The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 397 Version Answer
In order to seize this rare opportunity for Zheng Da to make a breakthrough (actually, it wasn't that rare, since he had just made double crab buns a day ago), Qin Huai used a sweet-talking approach, making Zheng Da lose himself in the repeated calls of "Master Zheng".

Master Zheng is quite skilled.

Even with Four Happiness Rolls, which is Chef Zheng's least specialty, his skill surpasses that of many other chefs.

Zheng Da was a little nervous.

He felt it had been a long time since he had taught a class like this, teaching so many people at once. Zheng Da had never taken on any apprentices; over the years, there were only two people who could truly be considered to have been taught by Zheng Da: Zheng Siyuan and Qin Huai.

All lessons are one-on-one.

Zheng Da vaguely remembered that the last time he taught a group of students was 10 years ago. At that time, the Dong brothers, Dong Shi and Dong Li, had not yet become Huang Shengli's apprentices, and Huang Jia had not yet graduated. Huang Shengli was young and strong at that time and was at the peak of his culinary skills. He was often called to Hangzhou, Huaiyang and other places to hold culinary seminars.

Back then, whenever Huang Shengli went to hold a culinary seminar, all his apprentices would be entrusted to Zheng Da. Of course, Zheng Da couldn't teach them anything; he could only act as an after-school care center, taking care of the children by leaving them with their parents to pick them up.

This is all of Zheng Da's experience in providing one-to-many guidance; in short, he had no experience whatsoever.

Zheng Da felt the last time he was this nervous was when he was teaching Qin Huai how to make crab roe shumai. He stayed up all night at home memorizing the lyrics, thinking about how to make his lessons more engaging the next day. Back then, he really wanted to take Qin Huai as his apprentice, so he was very nervous. Now, he didn't have that problem anymore, because Qin Huai was definitely not going to be his apprentice.

That's really frustrating.

Zheng Da suddenly didn't want to teach anymore. He wanted to go home and lie down, and also check on how his neighbor's dog was recovering.

Qin Huai sensed Zheng Da's hesitation and spoke up in time: "Master Zheng, how exactly should this cloud pattern be rolled correctly?"

There was absolutely no need to ask that question, but the words "Master Zheng" deeply warmed Zheng Da's heart. Zheng Da suddenly didn't want to go home anymore. He opened his mouth, wanting to immediately explain Qin Huai's problem, but then realized that his language skills were simply insufficient to explain it clearly.

Zheng Da began to regret what he had done in Sanya the previous month. He had only thought about practicing making double crab buns and had forgotten to practice his language skills in Sanya as well.

"Okay... I'll demonstrate it for everyone first. Feel free to ask me anything you don't understand." Zheng Da thought of how Huang Shengli taught his apprentices in his early years and decided to copy his senior's teaching methods.

As he spoke, Zheng Da immediately began to work.

Qin Huai has already prepared all the ingredients. The dough is kneaded, and the scallions, diced ham, and other ingredients are all ready. Even the small bottle of sesame oil is already on the kitchen counter.

Zheng Da was stunned when he saw the materials Qin Huai had prepared. He even turned around and looked around, and only after finding that there was nothing else did he ask, "Is that all?"

Qin Huai nodded.

"No fatty meat pieces?"

Qin Huai then remembered that Zheng Dahui's version was Master Jing's version. Master Jing's version of Four Happiness Rolls was more economical, using diced fatty meat instead of diced ham.

Actually, diced fatty pork wasn't the best choice; minced pork with a good balance of lean and fat might have tasted better. However, in those days, oil and fat were generally scarce. The Four Happiness Rolls were actually made by Master Jing at his own expense; his goal wasn't just to make them delicious, but to allow neighbors to buy tasty snacks at low prices during the Lunar New Year and experience the festive atmosphere. Diced fatty pork, with its higher fat content, felt like a better value for money back then, practically qualifying as a meat dish.

"Does the Four Happiness Roll need diced fatty pork?" Qin Huai looked confused, staring wide-eyed at Zheng Da. "The recipe I got doesn't have diced fatty pork, only diced ham."

Zheng Da was stunned, then fell into deep thought. After thinking for two or three minutes, he asked Qin Huai, "Your prescription... never mind."

"The recipe you received says diced ham?"

“Yes.” Qin Huai nodded affirmatively. “Moreover, the recipe has a general method, and the Four Happiness Rolls I made yesterday were made according to the recipe. However, I feel that the written expression is not very clear. There should be many techniques and difficulties that are not written down. I can feel that there must be a problem with my Four Happiness Rolls, but I don’t know where the problem is.”

Since Qin Huai had already said so much, everyone present naturally believed that he must have the recipe for Four Happiness Rolls. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why Qin Huai was able to make such a disastrous version of Four Happiness Rolls so smoothly yesterday.

Zheng Da didn't ask any more questions. Qin Huai guessed that Zheng Da probably assumed that Cao Guixiang had given him the recipe. Given Zheng Da's emotional intelligence and professional ethics, he would never pry into such private matters involving secret recipes or the transmission of recipes between masters and apprentices.

"Diced ham?" Zheng Da murmured, staring at the diced ham. "It's actually diced ham. How come I never thought of that? I've used pork belly, lean meat, and minced meat before. Yes, how come I never thought of diced ham!"

Zheng Da slapped his thigh in frustration: "Ham cubes, yes, ham cubes! It should be ham cubes!"

Then Zheng Da ignored Qin Huai and the others and started making Four Happiness Rolls.

Zheng Siyuan gave Qin Huai a questioning look, her eyes asking: What's wrong with my dad? Is he really possessed? Should we take him to the hospital?
Qin Huai waved his hand, indicating that this was normal.

The Four Happiness Rolls had such a deep psychological impact on Zheng Da that he would secretly make them at home every day during the Chinese New Year, even though he didn't usually make them.

Zheng Da himself was well aware that there was a problem with the recipe for Four Happiness Rolls, but he had been unable to find the answer for many years. Today, Qin Huai pointed out the answer to the problem. How could he not be excited?

As Qin Huai watched Zheng Da engrossed in making Four Happiness Rolls, he couldn't help but admire Xu Nuo's culinary skills—or rather, his culinary thinking—which were even better than he had imagined.

Xu Nuo found the answer to the recipe that Zheng Da had been trying to figure out for decades, and he makes it himself at home every year, producing and selling it himself.

Moreover, the version of the answer that Xu Nuo provided was most likely not given to him by Master Jing, because Master Jing did not even tell the version of the answer to his own disciples, let alone to an outsider like Xu Nuo.

Whether the promised answer was bought at a high price like the Double Crab Bun or figured out on one's own, it's still amazing.

The former is incredibly wealthy, and the latter is incredibly awesome.

Zheng Da was completely immersed in the art of making Four Happiness Rolls.

He did it very quickly.

If all the ingredients are ready, especially if the dough has already been kneaded, Four Happiness Rolls can be made very quickly.

The Four Happiness Roll is essentially a fancy and very difficult steamed bun, with the core difficulty lying in the shape of the bun itself.

The finished product is rolled once in the right direction and once in the wrong direction. You can't see the effect directly after rolling it twice. You have to steam it and then cut it open to see if the cloud pattern in the middle is clear and beautiful, so as to judge whether the Four Happiness Roll is successful.

An inexperienced chef cannot judge the beauty of the cloud pattern based on a freshly rolled Four Happiness Roll. This is purely a matter of practice makes perfect, and it is a completely independent skill. No matter how well you master the basic skills of controlling the heat and preparing the filling, it is useless. You have to start from scratch.

Qin Huai could tell that Zheng Da must have been practicing the Four Joys Scroll over the years, but not very often.

Because he works very fast, but he often hesitates while doing so. He looks very skilled when rolling forward, but when he gets to the step of rolling backward, he will pause and hesitate, as if he is thinking about something.

He almost wrote down which parts he was good at, which parts he was not good at, and why he was scolded by his neighbors for not being able to make Four Happiness Rolls well in the process.

It turns out that Master Zheng wasn't bad at making cloud patterns, but rather he wasn't good at making the reverse rolls in the Four Happiness Rolls.

An advanced version without cloud patterns. Zheng Da finished rolling the first one very quickly, and then started rolling the second one.

Like the first one, it scrolls smoothly forward but gets stuck backward.

Qin Huai stared at Zheng Da's hand movements, but what came to mind was what Gu Li had said yesterday when he was teaching them how to roll.

Tan Weian's regular rolls always have an excessively large arc, especially at the end, and he always has an uncontrollable bad habit of trying to flatten it.

In Tan Weian's words, he felt that pressing down the Four Happiness Rolls would make them look better.

Then Gu Li told him that pressing down on it would make the cloud pattern disappear, but Qin Huai felt that it wasn't that exaggerated; it was simply a problem of differing opinions between the two brothers.

Tan Wei'an wanted to press down slightly because his curves were always too large; pressing down slightly on such an overly large curve wouldn't be a problem. This incident also reveals Tan Wei'an's considerable talent; his first, even subconscious, reaction to problems during dessert making is to correct them—that's true talent.

Gu Li didn't have that kind of talent, so he chose to do things exactly as he had learned back then.

He would promptly correct the problems he could see in everyone, but he didn't understand that many people's problems were actually meant to correct the problems that came before.

Because Zheng Da has sufficient skills, his approach is more like the standard answer that Gu Li gave yesterday.

Especially the main text.

It's practically perfect, with every seam sealed. From the moment the diced ham and scallions are added, it's as precise as a textbook example. Every curve of the roll looks meticulously designed. You can tell that Zheng Da must have put in a lot of hard work on the Four Happiness Rolls in his early years, otherwise it would be impossible to roll them so perfectly and beautifully.

Then, in stark contrast, is the part that curls back.

Even Qin Huai could see where the problem was.

Reverse rolling isn't simply about flipping the four-happiness roll over; it requires more skill and adaptability from the chef. Logically, Zheng Da definitely possesses these abilities, but whether it's due to past trauma or a genuine lack of intuition, every time he falters, it signals a problem—a series of stumbles revealing a series of issues.

Just don't make it too obvious.

Although Zheng Da was completely immersed in making Four Happiness Rolls and couldn't extricate himself, Qin Huai still felt that this was actually a very good teaching opportunity, because Master Zheng simultaneously demonstrated both the perfect Four Happiness Rolls and the Four Happiness Rolls that would have problems.

One demonstration, two effects, double the results.

It would be even better if there were an objective guide explaining things to you at this moment.

Qin Huai looked at Gu Li.

Gu Li watched very attentively; he was the one in the Four Joys Scroll research team who cherished this learning opportunity the most. For Gu Li, the number of masters who could teach him cloud patterns was, if not nonexistent, certainly very limited.

Otherwise, Gu Li wouldn't have mistaken Zheng Da's nitpicking for Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan's help that morning.

"Guli," Qin Huai said, "Master Zheng is doing it a bit too fast. We don't quite understand it. Could you help explain it to us?"

"Huh?" Gu Li was a little confused. He didn't understand why Zheng Da needed him to explain how to make pastries, but Master Qin must have his reasons for saying that. Without any hesitation, Gu Li nodded and began to explain.

He focused even more intently on the movements of Zheng Da's hands.

"Master Zheng's diced ham is spread very well. The diced ham in Four Happiness Rolls should not be spread too thickly, but it should not be too thin either. The best state is a thin layer with some gaps between each other, which is also the state that Master Qin mentioned yesterday."

"The amount of sesame oil applied was also very good; just a thin layer was applied, without too much soaking into the dough."

"Senior brother, did you see that? The starting point for rolling the dough should be this arc. You need to use your little finger to control the position of the dough. You're only moving your little finger slightly each time. This step is meaningful."

“Master Zheng’s main scroll is really well rolled. Master Qin, look, his final product is very beautiful. Yesterday you asked me why your main scroll looked strange. It’s because each roll of the cloud pattern is superimposed. If you can control the curvature of each roll well, the final product will look like Master Zheng’s. But if there are problems every time, the final product will look very strange.”

"Senior brother, look, you can't press it down at the end, there's no need to press it down at all."

"Master Zheng, look at the side of this Ruyi Roll. The ratio of scallions and ham is very beautiful, perfectly divided in two. And when you roll it up, the thickness of each layer is the same. If you can make the curve a little bigger when you roll it, you can also achieve this effect."

“Master Zheng’s current reverse rolling has a bit of a problem.”

"His curve was a little too big just now, no, it's less now. The curve of a reverse curl should be more exaggerated than a regular curl, but it can't be too exaggerated, especially it can't be too flat, ah, Master Zheng flattened it."

“Master Zheng’s roll also has a problem, but I’m not sure exactly where the problem lies. However, my master said that no matter what method is used to make cloud patterns, the final product cannot be too bulging, otherwise the cloud patterns will definitely be deformed when cut out.”

"Master Zheng pressed it down again."

"However, there is no problem with pressing it down; you can press it down a little at the end of the reverse roll."

Gu Li was an extremely dedicated commentator, not missing a single move by Zheng Da, nor letting Zheng Da off the hook.

Zheng Da didn't care at all, because he wasn't listening to what Gu Li was saying.

He was still so engrossed in his own world that he couldn't pull himself out.

But someone heard it.

Huang Shengli crossed his arms and watched Zheng Da make Four Happiness Rolls with great interest. Gu Li provided commentary, and Huang Shengli smiled as he spoke to Gong Liang, who had somehow sneaked back into the kitchen:
"This model is great. Zheng Da teaches people how to make pastries and provides explanations along the way, which perfectly solves his problem of being bad at speaking."

Gong Liang's focus was completely different: "When will Zheng Da's Four Happiness Rolls be steamed?"

"I ate two Four Happiness Rolls made by Chef Qin last night, and I'm so hungry for them. I've been thinking about them all night."

"I must say, the Four Happiness Rolls that Chef Qin made, although they look like flower rolls, are really delicious. I feel they taste much better than the ones Zheng Da made back then."

"I think he made quite a lot, so it should be steaming soon," Huang Shengli said, smacking his lips. "What you've said makes me a little hungry."

“I haven’t had Zheng Da’s Four Happiness Rolls for many years. That kid is so sensitive. He would rather secretly make them at home every year for the New Year and eat them himself. If he can’t finish them, he’ll secretly feed them to the neighbor’s dog, which got gastroenteritis and was hospitalized. He won’t share any with us, as if he’s afraid we’ll find out that he’s still secretly making Four Happiness Rolls at home.”

"Tsk."

(End of this chapter)