AGN -Chapter 107 A Big Order

Not long after the video call ended, the stock was ready.

Ou Yang hadn’t yet clocked out and come over, so Qin Huai first tried a small bowl himself.

It tasted good.

Although he was following instructions rigidly with less imagination, the results were still clearly effective.

Very tasty.

Qin Huai rewarded himself with another bowl.

As he was drinking, Chen Huihong arrived. Seeing Qin Huai drinking the broth, she knew the stock for the day had turned out well, and strongly requested a bowl for herself.

“Sister Hong, why do you have time to come by this afternoon?” Qin Huai asked.

From his understanding of Chen Huihong, she usually wouldn’t come to the cafeteria outside of pastry drop times. This time slot was for stock, and although she didn’t cook, she had tasted plenty of good food.

She loved Qin Huai’s pastries, but broth didn’t quite impress her, so she never came at this time.

“My younger brother wants to discuss a collaboration with you,” Chen Huihong said.

Qin Huai set down his bowl.

Chen Huihong’s younger brother, Chen Yingjun, wanted to collaborate with him—this was quite rare.

One had to know that the current prosperity of Yunzhong Cafeteria owed much to Chen Yingjun’s quiet support.

Who recruited the service staff led by Huang Xi? Chen Yingjun’s company HR.

Who recruited the core staff responsible for breakfast items like buns, flower rolls, shumai, wontons, fried dough sticks, and even the egg cakes that required discounts to sell? Chen Yingjun’s company HR.

Who funded Qin Lu’s high school enrollment? Chen Yingjun.

When Qin Congwen made too many buns that couldn’t be sold and ended up distributing them as afternoon snacks through Chen Huihong to company employees—who actually paid for those buns? Chen Yingjun.

Chen Yingjun had long been the invisible benefactor behind Yunzhong Cafeteria.

Now that Chen Yingjun had proactively proposed a collaboration, Qin Huai felt this required serious attention.

“What kind of collaboration does Mr. Chen have in mind?” Qin Huai’s tone became noticeably more respectful.

Chen Huihong: “……”

Knowing Qin Huai’s exact skill panel values, she seemed to understand how he reached his “intermediate management” level.

“Well… although my brother’s business spans several sectors, including large supermarkets and logistics, his main focus is property management. You’re aware of that, right?”

Qin Huai shook his head—he didn’t know.

He had even suspected Chen Yingjun secretly ran a restaurant chain, otherwise why would he be so familiar with hiring service staff and pastry chefs.

“You’ve seen the announcements in the owner group chat, right?”

Hearing that, Qin Huai understood.

“The one about paying property fees?” he said. “Yes, I saw it. It said fees for September to October, with options for one year, three years, or five years. The more you pay, the more bonuses you get—supermarket cards, beauty vouchers, rice, oil, even mountain bikes.”

“These days while making breakfast, I heard the elders discussing it. Everyone seems quite willing to pay. Our community’s property management seems pretty good.”

“It would be even better if the fees were cheaper,” Qin Huai added. Although he now lived in a high-end community, he still wasn’t used to the property fees.

Too expensive—over ten thousand yuan a year. In his hometown, Qi County, that amount could cover a year’s rent.

“No problem. I’ll tell my brother to waive your property fees for 20 years,” Chen Huihong said casually. “The issue is this: our community is very popular—there are buyers, but hardly anyone selling. But his property management company doesn’t only serve our community.”

“Recently, after eating a lot of your cafeteria pastries, he had a sudden idea. He felt that giving rice, flour, oil, and groceries isn’t attractive enough, so he wants to additionally give out Chenpi tea.”

“Eh?” Qin Huai was confused.

That really was a sudden idea.

Offering Chenpi tea as a property fee perk—that was quite unusual.

“He doesn’t understand Chenpi tea, but I do. Your daily limit of 1314 cups is already a buff. Beyond that, it’s just ordinary Chenpi silver ear and lotus seed soup—so that’s not realistic.”

Qin Huai nodded.

“So I suggested he give pastry gift boxes instead.”

Qin Huai: ?

Is that any more realistic?

Do you know how many property owners there are in a community?

If paying property fees came with pastry gift boxes, all sourced from the cafeteria—and the cafeteria only had Qin Huai as the pastry chef—

Then the question is: how long until Qin Huai collapses from overwork?

He wasn’t a workhorse.

How could his boss expect such a workload?

“My brother thinks it’s a good idea. He’s very confident in your skills. Although he prefers the Suzhou chef Xiao Zheng more, Xiao Zheng is too far away.”

“What a coincidence,” Qin Huai said. “Xiao Zheng will be coming to our cafeteria for an exchange soon. His father even bought him an apartment in the neighboring community.”

…Good luck to you, Zheng Siyuan.

Join the grind.

“However, Sister Hong, mass-producing pastry gift boxes isn’t very realistic for our cafeteria,” Qin Huai said. “You’re aware of our daily output. Producing large quantities of gift-level pastries without affecting normal operations would be too much.”

“I’ve considered that,” Chen Huihong replied. “The quantity won’t be large. You can make boxes with just four pastries each.”

“Four pastries, four designs, four flavors. My brother will market them as limited-edition, custom-made by a dedicated pastry master, entirely handmade, and also use it to promote Yunzhong Cafeteria.”

“Low volume, manageable workload—but the designs will take some effort. Ideally, you should produce several tiers, since property fees vary by tier.”

Chen Huihong then revealed Chen Yingjun’s proposed price:

A flat price—500 per box.

An irresistible offer.

Qin Huai felt that for the sake of the cafeteria’s benefactor, putting in extra thought was his duty.

Mr. Chen was truly wealthy.

No wonder, with just a word from his sister, he was willing to donate a sum to renovate a school playground.

“Sister Hong, leave it to me!” Qin Huai said firmly.

Even though his finger technique was only at the beginner level and he likely couldn’t produce refined pastries, he could practice.

He would go back and study the pastry handbook.

If he still couldn’t manage, he’d ask Zheng Siyuan to help temporarily.

Consider it a big order for Zheng Siyuan.

“Oh right,” Chen Huihong said. “Earlier today, I heard Luo Jun say you got a new side quest from him—to make fruit-shaped pastries. What exactly is that? I’ve never even heard of it.”

Before Qin Huai could answer, his phone vibrated. He looked down—it was a message from Zheng Siyuan.

Zheng Siyuan: My dad said I should come to your place for a while to teach you finger techniques. Weren’t you practicing heat control? Why are you suddenly learning finger techniques again?

Zheng Siyuan: He said Luo Luo wants to eat fruit-shaped pastries. Should I just come make them for her instead? I think at your current stage, heat control is more important. Finger techniques can come later.

Zheng Siyuan: Of course, if you’re interested in finger techniques, you can still learn. You didn’t have a teacher before, and finger techniques are quite important in many pastries.

Zheng Siyuan: My dad also said he bought me an apartment in the community next to yours. No need to stay in a hotel. If you really want to learn finger techniques, I can stay longer. I’ll also have time to renovate the pastry shop and upgrade equipment.

Zheng Siyuan: What’s your plan?

Qin Huai: Can you come tomorrow?

Zheng Siyuan: ?

Qin Huai: I’ve got you a big order. You can handle the order while teaching me finger techniques.

Zheng Siyuan: ?

Qin Huai: A very big order!

Zheng Siyuan: …Alright. I’ll book a flight for tomorrow morning.

Qin Huai put down his phone and said to Chen Huihong:

“Not knowing about it is fine. If nothing goes wrong, you’ll get to try it tomorrow.”

“This task is quite difficult, so I’ve called in external help.”

Very reliable external help.