AGN -Chapter 114 An Unexpectedly Triggered Quest

The flower steamed buns made by Qin Huai were extremely popular.

Although his “flower buns” didn’t look very elaborate—they were mostly simple, basic shapes with single colors, and sometimes not even particularly attractive, far inferior to the mass-produced animal-shaped buns made with molds—his craftsmanship made up for it.

Flower buns were still buns.

And Qin Huai was a professional when it came to making buns.

Those customers who happened to visit randomly during the afternoons while he was practicing buckwheat buns all knew this well: as long as Little Qin Chef made buns, no matter what he added into the dough, the result was always delicious!

To this, Ou Yang expressed complete agreement—yes, exactly like that. Even if Little Qin Chef added elm bark juice, it would still taste top-tier.

Not to mention that when Zheng Siyuan taught Qin Huai how to make flower buns, he had actually mixed in a bit of private “extra content,” casually teaching him how to color and flavor dough at the same time.

Now Qin Huai’s daily routine was: making breakfast in the morning, making flower buns late in the morning, and simmering soup in the afternoon while also shaping a couple of dough figurines. The rest of the shop’s pastries were handled by Zheng Siyuan and Chen An.

Everyone was very happy about this shift in responsibilities.

Although Little Qin Chef’s skills were very good, Little Zheng Chef’s skills were even better.

Pastries like flaky pork pies, fresh meat mooncakes, lard rice cakes, and qiaoguo were all limited items. Now that they had finally been recreated, of course people would rush to buy them.

Among them, Qu Jing was the most extreme. Whenever she worked a night shift, she would sit in the cafeteria from 8 a.m. until noon, buying whatever was available.

Although she was rather reclusive and not good at making friends with people her own age, she was very good at communicating with the elderly.

After hanging around the cafeteria like that for a few days, Qu Jing quickly became familiar with the elderly man who lived the farthest away—Wang Daqe.

Wang Daqe was often jokingly said by his friends to have dementia, because his memory really wasn’t good. He frequently forgot things and was often scolded by his wife. Everyone also knew he wasn’t deliberately forgetful to avoid work.

After all, if you knew Wang Daqe, every so often you would hear him recount his glorious past, emphasizing his accountant’s integrity of “never falsifying accounts for 40 years.” With that kind of integrity, he really was genuinely forgetful rather than pretending.

After learning that Qu Jing was a neurologist specializing in Alzheimer’s disease, Wang Daqe nervously consulted her. She reassured him not to scare himself—80% of illnesses are caused by worry.

What Wang Daqe experienced—forgetting to buy scallions, ginger, and garlic but leaving out the garlic, or forgetting to wipe the stove after washing dishes—couldn’t be considered a memory disorder. At most, it just meant he hadn’t paid attention and therefore didn’t remember.

Of course, if he was really worried, he could visit their hospital for a detailed examination. Qu Jing didn’t mind boosting her own performance metrics.

That same day, Dr. Qu’s diagnosis made its way back to Wang Daqe’s household. After a family argument, Wang Daqe never again forgot to wipe the stove after washing dishes.

Anyone who heard about it couldn’t help but exclaim—what a miracle doctor!

Now this “miracle doctor” had blended in with the group of elderly patrons and taken the prized “Table 9” seat.

“Little Qu, your ultraviolet allergy is this serious—you shouldn’t avoid treatment. I happen to know a very good dermatologist. Let me send you their WeChat. When you have time, go get it checked—you’ll definitely recover!” said Uncle Qian, peeking over while watching when the glutinous rice cakes Zheng Siyuan was wrapping would go on sale.

“Thank you, Mr. Qian. Our hospital has a dermatology department, and I’m already receiving treatment,” Qu Jing replied with a smile, glancing at Zheng Siyuan. “It looks like the glutinous rice cakes are already wrapped.”

As soon as Qu Jing finished speaking, several elderly men rushed forward. Those seated farther away quickly followed once they saw Table 9 taking the lead. Qu Jing calmly took her place at the end of the line.

She was confident that Qin Huai would save some for her.

Although Qu Jing didn’t fully understand why her relationship with Qin Huai had suddenly become so good, she seemed to have become, like Chen Huihong, Luo Jun, and Ou Yang, an officially recognized “regular customer” of the Yunzhong Cafeteria.

Yesterday morning, Uncle Qian had even quietly approached Qu Jing and asked if she could help buy a bag of fermented rice buns. His in-laws were coming over for dinner that night, and he urgently needed them to impress guests.

As Qu Jing had expected, even though she was last in line, she still received two large pieces of sugar-coated glutinous rice cake. Qin Huai also handed her an apple-shaped dough snack.

“This was specially saved for you by Qin Luo. It was made yesterday afternoon, so it may not taste as good as freshly made. Just make do,” Qin Huai said.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Qian had already pulled out his phone and opened Qin Luo’s Moments, starting to check whether he had missed any posts he hadn’t liked.

“Specially saved for me?” Qu Jing was a bit surprised. After a moment of hesitation, she tried to recall whether her relationship with Qin Luo had ever been this close.

“I don’t think I’ve met her much.”

Qu Jing truly hadn’t met Qin Luo very often.

When Qu Jing came for breakfast, Qin Luo was already starting her first class. Even on non-night-shift days, after work and coming to the cafeteria, Qu Jing usually arrived around the time her hospital shift ended—around 5 p.m.

Qin Luo’s school didn’t end particularly late, but due to rush hour traffic and taking the bus, she usually didn’t arrive at the cafeteria until after 6:30 p.m.

In Qin Huai’s memory, aside from the first time Qu Jing came to the cafeteria and he introduced her to Qin Luo, they had only met once on a certain Sunday.

“You’ve added each other on WeChat,” Qin Huai said. “I remember you liked every one of Qin Luo’s Moments posts.”

Qu Jing thought for a moment. “Is that the WeChat account called ‘What Should I Eat Today’?”

Qin Huai nodded.

“That account belongs to Qin Luo?” Qu Jing suddenly realized. “I saw it posting cafeteria pastries every day, so I always thought it was the official account.”

Qin Huai: “……”

“So… why did Qin Luo specially save this dough snack for me?” Qu Jing asked.

Although she hadn’t interacted much with Qin Luo, she knew she had a big appetite.

“It seems that last night, when Qin Luo came back from school to eat snacks, she overheard Sister Xi and An Youyou discussing that you’ve been working night shifts lately and can only come to the cafeteria in the morning to buy flower buns, and miss out on the afternoon dough snacks.”

“Coincidentally, Ou Yang was sent to the suburbs to deliver materials and was later dragged home by his parents for dinner, so he didn’t come to the cafeteria and didn’t eat his share of the dough snacks. Qin Luo ended up getting four by herself.”

“She felt that you were too unlucky—spending money but never getting the best items. Since she had extras, she saved one for me to give to you today. If you don’t understand, that’s normal… teenagers like her tend to have rather strange thoughts,” Qin Huai explained.

Qu Jing looked at the dough snack in her hand, already completely cold.

“Qin Luo… is she always this kind-hearted?” Qu Jing asked.

“Pretty much,” Qin Huai replied. “When she was little, she wanted to be a heroic heroine after watching TV dramas. She secretly took buns from home to feed stray dogs, to the point where the dogs ate so much they lay on the ground with their bellies up.”

“Later, when she had a bit of money, she heard my cousin complaining that my aunt wouldn’t let him eat enough while trying to make him lose weight. So she took him to a buffet, and he ate so much he ended up in the hospital.”

“If that counts as being kind-hearted… then Qin Luo has been like that since childhood.”

Qu Jing smiled. “Then both the stray dogs and your cousin must really like her.”

Qin Huai: ?

As she spoke, Qu Jing removed her mask and took a bite of the dough snack.

Qin Huai noticed that in just one day, the color of her lips had already gone from normal to pale again.

“Help me tell Qin Luo it’s very good,” Qu Jing said.

“Ding—Congratulations, player, you have discovered a side quest: ‘Taste of Memory 2.’ Please check the quest panel.”

Qin Huai: ?!

Qin Luo, quickly—leave one dough snack each for Grandpa Luo Jun, Aunt Chen Huihong, and younger sister Chen Huihui!