The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 445 I can't lie about being the first to break through, can I? (Thanks to Feng Huolian for the generous donation!)
In the end, Master Hua was unable to get Qin Huai's advice as he had hoped.

Although Qin Huai made a batch of hand-kneaded noodles in the afternoon, there was nothing he needed to ask Master Hua for help with. It wasn't that Qin Huai thought Master Hua's skills were lacking; rather, Master Hua's skills were simply too good.

Qin Huai didn't actually know much about noodles. He only knew how to stretch or knead them. The reason people thought Qin Huai's noodles were exceptionally good was mainly because he kneaded the dough well. However, stretching and kneading are just techniques, and Qin Huai didn't practice any techniques at the moment, so he didn't need to ask Master Hua for advice.

Master Hua could only leave disappointed.

Qin Huai continued to happily grind for experience points, while also taking some time to quietly observe Zhao Cheng'an.

Zhao Cheng'an is still making Four Happiness Flower Rolls.

After talking with Master Zhou, Qin Huai briefly reflected on himself and realized that he had been too engrossed in leveling up his skills lately, neglecting the people closest to him.

Zhao Cheng'an, working at the next workstation, is like a mayfly that hasn't yet awakened.

Qin Huai suddenly realized that he hadn't rested at all because he was grinding for skill points. Zhao Cheng'an didn't know why he hadn't rested either. You see, Zhao Cheng'an always wanted to take all four days of vacation each month at once to give himself a long break, and he would take it at the beginning of the month if he could, never delaying.

If you take all your leave at the beginning of the month, you can still try to get a few more days off in the middle and end of the month.

Anyway, Zhao Cheng'an isn't short of money, so he can just deduct his salary.

"Zhao Cheng'an." Qin Huai looked at Zhao Cheng'an, who was so engrossed in making four-happiness steamed buns that he seemed to be lost in thought. "Have you finished your leave for this month?"

"No, I only took one day off," Zhao Cheng'an said weakly.

"Then why don't you take a vacation?"

Zhao Cheng'an raised his eyes and looked at Qin Huai with a look of indignation that seemed to say, "How could you, the kid next door, understand the heart of an ordinary genius like me?" He said plaintively, "It's all because of you."

Qin Huai: ?
"We used to chat, bake, and slack off together—we were such good partners! Tan Weian even told me that you can be quite shrewd when you want to be, but you're actually pretty lazy most of the time. I thought I finally had a good buddy, but then..."

Zhao Cheng'an tilted his head back slightly, so that tears wouldn't stream down his face: "Didn't we agree that you would only roll it when you really wanted to make a particular dessert? Why are you rolling it now even when there's no dessert to make?"

"Dude, are you ignoring basic laws when you're all rolled up up?"

“I do want to rest, but you’re making pastries right next to me every day. How can I rest? If I do rest, what will my master think of me? What will my senior brother think of me? What will my senior sister think of me? What will Tan Weian say about me behind my back? Will I, Zhao Cheng’an, still be able to work at Zhiweiju?”

Qin Huai: ...

Is it that serious?

“But Master Zhou just told me that he feels you are nearing the end.” Qin Huai chose to convey Master Zhou’s thoughts. “He is planning to have the two of us go to the exchange meeting in Beiping next month. He will book a table for us at Fenyuan and give us an extra day off to play in Beiping.”

Zhao Cheng'an, who was on the verge of death, suddenly came back to life. His eyes flashed with an eerie light as he excitedly exclaimed, "What! Master agreed to let me attend the exchange meeting in Beiping, and even booked a table for me at the branch garden, and let me stay an extra day?!"

"It's us."

"That's great!" Zhao Cheng'an clenched his fists excitedly. "I can't believe there's such a good thing! You should have told me sooner. I'm going to ask Boss Su for leave now. I won't be going to work tomorrow!"

After saying that, Zhao Cheng'an turned and ran, abandoning the half-rolled four-happiness flower roll.

Qin Huai: ...?
When Zhao Cheng'an returned after requesting leave, he was radiating the joy of successfully getting leave. He not only walked with a spring in his step, but his lifeless demeanor also transformed into a cheerful one.

Qin Huai looked at Zhao Cheng'an and said with great certainty, "The reason you gave for not asking for leave was made up, wasn't it?"

Zhao Cheng'an chuckled: "You found out."

"Actually, I've been begging my master to let me go abroad for half a month, but he just won't agree. I was thinking, there are still three days of vacation left this month, right? If I don't take a vacation this month, and I don't take a vacation next month, I can save up seven days of vacation. Then I'll beg him to let me have eight more days of vacation, and then I can go abroad for half a month."

"The idea is great, but it's too difficult to implement. I've never worked for such a long time in a row before. I'm really going crazy."

“You just told me that we can go to Beijing next month. I don’t think we necessarily have to go abroad. Let’s take a vacation first. I really can’t keep working this job.”

Qin Huai: Mayfly, you truly live up to your name.

Whether in your first life or this one, your way of thinking about work is so unique that it's beyond the reach of others.

Qin Huai thought about it again and realized that Zhao Cheng'an's trip to Beiping to attend the exchange meeting was, in a sense, a return to his hometown, since he must have spent a long time in Beiping in his first life.

"Brother Cheng'an, do you go to Beiping often?" Qin Huai immediately changed his address back to Brother Cheng'an.

“I’ve only been there once.” Zhao Cheng’an continued rolling up the four-happiness roll. “I spent a week there and visited all the attractions. I originally wanted to book Fenyuan, but since it was my first time, I forgot to make a reservation in advance. I didn’t have enough vacation days left, so I had to come back first.”

"Can't Fenyuan offer extra tables and extra charges?" Qin Huai asked. As far as Qin Huai knew, Han Guishan had been eating at Fenyuan for a month straight, without any tricks, just by paying extra.

Zhao Cheng'an's gaze towards Qin Huai immediately turned into one of utter disbelief: "There's no point in arguing with you wicked rich people." After a pause, he said, "Do you know how much it costs to add a table for one meal?"

"I don't know, but I heard that vegetable prices have doubled or something."

"Not only have the prices of the dishes doubled, but there's also a minimum spending requirement: a single table must spend no less than 5 yuan!"

"If I could afford a meal that costs 5 yuan, would I still be a chef at Zhiweiju? I would have done whatever I wanted long ago, just packing a bag and traveling the world making pastries wherever I went. What's Xu Cheng's ability to eat his way around the world? My real skill is making pastries all over the world!"

Qin Huai did a rough calculation in his mind: the cost per table was no less than 5 yuan, and if he ate there for a month, he would spend 150 million yuan on food alone.

Hmm, I should try to maintain good relations with President Han when I get the chance; he's someone who's very willing to spend money on meals.

"Since you didn't get to eat at Fenyuan last time, didn't you think about making an appointment in advance to go to Beiping for another meal next time?" Qin Huai asked again.

“I’ve thought about it,” Zhao Cheng’an said. “But my master won’t approve the leave. I only get one half-month long vacation a year, and I’ll definitely go abroad to travel. I don’t have time to spare for Beiping. If my master were willing to give me two more days off, I would definitely go to Beiping for a meal, but I don’t have any leave.”

"At first I thought Master wouldn't let me go to this exchange meeting. Hey, didn't you just say you were going with me? If you go, are you representing Zhiweiju or your Yunzhong Canteen?"

Qin Huai: So you weren't listening to me at all, and the main point was that we can go to Beiping next month.

“If I were to go, I would definitely represent Zhiweiju,” Qin Huai said. “Yunzhong Canteen wasn’t even invited, so how can I represent Yunzhong Canteen?”

"Oh, right." Zhao Cheng'an suddenly realized. "Have you ever been to Beiping, Qin Huai?"

"No," Qin Huai shook his head. "I haven't actually been to many places. Before university, I always stayed in Guangdong Province. After starting university, I had to go home during holidays to help make breakfast, so I didn't have much time to go out and have fun." "I think I only went to Shanghai once with my sister to see the Oriental Pearl Tower. That year, she did well on her final exams, and my parents rewarded her with a trip. After that, she never did well on her final exams again, so she never went out to play again."

"That's a real shame. It's so boring and pointless to sit in front of the kitchen counter making desserts every day. You should learn from me and take some time to travel every year. If you don't want to go abroad, you can travel within the country. Anyway, you're not short of money. Tan Weian told me that you're super rich. You drive a BMW. Is running a community canteen really that profitable?"

"When I no longer want to work at Zhiweiju, I want to open a community canteen."

Qin Huai: ...

No, Tan Weian, what exactly did you say in Zhiweiju?
Why are there still versions he hasn't heard of even now?

Zhao Cheng'an continued rambling on, "It seems there isn't a community canteen in our neighborhood. I wonder if we could open one. I'll have my dad inquire about it when he has time, and reserve a place for future use."

"I just don't know if there will be any art exhibitions in Beiping when we go there next month. The paintings I bought last time are useless. I've been looking at them at home for days and I still can't see anything worthwhile. They're just taking up space. Qin Huai, do you still want to paint? If you do, come to my house and pick out a few. There's just no room left in my room, and I don't dare put them at my parents' house. Otherwise, my parents will definitely think I'm crazy for buying so many paintings at once, and they won't give me money next time."

Qin Huai could tell that Zhao Cheng'an had been working non-stop for a while, making pastries every day and had gone a bit crazy. Now that he was back to normal and could rest tomorrow, he was letting loose again.

Qin Huai chose to forcibly change the subject.

"Brother Cheng'an, when you went to Beiping, did you visit Taifeng Restaurant?" Qin Huai asked.

"Taifenglou?" Zhao Cheng'an looked bewildered, clearly unaware of what it was. "Is it a famous restaurant in Beiping? I've never heard of it. Is it a private restaurant? But the most famous private restaurant in Beiping is Fenyuan. I haven't heard of any other particularly impressive private restaurants."

"It's a long-established restaurant, but it's probably been closed for many years. I heard about it from a friend before, and I thought you knew about it," Qin Huai explained.

"Oh, I don't know." Zhao Cheng'an didn't seem to care much.

"Brother Cheng'an, do you know the process and precautions for the exchange meeting?" Qin Huai asked again.

"I do not know either."

Qin Huai: ?
“I’ve never been to an exchange meeting before,” Zhao Cheng’an said. “We at Zhiweiju are a white-cooked restaurant, and they never invite us to their red-cooked food exchange meetings. If they were to hold an exchange meeting for white-cooked food, it would definitely be hosted by Zhiweiju. Other restaurants would send people, not us.”

"I occasionally attend these kinds of events, usually local ones like Suzhou, Hangzhou, or Huai'an. These events are mostly attended by the bosses, not the chefs. How could I possibly know the process of these events?"

"All I know is that our Zhiweiju exchange meeting is where each master chef makes a little bit of their signature snacks to show off their skills, everyone eats and drinks, exchanges experiences, chats and gossips, and then arranges a lakeside walk or something similar, and that's it."

"As for how the meetings at Babaozhai are conducted, I really don't know. Moreover, Babaozhai has had a new owner in the past two years, and I've heard that they've been buying marketing materials and organizing events like crazy. The profits are very good, but their reputation isn't so great."

“I’ve heard Boss Su say that Babaozhai’s approach will definitely yield huge results and profits in the short term, but it’s not conducive to long-term development. To be frank, our old restaurants still rely on reputation. If the reputation is ruined, it will be very difficult to recover.”

"If I didn't want a holiday, I wouldn't have gone to any of those Babaozhai exchange meetings."

Qin Huai indicated that he understood and remained silent, lest Zhao Cheng'an continue the conversation and make the chat endless.

Although Qin Huai enjoys gossiping while making desserts, she has to be mindful of the occasion. Now is a crucial time to practice her skills, so it's best to avoid gossiping if possible.

Chatting too much can be distracting and slow down progress.

After all, Qin Huai's current proficiency is quite impressive.

"Hey, Qin Huai, how's your proficiency level coming along?" Zhao Cheng'an started a new topic.

Hearing Zhao Cheng'an say that, Qin Huai casually tapped the screen and directly opened the game panel to check his proficiency.

Player Name: Qin Huai

Unlocked illustrations: 10/12
skill:
Leavened Dough (Advanced): Your leavened dough technique has surpassed 96% of pastry chefs nationwide. (79631/100000)

Filling Preparation (Master Level): Your filling preparation skills have surpassed 98% of the nation's top pastry chefs. (118127/1000000)

Fingerwork (Advanced): You've finally managed to make a decent-looking dessert. (39517/100000)

Oil Frying Expert (Intermediate): Your fried dough sticks are quite good. (4437/10000)

Knife skills (intermediate): Still needs improvement. (2171/10000)

Cooking control (Advanced): As a pastry chef, you have truly mastered the art of cooking. (12511/100000)

Tasting the Food (Advanced): Well, you have quite the palate. (Cannot be upgraded)

Management (Intermediate): Fairly good at business; avoids losses. (3621/10000)

Lies (Master Level): You're the epitome of saying one thing to one person and another to another! (567111/1000000)

It can be said that, thanks to Qin Huai's frantic efforts to improve his basic skills, his finger technique, filling preparation, and dough preparation all saw a significant increase in proficiency.

If Qin Huai previously needed to carefully select snacks to increase his proficiency, choosing the most cost-effective snacks based on his current situation, he no longer needs to worry about that now.

He can now quickly improve his skill level in making any kind of dessert.

Perhaps this is the benefit of true enlightenment. After clarifying his goals and direction, Qin Huai understood that whatever he did would be useful and beneficial, so he could do whatever he wanted.

He can make fruit balls or steamed buns; he can make anything he wants.

You can also increase your lying proficiency level.

Of course, at this point, Qin Huai had to tell the truth: he really didn't want to improve his lying skills.

How could someone as honest as him, who tells everyone everything, possibly lie?

There's definitely something wrong with how they determine proficiency.

Surely it couldn't be a lie that such an honest and talented pastry chef achieved master-level skills on his first attempt.

You agree, right? Preparing the filling.

(End of this chapter)