiced cooking for a while. He had been struggling with crab roe steamed buns before, so he was a little unfamiliar with pan-frying meat fillings at first.

Huang Shengli's waist is really good now. He doesn't even need to ask his apprentice to demonstrate. He demonstrates it from beginning to end. He flips the spoon however he wants, and even demonstrates the big flip. He also told Qin Huai not to feel any psychological pressure and just try it.

Qin Huai said that he had no psychological pressure because he was not very good at flipping the spoon as Huang Shengli demonstrated.

His practice of controlling the heat only allowed him to fry vegetables.

Considering the evening meal for other Huangji employees, Qin Huai did not just stir-fry the meat filling, but also stir-fried a little bit of everything.

There are stir-fried meat with peppers, stir-fried meat with carrot slices, stir-fried meat, stir-fried meat with cauliflower, stir-fried meat with celery, stir-fried meat with shredded potatoes, stir-fried meat with green vegetables. They stir-fry anything that comes their way, with a variety of styles and a mix and match feel.

Dong Shi's face turned green when he saw Qin Huai cooking from afar. He pulled Dong Li to ask if Qin Huai was researching dark cuisine, as why he would just stir-fry meat with vegetables.

If this is what the staff meal is tonight, we might as well eat yesterday's boxed lunch.

Qin Huai didn't know that his thoughtful tricks had brought great psychological pressure to Dong Shi. He just thought that it was good to stir-fry meat in different ways, which could help him practice the heat and the combination of ingredients. Different vegetables require different heat when stir-frying meat, and adding variables can improve the efficiency of practicing the heat.

Better experience points.

The most important thing is that Huang Shengli did not raise any objection to this.

He watched Qin Huai cooking from the side, and if there were any obvious problems during cooking, he would give a reminder. If the same problem occurred several times, Huang Shengli would demonstrate it himself.

The teaching process was very relaxing and enjoyable.

After Qin Huai fried two barrels of meat, he even felt a little unsatisfied when he made snacks for Xu Cheng.

Taking into account that it might be a bit difficult for colleagues to eat the staff meal tonight, and that Xu Cheng’s normal appetite was definitely not large, and Ouyang’s wallet, Qin Huai made a little more snacks when making them, so that everyone could have enough to eat.

It can be said to be very thoughtful.

Huang Shengli did not stop Qin Huai from frying the meat, but when he was making snacks, Huang Shengli did remind him not to make too much and not to get too tired.

After watching Qin Huai only make a reasonable amount of normal dim sum, Huang Shengli made three dishes for Qin Huai and asked Qin Huai to pack them up and take them back to eat with his friends.

Qin Huai deeply felt that Ouyang had really made a good deal.

I got to eat the special meal prepared by Huang Shengli himself without spending a penny. It was really the same treatment as having to squat at the door to eat noodles in the morning.

Qin Huai took the packed food and took Ouyang to the bone-setting restaurant to eat.

They went to a bone-setting shop, and the meal, rice and fruit, was so fragrant that the staff of the shop could only quietly close the door of the VIP room tightly, so that the fragrance would not overflow and make the guests in the next room so greedy that tears flowed from the corners of their mouths and eyes.

Bone straightening is painful enough, and since the client has already been physically attacked, there is no need to add magical damage.

"Fuck, this dish... Damn, this fish... Oh my god, this eggplant..." When Ouyang and Qin Huai entered the bone-setting shop, they were still holding his hand to pour lemon tea to drink. After he picked up the chopsticks and took the first bite of the dish, he decisively abandoned the hand-poured lemon tea.

"Can you use some more concrete adjectives?" Qin Huai looked at Ouyang speechlessly.

The emotions are very well expressed without saying a word.

"Oh my god!" Ouyang's emotions were still boiling.

Qin Huai suddenly missed Huang Anyao a little.

Those who aspire to become food critics are relatively good at speaking. They don't eat a single bite of the food, but they write every word.

"How many cups of hand-made lemon tea did you drink today?" Qin Huai interrupted the spell.

Ouyang was stunned. He didn't expect that in such an occasion, there would be a scene of making lemon tea by hand. He stuffed a big mouthful of food into his mouth, chewed it a few times and swallowed it, then stared at the food and said, "Not much, 7 cups."

Qin Huai: ...?
No, are you really here in Suzhou for inspection?

"What are the results of the investigation?" Qin Huai asked.

"It's just average." Ouyang continued to wolf down his food without much ambition. In between swallowing, he took time to chat with Qin Huai. "I bought from a milk tea shop and a roadside stall. Either the lemons were not good or the syrup was of poor quality. They were not as good as the ones in our cafeteria."

Qin Huai thought, of course, Yunzhong Canteen just sells hand-made lemon tea, and the reason for selling this drink is because the owner likes to drink it.

The boss loves to drink it, so the quality control must be good, and the perfume lemon Huang Xi is the best.

"I think I'm going to open a hand-made lemon tea shop on the pedestrian street. It will definitely be a big hit!" Ouyang was full of confidence. "Did you see the line of people buying dim sum outside Huang Ji this afternoon? I took a video. If you didn't see it, I'll send it to you later."

"I was stunned when I arrived. Luckily you saved a seat for me, although I ended up sharing a table with others."

"I think when my hand-made lemon tea shop opens on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the number of people queuing up will be about half of what Huang Ji has today."

“Then let my mom take a video at the door and post it on WeChat Moments, telling our relatives and friends that I, Ouyang, am back! That fish hotpot restaurant was just an accident, and my real strength is the hand-made lemon tea!”

"I've thought it through. When the time comes, I'll only hire one pretty girl to take orders, and the rest will be strong guys to make lemon tea. Strong guys make lemon tea that tastes better."

"Today, many stores were so perfunctory when it came to the lemon tea I bought. They just pounded it a few times and gave it to me. They don't know how to make hand-beaten lemon tea at all." Qin Huai felt that what Ouyang said made sense.

There is only one problem.

"Have you ever thought that the biggest source of customers drinking your hand-made lemon tea near Yunzhong Canteen is actually the office workers in the nearby office buildings."

"On the first day of the Chinese New Year, which company would be so crazy as to have all its employees work overtime?"

"You opened on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Who would line up to buy your hand-made lemon tea?"

Ouyang: (д)
After Qin Huai and Ouyang finished their meal and straightened their bones, they did not stroll around and went back directly.

Qin Huai didn't want to move after a day at work, and Ouyang drank hand-made lemon tea all day and felt it was safer to stay at home and guard the toilet.

After his bones were corrected, Ouyang felt that the bone-setting technician in the shop had good skills and was very tempted to apply for a card. He asked about the price and thought it would be a good idea to use his godfather's card.

Several years of living without money made Ouyang develop the habit of getting free stuff whenever he could.

The next day, Qin Huai went back to work as usual after eating the longevity noodles, and Ouyang went out for a stroll as usual and drank hand-made lemon tea.

The number of people queuing up to buy dim sum only increases.

The retired uncles and aunts living nearby felt that the competition for dim sum was too fierce yesterday, so they gritted their teeth and stomped their feet and started queuing up at around 9 o'clock.

On the third day, the queue time extended to 3 o'clock.

A little after 4 o'clock on the 8th day.

On the 5th day, when Qin Huai went to Huang Ji for employee lunch on time and found that there were already customers queuing at the door, he realized that the situation did not develop as he expected.

He still underestimated Xu Cheng's influence.

Before 8 o'clock, there were actually several blond-haired and blue-eyed foreign friends in the queue.

What's going on? Are you getting up early just because you don't have jet lag?

Qin Huai originally thought that the influence of Xu Cheng's Weibo post would only last for a few days at most. People would go on buying like crazy for two days like they did at the beginning, and then things would return to normal after they found that there were products to sell every day.

As a result, instead of returning to normal, more and more out-of-town guests came to visit, even foreign guests appeared, and the local guests also became abnormal.

Everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding and made three rules: each person could not buy more than 12 fermented glutinous rice steamed buns and no more than 6 three-pack buns at a time. Once someone tried to buy more, people with justice would jump out to enforce the law.

Foreman Cao has not been guarding the kitchen door these past two days, but has been guarding the front door to stop fights.

The amount of food served in the kitchen is also increasing day by day.

In order to prevent his future beloved apprentice from suffering, Zheng Da tried his best. He still did not make the dim sum seriously. The fermented glutinous rice buns he made were still of B-grade standard, but the quantity was increasing rapidly.

He brought out the spirit he had as an apprentice in a state-owned restaurant in his early years, transformed himself into an assembly line master, and started making dim sum as soon as he opened his eyes every day.

I run away as soon as I get off work, without staying for even a second longer, as if the day would be over if I stayed for another second.

With such an astonishing flow of customers, Xu Cheng's delay in leaving seemed less noteworthy.

Yes, it’s been 5 days and Xu Cheng hasn’t left.

He comes to Huang Ji to punch in every day, once at noon and once in the evening, rain or shine, and he doesn't reserve a seat, just order dim sum.

At first he bought three-spice buns and fermented glutinous rice steamed buns, but later he stopped buying them and asked Qinhuai to make snacks that he had never eaten before.

If Qin Huai hadn't been too busy to meet Xu Cheng, he would have wanted to take some time to talk to Xu Cheng and ask Xu Cheng if he could reduce his length when writing the food review and increase the proportion of Huang Shengli.

Huang Shengli's waist is basically healed and he can resume business as usual, but he doesn't dare to.

The recent customer flow has been a bit too exaggerated. Huang Shengli is afraid that he will not be able to control himself after going to work as usual, which will overwork his old waist again.

Qin Huai glanced at the date.

Today is December 12th.

There are only 3 days left until the end of December.

Seeing Xu Cheng wandering around Gusu every day and stubbornly insisting on eating new snacks he had never eaten before, I knew that he must have finished his manuscript.

If things go well, Zhiwei might actually be published in early January.

what does this mean?
This means that Qin Huai and Zheng Da don't have much time left.

Starting from yesterday, Zheng Siyuan's pastries are no longer on Huang Ji's menu, and the quantity of fresh meat mooncakes has also been reduced because Zheng Siyuan has to help his father and Qin Huai.

Yes, Huang's was so short of staff that Zheng Siyuan had to be recruited to help.

Wang Jun and other professional helpers are indeed professional. They have all experienced the glorious period of Huang's business and have training and experience.

But they are all famous chefs.

It’s not as useful as a professional case worker.

At 12:28 am on December 8, Qin Huai carefully looked at Zheng Da who was eating chicken noodle soup, and wondered whether he should talk to Zheng Da and ask him to reduce his workload appropriately while he would increase his own workload.

The additional workload these days has basically been added to Zheng Da alone.

Zheng Da really does come forward when something happens.

Although he doesn't guarantee quality, he guarantees quantity.

Moreover, his skills are balanced and of high levels. Even if he makes mistakes and only makes snacks of the minimum standard, the level of the snacks is still very impressive.

Huang Shengli even sighed that if Zheng Da had this energy back then, he would have made it into the top 30 of the celebrity chef list and created history in white-casserole cuisine.

Qin Huai wanted to tell Zheng Da that he could actually hold on.

Because Qin Huai felt that Zheng Da might not be able to hold on any longer.

Qin Huai can hold on now because Zheng Da is here. If Zheng Da ran away, Qin Huai would really not be able to hold on.

By that time, Qinhuai might have to discuss with Huang Shengli whether Huang Ji should introduce a policy that goes against its ancestors, such as limiting purchases or allocating supplies for dim sum.

Zheng Da ate the bowl of noodles with an expressionless face. He didn't drink the soup and put the bowl of soup on the shelf.

Qin Huai slowly approached, thinking about how to start the conversation.

Then Zheng Da's phone rang. When he answered it, his voice of surprise almost pierced the kitchen:

"They've arrived, right? Six of them. They've gotten off the high-speed train and are coming over here."

"Great! If you don't come soon, I'll go to Hangzhou to rob people!"

"We can only communicate for one month. During the Chinese New Year, everyone in Zhiweiju is busy and has to go back. Mr. Su, you are too disrespectful to me. Everyone is busy during the Chinese New Year. I am willing to teach you everything, but you only communicate for one month."

"What, I can't teach people?"

"Mr. Su, please stop slandering me. Don't think you are great just because you have many disciples. What's the point of having many disciples?"

"Go ask around and find out if I'm the one who taught Xiao Qin how to make crab roe steamed buns. And if I'm the one who taught my son Zheng Siyuan. You should be happy that I'm the one who taught the chefs at Zhiweiju. Why are you still nitpicking here?"

"Don't think I don't know. You must have disguised yourself and come to Huang Ji to eat crab roe siu mai last month."

"Okay, okay, I won't waste my time talking to you. I'll ask An Yao to pick her up. I've already arranged a place for her to stay. It's right opposite Huang Ji, so it's convenient for work."

(End of this chapter)