The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 608 [Longevity Noodles, S-Rank]

Qin Huai and Cao Guixiang chatted until 10 p.m. During this time, Zhang Chu secretly ate tangerines. When Cao Guixiang found out, half a basin of tangerines was gone, which made Cao Guixiang roll her eyes at Zhang Chu several times.

Qin Huai and Cao Guixiang's conversation didn't just revolve around cooking.

For Qin Huai, making pastries is an integral part of his daily life. He is both a breakfast chef and a pastry chef, as well as the owner of Yunzhong Canteen. Pastries are his life, but that doesn't mean his life consists only of pastries.

Diners, colleagues, employees, friends, good brothers, sisters, teachers, Tan Weian who is slacking off in Hangzhou, Dong Shi who asks about gossip in Suzhou every day and shares it with him regularly, and Zang Liang who rarely communicates but likes his posts on WeChat Moments are all part of his life.

Mr. Qin's life may seem dull and boring, but it is actually very colorful.

The same applies to Cao Guixiang.

She appears to be an elderly woman who has retired at home, no longer needs to take care of her grandchildren, and is enjoying her retirement.

Actually too.

Cao Guixiang is a person who is very good at finding the beauty in life. She can talk for more than half an hour just about the process of knitting sweaters. Not to mention that she often chats with her old friends, goes shopping, goes to the park, and goes hiking. The gossip that the old lady can access is much richer than young people can imagine.

Cao Guixiang even shared some gossip about Shi Dadan with Qin Huai.

Shi Dadan's two unlucky kids did terribly on their final exams again, which made Shi Dadan's wife so angry that her blood pressure spiked and she couldn't sleep at night, so she went to the fish pond to yell at the fish.

She scolded the fish, then the children, then her husband, and finally even the breakfast shop downstairs.

As for why Cao Guixiang knew so much about the content of Shi Dadan's wife's insults...

Because there was a traitor in Shi Dadan's aquaculture farm.

As everyone knows, Shi Dadan's aquaculture is as simple as breathing. He only needs to buy fish fry, throw them into the pond, feed them regularly, and he doesn't need to worry about anything else. He doesn't need to care about the water temperature, he doesn't need to study aeration, and sometimes he even forgets to feed them, it doesn't matter, the fish won't starve to death if they go hungry for a couple of meals.

No matter what his competitors do to target him—whether it's poisoning or cutting off the power—it can't affect Shi Dadan's fish farm in the slightest. The fish he raises are the best in the area, and all the seafood vendors are vying for them.

For many years, industry peers have believed that Shi Dadan must have a secret fish-raising formula. This formula must be very mysterious and secretive, which is why they have been trying to find out even the slightest clue after so many years of searching and trying every method.

This also led to the planting of many spies in Shi Dadan's farm. To be precise, none of the employees in his farm were not spies.

However, Shi Dadan didn't care at all. Those who could become spies were all professionals, and being a spy meant ensuring they were diligent and conscientious employees before being exposed. Shi Dadan welcomed these hardworking spies who didn't care about wages and just wanted to stay at the farm to steal trade secrets. He didn't investigate them at all, relying mainly on trust.

Shi Dadan's farm even had veteran spies who had worked there for seven or eight years.

The pressure of receiving two salaries for years without escaping any useful information has increased the spies to the point that they are willing to leak anything.

The words that Shi Dadan's wife cursed at the fishpond were also spread out as a secret breeding method, and even the exact words were spread out.

When Shi Dadan's wife found out about this, she was so angry that she went to the fish farm and cursed at the fish pond again.

Overall, Qin Huai and Cao Guixiang's chat last night was very relaxed and enjoyable. They talked about whatever came to mind, and if neither of them were early risers and didn't have to go to bed early and get up early the next day, Qin Huai and Cao Guixiang probably could have chatted until one or two in the morning.

Going to bed early means waking up early.

At 5 a.m. the next morning, Qin Huai woke up. It was still dark outside, but Cao Guixiang and Zhang Chu were already up. The kitchen was filled with the rich aroma of chicken soup. Zhang Chu stood at the kitchen door drinking the soup, and the aroma wafted from the kitchen all the way to the living room.

"Little Qin, you're up so early!" Zhang Chu said to Qin Huai with a smile, holding a bowl of soup. "Let me taste it for your Grandma Cao to see if it's salty enough."

Qin Huai glanced at the bowl of soup that was still more than half full, nodded in understanding. Here, to taste the saltiness, you had to taste the whole bowl.

My family has the means.

After a quick wash, Qin Huai put on an apron and went into the kitchen to start making hand-kneaded noodles.

Making hand-kneaded noodles is very simple for Qin Huai. Unlike stretched noodles, hand-kneaded noodles do not require skills. It only requires maximizing the basic skill of dough preparation. The higher the skill level, the better the hand-kneaded noodles will be.

Although making hand-kneaded noodles does not require proofing.

Qin Huai always felt that the game system named this basic skill "Fermented Dough" because it was a general term for the opponent's overall basic skills.

Cao Guixiang stood in the kitchen watching Qin Huai knead dough. After only a few dozen seconds, she couldn't help but exclaim, "His progress is truly astonishing."

"Is Zhiweiju really that good? You went to Zhiweiju for a few months of training and you achieved such results. If that's the case, I think you could stay at Zhiweiju for a few years. After a few years, you might replace your Master Zhou and become the best pastry chef."

Qin Huai knew Cao Guixiang was joking, but he still explained seriously, "Master Zhou teaches very well, but I don't just learn from Master Zhou."

"Oh, Xiao Qin, you have other masters behind our backs?" Cao Guixiang raised an eyebrow.

"If that's really the case, I have a lot of masters, and several of them are surnamed Jiang. One is surnamed Qin, and I don't know the surnames of others."

Cao Guixiang gave her a knowing look: "The Complete Book of Dim Sum, right? The first time I heard you say you learned to make dim sum from recipes, I didn't believe you. Now that it's been a while, I'm actually curious to see what this complete book of dim sum you're talking about looks like and what's written in it. I know that in the past, many masters would contribute their recipes and compile them into books, and some even didn't reveal their names, only providing the recipes, but this..."

“Even the main characters in TV dramas can’t get martial arts manuals; they have to rely on their own self-study to become skilled. They still need a master to guide them.”

“Gui Xiang, you’re wrong about that. In some martial arts novels, the protagonist learns his divine skills by reading secret manuals.” Zhang Chu objected.

Cao Guixiang simply ignored him.

"Did Lao Shi tell you what time he's coming over for noodles?" Cao Guixiang asked Qin Huai.

"Normally it's 7 o'clock."

"Master, when will Qingqing and Zhiyun be coming for breakfast? Hand-kneaded noodles taste better fresh; if they sit on the cutting board for too long after they're made, they won't taste as good when cooked," Qin Huai asked.

As a breakfast chef who is very fond of giving special meals to his friends and family, Qin Huai will ensure the breakfast experience of every customer who receives a special meal.

"Don't worry about them, they probably won't be able to eat breakfast," Cao Guixiang said. "After dinner last night, they couldn't resist going back to sneak a bite, and if nothing unexpected happens, they'll get up around three or four in the morning to sneak another bite. Knowing Siyu's temper, she must have taken a few bags of snacks from her brother yesterday, and her family must have sneaked some too last night."

"Besides, I told them yesterday when I was cooking that only last night's meal was a big feast, and today's would just be ordinary home-cooked dishes. If I make another big feast today, they might restrain themselves and eat less when they sneak a bite in the middle of the night. Today, it's just ordinary home-cooked dishes..."

"It's already good enough that you can come for lunch."

Qin Huai found the argument very reasonable and silently lit a candle in his heart for the two families with connections.

S-grade fermented rice buns are certainly delicious, but it depends on what you compare them to.

Today's breakfast is chicken noodle soup, which has a high probability of being upgraded to S-level.

Has anyone ever tried S-grade noodles? Even Qin Huai hasn't.

Qin Huai couldn't even imagine what S-grade noodles would look like, especially since these noodles were cooked in chicken broth, which is naturally yellowish in color. S-grade chicken broth noodles... it wouldn't be surprising if a burst of golden light appeared after the lid was lifted, accompanied by the background music of the Great Wall.

With these strange ideas in mind, Qin Huai made the first batch of hand-kneaded noodles.

The prepared chicken broth was simmering on the stove.

Cooking noodles directly in chicken broth is undoubtedly a very luxurious way to eat, and none of the three people present questioned this luxurious method; they only expressed their anticipation.

"Master, you're a great noodle cook, please cook some for me," Qin Huai said with a smile.

The cooking process itself seems unremarkable in the current chicken noodle soup recipe, but it can still enhance the overall flavor. Between Qin Huai's cooking and Cao Guixiang's, even a fool would know which to choose.

Cao Guixiang knew, of course, that Qin Huai wanted to eat the best noodles, and expressed her understanding, taking over the responsibility of cooking the noodles.

"Just some greens, mushrooms, and eggs? Do you want me to poach two eggs?"

"No need, Master, one egg will do."

"Gui Xiang, I can eat two eggs!"

"You can only eat one. Have you forgotten your last medical report? Eat fewer eggs!"

Five minutes later, three fragrant bowls of noodles were ready.

It lacks the golden special effects, but it's pretty much the same.

The chicken broth is almost perfect, paired with impeccable hand-kneaded noodles. The broth wasn't intentionally made into a clear soup, but it felt very clear, with a rich aroma, and no obvious oily grease floating on the surface.

The green vegetables were cooked until they were a vibrant green, glistening with a few specks of oil, and the mushrooms were the same. A perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg was placed on top, making it hard to decide what to pick up with your first chopstick.

Looking at the chicken noodle soup in front of him, Qin Huai felt that it was both expected and somewhat unexpected.

[Longevity Noodles - Grade S]

This was the first truly S-grade dessert he had ever made. Although he didn't complete it all by himself, and half the credit should go to Cao Guixiang, it was indeed the first S-grade dessert he had ever made.

It wasn't as amazing or impressive as I had imagined.

It's even quite textbook-like.

From its aroma to its appearance, this bowl of noodles perfectly matches every normal diner's imagination of chicken broth noodles. This bowl of noodles is exactly what you can imagine the best, most delicious, and most perfect chicken broth-cooked noodles to look and smell like.

It wasn't beyond your expectations, but at the same time, it was a little beyond them.

Because it brings imagination into reality.

Zhang Chu couldn't wait to start eating.

As Cao Guixiang's husband, Zhang Chu is undoubtedly a very discerning gourmand, and he even eats better than the average gourmand.

Zhang Chu picked up the egg, vegetables, and noodles together and took a bite.

He bit into the noodles, popped the whole stalk of greens into his mouth, and took a third of an egg, the runny yolk dripping down his chopsticks and covering the noodles. Zhang Chu still had some egg yolk left at the corners of his mouth, his expression one of pure bliss as he frantically chewed the noodles, savoring this complex yet simple deliciousness.

Qin Huai chose to eat the eggs first.

Swallowing it in one gulp, the runny egg bursts in your mouth, the delicious egg and the savory broth filling your entire oral cavity. Qin Huai's mouth loudly cries out for a bite of crisp green vegetables to neutralize the flavor.

Qin Huai stuffed another piece of green vegetable into his mouth.

The moment the greens entered his mouth, Qin Huai understood why Jiang Chengde had added an egg and a few greens when cooking this bowl of longevity noodles. In the realm of cooking noodles, especially when using chicken broth, greens and eggs are an absolutely perfect match.

Simple combinations are the ultimate weapon!
Qin Huai glanced at Cao Guixiang and saw that she hadn't moved yet. She was smiling at him and Zhang Chu. He quickly smiled apologetically at Cao Guixiang and then took out his phone to take a picture in front of her.

Ah, the noodles were so tempting that I couldn't resist and started eating right away. I even forgot to take a picture and send it to Zhao Chengan and Tan Weian.

After taking the photo and sending it with one click, Qin Huai continued eating noodles.

He just ate the side dishes; now it's time for the main dish—noodles.

"Bliss."

Qin Huai never imagined that his hand-kneaded noodles could be cooked in such delicious chicken soup.

Hand-kneaded noodles are practically a marriage into a wealthy family.

Every noodle is coated in broth, and every chew delivers a delightful combination of chewiness and unparalleled deliciousness.

can not stop at all!

While eating this bowl of noodles, no one can have any distracting thoughts or ideas in their mind; they just want to keep eating.

They wouldn't even think about eating half a bowl and drinking a couple of sips of the soup to see how delicious the chicken soup really is; they just want to eat noodles.

"Bliss."

For a moment, the sounds of people eating noodles filled the living room.

With a series of satisfying gulps of soup as they slurped down their noodles and put their bowls down, Qin Huai and Zhang Chu slumped back in their chairs, staring contentedly at the empty bowls in front of them, marking the end of a thoroughly enjoyable breakfast.

Although Qin Huai was theoretically responsible for making breakfast today, he still acted as if he had never eaten breakfast made by himself before, and ate it all up.

In stark contrast to the unrestrained style of Zhang Chu and Qin Huai was Cao Guixiang. Cao Guixiang calmly and elegantly finished her noodles, sipped the broth slowly, put down the bowl, and savored the taste for a long time before saying to Qin Huai with great emotion:
“When you told me yesterday, I only understood it emotionally, but I didn’t really understand what you meant by textbook style.”

"Now I truly understand."

"It's really textbook-perfect."

(End of this chapter)