AGN -Chapter 270 Grinding Proficiency

Under Qin Huai’s door-to-door New Year visits, handing out tangyuan, the entire Qin Family Village got to enjoy tangyuan.

The name “Four Joy Tangyuan” also became famous across the village overnight. Even toddlers who could barely speak and were still drooling while sucking their fingers would clap their hands and happily shout “Four Joy Tangyuan.”

In return, Qin Huai received a stack of red envelopes from the villagers. Each envelope didn’t contain much—mostly 5 yuan or 10 yuan, with the occasional “huge fortune” of 20 yuan.

The amounts were small, but there were a lot of them. After finishing delivering tangyuan and returning home to count them, Qin Luo also came back from playing at a close friend’s house. She proudly returned with 12 red envelopes, only to be shocked when she saw the two large bags of envelopes in front of Qin Huai. Her first words blurted out were: “Bro, where did you buy those red envelopes?”

Then the siblings counted them together.

Qin Huai ended up with 2,655 yuan in cash.

All loose change, perfect for buying ingredients at the village shop. There was already a small shop in the village—though “shop” was generous; it was more like a small general store run by the village head’s eldest daughter-in-law. It sold all kinds of things, mainly daily necessities and seasonings.

In previous years, when Qin Huai made pastries during the New Year, he would always ask the village head’s son to help buy ingredients. He owned a minivan, making shopping convenient.

The beautiful New Year’s Eve passed between delivering tangyuan and counting red envelopes.

On the morning of the first day of the New Year, Qin Huai was woken up by the sound of firecrackers. Checking the time, it was already past seven.

He pulled back the curtain and saw the ground covered in red paper fragments. Thankfully, he was a deep sleeper; he only woke up when it was noisy enough.

Otherwise, judging by the thickness of the firecracker debris, anyone with lighter sleep would’ve been up around 4 a.m.

He opened the window—thick smell of sulfur filled the air.

Yep. That was the smell of the New Year.

Qin Huai silently closed the window and stretched toward the sunny sky outside. He wasn’t wearing yesterday’s bright red fluffy outfit anymore; that outfit was only festive and not practical for working.

On New Year’s Eve, festive clothing was fine since the workload wasn’t heavy—just a warm-up.

But today was different. Today was the first day of the year. It was time to seriously “grind proficiency.” He couldn’t be careless; he needed proper work attire.

Qin Huai took out his Yellow Kitchen uniform from his suitcase. It fit perfectly, well-tailored, with his name embroidered on the chest—official chef attire only full staff could wear; apprentices didn’t get it.

He grabbed his phone, opened the door, and the little Chef Qin made his grand entrance on New Year’s Day.

“Bro, Happy New Year! Breakfast is ready—it’s in the pot. Grandma reheated the leftover chicken noodle soup and the three-filling buns from yesterday. Aunt Wang came early, saw you weren’t awake, left some eggs and went back. The fried eggs Aunt Wang made are super tasty—I already ate three!” Qin Luo said, peeking out with a huge bowl of longevity noodles in her hands.

Qin Huai went outside to wash up.

Although the Qin Old Master’s house had a modern kitchen, there was no sink in the bathroom area. Washing in the morning meant filling a basin, then going outside with a cup and toothbrush, under the excuse of “breathing fresh air.”

Qin Luo followed behind him holding her bowl.

“Bro, what pastries are you making today? Early this morning, all the relatives called—uncle, second uncle, third uncle, youngest uncle, aunts—they’re all discussing when to come over. They want to split into four days in pairs, otherwise there are too many people and not enough pastries.”

Just as she finished speaking, Qin Congwen walked by while on the phone.

“Second uncle, Happy New Year! Tomorrow your son’s coming to visit? Tomorrow won’t work, really won’t. Tomorrow my wife’s eldest brother and second brother are coming. Today? Even more impossible—today villagers are visiting each other!”

He covered the phone briefly: “Qin Huai’s awake now? There’s noodles in the pot, go eat quickly. Luo Luo wanted some but grandma wouldn’t let her.”

Then back to the call: “Yes, yes, Qin Huai just woke up. He was exhausted after making pastries yesterday…”

He walked off still talking.

Qin Huai quietly spat out the rinse water and glanced at the huge bowl in Qin Luo’s hands.

“So what’s the current schedule?”

Qin Luo began counting on her fingers like reporting a project plan:

“Same as every year. Uncle and aunt families get priority—so days two to five are reserved for them.”

“This morning Aunt called saying He Cheng’s cousin is going abroad on the 8th, so Grandma squeezed them into the 6th so he can eat something good before leaving.”

“Cousin relatives are scheduled from the 6th to the 10th.”

“As for the great-uncles… you know Grandma doesn’t like them much, so they’re from the 11th to 13th. But the second great-uncle is worried it’s too late and he won’t get pastries, so he’s been calling since early morning trying to move forward.”

Qin Huai’s family had few direct relatives, but an absurd number of extended ones.

His maternal grandfather and grandmother had already passed away before Qin Huai was adopted by Zhao Rong. She had four older brothers and four older sisters—she was the ninth child.

It took Qin Huai two years after being adopted to fully recognize all his uncles and aunts. His eldest uncle was 22 years older than Zhao Rong; when Qin Huai first met him, he even thought he was the grandfather—almost called him “grandpa” if Zhao Rong hadn’t stopped him quickly.

The Qin Old Master had one brother and one sister. The brother had passed away, and the sister married out of the village. Their two sons still lived locally; Qin Huai had already visited them yesterday with tangyuan.

The Qin Grandma’s side had the most relatives. She was the eldest sister, with four younger brothers and three younger sisters. Aside from one uncle who died over ten years ago, the rest were still alive.

But her relationships with them were generally poor. It was said that when she was young, as the eldest daughter she had to support the family, so she was strict and forceful, leaving resentment among her younger siblings.

Later, when Qin Congwen and Qin Xiuli struggled with infertility, the harshest gossip didn’t come from villagers, but from those very relatives. Back then, Grandma Qin was still fiery-tempered and directly confronted them, nearly severing ties.

Over the years, she only kept close contact with one younger sister and one elder sister. Before Qin Huai’s sudden rise in skill and reputation, many nieces and nephews didn’t even come to visit during New Year. Even after coming, they were scheduled after the 9th and would only bring two cartons of milk in exchange for a couple kilos of plain buns.

As for why Qin Huai didn’t go to their homes for New Year visits, but instead they came to his house…

The Zhao family simply said: they have their own rhythm.

“The younger aunt’s family is busy during New Year and can’t come, so the older siblings accommodate her and go to her house—what’s wrong with that?”

“Bro, listen to this—this morning I heard Grandma and Grandpa talking about second great-uncle’s family…” Qin Luo eagerly started gossiping again.

Qin Huai listened with great interest while eating noodles. The siblings sat at the doorway—one talking, one listening.

Sometimes Qin Huai felt that his love for gossip had a root cause: when he worked at Yellow Kitchen, he liked listening to Dong Shi talk about gossip during work.

The family had too many relatives. Too many relatives meant too much gossip. During New Year visits, everyone moved around and spread all the accumulated stories from the year.

In previous years, Qin Huai would be in the kitchen making pastries like he was “ascending to the heavens,” while Qin Luo outside would be stunned by gossip. After hearing enough, she would rush into the kitchen to tell him, making Qin Huai also “stunned while ascending.”

After breakfast, Aunt Wang came again.

She came to work.

Seeing such enthusiasm, Qin Huai was deeply moved. He had already planned to focus on training “Four Joy Tangyuan” during the New Year, and the ingredients had been prepared long ago.

As soon as Aunt Wang picked up her kitchen knife, she started chopping meat. The moment Qin Huai heated the wok, he began simmering sugar. Soon, the villagers Qin Huai had effectively “recruited via boss hiring” the previous night arrived one after another, each taking their positions. The staffing level today was much higher than on New Year’s Eve.

Even the fire starters were no longer distant relatives like Third Aunt and Sixth Aunt. Instead, they were recognized “professional fire handlers” from the village—true experts at controlling the stove fire.

Batch after batch of Four Joy Tangyuan was produced.

Anyone who cooks knows that if you focus on making only one dish or dessert, production speed can become extremely fast.

Soon, the first large basin of Four Joy Tangyuan was full.

The second basin filled up as well.

Just as the third basin was about to overflow, Qin Huai shouted outside:

“Grandma, do we have guests at home? Don’t let them leave empty-handed—pack some tangyuan for them to take home!”

This was a coded phrase in the Qin family, meaning Qin Huai had already made enough for estimated demand, and the excess could be shared with lucky visiting neighbors.

Hearing the words “tangyuan,” the lucky neighbors were so excited they nearly shouted out loud.

At this point, someone might ask—didn’t the villagers of Qin Family Village already eat Four Joy Tangyuan last night? Why are they still so excited?

The answer is this: on the first day of the New Year, villagers visit each other, and “villagers” is a very broad term. It doesn’t just include Qin Family Village, but also nearby villages, neighboring villages of neighboring villages, nearby towns, and even people from the same county. As long as they want to visit, they can count as “villagers.”

The old master Qin and Grandma Qin both had siblings, and their parents also had siblings. If you really traced it carefully, the number of relatives would be endless.

These distant relatives didn’t have the confidence of close ones like uncles, aunts, or cousins who could not only visit but even schedule meals in advance. Still, they were technically relatives. Bringing two cartons of milk or a bag of dried fungus to visit was considered perfectly reasonable.

So the morning of New Year’s Day was specifically reserved by the old master and Grandma Qin for these distant relatives. There was no guarantee they would get pastries, but if they didn’t come, they definitely wouldn’t get any.

They also weren’t after gifts. In previous years, the family would accept some fruit, but this year there was simply too much fruit at home—they didn’t even want more.

One unnamed distant relative who had brought fruit in previous years had always arrived at the wrong time and failed to get pastries, only receiving a box of milk as return gift. This year, he came again with fruit, already mentally preparing for disappointment… until he heard Qin Huai’s words.

He almost cried tears of excitement.

Family members, effort really does pay off. Persistence really works!

He didn’t even know how he should be related to Qin Huai anymore—something like “the cousin of the husband of the second uncle’s wife’s cousin’s aunt’s son”—but because he lived in the next village, he still came every New Year’s Day. And now, his persistence in bringing fruit every year had finally paid off!

Four Joy Tangyuan—it had finally arrived!

The news that those who came to Qin House around 11 a.m. would get Four Joy Tangyuan spread quickly among the extended relatives.

In previous years, even the lucky ones who got takeaway pastries only received them in the afternoon.

Most people would come in the morning after breakfast, chat until afternoon, and only leave after long conversations. When there were too many people, they would go outside to chat.

Anyone even slightly related would be offered two buns so they wouldn’t go home hungry on New Year’s Day.

The reason that unnamed relative hadn’t even gotten buns in previous years was because the connection was simply too distant.

Combined with yesterday’s village-wide distribution of Four Joy Tangyuan, many nearby households immediately sensed that this year was different.

People in surrounding villages quickly sprang into action. Even those who originally planned not to join the New Year crowds suddenly started searching at home for gifts suitable for visiting.

Since there was nothing else to do, they might as well try their luck.

Seeing the growing crowd, Qin Huai decided that since there was a large pot at home anyway, it was perfect. Cooking tangyuan in a big pot was easy, and while making them mainly trained filling skills, boiling them also improved heat-control proficiency. After rolling so many, it was good to switch things up and boil a few batches for variety.

So he directly cooked two huge pots and distributed them to visiting distant relatives.

No bowls? No problem—borrow from the village.

On New Year’s Day, someone who had originally brought a “Wangwang gift pack” for their children on a whim came to visit. The moment they entered, they were handed a bowl of Four Joy Tangyuan—four pieces per bowl, full and generous.

One bite was so delicious it felt almost heavenly.

They didn’t even know what kind of relative they were—just someone from the next village—but they were completely stunned.

So this… is what the New Year feels like?

At 47 years old, they unexpectedly felt the same joy as childhood New Year visits, when kind villagers would stuff handfuls of peanuts into their hands.

Looking at the courtyard full of people, all sitting or standing with bowls, chatting while eating, and reluctantly sipping the soup afterward, the visitor felt this was truly a lively New Year’s Day.

They had come to the right place!

“Put your bowls here after eating, don’t leave them lying around,” a neighbor woman called out, assigning tasks to herself and the children—washing dishes.

This was a good job. Tonight’s dinner of tangyuan depended on the bowls they washed.

Unable to find anyone to chat with, the visitor simply stood next to the loudest speaker and began listening to gossip.

In front of him was a school-age girl holding a large bowl, listening intently.

Inside the house, Grandma Qin came out holding a checklist notebook. She grabbed a distant relative she actually recognized and said:

“Xiu Ping, tell the others not to bring fruit anymore. We really have too much—Huai Huai’s friend sent dozens of boxes.”

“As long as it’s not fruit, anything else is fine.”

“Oh, and do you know anyone who can chop meat? We’re short on helpers again. Referral reward: two bags of tangyuan.”