Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 1177 - 564: Thank-You Gift

"Hic."

This is Xu Cheng's hiccup.

"Hic."

This is Jiang Yong's hiccup.

"Hic."

This is Lin Yi's hiccup.

'Hungry.'

This is Lin Yi's son's inner voice.

Lin Yi read his son's mind from his expression, holding a Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns in his left hand and a Three Meat Buns in his right hand. He took a bite of each in front of his son with a blank face. Even if he was full, he insisted on chewing thoroughly and swallowing.

This is respect for food!

Lin Yi's son wasn't the only one enjoying this treatment; Lin Er's daughter did too. Lin Er's son arrived late, later than both Xu Cheng and Jiang Yong. When he got there, the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns were almost out of the pot, so he didn't really participate in the discussion about distributing the gold bars and didn't express any opinion. By chance, he directly started eating.

Qin Huai came today simply to make snacks. An Youyou's "Finding Little Brother" series featuring Lin Qi had come to an end. If nothing unexpected happened, Qin Huai and the other two would head to Gusu the next day to start Xu Chenggang's series.

Then something unexpected happened.

Xu Cheng leaned against the kitchen door, nibbling on a Fermented Rice with Steamed Bun, incredulously asking Qin Huai, are you really not planning to be featured in "Taste"? When you were just starting out and hadn't seen the world, it was understandable that you didn't know Mr. Xu or the fame of "Taste." But now you're quite well-known, practically a rising sun in the Bai'an World, how can you be like this?

No, this is even more outrageous than before!

Before, you would at least be featured in "Taste," but now you won't even be on it!

Aren't these Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns more impressive than the guo'er from the beginning of the year issue?

Xu Cheng described every bite of the Fermented Rice with Steamed Bun as astonishing—astonishing for the first bite, the second bite, the third, the fourth...right up to this bite, purely astonishing.

Level S- steamed buns aren't necessarily one of a kind, but Xu Cheng hadn't tasted them before.

When Xu Cheng had the first bite, he didn't find it too astonishing because he didn't really eat steamed buns often. Without comparison, there couldn't be greater astonishment. It was only after he tried several other snacks that he slowly recognized the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns' impressiveness.

Of course, it might have been because he ate too many buff dishes in one go, and with so many buffs stacked together, the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns seemed even more impressive.

Sometimes steamed buns need to be eaten with other more flavorful things to truly taste their deliciousness.

Xu Cheng felt that Qin Huai was experiencing a disparity—last time, the guo'er was on the cover of the beginning of the year issue, but now these Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns were only on the cover of a regular issue. It seemed lacking.

Xu Cheng turned to Jiang Yong and asked, "Chief Editor Jiang, do we have enough content for the next issue of 'Taste'?"

Jiang Yong: "…Mr. Xu, if you write, we'll have enough."

By the way, 'Taste' used to be a monthly magazine, but this year, for some reason—maybe Xu Cheng was too busy and didn't have time to write—the magazine became a bi-monthly issue.

Xu Cheng: …

Xu Cheng glanced at Qin Huai, who was still kneading dough in the kitchen, looked at the Fermented Rice with Steamed Bun in his hand, and made a decision: "How about this, let's not publish next month, pause for a few months and say the magazine is restructuring. The beginning of the year issue will be a thicker edition, and Master Qin, your Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns will still be the cover for the beginning of the year issue, a thicker edition at that."

"But the column can't just focus on the Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns; it'll need to cover various snacks. What do you think?"

"'Taste' can specifically tag Yunzhong Restaurant for you. Last time, you wrote about Huang Ji to thank Master Huang for his support, focusing the guo'er piece on Master Huang. You've always been low-profile and never promote your own restaurant, so many people in the industry still think you work for Huang Ji. Recently, someone even sent me a message asking if you had changed jobs because Huang Ji hasn't had any new snacks in a while."

Xu Cheng felt he was very considerate. If Qin Huai wasn't a rising sun in the Bai'an World, he wouldn't have been this considerate. As a renowned food critic, Xu Cheng stated that he too had a lot of prestige.

Often, famous chefs develop new dishes and send him invitations to taste them, hoping to get a spot in 'Taste.'

Although Qin Huai seemed a bit unappreciative, Xu Cheng forgave him. Young people having a bit of arrogance is normal. Xu Cheng mentioned he had been young once, he understood.

If a person isn't a bit wild in their youth, what's the point? Especially young prodigies with talent. Xu Cheng wished that more talented and high-spirited chefs like Qin Huai would emerge in the culinary world so that he'd have more restaurants to enjoy.

Qin Huai was so startled by Xu Cheng's words that his hands trembled.

Business at Yunzhong Restaurant was already good enough; every time Qin Huai completed a task and received a crowd-drawing reward, he felt a bit scared. He had secretly begged the game system numerous times not to give this kind of reward anymore.

They really couldn't attract more people. Yunzhong Restaurant wasn't even listed on any review platforms!

If 'Taste' were to bring in more customers...

Qin Huai thought he might be reincarnated sooner than Luo Jun, working himself to death before him.

In a sense, Qin Huai and Huang Shengli had similar personalities. Huang Shengli's back injury was caused by working too hard when he was younger. Huang Ji's business was booming, and there were too many customers. Huang Shengli couldn't bear to make them wait so long only to find they couldn't eat, so he kept extending business hours, working over his limits. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Qin Huai was like that too.

If business at Yunzhong Restaurant really got to the point where customers started lining up at one or two in the morning just to buy a couple of buns, seeing the waiting customers outside would make Qin Huai unable to resist extending business hours, even if it meant sleeping in the kitchen with a blanket.

To prevent such situations, Qin Huai decided it was impossible for Yunzhong Restaurant to have that much business.

Or at least he wouldn't be aware of it.

"Mr. Xu, it's really not necessary." Qin Huai firmly refused, "I love reading 'Taste', and even my neighbors and friends love it too. I can say I haven't missed an issue this year. I also really like your articles."