The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 508 The Breakfast Chef's Skill

After the wonderful tea party, Qin Huai went home and spent a long time reflecting on it.

Gong Liang's awakening should have marked the end of one phase of work, but now it has turned into an urgent call for countless new tasks.

Qin Huai's attribute panel now clearly shows:

Player Name: Qin Huai

Unlocked illustrations: 10/12
skill:
Leavened Dough (Advanced): Your leavened dough technique has surpassed 96% of pastry chefs nationwide. (99831/100000)

Filling Preparation (Master Level): Your filling preparation skills have surpassed 98% of the nation's top pastry chefs. (191187/1000000)

Fingerwork (Advanced): You've finally managed to make a decent-looking dessert. (46517/100000)

Oil Frying Expert (Intermediate): Your fried dough sticks are quite good. (5122/10000)

Knife skills (intermediate): Still needs improvement. (3611/10000)

Cooking control (Advanced): As a pastry chef, you have truly mastered the art of cooking. (36278/100000)

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

Management (Intermediate): Fairly good at business; avoids losses. (5966/10000)

Lies (Master Level): You're the epitome of saying one thing to one person and another to another! (897217/1000000)

Looking at the panel stats alone, Qin Huai's dough-making skills are indeed close to leveling up, only needing 169 more experience points, and he's just one step away from becoming a master dough-making expert.

As for the specifics of how it's done...

Qin Huai can only say that there is hope that he can reach the master level in dough preparation before Chen Gong's annual leave ends.

The way these basic skills gain experience is very unstable. Sometimes you can gain hundreds or even thousands of experience points a day (like with Lie), but other times, especially when you're close to leveling up, you might not gain any experience at all for two or three days.

Having battled wits with the basic control panel for so long, Qin Huai had long since begun to grasp its upgrade patterns.

Ignore it.

This experience value seems to work against the player's will. If Qin Huai wants to improve his swordsmanship, it will increase his skill level; if he wants to improve his skill level, it will increase his finger technique; if he wants to improve his finger technique, it will increase his seasoning. In short, it will never let Qin Huai have his way. The more Qin Huai desires to level up, the less it will level up. Just when Qin Huai is about to give up, it will suddenly level up.

This pattern fostered a habit in Qin Huai that made him eager to open his shop every time an upgrade was imminent.

Effort doesn't guarantee success, but giving up might bring unexpected surprises.

To be honest, Qinhuai has been slacking off for quite some time now.

Since returning to Shanshi, he has been sustainably slacking off, partly due to Zhao Cheng'an's influence, but essentially it is a strategy Qin Huai employs against the game system.

The current approach of simply letting things languish isn't very effective.

The dough is 169 experience points away from leveling up. The dough isn't in a rush, but Qin Huai is.

Qin Huai wasn't in a rush to complete the main quest; he felt it was best to let things take their natural course. A+ grade desserts were like the moon in the sky—you could see them just by looking up, but you couldn't reach them by simply reaching out your hand, even if you had wings.

Now Qin Huai thinks that if you can't reach something with wings, you can't build a rocket? Just take a rocket and you'll get up there. There's always a way to overcome difficulties.

It can only be said that the pressure exerted by Chen Huihong, Luo Jun, and Shi Dadan had a positive effect to some extent, especially Shi Dadan's. When Qin Huai returned home and reviewed the tea party that day, Shi Dadan's words kept echoing in his mind.

'However, Qin Huai's cooking skills are indeed a bit inferior to Xu Nuo's. If only Qin Huai's skills could be as good as Xu Nuo's.'

Qin Huai didn't really want to admit it, but he had to admit it somewhat: he was a little vulnerable.

Old Shi, aren't I your favorite pastry chef?
Back in Suzhou, in Hangzhou, and even when you first came to Shanshi, did you always say that any kind of snack was delicious, and could finish everything you made, and wait at the kitchen door every day to eat snacks?
You wait, once I reach the Master level in making dough, I'll show you what Qin Huai's skills are just as good as Xu Nuo's.
.
The next morning, Qin Huai arrived at the Yunzhong Canteen at 4 a.m. as usual to start working.

Today, Qin Huai came to work determined to reach 30 points in dough-making proficiency. With this level of proficiency, it's difficult to gain proficiency in ordinary steamed buns and mantou. Only the various types of dough that Qin Huai isn't very familiar with are relatively easy to improve proficiency in.

But Qin Huai doesn't plan to make noodles.

One problem is that he can't do it well. Making noodles is still a bit difficult for Qin Huai at the moment. When he was at Zhiweiju, Master Zhou would watch him practice making noodles whenever he wanted to point out his mistakes and correct them in time.

Making "mian guo'er" (a type of pastry) is a highly complex pastry that truly requires a master to supervise and teach you step-by-step. Currently, there are no masters supervising it near Qinhuai, and practicing on your own could easily lead to practicing evil techniques and going astray.

Qin Huai also doesn't like making noodles.

As a pastry chef who has seen the world and trained at both high-end red-and-white ...

Even in this time of striving for self-improvement, Qin Huai still wanted to make breakfast.

I just love making steamed buns and mantou.

It's safe to say that from 5:20 a.m. onwards, the steamers in the kitchen of Yunzhong Canteen never stopped. Buns with various fillings and steamed buns of all colors, along with shumai, steamed dumplings, wontons, and coconut mooncakes, kept coming out of the steamers and ovens. When the elderly men and women who were jogging in the morning, led by Xu Tuqiang, arrived at the store at 6 a.m. sharp, they were dumbfounded, thinking that their watches were broken and they had misremembered the time; it was already 7 a.m.

After discovering that the timing was correct and that it was Master Qin who had worked hard and decided to reward new and old customers by launching a limited-time promotion of large, all-you-can-eat breakfasts, the elderly men and women who went for morning runs, led by Xu Tuqiang, were still a little dumbfounded.

Xu Tuqiang looked at the various breakfast items that filled the window, smelled the seemingly similar yet slightly different aroma of steamed white flour, swallowed a few times, and then pointed to the most unique and fragrant coconut mooncake, asking blankly, "Why are there mooncakes so early?"

"It's not a fresh meat mooncake yet."

Because of a shortage of staff at the window, An Youyou, who was temporarily assigned to sell breakfast there, replied, "Because the Mid-Autumn Festival is just over a month away."

"Master Qin said that the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, and it's coconut season now, so it's the perfect time to make coconut mooncakes. Most of our breakfasts are savory, so adding one or two sweet ones would be just right."

"The most important thing is that Chef Qin doesn't want to make crab shell pastries, sesame seed cakes, or shortbread right now. All the steamers in the kitchen are in use, but the oven is empty, which is a bit of a waste. Let's make some coconut mooncakes so that the oven isn't empty."

Xu Tuqiang understood somewhat, but not quite. He just stared blankly at the dazzling array of breakfasts, feeling like a penniless shopaholic who had encountered a whole bunch of things he wanted to buy while shopping, wanting everything but only able to buy a few things.

Ugh, my damn stomach is so unreliable!
"Uncle Xu, what would you like to order?" An Youyou urged. "There are still quite a few people behind you in line. As you know, our cafeteria's servers don't start work until 6:30. There are only two people at the window right now, and I'm just filling in temporarily. The kitchen is also a bit overwhelmed right now, so you'd better make a decision quickly."

"A coconut mooncake, a brown sugar steamed bun, a three-ingredient bun, a five-ingredient bun, a basket of xiaolongbao, and a bowl of soy milk. Oh dear, Chef Qin made so much breakfast, why didn't you make glutinous rice cake?" Xu Tuqiang lamented.

Like Xu Tuqiang, Chen An was also in a state of lamentation.

However, Chen An was lamenting his own situation.

Chen An felt like he was about to lose his job.

Chen An had always thought that he was the least likely person to lose his job in the entire Cloud Cafeteria. Although he was known as the worst cook among all the chefs, was ignored by the older folks year-round, rarely received any compliments, and had never seen a food review written specifically for him, he was still the most indispensable person in the Cloud Cafeteria.

Chen An is the only breakfast chef at the Cloud Canteen.

Since Qin Congwen stopped insisting on getting up early and started sleeping until six or seven o'clock every day, and the first thing he did after getting up was not to rush to wash up and then come to the canteen to work, but to leisurely play on his phone for a while, drink a cup of hot tea, and then slowly stroll to the canteen to eat breakfast, Chen An became the only breakfast chef.

The large, filling, and cheap breakfasts at Yunzhong Canteen all depend on him.

Without Chen An, budget-conscious office workers wouldn't be able to afford cheap vegetable buns, meat buns, sesame balls, shumai, steamed dumplings, wontons, and fried dough sticks. Admittedly, Qin Huai is the signature dish of Yunzhong Canteen. Three-ingredient buns, five-ingredient buns, four-happiness glutinous rice balls, and fermented rice steamed buns are the true gods of the breakfast stalls for both new and old customers of Yunzhong Canteen, but Chen An is life itself.

When faced with bills for gas, water, electricity, property management fees, rent, and Alipay, the limited supply of tangerine peel tea at the Cloud Canteen can certainly warm people's hearts in a physical sense. However, what can truly warm people's hearts and fill their stomachs at the same time is the cheap 1.5 yuan meat bun.

Chen An wasn't boasting; he felt that although he had no fame and was usually quite unknown, he was the most solid foundation of the Cloud Canteen.

Then today, Qin Huai brought a pickaxe to the cafeteria and smashed the foundation stone.

How would you describe Qin Huai's efficiency in making breakfast when he really wanted to level up?

To put it simply, when Qin Huai was in high school, the school stipulated that students had to enter the school gate before 7:10 am, and evening self-study ended at 10 pm. Under such a heavy workload, Qin Huai was able to get up at 6 am every morning, go downstairs to make a batch of steamed buns, steam the buns that the teachers and students wanted to eat, put them in the insulated box, and enter the school gate before 7:10 am to distribute breakfast to the students.

From the beginning of high school, the responsibility of ensuring that all 68 students in Class 12 had a full breakfast fell on Qin Huai's shoulders.

Qin Huai might not be quick at making desserts, but he can make breakfast very quickly.

This morning, Chen An wasn't even qualified to knead a whole lump of dough, let alone prepare the filling, an important task that only powerful breakfast chefs could do. Chen An spent most of this morning making steamed buns and wontons, helping to fry dough sticks, and kneading the dough, which was the most strenuous part in the early stages, acting as a dough mixer and a senior helper.

Looking at the constantly running steamer and the lingering steam in the kitchen, Chen An felt he was about to lose his job.

At this moment, Chen An only felt regret for his past laziness and complacency. If he had known this day would come, he would have observed, listened, and learned more. If he were a pastry chef now, he wouldn't be facing such a severe unemployment crisis.

Two lines of tears welled up in Chen An's heart.

"Chen An, go check if the first two batches of buns are finished steaming. Once they are, put this batch on the steamer. Also, keep an eye on the oven time. The next batch of coconut mooncakes should be ready in about two minutes. You still need to chop the meat filling for these three-ingredient buns; no one else can chop it as well as you." Qin Huai's voice pulled Chen An back to reality from his despairing fantasy of losing his job.

"Okay, Master Qin!" Chen An immediately went to work.

Hehehe, Master Qin said I chopped the meat filling well.

Chen An felt that he wouldn't lose his job.
.
Because he was too busy making breakfast, Qin Huai didn't have time to make chicken noodle soup for Zheng Siyuan this morning. Although Zheng Siyuan was a little disappointed, he could understand. Although he didn't understand why Qin Huai was suddenly so enthusiastic about making breakfast, Zheng Siyuan felt that Qin Huai must have his reasons.

Zheng Siyuan also had something to say to Qin Huai.

"I plan to go back to Suzhou the day after tomorrow." Zheng Siyuan said this while eating coconut mooncakes. "Did you see a new recipe online? Why do I feel that the coconut mooncakes you baked today are a little more fragrant than yesterday?"

"I got a new recipe," Qin Huai replied while kneading the dough. "I learned some techniques for kneading oil and sugar into the dough, and I also made some slight improvements to the filling."

"You're going back to Suzhou the day after tomorrow, right? I don't have time to make you coconut milk cake today, but I'll make you a reduced-sugar version tomorrow. I also got a new coconut milk cake recipe yesterday, the kind where the less sugar the better. I haven't made it before, so I don't know how it will turn out. I'll make it for you tomorrow so you can try it."

“Okay.” Zheng Siyuan nodded.

"Did you get anything this time?" Qin Huai asked.

"I didn't gain much," Zheng Siyuan said frankly. "I thought I could absorb some inspiration and gain some insights from you, but things didn't go as planned. I feel that the pastry I'm practicing now isn't really suitable for me, and I don't really like it. I still prefer making fresh meat mooncakes."

"It's good to focus on mastering one type of dim sum," Qin Huai said. "When I went to Zhiweiju this time, I found that many of the master chefs there only really excelled at one or two types of dim sum. Their other dim sum was not bad, but it wasn't amazing. Everyone has their own specialty and favorites, so just do what you like."

"I only discovered after visiting Zhiweiju that my favorite thing to make is steamed buns and mantou."

“My dad called me this morning,” Zheng Siyuan said. “He said that Uncle Gong wants to transfer all his shares in Huangji to you.”

Qin Huai kept working, but inwardly marveled at Gong Liang's efficiency; things that were only finalized yesterday were already being implemented today.

Qin Huai did not respond to Zheng Siyuan's words, and waited for Zheng Siyuan to continue.

"Uncle Gong said he's going to invest in a big project soon, but he's having some cash flow problems, so he plans to sell some of his idle assets. He didn't originally plan to sell his shares in Huangji, but he thinks it's more suitable for you to own them than for him. And since you want to buy them but are short of money, he's going to sell them to you."

"Do you know the specifics? Why is Uncle Gong suddenly so short of money? Could he have... been scammed?"

Qin Huai: ...

The story of "the beast being scammed" sounds quite humorous.

“I’m not entirely sure. It was Mr. Gong who asked me if I was interested in taking over Huang Kee’s shares. You know, I have quite a bit of spare cash on hand, and I was worried that if someone else bought Huang Kee’s shares, they would interfere with the restaurant and that it wouldn’t be good for Huang Kee, so I bought them.”

"As for what happened to Mr. Gong, I didn't ask."

"But it should just be a normal business matter. Mr. Gong has been in business for so many years and is so shrewd. He won't be fooled."

Zheng Siyuan thought Qin Huai's words made sense, but he was still a little worried: "I hope so. My dad asked me to ask you about it. If everything is normal, my dad will be more at ease."

"Did Master Huang agree?"

"Mr. Gong wants to sell the shares to you, and of course my senior uncle agrees, he..."

Before Zheng Siyuan could finish speaking, Qin Huai's phone rang. Qin Huai glanced at it and saw that it was Huang Anyao calling.

This was a rare occurrence. Huang Anyao seldom called Qin Huai. Qin Huai stopped what he was doing, quickly washed his hands, and answered the phone.

"Hey."

"Qin Huai, I heard from my dad that Uncle Gong is going to sell you all of Huang Ji's shares. Is that true?"

"this matter……"

“That’s great! When are you coming to Suzhou? Now that you’re the largest shareholder of Huangji, can the management of Huangji be handed over to you in the future? I heard that the head waiter at your Yunzhong Canteen used to be the head waiter at a high-end restaurant. Would you be willing to come to Suzhou as well? We at Huangji can have two head waiters.”

"Once you arrive, you'll be the head chef of the pastry section at Huang's Kitchen. Shouldn't we expand our pastry business? Shouldn't we hire a few more pastry chefs? Shouldn't we open a new pastry stall? Hey, in that case, shouldn't we renovate?"

Qin Huai quickly interrupted Huang Anyao's long, rapid-fire speech: "Who said I was going to Suzhou?"

"Huh?" Huang Anyao was stunned.

“I only took over Huang Ji’s shares, but I do not participate in Huang Ji’s management. Like Mr. Gong before me, I only take dividends and do not interfere in other matters.”

"Ah?" Huang Anyao's dream was shattered.

"Qin Huai, why don't you intervene?"

"You're already the largest shareholder of Huangji, so feel free to interfere. As long as you don't demand that Huangji be changed to Qinji, you can interfere however you want."

“If all else fails, I can persuade my dad to sell you another 10% of the shares.”

Qin Huai: ...

Young master, wake up!

The way you're talking makes you sound like a spendthrift.

(End of this chapter)