Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 821 - 412: Vacation

In the end, Qin Huai followed Tan Wei’an’s suggestion and ordered dumplings for delivery, and added a side of kimchi.

The kimchi tasted pretty good, especially the pickled radish. It might not pair well with dumplings, but eaten alone, it was impressive. Qin Huai even thought the owner of this shop should open a store dedicated to selling kimchi instead of dumplings—it would surely be a hit.

Of course, this sales strategy of buying dumplings with complimentary kimchi, where kimchi can’t be ordered separately but must be paired with dumplings, might just be a marketing tactic by the owner.

Anyway, Qin Huai was quite willing to pay for the kimchi. He even messaged Boss Su to ask if they could include this shop’s dumplings in their staff meals, especially the kimchi. Boss Su said he would discuss it.

Tan Wei’an ultimately didn’t stay at Qin Huai’s house. Before leaving, he snuck a pack of cheese sticks and left quite early, before 8 o’clock.

As soon as Tan Wei’an left, Qin Huai called Boss Su to discuss the specifics of his current exchange.

Although Qin Huai had visited Zhiwei Restaurant today and met most of the master chefs (two of them were off today), learned about his culinary station, the setup (one assistant specifically for tea and 2-3 helpers), and had arranged to study and exchange ideas with Master Zhou, he still didn’t know the specific process and content of this exchange.

It was quite sudden.

Qin Huai just wanted to eat an egg tart, and while eating, he ended up working without even seeing the real boss of Zhiwei Restaurant, Boss Su, or Su Qi, even once.

If he couldn’t meet them in person, at least he had to make a phone call to discuss things.

When Qin Huai called Boss Su, Boss Su wasn’t even home yet; he was on his way back to Zhiwei Restaurant, and Qin Huai could hear the sounds of car horns from the phone.

"Master Zhou has already shown you your culinary station, and explained the basic situation of the kitchen. You roughly understand the staff setup, and I believe Xiao Tan also mentioned various bits and pieces to you. There’s not much more I can introduce," Boss Su said.

"The most important thing hasn’t been told to me," Qin Huai said. "Boss Su, my coming to Zhiwei this time was quite sudden. I sent my snack menu to Su Qian the day before yesterday, and Su Qian said you needed to set the prices. Do you know how the pricing is going? What snacks am I supposed to make for the official exchange tomorrow?"

"Master Qin, you can make whatever snacks you want, or not make any if you prefer. The main point is the exchange," Su Qi said cheerfully.

Qin Huai: ?

"Huh?" Qin Huai was a bit puzzled.

Su Qi was also taken aback: "Didn’t Little Su and Xiao Tan tell you the most important thing? Maybe they forgot. At our Zhiwei Mansion, there’s no menu for the masters. You can make whatever you want, even snacks you’ve never made before, as long as the masters want to try, they can make them."

"As for the prices, all the master’s snacks at Zhiwei are sold at a standard price. Some of your special snacks will be priced according to Huang Ji’s pricing."

"Also, unlike Huang Ji which operates on a very fixed schedule as a traditional meat cooking restaurant, Zhiwei opens from 9 AM to 7 PM. Usually, only the direct disciples and a few apprentices qualified to sell snacks have a fixed menu. The masters’ snacks are sold randomly."

"Didn’t you buy egg tarts made by Master Zhou today? That’s typically how the masters’ snacks are handled. However, some masters make snacks very regularly. Like Master Zhang’s shrimp dumplings and Master Hua’s noodles. Many regulars use their experience to guess when their favorite master’s snacks will be ready, and line up to try their luck."

"Most masters’ schedules aren’t very regular because they are busy teaching apprentices, fitting in snack-making whenever they have the time and mood. Especially Master Zhou. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Master Zhou is very strict in accepting apprentices. However, once someone becomes a direct disciple, Master Zhou will teach them sincerely and thoroughly."

"Master Zhou spends over 70% of his time in a day on his apprentices, and the rest mostly on researching new snacks. He doesn’t have much time for making snacks. Sometimes, he might only make 1-2 batches a day, and making two batches of egg tarts today was quite rare."

"If you’ve followed Zhiwei related social media, you might see many posts from customers getting surprise egg tarts that seem to be from Master Zhou."

"I hope I’m being clear here; it’s not that I didn’t spend time arranging your snack menu, it’s just that Zhiwei operates this way presently."

"Moreover, since you’re a visiting chef, unlike the other masters at Zhiwei, you’re not required to work at least 6 hours a day. Other masters have morning and evening shifts; some prefer making snacks in the morning and arrive a bit earlier, some prefer the afternoon and come later."

"I heard Master Zhou told you to come to Zhiwei at nine tomorrow morning. I think this time suits you. Just show up around this time; our morning meeting is at 11. End your day at your own discretion. There’s no 6-hour work requirement for visiting chefs during exchanges."