The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 395 could be either a Four Happiness Scroll or a Flower Scroll.
"Master Qin, you're wrong. When rolling it up, the curve should be larger, but you can't press down on the dough, otherwise it will deform when you roll it up the other way."

“Master Zheng, you’re wrong too. When you’re rolling, you need to flatten the front and roll the back. The front isn’t flat enough.”

"Senior brother, you're right, but why do I still feel that the way you rolled up this scroll looks a bit strange?"

The Four Happiness Roll Research Team has clearly shown a trend of one person leading three others. Gu Li, a master craftsman with rich experience in making cloud patterns and a wealth of experience in making mistakes, is leading two complete novices and one semi-novice.

The two complete novices were naturally Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan. As a well-rounded individual, Zheng Siyuan wasn't proficient in all kinds of pastries and techniques. For example, he wasn't good at things like Four Happiness Rolls, which he rarely made and only secretly prepared at home during the Lunar New Year.

Needless to say, Qin Huai doesn't know how to make most of the desserts that aren't listed in the dessert encyclopedia.

As Master Tan's grandson, Tan Weian did not practice the Ruyi Scroll back then due to technical issues, but he still learned some theoretical knowledge and his foundation was better than Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan.

But not much.

Tan Weian always gets things right, but he never gets them completely right. There are always some things that seem strange or problematic, and Master Gu's limited abilities prevent him from seeing where the problems lie.

After making four kinds of rolls all day, Tan Weian was the most confused one.

In half an afternoon, the Four Happiness Roll research team created many Four Happiness Rolls with questionable shapes, but the taste was indeed quite good. Of course, these Four Happiness Rolls could not be sold, otherwise, when the real Four Happiness Rolls were made, it would be difficult to explain to customers what exactly they had sold before.

If we can't sell them, we can only consume them internally.

When Qin Huai got off work and went home, he packed three large boxes of Four Happiness Rolls to take back to Shi Dadan.

Shi Dadan went to Huang Ji for lunch and dinner today, paying for his own meals. Qin Huai Kai Xiaozhao had the waiter bring Shi Dadan some snacks, but they did not meet.

Wang Gensheng hadn't left the house since returning from his morning run. He spent the entire day at home doing accounting. Shi Dadan would pack up his lunch and dinner and bring them back to Wang Gensheng.

Since Shi Dadan ate in the main dining area that evening, Qin Huai couldn't very well prepare a special meal for him by serving him such an ugly four-happiness roll, lest it be noticed by other guests. So he could only pack it up and take it home after get off work to prepare a separate meal for him.

When Qin Huai entered, Shi Dadan was chatting with Gong Liang in the living room, while Wang Gensheng was still sitting at the dining table, working on the accounts on the computer. There was a fruit plate on the table with washed grapes, sliced ​​apples, pears, and dragon fruit, all of which could be eaten directly.

When Qin Huai saw that Gong Liang was at home, he quickly greeted him with a smile: "Mr. Gong, you've arrived. On my way back, I was thinking of bringing you some freshly made pastries tonight. The pastries aren't very pretty, but they taste quite good."

"I also need to tell you about the lotus root starch balls. I made some today, but the finished products weren't very satisfactory, so I didn't bring them back for you or invite you over to try them. The lotus root starch balls might not be very good lately. If you have time and want to eat some, you can go to Huang Ji's to have some, or ask your assistant to come and pack some. There's no need to go over there specifically to eat lotus root starch balls."

"But don't worry, the progress of making lotus root starch balls will definitely not be too slow. We will definitely be able to make lotus root starch balls that will satisfy you and your wife within a month."

After hearing Qin Huai's words, Gong Liang felt that he had already tasted the sweetness of lotus root starch balls before he even ate them. It was so sweet that it touched his heart, and tears of emotion almost streamed down his face.

Gong Liang smiled and said, "Master Qin, you're too modest. With your skills, how could there be lotus root starch balls that aren't quite satisfactory? Even if they're not done well, they'd be delicious in any other shop. But I do have something to do tomorrow. How about this, I'll have my assistant go to Huang's to pack some for lunch tomorrow."

“I just arrived. Mingzhu cut some fruit while making juice at home and asked me to bring it over to you. I didn’t expect Brother Shi to be here too. I thought you should be back soon, so I sat down and chatted with Brother Shi for a while.”

Shi Dadan nodded with a smile: "Little Qin, what are you carrying in your hand?"

They didn't care about small talk, they only cared about the snacks.

Qin Huai placed the bag on the coffee table, untied it, and laid out the three large takeout boxes one by one, revealing the Four Happiness Rolls inside, which were squeezed crookedly and looked even less appealing.

Before Qin Huai could speak, Gong Liang recognized what kind of pastry it was.

"Four Joys Roll!"

It's an affirmative exclamation, not a question.

Qin Huai was surprised that the Four Happiness Rolls were made like this and stuffed into a takeout box, and that Gong Liang could still recognize them after being squeezed in for so long. He asked, "Mr. Gong, how did you recognize them?"

"This Four Happiness Roll is so well made... I'm almost embarrassed to call it a Four Happiness Roll." On his way back, Qin Huai had already planned in his mind that if Wang Gensheng asked him what it was, Qin Huai would tell him it was a steamed bun with filling.

“Of course I recognize it.” Gong Liang stared at the Four Happiness Roll, his face full of nostalgia and sigh. “I haven’t seen this pastry in so many years. When I said I hadn’t eaten pastries in years, that was a lie, an excuse. I’ve actually eaten them all, except this one…”

"I haven't seen this pastry since Zheng Da went into business. I even asked someone to inquire at Zhiweiju, but none of the chefs there knew how to make Four Happiness Rolls."

"Later, I asked people all over the country to search for it. There were a few old pastry shops outside the pass that would sell something similar, also called Four Happiness Rolls, but the taste and appearance were far from what Master Jing used to make."

Upon hearing Gong Liang's words, Wang Gensheng, who had been working on the accounts, took off his glasses, saved the spreadsheet, closed his laptop, got up, and walked towards the dining table. He stared at the Four Happiness Rolls for a while, then looked puzzled: "This is... Four Happiness Rolls?"

"Why do I remember Master Jing's Four Happiness Rolls not looking like this?"

Only after Wang Gensheng said this did Qin Huai realize that of the four people in the room today, the other three besides him had all eaten Master Jing's Four Happiness Rolls. Although Qin Huai knew Wang Gensheng's background very well, he always unconsciously overlooked him, forgetting that Grandpa Wang had also eaten good food back in the day when he worked at the cotton mill.

While Wang Gensheng and Gong Liang were sighing, Shi Dadan had already started eating. Perhaps he hadn't shaken off the habit of playing support a couple of days ago, as Shi Dadan unconsciously took on the role of a top-notch support, asking as he ate, "What is a Four Happiness Roll? What was it like before?"

"Were these pastries made by Chef Jing from the state-run restaurant you mentioned? They're quite delicious."

While they were talking, Shi Dadan had already finished one Four Happiness Roll and started eating the second one. It was clear that talking did not affect his eating speed.

"Mr. Gong, how did you recognize this as a Four Happiness Roll?" Qin Huai also had his own questions.

There were too many questions for Gong Liang to answer one by one, so he could only ask Shi Dadan to explain the Four Joys Scroll to him later when there was time.

Then Gong Liang said to Qin Huai, "Master Qin, your Four Happiness Roll does not quite look like a Four Happiness Roll, but... it looks very much like the Four Happiness Roll that Zheng Da made at the beginning."

"I remember that year, Master Jing had to retire early due to health reasons. Zheng Da became the only formal employee in the state-run restaurant to make pastries. All the pastries he made were met with a flood of negative reviews. His sweet rice wine buns, vegetable buns, meat buns, shumai, and green rice dumplings were all far inferior to Master Jing's."

"Sometimes I even complain about it, his performance is really inconsistent."

"But none of that matters. You should know when Master Qin started selling Four Happiness Rolls, right?"

Qin Huai nodded: "I know, I know most of the story of the Four Joys Scroll."

"Zheng Da's biggest pressure at that time was how to make the Four Happiness Rolls for the New Year. It was one thing to get scolded for making ordinary pastries, but if he messed up the Four Happiness Rolls, then... the New Year would be ruined."

"During that period, Zheng Da would secretly practice making Four Happiness Rolls as soon as he got home from work. The salary of a regular employee at a state-owned restaurant was not low, and he spent most of his salary for half a year on Four Happiness Rolls."

"Although the four-happiness rolls he made that year weren't very good, they were even worse when he secretly practiced. Basically, they looked like this, no doubt about it. I remember it very clearly. I was stunned when I first saw the four-happiness rolls he made and asked him why he suddenly wanted to make filled flower rolls."

"and then?"

"Then Zheng Da said that this was a steamed bun with filling. I ate it for a while, and it wasn't until he made it look a little more like a Four Happiness Roll that I realized he was making a Four Happiness Roll."

Qin Huai: ...

He suddenly understood why Zheng Da disliked making Four Happiness Rolls so much. While all the other pastries were being heavily criticized, Four Happiness Rolls were being criticized particularly harshly, which was indeed an indelible psychological trauma.

Oh, poor Master Zheng.

Qin Huai said with a serious expression, "Mr. Gong, would you like to take a few back for your wife to eat?"

"If she asks what this is, just tell her it's a steamed bun with meat filling."

(End of this chapter)