CHAPTER 803: CHAPTER 405: HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

With the strong support of Zheng Da, Qin Huai smoothly completed the work handover at Huang Ji, and on May 19th, he boarded the high-speed train bound for Hangzhou.

When booking the tickets, Boss Su was very considerate, especially getting seats for Qin Huai and Tan Wei’an in the same row, with Guli and Su Qian seated behind them. The rest of the Zhiwei Restaurant apprentices weren’t even in the same carriage as these people.

The high-speed train from Gusu to Hangzhou only takes an hour. If Qin Huai wanted, he could even freshen up quickly after landing and head straight to the Zhiwei Restaurant’s kitchen to start working hard, feeling the advanced competitive culture of Zhiwei Restaurant.

However, Boss Su also mentioned that the competitiveness in Zhiwei Restaurant is only for apprentices, not for Master Chefs. Qin Huai is already a Master Chef, so it’s not his place to compete. He only needs to stand back and watch others work hard.

On the high-speed train, Qin Huai quietly took out five takeaway boxes from Huang Ji from his backpack. Each box was packed with snacks, and thanks to the increasing temperature, these snacks were still warm.

Without any fancy presentation, the kinds of snacks that would look out of place in a takeaway box, these five boxes were all filled with simple, unpretentious breakfast snacks that Qin Huai loves.

These were given to Qin Huai by Zheng Da before he boarded the train.

Since this wasn’t Qin Huai’s first time coming to Huang Ji, nor was it his first time leaving, he specifically told Huang Shengli not to arrange a farewell before he left. After all, he wasn’t leaving alone; there were so many people from Zhiwei Restaurant, each with a large suitcase, and it would take several vehicles to transport them, so there was really no need for a send-off.

Huang Shengli said he understood; young people nowadays don’t like the sentimental farewell scenes. Although Master Huang is no longer young, his mindset is very youthful. He would never make young people feel uncomfortable and wouldn’t stage any surprise at the train station in advance.

And indeed, that was the case—Huang Shengli didn’t do it, but Zheng Da did.

Boss Su had booked a 9:16 AM high-speed train for Qin Huai, but Qin Huai himself suffers from severe travel anxiety, usually arriving at the train station about an hour early just to be safe and avoid missing the train.

Therefore, Qin Huai arrived at the train station at 8 AM.

And that was when he saw Zheng Da, who had been waiting for some time at the entrance gate of the high-speed train.

When Qin Huai saw Zheng Da, he was wearing a checkered striped shirt that looked very loose and gave the impression that it was a $39 item picked up from a street stall, whereas it was actually a new ugly shirt from Balenciaga.

The shirt was paired with Versace jeans that seemed a bit too small and didn’t match at all, along with YSL shoes that were completely out of place with the rest of the outfit, as if he might head to a fashion show on the next street. This led to Zheng Da’s high-end combination being full of the aura of money, yet instead of exuding the fragrance of wealth, it made people feel like a middle-aged man unaware of brands buying cheap counterfeit goods at a street stall.

To top it off, while wearing these clothes, Zheng Da was holding a white transparent plastic bag with five takeaway boxes of what were clearly breakfast items like soup dumplings, shumai, and buns.

Combined with Zheng Da looking particularly exhausted and emotional, he gave off the vibe of a miserable middle-aged man who was trying to sell breakfast at the train station but couldn’t sell anything, worrying over his livelihood.

Upon seeing Qin Huai, Zheng Da didn’t say much, only passed the takeaway boxes to him in a somber manner, giving him a few simple words of caution, urging Qin Huai to learn well at Zhiwei Restaurant.

If someone bullies you, don’t hold back—just berate them. Among the Master Chefs at Zhiwei Restaurant, apart from Master Zhou, there’s no need to worry about the others. If you can’t win an argument, it’s ok; Zheng Da will personally go and help Qin Huai argue.

Finally, Zheng Da reminded Qin Huai not to forget breakfast. These five takeaway boxes of snacks were specially made by Zheng Da for Qin Huai this morning, all foods he loves to eat for breakfast.

Rice paper shumai, soup dumplings, Three Meat Buns, three fresh steamed dumplings, and shrimp dumplings.

It really was very considerate.

The only slightly unsuitable thing was overlooking Qin Huai’s appetite—he isn’t Shi Dadan and can’t eat so much heavy food for breakfast.

As for Shi Dadan, he is rather interested in going to Hangzhou for dim sum for a while, but not right now.

Shi Dadan is a bit reluctant to leave the good food in Gusu. He hasn’t had his fill yet at Huang Ji. Although Hangzhou has top-tier Bai’an Restaurants like Zhiwei Restaurant, it doesn’t have renowned high-end Hong An Restaurants like Huang Ji, which are slightly inferior in meat cooking.

In addition, Shi Dadan’s short-term rental in Gusu hasn’t expired yet. According to him, spending wisely is important, and even if the money saved on a few days’ meals is enough to cover the rent, it’s a waste not to use the rental. He says it’s not too late to head to Hangzhou when his rental expires.

At this point, someone might be curious—does Shi Dadan have no plans to return to Guangdong Province at all?

The answer is yes.

In Shi Dadan’s words, the business in Guangdong Province doesn’t require much attention from him. While he seems to be engaged in the seafood business, the real profit lies in aquaculture, which for him is as easy as pie—his presence doesn’t matter.

Moreover, his two unfortunate kids are not doing well in their studies, and as their grades drop, his wife’s blood pressure rises. Shi Dadan believes the children’s aversion to books is largely inherited from him. So, while it seems like he came to Laishan City to bond with Qin Huai and a bunch of spirit friends, in reality, he is escaping and fleeing from responsibility.