AGN -Chapter 154 The Taste of Memory 3

“Ding, congratulations on obtaining a new side quest: [The Taste of Memory 3]. Please check the quest panel.”

While Qin Huai was idly kneading dough at the prep station, the game notification suddenly echoed in his mind.

[The Taste of Memory 3]?
Isn’t this side quest a bit too much like a series?!

He hadn’t even completed 1 and 2, and now 3 had already appeared. This game clearly didn’t consider whether players could actually finish tasks, did it?

Qin Huai placed the kneaded dough aside. An assistant quickly took it and placed it on a designated worktable, setting a timer beside it.

Qin Huai shook his hands and thought for a moment. Opening the quest panel openly in an unfamiliar environment seemed a bit too bold. Better to be low-key and check it in the restroom.

Because of work pressure, he often imagined that he had a system that issued tasks to complete. This kind of behavior—sounding like a mental patient—was fine to casually spread within Yunzhong Canteen, but it would be inappropriate to let it reach Huang Ji Restaurant.

“I’m going to the restroom,” Qin Huai said as he walked toward the kitchen exit.

Huang Ji Restaurant had a staff restroom on the first floor.

Just as he reached the doorway, Qin Huai heard what seemed like an argument outside the dining hall. “Argument” wasn’t quite accurate—it wasn’t a real quarrel, just one side speaking more loudly.

He vaguely heard the words “Zheng Da” and “pastry.”

Zheng Da gossip?
Worth listening to.

Qin Huai moved closer.

The two parties were Gong Liang and Huang Jia. They weren’t arguing in the middle of the dining area but in a corner away from customer seats. That corner happened to be near the back kitchen entrance, making it convenient for Qin Huai to eavesdrop.

“Mr. Gong, Uncle Zheng already explained clearly to you over a video call just now. We do indeed have a new pastry chef surnamed Qin. It’s not Uncle Zheng. That apple face pastry at noon was truly not for sale—it was specially made by Chef Qin for his friends. I’m sure you understand such situations.”

“And the three-head banquet really cannot be done either. Even if my master’s back recovers, we still won’t be able to prepare a full three-head banquet in the short term. If you truly were celebrating a 60th birthday, we would do everything possible to prepare it for you—even invite more professional chefs from Zhìwèijū if needed.”

“But celebrating a 60th birthday early at 55—how is that reasonable? This is a bit unreasonable,” Huang Jia explained patiently.

Gong Liang argued confidently, “Celebrating early is still celebrating. Your master’s back keeps failing to recover because he’s stubborn and doesn’t listen. He feels better and rushes back to the kitchen, acting recklessly. We told him to rest more, we’re not in a hurry, but he won’t listen and keeps repeating the cycle.”

“My relationship with your master goes back to childhood—we grew up together, basically like neighbors. I really just want to eat a three-head banquet. If necessary, we don’t need multiple tables—just prepare one table for me. I’ll pay for twenty tables!”

“Mr. Gong, there’s no precedent for that, and no such way of selling dishes,” Huang Jia tried to stop his extravagant spending. “We appreciate your support of Huang Ji, but your previous three wedding banquets already caused us quite a lot of trouble.”

Gong Liang lowered his voice slightly, somewhat guilty: “That’s why I changed it to a birthday banquet.”

Huang Jia: “……”

Is there even a difference???

Huang Jia sighed, feeling exhausted.

Then he turned his head and noticed Qin Huai in the corner.

Huang Jia: !
Qin Huai: ?

Huang Jia quickly pointed at Qin Huai and enthusiastically introduced him: “Mr. Gong, this is our new pastry chef, Qin Huai. The fermented rice buns and five-delicacy buns you bought yesterday were made by him.”

Gong Liang immediately stepped forward enthusiastically, shaking Qin Huai’s hand excitedly. “Chef Qin, I’ve long admired your name! Finally meeting you! Yesterday I specifically came to buy many pastries after hearing about you, worried that I wouldn’t get to eat them after your short visit. I didn’t expect you to have joined Huang Ji Restaurant. What a surprise! Just thinking that I can enjoy such delicious pastries every day from now on makes me feel like I’ll be smiling even in my dreams!”

“Every pastry you make is excellent, especially the fermented rice buns—I haven’t had such outstanding ones in years!”

“I also saw the apple face pastries you made with your own hands. The craftsmanship, the appearance—it’s truly master-level work!”

“If I hadn’t seen you in person, I wouldn’t have believed such a young and talented pastry chef exists.”

“To be honest, I have a favor to ask. My goddaughter is getting engaged soon. The groom’s family is from out of town and is very interested in Suzhou pastries. Naturally, we want to host them properly.”

“My goddaughter doesn’t have many connections, so she turned to me for help. I’ve long heard your apple face pastries are exceptional. Seeing them today confirms the reputation is well deserved. I wonder if you have time to make a batch? If possible, a few samples would help us plan.”

“The engagement is next month—would you have time during this period?”

Faced with Gong Liang’s rapid-fire delivery, Qin Huai paused briefly, quickly realizing that most of the flowery speech contained little real information—likely a mix of truth and exaggeration.

The goddaughter’s engagement might be real, but the apple face pastries…

Qin Huai smiled slightly. Who didn’t know a thing or two about bending the truth?

“Oh… this…” Qin Huai pretended to be overwhelmed by the long speech. “The types of pastries I specialize in are quite limited, so they may not be very presentable.”

Seeing Gong Liang about to continue, Qin Huai quickly added, “How about we add each other on WeChat?”

With that big-brand outfit, he was clearly a big client—adding WeChat was the right move.

Gong Liang immediately took out his phone and added him. Afterward, Qin Huai used a classic “bathroom escape” move to slip away, leaving the rest to Huang Jia.

Huang Jia: “……”

He had no choice but to continue negotiating with Gong Liang while also reflecting on whether his own skills were lacking—why weren’t customers ordering his signature dishes? Should he go cook a couple of dishes himself?

After listening to this lively bit of gossip, Qin Huai entered the restroom, went into a stall, locked the door, and opened the game panel.

Side Quest:

3. [The Taste of Memory 3]: As a former top sales representative at the Silk Factory, Gong Liang has long been known for his eloquence, relying on his silver tongue to get by. However, no one knows that his original motivation was simply to earn enough bonuses to achieve pastry freedom and indulge in the delicacies made by his neighbor, Master Jing, a chef at a state-owned restaurant.

Unfortunately, after only one month of indulging in crab roe shumai, Master Jing retired. Since then, that month of crab roe shumai has become an unforgettable taste in his memory.

Objective: Create crab roe shumai that satisfies Gong Liang and help him relive that taste of memory.

Reward: A fragment of Gong Liang’s memory + popularity traffic boost of 2000 (Optional: Accept/Decline)

Qin Huai: !

Finally… a normal side quest that clearly tells him what to do!

This is what a proper player quest should look like!

Riddle-like quests—get out of the system!

And the reward was quite generous—an immediate +2000 popularity boost. Gong Liang was likely a major traffic-driving figure.

Since the quest came from Gong Liang, he was probably some kind of spirit entity.

Qin Huai opened the bestiary and indeed confirmed it.

A new entry had been unlocked.

Name: Gong Liang
Species: Unknown
Status: Awakening
Memory: 0/?
Recipes: None
Gifts: None

Qin Huai couldn’t quite understand what “awakening” meant and messaged Luo Jun to ask, but received no reply—likely watching TV and not checking his phone.

Since Qin Huai only had a WeChat-level acquaintance with Gong Liang and the quest wasn’t urgent, he didn’t call and instead returned to work.

When he came out of the restroom and back to the kitchen, both Huang Jia and Gong Liang were no longer at the doorway—presumably their negotiation had ended.

Back in the kitchen, Huang Jia was dismantling a whole braised pig’s head. Fresh out of the pressure cooker, he was wearing gloves and breaking it apart by hand with remarkable skill.

Qin Huai glanced at the pig’s head—it looked extremely tender, fully saturated with sauce, giving the impression that the braising liquid had deeply penetrated the meat.

Such a large pig’s head…

If one took a bite…

Sizzle.

He couldn’t think about it.

Qin Huai returned to kneading fermented dough for the second fermentation, while casually grabbing Dong Shi, who passed by, to ask about gossip.

Dong Shi was a cutting-board chef responsible for prep work, also helping with errands when busy—running tasks, fetching items, plating dishes. During prep time before service, he was busy; after opening, he was relatively free.

As a disciple, he often handled errands.

“Dong Shi, do you know who that Mr. Gong Liang outside was?” Qin Huai asked.

Dong Shi, unable to stop talking, immediately took over the small tasks nearby and began chattering.

“Of course I know! He’s our most famous customer!”

“The one I told you about before—the one who held multiple wedding banquets.”

“I heard he used to be a sales manager at the Silk Factory,” Qin Huai probed.

“Correct. He was the head of the sales department at the silk factory, one of the first to ‘go into business’ back then. Now he’s in the silk trade and very wealthy. I heard Uncle Zheng’s startup capital back then was borrowed from him. The money my master used to buy the state-owned restaurant was also borrowed from him. He’s childhood friends with my master and Uncle Zheng—maybe even neighbors.”

“Neighbors?” Qin Huai caught the keyword.

“Sort of,” Dong Shi said. “I heard my master and Uncle Zheng lived at my grandmaster’s house while learning their craft. Mr. Gong was their neighbor.”

“When my grandmaster had an accident and was injured by a coal stove, it was Mr. Gong who helped take him to the hospital.”

“Over the years, Mr. Gong has supported Huang Ji a lot. All business banquets are held here, and he’s introduced many partners. He even gives red envelopes during festivals and helped arrange doctors when my master was ill.”

“He’s actually a very good person and well acquainted with everyone. It’s just that he talks too much—he can turn black into white. Three wedding banquets like that should never have been accepted, but my master was persuaded by him.”

“He’s also very persistent—always finding opportunities to request special treatment. Sometimes I feel he may not even care that much; he just thinks it’s a waste not to ask when he has the chance.”

“But honestly, he’s impressive. Uncle Zheng rarely cooks these years, but most of the times he does cook at Huang Ji, it’s for Mr. Gong. During festivals, his New Year’s Eve dinners are custom-made three-head banquets personally prepared by my master—year after year for over twenty years.”

Qin Huai understood: in this world, no “golden sales” ever went hungry.

“What pastries does Mr. Gong like? Breakfast items are fine too—buns, steamed buns, shumai. I remember Suzhou’s crab roe shumai is quite famous,” Qin Huai asked.

Dong Shi nodded. “It is quite famous. Many places sell it. I had it for breakfast before, but I don’t really like shumai—it’s too dry. I prefer crab roe soup dumplings, but those are expensive. Many of them are pricey yet not tasty. It’s better to just eat buns, steamed buns, or noodle soup.”

“Hey Qin Huai, can you make crab roe shumai? I remember you’ve made buns, steamed buns, dumplings, and noodles, but not shumai. Does your community canteen serve shumai? Do people there prefer noodles or buns in the morning?”

“I can make shumai, but not crab roe shumai,” Qin Huai answered honestly. He had never made crab roe shumai before. When Qin Luo wanted shumai, it was lamb shumai.

Blame those historical dramas—they never featured crab roe shumai.

Still, Qin Huai felt shumai recipes were broadly similar. He had made meat shumai and glutinous rice shumai—learning crab roe shumai was only a matter of time.

But quality was another matter.

Huang Shengli and Zheng Da had both learned from Jing Lixiang. Even those two top-tier apprentices only inherited about 60–70% of their master’s skill. The master himself must have been at an unimaginable level.

At minimum, the shumai would likely be A+ tier.

Thinking this way, Gong Liang’s quest seemed even harder—A+ level shumai was beyond his current ability.

Qin Huai sighed sadly. Dong Shi, still chattering, stopped and looked at him, wondering what sorrowful gossip he had just shared.

“If you want to eat crab roe shumai, I can learn it during this time and make it for you after I’ve mastered it,” Qin Huai said.

Dong Shi: ?
Dong Shi: !
Dong Shi: (ω)

In an instant, Dong Shi was deeply moved.

Qin Huai was willing to learn crab roe shumai just because of his casual remark—and even promised to make it for him!

At that moment, Dong Shi no longer wanted Dong Li to be his elder brother.

He wanted to be Qin Huai’s younger brother.

Meanwhile, at Shuanghai High School cafeteria, Qin Luo had just finished lunch. She took out a calendar given by her mother from her backpack and marked an “X” on today’s date.

Counting the days… 27 days left.

Her brother had said he would stay in Suzhou for one month and then return.

Although these past three days had been hard, as long as she endured another 27 days, she could enjoy her brother’s five-delicacy buns, fermented rice buns, crab-shell pastries, apple pastries, glutinous rice cakes—and many more!

Qin Luo slightly lifted her head to keep tears from falling, feeling like the heroine of a melodrama, missing her family deeply.

Brother, I miss you so much!

—

“Wuhu, off work, time to eat!”

Her brother, completely unaware of her longing, happily finished the last six apple face pastries and clocked out, even considering squeezing over to see what the staff meal was today.

Qin Huai suspected today’s staff meal was not made by Huang Jia.

He was busy.

The braised whole pig’s head was entering its final glazing stage. The deboned pig’s head was placed on a large plate, surrounded by fresh bok choy, mushrooms added, and finally topped with a thickened sauce.

Sizzle.

That was the sound of Qin Huai salivating internally.

At that moment, he somewhat understood why Gong Liang, despite regularly enjoying good food during festivals, still constantly sought opportunities to negotiate for more.

Who doesn’t want more delicious food?

And Gong Liang wasn’t short on money.

Why did these spirits all seem well-off?

Compared to them, his sister Qian Jing seemed to be living poorly.

A perfectly prepared braised whole pig’s head was completed.

Huang Jia didn’t rest—he immediately started stir-frying vegetables.

Qin Huai realized no passing server was bringing dishes out.

“Hey, why isn’t anyone serving dishes? Isn’t this from Gong Liang’s private room?” he asked Zheng Siyuan.

“No,” Zheng Siyuan replied, placing a freshly steamed fermented rice bun beside the pig’s head. “This is our staff meal!”

Qin Huai: !

Two minutes later, the stir-fried vegetables were ready.

The meal was complete.

Huang Jia smiled. “The braised pig’s head took some time. I figured you two wouldn’t have much appetite for anything else after eating this, so I just made a simple vegetable dish. The variety is a bit limited today—hope you don’t mind.”

“My skills with this dish are still not as good as my master’s. Qin Huai, if you have time during the New Year, you should come to Suzhou and try my master’s version—it’s much better.”

“Mm-mm-mm!” Qin Huai could only respond vaguely while already eating.

Zheng Siyuan handed him a bun.

“Eating it with buns is better,” Zheng Siyuan said. “That’s how we always eat it during the New Year.”

“If you don’t mind, you can dip the bun in the sauce, though that might affect the flavor of the fermented rice bun. My father likes eating it that way.”

Qin Huai: I like it, all of it, however it’s eaten!

He loved Huang Ji’s staff meals.

He was absolutely determined to work hard here at Huang Ji!