The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 535 It's time to bring the King of Thieves of Beiping back into the world.

"Wow, bro, this is delicious!"

"Wow, bro, this is delicious too!"

"Brother, this is the best!"

"Brother, you're amazing! You made such delicious pastries after just one trip to Zhiweiju. If Dad had listened to Uncle and sent you to Zhiweiju to learn the craft, your pastries would be heavenly by now!"

Qin Luo's cheerful voice echoed in the living room.

Zhao Rong had been smiling as she watched her daughter eat a steamed bun in her left hand and a mantou in her right, seemingly oblivious to the four plates of home-cooked hot dishes she had prepared on the table. But upon hearing Qin Luo's words, her expression changed instantly. She straightened her face and tapped Qin Luo's hand hard with her chopsticks.

"What are you saying, child? What do you mean by telling your dad to send your brother to Zhiweiju as soon as possible? Don't you know what kind of environment Zhiweiju is in?"

"The apprentices have to start by learning how to serve tea and make tea. They get up before dawn every day and don't go to sleep until the dogs stop barking. They work more than ten hours a day, and they have to time their bathroom breaks. They don't even have time to eat a hot meal. You sent your brother to that kind of place just so you could have a decent meal? Don't you have any conscience?"

Qin Luo immediately repented: "Brother, I was wrong. Actually, the dim sum at Zhiweiju is delicious even if you don't go there. Please don't go to Zhiweiju anymore."

Qin Huai: ...

Qin Huai chuckled, somewhat speechless: "Mom, who told you that? How come you're making Zhiweiju sound like a prison? No, even prisons aren't this harsh these days."

"All the apprentices at Zhiweiju know how to brew tea, but that's just a trend. Ordinary apprentices work 11 or 12 hours a day, and some may work 13 or 14 hours. But it's not forced; everyone does it voluntarily because the competition is quite fierce."

"Going to the toilet isn't too difficult, and there are hot meals available. The food at Zhiweiju is quite good; the owner of Zhiweiju specially ordered boxed meals from a big restaurant."

Qin Huai, under the watchful eyes of Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen, who said, "Son, there's no need to argue anymore. Your parents understand. Our good son only reports good news and not bad news. Your parents know how hard you've been at Zhiweiju," couldn't continue arguing. He felt like the more he talked, the more he would tarnish Zhiweiju's reputation.

Qin Huai could only change the subject and ask, "Who told you about the working environment at Zhiweiju?"

Qin Huai knew that these words definitely didn't come from Pei Xing and Li Hua. Those two wouldn't be so big-mouthed, nor would they say things that could be considered a smear against their former employer.

“Xiao Tan told your dad about it when he was in our cafeteria before,” Zhao Rong said. “At first, your dad thought Xiao Tan was a lazy kid. Everyone else was working, but he was slacking off and trying to be idle. When he asked, he found out that he had a hard time at Zhiweiju and wanted to relax after finally getting out.”

Qin Huai: ...Tan Weian, you've gone to great lengths to claim you're not that much of a slacker, you can even make up such nonsense.

Qin Huai could only say, "Mom and Dad, Zhiweiju is really... quite good, not too tiring."

Zhao Rong sniffed and said emotionally, "Huaihuai, Mom understands. Actually, your dad has always felt a bit guilty over the years, especially after you took over Yunzhong Canteen. Your dad always felt that he had held you back. If he had sent you to Zhiweiju as an apprentice back then, you would definitely be more successful now."

"Now your dad is just glad he didn't send you there back then. How old were you then? Just a teenager. How could you go to a place like that and suffer like that? Whether you can make something of yourself or not is not important. Even if you don't have this skill now, your parents can still support you. Your dad's health can at least keep him selling steamed buns for another 20 years."

"That's right!" Qin Congwen straightened his chest. "Huaihuai, you don't need to work so hard. Dad will take care of you!"

Qin Huai was deeply moved. Qin Huai, who was usually able to speak fluently, found himself at a loss for words this time, which was quite unusual.

Qin Huai was even more moved by Qin Luo.

Qin Luo asked excitedly, "Dad, can you still support me even if I don't get into university? I've heard that the food abroad is terrible, and I don't want to study abroad. Can I skip university and high school and just support me?"

Qin Huai: ...

Qin Congwen: ?

Zhao Rong: (▼ヘ▼#)
Zhao Rong flew into a rage. This time, instead of slapping her hand, she picked up her chopsticks and smacked Qin Luo hard on the forehead. She then snatched the steamed bun from Qin Luo's left hand and the dumpling from her right, angrily saying, "You think I'll support you? Your father is so old, he gets up early and works late every day making dumplings to earn so little money, and his back isn't good either. How dare you let your father support you?"

"Qin Luo, I think you've had a good life these past two years and forgotten who you are. I can't even be bothered to mention your low score on the high school entrance exam. You finally showed some improvement after summer tutoring, and your dad and I thought you had seen the error of your ways, turned over a new leaf, made amends, worked hard, and finally got ahead despite being a slow learner. But it turns out you're still the same old you."

"Get to your room and do your homework!"

Qin Luo said with a long face, "Mom, I haven't finished my dinner yet."

"What are you eating? You've already eaten more than a pound and you still haven't finished. If you keep going like this, I'll make your dad get up early every day to make you steamed buns. From now on, you can only eat steamed buns made by your dad in the morning."

"Vegetarian steamed buns!"

"Mom, this is my brother's house." Qin Luo tried to do her homework later.

“What’s wrong with your brother’s house? Does your brother’s house not have a desk for doing homework? He Cheng stayed at your brother’s house during the summer vacation and did his homework just fine. Stop talking nonsense to me and go to your room to do your homework. If you don’t study hard, you won’t even get into university if you go to an international school. After you graduate from high school, you will be an apprentice at Zhiweiju.”

"Serving you tea and water every day, working 15 hours a day, will teach you a lesson."

Qin Huai: ...When Tan Weian was bragging about his hard work at Zhiweiju, what exactly did he brag about?

What was supposed to be a pleasant dinner ended with Qin Luo tearfully heading to her room to do her homework, clutching her schoolbag. Even after Qin Luo went to her room, Zhao Rong's complaints didn't end there.

When Qin Luo was in junior high school, Qin Huai basically tutored and supervised Qin Luo's studies. Sometimes when Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen didn't have time, Qin Huai would attend the parent-teacher conferences.

At that time, Qin Huai was very familiar with Qin Luo's studies.

Since Qin Huai came to Shan City and has been busy running the Yunzhong Canteen, frequently traveling to other places, he has paid less attention to Qin Luo. In addition, Qin Huai himself has never attended an international school and has no understanding of the teaching content and curriculum of international schools. He only knows that this unfortunate kid's grades are never very good.

Qin Huai hadn't sat down to chat with his parents for a while.

Zhao Rong kept talking about her worries.

Before Chen Huihong donated Qin Luo's high school and even university tuition fees to Qin Huai after he activated the game system, the Qin family was just an ordinary breakfast-selling family. Studying abroad was a very distant dream for the Qin family; there were very few people in the entire Qin family village who had ever been abroad.

Zhao Rong initially thought that Qin Luo's school was pretty good. With such expensive tuition, the teaching quality must be excellent; even a hopeless case could be turned into a talent.

However, as Qin Luo entered his second year of high school, the school's teachers began to contact Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen to analyze and recommend suitable schools and majors for Qin Luo in the future, plunging the couple into deep anxiety.

Zhao Rong believed her daughter was a good child, but she couldn't resist the short videos that kept showing her children who were doing well in China but went astray after going abroad, becoming addicted to alcohol, reckless driving, drug use, fighting, failing courses, having to repeat courses, and being expelled.

The more Zhao Rong watched short videos, the more she was pushed to the edge. Recently, short videos have started to push stories about how bad the security situation is abroad, with frequent robberies, shootings, arson, discrimination, and bullying. The more Zhao Rong scrolled through, the more she felt that Qin Luo was not going abroad to study, but to die.

She was considering transferring Qin Luo back to a regular high school for the college entrance exam, but she knew very well that with her daughter's grades, there was a high chance she wouldn't get into university. She was afraid of hindering her child's progress and could only silently worry. Qin Huai listened patiently to all of Zhao Rong's anxieties, and from Qin Congwen's occasional agreement, she could tell that Qin Congwen was also quite anxious.

Well, Qin Huai felt that his parents were a pair of parents who were very good at being anxious. They were often anxious and fearful at crossroads, worried that if they chose A, B would be better.

Qin Huai felt this kind of topic should be discussed with Shi Dadan; in terms of academic performance, Shi Dadan's two unfortunate children were even worse than Qin Luo's. Even the most optimistic Dang Kang would wear a pained expression and a mask of distress when talking about his children's grades and his wife's outbursts of temper caused by them.

Qin Huai offered a few words of simple comfort, forcing himself not to tell his parents the earth-shattering good news that he was the sole heir to Luo Jun's estate, and that even if Qin Luo had no schooling and had to beg on the streets, he would have money to hire a few professional almsgivers to regularly boost Qin Luo's KPIs. He didn't want his parents to suspect that he was involved in telecommunications fraud, swindling elderly people and even targeting the residents of their own neighborhood.

Qin Huai handed Zhao Rong a steamed bun made with fermented rice wine: "Mom, don't worry, have a bun to tide you over first."

Zhao Rong took a bite of the steamed bun and felt much better; her anxiety and fear had dissipated somewhat.

Qin Huai then followed the same tactic and stuffed a steamed bun into Qin Congwen's hand.

"Mom and Dad, you have to believe in Luo Luo. Although Luo Luo has never liked studying since she was little, she is definitely a good child. Whether she studies abroad or stays in China, just let things take their course. You have to believe that Luo Luo will not go astray no matter where she is."

After listening to Qin Huai's advice, Zhao Rong felt much more relaxed and said with a smile, "Luo Luo is indeed a good child. I still remember the first time Luo Luo learned to draw in kindergarten, she drew a family portrait."

"She ran to the orphanage to find Director Qin and asked to see the paintings you drew when you were little. She looked at all the paintings but couldn't find herself in any of them. She burst into tears in Director Qin's office, saying that her brother didn't care about her at all, and that she wasn't in any of the family portraits. No matter how she was comforted, it was no use. It was only after you drew a new one that she calmed down."

“I remember that the painting in the back is also with Director Qin. I didn’t spend much time at the welfare home when I went back for Chinese New Year last year. I need to go back this year and talk to Director Qin more. Your dad and I haven’t seen the painting you left with Director Qin for a long time.”

Qin Huai: ...Mom, I've been trying to persuade you for so long, why are you repaying kindness with enmity?

Qin Huai felt he needed to find a reason to bring Zhao Cheng'an back to Qiu County for the New Year. So he asked the King of Thieves from Beiping to reappear and sneak into the drawer of Director Qin's office at the Sanmalu Children's Welfare Institute to steal his ugly paintings from his earlier years.

Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen chatted happily for a while about Qin Huai and Qin Luo's childhood. Only after Qin Luo finished a test paper did they take the unfortunate child back to continue writing.

Before leaving, Qin Luo pitifully asked Qin Huai if she could re-encode her fingerprint, since Qin Huai's lock already had her fingerprint on it. But Qin Huai was often away from home, and the WiFi wouldn't be interrupted, so Zhao Rong monitored Qin Luo's mobile data usage. She would often sneak over to Qin Huai's doorstep to use his WiFi when he wasn't home.

When Zhao Rong discovered that he was using her Wi-Fi without permission, she changed the Wi-Fi password.

But Qin Luo had another clever idea: she went straight into Qin Huai's house to watch TV.

Then Qin Luo's fingerprints were deleted, turning her into a pathetic little sister who could only pitifully knock on the door if she wanted to enter Qin Huai's house.

With so many criminal records, when faced with Qin Luo's pitiful questioning, Zhao Rong coldly said four words: "Don't even think about it."

Then Qin Luo pointed to the unfinished steamed buns and mantou on the table and asked if she could pack them up and take them home as a late-night snack, and have them as breakfast the next morning.

Qin Huai smiled and shook his head, saying no, but Qin Luo could name the dishes she wanted to eat the next morning, and Qin Huai would prepare them in advance.

Qin Luo cheered and decisively ordered the dishes: "Brother, I want char siu bao, pork and crab roe bao, four-happiness dumplings, five-ingredient bao, egg rice noodle rolls, xiaolongbao, mutton shumai, fried dough sticks, fermented rice steamed buns, boiled egg with water, lotus root starch balls, yam cake, rice cake, pork sesame cake, beef sesame cake, and..."

Qin Luo was dragged away by Zhao Rong before he could finish reciting the menu.

Qin Huai put the unfinished snacks on the table into the refrigerator, took out his phone and set an alarm for breakfast. Qin Luo was going to eat so many snacks, he really couldn't finish making them if he didn't get up early tomorrow morning.

I checked my phone and saw 99+ messages.

The messages in the "We Are a Loving Family" group chat are basically negligible. Qin Huai usually does not disturb the group messages. There are 999+ messages every day. Sometimes Chen Huihong wishes she could send Chen Huihui's homework into the group and ask Chen Gong and Qu Jing to help check it.

As for why these two people were chosen to help with the checkup...

They are both highly educated, academically excellent, and trustworthy.

Most of the 99+ messages came from Tan Weian, with a small portion coming from Dong Shi, Zheng Da, Huang Shengli, Huang Anyao, and Zheng Siyuan.

Qin Huai chose to read Tan Weian's message last, knowing without a doubt that it contained a lot of nonsense.

Dong Shifa's news is, as always, gossip-sharing; it seems Dong Shifa is unaware of the earth-shattering news of Qin Huai's breakthrough.

Zheng Da, Huang Shengli, and Zheng Siyuan probably heard the good news about Qin Huai's breakthrough from Zhao Cheng'an or Tan Weian, and sent messages to inquire and congratulate him.

Huang Shengli's message was purely congratulatory.

Zheng Da asked Qin Huai whether his breakthrough was purely due to his own efforts or with the help of Master Zhou. If Master Zhou had helped, Zheng Da might have actually broken through his defenses.

Zheng Siyuan offered congratulations and inquired, and it was clear that he was quite puzzled, but he had already come to terms with it.

Zheng Siyuan has been forced to accept the fact that Qin Huai makes small breakthroughs every three days and big breakthroughs every five days. He was a perfectly normal person when they met recently, but after a while, his friend has improved again.

Zheng Siyuan told Qin Huai that he had given up practicing the big flipping wok technique. He felt that pastry chefs should just do what they are good at and there was no need to force themselves to learn things they were destined not to be able to learn.

Zheng Siyuan also mentioned that when he first heard that Qin Huai had made another breakthrough, he really wanted to go to Yunzhong Canteen to talk to Qin Huai, but after thinking about it, he felt that it wouldn't be good for the regular customers of the pastry shop. During this year, not only was Qin Huai running around every day, but Zheng Siyuan was also running around every day, and the pastry shop was closing down every few days. Many regular customers thought that Zheng Siyuan had quit.

Zheng Siyuan wants to try returning to his previous approach and calm down to reflect for a while.

Qin Huai thought this was a good idea.

The message Huang Anyao sent was a very formal work-related message.

To be precise, he was sending the message on behalf of someone else.

Wang Jun, Huang Shengli's sixth apprentice, is the least talented among Huang Shengli's many disciples. He is still working as a butcher and his hair loss problem remains unresolved. Qin Huai, whose marriage is nowhere in sight, is Huang's most capable helper when exchanging ideas at Huang's restaurant. Huang asked Huang Anyao to send a message to Qin Huai asking if he could go to the Cloud Canteen for an exchange.

Huang Shengli had mentioned the exchange at Yunzhong Canteen to Qin Huai a long time ago, but it had been delayed until now because Qin Huai was not at Yunzhong Canteen for many years.

Qin Huai has been forgotten.

Now that Qin Huai has become a major shareholder of Huang Ji, Wang Jun's visit to Yunzhong Canteen for exchanges can be considered a temporary assignment.

Qin Huai promptly replied to Huang Anyao: Of course, we look forward to Brother Jun coming to the Yunzhong canteen to improve our meals.

(End of this chapter)