Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 690 - 354: Losing Oneself Amid Constant Praise (Part 2)

Well, he thought everyone else was fine; the main issue was him. He forgot to remind Su Qian not to be deceived by the sweet talk of the elderly men and women. They really loved charming snack masters!

Zheng Siyuan had fallen for their tricks before, and of course, still does often. Even now, Master Xiao Zheng can’t help but lose himself in their continuous praise.

Not knowing what to say, Qin Huai chose to remain silent. He quietly swallowed the dumplings in his mouth and asked, "Who made these soup dumplings?"

An enthusiastic new apprentice raised his hand: "I made them, Master Qin! I made them at 7:11. The temperature should be just right."

Qin Huai nodded slightly: "The temperature is quite palatable, and your dumpling wrapping technique is quite good. At least these dumplings look very pretty, much prettier than the ones you made on the second day."

Hu Apprentice almost gasped with excitement; he hadn’t expected Qin Huai to remember that he made soup dumplings on the second morning.

"But the skin still has problems. I remember I told you on the second day. The most critical aspect of soup dumpling skin is that it needs to be thin and resilient. You’ve managed resilience, but not the thinness. Without thinness, the texture isn’t right. They don’t look translucent, and the broth resulting from your carefully balanced filling and proper steam control tastes rather ordinary."

"You need to keep practicing, focus on kneading the dough."

"If there’s anything you’re unsure about, ask Pei Xing. He’s good at kneading dough."

"Okay, Master Qin!" Hu Apprentice almost shattered the sky with his excitement.

Qin Huai swallowed the last soup dumpling, clicking his tongue. While he listened to the elderly’s revelations about the current trend of self-exhaustion, Qin Huai ate Three Meat Buns, osmanthus cake, shrimp dumplings, meat pancakes, and soup dumplings, each provided in a small portion by Master Qin. A little taste of each was sufficient.

Every time Qin Huai tasted dishes, the apprentices of Zhiwei Restaurant hated how he and Qin Luo, his sibling, had different appetites. If only Qin Huai shared Qin Luo’s appetite, the apprentices would not just laugh in their dreams but wake up laughing for real.

Qin Huai thought he’d have some Shaomai.

Not the Golden Thread Shaomai made by Guli, whose routine is very consistent and doesn’t intentionally practice different kinds of snacks; he makes the same snacks every day. Before his trip to Guangdong Province, Qin Huai used to eat Golden Thread Shaomai and Ruyi Rolls daily, and he was starting to get tired of them.

Guli had received enough of Master Qin’s feedback. With his rate of progress, Qin Huai could go half a month without sampling or critiquing, and there would be no issues.

Qin Huai vaguely remembered someone else liked making Shaomai. Who was it again?

Qin Huai squinted, thought for two seconds, and then recalled.

Pei Xing!

Speaking of Pei Xing, Qin Huai had no idea what his particular fondness was. Before the apprentices from Zhiwei Restaurant arrived, Qin Huai had never noticed Pei Xing’s fondness for making Shaomai. His specialty was supposed to be puff pastry snacks, which overlapped with Su Qian. But ever since the Zhiwei Restaurant apprentices arrived, Pei Xing had been making Shaomai every morning, in large quantities, and the taste was rather mediocre.

Moreover, he initially denied making the Shaomai, despite doing so every day, making it obvious to Qin Huai who the daily tasty Shaomai, that ended up with Ouyang, were made by.

Speaking of which, where’s Pei Xing?

How come he’s not around? According to normal storyline, Pei Xing should be silently gritting his teeth in a corner now. If Qu Jing’s hospital didn’t lack a dental department, Qin Huai would have given Pei Xing two check-up cards to have his molars checked at Qu Jing’s hospital, lest his teeth shatter in his young age.

Is Pei Xing off today?

Qin Huai stretched his neck to look into various corners of the kitchen, finally spotting Pei Xing by the shelves, away from everyone, quietly searching for ingredients, with a faintly lifeless expression on his face.

If you had to use two words to describe Pei Xing’s psychological state these days, they’d be: numb.

In a sentence: tired, let it be ruined.

If, in the first few days of Zhiwei Restaurant apprentices’ arrival, Pei Xing still wanted to outperform them with graduate-level standards, by the time Qin Huai went to Guangdong Province, with apprentices running wild, Pei Xing was already exhausted.

Can’t compete, simply can’t keep up.

Haha, hilarious! If they hadn’t really gotten competitive, Pei Xing would’ve forgotten how he, a semi-related person, was eliminated from Zhiwei Restaurant back in the day.

Forget it, no point competing, whatever makes you happy. Go ahead, who can compete with you guys? Back then, he couldn’t keep up at Zhiwei Restaurant, and he left, never expecting that after changing to a new unit, you’d follow for competition.

What? Is Yunzhong Restaurant such a great place? Worth abandoning the chance to compete at Zhiwei Restaurant and travel all the way to Shan City for more competition.

Alright, it is pretty good indeed.

Wuwuwuwuwuwu.

What to do? Can’t compete, this group is too perverse, too excessive, too competitive. Is he even human? No wonder they’ve stayed at Zhiwei Restaurant for so many years, if they enjoy it there, they should stay there! Is it easy for me to find a good job? Why compete with me for my position?!

Recently, Pei Xing has despaired; he’s given up hopes like promotion, raises, striving for further achievements, or defeating Li Hua and An Youyou, which have become mere wishes.

No longer gnashing his teeth.

He’s tired; can’t bite anymore.

In the past few days, Pei Xing started considering whether to write a resignation letter, so when he’s fired, he can throw out a resignation letter to prove it wasn’t them firing him, it was that he simply didn’t want to stay.