The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 569 Communication
After lunch, Qin Huai and the others took their leave.

Qin Huai originally wanted to invite Xu Chenggang to have dinner at Huang Ji, but Xu Chenggang declined, saying that the nursing home had rules against going out at will. Although the rules were not very strict, Xu Chenggang did not want to cause trouble for the staff.

Xu Chenggang personally escorted the four people to the entrance of the nursing home. Before leaving, he asked An Youyou with some reluctance, "Xiao An, will you come again tomorrow?"

“Of course we’ll come,” An Youyou said. “We’ve spent five days in Shanghai, so we should spend five days in Suzhou too.”

"Then I'll go to Z City to find Grandpa Jiang... and stay in Z City for 5 days."

An Youyou stated that she is a very fair leader, treating all her underlings equally. Not only do she bring the same things when meeting them, but she also stays in each underling's city for the same number of days.

Xu Chenggang smiled and nodded: "Then I'll wait for you at the same time tomorrow."

Qin Huai also said, "Director Xu, I didn't bring enough steamed buns today. I'll bring you a few more bags of steamed buns tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Director Xu," Gong Liang said.

Shi Dadan quickly chimed in, "See you tomorrow."

Xu Chenggang stood at the entrance of the nursing home, watching Qin Huai and the other three people go online to book a ride, and only went back after waving to them.

Qin Huai sat in the back of the ride-hailing car, watching Xu Chenggang leave with his caregiver, looking rather lonely, and sighed, "Director Xu is actually quite lonely living in a nursing home."

An Youyou turned to look at Qin Huai with great confusion and asked, "Lonely? Xiao Jiu has so many people lining up to play chess with him every day, how is he lonely? His room is much bigger than Xiao Qi's, with better lighting, no railings on the windows, and a large LCD TV."

"The mahjong machines in the activity room are all automatic, and they are newer than those in Xiaoqi's nursing home."

Qin Huai: ...The three-legged toad, your focus is really strange.

Qin Huai watched as An Youyou held the painting tube like a precious treasure and asked, "What do you plan to do with this painting? Will you send it to auction or...?"

"Of course, I'll hang it at home! How can I sell something this good? It has to be placed in the most conspicuous spot in the house so everyone can see it every day!" An Youyou said excitedly. "It has to be hung in the most conspicuous spot in the living room, the first place everyone sees when they enter my house!"

"Then I'll save up a little of my salary from next month, no, the month after next, to buy a small wooden table, put the three-legged toad on the table, and fill the sides with my favorite fruits."

"That way I can get some fruit from the small table when I get home every day."

“I once heard a storyteller say that the empresses in the palace would put a lot of fruit in their palaces, and even if they didn’t eat it, they would just smell the fragrance, saying that it smelled better than incense. I’m not an empress in the palace, so I’ll just put some of my favorite fruits in, and let the three-legged toad and the painting smell some nice fruity fragrance.”

Qin Huai briefly imagined the scene and thought that as long as the three-legged toad was happy, that was all that mattered.

After returning to the hotel, Qin Huai rested for a while before heading to Huang Ji's. An Youyou, Gong Liang, and Shi Dadan stayed at the hotel. An Youyou wanted to entrust her precious painting and golden toad to Gong Liang for safekeeping, asking him to take them to Shanshi for her.

The private investigator found out that Jiang Weiguo had been living in the countryside since his retirement, and An Youyou was worried that he might damage her two new treasures along the way.

If conditions allowed, An Youyou would have wanted to swallow those two things whole and keep them in her stomach.

When Qin Huai arrived at Huang Ji, Huang Ji had just finished its lunch break, which was theoretically the time when the kitchen staff were resting.

But one person did not rest.

Master Zheng Da.

Master Zheng is still kneading the dough!
Qin Huai changed his clothes and went into the kitchen. He was stunned when he saw the ingredients Zheng Da had prepared.

To put it simply, yesterday Qin Huai asked Zheng Da if he could spare some time in the morning to help prepare some ingredients. Making pastries usually involves preparation, which is more complicated than the actual production process. Take dough rising as an example: kneading the dough doesn't actually take long, but the time to let it rise is fixed. No matter how long it takes, you have to wait until the time is up before you can move on to the next step.

There's definitely nothing wrong with the dough that Zheng Da kneaded. Master Zheng's skills speak for themselves. Zheng Da was once on a list of famous chefs, but he refused to appear again because he felt the ranking was unfair.

Under normal circumstances, Zheng Da should have already completed the preparation of ingredients for the dough kneading step.

So why was Chef Zheng still kneading dough when Qin Huai arrived at the kitchen?
Because Master Zheng had prepared too much material, the diligent Master Zheng arrived very early in the morning, arriving at 9 a.m. to prepare the materials, which shocked everyone at Huang's restaurant. During this time, Wang Jun wanted to help prepare the materials, but Zheng Da refused (when Qin Huai was at Huang's restaurant, Wang Jun always assisted Qin Huai), on the grounds that Wang Jun's skill level was not good enough to prepare materials for Qin Huai.

Insufficient.

Do you chefs who specialize in hot dishes really understand how to prepare ingredients? Do you think preparing ingredients for cold dishes is that easy?

Qin Huai was stunned by Zheng Daren's energetic performance, even kneading dough with unusual strength. He asked Huang Anyao in a low voice, "How long has Master Zheng been in this condition?"

Huang Anyao spoke frankly: "Uncle Zheng has never had this problem before. He only gets sick when you come."

Qin Huai: ?
Young master, with your art of language, it will be really difficult to make Huang's business bigger and stronger.

Qin Huai didn't care about this before, but since he became Huang Ji's largest shareholder, he has had to start paying attention to it.

"Qin Huai, can Accountant Wang still help us with the accounting?" Huang Anyao was still thinking about the accounting.

"It's not good now, but it might be better after a while," Qin Huai said cautiously.

Grandpa Wang is still unconscious, and it's really not good to keep asking him to help with the accounts. He's been retired for many years, financially independent, and doesn't need to work.

Once he wakes up and joins the "We Are a Loving Family" group chat, they'll be part of the family. At that point, Qin Huai can ask Grandpa Wang for help with the accounts.

Qin Huai even considered directly hiring Grandpa Wang as Huang's accountant. If Grandpa Wang disagreed, Qin Huai could send Huang Anyao to kneel down and beg him.

The young master's greatest strength is his ability to be flexible and adaptable, especially his ability to bend.

Qin Huai carefully observed Zheng Da's state for 20 seconds and determined that Zheng Da was simply on a high, albeit for no apparent reason, but the result was good. Skills can easily become rusty if not practiced for a long time, and Zheng Da's occasional bursts of energy help him maintain his level of expertise in pastry making.

"Master Zheng, you've really gone to a lot of trouble, preparing so many ingredients." Qin Huai stepped forward.

Zheng Da then noticed Qin Huai's arrival and pointed to a row of steamed buns on the left side of the cooking station that were almost finished and just waiting to be steamed, saying, "Little Qin, take a look, how are my locust flower steamed buns?"

Qin Huai then noticed that there was a row of locust flower steamed buns on the left side of the kitchen counter. After observing them for a long time, he felt that they were not very good.

This can't be blamed on Zheng Da, because he doesn't know how to make locust flower steamed buns. When Zheng Da went to the Yunzhong Canteen to study locust flower steamed buns with Qin Huai, Qin Huai couldn't even understand the video tutorials. Zheng Da was basically making locust flower steamed buns based on his own ideas and his understanding of locust flower steamed buns, with only the first volume of the tutorial.

It's already quite impressive that they were able to do this.

Qin Huai has now obtained the complete teaching materials.

Even Qin Huai could see that Zheng Da had shortcomings in making the most basic pastry, such as steamed buns.

“Master Zheng, locust flower steamed buns are not like this,” Qin Huai said. “Of course, it could also be because the locust honey you used is not very good. But I have found recently that locust honey can only play a finishing touch role. Even if you use locust honey that does not meet the requirements, you can still make locust flower steamed buns that meet the standards.”

"And there was a slight problem with your kneading technique."

Zheng Da: ?
"Look..."

"..."

"..."

Qin Huai and Zheng Da started discussing right there at the kitchen counter. They talked and acted back and forth, first kneading a batch of dough. While the dough was rising, Qin Huai and Zheng Da made another batch of pastries. They didn't even make the same kinds of pastries; Qin Huai made what he wanted, and Zheng Da made what he wanted.

While we were making them, we'd look at each other's work, and even our conversations weren't entirely about the snacks; sometimes the topic would veer off-topic.

One second Zheng Da was saying that his kneading technique was fine and that Qin Huai didn't understand his thinking, and the next second he started complaining that Zheng Siyuan's blind date had failed again, and that he didn't know when his unlucky son would be able to find a girlfriend, get married and have children.

Qin Huai comforted Zheng Da, saying that things would work out, and that Zheng Siyuan was simply too engrossed in making pastries and did not have any mental illness or emotional deficiencies, only that he was short of marriage.

Ignoring Qin Huai's words of comfort, Zheng Da continued to recount his clever tricks and techniques for kneading dough, implying that Qin Huai was simply unaware of them.

Qin Huai said that this is not a clever trick or skill, but a trick that is used when the basic skills are not fully solidified and bad habits are not completely corrected. It is not a real skill, but only a way to make amends after the fact. If the bad habits can be corrected, there is no need to use such a trick.

Zheng Da said, "You don't know anything."

Qin Huai said to Master Zheng, "Stop making excuses. Your base stats are definitely not high enough. I've seen people with much higher base stats who don't have this problem."

Zheng Da changed the subject, saying that the guy surnamed Zhou was nothing special, his foundation wasn't very solid, and if you nitpick, you could definitely find problems. Besides, that guy surnamed Zhou wasn't an all-rounder; he was just good at making flaky pastries.

Qin Huai asked Zheng Da if he admitted that the reason was that the base stats were not high enough.

Zheng Da asked Qin Huai how to change it.

Qin Huai said to practice hard, and if the stats aren't high enough, just keep grinding.

Zheng Da said he is not a full-time chef.

Huang Anyao was stunned by what he heard. He had only intended to squat by the door and wait for the two of them to finish making some snacks, but he ended up squatting there and didn't dare to go up and ask if the snacks were edible.

He felt that Qin Huai and Zheng Da had entered into a particularly mysterious relationship, which was no longer the previous model where Zheng Da taught Qin Huai, a pure teaching and a pure learning model.

Neither of them was teaching, but they were both learning, like masters of their own skills competing on the same stage, sniping each other in the middle. Neither of them was convinced of the other's skill, but after a chaotic exchange, they were both convinced and stubbornly asked each other if they could change their strategies, like two master and apprentice brothers sticking to their own ideas and refusing to listen to each other.

Hey, fellow apprentices.

Huang Anyao quickly retracted his treasonous thought, silently repeating in his heart, "I'm sorry, Uncle Zheng, I'm sorry."

"Dad, don't you think Qin Huai and Uncle Shi are acting a little strange today?" Huang Anyao asked Huang Shengli in a low voice.

Huang Shengli also stood at the door with a teacup in his hand, watching for a long time.

"Is that strange?" Huang Shengli asked Huang Anyao in return. "I've had this kind of relationship with your Uncle Zheng for all these years."

“When we were eating fermented rice buns yesterday, I felt that Xiao Qin had made rapid progress and was a completely different person from before. Now it seems... he is truly extraordinary.” Huang Shengli sighed. “I feel a little sorry for your Uncle Zheng. If he had taken the initiative and tricked Qin Huai into becoming his disciple, he could really do whatever he wanted now.”

Huang Anyao: ?

Seeing that his simple-minded son still didn't understand, Huang Shengli explained it more clearly: "Zheng Da taught him before, and Qin Huai learned from him."

"Now it's time for communication."

"One teaches and the other learns because there is a significant disparity in their abilities; one can teach and the other can learn."

"Exchanges are between equals; you have your strengths, and I have mine, so we learn from each other and make progress together."

"Qin Huai is that powerful now?" Huang Anyao was surprised.

Huang Shengli: "...Didn't you notice it when you ate the fermented rice buns yesterday?"

At this moment, Huang Shengli felt a bit empathetic towards Zheng Da. He felt that he was already a very tolerant father, but sometimes when he looked at his son, he couldn't help but think, "How could I have given birth to such an unlucky thing?"

You're supposed to be a good eater, right? You even wanted to become a food critic and contribute to "Taste of China." How come you can't tell the difference when it really matters?

Huang Anyao didn't realize how rapidly Qin Huai had improved until he ate the snacks Qin Huai and Zheng Da had made at dinner time.

At that moment, Huang Anyao almost knelt down and begged Qin Huai to stay at Huang's Restaurant permanently, saying he could transfer all of his shares to Qin Huai.

Although Huang Anyao still felt that Zheng Da's pastries were better than Qin Huai's, Qin Huai's only real winner was the fermented rice steamed buns.

But Zheng Da only makes snacks a few times a year, unlike Qin Huai, who is a very dedicated breakfast chef who insists on making breakfast and snacks every day.

Over the next few days, Qin Huai and the other three would visit Director Xu at the nursing home in the morning, and in the afternoon Qin Huai would go to Huang Ji's shop to discuss locust flower steamed buns with Zheng Da, while the others had free time.

Over the course of a few days, Director Xu rambled on about some past events, but not too far back. He mainly talked about how the cotton mill gradually declined, how he couldn't stay idle after the mill closed down, how he worked for a private company for a few years, and how he went to Shanghai to live with his eldest son.

When Director Xu recounted these events, he sounded like an old man reminiscing about the past, telling his grandchildren stories they didn't know. No matter how dramatic or exciting the experiences were, they were all told in a very ordinary way, as if they were just mundane trifles.

Qin Huai and his group stayed in Suzhou for 5 days.

On the fifth day, when they left the nursing home, Director Xu gave Qin Huai, An Youyou, and Shi Dadan each a fountain pen—a very ordinary fountain pen.

In Director Xu's words, fountain pens were a rarity back then, and they were usually among the prizes awarded to outstanding employees at the cotton mill. Nowadays, young people don't use fountain pens anymore, but Director Xu himself loves them and has collected quite a few over the years. He picked out three of his favorites and gave them to Qin Huai and the other two as gifts for the younger generation.

Qin Huai and his two companions gladly accepted the gifts and boarded the high-speed train to Z City.

Incidentally, the day after Qin Huai left Suzhou, Zheng Da resumed his lazy lifestyle and happily took his granddaughter to Suzhou.

In response, Huang Anyao sent Qin Huai more than a dozen messages, expressing his frustration that it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. He had been enjoying snacks for five days and suddenly couldn't eat anything anymore, and he also had to keep accounts. He said he couldn't live like this anymore.

Qin Huai gave Huang Anyao a period.

When Huang Anyao sent the message to Qin Huai, Qin Huai and the other two were already standing at the gate of Jiang Wei's country.

Jiang Weiguo was the only one of An Youyou's three younger brothers who didn't move into a nursing home but instead retired to the countryside. Although he was the oldest, he was also the healthiest and had excellent energy, and he was also very vigilant.

Lin Qi and Xu Chenggang readily accepted the fact that An Youyou was the eldest son's granddaughter, or even that An Youyou was the eldest son's reincarnation. Only Jiang Weiguo maintained the most basic vigilance that an old man should have.

"The eldest brother's granddaughter?" Jiang Weiguo stood at the gate of the courtyard, his sharp eyes sweeping over the faces of Qin Huai and the other two. "How come I didn't know the eldest brother had a child?"

"I haven't been in contact with Lin Qi or Xu Chenggang for years. How did you find them?"

What evidence do you have to prove this?

Jiang Weiguo proved with his actions that his Valentino coat was well worth wearing.

Qin Huai & An Youyou & Shi Dadan: ...

Oh no, this part wasn't rehearsed before.

(End of this chapter)