CHAPTER 804: CHAPTER 405: HOME FIELD BATTLE (PART 2)

Temporarily planning to go back after the kids’ summer vacation, as for the excuse to run away, Shi Dadan found a great one. The seafood business is unstable, and he’s planning to scout other cities for better opportunities. As for what to investigate specifically or if he can investigate anything...

That’s all unknown.

In Shi Dadan’s words, if he doesn’t run now, once his wife gets tired of thrashing the kids, he’ll be next.

Their marital relationship can be described as very harmonious and friendly.

With Shi Dadan not around, the breakfast has to be handled by Qin Huai, Tan Wei’an, Guli, and Su Qian.

Since Zheng Da played a surprise this time, Qin Huai wasn’t aware beforehand, so everyone had breakfast before coming to the train station.

Qin Huai placed the takeout boxes on the small table and opened them one by one.

A very beautiful breakfast.

The soup dumplings were small and delicate, perfectly shaped, with each fold pinched particularly well. The skin was thin, in a perfect semi-translucent state. Even without picking one up with chopsticks and biting into it, you can imagine the burst of juice in the mouth.

The paper-thin shao mai are even more so, the snacks live up to their name, looking like paper. The filling made by Zheng Da consists of glutinous rice mixed with minced meat and bamboo shoots, savory and very fresh. Each grain of glutinous rice is stained with the meat sauce, sticky and gooey, truly a masterpiece among masterpieces.

These two snacks are currently Qin Huai’s breakfast favorites.

Without any hesitation, Qin Huai pulled the two boxes of snacks towards himself and pointed at the remaining four boxes, asking Tan Wei’an, "Which of these four do you want to eat?"

Tan Wei’an thought for a moment, "Shrimp dumplings."

The apprentices at Zhiwei Restaurant knew that Qin Huai loved shrimp dumplings, but unfortunately, none of them were particularly skilled at making them. Even though an unnamed apprentice who could make shrimp dumplings was later sent over, the results were mediocre.

Nothing compared to Zheng Da’s craftsmanship.

Qin Huai handed the remaining two boxes to Su Qian and Guli at the front, and even gave them each a pair of disposable chopsticks.

Zheng Da, for some reason, provided 5 pairs of chopsticks with 5 takeout boxes, clearly from Huang Jishun’s disposable chopsticks.

Qin Huai picked up a paper-thin shao mai and took a bite.

Mmm, satisfying.

The paper-thin shao mai, although made with glutinous rice, tasted more like fresh meat shao mai, with the characteristic stickiness of glutinous rice. The meat sauce was fully absorbed into the glutinous rice, every bite tasting of meat, with bamboo shoots adding the perfect finishing touch.

The outermost layer of the shao mai skin not only acted as a wrapper and for shaping, but its slightly hard texture combined with the juicy, sticky filling of glutinous rice was a perfect match, often slipping off like a clump when picked up with chopsticks.

This box had a total of six paper-thin shao mai, fully packed. After eating two, Qin Huai was almost full, so he moved on to the soup dumplings to fill in the gaps.

Just as expected, the soup dumplings had thin skins and were filled with juice. Despite the thin skin, it was not easy to puncture, avoiding any regret from spilled juice once picked up.

With each bite, the slightly warm liquid, with a hint of sweetness but primarily salty, bursts in the mouth, giving an immense sense of satisfaction.

After eating two more soup dumplings, Qin Huai was completely full, putting down his chopsticks to watch Tan Wei’an eat.

Tan Wei’an’s eating capability was slightly lower than Qin Huai’s, becoming full after three shrimp dumplings, left only to sigh at the snacks.

"Qin Huai, what do you think is the reason behind Master Zheng’s actions today? How come he suddenly made so many snacks early in the morning especially to deliver them to you at the train station? I’ve never seen Master Zheng make these kinds of breakfasts before. Zheng Siyuan always said Master Zheng didn’t bother making such simple snacks," Tan Wei’an wondered.

"Master Zheng doesn’t usually make these snacks, today..." Qin Huai paused, "maybe he wanted to see me off."

"See you off?" Tan Wei’an was puzzled, "Gusu to Hangzhou is just an hour by bullet train. I remember Master Zheng has a factory in Hangzhou, he often goes there. What’s there to see you off for?"

"The meaning is different," Qin Huai could only say this.

Qin Huai somewhat understood Zheng Da’s mindset.

Last time Qin Huai left Huang Ji was to go home, this time it’s to learn a skill. Although Qin Huai never formally took Zheng Da as a mentor, anyone could tell how much Zheng Da wanted him as an apprentice. By all accounts, Qin Huai was Zheng Da’s junior.

Now, Zheng Da’s favorite junior was heading to the place he disliked most to learn, likely from his most detested Master Zhou. Even with considerable dissatisfaction, Zheng Da had to admit that when it comes to Finger Skill, Master Zhou was far superior.

Zheng Da felt both unsatisfied yet certain that Qin Huai should go to Zhiwei Restaurant, and had a strong desire to show off to Qin Huai. Under such conflicted emotions, Zheng Da chose to make something he usually disdained to do, but which Qin Huai loved, to demonstrate his true capability to his dear junior.

Qin Huai pondered how to send a message to Zheng Da.

Gratitude was necessary, as Zheng Da specially made breakfast for him, deserving a heartfelt note of thanks. But how to write this note, and from what angle, required consideration.

While Qin Huai was composing the note, he suddenly remembered a piece of gossip he’d long wanted to ask about. Glancing at Tan Wei’an beside him, he noticed that even though he was stuffed from the shrimp dumplings, he couldn’t resist the temptation and was struggling to chew on the paper-thin shao mai.