CHAPTER 500: CHAPTER 276: ARE YOU HIDING ANOTHER MASTER FROM ME?

Zheng Siyuan’s reply made Qin Huai feel that his master-level filling skills were not for nothing. He chatted with Zheng Siyuan on WeChat for a while, sharing insights on making Four Happiness glutinous rice balls during the New Year period.

He casually told Zheng Siyuan not to go to Shan City anytime soon, as he himself wasn’t sure when he would be back in Huishan City. They planned to set a date after Han Youxin’s birthday banquet in March.

By then, Master Xiao Zheng would return like lightning, giving a pleasant surprise to the patrons of Yunzhong Restaurant.

After all, Zheng Siyuan’s pastry shop had just finished renovating and reopened. Having to close again just days after reopening would make the neighborhood groan in despair.

Zheng Siyuan agreed after some thought, and shared his recent experiences in pastry-making with Qin Huai on WeChat, while complaining about how his father had been pushing him to go on blind dates during the entire Lunar New Year.

Previously, both Zheng Siyuan and Zheng Da were working at Huang Ji, so Zheng Siyuan didn’t have time for blind dates, and Zheng Da didn’t have time to find suitable partners for dating. Almost as soon as Qin Huai returned home for the New Year, Zheng Da started slacking. He worked seriously on the new year gift boxes for only a few days before going on strike, while also lining up blind dates for Zheng Siyuan from the third day of the Lunar New Year to the fifteenth.

All of them were talented women from various fields, including quite a few fellow chefs, both in meat cooking and pastry.

Qin Huai was stunned, thinking that Zheng Da had quite a wide network. Female chefs in the chef circle, whether in meat cooking or pastry, are very few, especially in meat cooking. Outstanding female chefs are as rare as a phoenix’s feather.

For Zheng Da to scout them out, it was impressive.

At the end of the conversation, Qin Huai curiously asked: Did you fancy anyone?

Zheng Siyuan: No.

Zheng Siyuan: Their cooking skills don’t match mine, and I have no common language with them.

Qin Huai: Haha.

During the chat with Zheng Siyuan, Tan Wei’an also replied.

Tan Wei’an’s emotions were simple, just shock, shock, shock, and jealousy.

In summary, it was two words: Holy shit.

A screen full of "Holy shit" and "Bro, what kind of elixir did you take, is this even reasonable?" made Qin Huai’s eyes hurt. Qin Huai replied with a simple "Next time we meet, I’ll make it for you" to end the chat.

The third to reply was Huang Shengli, who directly called.

Huang Shengli’s call was very layered and rich in content. First, he said "Happy New Year" just like on the morning of New Year’s Day, then he showed concern for Qin Huai’s life during the New Year. Upon learning that Qin Huai spent the entire holiday in the kitchen making Four Happiness glutinous rice balls, he was both pleased and concerned about Qin Huai’s health, advising him not to overwork and to take care of himself, lest he suffer long-term consequences.

Only then did they discuss the meat filling that Qin Huai had sent him, talking through each step in detail, with Huang Shengli finally saying with satisfaction:

"Xiao Qin, you manage to improve so much even without anyone guiding you beside you. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. Is Luoluo really that much of a motivator for you? All because your sister loves to eat, your progress is this apparent."

Qin Huai knew that Huang Shengli said this jokingly, so he responded with a smile: "What can I say, Master Huang, you know since I was young, I’ve only made snacks because Luoluo wanted to eat them."

Although this time, it was for the March birthday banquet, for Cheng Gong’s side mission.

No worries, after all, Qin Luo had also eaten her share of the Four Happiness glutinous rice balls these days; she almost got sick of them. Occasionally letting Luoluo take the blame is quite fine.

"Xiao Qin, what are you doing now..."

"I’m sunbathing in the courtyard and playing with my phone." Qin Huai said, "I’m not afraid you’ll laugh at me; I’ve been making Four Happiness glutinous rice balls so much I’ve gone a little dizzy. Today, after finally making such beautiful meat filling, I took a photo and went out to sunbathe. The filling is still in the kitchen, waiting to be wrapped."

Huang Shengli’s hearty laughter came through the phone: "Sunbathing is good; winter is made for sunbathing. I won’t delay your rest, Xiao Qin. If you encounter any problems while cooking, feel free to message me. If I don’t reply promptly, call your Master Zheng; he’s free."

"Alright." Qin Huai hung up and continued to play with his phone.

On the other end of the call, in Huang’s Kitchen, Huang Shengli held his phone, looking at Zheng Da, who was standing in front of him still with his ears perked up to listen, and said helplessly: "He’s hung up."

"Senior Brother, why didn’t you ask the question I told you to ask?" Zheng Da said urgently, "Xiao Qin is talented, yes, but not to this extent. How could he possibly make such amazing meat filling by himself in such a short time?"

"Someone must have guided him. I can tell from looking at the meat filling that it’s been treated with a special secret recipe."

"And haven’t you noticed, since the sixth day of the New Year, Xiao Qin hasn’t sent us any WeChat messages asking about cooking skills, not even sharing anything."

"Do you think he could have met a new master during the New Year?"

"Are there any renowned chefs from Guangdong Province who are from the same place as Qin Huai? I need to check their hometowns. Who on earth would not stay at the hotel to work during the New Year but instead run home? I need to find out who went home for the New Year."

Zheng Da was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Huang Shengli was all helplessness: "When Xiao Qin was here, I didn’t see you putting in much effort or working hard. After just two days of excitement, you couldn’t resist slacking off; what are you anxious about now?"

"Xiao Qin’s talent being recognized by a passing master isn’t surprising, is it?"

"No, but now..."

Huang Shengli interrupted Zheng Da: "Just admit, the filling he sent today, isn’t it beautiful?"

"Beautiful, too beautiful. If when I first met Xiao Qin in Shan City, he could make such beautiful filling, I wouldn’t have had the urge to become his master." Zheng Da, considering himself a pastry genius, feels the urge to take in talents as disciples, but in front of a genius among geniuses, he can only acknowledge his limitations.

"If Xiao Qin continued to stay at Huang Ji for exchanges, how long do you think it would take him to make such beautiful filling?" Huang Shengli asked again.

This question left Zheng Da silent.

Zheng Da found it difficult to answer.

For a long time, Zheng Da honestly said: "He couldn’t make it."

"This filling clearly has a special secret recipe; I don’t have it, can’t teach it. If it were left for Xiao Qin to figure out by himself, it might take him ten, twenty, or even thirty years, and he might never get it right."

"See." Huang Shengli softened his tone, "I’m a meat cooking expert, you are pastry; you should be able to understand better than I how the meat filling in the photo that Xiao Qin sent is so beautiful, largely due to the newfound secret recipe apart from his improved filling skills."

"Such a secret recipe, when used by a street vendor, is called a centennial family tradition."

"In an ordinary chef, it’s called a signature skill."

"In a famous chef, it’s also a unique secret recipe. Ask yourself, would you, on recognizing how significantly such a secret recipe enhances meat filling, teach it to anyone other than your direct disciple, just by observing from a photo?"

"If you, Zheng Da, hadn’t gone into business, but instead stayed as a chef all those years, spending a lifetime discovering such a secret recipe, would you have given it to Xiao Qin right when you first met him?"

Zheng Da was directly silenced by this barrage of questions by Huang Shengli, and silence was his answer.

"So what if Xiao Qin knows a new master? This master is both skilled in cooking and generous. As Xiao Qin’s Master Zheng, shouldn’t you be glad that Xiao Qin knows this new master?" Huang Shengli asked with a smile.

Zheng Da sighed deeply: "Senior Brother, am I out of the game?"

"You’ve been out of the game for a while." Huang Shengli spoke frankly, stabbing the younger brother with the sharp knife of truth.

"You should be grateful that you were the first to discover Xiao Qin. You will always be the first Master Zheng to find him."

"Even if later there is Master Wang, Master Zhang, Master Zhao, or Master Li, both you, Master Zheng, and I, Master Huang, are at the top of the list."

"With ’Zhiwei’ as evidence."

After this persuasion, Zheng Da cheered up, took out his phone, and checked flight tickets.

Huang Shengli noticed, and saw that he was looking at tickets to Sanya.

Huang Shengli: ?

"Ugh, I’ve been working hard lately, and there’s not much going on with the business that needs my attention, so I’m thinking of relaxing by the seaside for a while."

Then Zheng Da started calling his wife: "Hey, honey, how about we take our daughter and Yiyi to stay in Sanya for a while in a few days? Didn’t you say to our daughter a few days ago that it’s been a while since we took a trip?"

"The factory? There’s nothing going on at the factory recently; if something comes up, I’ll just fly back."

"Si Yuan? Si Yuan definitely won’t go; he needs to be coaxed three or four times even to go on a blind date. He’d rather be nailed to his pastry shop, so just the three of us."

"Alright, you tell our daughter, I’ll book the hotel."

Huang Shengli: ...

He immediately regretted having said what he just did.

Zheng Da, you lazy donkey, who doesn’t even make snacks a few times a year. Without the carrot of Qin Huai dangling in front of you, you wouldn’t be pulling the grindstone at all.

"Senior Brother, will you go?"

"Get lost."