The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 429 Can you also call me Master?

After finishing the meal, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves.

Because the amount of pastries was so large, Shi Dadan couldn't finish them all. In addition, there were still some raw pastries in the kitchen. Under Chef Zhou's nonchalant arrangement, An Youyou packed two of each of the remaining pastries and happily carried the takeout boxes home.

The remaining snacks were taken away by Qin Huai and Shi Dadan. Of course, Zhao Cheng'an's family also left some snacks behind; the dumplings he made and the pumpkin pancakes he fried were all left at his house.

Upon hearing this arrangement, Zhao Cheng'an almost burst into tears.

"Xiao Qin, do you have time to go for a walk with me? The environment in Lao San's neighborhood is quite nice, and it's not too hot at this time of day, so it's perfect for a stroll." While Shi Dadan was packing up some snacks, Master Zhou extended an invitation to Qin Huai for a walk.

Qin Huai knew that the master chefs at Zhiweiju had a habit of taking walks by the lake. Not every master chef used to have this habit, but since someone set the location for a fight by the lake, more master chefs have started to have this habit.

What if we happen to run into one?

On my second day at work, I heard people say that nothing beats watching a live show while taking a walk.

Qin Huai nodded obediently: "Of course I have time. I just ate too much, so a walk is a good way to digest."

Zhao Cheng'an: (-) Master, you've changed. Wasn't it me who accompanied you on walks before?
Qin Huai and Master Zhou went for a walk downstairs in the residential area, and it really was just a walk. Master Zhou walked ahead without saying a word, while Qin Huai followed behind him at a distance of 5 to 10 steps, like a little follower. The two of them strolled around Zhao Cheng'an's residential area like this.

To be fair, Zhao Cheng'an's residential area is quite large, but the greenery is not as lush as Yunzhong Residential Area. However, there are many birds chirping, which sounds quite pleasant.

Qin Huai and Master Zhou walked around the neighborhood for a whole time without saying a word. Master Zhou walked very fast, more like he was racing than strolling. Qin Huai was breathing a little rapidly after walking the whole way.

After completing the first lap, begin the second lap.

When they were halfway through the second lap, Mr. Zhou suddenly stopped by the flower bed without warning. Qin Huai almost lost control and overtook him. When Qin Huai looked at Mr. Zhou, he found that Mr. Zhou was looking at him with a rather complicated expression.

The flowers in the flowerbed were in full bloom, and the property management had carefully arranged them into beautiful shapes using different colors. A few birds hopped and chirped in the flowerbed, and seven or eight butterflies fluttered above the blooming flowers. It was indeed a good place to stop and rest for a while.

Master Zhou showed no intention of sitting down to rest. He stood there, ramrod straight, staring intently at Qin Huai as he asked, "What did Lao San say to you in the kitchen before dinner?"

See, not only does a father know his son best, but a master also understands his disciple just as well.

Qin Huai thought for a moment and organized his thoughts: "He told me about his mental journey when he became an apprentice."

Master Zhou was amused by Qin Huai's concise words and chuckled twice: "It seems that the third brother thinks that what I've been doing lately is because I want to take you as my apprentice. You are already his junior brother in the making."

Qin Huai remained silent, obediently.

Master Zhou gestured for Qin Huai not to stand, and walked to the bench to sit down. Qin Huai followed suit and sat down.

“I really want to take you as my apprentice, and you should be able to tell that, Xiao Qin.”

Qin Huai continued to nod, adding, "Not only you, Master Hua also really wants to take me as his apprentice, as do Master Li, Master Wang, Master Zhao, and the others. I can see that to some extent."

"So you chose to play dumb?" Master Zhou asked.

Qin Huai could only mimic Shi Dadan's憨厚 smile, his face clearly showing that he was pretending to be stupid.

"You were brought to Huang's restaurant by Zheng Da. Why didn't Zheng Da take you as his apprentice?" Master Zhou asked.

Qin Huai hadn't expected Master Zhou to ask such a pointed question. After a pause, he chose to use the art of language: "Master Zheng... has a very easygoing personality and wouldn't be as proactive as you guys. I know Master Zheng really wants to take me on as an apprentice, and I'm very grateful that Master Zheng is willing to teach me everything he knows. However... there might be a certain fate between a master and an apprentice. Master Zheng and I don't have that fate, and Master Zheng hasn't taken the initiative to ask. I think we both understand this unspoken."

Master Zhou smiled dismissively, but without any sarcasm: "Zheng Da has great talent."

“He used to be able to endure hardship. I had heard of his master back then. He was the famous Master Jing of the Suzhou State-run Restaurant. He was a very rare master who was extremely good at both hot and cold dishes. It’s just that he passed away a little too early. When I was a child, I was learning to cook and I was thinking that after I started working, I would save up money and have a meal at the Suzhou State-run Restaurant.”

“My skills are passed down in my family. When I was learning to cook from my father, I even told him that if he wasn’t also a chef and I had to learn from him, I would have gone to Suzhou to become Master Jing’s apprentice long ago.”

“Everyone knows I hate Zheng Da. They only know that I hate Zheng Da because Zheng Da is a good chef but only cares about money. I think he is wasting his culinary skills and his talent and has become a businessman who is full of money.”

"Not really."

“I hate him because I’m jealous of him. I’m jealous that he was taken in as a disciple by Master Jing and carefully taught for so many years, but he went into business and stopped being a chef just a few years after Master Jing passed away.”

“I’ve heard a little about his reasons for going into business, but in my opinion, it’s not a reason at all.”

"He's just been too well protected by Master Jing. So what if he can't become the head chef of a state-owned restaurant? It's not like someone else became the head chef of a state-owned restaurant. Wasn't it his senior apprentice Huang Shengli? Pastry has been in decline for so many years. If it weren't for Xiao Su's success in making Zhiweiju a well-known restaurant, would there still be any restaurants in the country that specialize in pastry?"

“Every chef at Zhiweiju has suffered more unfair treatment and injustice than him. But Zheng Da is so precious that he can’t stand even the slightest injustice. He quit his job as a chef to go into business and give up the skills he’s learned over the years.”

"But Zheng Da is lucky; even under these circumstances, he was able to have a son with exceptional talent. It's common for children to follow in their fathers' footsteps in our line of work, but the prerequisite is that the son is capable of doing so. None of my three children have the talent or interest in this area, and I don't force them. Don't let Xiao Tan's seemingly lazy and unambitious nature fool you; even though he's not particularly talented, he's already considered an outstanding example of a son following in his father's footsteps at Zhiweiju. He's taken over the business that his father couldn't."

"We have several retired old folks at Zhiweiju, and now they are hoping that their sons and daughters will have a child with talent like Xiao Tan to inherit their skills."

"After saying all this, Xiao Qin, do you know why I changed my opinion of Zheng Da?" Master Zhou suddenly asked Qin Huai.

Qin Huai was listening to the story when he was surprised that Master Zhou changed the topic so quickly. He shook his head decisively, but made a bold guess: "I heard that it's because Master Zheng reformed the pastry recipes. Instead of mass-producing low-end pastries, he started producing mid-to-low-end pastries, which raised the overall quality of the industry."

“No,” Master Zhou shook his head. “This is just an extra.”

"What is the reason for that?" Qin Huai was very curious. In his opinion, Zheng Da's ability to reform industrialized pastries to this level of taste was already quite remarkable. If this reform were compared with traditional pastry, it would definitely be at the master level.

"After you appeared on 'Taste of Life,' I took my third brother, wearing masks, to Huang Ji for a meal of fruit, and then we lined up at 5 a.m. to buy the day's snacks." "Huh?" Qin Huai was stunned.

“Zheng Da has truly taught you everything he knows,” Master Zhou said. “I’ve tried your premium three-ingredient buns and fermented rice buns. Zheng Da really didn’t hold back at all and passed on all his unique skills to you, especially the fermented rice buns. Your skill in making fermented rice buns is even better than his son Zheng Siyuan’s.”

"Although Zheng Da neglected his craft by going into business over some trivial matters, he has never properly taken on any apprentices over the years, only passing on his skills to his son. I don't know what his son was thinking, he doesn't come to Zhiweiju or Huangji, but insists on opening a pastry shop at the entrance of the old neighborhood."

"I originally thought that Zheng Da's life would just be like this, but I didn't expect that he still had some of the principles of a chef. He did not let down Master Jing's teachings and picked the best candidate to pass on his master's skills."

Qin Huai: ...

Qin Huai was momentarily at a loss for words. Admittedly, Zheng Da had indeed shared all his knowledge in teaching without holding back, doing his utmost to help. However, Master Zhou, you've misunderstood. The Three-Ingredient Buns and Fermented Rice Buns weren't taught by Master Zheng.

Would you believe me if I said these two pastries were taught by Chef Jing? I have Chef Jing's instructional videos here, the kind you can watch repeatedly.

Qin Huai chose to remain silent.

"When I ate the pastries you made at Huang's, I was very curious about what kind of promising talent Zheng Da could teach like this. The things Xiao Tan told me about you these past few months have made me even more curious, but I don't really believe what Xiao Tan says. This kid has always liked to brag and exaggerate since he was a child. As long as someone is more talented than him, he will do his best to exaggerate even more, making it seem like the other person is too good instead of him being bad."

"This makes me really looking forward to your arrival at Zhiweiju. I've urged Xiao Su many times to ask if he could find a way to bring you over sooner. I really can't wait until July or August."

Qin Huai: ?
"And then you came." Master Zhou looked at Qin Huai with eyes full of affection. "Your talent, skill, temperament, and comprehension have all exceeded my expectations."

Hearing Master Zhou say those words with such admiration, Qin Huai felt a little embarrassed.

Well, Qin Huai had indeed heard similar things since he was a child, especially when he was in the orphanage. In addition, Director Qin was very good at praising children, and the language and tone of Director Qin when praising Qin Huai were at least 10 times more exaggerated than Master Zhou's now.

But what is the true value of Master Zhou's work?

This is truly the number one chef of white dishes. With just a few moves, he can make Shi Dadan eat until he can't eat anymore. He is the golden signboard of Zhiweiju, an SSR with golden light, and a well-known master of sarcasm.

“I’ve actually been observing you these past few days.” Master Zhou’s voice became very soft and gentle, with a hint of hoarseness.

"I had you watch the third brother and the others make pastries with them so that I could see if you could discover the essential difference between an excellent pastry chef and a master chef from these three."

"I had the third brother lead you to gossip because I wanted to see how focused you were on the snacks, whether you would get distracted by trivial matters, and whether you would slack off because of the pleasant and relaxed environment."

“For the first few days, I made egg tarts for you to taste every afternoon, to see if you would get impatient. I wanted to see if you would feel that you came to Zhiweiju to exchange and learn finger techniques, not to learn these inexplicable and unimportant Western pastries.”

"I'm not teaching you, I'm letting the third brother teach you, because I want to see if you have the arrogance that most geniuses have, thinking that you are a genius and that everyone should like you, pamper you, and teach you everything they know. Will you feel that I don't value you and am just going through the motions, and become dissatisfied?"

"As for the day I suddenly asked you to make egg tarts, and then didn't let you make any other desserts, it was because I wanted to test how much trust and obedience you had in me. Taking on an apprentice isn't difficult, but taking on a good apprentice is very difficult."

“I am indeed the so-called number one pastry chef, but with your talent and strength, I believe many people, including Xiao Tan, have told you that one day you will become the next number one pastry chef. Geniuses are always arrogant, not to mention that you are no longer an apprentice who knows nothing. You have been taught by famous teachers, by Zheng Da, attended Zhiwei, have your own signature pastries, and are not even short of money.”

"Among apprentices, you should be the type that all masters least want to teach, because you must be very difficult to teach. You are likely to have the right to question your master's teaching and abilities. Apart from Huang Shengli, who has a particularly good temper, very few masters are willing to teach such a troublemaker."

Qin Huai asked, "Then I have passed your test?"

“It’s practically perfect,” Master Zhou said. “These past few days I’ve been thinking about how Zheng Da could resist asking you to become his apprentice. He’s incredibly patient.”

Qin Huai: ...At a time like this, there's no need for Master Zheng to be sarcastic.

As he spoke, Master Zhou sighed, "If only you had come to Zhiweiju 10 years ago. Although I wasn't the number one pastry chef back then, if you had come to Zhiweiju back then, I would have fought with Master He, who was ranked number one in pastry chefs at the time, just to snatch you as my precious apprentice."

Qin Huai interrupted slightly: "So, Master He now..."

"After making enough money, we retire and stay home to take care of our grandchildren. Our white dishes are different from red dishes; those who are famous are all old guys."

Master Zhou sighed again: "What a pity, why didn't your uncle or maternal uncle think of giving it a try back then? He could have sent it to Zhiweiju first."

“Even if I really wanted to take you as my fourth apprentice now, I wouldn’t do it. I’ve looked down on Zheng Da for decades, and it’s impossible for me to do something that would make Zheng Da look down on me at this time.”

"Zheng Daneng was able to impart all his knowledge to you without even taking you as his apprentice. I, Zhou Guanghai, can do the same. I have that kind of magnanimity and generosity."

"Actually, my assessment of you ended a long time ago. The reason I've had Lao San take care of you these past few days is because I haven't figured out how to teach you. I've taught those with high talent, and Lao San is considered highly talented, but I've never taught someone as talented as you, since I don't have a good son like Zheng Da."

“Starting tomorrow, you don’t need to follow the third brother anymore. Follow me and learn. I’ve already scolded Su Qian’s kid these past few days.”

"Xiao Qin, starting tomorrow you will learn finger techniques from me from scratch. I want Zheng Da to know that if he can't teach a disciple, he should send him to me to teach. He is not as good as me at finger techniques."

"By the way, I heard from Xiao Tan that you didn't formally become an apprentice of Master Cao from Guangdong Province, but you called her Master."

"Can you call me Master too?"

Without any hesitation, Qin Huai smiled a smile unique to his disciple and said in a clear voice, "Of course, Master."

“I learned my craft from you, so you are my master.”

Master Zhou smiled again, thinking to himself, "No wonder Zheng Da couldn't help but teach me everything even though he didn't have any apprentices. Which master could resist Xiao Qin's mouth?"

(End of this chapter)