The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 430 Craftsmanship
After having that meal at Zhao Cheng'an's house, Qin Huai began his apprenticeship.

A true apprenticeship model.

Master Zhou didn't restrict Qin Huai's working hours, as long as he arrived at the store before 10 a.m. He also didn't restrict Qin Huai's off-duty time; if Qin Huai wanted, working until 10 p.m. was fine, Master Zhou could accompany him. Besides, Zhiweiju also had its own disciples who worked until 10 p.m.

At this moment, Qin Huai truly understood the flexibility and freedom of Zhiweiju.

Flexible work hours and flexible off-work hours are entirely up to you, and the master chef is watching your every move.

Qin Huai is the kind of apprentice who can be very dedicated.

小秦学徒每天早上9:15~9:45之间上班，每天晚上9:35~10:15之间下班，整个上班时间除了下午会休息1~2个小时跑去和赵诚安聊会八卦外，其余时间基本上都在跟着周师傅练指法。

Even the time during the morning meeting wasn't wasted. The 45-minute morning meeting was lunchtime, so there was no time to make snacks, but it was a good opportunity to cultivate an appreciation for snacks. People could look at more beautiful snacks and point out what made them beautiful.

Master Zhou's finger technique teaching is a comprehensive approach, encompassing both awareness and technique.

Techniques definitely need to be taught. Finger technique requires a lot of basic skills. The most important thing is to have a steady hand and be fast. You also need to know how to match and mix colors.

This can be seen from the assorted fruits that Master Zhou made that day. To make pastries that are lifelike and indistinguishable from the real thing, you have to do the details well. Grape leaves not only have to be similar in shape but also in spirit. In addition to being of appropriate thickness and having reasonable curves, you have to pay attention to the veins and color of the leaves, and even the small black spots and blemishes that may appear on the leaves.

For these pastries where finger techniques are refined to perfection, details determine success or failure.

To make pastries with such meticulous care, in addition to learning how to use various tools appropriately, including but not limited to small clips, tweezers, needles, handles, spoons, and a range of tools that a pastry chef might customize, a steady hand is also very important.

Being quick is equally important.

Making a dough ball takes three hours; no matter how beautiful it is, it won't make you an excellent pastry chef.

It's too slow; no customer can wait that long.

Fortunately, Qin Huai didn't need to practice these basics. Even though Qin Huai hadn't deliberately practiced finger techniques, his advanced finger techniques were already there; whether it was hand steadiness or the use of tools, Qin Huai's basic skills were quite good.

This is why Zhao Cheng'an told Qin Huai that he couldn't master his finger technique in a short time and that he would have to spend time practicing it slowly.

Qin Huai isn't a complete beginner; he has some basic knowledge and seems quite good at first glance. If he wants to take it a step further and challenge himself with higher difficulty levels, he'll have to spend time practicing slowly.

For students like Qin Huai, Master Zhou had a different teaching method.

"Come on, take a look at these green vegetables. Keep your hands busy making your hedgehog buns, just look at them. Which of these four green vegetables do you think is the best? Why? What's wrong with the others?" Chef Zhou placed a plate of freshly steamed green vegetables in front of Qin Huai.

The so-called "Jade Green Vegetable" is a very small and exquisite pastry shaped like a cabbage, made from water-milled rice flour and rice flour. It is a type of pastry with inlaid rice flour, and belongs to the same category as the assorted fruit platter.

Compared to a mixed fruit platter, the Jade Cabbage is much easier to make because the latter is obviously fake, and the requirement for a high degree of realism is not as high. It just needs to be pretty, delicate, and resemble a small toy for children.

The finger technique required for this type of snack is similar to that of "mian guo'er" (a type of steamed dumpling), but there are no requirements for the taste. The raw materials are usually just simple water-ground flour and rice flour. Unlike "mian guo'er," it does not need to be colored with fruit or vegetable juice. This type of snack is usually very brightly colored, but the taste is not very good; it just tastes like ordinary steamed dough.

It mainly serves an aesthetic purpose, making it look nice when placed on a table.

Qin Huai was using tweezers to remove the quills from the plump hedgehog in her hand when she looked in the direction Master Zhou was pointing towards the jade cabbages on the plate. The four jade cabbages were all different sizes and shapes; some were slightly greener and looked like tender cabbages, while others were a deep green and looked more like emerald cabbages.

Another issue is that the color ratio wasn't adjusted properly; the gradient between the green leaves and the white stems wasn't painted well, making it look like the ink ran out halfway through. The leaf wrinkles are also stiff; they're not open where they should be open, and not closed where they should be closed, making it look like the freebie from a "buy 3 get 1 free" deal.

Qin Huai knew at a glance that the ugliest one must have been made by Su Qian.

It's no wonder Su Qian gets scolded every day. He's considered excellent among the apprentices, but if he wants to become Master Zhou's personal disciple, he still has a long way to go.

Qin Huai glanced at the fat hedgehog in his hand out of the corner of his eye, slowed his movements slightly, and continued to pinch the thorns one by one, while examining the other three jade cabbages.

Jade Cabbage is a dessert without a standard answer.

You can make it look more like a real cabbage, with slightly richer color layers and more irregular leaves. It may not be beautiful, but it will definitely be unique.

You can also make it look very fake, as fake as the jade cabbage made of jade that is exhibited in museums. The leaves are an amazing green, and the gradient doesn't seem to be handled well. The contrast between the white and green is very large, but it is still very beautiful, giving a small and delicate feeling.

"Master Zhou, I think this is the best." Qin Huai pointed to the fakest dish on the plate, which was obviously made by Zhao Cheng'an.

In Master Zhou's words, Zhao Cheng'an's pastry-making is very much a craftsman's touch; he follows the instructions verbatim, doing whatever others teach him without any of his own ideas. However, this craftsman's touch is a huge plus when it comes to pastries that are purely for aesthetic purposes, making them even more impressive.

At least that's what Qin Huai thinks.

When it comes to design, if you can copy something, then of course you should copy it.

It was clear that Master Zhou was not very satisfied with Qin Huai's aesthetic sense.

"You think the third one did a better job, but can you tell which of the remaining two is Zhou Yan's and which is Wang Jiayi's?" Master Zhou asked.

Hearing Master Zhou's question, Qin Huai stopped what he was doing and stared at the other two jade cabbages, both of which were of good quality, for a long time. Finally, he pointed to one that was very green, with particularly well-done gradient parts. At first glance, it looked no different from a miniature version of a cabbage. If he had to pinpoint a problem, it would probably be that the details of the leaves weren't handled well. Each leaf looked somewhat similar, and it wasn't a completely genuine jade cabbage.

“This Jade Cabbage must have been made by Sister Yan,” Qin Huai said. “Sister Yan’s handling of colors is much better than Brother Jia’s, but her finger technique is not as good as Brother Jia’s, nor is she as daring. When it comes to such details, Sister Yan would rather use the safest method to make an exact replica than dare to try something she has never done before.”

"As for Brother Jia's, the details are very well done, but the color is far inferior to Sister Yan's. His cabbage is a bit too green, and he deliberately made a short leaf that looks like it has been broken, and he also added yellow and black spots to the leaf. This is obviously Brother Jia's style."

"As for Su Qian, I won't say anything. It would be a bit difficult for Su Qian to make the Jade Cabbage, given his skill level."

Hearing Qin Huai's accurate comments, Master Zhou was both gratified and helpless. He asked with a hint of confusion, "You make such a logical point about these comments, and you seem to know their styles very well. But why do you like Lao San's Jade Cabbage?"

Master Zhou practically had the words "Is this your aesthetic? Do you like these soulless, purely craftsman-like pastries?" etched onto his face.

"Brother Cheng'an's pastries are exquisite," Qin Huai said. "I know Brother Cheng'an's pastry-making is very crafty and lacks his own soul, but I think his pastries are more beautiful. There are no obvious flaws or mistakes. Isn't that what makes beautiful pastries?"

"These are pretty pastries, but they shouldn't be made by a pastry chef with aspirations," Master Zhou said earnestly, pointing to all the hedgehog buns Qin Huai had just made. "Like the hedgehog buns you just made. Are they pretty? These hedgehog buns are absolutely pretty; from the eyes to the overall shape to every single pinched spike, there's nothing wrong with them. But don't you think these hedgehog buns look like mass-produced pastries?" As he spoke, Master Zhou took the hedgehog bun Qin Huai was making from his hands: "Even the hedgehog buns I had you making while watching, multitasking, are exactly the same as the previous ones."

"The first batch of hedgehog bags you made were all very uniform in shape and size. I told you that I could make some with different features, such as smaller or larger ones, but your smaller and larger ones were all the same. I asked you to make something different, not to use a different mold to press a batch of different models that are exactly the same."

Seeing Qin Huai looking somewhat dazed, Master Zhou sighed helplessly: "Sigh, if I had known you would make the same mistake as Lao San, I wouldn't have let Lao San teach you in the first place. He taught you for a few days and you still led you astray."

Qin Huai said weakly, "This shouldn't have anything to do with Brother Cheng'an. I've always made desserts this way; I'm particularly good at imitating."

"In Tan Weian's words, he suspected that I hadn't drunk enough of the Meng Po soup, and that I hadn't completely forgotten what happened in my past life."

“A strong ability to imitate is a good thing, but it’s also a fatal flaw,” Master Zhou said. “Do you know why the third brother was a famous genius when he first started learning from me, but now he’s become just another ordinary person?”

"Because he wants to learn everything, he ends up being proficient in nothing?" Qin Huai guessed.

"Not entirely. His biggest flaw was that when he first started learning the craft, he relied on his talent and blindly imitated others, which led to his current bad habit. Everyone imitates others during their apprenticeship. To make a good pastry, you have to start by imitating others. No one can avoid that."

"But if you want to make your own desserts, you have to get rid of imitation and not rely on it too much. I didn't encounter similar problems when I taught Zhou Yan and Wang Jiayi. Now that I think about it, it might be because their talents are far inferior to yours and Lao San's. They have never tasted the sweetness of making rapid progress through talent, and they will not become dependent on it."

“But you two are different. You are both too talented, and too reliant on your talent.”

“When you told me that your Master Cao taught you knife skills, the first thing he taught you was to forget. I found that a bit strange. It is indeed a good method, but it is too risky and too troublesome. A normal person would not use this method. Your Master Cao should not be so radical. He would not use this method right from the start.”

"It seems that your Master Cao is more capable than me and understands you better. You have no choice but to use this method."

Qin Huai: ?
"Huh?" Qin Huai was stunned, his mind filled with nothing but, no way, they're doing it again.

His swordsmanship was only at the beginner level before, so forgetting it and starting over would be easy. But now his finger techniques are advanced. How could he forget advanced finger techniques? Would you just knock him out of his mind with a blow?

But finger technique is more about muscle memory, right? Even if you lose your memory, you might not forget it.

Seeing Qin Huai completely bewildered, Master Zhou explained, "I know this is difficult, but if you want to make further progress in a short period of time, if you want to change those bad habits that I don't know how many you still have, and if you don't want to get stuck in a dead end like Lao San is now, it's still not too late to use this method."

"You don't want to end up like the third child in a few years, do you?"

Master Zhou's words were quite harsh.

Of course, this is not to say that Zhao Cheng'an is incapable, but Qin Huai is very clear about Zhao Cheng'an's current problems. He also knows that unless Zhao Cheng'an obtains direct enlightenment through the system, it will be difficult for him to break through in his current state.

Hey, Zhao Cheng'an doesn't have a system, but he does.

Qin Huai thought for a moment and said, "Master Zhou, I actually understand what you mean."

"You mean that blindly imitating is very useful in the early and even middle stages, but once you want to pursue something higher and better, imitation will become a stumbling block on our path. Zhao Cheng'an and I have developed similar habits, which are harder to change than ordinary people. So our initial learning path in cooking was very smooth, but it was more difficult for us to break through than others."

Master Zhou nodded with satisfaction.

"What do you mean by making me start all over again? I can't possibly have forgotten all my fingering techniques."

"You don't need to forget everything. Your basic skills are pretty good, and you can't forget these things even if you want to."

Qin Huai: ?
"Then what did I forget?"

"Aesthetics".

Qin Huai: ? ?

Now Qin Huai was truly filled with question marks.

Aesthetic sense?

How can we forget about aesthetics?!
No, Master Zhou, do you mean I have a problem with my aesthetic sense?

Qin Huai wished he could take out all his art assignments from elementary, middle, and high school and show them to Master Zhou. His aesthetic sense was actually... well, he wasn't very good at drawing.

But his aesthetic sense must be pretty good... right?

“Your aesthetic sense is too craftsman-like,” Master Zhou said. “These days, no matter what I ask them to make, you prefer Lao San’s work. If I ask them to make assorted fruits or even peacock-shaped pastries that require a certain level of aesthetic sense and creativity, that’s fine. But what I ask them to make are relatively rigid and basic styles.”

"The other pastries may have flaws, but they are obviously more soulful. You don't like them, you just like the third one, which at first glance seems to have no flaws, and is as if it was copied from a textbook."

"Technology cannot reshape aesthetics, but it can."

"But you still need to practice your skills. Do you know why I've been having you practice these basic snacks these past few days? I just want to see if you have any obvious problems with these fundamentals."

"Looking at it now, there's nothing wrong with the basic skills, but there's a big problem with the aesthetics."

As he spoke, Master Zhou pulled out a thick stack of books, seven or eight in total.

Upon closer inspection, Qin Huai discovered that the books were: "An Outline of the History of World Aesthetics", "The Course of Aesthetics", "Teach You How to Make Exquisite Pastries Step by Step", "Aesthetics", "Aesthetics and Art", "The Freedom of Beauty", and "A Grand View of Pastries".

The sheer thickness of the book made Qin Huai's eyes go black.

"Read it carefully, and tell me your thoughts on the book during the morning meeting every day."

“We still practice as usual. You practice these basic pastries, and I'll have them make these more difficult pastries for you to critique.”

"The third brother also read these books back then."

(End of this chapter)