The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 585 What Else Can a Pastry Chef Do? (Thanks to Xiaoyuqi Zihua for the generous donation!)
Qin Huai fried two more egg pancakes, one for himself and one for Zhou Hu. After they finished eating, the two went back to their room.

At the door of the room, Zhou Hu reminded Qin Huai that he really needed to sleep this time and shouldn't go to the kitchen to fry a few more egg pancakes. Qin Huai wasn't a relative of Luo Jun, and their professional team was in charge of the entire funeral process. Qin Huai seemed to have nothing to do, but funerals are inherently exhausting, and if he didn't sleep tonight, he definitely wouldn't be able to stay awake the next day.

Qin Huai nodded to indicate that he understood, and before going to bed, he sent a message to Qin Luo, asking her what kind of snacks she wanted to eat the next day.

Qin Luomiao reported a list of dishes.

Qin Huai once again caught his younger sister secretly playing on her phone late at night, with irrefutable evidence. However, in a good mood, Qin Huai decided to let his sister off the hook this time and help her cover it up.

Ah, he was such a good older brother.

Qin Huai mentally praised himself, turned off his phone, and went to sleep.

A dreamless night.

The next day, when Qin Huai woke up, Zhou Hu had already left home for the funeral home. Before leaving, Zhou Hu sent Qin Huai a WeChat message, informing him that there weren't many breakfast shops nearby, and the breakfasts they sold weren't as good as Qin Huai's cooking. The funeral home did offer breakfast, but it wasn't very tasty.

Qin Huai can go to the funeral home to use the kitchen to make breakfast after he wakes up. Zhou Hu has to go to the village today to coordinate and plan the performance. Please forgive him.

Qin Huai glanced at the time and realized he had no time to make breakfast. His only task today was to pick someone up from the airport.

I'll pick up Chen Gong at noon and Zhao Cheng'an in the afternoon. The airport is far from the city center and even further from the funeral home. If nothing unexpected happens, Qin Huai will pick up two people today, and the day will be over.

Then, unsurprisingly, an accident happened.

Chen Gong's flight was delayed, and he arrived around the same time as Zhao Cheng'an. As the CEO's all-around assistant, Chen Gong thoughtfully offered to take Zhao Cheng'an to the funeral home, saying that Qin Huai didn't need to pick him up at the airport; Qin Huai could just focus on his own business. He added that it would be even better if Qin Huai could spare some time to make him a couple of plates of mung bean cakes.

Since returning to work after his vacation, Chen Gong has deeply experienced the bittersweet feeling of going from luxury to frugality. Although he couldn't work 996 during his vacation, devoting himself wholeheartedly to his boss and serving his beloved General Manager Han to the point of exhaustion, he could still enjoy snacks to his heart's content.

Who can resist Chef Qin's pastries?

Even the workaholic stingray couldn't resist.

Suddenly having nothing to do, Qin Huai could only continue to borrow the kitchen of the funeral home to make pastries. He got hooked on it as he made them. Thinking that Qin Luo would come to pay her respects and have a buffet that night, Qin Huai not only made the pastries on the list of dishes Qin Luo gave him, but also made a bunch of pastries that he thought Qin Luo would like to eat.

Lamb shumai, eight-treasure cake, hibiscus cake, lotus root starch balls, dream-fulfilling sesame cake, three-ingredient bun, five-ingredient bun, sugar triangle, pork pan-fried bun, soup dumplings...

Regardless of why there are so many different kinds of food, the reason is simply that Qin Luo loves to eat everything.

When Zhao Cheng'an, dragging a large suitcase, panting and looking somewhat disheveled, appeared at the entrance of the funeral home alongside Chen Gong, who was dressed in a suit, impeccably groomed, and looking very smart and respectable, carrying only a business backpack, this was the scene that greeted them.

It was full of people.

The registration area for receiving red envelopes was crowded with people. The staff member was recording at maximum volume on a recorder while shouting to the people in line behind her: "This is the guest registration area for Mr. Luo Jun. Mr. Li, go straight and turn right. Mr. Wang, go straight, turn right and then left. Mr. Hu, turn left first and then go straight."

"This isn't the place..."

"Miss, I heard your buffet is especially delicious, particularly the desserts. Can I bring my child in for a meal if I have 300 yuan?"

"I'm from next door. If I give you 300, can I come eat at your place?"

"I……"

"No need to bring anything, just show your appreciation. If you want to eat, go ahead and eat, but please don't cut in line, don't argue, don't waste food, and don't take leftovers away!"

"Hey beautiful, how about I just go with the 300? I heard you have scratch-off lottery tickets here, I'd like to try my luck with a couple."

"...Really, you don't need to bring any. Just bring two scratch cards each and pick them up from me."

"Beautiful lady, we are..."

"No need to follow!"

"No, we are relatives from the next hall. The food at this funeral home is really terrible, while your buffet is delicious. Could we pay for your meals so we can eat here for the next few days?"

"...?"

Zhao Cheng'an: ...?
Zhao Cheng'an looked at the chaotic scene before him with some confusion, then turned to Chen Gong and asked, "Is this still a funeral?"

Why does this feel like an end-of-year party?
Chen Gong said calmly, "Mr. Luo must have his own ingenious ideas."

Zhao Cheng'an, dragging his suitcase, didn't rush inside. He watched for a few minutes before approaching and holding up his white bag: "I am Zhao Cheng'an. I really came to pay my respects to Mr. Luo. I am Mr. Luo's friend! Make way, make way, there is another person over there. I need four scratch cards. Could you give me two more? It would be better to have six for good luck."

Chen Gong: ?
In the end, Zhao Cheng'an successfully obtained 6 scratch-off lottery tickets and happily walked towards the mourning hall with Chen Gong. Before they even went inside, they were stunned when they reached the door.

There were just too many people; the lines were incredibly long.

Of course, it was a self-service queue.

There were also people supervising and managing the process to prevent people from cutting in line. The managers were Xu Tuqiang, Grandma Ding, Grandpa Qian, and Chen Huihong, whom Zhao Cheng'an knew very well.

Chen Huihong even brought the neighborhood committee's loudspeaker, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Don't cut in line, queue in an orderly manner, no taking more than you need, no waste, and there's a reward for reporting it. Anyone caught cutting in line or wasting food will be immediately removed. There's a shuttle bus from the parking lot to the performance venue. If you leave now, you can still catch the show tonight. There's also a shuttle bus to take you back to the city, so you don't need to worry about the return trip."

"Let me emphasize again, this is a funeral, not a buffet or a performance. You don't need to pay for tickets every time you come. We are not making a profit!"

Upon seeing Zhao Cheng'an and Chen Gong arrive, Chen Huihong excitedly shoved the megaphone into the arms of the young man beside her, rushed forward, ignoring Zhao Cheng'an, and excitedly said to Chen Gong, "Little Chen, you've finally arrived! Are you sure you'll be on night watch tonight?"

“Jingjing lost all her quarterly bonus last night, so we really feel bad letting her play mahjong again today. But I get sleepy if I don’t play mahjong. Qin Huai makes pastries during the day and can’t stay up all night. You should know how to play mahjong, right? How about we find a partner to stay up together?” Chen Gong nodded slightly: “I know a little bit, but I might need to take some time to deal with work while I’m playing mahjong at night.”

"no problem."

Zhao Cheng'an: ? Sister Hong, I'm such a big person, dragging such a big suitcase in front of you, and you didn't see me at all?
"What about me?" Zhao Cheng'an said, indicating that Chen Huihong couldn't see him, so he would find the screen himself.

Chen Huihong then turned her gaze to Zhao Chengan: "Xiao Zhao, why did you bring such a big suitcase? You've come at the right time. The kitchen is just ahead. Turn left and go straight. Youyou has been helping Qin Huai in the kitchen all day and must be very busy. You can go over and help make some snacks."

Zhao Cheng'an: ? ? ?

Is it reasonable to serve desserts at Luo Jun's funeral?
Zhao Cheng'an stubbornly said, "Can I finish scratching the lottery tickets first? I just got six scratch cards."

"Go."

In the end, Zhao Cheng'an successfully scratched out 280 yuan and went to the kitchen with a big smile to make desserts with Qin Huai.

Of course, Zhao Cheng'an's smile only lasted a short while. After learning that Qin Huai was going to the branch venue to make pastries the next day, but he had to stay at the funeral home to continue making pastries, Zhao Cheng'an's smile faded.

"Qin Huai, don't you think this is unreasonable? Even if our main job is to be pastry chefs, we can't make pastries at a friend's funeral!" Zhao Cheng'an tried to awaken Qin Huai's conscience with his emotional words, "This is Luo Jun's funeral!"

"Look at what funerals have become these days! They're practically turning into parties."

"Didn't Mr. Luo initially intend to turn the funeral into a gala?" Qin Huai retorted. "Two stages were set up, with continuous performances of drama, crosstalk, opera, stand-up comedy, and song and dance. Even a typical company annual meeting doesn't have such a rich program."

Zhao Cheng'an was speechless for a moment, but his voice was still full of emotion as he tried to move Qin Huai with his feelings: "But this is Luo Jun's funeral!"

"Shouldn't we do some of the things that are expected at a funeral? Like mourning the deceased or something."

"At the very least, you can play mahjong like Sister Hong."

"Qu Jing lost a month's salary during the day yesterday and her quarterly bonus at night. It is said that Lao Shi had incredible luck at the card table, Sister Hong was a master strategist, and Gong Liang was skilled at card counting. Qu Jing only lost this much money because the other three people let him win."

"Sister Hong originally wanted to invite An Youyou to stay and play mahjong to keep watch. An Youyou had played mahjong with Shi Dadan when she was in Shanghai before, and she would rather die than sit at the mahjong table."

"As for mourning the deceased... I checked Mr. Luo's condition this morning, and he is still being reincarnated."

Upon hearing Qin Huai mention this, Zhao Cheng'an had something to say: "I have experience with this. Reincarnation isn't that fast; it's impossible to die today and be reincarnated tomorrow."

After saying that, Zhao Cheng'an realized that he had been led astray by Qin Huai. His point was clearly why he had to make pastries at Yunzhong Restaurant, Zhiweiju Restaurant, and Luo Jun's funeral.

"What I meant was, why are we having to make desserts for this kind of occasion? This is a funeral, a funeral, a funeral should be..."

"Why can't the two of us make some desserts?" Qin Huai retorted to Zhao Cheng'an. "We're both dessert chefs. If we want to do something for Luo Jun's funeral, isn't making desserts the only option?"

Zhao Cheng'an: Damn it, what he said makes so much sense that I can't refute it.

"Besides, isn't this the kind of funeral you wanted? Luo Jun adopted many of your suggestions for this funeral, and he even bought 88 yuan worth of scratch cards. If you're keeping vigil tonight, you can secretly scratch a few. Last night, Sister Hong scratched two books and only won 1260 yuan in total. She was so angry that she never scratched again."

“1260 yuan is quite a lot,” Zhao Chengan said.

"Old Shi also scratched two books and won 9000."

Zhao Cheng'an: ...

An Youyou, who had been listening silently and working diligently, suddenly looked up when she heard this, her eyes lighting up: "Boss, can I go and scrape a couple of books later?"

“I want to shave too,” Zhao Chengan said.

"Shave them all, shave them all."

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Qin Huai glanced at the sesame seed cakes in the oven, "I've invited Zhou Hu to my house for Chinese New Year tonight. Youyou, would you like to come with me this year?"

"I know you probably don't want to go home for the Chinese New Year."

"Can I go?" An Youyou was overjoyed. "I mean, boss, you'll reimburse my round-trip airfare, and you can also reimburse my flight home after the New Year at the same time. Can I come to your house for the New Year?"

"...Yes, you can even take some things from my house back to your grandma. Every year during Chinese New Year, my family receives so many New Year's gifts that my grandparents can't even give them all away."

"Great! Boss, don't worry, I can wash all your dishes this Chinese New Year!" An Youyou was overjoyed.

"Zhao Cheng'an, do you want to come along?" Qin Huai asked again.

Zhao Cheng'an: "...I'll pass, Zhiweiju doesn't really take holidays during the Chinese New Year."

"Besides, I have my own parents. What's the point of going to your house for the New Year? You don't even give me a red envelope. Zhiweiju only has three days off for the New Year. I also have to go to Beiping. Xia Murui said he prepared a very thick New Year's red envelope for me and will hand it to me personally."

Now it's Qin Huai's turn to have an ellipsis above his head.

"...When you go to Beiping, remember to wear more clothes, wear thick clothes, and wear a helmet."

"What?"

"I'm afraid Zhang Guanghang will knock you out with a stick."

(End of this chapter)