AGN -Chapter 164 Mutual Affection

Although Zheng Da very much wanted to immediately stop handling the pigeons and showcase his talent by personally making crab roe siu mai for Qin Huai on the spot, he still held himself back.

Preparing crab roe siu mai is extremely complicated. If Zheng Da started preparing now, under normal circumstances Qin Huai would only be able to see him finish making it by evening.

After a long day of travel, Zheng Da couldn’t bear to make his future prized closed-door disciple wait with him until night.

So Zheng Da continued processing the pigeons.

To be fair, as a top-tier white-bun (pastry) chef, Zheng Da’s knife skills were also among the best in his field. In a sense, he could even be considered a “hexagonal warrior”—his fundamentals were solid in all aspects, with no real weaknesses and fairly high overall capability.

Combined with the fact that he hadn’t actually been a chef for many years—one could even say he retired at his peak and ventured into business—calling Zheng Da a genius wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Although, right now, this “genius” had lost a bit of his prestige, working diligently to process pigeons for a closed-door disciple he wasn’t even sure he could successfully recruit.

Pigeons require very careful handling, much more difficult than chicken or duck.

Not to mention Zheng Da had some sudden whim and insisted on demonstrating his knife skills by deboning the pigeons. The first attempt at deboning failed—he accidentally cut through the pigeon skin—so to redeem himself, he moved on to a second pigeon.

Qin Huai didn’t understand all this; he simply chose to quietly prepare soup.

Since the video tutorial provided no useful reference or learning value, Qin Huai relied entirely on his own improvisation to make gastrodia pigeon soup.

Of course, with the pigeons already prepared, there wasn’t much room for creativity. As long as he controlled the heat properly and stewed it normally without mistakes, that was enough.

Gastrodia pigeon soup is sold per serving and requires specially customized small bowls. The Huang Ji warehouse had a batch of perfectly sized containers, all of which were sorted out for Qin Huai to use.

Soon, the entire kitchen was filled with the rich aroma of pigeon soup.

In the main hall, Gong Liang had already secured a tasting opportunity and had moved from the dining area to the kitchen entrance, peeking inside.

Even though many people in the Huang Ji kitchen had a strong bias toward Qin Huai’s pastry skills, everyone had to admit that the gastrodia pigeon soup that afternoon smelled rather ordinary.

It felt no different from a small shop outside selling pigeon soup for 28 yuan a bowl.

The only difference might be that Qin Huai used more ingredients—each serving contained a whole pigeon, and ingredients like gastrodia and goji berries were not just sprinkled lightly, but added in substantial amounts.

So substantial that many chefs familiar with medicinal food couldn’t help but wonder if the ingredients were a bit excessive. Gastrodia, goji berries, red dates, and ginger are not particularly flavor-enhancing ingredients; too much of them might negatively affect the taste.

If Qin Huai could hear their inner thoughts, he would tell them this wasn’t his decision—this was simply how much Luo Tao had provided.

This was what an E-grade gastrodia pigeon soup looked like—luxurious and generous.

Two hours later, the soup was ready.

【Gastrodia Pigeon Soup — D+ Grade】

All were D+ grade; none reached C grade, indicating that Qin Huai still had some distance to go in terms of heat control.

Qin Huai had prepared servings based on headcount. Each kitchen staff member, along with Gong Liang and the front-of-house supervisor, received a portion. Huang Shengli and Huang Anyao were at the hospital for a follow-up check and were not present, so they didn’t get any.

Gong Liang received a very well-presented bowl and excitedly took a spoonful, blowing on it before being the first to taste.

It was very average.

That was Gong Liang’s first impression upon tasting the soup.

In fact, that was a somewhat softened description—Gong Liang, who had grown up alongside Zheng Da and Huang Shengli, was a former sales department manager who achieved financial freedom at a young age and once accomplished the feat of eating Jing Shifu’s crab roe siu mai for an entire month.

Not to mention D+ grade gastrodia pigeon soup—even Huang Jia’s braised whole pig head wouldn’t impress him when he had options.

It had been a long time since he’d had such a mediocre soup.

Too ordinary.

If a shop dared to serve him something like this, he would have lost his temper and complained.

But considering this was Qin Huai’s latest creation—and that Qin Huai specialized in pastries—it was normal that his soup skills were lacking. Gong Liang also knew about Qin Huai’s progress in mastering heat control, so after some thought, he reluctantly finished the entire serving.

Not only did he finish the soup, he also ate the pigeon meat and gastrodia, leaving only the red dates and goji berries.

Those two items he simply didn’t like.

After finishing, Gong Liang comforted himself: this was all to encourage the young master Qin—to invest now in order to enjoy better pastries later. This wasn’t a loss.

Sigh, he should have gathered more information before rushing over.

Feeling slightly down, Gong Liang went upstairs to a private room and messaged Huang Shengli, saying he had endured a lot in the afternoon to avoid discouraging Qin Huai, and strongly demanded two dishes at dinner as compensation.

Meanwhile, Huang Jia and the head supervisor also agreed that the dish was indeed very average—so average that it didn’t even meet the standard for the Huang Ji menu.

However, considering that Qin Huai was the one who made it, and that he had already emphasized beforehand that the dish might not taste great and was intended as medicinal food, they decided it could still be added to the menu from the perspective of health nourishment.

In the end, they agreed it could be listed, but at a very low price—marketed as a promotional new dish, sold at cost without profit.

Moreover, the dish must be prefixed with:

“Tonifying Medicinal Dish!”

Many people were worrying over Qin Huai’s pigeon soup, but Qin Huai himself didn’t care much.

He had emphasized what needed to be emphasized and handled all necessary adjustments. He felt there wasn’t much more to say.

Reaching D-grade for this dish would already be acceptable; D+ grade should include some buffs. However, the buff would only trigger with a certain probability, and the higher the grade, the higher the trigger rate. At D grade, the probability likely wasn’t high—probably not even 50%.

Therefore, Qin Huai didn’t expect the dish to be a bestseller. As long as it wasn’t too poor and some diners happened to trigger the buff and found it beneficial, that would be enough.

Improving eyesight, calming the mind, good for the body.

A blessing for office workers and students.

Qin Huai’s current focus was crab roe siu mai.

After unlocking all of Luo Jun’s memories, the only remaining targets Qin Huai needed to win over were Gong Liang and Qu Jing.

Qu Jing was in Shanshi and worked as a neurologist in a private hospital. With the distance between them, Qin Huai wouldn’t be able to complete her side quest in the short term.

Moreover, Qu Jing’s quest remained vague and abstract, offering no clues.

Previously, Qin Huai had focused on getting close to Qu Jing because Chen Huihong and Luo Jun had emphasized that Qu Jing’s condition was dangerous—the more erratic she became, the closer she was to her “deadline.”

Now that Qu Jing’s self-harm secret had been discovered and Chen Huihong indicated she could live at least another five years, her urgency had decreased, allowing Gong Liang’s task to move forward.

Frankly, Gong Liang wasn’t in any rush.

The gold-medal salesman Gong himself wasn’t even in his final life and had a high chance of resolving things on his own without Qin Huai’s intervention.

But since Qin Huai had encountered him, and his task was so straightforward—specifically requiring crab roe siu mai—it would be a shame not to complete it.

Moreover, given Gong Liang’s long-standing financial freedom, Qin Huai felt it was worthwhile to aim for 10% of Gong Liang’s inheritance.

On the first day of his return to work, Xiao Qin’s presence once again brought breakfast to the Huang Ji kitchen.

Breakfast was longevity noodles.

Hand-made noodles, chicken broth—what a beautiful way to start the day.

Gong Liang strongly agreed.

“Slurp.”

After finishing his third bowl of longevity noodles, Huang Anyao, who arrived late, saw Gong Liang sitting on a small stool at the kitchen entrance eating noodles and was shocked.

“Uncle Gong, why are you here?”

Who let Gong Liang into the kitchen? He’s supposed to be under close watch!

Gong Liang pretended to be displeased: “Anyao, what do you mean by that? Not welcoming your Uncle Gong? I remember holding you when you were a kid, giving you red envelopes every year, buying you lots of toys and clothes. And this is how you treat me?”

Huang Anyao quickly explained, “That’s not what I meant, I just found it strange that you came to Huang Ji so early… and you’re already eating noodles.”

“Xiao Qin invited me,” Gong Liang said proudly. “You think Xiao Qin is like you? Seeing me like a cat seeing a mouse, turning around and running away. He’s very warm-hearted. He even messaged me last night asking if I was free this morning to come have breakfast.”

“Anyao, you should learn from Xiao Qin. In the future, when you take over Huang Ji, be more tactful. If your father or Zheng Da secretly makes something good, quickly notify me—I’ll come right away.”

Huang Anyao: …

Is it possible that most of the time, the special dishes my father and Uncle Zheng make are actually for you?

Huang Anyao could only respond with a perfunctory “mm-hmm” and “uh-huh,” letting Gong Liang continue eating at the kitchen entrance while he went inside to get a bowl himself and ask the most well-informed person, Dong Shi, what had happened.

How did Gong Liang end up sitting at the kitchen entrance eating breakfast?

The progress was too fast—Huang Shengli still had another follow-up next month. Huang Anyao worried that by the time he returned from accompanying his father again, Gong Liang might already be sitting inside the kitchen eating.

Dong Shi had already obtained first-hand information from Qin Huai.

Gong Liang had been personally invited by Qin Huai, and Qin Huai had also prepared for Gong Liang to come every morning in the future.

He had even prepared for Gong Liang to occasionally take advantage of the situation and ask for special afternoon snacks.

Qin Huai had already informed Huang Jia of this. Huang Jia said that as long as Qin Huai himself didn’t mind, Gong Liang could sit at the kitchen entrance.

As long as he didn’t enter the kitchen.

That was the final boundary of Huang Ji.

After all, for food safety and hygiene reasons, even the young heir Huang Anyao couldn’t enter without changing clothes.

Before Qin Huai arrived, Huang Anyao also used to sit at the entrance to eat. It was only after Qin Huai came that he began entering the kitchen more frequently and developed the habit of changing clothes first.

Those familiar with Qin Huai knew he was someone who didn’t mind cooking extra for friends.

Not just non-human friends—even human friends like Ou Yang, Granny Ding, and Old Master Wang, all 100% human, Qin Huai would still occasionally cook extra for them.

After all, Qin Huai’s culinary skills were built through making extra dishes. Without Luo Luo’s years of encouragement—always wanting to eat whatever she saw—he wouldn’t have been motivated to master over 120 types of pastries.

According to the Qin family breakfast shop menu, mastering 20 types of buns would already count as innovative.

Now, Qin Huai was targeting Gong Liang, and Gong Liang was also targeting Qin Huai. In a sense, this was mutual affection.

Qin Huai extended an olive branch, and Gong Liang climbed right up.

After finishing breakfast, Gong Liang left, presumably to attend to work. Qin Huai worked normally in the morning, making pastries and also stewing 112 servings of gastrodia pigeon soup.

Thanks to enthusiastic word-of-mouth promotion from neighbors, all 112 servings were quickly sold out at lunchtime. Many diners who came specifically for takeaway pastries also ordered a serving of pigeon soup to support Qin Huai’s new dish.

Huang Jia and the supervisor’s medicinal diet strategy also saw initial success. Although the taste of the pigeon soup wasn’t ideal and fell below Huang Ji’s standard, with the medicinal context as a foundation, most diners were willing to accept it and even complimented it as quite good for a health tonic.

“Xiao Qin is so thoughtful—worrying that everyone eats too many pastries and consumes too much carbs and sugar, he specially prepared medicinal soup.”

Qin Huai had his usual staff meal, personally prepared by Huang Jia.

Not long after lunch, Zheng Da arrived.

Zheng Da brought good news to Qin Huai.

Huang Shengli’s follow-up results were very good. The doctor had arranged a full rehabilitation plan. Huang Shengli would stay at the hospital for the next couple of days for therapy and was not allowed near the kitchen. Zheng Da would temporarily take over guiding Qin Huai’s important work.

And Zheng Da himself considered himself an extraordinary master.

He claimed that his previous teaching had been misunderstood—that he had been teaching casually and hadn’t shown his true level. Now he would put in 120% effort to show Qin Huai what a true gold-medal mentor was.

Huang Shengli didn’t understand how to teach apprentices.

His disciples numbered nine, but none were truly outstanding. His eldest disciple Huang Jia was only slightly above average, and his youngest disciple Dong Shi had decent talent but was too opinionated to be considered ideal.

Unlike him—though he had only taught one apprentice over the years, his own son was outstanding.

His son Zheng Siyuan was a renowned genius in the pastry world.

What? Many pastry chefs don’t know him?

That’s because he’s low-key and doesn’t attend exchanges or visit major restaurants. Of course he doesn’t have widespread fame.

What? You say Zheng Da isn’t well known either?

Nonsense. They don’t understand chefs!

This time, the self-proclaimed gold-medal mentor Zheng Da brought his crab roe siu mai teaching.

“Xiao Qin, I really admire your desire to learn crab roe siu mai. Not many young people are willing to learn this dish nowadays. You’ve come to the right person. To be honest, one of my master’s most famous dishes was crab roe siu mai. If you don’t believe me, ask Gong Liang—he once ate crab roe siu mai at a state-run restaurant for an entire month after becoming sales manager. He knows best!”

“There are two types of fillings for crab roe siu mai. Let me explain them.”

Qin Huai replied, “Siyuan already told me before—one is fresh shrimp meat with crab roe, the real crab roe siu mai, and the other is shrimp with egg yolk as a substitute.”

Zheng Da shook his head.

Qin Huai: ?

“What Siyuan described is the modern version. Back when my master worked in a state-run restaurant, there was no egg yolk substitute. Egg yolks were more expensive than crab at the time. Why would they use egg yolk as a substitute?”

“The two fillings I’m referring to are different. One uses shrimp as a base mixed directly with crab meat and roe, seasoned and steamed. This method is simpler in preparation but extremely difficult to season properly—balancing shrimp and crab flavors is challenging. If done poorly, it can be either overly fishy or overly dominated by seasoning.”

“The other method is more complex but easier to control in terms of flavor. The filling is pre-prepared by steaming crabs, extracting meat and roe, rendering crab oil, and then combining crab meat, roe, lean meat, chicken broth, aspic, and bone broth, simmered like making stock. Although complicated, the results are more stable and less likely to fail.”

“Of course, in terms of cost back then, the second method was much more expensive.”

“Which method did Gong Liang eat for a month at the state-run restaurant?” Qin Huai asked.

“Of course the first one. When Gong Liang became a department manager, could he afford crab siu mai made from chicken broth, lean meat, and bone broth every day? If he wasn’t my master’s neighbor, he wouldn’t have been treated to such a demanding dish for a whole month. Just the seasoning alone was exhausting—probably only my master dared to make the first version in the entire city.”

“Then can I learn the first method first?” Qin Huai asked. “I’m not good at making stocks, and you know my heat control level. But I’m confident in my seasoning.”

“I want to learn the first method.”

“Good!” Zheng Da agreed, exactly as he intended. Making the second method wouldn’t showcase his abilities.

Of course they should tackle the high-difficulty one.

As expected of the disciple he had chosen—they were perfectly in sync.