Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 864 - 430: Life’s Short Thirty Thousand Days

Aesthetic appreciation is a very diverse thing.

Some people like radishes, some like cabbage; some prefer Impressionism, some like Abstract art, Realism, or Postmodernism.

The above sums up Qin Huai's entire understanding of aesthetics before he read the book given to him by Master Zhou.

After reading one of the books, Qin Huai's perspective changed. He realized he didn't really understand what beauty was and could no longer define aesthetic appreciation. Now, he felt like he knew nothing at all.

In a sense, Master Zhou had utterly disoriented him. Although he hadn't forgotten everything from before, he was completely confused, and confusion is a form of forgetting.

Qin Huai even started to understand Shi Dadan; he now had a sort of allergy to books, wanting to sleep whenever he saw words.

On the fifth day of Qin Huai's ritual of reading "The Grand View of Pastries" while eating boxed lunch at the morning meeting, Master Hua, who had been watching keenly for five days, couldn't hold back any longer. Taking advantage of Master Zhou's absence to discuss matters with Boss Su, he quietly paced over to Qin Huai and asked softly:

"Xiao Qin, is this book the Martial Arts Secret Manual that Xiao Tan mentioned to me?" Master Hua asked very curiously.

Qin Huai: ...? What on earth was Tan Wei'an saying?

"There's no Martial Arts Secret Manual. This book was recommended by Master Zhou, who said it would help me learn Finger Skill." Qin Huai replied honestly.

"The Grand View of Pastries" was the least related to cultivating aesthetic appreciation among the books recommended by Master Zhou, yet it was the one Qin Huai could actually read. During this theoretically pleasant time for lunch, Qin Huai didn't want to look at books that made him drowsy at first glance.

He wanted to read something more appetizing.

Regardless of how the text in "The Grand View of Pastries" was written, the accompanying pictures were quite beautiful. Many of the snacks inside were ones Zhao Cheng'an had made, and they looked almost identical to those in the pictures. It was apparent that this book had been Zhao Cheng'an's textbook back in the day.

"Reading a book?" Master Hua's voice rose in astonishment, his face full of disbelief in Zhou Guanghai's teaching methods.

As dignified snack masters, do we need to use books to teach students? Go ask around; no master at Zhiwei Restaurant has ever used books when teaching students all these years.

Zhou Guanghai, if you can't teach, just let me do it.

"Yes." Qin Huai nodded, "Master Zhou said mastering aesthetics in Finger Skill is very important. He recommended many books for me to read before making snacks."

Master Hua was stunned. He had intended to say something, but upon hearing Qin Huai, he suddenly didn't know what to say.

While Master Hua was still baffled, Master Zhou returned, phone in hand, walking briskly and full of excitement. He glanced at Master Hua but said nothing, cheerfully asking Qin Huai, "How's the reading going?"

"I got to the part where the panda hugs the bamboo," Qin Huai replied.

"That's early on. The City Art Museum has a painting exhibit these days. Little Su got three tickets. You, Xiao Qin, don't need to practice snacks this afternoon. Does your uncle have time this afternoon? If so, I'll have Lao San take you both to the art museum to see the paintings. If not, I'll give you two tickets now, and you can go yourself tomorrow afternoon with the remaining one."

"Art exhibit?" Qin Huai closed the book, pointing at himself, "Am I going to the art exhibit?"

"It's beneficial for you." Master Zhou said, "You've worked hard on snacks these days, so it's a good opportunity to relax."

Qin Huai didn't fully understand but decided to follow through.

Qin Huai sent a message to Shi Dadan, asking if he wanted to go to the art exhibit, and Shi Dadan readily agreed. He said he hadn't seen anything so high-end in his two lifetimes and was eager to soak up some art at the museum.

Under the guidance of Zhao Cheng'an, Qin Huai and Shi Dadan arrived at the City Art Museum at 1:54 PM. Initially, Qin Huai thought Master Zhou specifically requested three tickets from Boss Su for a highly exclusive exhibition of renowned artists' works, where it would be impossible to get a ticket and each painting was worth hundreds of thousands or millions.

It turned out differently. This exhibit was a collection of outstanding works jointly organized by students from several colleges. The tickets were particularly cheap, only fifteen yuan each, and for an additional three yuan with the ticket, you could get an iced Americano at the small café at the entrance of the art museum. The price-performance ratio was excellent.

Embracing the "since we're here" mentality, the three spent nine yuan to get three iced Americanos. It was a very authentic iced Americano: ice cubes + water + coffee concentrate, which Qin Huai watched the staff prepare.

The City Art Museum wasn't large either. As Zhao Cheng'an explained, Qin Huai learned that it was built many years ago, the venue itself was quite small, and not many people usually visited. For any major exhibit, they would use a bigger art museum or gallery.

There weren't many people in the museum, likely because it was a workday. Besides a few curious college students, couples looking for a cheap, air-conditioned spot to date, and parents with kids, the viewing experience was wholesome.

Shi Dadan sipped his iced Americano with each sip accompanied by a frown, clearly wondering how anyone could spend money on this stuff. Wouldn't spending three yuan on a few steamed buns be better?

Meanwhile, Zhao Cheng'an strolled leisurely with his coffee cup, deriving a thirty-yuan experience from a three-yuan iced Americano, exuding a relaxed vibe. He glanced here and there, occasionally offering some comments.

Qin Huai followed behind, like a student of Zhao Cheng'an, asking why after every comment, inquiring about its reasoning and which book explained this theory, and whether Zhao Cheng'an had read that book.