AGN -Chapter 260 The Return Journey

The next day, Qu Jing took annual leave and returned to Shanshi ahead of schedule.

Everyone knew why—she was going back to pay New Year visits.

That very evening, Qin Huai saw a photo on his social media feed: a family portrait of Qu Jing with Chen Tingting’s family. Chen’s adoptive parents were now both gray-haired, their smiles warm and gentle.

The photo had been taken in the living room. In one corner, on a small side table, sat a framed old photograph.

In that old photo, a young Mr. and Mrs. Chen were holding hands with a little girl standing between them. She wore a beautiful dress and smiled radiantly.

At the bottom of the photo was a line of small text:

“Happy 10th Birthday to little Chen Shen’ai!”

Qin Huai quietly gave the post a like.

He thought that from now on, every Spring Festival, the ordinarily unremarkable Teacher Chen would have a former student from many years ago arriving at her door with a box of fruit to pay New Year respects. This student would gradually become part of every aspect of her life—joining her and her adoptive parents in volunteer medical visits to nursing homes, running into her from time to time, chatting, and visiting her home.

There was now one more person in the world who could truly understand the meaning behind the photograph in their living room.

As Qu Jing left early, more and more of the elderly regulars, pressured by the approaching New Year, boarded high-speed trains to return home.

There were fewer and fewer people coming for the nightly tastings.

Yet Qin Huai did not reduce the number of Four-Joy Tangyuan he made each day. He had never been making so many simply for the tastings anyway. His real goal was to grind proficiency through relentless practice, striving to create an A-grade Four-Joy Tangyuan before Han Youxin’s birthday, so that Han Guishan could shine at his son’s birthday banquet and thereby complete Chen Gong’s side quest.

Although Qin Huai hadn’t seen Assistant Chen for quite some time, he still kept him in mind.

He even continued liking all of Assistant Chen’s social media posts.

If he reduced production just because there were fewer tasters, that would be putting the cart before the horse. Besides, fewer people didn’t necessarily mean less eating. The remaining uncles and aunties were still formidable eaters. If there was too much left over, they could simply freeze it and eat it the next day. Any extras could be sent home with Ou Yang as a New Year’s gift for his parents.

After spending so many days in Suzhou, drinking endless cups of freshly made lemonade and researching a mountain of entirely unnecessary recipes, it was about time Ou Yang brought some Suzhou specialties home to honor his parents.

What? You say Four-Joy Tangyuan is a Changzhou specialty, not a Suzhou one?

No matter. Once Ou Yang’s parents tasted it, they would naturally understand what Suzhou’s true specialty really was.

After all, many office workers near Yunzhong Cafeteria firmly believed that fermented rice steamed buns and Five-Diced Pork Buns were Shanshi specialties. Whenever friends visited, they always recommended these two “local specialties” at Yunzhong Cafeteria.

Not just any friend got that recommendation—only the closest ones. These were treasured secret weapons.

Amid the festive New Year atmosphere, the number of daily tasters dwindled day by day.

Xu Tuqiang stayed until the twenty-first day of the lunar month. Grandma Ding lasted until the twenty-second. And far ahead of them both, Old Qian held out all the way until the twenty-fourth.

Even Chen Huihong only stayed until the twenty-sixth.

Little New Year had already passed. It was time to head back. If she delayed any longer, it would really be hard to justify. She couldn’t very well leave only her younger brother’s family in the countryside to suffer through their mother’s terrible buckwheat buns. The Chen family had always believed in sharing both blessings and hardships—if they ate delicious food together, they should also endure the bad food together.

Besides, Chen Yingjun was still waiting hungrily in the countryside for his beloved sister to bring back forty jin of flaky pastries.

Chen Huihong ended up greatly exceeding her mission.

Qin Huai stepped in and asked Zheng Siyuan to prepare sixty jin of flaky pastries for her.

Well, actually, it was 120 jin—Qin Huai needed sixty jin himself as well, though his portion could be delivered on the twenty-ninth.

Making so many flaky pastries left Zheng Siyuan questioning his life choices. As he worked, he kept asking Qin Huai whether people really only wanted flaky pastries. Was flaky pastry truly his signature item? Why did no one want his fresh meat mooncakes?

Qin Huai explained that flaky pastries kept well, whereas fresh meat mooncakes were never as delicious after cooling and reheating as they were fresh from the oven. Of course, if Zheng Siyuan were willing to accompany either Chen Huihong or himself back to the countryside, he could make fresh meat mooncakes all day long—eighteen hours a day, if he liked.

There would be no shortage of eager villagers waiting to eat them.

To this, Zheng Siyuan responded with six dots:

“……”

In addition to the sixty jin of flaky pastries, Chen Huihong also took with her sixty jin of tangyuan, thirty guo’er, twenty jin of fermented rice steamed buns, and twenty jin of Three-Diced Pork Buns.

These were to be distributed in Shanshi among Luo Jun, Qu Jing, and the orphanage.

The fermented rice steamed buns and Three-Diced Pork Buns had been specially requested by Qu Jing. Although Teacher Chen’s family all lived in Shanshi, they had never heard of Yunzhong Cafeteria, nor had they ever tasted these specialties. Qu Jing wanted her parents from her previous life to enjoy something truly delicious, so she had made the rare request.

It was no trouble at all. Qin Huai made them without hesitation.

Because she had so much to bring back, Chen Huihong didn’t take the high-speed rail. Instead, Chen Yingjun’s assistant drove over to pick up all the pastries.

“Xiao Qin, Luoluo, see you in Shanshi after the New Year!” Chen Huihong waved from the passenger seat, handing Qin Luo a red envelope through the car window. “Happy New Year, Luoluo!”

Qin Luo had never expected to receive a red envelope so early. She was so delighted she nearly jumped on the spot.

“Thank you, Auntie Chen! Happy New Year to you and Huihui too!”

They watched as Chen Huihong’s Maybach drove away. Qin Luo eagerly opened the red envelope and let out an astonished gasp.

Qin Huai glanced over—six hundred yuan, in six crisp hundred-yuan bills. Quite a generous amount.

This was coming from someone who, while making apple juice at home, would discover halfway through that she’d run out of apples and then casually head over to Luo Jun’s house to “borrow” a couple. She had always firmly adhered to the principle that all her inheritance would one day belong to Huihui.

For her to give Qin Luo such a large red envelope in advance was already remarkably generous.

Qin Luo was overjoyed. When had she ever received such a big red envelope before? Even during New Year, only close family members gave larger amounts. Ordinary relatives usually gave five or ten yuan. Even receiving twenty yuan was enough to make her ecstatic.

“Brother, can I spend half of this money myself and use the other half to pay back what I owe you?” Qin Luo asked hopefully.

“You’ve worked hard with your tutoring lately. Keep all of it for yourself,” Qin Huai declared grandly, firmly maintaining his status as the big brother.

On the twenty-seventh day of the lunar month, Ou Yang—afraid that if he delayed any longer, his grandfather really would break his legs—finally boarded the high-speed train home, dragging along a suitcase full of Four-Joy Tangyuan.

At this point, aside from Qin Huai and Qin Luo, every member of the tasting group had returned home for the New Year.

With no one left to taste-test on Qin Huai’s side, his evenings suddenly became free.

Meanwhile, the usually laid-back Zheng Da had become busier than ever.

This year, Huang Ji had launched a special New Year pastry gift box, with Zheng Da fully in charge and Zheng Siyuan assisting.

Since Little New Year, Zheng Da had practically moved into the kitchen. From the moment he opened his eyes each day, he was making pastries; when he closed them at night, he was still making pastries in his dreams.

He clocked in punctually at 8:30 every morning and clocked out at exactly 8:00 every evening, dragging his exhausted body home. At an age when he should have already achieved financial freedom, Zheng Da was instead living the life of a rather unusual 996 office worker.

After resting for a day, Qin Huai was surprised to discover that he seemed incapable of truly taking it easy anymore.

On the evening of the twenty-seventh day of the lunar month, even while scrolling on his phone, he felt oddly empty and bored. He actually wanted to make some pastries.

After spending two months at Huang Ji, he had unconsciously transformed into a full-fledged workaholic.

On his final day working at Huang Ji, Qin Huai thought it over carefully and decided that he would stay at his post until the very last moment. He even worked some overtime, hoping to give his colleagues a little surprise.

On the twenty-eighth day of the lunar month, Qin Huai made a full eighty jin of Four-Joy Tangyuan, greatly boosting his filling-making proficiency. Afterward, he distributed some to everyone at Huang Ji—not much, just a small token of his appreciation.

After all, he would be leaving for home the next day and would not be returning. His period of study and exchange at Huang Ji was officially coming to an end.

When Dong Shi received his share of the Four-Joy Tangyuan, he was so moved that he nearly cried. He complained that Qin Huai should have told him in advance if he was planning such a thoughtful surprise. If he had known, he definitely would have prepared… prepared… prepared…

Well, he definitely would have prepared something.

As it was, the only gift he could offer on the spot seemed to be a plate of his famous paper-thin, translucent radish slices.

“Qin Huai, don’t worry. I’ll definitely save these Four-Joy Tangyuan for New Year’s Eve dinner. Even if I have to eat less of Master’s cooking, I’ll make sure to finish every one of them!” Dong Shi vowed solemnly.

“That’s really not necessary. New Year’s Eve dinner is more important. You can eat them on the first day of the New Year—it’ll be just as good,” Qin Huai advised sincerely.

Although Dong Shi was Huang Shengli’s last disciple, he didn’t actually get to enjoy meals personally cooked by Huang Shengli very often throughout the year. Sacrificing bites of such a feast for B-grade Four-Joy Tangyuan would hardly be worth it.

Next New Year’s Eve, he could save room for A-grade Four-Joy Tangyuan.

Or, to dream bigger, S-grade!

Granted, S-grade would probably only be available in dreams, but that hardly mattered. It was the New Year, after all—surely a little daydreaming was allowed.

At ten o’clock that evening, Qin Huai clocked out for the last time—his latest shift yet—officially bringing his life at Huang Ji to a close.

He had booked a high-speed rail ticket for ten o’clock the next morning. From there, he would travel to Qiu County and then take a minibus back to his village.

His luggage was already packed. There wasn’t much to bring. He had plenty of clothes back home, so the main items were some new kitchen tools he had purchased in Suzhou, along with the homework Qin Luo’s tutors had left for her.

The tutors hadn’t assigned much—just two test papers each. Enough to ensure that Qin Luo could enjoy the holidays without forgetting everything she’d recently learned.

On February 6th, the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, Huang Shengli, Zheng Da, and Gong Liang accompanied Qin Huai and Qin Luo to the high-speed rail station.

“Once you get home, make sure to rest well. Send us a message when you arrive safely,” Huang Shengli said with a smile, pulling a thick red envelope from his pocket. “I was originally planning to give this to you on New Year’s Eve, but since you’re leaving early, I’ll give it to you now.”

“Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year,” Qin Huai replied.

Then Huang Shengli took out another red envelope from his other pocket—this one not quite as thick—and handed it to Qin Luo.

“This one’s for Luoluo. Happy New Year!”

“Wow, thank you, Uncle Huang! Happy New Year!”

Qin Luo felt certain this was going to be the happiest New Year of her life.

Not to be outdone, Zheng Da immediately produced two red envelopes of his own—one for Qin Huai and one for Qin Luo.

“Here, Luoluo, Uncle Zheng has one for you too!”

“Thank you, Uncle Zheng! Happy New Year!”

Then Zheng Da turned to Qin Huai, his voice full of emotion.

“Xiao Qin, I won’t say too much. You know how I feel, and I understand your thoughts. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: even though you never formally became my disciple, in my heart, you’re no different from one. Your New Year’s red envelope had to be the biggest and thickest. This is just a small token of your Master Zheng’s affection.”

“Thank you, Master Zheng,” Qin Huai said, accepting the envelope.

“Alright, alright, listen to you getting all sentimental over a red envelope,” Gong Liang said with a laugh as he stepped between them, pulling out a whole stack of red envelopes from his bag.

“Master Qin, you know my hobby—I just love handing out red envelopes during the New Year. Giving only a few isn’t my style. Here, take these first.”

“I’ve also prepared some New Year gifts, but they’re inconvenient to send directly to your hometown. After the holiday, I’ll have someone deliver them to Shanshi.”

Qin Huai stared at the stack of red envelopes in shock. In all his life, he had never received so many at once.

Dong Shi’s description of Gong Liang handing out red envelopes for five straight minutes to lighten the mood suddenly became vividly believable.

Qin Luo was equally stunned.

Noticing her expression, Gong Liang grandly waved his hand and pulled out yet another stack of red envelopes.

“Here, Luoluo—these are for you.”

Qin Luo gasped sharply, looking as though she might faint from sheer happiness.

Then she pinched herself hard on the arm. Her face twisted in pain before breaking into a radiant smile.

“Oh my gosh—it’s not a dream!”

Qin Huai: …

My apologies. My little sister has clearly watched too many TV dramas.

“Alright, let’s not crowd the station entrance any longer. It’s almost departure time, and we don’t want Xiao Qin missing his train,” Gong Liang said, waving them off. “Bye! Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year!”