Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 731 - 369: Is It Really That Delicious

When Zang Liang and others returned to Yunzhong Restaurant, they caught the final batch of crab meat and pork buns made by Qin Huai.

Every batch was A-level.

Qin Huai felt a bit addicted, simply could not stop making them.

While experimenting with the Double Crab Bun previously, he always felt something was off, couldn’t get the balance right, making them strange and awkward, but couldn’t pinpoint the reason, causing him to develop a slight aversion to making Double Crab Buns.

The quantity of Double Crab Buns made each day wasn’t large; usually a light trial of twenty or so, keeping it very limited.

This directly resulted in very few people actually participating in the trial tasting of Double Crab Buns.

The staff in the kitchen certainly participated in the tasting; Qin Huai needed to solicit opinions from different people during the process. Most of the waiters participated as well, those who were close with Qin Huai, familiar faces he could even remember names, like the uncles and aunties.

Aside from them, there were basically none.

Ordinary customers and nearby office workers with limited time rarely managed to grab a trial taste of the Double Crab Bun.

This directly leads to most patrons of Yunzhong Restaurant not actually knowing what Qin Huai’s new product was.

They only knew that Master Qin had been very busy lately, always studying a type of crab bun, seemingly with not much success. Because they often heard from well-known patrons like Xu Tuqiang and others talking about Master Qin’s mood being not good, feeling rather downcast, brow furrowed and lost in thought while making buns.

They didn’t know the twists in the process, only aware that Master Qin had been making fewer snacks lately, pouring most of his time into the study of buns. This bun’s production was also quite limited, presumably quite difficult, priced very high.

Everyone was prepared to pay a premium for the buns.

It’s just that the purchasing habits of Yunzhong Restaurant’s customers had long been shaped by Qin Huai’s constantly improving skills and new snacks being continuously launched.

Initially, the Five Fillings Bun made quite a few office workers need to grit their teeth to afford one, then came guo’er, premium three filling buns, fermented rice with steamed buns, Four Happiness glutinuous rice... these snacks may not have surpassed the initial Five Fillings Bun in price but the taste kept elevating, and prices always remained much higher than ordinary snacks.

In this process, the mindset of the customers changed.

From initially feeling delicious but expensive, only buying one for a taste by gritting their teeth, transformed to believing that Master Qin’s craftsmanship was worth the price, urging family to hurry and grab it, lest it be gone if arrived late.

This mentality directly reflected in today’s afternoon rush for the crab meat and pork buns.

Ordinary customers were unsure if this was Master Qin’s newly researched product; they just knew Master Qin had launched something new, with plenty to go around, and during the tasting period, it’s offered at a special price.

Buy early, enjoy early; buy late, it’s at regular price.

When Zang Liang and others returned to Yunzhong Restaurant, this was the scene they witnessed.

"Ah? Really all gone?"

"Damn it, all because of that stupid manager who insisted on a meeting after work, insisted on a meeting! Wasted time blabbing nonsense, kept me from getting here in time to grab one, should’ve taken the day off if I had known."

"Is there any tomorrow? Will Master Qin make more tomorrow? Are these buns delicious? Did anyone just manage to buy some?"

"How much do these buns sell for? 15? Only 15 apiece?!"

"Did Master Qin mention the regular price yet? Still not priced? What, I missed it all? Agh, that Hu guy, you’re really asking for your hair to fall out!"

After lining up for who knows how long, yet ultimately failing to snag any crab meat and pork buns, diners in Yunzhong Restaurant lamented, some blamed their company for late hours, others blamed themselves for not being fast enough, but most were venting at bosses and managers who still held meetings post-work.

The resentment from these office workers who missed crab meat and pork buns after working late was enough to sustain 10 Evil Sword Immortals.

Having braved five rounds on the roller coaster, feeling like his brains were shaken into mush, Zang Liang believed he had ridden the coaster and the bus, but for some reason felt inexplicably carsick, hence after disembarking, was seeing illusions.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t worked at Yunzhong Restaurant before; customers were never this fervent.

Moreover, these patrons seemed really abnormal; Zang Liang indicated he had worked at grand restaurants too, his current work restaurant was also a renowned Huaiyang cuisine place, previously hot all over the internet.

During holidays and festivities, there would be customers queued outside, waiting ages and yet finally kitchen stopping service before closing.

Regularly, there would be patrons who got angry, vexed, or even resorting to scolding, complaining.

Such coordinated complaining against managers was seldom seen.

What puzzled Zang Liang the most was that after venting, these people didn’t leave, they kept queuing. For what?

Weren’t the buns sold out already?

"Why aren’t they leaving?" Zang Liang wondered dazedly.

Tan Wei’an fared no better; he had also endured five rounds on the roller coaster without any revelation. By the final round, Tan merely felt vertigo and queasiness, nearly vomiting even stomach acid.

At least Tan was better off than Zang; he wasn’t carsick, so was not dizzy enough to think he was hallucinating.

"Since they’re already here, they might as well grab a meal before leaving." Tan Wei’an explained, supporting Zang Liang, "Just not sure what’s on the menu tonight, whether Qin Huai would save us any buns."