The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 543 Soy Sauce Noodles

Ultimately, the amusement park trip ended with Ouyang taking Zhou Hu to the hospital, where Zhou Hu was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and hospitalized, and Luo Jun riding the carousel 11 times.

Incidentally, Qin Huai, feeling guilty, decided to reimburse Zhou Hu's hospital expenses. Zhou Hu was deeply moved and asked Qin Huai if he wanted his fortune told. Although he himself didn't believe in such things, he had no other skills and could only tell Qin Huai's fortune.

Qin Huai readily agreed, telling Zhou Hu to choose an auspicious day so they could sit in the Cloud Canteen, eat some snacks, and do some calculations.

When Qin Huai went back, he shared a car with Zhao Cheng'an and Shi Dadan. Qin Luo wanted to go to the mall to play claw machines, so he hitched a ride with Qu Jing, who happened to be going to the supermarket on the basement floor of the mall to buy groceries.

"Qin Huai, don't you think Luo Jun just loves riding carousels? He actually rode one 11 times! What's so fun about carousels that he could ride one 11 times?" Zhao Cheng'an's focus was always so peculiar. "Do you think he might be planning to arrange a carousel at his funeral?"

Qin Huai was speechless after being choked by Zhao Cheng'an.

Whenever Qin Huai felt he understood Zhao Cheng'an well enough, Zhao Cheng'an would demonstrate through his actions that he didn't understand the world of mayflies.

Qin Huai could only say, "Mr. Luo really likes riding the carousel. Sister Hong noticed that last time, otherwise she wouldn't have made Mr. Luo queue up 11 times. She's not that blind."

Zhao Cheng'an was somewhat surprised: "Oh, no?"

Qin Huai: ...Dude, be normal. It's really hard to communicate with you when you're always so abstract.

“Mr. Luo rarely goes out.” Qin Huai chose to ignore Zhao Cheng’an and continued, “He holds the record for the longest time without leaving home in our Yunzhong Community. Before Sister Hong woke up, he was a key person for the neighborhood committee to take care of.”

“Sometimes when Sister Hong and I chat privately, we both feel that Mr. Luo is actually quite lonely. His schedule is chaotic, his meals are irregular, and he spends his days watching TV series or movies. Recently, he has started reading novels.”

“This kind of life sounds quite comfortable, but Mr. Luo has been living it for decades. He is punishing himself in this way. If it were truly comfortable, it wouldn’t be considered punishment.”

"After all, the TV dramas in recent years have been quite bad. Sometimes even Sister Hong is amazed at how Mr. Luo can watch them."

"While Mr. Luo is still alive, let's find an excuse to take him out for a change of scenery. It would be nice to take him to the amusement park to ride the carousel. Consider it a form of end-of-life care. Sister Hong is particularly good at queuing for the carousel, and Huihui also loves riding the carousel. Every time Sister Hong brings Huihui to the amusement park, they spend half the time on the carousel."

Zhao Cheng'an suddenly realized, then continued to insist on his question: "So Qin Huai, what exactly did you realize?"

"You've only just leveled up in dough preparation and you've already 'grasped enlightenment'? That doesn't make sense. How did you grasp it? What specific aspect did you understand? We're all on the same side, so stop pretending in front of me. Hurry up and teach me, I'm about to go back to Zhiweiju. Please, just let me grasp it. These past few days, when I've been submitting my video assignments to my master, I've noticed he's been incredibly irritable. If I don't grasp this, I'm afraid I'll practice myself to death at Zhiweiju when I get back!"

Qin Huai remained unmoved by Zhao Cheng'an's wailing and continued driving calmly.

Well, Qin Huai thinks it would be good for Zhao Cheng'an to go back to Zhiweiju for two months of rigorous training. This guy is just too lazy, and after awakening his memories of the Eighth Incarnation of the Mayfly, he's become a bit too unrestrained and self-centered.

Qin Huai believes that Zhao Cheng'an has the ability to break into the top 100 of the famous chefs list and take over the glory of Zhiweiju.

As long as he's not so lazy.

For the sake of the diners at Zhiweiju, we have no choice but to make things difficult for Chef Zhao.
.
At 8 a.m. on the second day, Qin Huai let Zhao Cheng'an, who had already changed his work time to 8 a.m., know where he had come to his senses.

It has been understood in every aspect.

September 13th was a day that Qin Huai and Shi Dadan were destined to remember, because it was the first day of Shi Dadan's thousand-day breakfast mission.

This also marks the 7th day of Zhao Cheng'an's countdown to returning to Zhiweiju.

当初赵诚安请假的时候，故意用了一个很模糊的时间说要去云中食堂交流一个月。周师傅那边很粗暴的把这一个月的时间定性为8月20号到9月20号，正常来说，赵诚安9月20号必须出现在知味居的厨房里。

It's fair to say that time is running out for Zhao Cheng'an, and he's feeling somewhat anxious and irritable. Even the most fearless mayfly will have some natural fear of its master, who has been beating it up since childhood and possesses maximum fighting power.

Master Zhou is a very traditional master, and he really knows how to beat his apprentices. As the saying goes, jade must be carved to become a useful object. Zhao Cheng'an may not have become a useful object now, but Master Zhou shaped him a lot when he was young. Master Zhou doesn't believe in magical attacks; he only supports physical damage.

Fueled by this anxiety, Zhao Cheng'an arrived at the Yunzhong Cafeteria a little late, around 8 a.m., feeling rather irritable. Everyone has worries, even an awakened mayfly experiences anxiety about real-life matters.

Zhao Cheng'an even considered visiting Zhou Hu at the hospital to have Zhou Hu calculate his fortune and see if he would have any bloodshed in seven days.

Zhao Cheng'an walked into the kitchen with a mournful face, only to see Qin Huai smiling broadly.

At the same time, I smelled a faint aroma of soy sauce coming from the kitchen.

Hey, who broke the soy sauce bottle?

Just as Zhao Cheng'an was wondering what was going on, Qin Huai brought him a bowl of noodles so plain it could bring tears to his eyes. The bowl contained only plain noodles, a little bit of scallion, and a broth tinged with a light soy sauce color, with a few specks of oil visible. There wasn't even a poached egg, and not even two stalks of cooked vegetables were added.

Zhao Cheng'an: ? The Cloud Cafeteria went bankrupt overnight? The employees' meal allowance has changed from unlimited San Ding Bao, Wu Ding Bao, fermented rice buns and various breakfast snacks in the morning to a bowl of vegetarian noodles?

Zhao Cheng'an looked up in alarm, meeting Qin Huai's calm gaze. Qin Huai slightly moved his lips: "Try it."

"Didn't you ask me yesterday where I got the insight? You'll know after you finish eating."

Zhao Cheng'an took the bowl of noodles and subconsciously walked towards the small table. He found that Chen Gong and Ouyang were not there today, only Gong Liang, Wang Gensheng and Shi Dadan were sitting at the small table.

Gong Liang was carefully studying the competition rules on his tablet, clearly intending to help his daughter with her competition. Shi Dadan and Wang Gensheng were both eating noodles with their heads down. Shi Dadan was using a large bowl, while Wang Gensheng was using a small bowl, muttering to himself as he ate.

"Eat only a small bowl, just a small bowl. Wang Gensheng, you absolutely mustn't eat more, or you won't be able to eat the potato dumplings."

"If you get full from eating noodles, how can you face Chef Qin? You came here to eat potato dumplings!"

Trying to brainwash oneself with words.

Zhao Cheng'an sat down, picked up a noodle with his chopsticks, and thought the noodles were good, a standard hand-kneaded noodle dish that met Qin Huai's standards. Qin Huai's hand-kneading technique was actually not bad; his noodle-stretching technique was mediocre, but his hand-kneading technique was definitely not bad. Otherwise, Zheng Siyuan wouldn't love Qin Huai's chicken soup noodles so much and would often ask for them for breakfast.

Previously, these hand-kneaded noodles were soaked in carefully prepared chicken broth, but now they can only be pitifully soaked in soy sauce noodle soup with very little oil. Zhao Cheng'an felt sorry for the hand-kneaded noodles when he picked them up, thinking that the noodles were really suffering.

Zhao Cheng'an lowered his head and swallowed the noodles in one bite.

"Bliss."

Chewy, smooth, and full of wheat flavor, it tastes very refreshing. Zhao Cheng'an was too lazy to think about these very ordinary words to describe noodles. The moment the noodles entered his mouth, Zhao Cheng'an only felt that he didn't know how to knead noodles by hand.

Chicken noodle soup made with carefully prepared chicken broth is certainly delicious, but this seemingly ordinary bowl of soy sauce noodles may well be the answer.

The former is strong, the latter mild; the former rich, the latter bland; the former luxurious, the latter cheap. Yet… they both taste surprisingly evenly matched. What a youthful, mini, but delicious version of plain noodles!
"Bliss."

Zhao Cheng'an took a second bite.

He originally wanted to offer some comment, but after swallowing the noodles he was chewing and feeling the faint salty and savory aftertaste in his mouth, Zhao Cheng'an felt there was nothing to comment on.

The highest praise from the other side is that they can't stop eating, one bite after another. Just eat! Slurping is the highest praise from the other side. Those who have the leisure to write long articles are just saying it's not delicious enough.

After finishing a bowl of noodles, Zhao Cheng'an picked up the bowl again and drank the broth clean. The warm broth had only a slight salty taste, but it tasted inexplicably delicious—it was simply a savior for the early morning.

After finishing his noodles, Zhao Cheng'an eagerly ran to Qin Huai's side with his bowl and excitedly asked, "Qin Huai, did you find a recipe for soy sauce noodles or plain noodles? What kind of noodles are these? Whose recipe is it? What kind of buff is it? Don't tell me yet, let me guess... Is this a buff that makes you feel warm both physically and mentally after eating it?"

As Zhao Cheng'an talked, he felt that he was incredibly smart to have guessed this.

“This isn’t a recipe; this is just vegetarian noodles,” Qin Huai said. “This is what I’ve figured out.”

"Huh?" Zhao Cheng'an was stunned, standing there blankly for several seconds, holding the bowl of noodles. "You... figured out a bowl of noodles on the roller coaster yesterday?"

Isn't your specialty steamed buns?

Qin Huai: ...

Faced with the mayfly's thought process, Qin Huai didn't know what to say, and could only say "Awesome!"

"Do you think this bowl of noodles is simple?" Qin Huai asked.

Without hesitation, Zhao Cheng'an said, "It looks simple, just a bowl of ordinary soy sauce noodles, but it's definitely not as simple as it looks. Simple noodles can't taste like this. I'm not a complete novice when it comes to cooking. You must have added fish sauce to these noodles, and there should be a little shrimp oil as well, otherwise it wouldn't be so fresh."

"As for the rest... I think something was added, but if too much was added, the flavor wouldn't be so monotonous."

"Adding seasonings is easy, but subtracting them is difficult. So are you trying to tell me that you've grasped the true meaning of subtraction?"

Qin Huai was surprised that Zhao Cheng'an was quite good at reading comprehension. He took the bowl of noodles from Zhao Cheng'an and asked, "Would you like another bowl?"

"Give me another half bowl, I can't finish any more, I'm already a bit full from the soup."

"What I've come to understand isn't as complicated as you make it out to be. I haven't thought that much about addition and subtraction, but the principle is indeed correct."

"I just realized that with my current skill level, I no longer need to rely on the recipes provided by the game system."

"To be precise, I don't need to rely on any recipes, including those in 'The Complete Book of Desserts'. I can make any dessert I want, and I should boldly try anything I think is feasible, whether it's difficult or easy."

“When Zheng Siyuan was around, I had to make hand-kneaded noodles every day because he would make the broth for me. I always assumed that hand-kneaded noodles were chicken soup noodles, and that they could only be served with good chicken soup to bring out their value.”

"But does this hand-pulled noodle have to be served with chicken broth? Can't we use pork rib broth, beef broth, or mutton broth? Of course, I'm not good at making those broths because I'm really bad at it, but why do we have to use good broth with good noodles? Can't we use what I'm good at?"

"My cooking skills aren't high, but my seasoning skills are."

"Can't I just have plain noodles?"

"Ordinary soy sauce noodles might be a bit monotonous, but what if you add something else? Fish sauce, shrimp oil, scallop broth, or the oil from simmering crab roe sauce—I've used these kinds of seasoning ideas in my previous desserts. How to enhance umami, how to remove fishy smells, how to bring out the umami flavor in simple tastes, how to make it rich, how to make it bland—I actually know all these things, so why do I have to stick to a set recipe?"

Do I have to follow the recipe exactly when cooking?

"Do you remember when I told you in the car yesterday that I found out Lao Shi's Thousand Days Breakfast side quest? I asked Lao Shi what he wanted to eat, and he said anything was fine. Actually, I already had the answer in my heart when I asked that question."

"I really wanted to cook a bowl of vegetarian noodles for Lao Shi. If you ask me why I wanted to cook vegetarian noodles, I don't know either. I know how to make so many delicious snacks, and Lao Shi and I are indeed very close, but I just felt that a warm bowl of vegetarian noodles for breakfast would be nice." Qin Huai said, turning his head to look at Shi Dadan, who had buried his head in the large bowl. "As it turns out, Lao Shi really does like it."

"But Lao Shi loves soft-boiled eggs, so I put five soft-boiled eggs in his noodles."

Zhao Cheng'an: ?!
Why didn't I have a soft-boiled egg in my noodles?

"...Is that the point?"

Qin Huai paused for a moment, then continued, "What I want to say is that today's vegetarian noodles are something I've come to understand, but what I've understood is not limited to vegetarian noodles."

"But I don't know what else I can figure out right now. I'll see what breakfast I make for Lao Shi tomorrow morning. I've found that this thousand-day breakfast task is really good. Lao Shi has a wide range of tastes and a big appetite. If I want to try something new, starting with Lao Shi's breakfast is definitely the best choice."

As he spoke, Qin Huai couldn't help but exclaim, "Old Shi's task is so thoughtful!"

After Qin Huai finished speaking, he stopped and waited for Zhao Cheng'an's response.

As a result, Zhao Cheng'an did not respond for a long time. Instead, he looked at Qin Huai with a very complicated expression, which was three parts jealousy, four parts extreme jealousy, two parts "I'm so jealous I could die," and one part "Why isn't this person mine?"

Qin Huai: ?
Dude, you talk a lot when you shouldn't, but you don't say anything when you should?

"Zhao Cheng'an, did you not understand? Or..."

“I understand.” Zhao Cheng’an’s tone turned somewhat indignant. “I understand it all too well.”

"I don't understand, is that amusement park roller coaster really that effective? Or is the secret actually in that dessert shop?"

"What you just said are the conditions my master set for us to graduate."

“My senior brother hasn’t even graduated yet, but you have.”

"Is this reasonable?"

"Are there any tickets left for the amusement park? I want to go ride the roller coaster!"

"Let's eat shaved ice first, then ride the roller coaster!"

(End of this chapter)