AGN -Chapter 215 Could it be that Qin Huai has been secretly working hard all along?

“Has the last batch been put into the steamer?”

“Take a count—report the numbers!”

“How much longer until they’re ready?”

“Please customers numbered 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, and 1106 come to collect your orders.”

In Huang Ji’s kitchen, Tan Weian felt as if he had just plowed two acres of land. Although he didn’t seem to have done any heavy physical labor—just continuously cooking fillings, mixing fillings, and wrapping buns—he was exhausted.

Checking his back, he was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

“Man, I’m exhausted. Even at Zhiwei Residence, this kind of business probably only happens during the New Year,” Tan Weian said while tidying his workstation and sighing to Gu Li.

Gu Li silently and slowly cleaned up without replying.

Tan Weian was already used to his junior’s quiet personality and continued, “I heard from Dong Shi that when Qin Huai was in middle school, his uncle almost introduced him here to Zhiwei Residence as an apprentice. If he had come, which master would have taken him in? Master Zhou? Master Li? Master Liu? I think it would definitely be Master Zhou—no one else could compete.”

“His talent is undeniable. It’s like heaven is holding a bowl out behind him, begging him to eat. The other day when making ‘Four Happiness Tangyuan,’ with such complicated ingredients, he and Zheng Siyuan still dared to try—and even experimented with different methods.”

“I think Yu Yang probably wishes Qin Huai would take a liking to him and accept him as a disciple,” Tan Weian laughed.

Yu Yang was the Zhiwei Residence chef who knew a bit about massage.

“Master Qin is very impressive,” Gu Li suddenly said, looking at Qin Huai stretching behind the workstation while chatting and smiling with Zheng Siyuan.

Tan Weian suddenly realized he had unintentionally touched on his junior brother’s sensitive point. In terms of talent, Gu Li and Qin Huai were truly worlds apart.

“Junior brother, what I meant was…”

“Master Qin said my fundamentals are solid, but I haven’t fully integrated them,” Gu Li said.

Tan Weian hadn’t expected Qin Huai to have said that to Gu Li before and paused. “That… actually, several masters have said the same. Junior brother, you’re hardworking and your fundamentals are very solid.”

“Just that your talent… is a bit lacking, and you haven’t quite grasped it.”

Being a chef depends on talent.

“Hard work can make up for clumsiness; a slow bird flies early.” These eight words sound simple, but truly achieving them requires unimaginable time and sweat.

“Master Qin told me to practice more,” Gu Li said. “He said my techniques aren’t right, I haven’t fully integrated them, and I don’t know how to apply them flexibly because I haven’t practiced enough.”

“When you truly reach a certain level of practice, everything will click.”

“I think what Master Qin said is very right.” Gu Li looked at Qin Huai. “Although Master Qin seems a bit casual—sometimes chatting with Dong Shi while working pastries and not sticking to one task, always trying new things—today I realized he actually practices a lot in private.”

“For him, many things have already become muscle memory. I think what he wants to tell me is that if I practice to his level, I can achieve that same integration.”

“Senior brother,” Gu Li looked at Tan Weian with bright eyes, “I want to add an extra hour of training every day!”

Tan Weian: “Huh?”

More?

Junior brother, you already work 14 hours a day on average—you’re the most hardworking one in Zhiwei Residence. If you add more, can your body handle it?

Also… could it be that Qin Huai is truly a hidden overachiever?

Tan Weian began to carefully recall Qin Huai’s performance today.

Calm, composed, efficient.

At first he didn’t pay much attention, because ever since he saw the “Zhi Wei” article that morning, he had already mentally classified Qin Huai as a big shot—a pastry master featured on the cover of Zhi Wei’s opening issue.

In his mind, if he himself were on that cover, he would probably float with his eyes toward the sky.

Everything a big shot does is reasonable—calmness is a basic trait of experts.

But with Gu Li’s reminder, Tan Weian suddenly realized that Qin Huai really was very skilled at working.

He could keep up with the pace of Zhiwei Residence helpers.

That was no small feat—Zhiwei Residence was known for gathering overachievers. Zheng Da falling behind was normal; Qin Huai keeping up was the abnormal part.

Thinking this through, Tan Weian was shocked.

Could it be that Qin Huai has been secretly working hard all along?

On the surface, he comes to work at Huang Ji in the morning, rests after lunch, casually practices unrelated pastry work in the afternoon, delivers staff meals to the bone-setting clinic to relax, and then goes home leisurely—but in reality, he’s been quietly grinding where no one can see, outworking everyone.

Tan Weian gasped.

Qin Huai is terrifying.

Not only talented, but also so hardworking.

Truly admirable.

—

Qin Huai was stretching his neck.

“I heard the queue outside has exceeded 1,000. How many buns and steamed buns did we actually make today? How many fresh meat mooncakes were sold?” Qin Huai chatted while waiting for food, full of energy.

“No idea, we didn’t count,” Zheng Siyuan shook his head. “There should be many missed numbers. It’s unlikely that a single lunch period had over 1,000 actual customers.”

Qin Huai stretched his neck, then shoulders—almost doing a full calisthenics routine.

“Aren’t you tired?” Zheng Siyuan asked curiously.

He remembered when Qin Huai first came to Huang Ji—the workload then seemed heavy, but compared to now, it was nothing. Yet that “nothing” almost exhausted Qin Huai.

Now, with more helpers and nearly double the workload, Qin Huai not only wasn’t exhausted but looked energetic.

What was going on?

“Not too bad,” Qin Huai said honestly. “I’m definitely tired, but mentally I feel very fulfilled.”

Zheng Siyuan: ?

“Somehow, today’s workload feels just right for me. Not easy, not overly tiring—the environment is very comfortable. I even feel like I could work another two hours.” Qin Huai felt that clocking out was the limit of Huang Ji, not his limit.

Zheng Siyuan: ??

Zheng Siyuan looked deeply at Qin Huai. “You’re starting to scare me.”

“I suddenly don’t want to help you make ‘San Ding’ buns tomorrow.”

Qin Huai’s eyes lit up: “You’re helping me make them tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Zheng Siyuan said expressionlessly. “My dad is worried you’ll be too tired tomorrow, so he asked me to assist you with part of the work.”

“Now I think you don’t need my help—you should help me with fresh meat mooncakes instead.”

“I’m exhausted.”

Zheng Siyuan felt it might be time to reopen his beloved pastry shop.

It was already renovated.

High-end restaurants are too exhausting for him.

—

While waiting for food, Qin Huai went to Dong Shi to listen to some gossip.

Dong Shi was vividly describing how long the queue was outside—almost like the Spring Festival travel rush.

Qin Huai felt that was a bit exaggerated—customers were here to eat, not to attack Huang Ji.

Just as the gossip reached its peak, a round-faced waiter peeked into the kitchen and quietly asked, “Is Master Qin busy? A neighbor outside brought something for him and asked him to check his phone.”

Qin Huai immediately walked out—his phone was in the changing room.

At the kitchen entrance, Wang Gensheng and Chen Juan were standing by the wall. Wang Gensheng held jars of locust blossom honey, while Chen Juan carried two bags filled with more than enough rice wine buns and ‘San Ding’ buns for two people.

As Qin Huai walked out, Chen Juan was scolding Wang Gensheng and didn’t notice him.

“Wang Gensheng, Wang Gensheng, how can you even take these buns? Old Qian’s family of four queued since 9 a.m. to get these, and you took half of them? Can you even finish that much? Do you really need these two bites? When Xiao Qin returns to Yunzong Cafeteria, won’t you still be able to eat?”

“And their granddaughter—what about her? The whole family queued all morning, and they only brought back that little. How disappointed must the child be!”

Wang Gensheng lowered his head, ashamed: “I couldn’t resist for a moment… I lost my head. Old Qian handed them to me and I impulsively accepted.”

“I didn’t want to—I knew I shouldn’t have taken them… I really deserve to be scolded.”

Qin Huai: …

Sounds like accepting a bribe of 300,000, not two bags of buns.

“Mr. Wang, Aunt Chen, why didn’t you tell me you were coming to Suzhou on WeChat?” Qin Huai stepped forward.

Wang Gensheng, still in remorse mode, said: “We just came to visit old colleagues. Director Ding asked me to bring you a few jars of locust blossom honey.”

Qin Huai accepted the honey. “Thank you for bringing it. Have you eaten lunch?”

“Yes, number 555. We got three rice wine buns and three ‘San Ding’ buns.”

“Oh? What time did number 555 get served?”

“About 12:10, as the staff said. But there were many missed numbers ahead of us. We strolled around with Doctor Qu and got served around noon. Later it slowed down—many missed numbers re-queued on the spot.”

“By around 12:40, the waiting crowd was huge—more than people grabbing discounted eggs at supermarkets during early morning rush.”

“Doctor Qu? Qu Jing is here too?” Qin Huai was surprised.

He had been busy lately and hadn’t been in touch with her much.

“Yes, she’s off today,” Wang Gensheng said honestly.

Qin Huai immediately understood—she was likely too embarrassed to ask for private meals.

He quickly arranged for a table at Huang Ji for them the next day.

—

After chatting a bit more, Qin Huai returned to the kitchen.

Wang Gensheng sighed at the entrance: “Even after becoming famous, Xiao Qin Shi is still as considerate as before.”

Chen Juan: …

What kind of description is that?

Meanwhile, Wang Gensheng immediately called Qian Zhongheng to tell him there was no need to book another restaurant—they had already secured a table through Qin Huai’s arrangement.

At Qian Zhongheng’s home, he was still regretting the buns he had given away when Wang Gensheng’s call came.

“What? Xiao Qin Shi reserved a table for us? A middle table in the main hall?”

“Seven people might be crowded? Not at all—my granddaughter is small, she can sit on her father’s lap!”

Qian Zhongheng’s son: ?

“I knew you were reliable back when you were an accountant. Don’t worry—we’ll be there on time. I’ll arrive at 9 just to pretend we queued.”

After hanging up, Qian Zhongheng said energetically, “Let’s go, son! Let’s buy some fruit for Uncle Wang. We’ll visit him at the hotel this afternoon!”

“Got it, Dad!”