The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 591 Red Silk Cake (Thanks to Zhuge Wuneng for the generous donation!)

Fearing that Wang Gensheng would get too excited, Qin Huai helped him sit down and thoughtfully handed him tea.

Wang Gensheng took the hot tea, gulped down half a cup, and after calming down a bit, he tried to say in a relatively calm tone, "I don't know if you've heard of that pastry, Master Qin, it's called Red Silk Cake."

Red silk cake?
Qin Huai searched his memory for the name, confirming that he had never heard of it. This was understandable, though. As a self-taught pastry chef, Qin Huai's skills were better than Zhao Cheng'an and Tan Weian's, but in terms of knowledge and experience, he was no match for these formally trained chefs.

It's okay if you haven't heard of it; you can look it up online.

Qin Huai immediately took out his phone and started searching. He discovered that the Red Silk Cake was a high-grade cake in the imperial cuisine of the Tang Dynasty. It was a thin cake wrapped with filling and tied with red silk, hence the name Red Silk Cake. It was often used by the emperor to reward newly appointed scholars, but the recipe has been lost for a long time.

It's normal that you haven't heard of Qinhuai. These kinds of lost pastries are usually not well-known, and nowadays very few pastry chefs study these lost pastries, let alone pastries from the Tang Dynasty.

Tan Weian's grandfather was probably the master chef at Zhiweiju who was most interested in researching lost pastries. Master Tan probably didn't research lost pastries from the Tang Dynasty much during his lifetime.

It is too old to study.

Sometimes it's not just a matter of ingredients and recipes; often the biggest problem is that there's no recipe, only a name. How can a pastry chef recreate something that's only passed down by name?

Qin Huai read aloud the information he had searched online and asked Wang Gensheng if it was this red silk cake.

Wang Gensheng wasn't quite sure, and continued slowly, "I don't know if my friend made a lost pastry. The cake he gave me wasn't wrapped in red silk. Back then, red silk was too expensive for ordinary families to afford, so it wouldn't be used to wrap pastries."

“But my friend really does make delicious desserts.” A hint of nostalgia appeared in Wang Gensheng’s eyes.

Qin Huai certainly knew who Wang Gensheng's friend was, but theoretically he shouldn't have known, so he could only pretend to know nothing and continue listening to Wang Gensheng.

"That pancake was very crispy."

“My friend told me that it tastes best when eaten on the day of the festival, but I couldn’t bear to eat it. I originally planned to save it for the Chinese New Year. A few days later, I couldn’t resist and secretly broke off a small piece to taste. The filling was sweet.”

"It looks like there are flower petals in the filling."

"Yeah, sweet."

"It's sweet."

Wang Gensheng finished speaking.

Qin Huai: ...

Grandpa Wang, I beg you, please say a few more words at this crucial moment! With just this little bit of information, it's really hard to make a dessert, especially one like this, which has no recipe and no clue what to do. All we know is that this cake should be wrapped in red silk, a lost dessert.

Most importantly, the version Wang Gensheng ate was the one that was damned, the version without the red ribbon.

The crust is crispy, the filling is sweet, and it seems there are flower petals inside. Qin Huai can't think of any other kind of pastry besides flower cakes.

That's an incredibly broad scope.

Suzhou is located in the Jiangnan region, and as long as you are willing to collect, you can find a huge variety of flower petals all year round, as well as a huge variety of flowers that can be used as fillings for desserts.

Take flower cakes as an example. Flower cakes also come in three famous flavors: rose, osmanthus, and jasmine.

Moreover, there are so many flowers that can be used to make desserts: lotus, chrysanthemum, lily, peony, plum blossom, orchid, rose, camellia, hibiscus... even wisteria can be used to make wisteria cakes. When these plants are placed in dessert fillings, as long as enough sugar is added, or a little jujube paste is added as a powerful flavoring agent, sometimes they don't even need to have an embellishing effect, they just need to serve as a gimmick.

Because the scent of these flowers doesn't matter.

Wang Gensheng provided the least important piece of information out of all the information points, and didn't even clearly explain what kind of petals they were.

Of course, Qin Huai believed that Wang Gensheng wasn't deliberately withholding the information; he probably just didn't recognize it. After all, it was a baked pastry filled with chopped flower petals—it would be a miracle if an amateur like Wang Gensheng could identify which type of petal it was.

Not all flower-related desserts are as floral as osmanthus cake. Often, flowers are just a gimmick, especially in royal pastries.

Qin Huai felt a little like scratching his head.

Wang Gensheng noticed that Qin Huai was scratching his head, and he became even more embarrassed: "Master Qin, I didn't mean to not say. One reason is that I was thinking about whether I could come up with a better idea, and the other is... I feel like I can't explain it clearly."

"I've been thinking about this for the past few days, but I can't think of a more suitable dessert than red silk cake. In fact, red silk cake is the only thing on my mind."

"That pancake was really delicious. The crust crumbled so easily when you pinched it, and lots of crumbs came off. I even ate those crumbs; they were really tasty."

Qin Huai thought the crust crumbled easily when pinched, probably because Wang Gensheng had left it for several days.

"That was the first time I had ever eaten a pastry with flower petals inside. I remember the taste very clearly; it was so sweet."

"Very sweet."

"I feel very satisfied after just one small bite."

"And it's not the kind of sweetness you get with candied winter melon; it's a very fragrant sweetness."

Qin Huai knew that Wang Gensheng had tried his best to describe it, and he also knew that Wang Gensheng's descriptions were ineffective in conveying anything at all.

Qin Huai tried to get some clues by asking questions: "Uncle Wang, do you remember what color the filling was?"

Since Wang Gensheng couldn't specify what kind of sweetness it was, and he didn't know what ingredients he used, asking about the color was a good way to filter it.

Red date paste is dark in color, coconut flakes are white, and red bean paste is dark black. Sweet fillings are actually a general trend. Even in Tang Dynasty pastries, there were only a few types of sweet fillings, and the variety of sweet fillings in Tang Dynasty pastries was even smaller than today.

Wang Gensheng tried hard to recall and said, "It seems to be...purple."

Qin Huai: ?
Purple?
If it's purple, Qin Huai's first thought is rose-filled flower cakes, because rose filling turns purple when cooked, especially with sugar and lard.

Could it be that he promised to make flower cakes, and then tricked Wang Gensheng into thinking they were red silk cakes to please his good brother? After all, red silk cakes have a better meaning; they are cakes bestowed by the emperor upon newly appointed scholars, carrying the blessing of passing the imperial examination.

Although Wang Gensheng had already graduated from university at that time, it seemed that he did not need high school.

"Uncle Wang, have you ever tried flower cakes? Rose-filled flower cakes?" Qin Huai asked tentatively.

Without much thought, Wang Gensheng said directly, "Of course I've eaten them. When I first retired, my wife and I went to Kunming for a while, and I even bought her a bracelet. My wife especially loves the flower cakes there. We bought several boxes back, but after eating them too much, we got tired of them and gave all the flower cakes we bought away."

"Master Qin, you also like flower cakes?" Wang Gensheng realized what Qin Huai wanted to ask after he finished speaking, and quickly said, "Not flower cakes, not flower cakes."

"The fillings look quite similar, but the taste is different. My friend's red silk cakes taste much better than the flower cakes."

Qin Huai nodded, basically confirming that the red silk cakes Xu Nuo made should use rose petals as filling, only the recipe was slightly different.

"So, what do you think are the differences between red silk cakes and flower cakes?"

Qin Huai gave Wang Gensheng a comparison, and Wang Gensheng had something to say: "It won't get boring."

"Although the red silk cake is quite sweet, it's not greasy at all."

"It's the kind of taste that tastes very sweet at first bite, then you feel it's okay as you savor it, and finally, when you swallow it, you feel the flavor slide from your tongue all the way into your stomach."

"And the crust is more fragrant. Although both will crumble, the crumble of the red silk pastry is more fragrant."

"And..." Wang Gensheng tried hard to recall some details that he had really tried his best to remember, but which were not very important. Although he couldn't give Qin Huai a very clear direction, at least he didn't have to search aimlessly for a needle in a haystack, which was a performance beyond his usual level.

After asking about the details of the red silk cake, Qin Huai did not leave immediately. Instead, he pulled Ouyang along to chat with Wang Gensheng for a while, showering him with concern and care.

Wang Gensheng was so moved that he wanted to go to his room immediately to change his clothes and go with Qin Huai to the Yunzhong Canteen for a food tasting.

Qin Huai said there was no need to rush. Yunzhong Canteen doesn't usually make rose-filled pastries and doesn't keep roses on hand. They can only start making red silk cakes tomorrow.

Wang Gensheng immediately stated that he would definitely be at the Yunzhong Canteen's kitchen on time the next day and would not ask for leave.

Qin Huai asked him if he was going for a morning run tomorrow.
Wang Gensheng firmly stated that he would run, he absolutely had to run, even if Xu Tuqiang made sarcastic remarks to him, he would still run.

Thus, Qin Huai's mission to visit the sick and investigate side quests has come to a successful conclusion.

Qin Huai and Ouyang left together.

Ouyang listened for a long time and drank two cups of hot tea, but he didn't quite understand. As soon as he stepped out, he asked Qin Huai, "Didn't Grandpa Wang have the answer? Why did he ask for leave before? Red silk cake... it sounds like a flower cake. From Grandpa Wang's description, I feel like he really likes it. His memory is so bad, yet he can still remember the specific taste of the snacks he ate over the years. I can't even remember the taste of things I ate three or four years ago, let alone decades ago."

"Why didn't Grandpa Wang say so earlier? Why did he have to stay cooped up at home for so long?"

This is the downside of not having the script and not knowing the backstory.

Ouyang completely failed to understand Wang Gensheng's dilemma.

Qin Huai couldn't explain too much, since theoretically he shouldn't have gotten the script. He could only vaguely say, "Perhaps it's because he likes it so much, and this snack is so important to Grandpa Wang, that he's reluctant to say it."

Ouyang said he didn't understand you riddle people.

"Qin Huai, you're off work today, how about we go for an all-you-can-eat barbecue later? I know a new all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant, the meat is really fresh and delicious, and the drinks and desserts are also great, they say the durian is all-you-can-eat."

“I just got the membership card from my dad yesterday.”

"What else is there to say? Let's go!"

"Should we invite Youyou along? She has a big appetite, and she loves durian. Most importantly, she's off today."

"Together, my dad has 5000 yuan in his card!"

Qin Huai and Ouyang went to eat barbecue together in a pleasant manner.

As for An Youyou... she was originally lying at home sunbathing and watching TV today, but after receiving Qin Huai's call, she immediately sprang up from the sofa, left the community, found the nearest shared bike station, scanned a shared bike, and pedaled towards the self-service barbecue restaurant as fast as she could.

An hour and a half later, Qin Huai, An Youyou, and Ouyang were slumped in their chairs, each of them lying on their backs, looking like a three-legged toad that had eaten and drunk its fill.

Even at this moment, Ouyang had not forgotten Qin Luo.

"It's a pity Luo Luo has class today. I'll bring her here again when she has a day off. The food is really good," Ouyang said, before going to the restroom.

Qin Huai silently gave Ouyang a thumbs up in his heart, thinking that if this trend continued, Ouyang would one day be able to compete with Zheng Siyuan for the position of eldest brother.

Seeing Ouyang leave, An Youyou quickly asked, "Boss, did you find the mission?"

Qin Huai nodded, then opened the game panel and began to examine it.

Practice makes perfect. If you're confident enough, people will just think you're crazy or doing performance art.

A new quest has suddenly appeared in the side quest log.

[Wang Gensheng's Touching Moment]: As a retired accountant, Wang Gensheng harbors many untold stories. Even when Master Qin asks for his help, Wang Gensheng hesitates until he is moved. Players are requested to recreate the taste of the red silk cakes from Wang Gensheng's memory, to do justice to his感动 (moved/touched) experience.

Task Reward: [A Memory of Wang Gensheng]

The task details remain baffling, and the way they describe them makes one wonder if the game's writers have ever read a book or seriously studied Chinese.

However, the task requirement was quite straightforward: make red silk cakes.

Regarding this task, Qin Huai wanted to ask Zhao Cheng'an and Tan Weian for help.

Of course, there's no need to specifically bring both of them to the Cloud Cafeteria this time. Zhao Cheng'an lacks innovation, and Tan Weian's technical skills are subpar; neither is a good partner for researching desserts.

If we're talking about the best partner, it has to be Zheng Siyuan.

He's resourceful, technically skilled, hardworking, and incredibly persistent.

But Qin Huai doesn't plan to bring Zheng Siyuan over this time either.

Qin Huai felt that Zheng Siyuan's current state was not suitable for trying new desserts. Zheng Siyuan was the kind of person who would take something very seriously and see it through to the end, never giving up halfway. Even with the large ladle, he tried for a long time before giving up, only after confirming that he was really not suited for it.

Zheng Siyuan has tried too many new desserts lately.

He is still consolidating his Four Happiness Tangyuan and Double Crab Buns. When crabs were in season a while ago, Zheng Siyuan went on a crazy spree of making Double Crab Buns, almost turning his pastry shop into a breakfast shop. This is what Gong Liang told Qin Huai.

Qin Huai believed that the difficulty of making the Red Silk Cake was not too high. Even Ouyang could tell that the Red Silk Cake was actually an advanced version of the Flower Cake.

Since this wasn't really a challenge, Qin Huai decided not to bother Zheng Siyuan and let him run his pastry shop in Suzhou in peace.

The regular customers of the pastry shop could no longer tolerate Master Zheng running away again.

Ouyang hadn't returned from the restroom yet. During this time, Qin Huai created a small group chat for Zhao Cheng'an and Tan Weian, named "Red Silk Cake Discussion Group".

Qin Huai: Family members, have you ever heard of Red Silk Cake?
Tan Weian replied instantly: Red Silk Cake? No, what kind of cake is that? Is it the latest trendy cake?
Qin Huai: ? You brought your phone into the kitchen again?

Tan Weian: It's lunch break now.

Qin Huai: Why hasn't Zhao Cheng'an replied to the message yet?
Tan Weian: He's still being scolded by Master Zhou.
Qin Huai: It's not a trendy pastry, it's a lost recipe. Why don't you check your treasure bag, Tan Wei'an? Maybe you have the recipe inside?

Tan Weian: Okay

Then Tan Weian disappeared.

Tan Weian did not send a message until Zhao Cheng'an clarified in the group chat 20 minutes later that he was not being scolded by Master Zhou, but was simply receiving his master's earnest teachings.

Tan Weian didn't reply until after 7 p.m.

Tan Weian: I looked it up twice, but couldn't find it.
Qin Huai: Do you have a recipe for flower cakes?
Tan Weian: ?

Tan Weian was puzzled, but he continued to rummage through the treasure bag.

ten minutes later--

Tan Weian: There are 13. Which one do you want?

Qin Huai: [Thumbs up] [Thumbs up] [Thumbs up]
(End of this chapter)