Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1351: Chen Huixi Side Story (Part 3)

June 26th, Qin Huai arrived in Beiping.

Huihui’s birthday is on the 28th, and everyone else was set to arrive in Beiping on the 27th. Qin Huai arrived a day early to prepare the broth in advance.

Zheng Siyuan took an hour off from work to pick up Qin Huai from the airport, and they took the subway to the hotel Qin Huai had booked.

Zheng Siyuan has been working in Beiping for a few years now, and his work routine still follows that of a pastry chef. He starts work early and, as a result, finishes early too.

Now, Zheng Siyuan’s pastries are already the signature dish at Babaozhai. Even if Tong Dayan were to return, Zheng Siyuan would still be the rightful head chef. Over 60% of the customers come to Babaozhai primarily for his pastries. Despite this, Babaozhai remains a meat-focused restaurant, albeit with a twist.

The snacks at Babaozhai are served from 10 AM to 8 PM, and Zheng Siyuan usually gets off work around 7 PM. Compared to meat chefs, this is quite early as they usually finish around 10 PM and often have to work overtime.

Known for his work ethic, Zheng Siyuan rarely takes a day off, except when Zheng Da visits Beiping. He reluctantly takes two days off to accompany his father around the city. Taking two hours off to pick someone up from the airport was a rare occasion and a significant gesture.

To return the favor for Zheng Siyuan’s effort, Qin Huai went to his place after dropping off his luggage at the hotel and cooked a bowl of his favorite Chicken Soup Noodles.

By the way, this chicken broth was made by Zheng Siyuan himself.

There was one small flaw.

Currently, Qin Huai’s broth-making skills have surpassed Zheng Siyuan’s. In recent practice sessions, he mainly video-called Huang Shengli, while calls with Zheng Siyuan were more for feedback and identifying minor issues. Compared to Huang Shengli, Zheng Siyuan is more familiar with Qin Huai’s habits and quirks (even though Qin Huai no longer has quirks). Qin Huai trusts that if there were any subtle issues, Zheng Siyuan would notice them before Huang Shengli.

Zheng Siyuan’s home is an ordinary two-bedroom apartment.

The house was bought by Zheng Da.

Reportedly, when Zheng Da was buying the house, he wanted to get a large four-bedroom apartment to hint at Zheng Siyuan to find a wife in Beiping quickly, have two kids, and use the extra rooms as a music or art studio for the children.

However, Zheng Siyuan was unmoved. Not only did he refuse the large four-bedroom house, but he also turned down several blind date arrangements by Zheng Da. In the past two years, Zheng Da has come to terms with the fact that his unlucky son might never get married in this lifetime and doesn’t bother coming to Beiping, preferring to stay in Gusu with his granddaughter.

Zheng Siyuan enjoys the peace. He used to need his father’s guidance on culinary matters, but now he doesn’t need his father’s advice. Any questions can be directed to Qin Huai.

"So... do you want to get married or not? Last month, Tan Wei’an and Zhao Cheng’an made a bet at Zhiwei Restaurant on whether or not you would get married before you turn 40. You’re nearly 40 now, and Tan Wei’an is eager to set you up on blind dates." Qin Huai teased while scooping noodles from the pot, somewhat curiously gossiping.

"They bet Jixia’s teaching rights for a month. The loser has to give up the opportunity to provide one-on-one guidance to Jixia for a month."

Qin Huai served the noodles to Zheng Siyuan.

The freshly made Chicken Soup Noodles were hot but also fragrant. In the past two years, Zheng Siyuan’s broth-making skills have also improved, yielding a rich and delicious broth with a light yellow hue. This broth, paired with freshly poached eggs, green vegetables, and perfectly cooked mushrooms, was a feast for the senses.

Zheng Siyuan took the noodles but didn’t start eating right away; he set them aside.

He wasn’t Qin Luo, who had an iron tongue, throat, and stomach.

"Does it matter? Whichever one of them teaches, it still ends up being you teaching. Whenever there’s a problem, their first reaction is to video call you." Zheng Siyuan said with a hint of sarcasm.

"There is a bit of a difference. Zhao Cheng’an is more eloquent than Tan Wei’an." Qin Huai noted that in ordinary teaching, eloquence is essential.

"I really don’t get it. What kind of deep-seated hatred does your master have with Jiang Feng’s family that you repeatedly advised us not to mention you in front of the Jiang family, not even taking in such a promising protégé like Jixia but rather teaching remotely?"

"Aren’t the Qin Family and Jiang Family in-laws?"

Qin Huai couldn’t help but look up, seeing the speechless expression on Zheng Siyuan’s face, and asked, "Did you guys find that out?"

After Qin Huai woke up, he didn’t display his full capabilities right away. Instead, he concocted an exaggerated lie that was impossible for anyone to verify — he claimed to have apprenticed with a master back in his hometown, a true master with the surname Qin, retired for many years, not famous, but with incredibly high technical and teaching prowess in pastry making.

He was going to learn the craft from this master for a few years.

During those years, Qin Huai stayed mostly in Shan City, not visiting Gusu or Hangzhou, nor did he recruit apprentices for Zhiwei Restaurant, and never invited Zheng Siyuan over to exchange ideas. No matter how much Huang An Yao pleaded on WeChat about him crying out loud, Qin Huai only invited Wang Gen Sheng to Gusu to manage accounts. When people came to Shan City seeking Qin Huai, he seldom met with them, often using the excuse that he was learning from his recluse of a master, who had social anxiety and didn’t want to meet strangers, only meeting everybody after work hours.

You could say that during those three years, as far as everyone in Huang Ji and Zhiwei Restaurant, even Xu Cheng, were concerned, Qin Huai had vanished into thin air, learning under this mysterious master named Qin.

Throughout those three years, the master chefs at Zhiwei Restaurant and Zheng Da were grinding their teeth in frustration, cursing the mysterious Qin master countless times behind his back. Even though Zheng Da mobilized all his connections, he couldn’t find any renowned pastry master with the surname Qin in Guangdong Province who was capable enough to make Qin Huai vanish into thin air and take him on as a Direct Disciple.