The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 525 [Potato Buns]

When Qin Huai left his memory, that one sentence filled his mind—

Begging is the best profession!

Damn, this slogan is pretty brainwashing. Especially after seeing how much money An Youyou begged for on New Year's Eve, Qin Huai felt that begging was a good profession, something Jiang Weiguo and Chen Shun just didn't understand.

Begging in winter is truly a case of "no business for three years, but enough to live on for three years."

Qin Huai spent several tens of seconds banishing An Youyou's brainwashing slogans from his mind before opening the game panel to check what new recipes he had obtained.

An Youyou's illustration section has suddenly changed to:

Name: An Youyou
Species: Three-legged toad

Status: Awakening

Memory: 2/?

Dishes: Vegetable and meat buns, potato buns (click to view details)
Gifts: None
Qin Huai clicked on the potato bun to view the dish details.

[Potato Buns - Grade C]

Creator: Jiang Weiguo

Dish Details: This is the most unpleasant dessert to mention for Jiang Weiguo, a retired head chef from a state-run restaurant. Having lost his mother at a young age, experienced war and separation from his family during his youth, and endured over a decade of hardship, Jiang Weiguo only settled down in his thirties and had a happy family. His eldest brother described him as an ordinary, unfortunate person. In his youth, Jiang Weiguo did many things out of necessity to survive. This included pretending to make dumplings to appease his clever but eccentric eldest brother, becoming a culinary mastermind. For many years afterward, Jiang Weiguo never made potato buns again, because the thought of potato buns made him feel guilty towards dumplings. Yet, when Jiang Weiguo recalls that time, he deeply feels that the time spent with his eldest brother and his twelve younger brothers is the warmest memory of his more than ten years of wandering. This dish, if eaten on New Year's Eve, will make all subsequent food taste even better, evoking the flavor of family reunion. After all, dumplings symbolize reunion during festivals, even though this particular dumpling is essentially a bun.

Number of times you can make it per day: (0/995)

Qin Huai: ...

995.

You can tell Jiang Weiguo is really avoiding this snack. 995, help me! This lousy game system really loves using puns.

The potato buns weren't of high quality, which was within Qin Huai's expectations. Jiang Weiguo's pastry-making skills were mediocre. It's unknown whether his pastry-making skills improved after he became a chef at a state-run restaurant, but when Jiang Weiguo was still An Youyou's number thirteen underling, Qin Huai estimated that his pastry-making skills were at most C+ grade, not even reaching B grade.

But his braised pork knuckle and braised pork belly were really good; these two pork dishes were definitely at a B- grade. It just goes to show that everyone has their own specialty. Qin Huai hadn't expected that Jiang Weiguo, whose pastry skills were mediocre and whose everyday cooking was just average, would be so adept at making pork dishes.

As I said before, every chef can allocate skill points in ways that others wouldn't expect.

Qin Huai quickly watched the video tutorial for making potato buns in the restroom and found that there was really nothing to learn. Not only was there nothing worth learning, but Qin Huai could even point out many problems with Jiang Weiguo. If Jiang Weiguo were in front of Qin Huai right now, Qin Huai could teach him a couple of tricks to make the filling of the potato buns taste better.

However, the potato bun buff is quite nice. Everyone is given a potato bun before the New Year's Eve dinner, which makes their New Year's Eve dinner experience better.

Appetizers for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Qin Huai decided to make potato buns for his family during the Spring Festival this year, but he didn't know if making the potato buns smaller would trigger a buff, since Jiang Weiguo's potato buns were a bit too big.

Qin Huai and Qin Luo are fine, especially Qin Luo, who has a big appetite; a potato bun is no problem for him to whet his appetite. But Grandma Qin and Grandpa Qin might not be so lucky. Older people don't have as big an appetite as younger people, and a big bun, a combination of carbohydrates, would fill them up completely, let alone whet their appetite.

After watching the video tutorial, Qin Huai announced in the "We Are a Loving Family" group chat that An Youyou's dream had been unlocked in another stage. He asked everyone if they had time around dinner time tonight, so he could urgently go to Luo Jun's house for a tea party, where he would tell everyone about An Youyou's dream and analyze An Youyou in more depth.

Chen Huihong was the first to respond in the group, saying that of course she had time, and she would send a message to her brother right away, asking Huihui to go to her uncle's house for dinner and homework tonight.

Although Qin Huai had only met Chen Yingjun a few times, he inexplicably felt that Chen Yingjun frequently appeared in his life.

Chen Gong asked if it was necessary to arrange a buffet dinner for everyone at Luo Jun's house. The tea parties had been in the afternoon, where snacks and fruit were fine. Now that it was dinner time, shouldn't we have a proper meal?

Shi Dadan said he can eat anything and he is not picky about food.

Qu Jing also stated that she would get off work at 5 pm today and would definitely be at Luo Jun's house on time, and would never be late or absent again to cause trouble for everyone.

Luo Jun replied with an "oh," and Qin Huai knew that Luo Jun's "oh" meant that he would let Zhang Shumei go out for a stroll on time and prepare the fruit needed for the tea party.

As for Zhao Cheng'an... Zhao Cheng'an didn't reply to the message at all, Qin Huai guessed that he was still asleep.

Seeing that no one except Zhao Cheng'an had any objections, Qin Huai put away his phone and returned to the kitchen. Because he had spent some time watching video tutorials and sending messages, An Youyou had already gone to help out when Qin Huai returned to the kitchen. She washed her hands and walked to Qin Huai's cooking station, waiting for his instructions.

An Youyou is very self-disciplined now. When Qin Huai is around, she stays by his side, either watching him make desserts to learn the craft or helping him prepare ingredients.

When Qin Huai wasn't around, she continued doing odd jobs, keeping to herself. The promises the boss made were tempting, but An Youyou hadn't taken over the Cloud Canteen yet, so her position was still that of a helper. Even the senior helpers who had staff dormitories were still helpers.

"Youyou, is there anything you wish for?" Qin Huai wanted to ask An Youyou every time he saw her.

An Youyou was taken aback by Qin Huai's question and said, "Master Qin, you already asked me this question just now."

Qin Huai could only sigh in his heart that An Youyou in this life was really different from the first life. If it were the first life An Youyou, after Qin Huai asked this question twice, she would already be lying on the ground hugging Qin Huai's leg, making a list in an excited voice while pretending to cry.

Silver dollars, copper coins, legal tender, pounds sterling, pork hock, pig's head, spare ribs, pork belly...

List whatever comes to mind.

“You’ve made good progress in your studies lately, and you’ve shown significant improvement in kneading dough and preparing fillings. Look, you can even make steamed buns on your own now. Although your skills aren’t as good as Chen An’s, they’re better than my dad’s.”

"What did you say you wanted just now?" Qin Huai had forgotten the previous plot after watching a segment of the memory.

“I’d like to pack some potato dumplings to take home.” “That’s not enough,” Qin Huai said seriously. “Our cafeteria is very strict about rewards and punishments. You see, since being late, leaving early, being absent without leave, wasting food, stealing dishes, and damaging public property are all punishable, overtime work and meeting performance targets will give you extra overtime pay and bonuses. You’ve been doing well lately, so of course you should also be rewarded.”

"Packing up some potato dumplings to take home is just an employee perk."

"Think about it carefully, haven't you been quite diligent in your work and cooking lessons lately?"

An Youyou nodded; she also felt that she was quite serious.

She was truly dedicated; she never slacked off at work, was never late, and never left early—she was practically the opposite of Zhao Cheng'an. Moreover, An Youyou genuinely wanted to learn; she really wanted to get promoted and receive a raise, hoping to become the manager and breakfast coordinator of Yunzhong Canteen after receiving the boss's offer.

"Then shouldn't you think of a reward that matches your hard work and dedication during this time?" Qin Huai felt like he was coaxing a child.

An Youyou really thought about it seriously, and after thinking for a full half minute, she tentatively asked, "Master Qin, when I passed by Yang Ge's place before, Yang Ge mentioned that he gave you several annual and monthly passes for the amusement park."

"Could you give me a monthly pass? I want to go to the amusement park during my time off. I've never been to an amusement park before and I've always wanted to, but the tickets for the amusement park in my city cost more than 200 yuan, while student tickets are only 100 yuan. But I'm not in school and don't have a student ID."

"If you don't have a monthly pass, a ticket will do. I only have one day this month to go to the amusement park."

Qin Huai didn't expect that An Youyou's wish was to go to an amusement park. But after thinking about it, he felt it made sense. An Youyou was currently in the stage of just starting her career and wanted to eat, drink, and have fun, but she had limited funds and hadn't seen much of the world, so she didn't know how to eat, drink, and have fun. Therefore, she wanted to experience everything she had never seen or experienced but knew about.

“Okay.” Qin Huai readily agreed. “I’ll have Ouyang get you a yearly card, or a six-month card if there isn’t one.”

"Go to the amusement park a few more times, it's really fun."

Qin Huai felt a bit sympathetic towards Chen Huihong. Although it's not nice to take things from others, it's really satisfying.

"Thank you, Master Qin!" An Youyou was overjoyed. Seeing that the teacups on the kitchen counter were empty, she quickly went to pour tea for Qin Huai.
.
When Ouyang came to the cafeteria for breakfast around 7 a.m., Qin Huai casually mentioned the amusement park annual pass to him, and also told him that the annual pass was for An Youyou, and that if he couldn't get a free one, he would transfer the money to Ouyang.

Ouyang patted his chest, making a loud thud, giving the impression of a burly man beating his chest: "Qin Huai, what are you saying? Don't you consider me a brother? I have to pay for an annual amusement park pass? You wait, I'm going back to my parents tonight to ask for it!"

Qin Huai: ...Brother, you truly live up to your reputation.

"What are we having for breakfast this morning?" Ouyang asked with great interest.

Ever since handing the recipe to the shop assistant and then having a treacherous meal at home, Ouyang has completely let loose. Every day, he either sits in the kitchen of Yunzhong Canteen eating snacks, drinking tea, and chatting, or goes to the gym to work out. He hardly goes to Xiao Ou's handmade lemon tea shop anymore. Occasionally, he goes there only when Qin Huai wants lemon tea, and Ouyang personally goes back to the shop to make it for him.

Qin Huai now understood how Ouyang's previous fish hotpot restaurant had gone bankrupt. Judging from Ouyang's business model, he thought Xiao Ou's handmade lemon tea shop would be opening soon too.

"Glutinous rice cakes and potato dumplings," Qin Huai said. "I got up late today, and the steamed buns and mantou are not ready yet. I originally wanted to make some hand-pulled noodles, but Zheng Siyuan is not in the cafeteria and there is no stock on hand. Zhao Chengan did not make stock yesterday either. Hand-pulled noodles cooked in plain water or pork rib soup are not as good as those cooked in stock."

"Why don't you eat some glutinous rice cake first to tide you over?"

If Gong Liang or Wang Gensheng were to ask this question, Qin Huai would definitely not recommend that they eat glutinous rice cakes, because glutinous rice cakes are a bit filling.

Especially Wang Gensheng, Qin Huai would even advise him not to eat glutinous rice cakes in the morning, because Grandpa Wang wanted to save his stomach for trying potato dumplings. If he ate both glutinous rice cakes and potato dumplings and ruined his stomach, it would be a loss if Grandpa Wang got gastroenteritis and had to go to the hospital.

Ouyang didn't have this concern; Ouyang had a large appetite.

“Sure!” Ouyang nodded happily. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had glutinous rice cakes. Qin Huai, why did you suddenly think of making this? I remember you don’t make rice cakes very often.”

"I just did it on a whim. I've been wanting to make rice cakes lately, and I think I'll make them every morning from now on," Qin Huai said, glancing out the window and noticing Xu Tuqiang still eating rice cakes.

He ate very happily, but you could tell that Grandpa Xu was a little full.

Qin Huai knew that among all these elderly men and women, Xu Tuqiang was the most loyal believer in glutinous rice cakes and the one who knew the most about them. It was a pity that Xu Tuqiang wasn't a spirit, otherwise Qin Huai would have been making glutinous rice cakes every day recently, and following this method, he could have found out any task by eating them.

pity.

"Youyou, go and tell Grandpa Xu to eat as much rice cake as he can, and not to eat so much rice cake so early in the morning, as it is hard to digest."

An Youyou hurriedly went to deliver the message.

Xu Tuqiang, who was eating rice cakes at table number 9, almost burst into tears when he heard An Youyou's retelling. At that moment, Xu Tuqiang thought, so what if he can't eat in the kitchen?

Master Qin has me in his heart!

He cares about me; he's worried that eating too much rice cake will upset my stomach!
Chef Qin, since you care about me so much, can I sit in the kitchen to eat?
It's not that I necessarily want to go into the kitchen to eat; I just want to go in, experience it, and post it on social media.

Xu Tuqiang shed tears of emotion in his heart.

At the same time, Ouyang also devoured two pieces of glutinous rice cake and exclaimed, "Hey, why do I suddenly feel like going to the gym?"

"I know, it must be from eating too many carbs. I've been eating snacks every day lately and have gained weight. I should go to the gym more often."

Qin Huai: ?
Dude, you ate glutinous rice cake, and the buff triggered was wanting to go to the gym?
You love working out that much?
Looking at Ouyang's increasingly robust physique, Qin Huai felt a bit of a chill, worried that his good buddy might one day develop into a muscular man with double doors like those in Korean comics.

That picture...

Dude, seriously, if you love working out so much, don't bother starting a fish hotpot restaurant or a bubble tea shop. These businesses aren't for you. If all else fails, how about opening a gym? Your gym definitely won't run away with your money after three months, and you won't encounter situations like the current ones where the owner disappears after a while, because you yourself will be working out every day.

A gym is the perfect business opportunity for you.

(End of this chapter)