The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 434 Mission Completed
If Qin Huai was a little nervous the first time she made egg tarts because she didn't know her own abilities and had never made them before, then now she can make egg tarts with ease.

During the few days that Qin Huai watched Zhao Cheng'an make auspicious cloud pattern rolls, he gained a deeper understanding of flaky pastries. Even though Qin Huai never made egg tarts again after that time, he was still very adept at kneading dough.

Shi Dadan leaned against the kitchen door and watched.

"Old Shi, what kind of tart crust do you like? Harder, harder at the edges and softer at the bottom, or thinner and crispier?" Qin Huai asked while kneading the dough.

Shi Dadan usually only takes care of eating and rarely offers his own opinions. After thinking for a moment, even though Qin Huai couldn't see him, he smiled innocently and said, "Anything is fine. I like to eat anything you make for me, Xiao Qin."

While kneading the dough, Qin Huai said, "Then I'll make the kind that's very thin and crispy, with a soft filling. Lao Shi, you like strong flavors and high sweetness, so I'll add a little more sugar when mixing the egg tart filling... Or should I just make you caramel tarts?"

Shi Dadan was taken aback: "Xiao Qin, how did you know I like sweets?"

Qin Huai smiled and said, "Old Shi, you've eaten so many snacks here, of course I know what kind you like to eat."

“You like to eat plain white steamed buns, without any extra ingredients. You actually prefer plain white steamed buns to steamed buns made with fermented rice wine. The steamed buns should be soft and chewy. You also especially like to eat the skin of the steamed bun. Every time you eat a plain white steamed bun, you will peel off the skin first before eating the rest.”

"You like shumai with glutinous rice and diced shiitake mushrooms, but you eat the least mutton shumai."

"As for desserts... although many people think that not being sweet is the highest praise for a dessert, Lao Shi, you obviously like to eat sweet ones. You just like to eat strong flavors. When you eat meat dishes, you like the kind that are thickened with cornstarch and can be mixed with rice. You want your stir-fried pork with chili to be spicy, your sweet and sour pork to be sweet, and even your stir-fried bitter melon to be bitter."

"I'm sure I didn't say anything wrong?" Qin Huai asked, glancing back at Shi Dadan.

Shi Dadan was completely stunned. He leaned against the kitchen door, his chubby body making him look like a supporting character in a comedy movie. His eyes, which had become slightly smaller than before due to gaining more than ten pounds recently, were wide open, filled with shock, emotion, and an indescribable mix of feelings.

Seeing that Shi Dadan did not respond for a long time, Qin Huai turned around and asked with some doubt, "Did I say something wrong?"

Qin Huai silently reviewed the situation in his mind and felt that it shouldn't be like this. He was usually quite accurate in judging the tastes and habits of the people around him and had never been wrong.

“That’s right,” Shi Dadan said. “It’s just that… I have a big appetite and I love to eat everything, so very few people notice what I actually like to eat.”

“Only Xu Nuo noticed that I liked to eat steamed bun skins. Every time we ate steamed buns, he would peel off his own skins and give them to me.”

Qin Huai understood; this touched on Shi Dadan's painful past. He immediately shut up and focused on making the pastries.

The difficulty in making egg tarts lies 99% in the flaky pastry. While kneading the oil-based dough and waiting for it to ferment at a low temperature, Qin Huai quietly prepared the egg tart filling and casually asked:

"Old Shi, is there any particular snack you've been craving lately?"

"I'm not asking you to try to trigger another side quest for me. You have so many side quests already, I can't keep up. I just realized while kneading the dough that although I've been making desserts lately, you haven't seemed to have eaten many of them. And the ones I made were hedgehog buns, which kids like."

"Is there any snack you haven't had in a while and are craving? I'll ask Chef Zhou when I go to Zhiweiju tomorrow, and he can make it for you when he has some time."

Shi Dadan, still leaning against the kitchen door, honestly replied, "I ate the hedgehog buns you made, Xiao Qin. I line up to buy them every morning and afternoon. They're filled with red bean paste and are delicious."

"And I also noticed the hedgehog buns you made, Xiao Qin. The first day they were regular size, the second day they were small hedgehogs, the third day they were fat hedgehogs, and from the fourth day onwards they were mixed hedgehogs every day."

Shi Dadan observed quite carefully and attentively.

"I don't really have any special snacks I want to eat. If I had to say something, the plain steamed buns at Zhiweiju aren't as good as the ones you make, Xiao Qin. If you have time tomorrow, could you make a batch of plain steamed buns? Fermented rice buns would also be fine."

The steamed buns at Zhiweiju are mostly made by elite apprentices or direct disciples, so their skills certainly can't compare to those at Qinhuai. Steamed buns are Shi Dadan's favorite basic snack, and not having had a good one for so long has been a bit of a struggle for him.

"Okay." Qin Huai agreed and continued making egg tarts.

At 9:47 p.m., the egg tarts were ready.

Even while trying to make as few as possible, Qin Huai still managed to produce a full 28 egg tarts in one batch. That's how it is with basic pastries; it's easy to make more if you want to, but it's quite difficult to make fewer.

Qin Huai ultimately didn't make caramel egg tarts; she didn't have a blowtorch at home, so she didn't have the necessary equipment.

Egg tarts are at their most perfect when they're just taken out of the oven.

Qin Huai deliberately made the tart crust thin and crispy, and the slightly charred tart filling looked bouncy, soft and chewy.

Of course, the most wonderful thing is the fragrance.

The aroma of egg tarts, a mixture of eggs, milk, sugar, and oil, is so enticing that it awakens our most primal appetites. Just taking a deep breath and inhaling the aroma is enough to make you feel like you're already tasting the sweet flavor of an egg tart.

The only downside is that it's a bit too sweet.

Shi Dadan liked sweets, so Qin Huai deliberately made it a little sweeter.

The freshly baked egg tarts were piping hot, and neither Qin Huai nor Shi Dadan sat at the table taking a bite. Seeing a slightly blackened banana on the table, Qin Huai simply picked it up and ate it.

Believe it or not, bananas at this stage, while possibly spoiled, are at their sweetest.

"Old Shi, I have a question for you."

"I've unlocked 10 entries in my game system's encyclopedia, just 2 more to go. What will happen to the game system after those two are unlocked? Will it upgrade or unlock new features?"

"At first I thought it would be hard to collect all 12 spirits, but now I find it's quite easy. It seems like the spirits are all clustered together."

Qin Huai asked questions while eating.

Shi Dadan stared at the egg tarts on the table, probably wondering when he could eat them, and chimed in, "Spirits do tend to cluster together, especially in their first and last lives, when they are particularly likely to encounter each other."

“I actually have a question I want to ask you, Xiao Qin.” Shi Dadan looked at Qin Huai. “To be precise, this isn’t a question I want to ask, but one that Chen Huihong and the others want to ask but haven’t dared to. I’m not afraid to ask, so I’m just asking directly.”

"Luo Jun is about to die. In his current state, his first life was actually the best opportunity to successfully transcend the tribulation. Xiao Qin, you have seen his memories, you know his inner conflicts, and you also know the reason why he failed to transcend the tribulation."

“Once he dies and is reincarnated, it will be many years before we meet again. If he fails to overcome the tribulation in his second life, or if he lives for more than 90 years like in his first life, Xiao Qin, you definitely won’t outlive him. The possibility of him failing the tribulation is very high.”

"Luo Jun is one example, and there may be others in the future. Xiao Qin, if the spirits you know failed their tribulation and disappeared, would you feel sad and heartbroken?"

Shi Dadan's question stumped Qin Huai.

He didn't expect Shi Dadan to ask such a difficult and profound question. Usually, the question Shi Dadan asked most often was "What are we eating today?"

Qin Huai thought about it carefully and realized he couldn't give an answer right away. "I don't know," Qin Huai said. "I haven't encountered such a thing before. I think I might be sad, but that's not something I can change."

“Sister Hong and Mr. Luo have told me a lot. The tribulations of spirits are all different. Some of their inner conflicts seem simple to me, but are very difficult for them. Others seem very difficult to me, but are very simple for them. I am not a spirit, so I cannot empathize. I can see their memories through the game system and judge from God's perspective, but I have no right to speak because I have not experienced it.”

"I do believe that Mr. Luo can successfully overcome his tribulation in this life, and I also believe that Mr. Luo's inner knot is not completely unsolvable, but I think Mr. Luo wants to fail."

"He wanted to punish himself in this way. Otherwise, he could have committed suicide and reincarnated after failing his tribulation like a normal spirit. He has lived in the human world for so many years, not for success but for failure. This is his dilemma and his persistence. We have helped him as much as we can. The rest can only be left to Mr. Luo himself."

"Perhaps after I die, Mr. Luo will fail to overcome his tribulation and completely dissipate. I will definitely feel sad about this, but it is Mr. Luo's own choice."

“Mr. Luo is a very stubborn and opinionated person. Since he has made this choice, I believe he will not regret it. Since he himself will not regret it or have any regrets, there is nothing I can say. I can only respect his decision and inherit his estate.”

"I don't know if my thoughts are right or wrong, or if they might sound cruel to you spirits, but these are really my thoughts."

Shi Dadan shook his head: "Of course not, I'm relieved that you think so, Xiao Qin."

"The tribulation of spirits is everyone's own business. The reason why everyone is afraid that you will get too involved and too invested, and then blame yourself for the failure of a few spirits' tribulations, and fall into self-blame, is why they want to ask you this question but dare not ask it."

Qin Huai smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't."

"I'm just an ordinary male protagonist in a system novel. I'm not so arrogant as to think I can save the world and all living beings."

"Sigh, the egg tarts seem to have gotten a little cold. Lao Shi, why don't you try these slightly sweeter egg tarts and see if you like them?"

Hearing Qin Huai say this, Shi Dadan reached out and picked up an egg tart, taking a bite.

"Crack."

The tart crust made a crisp sound.

Shi Dadan revealed a satisfied expression.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for completing the side quest [Delicious Egg Tart] and receiving the quest reward: [Zhao Cheng'an's Dream]."

Qin Huai: !!!
Is the side quest really finished just like that?

So simple, so easy, just made a batch of slightly sweeter egg tarts for Shi Dadan and it was done??

Qin Huai had gotten used to spending months stuck on a single quest, so he was a little unaccustomed to completing the side quest so easily and simply all of a sudden.

There's a feeling that this task is so simple, as if they're holding back some amazing move.

"Xiao Qin, what's wrong?" Shi Dadan asked.

"No...it's nothing, it's just that the side quest suddenly ended." Qin Huai scratched his nose. "I didn't expect it to be completed so quickly."

"That's great!" Shi Dadan said cheerfully. "It's Egg Tart's side quest, right? I remember this quest is about Xiao Zhao's dream. You can see why Xiao Zhao failed his tribulation."

"Xiao Zhao's current state must be the last two incarnations of a mayfly. Although it's a bit of a pity that the mayfly has successfully transcended the tribulation, it's still good that it has succeeded."

"I haven't seen a mayfly that has successfully passed through the tribulation yet."

Qin Huai: ...

Really? Then mayflies are really just giving up.

No wonder they reincarnate more times than ordinary spirits; it's clear that Heaven desperately wants to take them, but it simply can't.

"Then... I'll look now?" Qin Huai suggested. "Old Shi, you can eat these egg tarts first. If you can't finish them, just leave them here. Anyway, I only look at the reality time of my memories for three to five minutes each time. I'll send a message to Tan Weian later and ask him to take the rest of the egg tarts with him."

Tan Weian also likes to eat egg tarts, and Qin Huai still remembers that.

I just don't know if Tan Weian likes things that are a bit sweet.

Shi Dadan nodded obediently, then took another big bite of the egg tart, making a crisp sound.

Qin Huai opened the game system, clicked on "Zhao Cheng'an's Dream," and selected "Yes."

[Dream loading—]
"Please, sir, have mercy and give this child some food. Have some compassion and buy him."

"Dog Egg, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and open your mouth so I can see your teeth! Master, look, a 9-year-old boy, if you just give him some food and raise him for two years, he'll be a strong and capable laborer, much more capable than livestock."

"This child is the only son of a farmer's family, and he has a good constitution. Normally, this kind of goods would cost at least three strings of cash, but now that times are bad, it's only two strings. If you add some black bean cakes, rice bran, or something, this kind of good stuff is hard to come by!"

Qin Huai never expected that the moment he entered his memories, he would see a large-scale human trafficking scene.

A thin man, who appeared quite robust among a group of emaciated children who looked like sticks, was fiddling with a dirty little boy and trying to sell him to a middle-aged man in cloth clothes.

The man roughly pried open the child's mouth, revealing his teeth: "Look at these teeth, he's definitely not lying about his age."

The buyer, dressed in plain clothes, waved his hand dismissively: "Two strings of cash is too expensive. Even a decent-looking little girl like that is only worth two and a half strings. You'd have to raise her for two years after buying her. With all this time you could go to the city and pick up a couple of girls. She's too expensive, one string."

The trafficker immediately cried out, "Oh dear, sir, I really can't sell them for a string of cash. These children were all taken from Shanxi Province. They've eaten so much food on the way here. A string of cash really won't do."

"Never mind if it doesn't work out." The buyer waved his hand, patted the hem of his clothes, and went to the next shop.

Seeing that his deal had fallen through, the trafficker was so angry that he kicked the child hard, sending him sprawling to the ground. He yelled, "You all ate so much when we were eating, but now you're all mute? Can't you say a few nice words? Can't you come up and beg for my attention? I should have thrown you worthless trash away on the way here. You're wasting my food. There are no more pancakes today, get out!"

The child lay on the ground, unresponsive, and appeared to be so hungry that he had no strength left.

Qin Huai looked at the child on the ground, somewhat puzzled.

This is... Zhao Cheng'an?

How can a mayfly be so empathetic when experiencing all walks of life, starving itself like this?
No wonder people say mayflies like to court death; it turns out they're courting death in a physical sense.

(End of this chapter)