The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 282 Cutting the Mound
Radish is a very suitable ingredient for practicing knife skills. Friends who often cut radishes know that radishes are very tolerant.

It can be sliced, diced, cubed, shredded, cut horizontally, vertically, and rolled, and it's cheap.

It sells for one yuan per pound in the vegetable market, 5 cents per pound at a discount in the supermarket, and it’s free to pick it from your fellow villagers’ fields.

It is simply the best choice for beginners to practice knife skills.

Even though Cao Guixiang bought a whole rack of radishes, she actually didn't spend much money. The total value of her spending was not even as expensive as a bowl of old hen soup on the table.

That old hen soup is really expensive.

Qin Huai was stunned when he drank the soup at the end. He had obviously eaten a table full of extremely fresh dishes. Whether it was the braised shark's fin or the abalone with oyster sauce, they were both the most luxurious meals in the minds of Chinese people.

As a result, after experiencing a barrage of big dishes, delicious dishes, and top-notch banquet dishes, he still tasted delicious when he drank soup.

It is fresh and mellow, with the rich flavor of authentic chicken soup, not the flavor of broth made from stewing a variety of ingredients used for cooking.

Before cutting the radish, Qin Huai couldn't help but ask what the chicken soup was made of. The answer he got was old hen, pigeon, scallops, ham and mushrooms.

Simmered for 6 hours.

No wonder the chicken falls apart when poked with chopsticks. After 6 hours, even a thousand-year-old hen should be cooked till tender.

Before cutting the radishes, Qin Huai arranged Qin Luo's afternoon schedule. The schedule was very simple. Cao Guixiang packed some leftovers for Qin Luo from lunch. Qin Huai called Qin Congwen and asked him to drive his van to the city to pick Qin Luo up.

Bring yourself some change of clothes.

As for the original aquarium...

Qin Luo said: Aquarium? What aquarium? Never heard of it! Nothing can separate her from the dishes of her dear grandma whom she just recognized.

As for Qin Huai, Cao Guixiang had already prepared a room for him and the room was tidied up.

Cao Guixiang's house is a standard three-bedroom old house. Previously, one room was occupied by Cao Guixiang and Zhang Chu, one room was occupied by Zhang Zhiyun, and one room was occupied by Chang Qingqing.

Later, the grandson and granddaughter grew up and went to school, and lived with their parents, so the two rooms were vacant. Chang Qingqing's room was relatively small, so it was directly converted into a storage room and woodworking room, used to store various sundries and Zhang Chu's woodworking tools.

When the wood arrives, Zhang Chu will make cutting boards and molds for Qin Huai in that room.

Zhang Zhiyun's room was converted into a guest room. During the winter and summer vacations, Zhang Zhiyun and Chang Qingqing would come to live with their grandfather/grandfather. Who could move in depended on which child performed well in the exams at the end of the semester.

Qin Huai stayed in the guest room.

Cao Guixiang not only prepared the room, but also prepared the toiletries. Qin Huai's toothbrush and cup were already placed on the sink before Qin Huai entered the room.

All we can say is that Cao Guixiang is very confident in their master's method of deceiving customers with the Tan family cuisine, and that their master's method is indeed very useful.

Qin Huai was cutting radishes in the kitchen.

Cao Guixiang moved a high stool and sat beside to watch, while Zhang Chu stood quietly outside the kitchen and watched.

Qin Huai cut very seriously and with great difficulty.

Well, although his knife skills are only elementary, he has cut vegetables during this period. Occasionally, he still has to cut some vegetables and preserved fruits. He has used the knife a lot during the Chinese New Year.

You can tell from the proficiency that the knife skills have been improved.

Qin Huai is not completely unable to cut vegetables.

It's just that he cuts vegetables more like a beginner, not as good as many ordinary kitchen veterans. If he cuts quickly, he will probably cut his hand, but if he cuts slowly and carefully, there will definitely be no problem.

Cao Guixiang was watching from the side, not noticing how the shredded radish Qin Huai cut into different lengths and thicknesses. She only watched how Qin Huai held the knife from beginning to end.

"No." Cao Guixiang shook her head. As a retired master who had never taught an apprentice, Cao Guixiang's teaching level was definitely not as good as Huang Shengli's, and she didn't have many languages.

So she usually gets right to it.

Cao Guixiang went straight to her hands, pinched Qin Huai's wrist, and adjusted his knife-holding posture: "I know you must be used to holding the knife like this after so many years, but this posture is counterproductive. When you cut, it's not smooth enough, and you have to use more force. After a long time, your wrist and elbow will not be able to bear it."

"You must correct it, or you will suffer in the future when you practice cutting."

Qin Huai tried hard to correct it and cut it slowly.

After a while, Cao Guixiang made another move: "Raise your arms. You are using your wrists to exert force now. When cutting vegetables, you cannot use force on your wrists. You must use force on your arms."

"Use your forearm to drive the kitchen knife. Yes, that's right. Your knife edge is slanted inward. When cutting vegetables, the knife blade, index finger joint and arm should be in a straight line. You are a plain chef, so you definitely have enough strength. You are just not used to it now. You need to work hard to overcome your previous habits and get used to this posture now."

Not long after, Cao Guixiang came forward again to break it open.

This teaching model is very similar to an adult watching a child who is just learning to write write.

What adults care about is not whether the children's handwriting is beautiful or not. No matter how you look at it, it is definitely not beautiful. It is either crooked and looks like ants crawling, or it is inconsistent in size and looks like a mess.

The adults would stare at the children's pen-holding posture, grasping it bit by bit, staring at it closely without leaving their sight, and would directly take action to correct it if there was any problem.

Qin Huai felt like he was that kid now, and he could hardly cut vegetables anymore.

Cao Guixiang, an adult who is proficient in knife skills, was supervising him. Qin Huai just felt that he was doing something wrong here and there, and he had to change it here and there. As he kept changing, he couldn't even cut radish shreds anymore.

Strange, isn't he a genius praised by everyone?
Even if Qin Huai was not a narcissistic person, he did not think he was such a genius a few months ago. At this moment, he could not help but ask himself narcissistically.

Why is knife skills so difficult?
Dong Shi, you lied to me!
Qin Huai vaguely remembered that when he asked Dong Shi whether it was difficult to practice sword skills, Dong Shi said:
Knife skills are easy to learn, you just need to practice hard. When I first started practicing, I felt that I was very good at it, and I could do anything by just cutting. The white radish slices were transparent, and the shredded cucumbers were easy to cut.

But after practicing a bit more I discovered that the translucent white radish slices also come in different grades. Grade nine white radish slices are easy to cut, grade three are difficult, and grade one is extremely difficult.

The shredded cucumber looks very difficult and fancy, but in fact, ordinary people can cut it roughly with practice. The fancy ones are not difficult, but the difficult ones are the ordinary-looking shredded meat, diced meat, meat strips, and minced meat.

The result is now...

Qin Huai looked at the white radish shreds, white radish slices and white radish cubes he had cut.

He looked at it again, the sample that Cao Guixiang had cut when she first demonstrated it to him.

Dong Shi, you lied to me! The ninth grade white radish slices are obviously hard to cut!
.
The radishes in Qinhuai were cut until 10 o'clock in the evening.

It’s not that the radishes have been cut, but that Cao Guixiang thinks Qin Huai should take a rest.

Qin Huai is no longer at the age where he can be full of energy even if he stays up late. In addition, he has developed a good work and rest schedule from selling breakfast and making pastries over the years, so Qin Huai cannot stay up late more than ordinary people.

After a simple wash, Qin Huai almost fell asleep.

In the dream, Qin Huai was a rabbit breeder and had to cut radishes for the rabbits as feed every day.

Those rabbits are very picky. Some of them want to eat white radish slices, some want to eat white radish shreds, and some want to eat white radish cubes. They won’t eat if the radish is not cut well, not beautifully, or not neatly.

Qin Huai was cutting radishes almost non-stop in his dream. If conditions had allowed him to sleepwalk, he would probably have sleepwalked to the kitchen to cut radishes.

Perhaps because the dream of cutting radishes was too scary, Qin Huai did not wake up early as usual the next morning and slept until 2 o'clock in the morning.

Cao Guixiang didn't call him either.

Zhang Chu watched Qin Huai cutting radishes all day at the kitchen door yesterday. He felt very sorry for Qin Huai. While eating breakfast, he kept talking to Cao Guixiang: "Xiao Qin must have been exhausted yesterday."

"Normal." Cao Guixiang drank soy milk calmly. "When we were apprentices, we were always tired. I remember that I went to Yongheju to cut vegetables before dawn every day, and I didn't go home until eight or nine in the evening."

"At that time, there were no street lights on the streets of Beiping City, and my home was far from Yonghe. My parents didn't want to come all the way to pick me up in the middle of the night, but my eldest and second brothers were worried, so they took turns to send me home at night."

"Xiao Qin is in a much better condition now than I was back then. He has been a white-case chef for so many years and he also used to farm when he was a kid, so he has developed a strong foundation. When I was practicing cutting blocks, I was mainly training my strength. Women are naturally weaker than men. If my second brother hung on the sandbag for one hour every day, I would have to do it for two hours. If he shook the sand for one hour, I would have to do it for two hours."

"At that time, my arms and elbows were swollen from training during the day. I would apply a hot towel before going to bed at night and continue training the next day."

"I don't know how the eldest brother practiced basic skills when he was young, but my second brother and I cried while practicing. We didn't dare to cry too loudly, for fear that we would disturb the master and the master would no longer want us."

Hearing Cao Guixiang's words, Zhang Chu also recalled the hard days when he was a child learning carpentry: "Indeed, I followed my master to help, planing wood, my arms were swollen and I had no strength at all, but I still had to continue working. My senior brother felt sorry for me and said that he would do it for me, but he would be scolded by my master."

"That's how they practiced. Some of the actors in the opera troupe who were training their voices had vomited blood from practicing. As long as their voices were not damaged, they would continue to practice."

After reminiscing about the past, Zhang Chu changed the subject. Seeing that Cao Guixiang had finished the soy milk in her cup but was still smacking her lips, she was obviously still not satisfied. He quickly poured the remaining soy milk in the pot to her before continuing:

"But why do I feel like Xiao Qin's training is weird?"

Cao Guixiang continued drinking soy milk: "Which one do you think is weird?"

"It's just... it shouldn't be like this. Isn't Xiao Qin quite talented? His big dumplings are so delicious, and he's not a complete novice who has never been in the kitchen. I saw him cutting at the beginning, but by the end I felt like he didn't even know how to hold the knife."

"Is it because you, Guixiang, are so oppressive that Xiaoqin is so scared that he can't even hold a knife?"

Cao Guixiang: ...

Cao Guixiang rolled her eyes at Zhang Chu in anger: "What nonsense! Xiao Qin's state yesterday was correct."

"If Xiao Qin was a blank slate, then of course he would learn as quickly as possible. But now Xiao Qin is not like that. Not only is he not a blank slate, he is already a very mature and even excellent pastry chef. He knows too much and too many things, and no one is teaching him systematically."

“It’s easy to write from 0 to 100, but if someone has already learned the wrong way to write from 0 to 100, and you ask him to forget everything and write from 100 to 0 again, how can it be so easy?”

"What Xiao Qin needs to do now is to forget all his previous incorrect ways of holding the knife and the points of force, and start learning again. This process is much more difficult than for an ordinary novice to learn from scratch."

"But this is what he must learn. On the first day of my cooking training, my master told me that all the small problems and bad habits at the beginning, if not taken seriously and corrected, will eventually become insects that eat away at the big tree. Although Xiao Qin has many bad habits now, his knife skills are very poor and there is a lot of room for improvement, so he can still correct them and change them from the beginning."

"If he is already a mature and famous chef, it will be difficult for him to make a comeback. Unless one day he finds out that his small mistakes lead to major mistakes in cooking, such as not being able to put Wenchang chicken together or three sets of duck together, and he makes up his mind to learn from his mistakes, then he may be able to make a comeback."

"I didn't expect Xiao Qin to lay a good foundation these days. I just hope to turn him into a blank sheet of paper and start learning from scratch."

"Let him have a good master to lead him on the right path. I believe that with his talent, he will be better than ordinary people even if he teaches himself with the right method."

After listening to this, Zhang Chu just said slowly: "Gui Xiang, do you really not want to accept him as your apprentice?"

Cao Guixiang shook her head: "He doesn't need me as a master. He can have many masters. I just need to be one of them."

"Ever since the educated youth went to the countryside, I have no chance to become a chef. I have no ambition to do this, so I won't waste the talent of Xiao Qin."

The conversation between Cao Guixiang and Zhang Chu ended when Qin Huai got up and opened the door.

Qin Huai got up late on the first day of learning at Cao Guixiang's house. He was very embarrassed and apologized repeatedly after getting up.

Cao Guixiang and Zhang Chu smiled at each other and told Qin Huai not to worry about it. They were confident that they could prevent Qin Huai from getting up early the next morning.

Qin Huai:?
Then Cao Guixiang smiled and told Qin Huai to eat breakfast quickly because more radishes needed to be cut today.

Qin Huai: ? ?

After finishing breakfast at the speed of light, Qin Huai pushed open the kitchen door and saw the kitchen full of radishes.

Not only were the vegetable shelves full of radishes, the floor was also full. When I opened the refrigerator, the top shelf was also full of washed radishes.

"There are still two boxes of radishes in the storage room." Zhang Chu reminded with a smile, "Guixiang said that although you were slow in cutting yesterday, Xiaoqin, your speed should be up today. Plus, we have more time today, so these should be enough to cut."

"If it's not enough, I'll go buy more. I've already made an agreement with Mr. Li at the vegetable market that I'll get at least 300 kilograms of white radish every day. That's enough!"

"Give me the purchase price!"

Qinhuai: ╭(°A°`)╮

"Um...can I ask what I do with the white radishes I cut every day?" Qin Huai asked weakly.

"There is a pig farm in our city. I often go there to buy pork over the years and I know the owner of the pig farm." Cao Guixiang said, "I have made an agreement with the owner of the pig farm to come here every night to buy radishes."

"So Xiao Qin, don't feel any psychological burden. The chopped radishes won't be wasted. If 300 kilograms are not enough, then 400 or 500 kilograms can be chopped."

“Radishes are cheap.”

(End of this chapter)