Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 701 - 358: Who Got Him All Riled Up?

"What do you think of this dough?"

"Should it be a bit softer? I feel like the texture of that last batch of Double Crab Buns was lacking. Maybe a softer dough paired with the filling would work better."

"Possibly, I’ll give it a try."

"Qin Huai, taste my sauce, has it improved? I feel my thickening has gotten a bit better this time. Is it more suitable for the Double Crab Bun now?" Zang Liang brought the Crab Yellow Sauce up to Qin Huai.

Qin Huai dipped his chopsticks and tasted it, nodding, "The flavor is a bit lighter than last time; this will definitely fit better than the previous one."

"Then I’ll keep working in this direction!" Zang Liang happily ran back to continue with the thickening, the invisible big tail behind him wagging quickly, almost as if ’happy’ was written all over his face.

"Si Yuan, keep kneading the dough; that batch of Double Crab Buns is almost ready. I’ll go take a look. There should be some sea cucumber left, right? I’ll try to season the next batch of filling. I have a bit of an idea now." Qin Huai put down his chopsticks and walked toward the steamer.

Zheng Siyuan had already started kneading again, not even raising his head, saying, "Alright, you try the next batch. I’ll handle the kneading."

Qin Huai quickly walked to the steamer, observed the steam, checked the time, and waited tens of seconds before donning gloves to open the top steamer lid.

Another batch of Double Crab Buns was done.

This was already the 8th batch of buns the Double Crab Bun Research Team steamed this afternoon.

People who often make buns know that the preparation time for buns is very long, whether it’s handling the filling or kneading and fermenting the dough. It’s a significant workload.

But the steaming time is very short, a rack of buns only takes a few minutes to steam. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Moreover, the speed of making a small and large number of buns is entirely different. Qin Huai and the others are in the trial stage, making very few buns each batch, with each batch controlled at 25 (less would be hard to control), so the production speed is swift.

Even after steaming 8 batches, it’s only a little past 3 in the afternoon.

During this period, there were also tastings, discussions, and reviews. As Yunzhong Restaurant’s only Master Qin, Qin Huai took the time to make a batch of Green Bean Cakes, Rice Cakes, and Red Bean Paste Buns, and gave a few pointers to Pei Xing, who seemed to have taken some miracle cure since the morning and practically opened his governor and conception vessels.

By the way, Pei Xing is still making Shaomai, and the Shaomai is selling well.

Shaomai is a very common, daily, and inexpensive snack. The regular Shaomai Pei Xing makes in the morning usually sells out entirely, let alone the special variant he’s making today.

Qin Huai can make so many snacks, and typically didn’t sell Shaomai during breakfast. Chen An, as the breakfast chef, would make Shaomai in the morning, but Chen An’s Shaomai is very average—truly average, much more so than Pei Xing’s, so compared to other ordinary meals, Shaomai was not very popular.

Recently, some apprentices at Zhiwei Restaurant also started making breakfast in the morning, but honestly, most of these apprentices can’t match Pei Xing’s skill level, and none specialize in Shaomai.

This makes Pei Xing’s Shaomai stand out significantly today, even warranting the description of being very popular. It’s probably the most popular day for Pei Xing since he joined Yunzhong Restaurant.

Even though Qin Huai believes that Pei Xing’s Shaomai is so popular because of its low price (the same as Chen An’s Shaomai), he chooses not to mention it for the sake of his loyal official employee’s confidence.

Having worked at Yunzhong Restaurant for so long, Qin Huai fully understands Pei Xing and Li Hua’s personalities.

Li Hua may seem demure, a rather introverted person, but he’s just averse to trouble and very steady. He’s a mature worker—diligent, hardworking, ambitious, and can accommodate colleagues (like Pei Xing) to a certain degree, making him an exceptional employee.

And Pei Xing seems lively, but in truth, he’s somewhat fragile. He always appears confident, but it’s actually a way to mask his lack of confidence; otherwise, he wouldn’t be secretly gritting his teeth every day in the corner.

It’s rare to have a chance to boost the confidence of an employee lacking it, and Qin Huai is quite willing to lend a helping hand.

For instance, he secretly contacted Xu Tuqiang, asking him to tell the seniors in Yunzhong District to compliment Pei Xing’s Shaomai today, saying it’s delicious, almost as good as Master Qin’s Shaomai.

Xu Tuqiang has already started guiding the seniors to write compliments, assigning each a few lines, ensuring that when the time comes, the praise won’t repeat. Right now, Pei Xing is still busily making Shaomai in the kitchen, unaware of the wonderful events about to unfold, but by the end of the day...

He’ll probably be posting jubilant updates on his Weibo side account.

As for how Qin Huai knows about Pei Xing’s Weibo side account...

Qin Huai can only say his dear sister, Qin Luo, has quite the knack for being a war correspondent. During the New Year, while playing on her phone and browsing Weibo, she came across Pei Xing’s side account, praising the small Master Pei at Yunzhong Restaurant.

Qin Luo found it odd at the time because the seniors who love to compliment and sometimes practice on Pei Xing and Li Hua usually do so directly in their Moments, rarely on Weibo (seniors don’t use Weibo). The office workers who do use Weibo seldom praise Pei Xing; they mostly praise Qin Huai, highly recommending and actively participating in the occasional Yunzhong Restaurant sweepstakes.