AGN -Chapter 101 Upgrading Heat Control

IceIceZi worked very efficiently—by 4:30 a.m., she had already sent Qin Huai two illustrations.

One showed Liu Tao in costume performing on a stage, and the other depicted her wearing a purple qipao, holding a lunchbox in her hands.

The artwork was well-executed, and the overall spirit was captured quite accurately. However, perhaps because describing something verbally is different from seeing it in person, the Liu Tao drawn by IceIceZi only looked about 30% like the one Qin Huai had seen.

Qin Huai immediately sent a voice message asking her to revise the eyebrows and eyes, emphasizing that they should be large and lively, while the facial features should remain relatively ordinary. He also asked her to try to complete the first official draft version that same day.

IceIceZi replied instantly—with a string of ellipses, silently conveying her reaction.

Qin Huai felt that she was quite skilled and talented, so he transferred another 8,000 yuan as an additional advance.

IceIceZi: Received, boss. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely finish the first draft today!

Reassured, Qin Huai went off to work at the cafeteria.

Chen An was kneading dough. Seeing Qin Huai arrive, he greeted him warmly and asked for guidance—wondering where exactly his dough was going wrong and why it differed so much from Qin Huai’s.

If this had been two months ago, Qin Huai could only vaguely say things like “here, there, and over there—it’s mostly about feel, you know?”

But now, after formal training, Qin Huai could explain precisely—ratios of flour and water, the force of kneading, techniques, timing—everything in detail, even enough to write a full paper on it.

After a few minutes of guidance, Chen An felt as if a light had suddenly dawned on him. He became even more enthusiastic and diligent in kneading the dough, convinced that he had made the right career choice.

Qin Huai also began kneading dough.

While working, he asked Zhao Rong to prepare the ingredients for the tangerine peel white fungus and lotus seed soup. The white fungus and lotus seeds needed to be soaked in advance so that by the time he finished the first batch of breakfast items, the dessert could be cooked immediately.

“Mom, when Sister Xi comes later, tell her to redesign the signage for the tangerine peel tea and change the price to 15 yuan,” Qin Huai said.

Zhao Rong paused mid-motion while picking goji berries, and cautiously asked, “Huaihuai, isn’t our tangerine peel tea… not really worth that price?”

In Zhao Rong’s view, although Qin Huai had somehow obtained a secret recipe earlier and slightly improved the brewing method—making the drink taste acceptable—it was still fundamentally just tangerine peel tea.

Adding brown sugar and salt didn’t change the fact that it was essentially just tangerine peel steeped in hot water.

Charging 15 yuan per cup for such a simple drink seemed overly profitable—almost like overcharging customers and potentially damaging their reputation.

She felt this kind of practice shouldn’t be encouraged.

“Mom, what you’re preparing now are the ingredients for tangerine peel tea,” Qin Huai explained.

Under the surprised gazes of Chen An, Zhao Rong, and Qin Congwen, Qin Huai calmly nodded and confirmed, “That’s right. Although the ingredients are somewhat complex and rich, making it look a bit like tangerine peel white fungus and lotus seed soup, this is indeed tangerine peel tea.”

The tangerine peel tea produced by Liu Tao only needed to reach D-rank to be considered acceptable. Its buff effect was very practical—it could warm a person for an entire day. Whether physically or emotionally, it was a very comforting enhancement.

If it provided physical warmth throughout the day, then this tangerine peel tea would become an indispensable winter beverage in the cafeteria.

Not to mention that its buff could be produced up to 1,314 servings per day. With such volume, using a large stockpot instead of small batches would be far more appropriate.

It absolutely needed to be added to the menu—and as a permanent item.

As the first batch of early-morning customers (mostly elderly joggers) began arriving, and the first servings of steamed buns and rice cakes came out of the steamer, Qin Huai started brewing the tangerine peel tea.

In a large pot.

“Large pot” might even be an understatement—it was more like a large vat.

Cooking such a large quantity at once placed very different demands on heat control compared to using small portions in a timed stew pot.

When using a small pot, there were essentially no technical requirements—anyone could do it.

But when using such a large vessel, heat control became a crucial skill.

Qin Huai was very glad that he had been practicing large-batch cooking during this time.

He had essentially hit the exam topic head-on.

So this is what it feels like to study the right thing—pure bliss!

He added the ingredients into the vat one by one, poured in water, turned on high heat to bring it to a boil, stirred, then reduced to low heat and covered the pot—all in a smooth, flowing sequence.

He felt that everything had gone more smoothly than ever before compared to his previous attempts at cooking beef soup, pork soup, duck soup, and preparing stock.

This feeling… it was back again.

That almost divine sense he had when making pastries—everything under control, no worries, just following intuition and producing excellent results.

Qin Huai hummed a tune happily as he continued kneading dough.

With today’s excellent condition, he should try making mutton soup in the afternoon as a challenge.

But… why did he feel so unusually good today?

Could it be…

Qin Huai paused slightly in his kneading, thought for a moment, then continued finishing the dough. After placing it aside to ferment, he walked over to the stove and discreetly checked his game interface.

Seeing him suddenly making odd gestures, Chen An, who had been observing him closely, asked Qin Congwen, “Uncle Qin, what is Xiao Qin doing…?”

“He’s imagining that he has a system,” Zhao Rong replied calmly while wrapping wontons. “He might be checking for new side quests.”

Chen An: ???

Zhao Rong explained, “When Luo Luo was little, Huaihuai tricked her into believing he had a system. She actually believed it and ended up making quite a few embarrassing mistakes. Over the years, he’s often teased her about it, even doing that tapping gesture in front of her. It’s probably just a habit now. Running the cafeteria is stressful, so he uses it to relax.”

Chen An was stunned.

Such a niche way to relieve stress.

Such a unique mental state.

Such a strange family.

He decided not to try to understand what he couldn’t understand and continued wrapping buns.

Meanwhile, Qin Huai was staring blankly at his game panel:

Player Name: Qin Huai

Unlocks: 3/12

Skills:

Dough Fermentation (Intermediate): Beats 99% of breakfast shop masters (4127/10000)

Filling Preparation (Advanced): Beats 100% of breakfast shop masters (2112/100000)

Hand Technique (Beginner): No styling skills (193/1000)

Frying (Intermediate): Decent fried dough sticks (219/10000)

Knife Skills (Beginner): Home-level (99/1000)

Heat Control (Intermediate): Barely acceptable (11/10000)

Food Tasting (Advanced): You’re quite good at eating (cannot upgrade)

Business Management (Intermediate): Won’t run at a loss (911/10000)

Lying (Master Level): You talk to people differently depending on who they are (6112/1000000)

His heat control had leveled up!

His white-bun-related skills hadn’t leveled up yet—but his red-cooking skills had improved first!

All the soups he had been making lately hadn’t gone to waste. Even the soup he drank from Ou Yang hadn’t been in vain!

However, the system’s requirements for red-cooking skills were truly strict. Intermediate heat control was only “barely acceptable,” whereas intermediate dough fermentation was already “beating 99% of breakfast shop masters.”

Breakfast shop masters were being unfairly judged.

But… looking at Chen An’s kneaded dough…

Maybe the general level of dough-kneading among breakfast shop masters really wasn’t that high.

Qin Huai closed the panel and continued kneading.

Today’s workload was substantial.

In addition to the regular breakfast items and pastries, there were also items he had promised Ou Yang yesterday: crab shell pastries, four-delight dumplings, sesame cakes, white jade frost cakes, mung bean ice cakes, elm bark buns, locust flower buns, and three batches of fermented rice buns.

Even if made in small quantities, these would not be limited to just Ou Yang—there would definitely be some extra that others could randomly purchase.

Now that his heat control had improved, Qin Huai felt it was time to challenge himself with mutton soup.

Ou Yang arrived at work at 9 a.m.

At 9:05 sharp, he slipped away from work and came to the Yunzhong Cafeteria for breakfast.

He arrived at just the right time—partly because Qin Huai knew his schedule well enough to time it precisely. As Ou Yang stepped into the cafeteria, the crab shell pastries had just come out of the oven.

The air was filled with a rich wheat aroma.

Ou Yang took a deep breath in delight. It truly felt like a wonderful day.

He couldn’t help but think: if Qin Huai could “have another episode” like yesterday afternoon and ask him in advance what he wanted to eat every day, that would be perfect.

Qin Huai had already prepared his breakfast.

“Here. Your breakfast: four-delight dumplings with crab shell pastries. Come back in 15 minutes to pick up the tangerine peel tea—and bring a portion for Sister Hong as well.”

“Yes, sir!”

Ou Yang stared at the steaming dumplings, practically drooling.

“What about lunch?” he asked.

“Elm bark buns, sesame cakes, and white jade frost cakes.”

“Mung bean ice cakes are for afternoon snacks with soup. Locust flower buns and fermented rice buns—you can take those home and eat slowly.”

Ou Yang felt that this was the pinnacle of happiness.

Then he casually asked, “What soup are we having this afternoon?”

“Something different today—mutton soup.”

The happiness abruptly came to a halt.

Ou Yang: ???

“M-mutton soup?” he stammered.

It wasn’t that he doubted Qin Huai’s skill—he simply understood it too well.

Last time he could barely accept drinking soup in the duck enclosure, but drinking soup in a sheep enclosure… that was too much.

Ou Yang suddenly realized: today’s pastries were basically medical compensation.

After thinking it over, he gritted his teeth.

“I’ll drink it!”

“The mutton soup I love the most!”