The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 447 The Heart of a Boss
At around 5 a.m. the next day, the refrigerated truck arrived at the entrance of Zhiweiju on time and took away all the pastries that Qin Huai had stored there. This impressive delivery behavior deeply shocked An Youyou, who had never seen the world.

"Little...Master Qin, can Old Shi finish all these pastries by himself?" An Youyou had only heard yesterday that Qin Huai had made a lot of pastries at home, but she was just an apprentice and hadn't seen the exact number.

"You have to trust Lao Shi, and he's not fighting alone," Qin Huai said boldly on Shi's behalf, glancing at the remaining supplies. "Youyou, go and get two more bags of flour."

“Okay.” An Youyou hurriedly went to the warehouse to get the flour.

During her nearly two months at Zhiweiju, An Youyou has completely transformed into an outstanding apprentice.

While Qin Huai was busy leveling up his skills and had no time to pay attention to her, she worked alongside the other apprentices, making her own pastries with great enthusiasm, and also learned some tea-making techniques.

The master chefs, considering that An Youyou was someone Qin Huai had specifically brought over, were willing to offer her a few pointers whenever they passed by. Although An Youyou's talent was average, she excelled in diligence and genuinely wanted to improve.

It's fair to say that in the past month or so, Qin Huai may not have given An Youyou any guidance, but An Youyou has no shortage of mentors. She absorbed knowledge like a sponge, and while it's unclear exactly how much she digested, she certainly absorbed a lot.

If An Youyou were to return to the Cloud Cafeteria now, it would be a truly lightning-fast return, enough to shock Pei Xing, Li Hua, and Chen An.

At this point, some people might be wondering, what did An Youyou learn?

not at all.

An Youyou hasn't even mastered kneading dough, nor has she learned how to make any difficult pastries. Let alone difficult pastries, even the simplest steamed buns and vegetable buns wouldn't be up to par at Zhiweiju with An Youyou's current skill level.

Of course, this "unqualified" is relative. If she were in An Youyou's family's breakfast shop, An Youyou's current skills should be able to compete with her own father, and she could go back and compete for the position of head of the breakfast shop and seize the already meager family fortune.

Considering that An Youyou's father likes to cut corners when making steamed buns, using less-than-fresh ingredients and masking the flavor with spices, An Youyou, trained by the authentic breakfast shop chefs at Qinhuai and Zhiweiju who are strict about selecting ingredients, has a better chance of winning.

This is the normal process of learning to make pastries. Even with rapid progress, it only goes this far. People like Qin Huai...

In Tan Weian's words, either it was turned on, or it wasn't turned off, or he drank a couple of sips of the Meng Po soup and didn't forget it at all.

"Youyou, what do you think of Zhiweiju?" Qin Huai asked.

Qin Huai has been engrossed in leveling up his proficiency recently and hasn't paid much attention to An Youyou's situation. In addition, after discovering that Zhao Cheng'an was actually a mayfly, most of his attention has been focused on Zhao Cheng'an, and he has neglected An Youyou even more.

Upon reflection, Qin Huai felt ashamed. Both were spirits, yet he had neglected An Youyou. Perhaps because he considered the three-legged toad an auspicious beast and had guessed part of the reason for An Youyou's failed tribulation, Qin Huai subconsciously felt that An Youyou's tribulation wasn't urgent.

"It's great." An Youyou thought the boss was concerned about her communication, so she quickly reported, "The colleagues at Zhiweiju are all very nice. Recently, Brother Wang has been teaching me how to brew tea, and he's been teaching me very meticulously."

“At first, I didn’t know how to use the machines in zones 3, 4 and 5. It was Brother Li and Brother Chen who taught me.”

“Apprentices learn by watching and practicing on their own, but sometimes I don’t understand what they’re doing and I don’t know how to ask. At first, I didn’t dare to knead too much dough, afraid of ruining it and wasting it. But Brother Li told me it was okay, and if it didn’t work, I could use it to make pancakes.”

"And Sister Chu, she..."

Once An Youyou started talking, she couldn't stop. She rattled off everything she thought she could say, and afterwards she was very satisfied with herself, feeling that her words were full of linguistic artistry.

Great! By praising others, you highlight your own diligence and hard work during this period, using indirect description to emphasize your excellence, without making the boss think that the employee is arrogant or complacent.

Full marks.

Haha, the "Workplace Art" book she bought online for a mere one yuan last month definitely wasn't a waste of money.

Qin Huai listened to An Youyou's long explanation, but he didn't remember the details. He only remembered a series of nameless characters, such as Brother Zhao, Brother Wang, and Brother Li. After finishing this batch of steamed buns, Qin Huai went to the break room to get his phone and sent a voice message to Tan Weian, asking him who the aforementioned characters were.

Although An Youyou only mentioned her surname, the apprentices at Zhiweiju all have fixed workstations. Those who usually help An Youyou must be in the same area as her. It's easy to find out who they are with a little inquiry.

Tan Weian, known as the fastest talker at Zhiweiju, had already pulled up the list before starting work. He even rushed to Qin Huai's workstation as soon as he arrived at work to ask Qin Huai about the situation of these ordinary apprentices.

Do they really want to open a community canteen in the neighborhood and establish themselves as the king of the market? They feel it's not a good idea to poach the master chef right away, so they're starting with these apprentices and gradually eroding the foundation of Zhiweiju.

Qin Huai: ...

Has Tan Weian been reading novels while slacking off at work lately?

What kind of garbage have you been reading? Brainless business war novels?
Qin Huai tossed a bowl of filling to Tan Weian: "Since you're so free, help me cook the filling for the Five-Ingredient Buns. Stop reading novels."

After saying that, Qin Huai clapped his hands and left.

Tan Wei'an, who had been suddenly assigned a job, stared blankly at the large bowl of filling for a good five or six seconds before asking Zhao Cheng'an, "Doesn't Qin Huai only make those large, filling pastries? Why are you making five-ingredient buns again?"

Zhao Cheng'an: "...Shouldn't you be asking where Qin Huai went?"

"Where did Qin Huai go?"

"I don't know, maybe she went to the toilet."

"Then why did he make Wudingbao (a type of steamed bun) again?"

"I have no idea about that either. He's been doing these things ever since I arrived."

Tan Weian: ...

Qin Huai clapped his hands, not to go to the toilet, but to get his phone from the changing room. Then, he went to An Youyou's place to identify each apprentice by referring to the apprentice information and photos Tan Weian had sent him.

The apprentices' workstations were mostly in the corners, in small groups of three or five, scattered on the east and west sides. According to Tan Weian, this arrangement of workstations was intentional. One reason was to prevent apprentices from forming cliques and bullying or isolating each other, and the other was to make it easier for master craftsmen to identify the apprentices.

Zhiweiju has many apprentices, all crammed together, making it really difficult for the master chefs, who are a bit face-blind, to recognize each other.

When Qin Huai strolled over to An Youyou's side, An Youyou was learning how to make tea from the "Brother Wang" she mentioned.

"Youyou, look, the brewing temperature is very important. Remember to scald the teaware with hot water first. Master Qin likes to drink black tea, so you can use more tea leaves when brewing black tea, but not so much for green tea. Black tea should be brewed with water above 90 degrees Celsius, while green tea only needs to be brewed at around 80 degrees Celsius. When brewing, you must pour the tea from a high position and then pour it out from a low position. These are all very important techniques, and you must learn them."

"If you brew tea well, wouldn't you be the one brewing Master Qin's tea every morning? How could that kid Chen Yang get there first? You must learn this tea well, only by brewing tea well can you be remembered by the master chefs."

"However, you don't seem to have any concerns about that, since you were brought here by Master Qin. But precisely because you were brought here by Master Qin, the tea needs to be brewed even better. When Master Qin goes back, you'll be the one brewing all his tea!"

"I know, Brother Wang, I will definitely work hard to learn how to make tea!" An Youyou nodded solemnly.

Qin Huai: ...

What have you apprentices been researching all day long lately? Zhiweiju's tea is always of the highest quality. Even if An Youyou is here as an apprentice for exchange, she still has to learn this skill first, right? "Youyou," Qin Huai couldn't help but ask.

"Master Qin! Do you want me to help cut something? Or..." An Youyou's eyes lit up when she saw the boss coming to inspect the work.

"I just came over for a look around and to see the pastries you made." Qin Huai glanced around the cooking station. The apprentices shared a cooking station with several people, and it was hard to tell which dough An Youyou had kneaded because they were all kneaded very poorly.

"Which one is you...?"

“This!” An Youyou pointed to a lump of dough that was destined to be used to make pancakes.

Qin Huai carefully examined the items, pointed out a few of the most obvious problems that couldn't be corrected in a short time, and then looked at Brother Wang: "What about yours?"

Brother Wang: !!!
Qin Huai said a few words, just like he had instructed the apprentices at the Cloud Cafeteria before, and then looked at the list and asked the next person: "Where is yours?"

……

Half an hour later, Qin Huai left satisfied, leaving behind only a few Zhiweiju apprentices who were in a state of ecstasy.

Qin Huai's guidance is always very meticulous, down to the specific techniques and how to make changes. For these ordinary Zhiweiju apprentices, this level of guidance is already equivalent to that of a master chef's personal disciple.

It's clear from the fact that the dough An Youyou kneaded could only be used to make pancakes that the apprentices in the same area as An Youyou were all untalented and destined to be eliminated.

These apprentices at the very bottom of Zhiweiju are the most stubborn and also the least hopeful. Normally, let alone receiving guidance from the master chef, even a word or two of guidance from an ordinary apprentice or even a direct disciple is considered lucky. Because there is little hope, they can only be stubborn, and because they have no talent, their stubbornness is usually in the wrong direction.

Because it was obvious to anyone with eyes that they were rolling in the wrong direction, no one paid any attention to this group of mediocre apprentices.

This is a sad vicious cycle, but it is also the best way for the fittest to survive.

When An Youyou first came to Zhiweiju, many apprentices thought that An Youyou was brought by Qin Huai and was considered a relative, so they thought highly of her and wanted to build a good relationship with her in order to gain the favor of Qin Huai or other master chefs.

At first, Qin Huai did take good care of An Youyou, and Tan Weian would also check on An Youyou's situation and progress from time to time.

An Youyou's workstation wasn't here when she first arrived.

Later, as Qin Huai began frantically grinding through his skill levels, Tan Wei'an rarely saw him during work hours, let alone An Youyou. Plus, Tan Wei'an was naturally a laid-back person who liked to slack off, so unless Qin Huai specifically asked him to check on An Youyou's pastries, Tan Wei'an was unlikely to go and check on them voluntarily.

So An Youyou quickly became an ordinary apprentice at Zhiweiju, and not even very advanced.

She also went to the workstation that a regular apprentice should be at. It wasn't that others were deliberately ostracizing her; it was just that An Youyou was more suited to this workstation. The people around her were progressing too fast, and An Youyou couldn't keep up. It wouldn't do for everyone else to have their own pastries to make while An Youyou was still kneading dough, doing odd jobs, and then making pancakes from the dough she had kneaded.

Even apprentices are divided into different jobs.

People with different jobs cannot work in the same place.

During this period, An Youyou got along well with her colleagues at the same work station. Since An Youyou was a newcomer and not very old, her colleagues basically played the role of older brothers and sisters.

Until now.

"Youyou!" Brother Wang held An Youyou's hand, tears welling up in his eyes. "I, Wang Tian, ​​have lived for so many years, and I've finally experienced what it feels like for one person to achieve success and for all their relatives and friends to benefit from it! I knew it! You people with connections would never let us, your cronies, down!"

An Youyou:?

"Brother Wang, what do you mean by 'we chickens and dogs'? If you want to be a chicken or a dog, don't include me. I'd rather be a lackey."

"That's it."

"Now I finally understand how great it was for those people who went to the Cloud Cafeteria for the exchange program. No wonder they all came back like they'd taken some kind of magic pill. They were being taught by Chef Qin every day. I could do that too!"

"Master Qin is such a kind person. No master chef has ever been willing to give us such detailed guidance."

"You're so kind, You actually asked Master Qin to come and give us some pointers!"

"Youyou, I won't say anything else. From now on, all your chores will be taken care of by your Brother Li!"

An Youyou: ...Ah, did I ask you to do this?

An Youyou didn't understand, and didn't know how to explain it; she simply felt...

Wow, is this what it feels like to be the boss?

So cool!
.
Meanwhile, Qin Huai returned to his workstation and found that Tan Weian was still there.

Tan Weian had already cooked the filling for the Five-Ingredient Buns. He was currently being helped by Zhao Cheng'an. Perhaps it was because of their shared hardships yesterday that Zhao Cheng'an discovered that although Tan Weian was lazy, he was quite professional when it came to helping out and was a very good assistant.

As soon as Qin Huai returned, Tan Weian asked curiously, "Qin Huai, where have you been? Have you been eating too much meat lately and are constipated? I have some..."

"Stop." Qin Huai raised his hand to signal Tan Weian to shut up. "I just went to An Youyou's place to help her become the boss."

"Huh?" Tan Weian didn't understand, but it didn't matter. He could process the answer himself later; he had other questions to ask.

Why are you making so many five-ingredient buns today?

"This is what Lao Shi wanted. After he woke up today, he received information from his informant that his son and daughter had both come in last place, setting a new record for the lowest score. Lao Shi felt that the pastries he had yesterday were not enough to appease his wife's anger, so he asked me to make a batch of higher-end ones."

"Zhao Cheng'an, if you have time today, you can make some too. Lao Shi should buy it at twice the market price of Zhiweiju."

"The refrigerated truck will pick up the goods at the back gate at 9 p.m.

"I also asked Chef Zhou, Chef Hua and Chef Zhao to help make some snacks."

After Qin Huai finished speaking, he realized that Tan Weian was looking at him with expectant eyes.

Qin Huai thought for a moment: "...Tan Weian, if you have time today, could you please help us out?"

"Old Shi has already rented a refrigerated truck, it's not really appropriate to just send a little bit of snacks over."

Tan Weian: (-) You discriminate against me!

(End of this chapter)