The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 551 Wang Gensheng's Letter

Wang Gensheng's dumpling tasting continues.

Although he didn't understand why the fried potato pieces were wrapped in white dough to make dumplings instead of being mixed directly into white noodles, Wang Gensheng still ate them with relish.

Although these potato dumplings are considered unorthodox, they're oily, made with white flour, and delicious.

Wang Gensheng boiled a kettle of water on the coal stove, used a broken lunchbox as a water cup, mixed the hot water with cold water to make lukewarm water, gulped down a few mouthfuls, and then ate the next dumpling.

The next dumpling was even more bizarre.

Tofu dumplings.

Although tofu dumplings are relatively rare, they do exist. Qin Huai had heard of them but had never eaten them. However, Qin Huai could confidently assure him that the tofu dumplings he had heard of were definitely not the ones in Wang Gensheng's lunchbox.

His dumplings were clearly filled with vegetables, and it was a famous dish—tofu with scallions.

Although Xu Nuo added a little chili oil and some kimchi to the scallion and tofu filling, these dumplings were clearly not authentic tofu dumplings.

The tofu dumplings deeply impressed Qin Huai and Wang Gensheng.

After eating the tofu dumplings, Wang Gensheng drank half a box of water. It was spicy; the tofu dumplings were heavily seasoned with chili oil, turning the white tofu a reddish-brown color. The pickled vegetables he ate also contained pickled peppers.

Qin Huai admired Wang Gensheng for being able to restrain himself. If it were him eating dumplings like that, even if he only ate one, at least half of the fermented rice buns in his lunchbox would disappear.

The third dumpling was also tofu dumplings, and Wang Gensheng added another lunchbox of warm water.

The fourth dumpling was a loofah dumpling, made with stewed loofah. When Wang Gensheng opened the dumpling blind box and got this rare hidden item, Qin Huai was basically certain that Xu Nuo's claim of not having meat filling and just randomly wrapping some dumplings meant that he had filled them with all the leftover vegetables from lunch at home.

For a moment, Qin Huai didn't know where to begin complaining.

You might say Xu Nuo is a bad person, but he's actually quite good. As a fellow spirit who failed his tribulation, he helps his kind whenever he can, and he does good deeds anonymously.

Shi Dadan's side can be helped openly in his first life, while Wang Gensheng, who has lost his memories related to spirits, can be helped silently. He tries to help in a way that is appropriate for the situation, without forcing anyone or hurting their self-esteem.

Seeing how hard it is for others like us to live during the Lunar New Year, we always remember to bring them some good food and dumplings.

You should say he's good.

On New Year's Eve, he used the leftover food from his home as dumpling filling, packed it all up for Fa Shou, and brought it over. He also took three pounds of meat back to make braised pork. It seemed like he was using Fa Shou as a dumping ground to clear out his inventory so he could have a big feast on New Year's Eve.

This can't be said to be unethical, after all, he promised not to take any money.

But it's just... not authentic.

There's a kind of person who does good deeds, but insists on mixing a grain of sand into the good, making you feel that it's not so good.

As Wang Gensheng ate more, he finally realized what the dumpling filling was. He didn't know much about dumplings, but he knew about the food at Xu Nuo's house.

After finishing the last dumpling, Wang Gensheng drank the warm water in his lunchbox in one gulp. He then closed the lunchbox, which now contained only two steamed buns with fermented rice wine, and put it in the cupboard.

Qin Huai assumed that, given Wang Gensheng's personality, he would return to work at the cotton mill after dinner, since it wasn't dark yet and it wasn't Wang Gensheng's off-duty time. At the very least, he would take his empty lunchbox to the canteen to get a meal. Although the canteen cooks at the cotton mill weren't very good, they would definitely have some good dishes on New Year's Eve, so getting a good meal to eat later that night wouldn't be bad.

Wang Gensheng did not. He maintained his eating posture, sat on the bed, leaned against the table, and took out letter paper and the most valuable item in the house—a fountain pen—from the table drawer, and began to write a letter.

Qin Huai curiously leaned closer to see who Wang Gensheng was going to write a letter to.

Wang Gensheng's handwriting is very beautiful, which Qin Huai could see when Wang Gensheng was working. However, he always used a pencil when working, and he only took out his fountain pen at critical moments.

Dear Father and Mother:
See the word as the face.

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve. Please forgive your unfilial son for not being able to return home for the New Year due to the long distance. It has been more than three months since my last letter. I received the letter my elder brother sent two months ago. It is a joyous occasion that my sister-in-law is pregnant again and will be adding a new member to the family. I ask my mother to persuade my brother not to worry about this. I will try to ask my friends to exchange more brown sugar and send it back to my sister-in-law to nourish her body.

I know my parents are worried about me, but I'm doing well in Suzhou. The cotton mill has excellent benefits; the mixed grain rice has very little grit, and the boiled cabbage has visible specks of oil. I eat rice soaked in hot water every day, boiled cabbage once every three days, and occasionally an egg as a snack, along with my mother's pickled vegetables. My meals are several times better than what we eat at home, which is made from sweet potatoes. There's no need for them to worry about me. The only problem is that the pickled vegetables are running low, and my mother needs to send a few more jars before April.

My eldest brother works as a porter, which takes a toll on his health. My sister-in-law is pregnant again. My second brother and eldest sister live far away in the Northwest. Please ask my parents to use the money and coupons I send back for the family, and not to save them for me. My high school tuition was paid for with my sister-in-law's dowry, and my university train ticket was subsidized by my second brother, who was a sent-down youth. Now, I can only do my best to contribute in small ways, working hard to get a promotion as soon as possible.

In his last letter, my father inquired about my work at the cotton mill. I replied that everything was going well. My colleagues were kind, my superiors valued me, and they entrusted me with important tasks. Although I was busy, I was able to handle them effectively.

In my last letter, my mother asked if I had made any new friends. I have made a good friend named Xu Nuo. He is warm-hearted, has a lively personality, and occasionally does things that are out of line, but he is an extremely kind and compassionate person. Today is New Year's Eve, and he specially brought me two boxes of food, one of which is dumplings.

Xu promised that this is a must-eat snack for northerners during the Lunar New Year. It's a unique snack made by wrapping leftover vegetables in white dough, shaping them into crescent shapes, and then boiling them. If my second brother and eldest sister have the opportunity to come home, please ask my parents to write to me so I can ask for leave to go back and make this snack for my family.

Please ask my parents to forward some of the food, fabric, and money I sent back with the letter to my second brother and eldest sister, as usual. Before my sister-in-law gives birth, I will try to find some more fabric to send back so that my soon-to-be-born nephew/niece can have a new outfit.

Wang Gensheng

1964.2.12
Qin Huai watched as Wang Gensheng finished writing the letter. He noticed that although Wang Gensheng had finished writing the letter, he seemed to be hesitant. After thinking for a moment, he squeezed in a line of small characters at the end.

'I'd also like to ask my mother to pickle a jar of decent-tasting pickled vegetables, which I'd like to give to my friend Xu Nuo.'

Qin Huai: ...

Grandpa Wang was quite considerate of his friend, worried that his friend might eat too much salty pickled vegetables.

Qin Huai has left behind her memories.
.
After leaving the memory, Qin Huai sat on the sofa and briefly reviewed everything he had seen. Although he had spent a few days in Wang Gensheng's memory, the plot was quite simple and there weren't many memorable moments.

In his youth, Mr. Wang was a complete workaholic. His days consisted of nothing but work, sleep, and meals; he had no basic social interaction whatsoever. He not only did his own work but also his colleagues'—he was truly the pride of his department.

It's quite different from now.

Putting aside his status as a super-connected person at the Yunzhong Canteen, making him the object of jealousy for all the elderly folks, Wang Gensheng is actually quite popular.

You can tell from the fact that he was able to sit at table number 9 before that his seat was reserved for him by Grandpa Qian and Xu Tuqiang.

In the years when Grandpa Wang's reminiscences never got updated, the jogging grandpas listened to him reminisce for at least seven or eight years. He repeated the same words over and over, and everyone just pretended not to hear him and no one told him to shut up.

Moreover, because of Grandpa Wang's outstanding record of not making false or incorrect accounts for 40 years, even though he is not very eloquent, a bit rigid, and sometimes speaks in a harsh way, and is often suspected by people of having Alzheimer's disease, he has a lot of credibility.

When someone needs to speak up for justice or judge a matter, the elderly folks always choose Grandpa Wang first. And Grandpa Wang is quite outspoken; basically, whoever he supports instantly seizes the moral high ground, trampling the other side underfoot and leaving them utterly ashamed. Compared to this, Qin Huai felt very gratified.

Grandpa Wang has grown up.

Compared to when he first started working, Grandpa Wang is now completely transformed!

After a brief moment of relief, Qin Huai opened the game panel to check the newly acquired recipes.

Name: Wang Gensheng
Species: Xie Zhi

Status: Awakening

Dream: 2/?

Recipes: [Lotus Root Starch Dumplings] [Family Dumplings] (Click to view details)
Gifts: None
Qin Huai: ?
A family portrait of dumplings?
Dumplings made with leftovers have such an awesome name?

Qin Huai double-clicked the recipe, looking completely bewildered, to view the details.

[Dumpling Family Reunion - Grade C]

Creator: Xu Nuo
Dish Details: This is the first dessert made for Wang Gensheng by his one and only true friend. As a notorious playboy and spendthrift, few know that Xu Nuo is actually a skilled pastry chef, and Wang Gensheng, as one of Xu Nuo's friends, happens to be the one who knows this secret. Although this dessert is simply dumplings Xu Nuo hastily made with leftovers from home, it is a free-form dessert, because theoretically, it can be made with any filling, as long as it is a "family reunion dumpling" with special symbolic meaning. For Wang Gensheng, the "family reunion dumpling" is not just a gift from a friend on New Year's Eve, but also a reminder of his dearest friend and a testament to the hardships of his youth. Within 24 hours of consuming this dish, there is a very high probability of missing family, a very small probability of being inspired at work, and if there is no family to miss, then work enthusiasm will be 1% guaranteed.

Friendly reminder: Family Reunion Dumplings are a type of dumpling with flexibility, so the maker doesn't need to worry about the filling, as long as it resembles the whole family.

Number of times you can make this in one day: (0/99) (No more than 12 per serving)
Qin Huai: ...

Qin Huai never expected that Wang Gensheng's memory was so bland, but the recipe he pulled out was so abstract.

Qin Huai had anticipated the C-level rating. How high could the dumplings made with leftovers as filling be? Qin Huai thought that even a C-level rating meant Xu Nuo had excellent seasoning and cooking skills.

But what the heck is this "freedom dumplings"?

Is this dumpling free?
The essence of dumplings is the filling. For family-style dumplings, the filling doesn't matter, so does that mean you don't need to watch video tutorials and just wrap them?

If any mixed flavor is considered a "family reunion dumpling," then this dish's buff is too easy to trigger. With Qin Huai's current skill level, she could practically make C-grade dumplings with her eyes closed—physically speaking, with her eyes closed.

But Qin Huai felt that this friendly reminder wasn't so simple. What did it mean that "as long as it's a family photo"? Did this "family photo" refer to the dumplings themselves, or did it have another meaning?
It's one thing to have riddles in side quests, but now even the dish details are riddles? Is this some kind of free-form system?

Qin Huai had originally planned to go to sleep after reading the memories, but now he didn't really want to sleep; he was thinking of making dumplings.

Make dumplings to resemble the whole family.

The only problem is that there are no leftovers at home, because there are simply no vegetables at home.

Before making dumplings, Qin Huai decided to quickly watch the video tutorial. As he expected, it was completely unhelpful, because Xu Nuo really just made dumplings with leftover vegetables from home, and in terms of watchability, it wasn't even as good as a video tutorial for potato dumplings.

While watching video tutorials on making potato dumplings, Qin Huai could also point out flaws in Zhao Cheng'an's technique, playing a game of "spot the difference." Xu Nuo, however, had no problems with his technique; in fact, his cooking skills were even slightly better than Qin Huai's. His "Family Reunion Dumplings" were technically flawless.

The problem lies entirely with the dumplings and the people who made them—they used leftovers as dumpling filling.

Since video tutorials don't teach anything, Qin Huai felt it was better to learn through practice.

It doesn't matter if his family doesn't have leftovers, and it doesn't matter if all the leftovers from the Yunzhong canteen end up in the slop bucket, but Luo Jun's family definitely has leftovers.

To be precise, it wasn't leftovers; it was food prepared by Zhang Shumei.

Luo Jun's meals are extremely irregular. Now, apart from breakfast, which is relatively stable, he always gets up before 9 o'clock every morning to drink tangerine peel tea, the other two meals are very strange.

Sometimes she wants a snack, sometimes she wants a main course, and sometimes Luo Jun happens to want to eat whatever she wants. In these situations, the top-notch nanny Zhang Shumei will ensure that there are always four dishes at home that can be heated up at any time and are ready to eat within 20 minutes.

Therefore, Luo Jun's family must have dishes available at this time.

Qin Huai called Luo Jun and went straight to Luo Jun's house, thanking Zhang Shumei for going out for a walk so late at night.

Qin Huai plans to make two kinds of dumplings. One is a "Family Reunion" dumpling made with leftovers. The other is regular dumplings, with several different flavors, which will all be cooked together in one pot as a "Family Reunion" dumpling.

The news that Qin Huai went to Luo Jun's house to make dumplings quickly spread in the group. Except for Chen Huihong, who couldn't go because she had to tutor Chen Huihui, everyone else gathered at Luo Jun's house at 8 pm.

Qu Jing even brought a pot with her.

She was cooking rice cake soup when she saw the message. Afraid of delaying, she took the pot of rice cake soup directly to Luo Jun's house to eat as soon as it was cooked.

Forty minutes later, Qin Huai stared blankly at the two plates of dumplings on the table.

He was lost in thought for a long time, not saying a word. Everyone stared at him, unsure whether he should eat or not.

Luo Jun patiently watched Qin Huai stare blankly for three minutes before finally losing his temper and bursting out: "Qin Huai, have you been infected by Chen Huihong and gone mad? You call me late at night without giving a reason and come to my house to make dumplings, fine, but after you finish making the dumplings, you're just standing here in a daze. What are you staring at? Is there gold, silver, or a credit card in these dumplings?"

Qin Huai stared blankly at the dumplings and said, "I just think the plot is developing a little too fast."

"I just finished watching one memory, and now I can watch another one."

Everyone:?
Qin Huai looked at the dumplings on the table, but he didn't really need to, because he heard the game notification sound the moment the dumplings came out of the pot.

[Family Reunion Dumplings - Grade C]

[Family Reunion Dumplings - Grade A+]

This "Family Reunion Dumpling" is so easy to make! It really is just any dumpling put together; it's a "Family Reunion Dumpling" in the literal sense.

As the family-style dumplings were cooked, the main quest, which had seemed impossible to complete, was also finished.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for completing the main quest [Striving for Perfection] and receiving the quest reward: [An Youyou's Dream]."

(End of this chapter)