AGN -Chapter 125 A Recipe That Defies Tradition

“Your two recipes… they’re very similar to what my dad taught me.” Zheng Siyuan stood at the cooking station, frowning as he looked at the recipes Qin Huai had sent him on WeChat. “The ingredient ratios are exactly the same.”

“Really?” Qin Huai was a bit surprised. He had searched many recipes online before and knew that recipes with identical ingredient ratios were actually quite rare.

“Could it be that traditional recipes are generally similar? This was something Luo Jun bought 60 years ago. Back then, there weren’t precise scales or measuring tools, so it wasn’t possible to measure exact milliliters or temperatures,” Qin Huai speculated.

“Possibly. But my guess is that the person Mr. Luo bought these recipes from and my grandmaster came from the same school,” Zheng Siyuan said. “Back then, information was isolated. If the recipes are similar, it likely means the lineage is the same. Tracing it back further, they might even have studied under the same master.”

Zheng Siyuan put down his phone. “It’s a pity the recipe is from 60 years ago. Otherwise, we could ask about the lineage of the person who sold it.”

He began kneading dough.

Seeing that Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan were no longer chatting and had started working, An Youyou hurriedly brought over a large bowl of minced meat and asked, “Chef Qin, Chef Zheng, is the meat minced to this level okay?”

Zheng Siyuan looked at it and nodded. “It’s fine.”

An Youyou quickly ran back to continue working.

Zheng Siyuan scanned the kitchen.

An Youyou returned to the station and continued making buns. Qin Congwen was mixing fillings, Chen An was kneading dough, Zhao Rong was cutting vegetables, and Qin Huai was… slacking off.

Calling it slacking off wasn’t entirely accurate, since Qin Huai had, in theory, already finished his tasks.

At that point, not only had Qin Huai already steamed the first batch of three-ingredient buns and five-ingredient buns, he had also finished kneading dough for fermented milk buns, and even prepared the filling for fresh shrimp and crab-shell pastries—completing far beyond expectations.

Zheng Siyuan glanced at the time—6:10 AM. He wasn’t late at all.

“Did you come earlier today?” Zheng Siyuan asked.

“No,” Qin Huai replied. “I was actually over ten minutes late today. You don’t know—I was dreaming last night that I was stir-frying filling. The oil sheen, the moisture control, the final consistency of the broth—it was simply… exquisite! I didn’t want to wake up this morning, so I left late.”

Zheng Siyuan could only respond with silence.

“I feel like everyone’s progress is especially fast today,” Zheng Siyuan continued.

Normally at this time, Chen An, Qin Congwen, and Zhao Rong would still be wrapping buns. But now, a batch had already been completed and they had moved on to the next fillings—the pace was significantly faster.

“Oh, that might be because Youyou is here,” Qin Huai said. “My mom told me she was so excited on her first day as a kitchen assistant that she couldn’t sleep and came in at 2:30 AM.”

“She’s not as skilled at kneading dough as my dad, but she works fast and knows a lot. She can cut vegetables, wash vegetables, mince meat, mix fillings, and wrap buns, dumplings, and shumai. By the time I arrived this morning, all the prep for today’s pastries had already been done.” Qin Huai added, then pointed at Chen An. “Chen An might’ve been influenced by her—his efficiency is also very high today.”

“I’m actually a bit worried we’ll make too many buns and not be able to sell them.”

Zheng Siyuan could only shake his head, indicating he didn’t understand this whole “coming in at 2:30 AM” thing.

All these breakfast workers made him, someone who arrived at 6 AM, feel out of place.

However, Zheng Siyuan wasn’t affected by the new “overachiever.” He continued at his own pace—first making wontons, then pastries—methodical and steady, with no intention of overworking himself.

On her first day as a kitchen assistant, An Youyou was still a bit reserved when sitting together to eat wonton soup.

Although Yunzhong Canteen provided three meals, the meals for kitchen staff—especially breakfast chefs like Chen An—were different from those of regular service staff.

Chen An could have three-ingredient buns, five-ingredient buns, bubble wontons, and delicate crepe wontons for breakfast. If he got tired, he could even grab a pastry from Qin Huai as a snack. Service staff didn’t have such privileges—their breakfast was usually buns made by Chen An or Qin Congwen. When Qin Huai made new items, everyone could taste them, but on normal days, pastries were limited to whatever wasn’t sold—like egg cakes.

This was An Youyou’s first time eating Zheng Siyuan’s crepe wontons in the morning.

She got a bit too excited and ate three bowls, filling herself up so much that she couldn’t eat the bubble wontons.

She regretted it so much she almost wanted to slap herself twice.

Qin Huai remembered that An Youyou originally wanted to be an apprentice, and he didn’t mind spending extra effort to train a good employee.

“An Youyou.” After she finished her wontons and voluntarily washed the dishes, Qin Huai called her over. “Did you usually just help out at home like this?”

An Youyou nodded. “Basically, whenever my parents were busy, I did whatever needed to be done. Sometimes I also helped deliver goods or buy groceries.”

“Is there anything you want to learn?” Qin Huai asked.

After watching tutorial videos the previous afternoon, Qin Huai deeply felt that Jiang Weiming’s teaching style was excellent. When someone is used to teaching while working, their movements naturally slow down. Slower movements mean more focus, and more focus means fewer mistakes.

He wanted to try this approach.

An Youyou hesitated for a moment and asked very softly, “If I want to learn something, can I really learn it?”

Qin Huai: ?

So she actually had something in mind?

“What do you want to learn?”

“Five-ingredient buns!” An Youyou said without hesitation.

Qin Huai was slightly surprised. “Why?”

“Because five-ingredient buns are expensive!” she said firmly. “I heard from Chef Chen that breakfast chefs get commission based on sales. Five-ingredient buns sell for 35 yuan each—higher commission means more money. I want to learn the ones that make more money!”

Qin Huai: …

Such a straightforward reason. Just how much do you love money? And your parents… well, they’re quite something too—working a month for only 200 yuan. It’s normal to care about money.

“Alright,” Qin Huai nodded.

As soon as he said this, Chen An and Zheng Siyuan, who had been quietly listening nearby, were stunned. Chen An’s eyes widened in disbelief, his face full of regret.

Translated, his expression probably meant: “Wait, what? This is allowed? Five-ingredient buns can just be learned if you want? Boss, I want to be an apprentice too!”

“However, you’ll need to learn in reverse. I don’t have time to practice kneading dough recently, so you’ll probably start by learning how to prepare and stir-fry fillings.”

“I’m not great at teaching either. I’ll just work slowly, and you watch from the side—ask if you don’t understand. You get the idea, right?”

An Youyou nodded.

Chen An was tempted.

He felt that since he had already fallen behind, he couldn’t afford to fall further behind. Instead of thinking about it, he acted.

He stepped forward and gathered his courage. “Chef Qin—no, Boss, can I request a transfer to an apprentice role?”

Qin Huai: ?

“I want to learn five-ingredient buns too!” Chen An said sincerely.

Qin Huai: …

“You don’t need to transfer. You can just watch from the side. But you two must not affect daily work. Our kitchen already has a heavy workload—ordinary buns, steamed buns, shumai, fried dough sticks, wontons, egg cakes, and sponge cakes all depend on you two.”

“Don’t worry, Chef Qin. I found a small room nearby. The rent is cheap, and it only takes less than an hour by electric bike to get here.”

“I can wake up earlier and come at 2:30 AM to finish the work first.”

Chen An: ?!

“I can also come earlier to finish the work first,” Chen An immediately responded.

Qin Huai: “…That’s not necessary. Just arrive normally. If you come too early, it’ll make me look like I come to work very late.”

Zheng Siyuan no longer wanted to speak.

He truly didn’t understand these breakfast workers.

Chen An and An Youyou returned to their enthusiastic work, while Qin Huai continued making pastries. Zheng Siyuan also quietly worked on his own pastries. After about ten minutes, Zheng Siyuan finally couldn’t hold back and asked: “Why are you teaching fillings first?”

He really couldn’t understand—who teaches by starting with their own weakness? Qin Huai’s heat control skills didn’t leave much room for teaching either.

“In fact, Mr. Luo gave me three recipes yesterday. There’s one I think you might not like, so I planned to practice it myself first. The core of that recipe is stir-frying the filling,” Qin Huai explained.

Zheng Siyuan frowned, feeling slightly wronged.

How could there be a recipe he wouldn’t like? He considered himself a very open-minded pastry chef.

After pressing further, Qin Huai told him.

Zheng Siyuan: …

He took a deep breath.

Although he was open-minded, the world seemed to be a bit too absurd.

How could such a recipe exist?

And it was from 60 years ago!

What on earth had the pastry world 60 years ago gone through?!

“I told you—you probably wouldn’t like this recipe, so I planned to practice it myself,” Qin Huai reassured him.

“No,” Zheng Siyuan took another deep breath. “I’m very interested in this recipe. I want to try making this pastry myself.”

He wanted to see exactly what kind of pastry could be made from such a recipe that defied tradition.