The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 518 Grandpa Xu's Advance (Bonus chapter for the Alliance Leader's donation to "The Promise to Become King"!)

When An Youyou was leaving get off work, she very unusually asked to get a takeout order of potato dumplings, and happily left work with the takeout box in hand.

Qin Huai hadn't expected An Youyou to love potato dumplings so much. Although An Youyou always enjoyed all the food at the Cloud Cafeteria (in her opinion, these free foods were employee benefits), and she would be happy when Qin Huai offered to let her take any leftover snacks home, she rarely volunteered.

An Youyou's upbringing taught her that giving something to someone and asking for it are two completely different things.

Qin Huai picked up a dumpling, took a bite, and chewed it slowly.

"It's just dumplings, isn't it? They're not as good as Four Happiness Dumplings. I can't believe An Youyou likes them. Tomorrow when I make them, I'll make a lot of each kind so she can try them too."

Zhao Cheng'an, who wanted to eat it but had developed a psychological aversion to it after eating it this morning, complained: "Potato dumplings are delicious, but I've noticed that you, Qin Huai, don't like dumplings. When you were at Zhiweiju, you never made any other dumplings besides Four Happiness Dumplings, and those were steamed dumplings."

"You southerners don't like to eat dumplings."

Qin Huai: ? How come you were a northerner in your first life living in Beiping, and you're a northerner in this life living in Hangzhou?

Qin Huai drew out his words: "An Youyou is from the North?"

"Norther than you."

Qin Huai: ...

"Zhao Cheng'an, if you keep letting yourself go like this, I'm going to shove a potato dumpling into your mouth," Qin Huai warned.

Zhao Cheng'an immediately shut up.

Zhao Cheng'an felt that Qin Huai definitely couldn't catch him in terms of skill. How could he, the dignified King of Thieves in Beiping, be captured by Qin Huai alone? Qin Huai couldn't possibly have accomplished the feat of stuffing potato dumplings into his mouth by himself. However, the kitchen was full of Qin Huai's helpers, especially Shi Dadan. Zhao Cheng'an's intuition told him that as long as Qin Huai made a move, Shi Dadan would provide assistance.

Not to be underestimated.

Although Qin Huai made a lot of potato dumplings today, it wasn't just potato dumplings. Besides completing Wang Gensheng's side quest, he had an even more important task—

Brush the dough to a master level.

This is the main storyline, a main storyline that cannot be ignored.

Qin Huai originally planned to let Wang Gensheng try all the original potato dumplings, elm bark steamed buns, and rice cake soup today, but gave up because she made too many delicious potato dumplings.

Wang Gensheng has a normal appetite, like a typical old man, with a normal amount of food for his age, much smaller than Xu Tuqiang's.

Xu Tuqiang is considered to have a large appetite among the older men; according to Qin Huai's observation, Xu Tuqiang's appetite is something he's trained for. Previously, Xu Tuqiang didn't like morning runs at all; running was just an excuse for him to prove he was a healthy, life-loving old man—he'd put on a show, run a little, and then it was over.

Xu Tuqiang now genuinely enjoys morning runs. The high-intensity morning runs can stimulate his appetite, allowing him to eat a few more bites during breakfast.

Xu Tuqiang is indeed the most hardworking of all the elderly folks supporting Qin Huai's breakfast business. If Xu Tuqiang were a spirit, Qin Huai would be more than happy to prepare special meals for him every day, but unfortunately, Grandpa Xu doesn't seem to be one.

Given the frequency of Qin Huai and Xu Tuqiang's daily interactions and Xu Tuqiang's proactive attitude, if Xu Tuqiang were truly a spirit, the fact that no quest has been triggered yet must indicate a bug in the game system.

Faced with Grandpa Xu, who is most likely a pure human, Qin Huai can only quietly cook a little something for him when he has free time, as a way for Chef Qin to give back to his most loyal customer.

The last dessert Qin Huai made was rice cake.

Making rice cakes doesn't require much skill, it's just tiring.

Making rice cakes is a very tiring job. The repeated steaming and stirring of glutinous rice is purely physical labor, but this physical labor also requires some skill.

You can't just stir it blindly, nor can you steam it without thinking. You have to adjust the stirring time and intensity according to the state of the glutinous rice, and then adjust the heat and time accordingly.

If Qin Huai only wanted to make B-grade glutinous rice cakes, all these steps could be handed over to the helpers. Qin Huai only needed to glance at them from time to time to supervise.

However, Qin Huai wanted to make A-grade glutinous rice cakes that could trigger buffs, so he had to make them himself from start to finish.

Grade A dim sum not only demands exceptional skill from the chef, but also requires extremely high standards for the ingredients. The only ingredient in glutinous rice cake is rice cake itself; if the rice cake isn't of good quality, even with extraordinary skill, Qin Huai would struggle to make it delicious. He would have to do it himself.

What's the difference between Grade A glutinous rice cake and Grade E rice cake soup? Isn't it just the difference in the people who make the rice cakes?

Speaking of which, Qin Huai really admired Qu the Hunter; he actually managed to make rice cake soup into an E-grade dish. Qin Huai had previously tried his best at Huang's restaurant, almost turning the rice cake soup into something akin to a witch's soup, and could only manage an E+ grade. Indeed, cooking does require a bit of talent.

Qin Huai can be considered a gifted person, and Chen Huihong is no exception.

Who says reversed talents aren't talents?

Xu Tuqiang, who was sitting at table number 9, watched the entire process of Qin Huai painstakingly making rice cakes.

As a retired man, Xu Tuqiang is truly idle.

Previously, Xu Tuqiang would occasionally stay at his son and daughter's house for a couple of days to take care of his grandchildren and enjoy family life.

Now Xu Tuqiang doesn't do that at all. Unless it's a holiday or Qin Huai isn't at the Yunzhong Canteen, his daily routine is home—morning run—Yunzhong Canteen—home, a very regular three-point line.

Even if Qin Huai is away from the Yunzhong Canteen for a long time, Xu Tuqiang will stay at table number 9, reminiscing about him.

Xu Tuqiang's family fully supports his habit of not going home all day. As a well-known figure at the Yunzhong Canteen, Xu Tuqiang is adept at using the rules to his advantage, buying extra snacks for his family, even outside of the purchase limits.

Now, Xu Tuqiang doesn't need to visit his son and daughter at all. Every day after get off work, the first thing his children do isn't go home, but come to Yunzhong Community to greet their beloved old father and bring him some snacks. Xu Tuqiang's status in the family has also risen sharply. Before, he was just an ordinary retired old man; now, he is the retired old man who controls the family's snack business.

Xu Tuqiang didn't just take over this excellent observation spot at table number 9 for nothing.

Xu Tuqiang closely monitors Qin Huai's movements every day.

For example, today he observed that Qin Huai made a lot of dumplings, but didn't put them out to sell. In the afternoon, she started making rice cakes; he wondered if she would put them out to sell.

Wang Gensheng ate a lot of the dumplings that weren't put out for sale.

When Xu Tuqiang thought of Wang Gensheng, he felt that only two words could express his feelings—

Hey.

Extremely jealous.

What makes that guy surnamed Wang so incompetent? He can't write food reviews, and he can't even say nice things. When everyone else went to Suzhou to buy houses, only Wang didn't buy one. He said it was a house he was allocated when he worked in Suzhou, and he hadn't sold it; he rented it out. He said he only needs to rent one for short-term stays.

Very unsociable.

Although it seems wise not to buy a house now, since people rarely go to Suzhou, the houses that were bought have all been rented out one after another.

Master Qin's travel routes are unpredictable; one minute he's in Suzhou, the next in Hangzhou. Even if you're rich, you still have to consider the cost-effectiveness when it comes to buying houses.

Xu Tuqiang couldn't understand what was so special about Wang Gensheng that made Chef Qin treat him so well. Before, he'd secretly cook for him every few days, but now he was being allowed to eat directly in the kitchen, and today he was getting a special meal cooked for him.

It's not just occasionally; I'm always eating in the kitchen.

Xu Tuqiang felt that Master Qin seemed to have run into trouble again.

This is his chance, and he wants to seize it.

To better observe, Xu Tuqiang recently learned a little bit of lip reading.

Xu Tuqiang saw Qin Huai say to Zhao Cheng'an:

"Making rice cakes is so tiring. If it weren't for the fact that high-quality rice cakes are not available in the market, I would not have bothered to make them by hand."

"Why doesn't Shanshi have any shops that specialize in selling handmade rice cakes? There are some in Suzhou. I bought Huangji's rice cakes from a rice cake specialty store, and the quality is quite good. If there were similar shops in Shanshi, glutinous rice cakes could be sold there permanently."

"My hand is numb, Zhao Cheng'an, could you help me stir it?"

"If I don't stir it, you won't let me eat it."

(End of this chapter)