The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 408 Master Zhou

Qin Huai never expected that his meeting with Master Zhou would happen under such circumstances.

He held a lemon tea in his left hand, his right hand still had oil from eating egg tarts that he hadn't wiped off, some egg tart crumbs on his clothes, and his mouth wasn't wiped. He looked somewhat dazed, and his mental state and appearance were probably not quite normal.

However, the smile is a very standard social smile.

Qin Huai reacted quickly. Realizing that his right hand was not very clean, he quickly took out a tissue from his pocket, wiped his hand clean, and had a historic meeting and handshake with Master Zhou.

Fortunately, there were no photographers nearby, otherwise they would have snapped a picture to record Qinhuai's eternal dark history.

Master Zhou looked at Qin Huai with admiration in his eyes. After looking Qin Huai up and down one last time, he asked in a completely gentle tone, without a trace of sarcasm, "Where is Su Qian?"

"I'm a little carsick, so Su Qian put my suitcase upstairs for me. He's probably still unpacking," Qin Huai explained honestly. "This is my first time in Hangzhou, so I'm just wandering around the area first."

Master Zhou nodded in satisfaction, his brows relaxed as much as could be, every little expression revealing that he was in a very good mood.

"So you waited for Su Qian at the entrance of Zhiweiju and had an egg tart while you were there."

Qin Huai continued to nod.

"how is the taste?"

Qin Huai was stunned again. He hadn't expected that Chef Zhou's focus would be on the taste of the egg tarts. Actually, Qin Huai didn't have much of an opinion on the egg tarts he had just eaten. People feel nauseous when they're carsick and have no appetite.

Qin Huai could be described as having both a strong craving for the egg tarts and a slightly nauseous feeling, struggling between nausea and appetite to finish them.

As for the specific taste...

Qin Huai tried hard to recall, and could only say dryly, "It smells...it smells pretty good. I just passed by and smelled the egg tarts and got a little tempted. They taste...pretty good. Maybe I was a little carsick so I couldn't taste anything too specific, but they felt a little different from the egg tarts I usually eat."

A strange smile crept onto Master Zhou's lips.

Qin Huai: ?
Su Qian and Tan Weian had only told him that Master Zhou liked hermaphrodites, was a radical among reformers, had high expectations for his apprentices, and might have a somewhat eccentric temperament, but they hadn't said he was that eccentric.

The main concern is the egg tarts, but this person seems both easy to talk to and mentally unstable.

Is this the eccentric temperament of an industry leader? He absolutely cannot let outsiders see his inner thoughts from his expression, so his expression is chaotic and impossible to guess.

Master Zhou said calmly, "I made it."

"what?"

"That batch of egg tarts was made by me," Chef Zhou repeated.

Qin Huai blurted out, "You...like to make egg tarts?"

“Occasionally,” Chef Zhou said calmly. “Sometimes I also make tiramisu and mango pudding. I’m currently studying Western-style desserts, starting with the simple ones.”

Qin Huai: ? ? ?
Oh no, he's really become a conservative.

Master Zhou seemed very pleased with Qin Huai's surprised expression and continued, "I heard that you were a promising talent discovered by Zheng Da. It was Zheng Da who first took you to Huang's restaurant. I'm sure Zheng Da has said a lot of bad things about me to you."

Qin Huai: ...No, Zheng Da usually doesn't scold Master Zhou. He rarely scolds pastry chefs who are better than him. To be precise, Zheng Da doesn't usually scold people. If he does, it's usually only Boss Su.

"Actually, no..." Qin Huai began weakly, but was interrupted by Master Zhou before he could finish.

“I’m not some old-fashioned, rigid person.” Chef Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly. “Whether it’s Chinese or Western pastries, they all have something in common. Zhiweiju is different from restaurants like Huangji, which can’t survive without a chef. We are richer, more open, more innovative, and more inclusive. Zhiweiju has pastry chefs from all over the country, with all kinds of styles and schools. It’s much more suitable for communication than Huangji.”

Qin Huai: ...What a masterful way to put someone down. No wonder it's the number one restaurant in Bai'an; it has the confidence to back it up.

"Have you recovered from your motion sickness?" Master Zhou asked again.

Qin Huai wanted to say no, but perhaps because he was still a little too shocked, he suddenly felt better and no longer felt nauseous or vomiting. He even felt a little like eating another egg tart.

"Alright," Qin Huai said honestly.

"Let's go in and take a look. We'll go through the staff entrance." After saying that, Master Zhou turned and walked to the left, and Qin Huai quickly followed.

The so-called "employee passage" that Chef Zhou mentioned is actually a side door, a small door at the back of Zhiweiju, which requires a card to enter and looks very formal.

Master Zhou took out his work ID from his pocket, swiped it with a beep, and entered. Qin Huai followed Master Zhou in, keeping a distance of about one meter. He found that the side door led directly to the staff break room.

It is indeed an employee access road.

Master Zhou led Qin Huai through the staff break room to the changing room, took out a key from his pocket and handed it to Qin Huai: "Number 13, there are staff uniforms inside."

Qin Huai took the key and went inside, where Master Zhou was waiting at the door. The layout of the changing room at Zhiweiju was similar to that of Huangji and Yunzhong Restaurant; one could only say that changing rooms all over the world are probably the same—like those in TV dramas.

However, the changing rooms at Zhiweiju are much larger, which shows how many employees it has.

Qin Huai found cabinet number 13, opened it, and found a set of employee uniforms inside, with his name on the uniform.

Qin Huai could only marvel at Zhiweiju's efficiency. He only found out two days ago that he would be coming to Zhiweiju for an exchange today, and Zhiweiju was able to prepare the staff uniforms in such a short time and even embroider his name on them. No wonder it is the number one restaurant for white dishes.

Qin Huai changed his clothes in a flash and found that the size was just right. He straightened his clothes and adjusted his hair to look more formal before walking outside with his back straight.

Master Zhou was still standing at the locker room door waiting for him. When Qin Huai came out, Master Zhou looked him up and down, then showed a very satisfied expression and said, "Come with me."

Qin Huai obediently followed behind Master Zhou and walked into the kitchen.

The kitchen at Zhiweiju is very large. As Su Qian said, the kitchen is divided into several areas. Baking, steaming, ingredient preparation, and the stove are all in different areas. There are even two areas for ingredient preparation alone. One of the smaller areas seems to be dedicated to kneading and proofing dough.

The various areas were separated by transparent glass doors and connected by corridors. As Qin Huai passed by the smaller preparation area, he could feel that the temperature inside was lower than in the other areas. When Master Zhou noticed that Qin Huai was glancing at the preparation area several times, he explained, "Some doughs require a lower temperature to ferment. This place is only used to make some special pastries, and very few people go in."

Master Zhou didn't stop talking and led Qin Huai inside until they reached the innermost door before pushing it open and entering.

This is the largest area in the kitchen of Zhiweiju. Qin Huai finds it hard to describe what kind of area it is; it's probably just... a normal restaurant kitchen.

It's just the kind of normal restaurant kitchen that appears in TV dramas, something that everyone imagines—clean, tidy, orderly, and well-organized, crowded but not chaotic, with background noise but not noisy.

The machines, kitchen counters, and shelves were all arranged in an extremely reasonable manner. Everyone had their own tasks to do, everyone was focused on their own tasks, and everyone was working with complete concentration. Whether it was kneading dough, chopping vegetables and preparing ingredients, or mixing fillings, everything was so orderly.

Qin Huai could even tell at a glance who was an apprentice, who was a direct disciple, and who was a master. This area was like a giant beehive, with bees of all kinds and statuses clearly visible.

In a relatively corner, they were engrossed in doing odd jobs, such as chopping vegetables, mincing meat, and tidying up the shelves. They were diligent and very quiet, and were relatively young. You could tell at a glance that they were apprentices.

Of course, Qin Huai could also tell that many of those who weren't doing these chores but were kneading dough, and whose positions weren't in such a corner, were probably apprentices.

The apprentices at Zhiweiju have a special kind of aura, a terrifying sense of urgency that says, "If I don't rip you off today, I'll be ripped off tomorrow." This kind of aura is rarely seen among direct disciples and those preparing to become direct disciples. Tan Weian is a prime example, and even a super-roaster like Gu Li only gives off the feeling that he just loves to roast and no one forces him to.

The direct disciples and their trainees were scattered throughout the area, each doing their own part in making pastries. They were serious, focused, and meticulous, but relatively relaxed, without the sense of urgency that if they didn't do a good job with today's pastry, they would be packing their bags and leaving tomorrow.

As for the master chefs, you can tell at a glance.

Su Qian was right when he said that the recipes at Zhiweiju are for apprentices and disciples, not for master chefs. Every master chef is visibly relaxed and at ease.

Whether they are making pastries, strolling around looking for promising talents, supervising their apprentices' pastry making, or teaching, the relaxed demeanor of each master chef is visibly palpable.

In a sense, Tan Weian's demeanor at Huang Ji and Yunzhong Canteen was very much like that of a master chef; it's unclear where he learned that from.

Master Zhou went in before Qin Huai. When the apprentices near the door saw Master Zhou return, they didn't say anything, but they nodded respectfully to him. This was probably how the apprentices at Zhiweiju expressed their respect to their master chef.

Qin Huai followed behind Master Zhou, naturally attracting a lot of attention.

Seeing a new face in the kitchen, led in by Master Zhou, some of the apprentices couldn't help but cast curious glances at Qin Huai.

Some people would lower their gaze slightly, pretending to glance up at Qin Huai. Others made no attempt to hide it, abandoning their own work to stare at him.

Master Zhou also openly expressed his likes and dislikes, glancing lightly at the frivolous apprentice, then giving the dough the apprentice was kneading with disdain. He took a few steps forward and then said in a light and sarcastic tone:
"Recruiting people is getting worse every year; they've even brought in cement workers."

Qin Huai: ...

The apprentice's kneading of the dough was a bit poor, but it doesn't deserve this much punishment, Master Zhou. Is this how you usually talk to people?
Of course, Master Zhou only glanced at him once. His eyes were precious, and he didn't have many eyes to waste on his apprentice who couldn't even knead dough very well.

Qin Huai followed closely behind Master Zhou. As Master Zhou's pace quickened, Qin Huai couldn't help but quicken his own, following him to an empty cooking counter.

“This is your cooking station,” Chef Zhou said. “You’ve seen the areas we’ve come through. Baking is in zone 3, steaming is in zone 2. Su Qian told me that you usually don’t use machines when making pastries, and most of the machines are in zone 4. If you don’t know how to use the machines, you can just ask Su Qian.”

“Normally, the masters who come to exchange ideas will bring their own people. If you feel that you don’t have enough manpower, you can ask a few people you know to help you, whether it’s Tan Weian or Gu Li. If you want Su Qian, he can also be assigned to you for the time being.”

“I heard from Su Qian that you like Pu’er, Longjing, Tieguanyin and Phoenix Dancong. The tea brewing skills of the people who went to Huang Ji to exchange ideas before were not very good. I will ask someone to brew tea for you specially.”

"We at Zhiweiju don't have a chef specializing in hot dishes, so our staff meals are slightly inferior to those at Huangji. We usually order from menus. Boss Su is in charge of ordering. You can contact him later and tell him what dishes and flavors you like, and he will order to your satisfaction."

"If there's anything you particularly want to eat, you should tell him at least a day in advance, but it's best to avoid foods with a strong smell. If you really want to eat things like snail rice noodles or stinky tofu, you'll probably have to eat out, as Zhiweiju has a clear rule against eating these strong-smelling foods in the restaurant."

Qin Huai nodded repeatedly as he listened, until Master Zhou finished speaking and looked at him. Only then did he belatedly realize that Master Zhou seemed to be showing him around the work environment and introducing him to the basic information about Zhiweiju.

Good heavens, is he really being paid that much? The head of Zhiweiju restaurant actually personally led him to his workstation.

What's the difference between this and a new employee being greeted by the chairman on their first day of work?
Seeing that Master Zhou showed no sign of leaving, Qin Huai was momentarily unsure of his thoughts. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, unsure whether to offer compliments, polite words, or something else entirely.

Just as Qin Huai obediently finished saying, "Okay, Master Zhou, I understand. I'm so sorry to have troubled you to tell me these things personally," Master Zhou spoke again.

“I heard that you made your fruit with Huang Shengli. He was in charge of the filling and you were in charge of the other processes. You couldn’t make this pastry on your own.”

"Yes," Qin Huai said affirmatively.

"I also heard that you made mixed fruit filling glutinous rice balls with very complicated fillings that were completely unnecessary but tasted quite good. And Four Happiness Glutinous Rice Balls are now your signature dessert. Even Xu Cheng couldn't help but praise them a while ago and wanted to write another interview with you."

"It's not that good, but Four Happiness Tangyuan is definitely my signature dessert now."

I've also heard that your mung bean cakes are quite unique.

"Sales are indeed quite good."

Has the San Ding Bao (a type of steamed bun) improved?

"Just a little bit, I haven't practiced making San Ding Bao much lately."

"I know that. You've been practicing that double crab bun thing lately."

Qin Huai: ...? Where did Master Zhou hear this from? How come the information is so accurate? Did they install a surveillance camera on him?

Master Zhou just watched Qin Huai quietly.

At this moment, Qin Huai understood what Master Zhou meant.

"How about... I make you a few of my specialty desserts now, and you can taste them for me?"

Master Zhou's mood instantly improved, and he nodded with a smile: "Okay."

(End of this chapter)