The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 536 Video Tutorial
Not long after Qin Huai replied to Huang Anyao's message, Wang Jun took the initiative to send Qin Huai a message to discuss in detail the exchange at the Yunzhong Canteen.

The person who initially suggested this exchange was Huang Shengli. Huang Shengli felt that Wang Jun's situation was actually limiting his development by staying at Huang's restaurant. Wang Jun was just an ordinary chopping and cutting chef at Huang's restaurant, the least talented of Huang Shengli's apprentices, a complete background character.

Major sects are good, but they are too demanding. It would be better to go to a place where Wang Jun can stand on his own and train himself.

This time, it was Wang Jun who took the initiative to suggest coming to the Cloud Cafeteria for an exchange.

It's clear that Wang Jun also wants to make some changes.

Qin Huai naturally welcomed Wang Jun's arrival. Wang Jun's culinary skills might not be anything special at Huang Ji's, but at Yunzhong Canteen, they would absolutely outshine two of the main chefs. If Wang Jun were willing to exchange ideas at Yunzhong Canteen for a year or two, the canteen's stir-fries would receive an epic upgrade, and Qin Huai would no longer have to agonize over whether tomato and egg stir-fry or chili and pork stir-fry for lunch every day.

Only kids make choices; he's the boss, he'll eat everything!
Qin Huai chatted briefly with Wang Jun on WeChat, expressing his welcome and saying that the housing problem was easy to solve, and that Wang Jun could come over anytime, move in with his bags, and go to sleep.

Qin Huai has to get up early tomorrow to make breakfast for Luo Luo.

The next morning, Qin Huai was woken up by his alarm clock before 3 a.m., setting a new record for the earliest start time for work, truly making it a case of going to work before dawn.

For the first time, Qin Huai was the earliest person to arrive at the Cloud Cafeteria, even earlier than An Youyou. When An Youyou arrived at the cafeteria, she was stunned to find that the owner was already there. She thought her phone had malfunctioned and the time display was wrong, so she changed her clothes and walked into the kitchen. She was very unusual and stood there blankly for more than ten seconds before slowly walking towards Qin Huai to apologize.

"Master Qin, I didn't..."

"Youyou're here! You've come at the right time. Hurry up and chop the meat. Are you hungry? There are some steamed rice cakes over there. You can have a couple to tide you over." Qin Huai was overjoyed to see An Youyou arrive.

Qin Huai is no longer the breakfast chef who used to do everything himself at the Qin family's breakfast shop. Now he's Chef Qin, the boss, with employees and helpers under him. He's used to having others do most of the odd jobs. It's unusual for him to arrive so early today and have to do everything himself; he's a little unaccustomed to it.

"Youyou, there are a lot of ingredients to process today. A batch of fresh crabs should be delivered around 5 o'clock. Could you please take the time to extract the crab roe and crab meat? It's not a difficult task, just a matter of being careful."

"After you've finished processing the crabs, if there's any other work left to do, delegate it to someone else. For the rest of the day, you can stand next to me and watch me make desserts. Today I'm going to make a lot of desserts, and they'll be quite varied. Most of them are very simple, so they'll be perfect for you to watch."

"Okay, Master Qin!" An Youyou hurried off to work, not even having eaten the rice cake.

When Qin Luo, carrying her schoolbag and still half asleep, stumbled into the kitchen around 6 a.m., she saw the abundance of snacks Qin Huai had prepared for her. Her eyes, which had been half-closed, instantly snapped open, almost popping out of their sockets.

"Wow, bro, is it Chinese New Year today? Am I going to get lucky money later?"

Qin Huai was surprised to discover for the first time that his sister was such a dreamer.

"Eat up, pick what you like and eat it while it's hot. You can pack the rest to take to school for lunch or share with your classmates," Qin Huai said with a smile. "Do your best on this month's exams and don't worry your parents too much."

"Mom has been worried that you might go down the path of breaking the law and going to jail, and she hasn't been able to sleep at night because of it."

While Qin Huai was speaking, Qin Luo's mouth was already full of steamed buns, his face was full of confusion, and he asked vaguely, "Huh? Will I be arrested and go to jail if I don't do well on exams abroad? Is it that dangerous abroad? Brother, can I stay in China without going abroad?"

Qin Huai: ...His sister probably really doesn't have much talent for studying.

"Eat it quickly."

Qin Luo obediently sped up her chewing, quickly finishing a plate of steamed buns, then a plate of mantou (steamed bread), before turning to eat rice noodle rolls and xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). With a bite of rice noodle roll followed by a bite of xiaolongbao, Qin Huai couldn't even imagine what the two foods tasted like mixed in his mouth.

It's clear that their unfortunate child has a huge appetite; 17 is the age when one can eat a lot.

Anyone who sees Qin Luo eating like this now will praise him for his youthful appetite, and then start reminiscing about the past, saying that they could eat just as much when they were young. Sigh, he's really getting old; his heart may be willing, but his stomach can't keep up.

Qin Luo finished her breakfast in a flash, packed the rest to take with her, and happily boarded the bus to school.

After Qin Luo left, An Youyou asked curiously, "Master Qin, is it true that if you don't do well in school abroad, you'll be arrested and imprisoned?"

Qin Huai: ...No, what's wrong with all of you...?

"What short videos have you been watching lately?" Qin Huai knew An Youyou's entertainment preferences quite well. An Youyou liked any form of entertainment that didn't cost money, and reading novels and watching short videos on pirated websites were her favorites.

“I’ve recently been watching a video where the US president falls in love with me, the guy who works as a cleaner at the White House,” An Youyou said. “At first, I thought it was just some random short video. Could it be real?”

Qin Huai: "...Try watching fewer short videos. When you have free time, you can watch some video tutorials on making desserts. Sometimes watching tutorials when you have free time can help you improve."

"By the way, Youyou, do you know how to shoot videos? Is your hand steady? Why don't you stand over here today and shoot a video tutorial of my hand movements? I'll explain as I go, and you can watch it when you have time at home."

Qin Huai felt more and more that his idea was quite good. Wasn't his progress often due to watching Jiang Chengde's video tutorials?
An Youyou readily accepted.

If you were an ordinary worker, and you heard your boss say that you have to work during the workday and improve yourself at home, you would have rolled your eyes and cursed your boss 800 times in your mind.

Ke Anyouyou really wants to improve.

She desperately wanted to advance her career, to reap the rewards her boss promised, to get a promotion and a raise, and to one day buy the house she lived in outright.

An Youyou was very focused when filming the video, and the close-ups were quite clear. Besides, she wasn't a complete novice; on the contrary, An Youyou was already considered a beginner. She knew which techniques were key, which were important, and which needed careful study and repeated practice when Qin Huai made pastries.

Therefore, the videos she filmed were surprisingly good.

With a little editing and subtitles, it can be sold online as a snack course, priced at 5800 per session. People who buy the course will praise it as a truly conscientious teacher who teaches in such detail.

During his lunch break, Qin Huai watched the videos An Youyou had taken and thought they were really good. Too lazy to edit them, he sent the original videos directly to Cao Guixiang and Master Zhou.

These two are Qin Huai's masters, and Qin Huai also wants to show them his current skill level.

Qin Huai hadn't had much interaction with Cao Guixiang lately, although Cao Guixiang was essentially Qin Huai's master chef specializing in hot dishes. Aside from a period of dedicated practice in controlling the heat and knife skills, Qin Huai rarely practiced hot dishes. After all, he was primarily a master chef specializing in dry dishes and couldn't dedicate too much energy to them.

Much of Qin Huai and Cao Guixiang's conversations revolved around sharing their daily lives. Cao Guixiang was a very generous sharer, from small things like Zhang Chu buying groceries that weren't fresh or Zhang Zhiyun doing well on her exams, to bigger things like Cao Guixiang suddenly coming up with a new recipe, tasting it, and then sending the recipe to Qin Huai for his feedback. These were all part of their everyday conversations.

However, Qin Huai didn't have much to share about his daily life. The most fulfilling part of his life was spending time with the spirits, but unfortunately, these moments were destined to be something he couldn't share with Cao Guixiang, who was just a human. Aside from the spirits, Qin Huai's daily life was quite monotonous and dull, consisting entirely of making snacks, with the occasional snack that Shi Dadan ate.

Now that something interesting has happened, Qin Huai naturally wanted to send it to his beloved Master Cao as soon as possible.

As for Master Zhou, since Master Zhou really dislikes online chatting, in Zhao Cheng'an's words, Master Zhou just doesn't like playing on his phone, Zhao Cheng'an has always suspected that his dear master is allergic to mobile phones.

It is said that back in the days before smartphones, Mr. Zhou only knew how to answer calls but not how to hang up. If someone called him, he would insist that the other person hang up first, which led to many funny situations.

Perhaps due to some psychological trauma, Master Zhou is extremely averse to cell phones; he prefers to chat in person rather than online. Zhao Cheng'an is well aware of his master's habit; as soon as he leaves the house, he simply vanishes without a trace, neither sending messages nor making phone calls, claiming that his master doesn't like it—completely letting himself go.

There's a reason why Master Zhou keeps Zhao Cheng'an in check and only lets him go on vacation for two weeks a year.

Twenty minutes after Qin Huai sent the video to his two masters, Cao Guixiang made a video call, which Qin Huai answered immediately.

In the video, Cao Guixiang is wearing reading glasses and knitting a sweater. The background is the living room of her home. Zhang Chu is sitting at the other end of the sofa, watching TV intently. There are two cups of tea and a small dish of melon seeds on the coffee table in the living room. Everything within the range of the phone camera is clean, tidy and orderly.

"Little Qin, your skills have improved so much! It's like leaps and bounds. I'm afraid in a few years I won't be able to call you Little Qin anymore. When I see you, I'll have to respectfully call you Master Qin," Cao Guixiang teased.

Qin Huai was a little embarrassed by Cao Guixiang's words and lowered his head slightly: "Master, look at what you're saying. It's all because you taught me so well. I learned from you."

"Little Qin, you're so sweet-talking. If my husband, Lao Zhang, could talk as well as you, I don't know how happy I would be in this life." Cao Guixiang said, glancing at Zhang Chu. Zhang Chu quickly picked up the remote and turned the TV volume down a bit.

"By the way, Xiao Qin, when are you planning to go back to Qiu County?"

"It might be before the New Year," Qin Huai said. "I'll go back a little earlier this year. My parents were talking about it yesterday, saying they came home too late last year for the New Year, and this year they'll try to go back before the Lunar New Year." "Okay, don't forget to let me know when you've set the date. Come to my house for dinner after you get off the plane, and bring your sister too," Cao Guixiang said with a smile. "Is Lao Shi with you?"

Qin Huai moved the camera closer to Shi Dadan, capturing him quietly eating snacks.

"Hey, Lao Shi has gained quite a bit of weight. I see he's been enjoying his snacks at your place so much he doesn't want to leave. Xiao Qin, you need to keep an eye on him. He's not young anymore and can't keep eating like this all the time. If he develops high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar, he'll be in big trouble later."

Cao Guixiang continued rambling on about some everyday matters, and finally said, "Alright, I don't have anything else to say, I just wanted to make a video call to check on you, Xiao Qin."

"Your cooking skills have improved so quickly that I was a little worried that you might be working too hard lately, neglecting your meals and sleep, and you've become haggard and thin. I'm relieved to see that you're doing well. Xiao Qin, there's no end to the practice of making desserts. Besides making desserts, people should also have a normal leisure life and social interactions."

"I won't waste any more time. I know you know what I'm talking about. I'll give you a surprise later, Master Cao. Just wait."

After saying that, Cao Guixiang didn't give Qin Huai a chance to ask what the surprise was and decisively hung up the video call.

Qin Huai was a little confused, but instead of sending a message to ask, she ended her break and continued making desserts.

Yesterday, Qin Huai made all the recipes and desserts he could make that had a buff. Today, Qin Huai made crab roe shumai, and unsurprisingly, it also got an A+.

Unfortunately, the recipe for Crab Roe Shumai is only S- grade, so even if you make it A+, you won't trigger the buff.

The mastery of both seasoning and dough preparation gives them an advantage when it comes to high-difficulty desserts like crab roe shumai, which require a strong emphasis on seasoning and a slightly more delicate dough.

Qin Huai now has a very accurate assessment of his own abilities.

The best desserts are those that focus excessively on dough rising or excessively on seasoning. The best desserts are those that emphasize one aspect while also giving some weight to the other, and which are inherently quite difficult to make.

This kind of dessert is guaranteed to get an A+, with a small chance of getting an S-.

There's one more dish to complete the main quest; to finish it, you need to upgrade one skill.

Currently, Qin Huai's dough preparation and filling preparation are both at the master level. It takes 100 million experience points to upgrade to the master level, and there is absolutely no possibility of upgrading these two in the short term.

Knife skills are at the intermediate level, which seems like the easiest skill to upgrade. However, for Qin Huai at this stage, knife skills are the least useful skill, and even if it's upgraded to the advanced level, it won't improve much. Moreover, knife skills are Qin Huai's weakest skill, and the weakest skill, even if it requires the least experience, is the slowest to level up; otherwise, it wouldn't be the weakest skill.

Both the cooking time and finger technique are advanced. Relatively speaking, finger technique is a more suitable skill for Bai An (a type of Chinese pastry), and the proficiency in finger technique is higher. However, Qin Huai prefers to gain experience in cooking time.

Snacks that require specific finger techniques are often quite extreme.

More precisely, pastries that require specific finger techniques are extremely difficult to make. If the pastry has already been rolled up to its shape, it's clear that there's not much else to roll; the only option left is to shape it.

But if you want to control the heat...

Having learned from past mistakes of trying to improve one's skill level, Qin Huai was worried that trying to improve one's skill level would result in an upgrade in knife skills.

The leveling system in this game is never quite satisfactory.

If leveling up by grinding for skill and technique is one thing, Qin Huai is more worried about leveling up by grinding for skill and technique through lies.

The moment Qin Huai activated the game panel, her highest initial skill was "Lies".

In theory, master-level skills are very difficult to upgrade, after all, it's not easy to get 100 million proficiency points, but the proficiency in lying is too fast to farm.

Qin Huai's current proficiency in lying is (934817/1000000).

If the skill in lying escalates before the art of execution and the control of heat, Qin Huai is genuinely starting to lose his composure. He doesn't consider himself a habitual liar; he's been completely honest about something as confidential as the system. How could his lying skills have improved so rapidly?

Qin Huai decided to ignore everything else and focus on improving his cooking skills first.

As for the specifics of how to do it...

Qin Huai chose to stir-fry cabbage.

Stir-fry some cabbage while making desserts. Stir-frying a plate of cabbage after making desserts for a while can help you relax, practice your cooking skills, and also allow Ouyang to eat more cabbage to supplement his dietary fiber.

Most importantly, Qinhuai has video tutorials for stir-fried cabbage, so why not try it?

Qin Huai happily stir-fried cabbage and made snacks until she got off work and went home.

Incidentally, Qin Huai didn't eat a single bite of the stir-fried cabbage herself.

Qin Huai knew exactly what kind of cabbage he was capable of cooking; sometimes, people don't need to make things difficult for themselves.

After returning home, Qin Huai lay on the sofa, happily playing on his phone. He decided to wash up and rest early today. Just as he was scrolling through his phone, Cao Guixiang sent him a video.

Upon clicking, I found it was a video tutorial recorded by Cao Guixiang. The person filming the video had a slightly shaky hand and wasn't very good at using close-ups, so the whole video tutorial looked a bit rough, but it was definitely a tutorial.

Along with the video, Cao Guixiang's voice message was also sent.

"Xiao Qin, I think your idea of ​​making videos is excellent. I gave you so many recipes before, but I know you might not be able to understand them. Videos are much better than recipes."

"It's just that my husband Zhang's filming skills aren't good. His hands kept shaking when he filmed, and I asked him to film it three or four times before this one was usable. I'll have Zhang practice these few days, and once he's better, he can film more videos for you."

"You young people are really quick-witted; you can come up with such a good method as making videos."

Qin Huai felt a warm feeling in his heart after listening to the voice message. Before he could reply to Cao Guixiang, Master Zhou sent him a message.

It's also a video.

Upon clicking, I found the same video tutorial, a finger technique tutorial.

The video was sent along with an audio message.

"Xiao Qin, your video is really good. I asked Xiao Tan to make one like you, but his video isn't very good."

"Don't worry, I'll have Xiao Tan go back and practice more, and I'll film the video and send it to you in a few days."

"If you don't understand anything, just send a message to Xiao Tan and let him tell me. Your cooking skills have improved so quickly, you must have worked hard these days. You should learn from Lao San and spend more time with him."

"Also keep an eye on the third brother and make sure he doesn't play around too much. I reckon he's gotten too wild in the last two weeks. Xiao Qin, you'll have to put in extra effort. If you really can't control him, have him come back early so he doesn't bother you."

Qin Huai didn't expect that Master Zhou had the same idea as Cao Guixiang, and Master Zhou was an absolute man of action, filming the video without saying a word.

Qin Huai thought for a moment, then condensed his thoughts into two emojis and sent them to his two masters.

[Master, received!]
The emoji is a little person saluting.

Master Zhou replied with a period.

Cao Guixiang replied with a shy smile.

(End of this chapter)