Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 593 - 314: Pork and Vegetable Buns
CHAPTER 593: CHAPTER 314: PORK AND VEGETABLE BUNS
Faced with Qin Huai’s sudden meeting, the employees in the kitchen all appeared calm, as if each one could guess what Qin Huai wanted to discuss with An Youyou.
In fact, everyone could indeed guess.
It was nothing more than a promotion and a raise.
Qin Huai favored An Youyou, and An Youyou was adept at flattering, always making remarks that caused Pei Xing to grind his back teeth in hatred. This was no secret in Yunzhong Restaurant.
Moreover, An Youyou did indeed have some merits.
She could endure hardship, was willing to put in the work, happy to work overtime, was a foundational member of the company, and also had a good name.
Yes, in the eyes of many employees, An Youyou’s greatest advantage was having a good name that the boss remembered.
The downside of being remembered by the boss is that the boss only remembers you for errands and calling on you by instinct. The upside is that the boss genuinely remembers you and prioritizes you for promotions and raises.
Of course, the former is more common, the latter depends on the boss’s conscience.
Qin Huai was evidently a conscientious boss.
The above statement was Pei Xing’s heartfelt words, and Pei Xing suggested hanging this statement in the kitchen, noting that it was said by him, and it would be even better if they added a line saying Qin Huai is the most respected pastry chef by Pei Xing.
After slicing the radishes, Qin Huai took a photo and sent it to Cao Guixiang for Master Cao to check the work, then started making vegetable and meat buns.
For a level C vegetable and meat bun to be made by Qin Huai, it was absolutely an overwhelming advantage.
It’s not boasting to say Qin Huai could make C-level buns with his eyes closed now.
Okay, maybe not with eyes closed, but definitely with one eye open and one eye closed.
Having seen the detailed process of Jiang Weiguo making vegetable and meat buns in a dream, Qin Huai didn’t even watch a video tutorial, just instructed An Youyou and a few helpers to prepare the filling and started kneading the dough.
Admittedly, the filling made by An Youyou and the others wasn’t great, but the vegetable and meat bun didn’t have high knife skill requirements for the filling—just diced pork fat and cabbage, it just needed to be chopped finely.
The only difficulty was in the seasoning.
When Jiang Weiguo made vegetable and meat buns, the ingredients were limited, using only basic salt for seasoning. But in a way, salt was enough, as adding too many condiments might overcomplicate this simple enough bun.
Soon, Qin Huai had seasoned three large bowls of filling.
Technically, Pei Xing and Li Hua should have clocked out by now, but they didn’t leave because they were genuinely curious why Qin Huai suddenly started making such normal, plain, even simple buns.
Previously, when Qin Congwen insisted on selling buns every morning, there would be extra ingredients mixed in the cabbage buns, like diced mushrooms for flavor enhancement. This pure cabbage mixed with pork fat bun could be called the plainest of plain buns.
Qin Huai was wrapping buns.
An Youyou was wrapping buns alongside Qin Huai.
Pei Xing and Li Hua voluntarily worked overtime since they didn’t want to leave after hours, wrapping buns at the culinary station a bit away from Qin Huai.
Pei Xing stared enviously at An Youyou’s back, angrily saying, "What flattery did An Youyou give this time, why is she wrapping buns so close to Master Qin, and we are so far away!"
Li Hua thought Pei Xing might have already gone a bit nuts because he couldn’t outdo him or An Youyou, calmly wrapping buns and saying without lifting his head, "Master Qin wants to discuss promotion and raise with An Youyou, calling her over to wrap buns together and casually chat about her thoughts, isn’t that quite normal?"
Pei Xing: "Damn, why can An Youyou get promoted and raised and I can’t?"
Li Hua: ?
A raise can be understood, but a promotion...
Aren’t both of us currently the highest-level pastry chefs in Yunzhong Restaurant? Where else can you get promoted to? To Master Qin’s level and become the boss? Young man, you must be planning a rebellion.
Li Hua shook his head, and no longer paid attention to Pei Xing.
Today, Pei Xing lost once again to him in seeking advice from Master Qin, and also lost repeatedly to An Youyou in flattering, better not provoke him further.
On Qin Huai’s side, Qin Huai indeed was chatting with An Youyou, a kind of friendly, spirit-supplied chat.
An Youyou also guessed she might be getting a promotion and raise, filled with joy.
"Youyou, how far is the place you’re currently living from our restaurant?" Qin Huai asked.
"Only 10 minutes!" An Youyou replied happily, "Master Qin, will I still be the one to fry the radish cakes in the future?"
An Youyou was a bit concerned, worried that a change in her job would also take away her title of Lady Radish Cake.
"Of course." Qin Huai said, indicating that with their relationship, especially considering her identity as the Three-legged Golden Toad, as long as she wanted, all the radish cakes at Yunzhong Restaurant would be hers to fry.
Qin Huai thought it was a good time to ask serious questions: "Do you have any plans for your future work?"
An Youyou was taken aback.
Qin Huai added, "I mean, do you have any development goals or anything you’d like to learn? I know you’ve been practicing knife skills recently, but practicing them is, after all, a very long process. You can’t spend your entire life in the kitchen just helping to chop meat filling and cabbage. Is there anything else you’d like to learn?"
An Youyou understood, the boss was asking if she had any ambitions.
Bosses always like employees who have perseverance, determination, can endure hardship, and are ambitious!
"I want to become a breakfast chef like Chen An!" An Youyou said loudly, "I now live close by, get up early, and work quickly. I can wrap buns, shumai, fry dough sticks, and make wontons. I actually know how to knead dough as well, but I’m not good at it, not as good as Master Qin, so everyone doesn’t let me knead."