Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 1179 - 565: The Huang Ji Crew Is Shocked

After Qin Huai landed in Gusu, he went straight to Huang Ji after checking into the hotel.

When Qin Huai arrived at Huang Ji, it was just after lunch hours, and there were still a few tables of guests in the hall finishing their meals. With just a glance, Qin Huai knew that business at Huang Ji was certainly not what it used to be. In the past, when Guo'er first appeared in "Taste", closing time and stopping kitchen operations were essentially two separate things.

Back then, the last batch of lunch diners at Huang Ji typically finished eating around 4 PM, followed immediately by the dinner crowd at 5:30 PM. It was hard to tell whether the waitstaff in the hall or the kitchen staff were under more pressure, as everyone was constantly working, wishing they had four legs and eight arms.

Now it's different; now Huang An Yao can even leisurely sit at a small four-person table in the hall and eat fried rice.

Qin Huai glanced over from a distance—it was Yangzhou Fried Rice, and he could instantly tell it was made by Huang Shengli. The dish had plenty of ingredients, clear colors, loose grains, and looked very refreshing, without the greasy feeling of fried rice from roadside shops, definitely a bowl of fried rice that could make someone's mouth water.

Qin Huai plunked down on the seat opposite Huang An Yao.

"Qin Huai!" Huang An Yao was thrilled, causing grains of rice to fall out of his mouth without much image, effectively stopping Qin Huai from wanting to eat a few bites of Yangzhou Fried Rice. "You came today! Uncle Gong said you'd be staying in Shanghai for a few more days, so I thought you'd come next week."

"Finished my business in Shanghai," Qin Huai said. "How's business at Huang Ji lately?"

"So-so, not good nor bad, definitely not losing money." Huang An Yao excitedly said as he stuffed fried rice into his mouth, "I've kept all the accounts for you, all the accounts from the past few months are there, you can take them back to Huishan City to settle!"

Qin Huai: ?

I'm the major shareholder of Huang Ji, not Huang Ji's top employee. So you can't make sense of the accounts and are just waiting for me to get Uncle Wang to sort them out, huh?

"Brother Jun's mom just had surgery, and Brother Jun is still at the hospital back home taking care of her. Brother Jun asked me to apologize to you, saying he'll come to Yunzhong Restaurant when his mom is discharged." Huang An Yao continued.

"Brother Jun already told me about this; I've told him not to worry," Qin Huai nodded.

After Qin Huai became the major shareholder of Huang Ji, Wang Jun's long-term exchange to Yunzhong Restaurant was put on the agenda. Originally, Wang Jun had packed his bags and was ready to set off, but it turned out his mom had a tumor that needed to be removed during a check-up, so Wang Jun took a long leave to care for his mother.

This was actually a minor matter, but it was a bit bitter for Yunzhong Restaurant's loyal customers. If Wang Jun went to Yunzhong Restaurant as the meat chef, customers could enjoy better dishes, at least not as salty stewed pork with preserved vegetables.

To this day, Qin Huai still couldn't understand why his two hardworking and diligent meat chefs made the stewed pork with preserved vegetables so salty.

Perhaps this is the persistence of community canteen chefs.

Just like Qin Congwen insists on making salty dumplings.

After devouring the fried rice in a few bites, Huang An Yao excitedly dragged Qin Huai to the kitchen. This was Qin Huai's first visit to Huang Ji after becoming the major shareholder, but his status didn't bring much change; even as the major shareholder, he couldn't enter the kitchen without changing into work clothes, leaving Qin Huai to chat with everyone at the entrance.

Dong Shi chattered to Qin Huai about the exciting gossip accumulated over time, barely getting through two before being interrupted by Huang Shengli, who had just returned from physiotherapy.

Huang Shengli's back had already healed, but still required regular physiotherapy. Doctors repeatedly reminded him not to overwork; otherwise, his back injury would easily recur.

Huang Shengli laughed as he looked at Qin Huai, carefully examining him, and said, "You've lost weight."

Qin Huai touched his face, thinking it wasn't that bad.

There is a kind of thinness that comes from elders thinking you've lost weight.

Since he's already here, Qin Huai had no intention of being idle. When Qin Huai wasn't at Huang Ji, there was no pastry chef, and the pastry snacks would be completely removed from the menu.

If Zheng Siyuan and Zheng Da were willing to drop by randomly, the pastry snacks might briefly return to the menu. However, if Qin Huai wasn't at Huang Ji, Zheng Siyuan and Zheng Da rarely dropped by, especially Zheng Da.

After caring a bit about Qin Huai's recent situation, Huang Shengli started enthusiastically complaining about his Master Zheng's laziness lately. Snacks were not being made, striving for excellence was impossible, there was nothing in the business that required too much worry, but he would definitely mooch meals.

Besides occasionally arranging matchmaking for Zheng Siyuan, which Zheng Siyuan refused, leading to a big fight between father and son, with Zheng Da angrily declaring that he wouldn't care if Zheng Siyuan ended up alone; then a week later, arranging another matchmaking, falling into a repetitive cycle. Apart from that, he would visit his daughter's house and play with his granddaughter, enjoying a happy retirement life.

Zheng Da not only retired himself but also occasionally advised Huang Shengli not to work so hard, encouraging Huang Jia to work diligently and take on Huang Ji's heavy responsibility.

Huang An Yao definitely couldn't be relied upon, just like his unfortunate son Zheng Siyuan. If Huang An Yao as the Young Master wants to redeem his reputation, he would have to coax Qin Huai to reside in Gusu permanently from Huishan City.

Qin Huai: ...

That might indeed be a bit too difficult for Huang An Yao.

As Huang Shengli was enthusiastically complaining, Zheng Da arrived.

Seeing Zheng Da the first time, Qin Huai knew why Huang Shengli's first reaction upon seeing him was to remark how he had slimmed down.

Thinness is relative.

Qin Huai may not have lost weight, but Zheng Da certainly has gained weight.

Zheng Da's retirement life seems quite happy; he's gained a circle of happiness fat, looking very evenly rounded all over, making him appear much more kindly.