AGN -Chapter 280 Regular Study

The moment Cao Guixiang lifted the lid of the pot, Qin Huai went completely dumbfounded.

Dumb in the literal, physical sense.

It was too fragrant—far too fragrant!

Qin Huai felt as if every cell in his body was roaring at him:

Hurry! Take a bite! Taste it! I need to know what this tastes like!!

It was so fragrant that Qin Huai could only see Cao Guixiang’s mouth opening and closing, but his ears had already filtered out her words. All he could hear was a faint buzzing noise. His entire attention had been hijacked by his sense of smell.

At that moment, his brain was completely blank.

He couldn’t think of anything. Even his vision seemed to blur, as if everything around him had faded away. All he could see was the golden braised shark fin in the pot.

Yes—golden braised shark fin.

It was hard for Qin Huai to describe how beautiful this dish looked, because he had never seen shark fin dishes before.

In truth, while it was still in the pot it wasn’t even “beautiful” in the plated sense—it hadn’t been served yet—but it was dazzling.

Like in Crayon Shin-chan: Cooking Master Boy, whenever the protagonist finished a dish, the moment the lid was lifted, golden light would burst out, so bright it blinded everyone around.

In Qin Huai’s mind, the BGM of “Great Wall of China” had already started playing. It felt like a whole orchestra was performing inside his head.

After a full dozens of seconds, Qin Huai finally recovered his senses and belatedly realized what Cao Guixiang had just been saying.

He forced his gaze away from the braised shark fin and looked at her. Embarrassed by his completely unsophisticated reaction, he lowered his head slightly.

Even as he felt awkward, he couldn’t help stealing another glance at the pot and inhaling the aroma deeply.

Only after that did he finally gather his thoughts.

After another long silence of thirty seconds or so, Qin Huai hesitantly asked:

“Chef Cao… are you asking me to learn hot-kitchen cooking under you?”

Although Qin Huai lacked a lot of common knowledge, after a few months of training at Huang Ji, he still understood how impressive Tan family cuisine was.

Even if he hadn’t understood before, seeing this pot of braised shark fin made it crystal clear.

S-rank.

That was Qin Huai’s evaluation of the dish.

Absolutely S-rank—even without tasting it, just the aroma alone told him this was an S-rank dish.

If something like this wasn’t S-rank, he couldn’t imagine what kind of heavenly delicacy would qualify.

The only truly authentic S-rank chef he had ever encountered in name was Jiang Chengde.

That master was unreachable—he couldn’t see him, couldn’t touch him, and even his video tutorials were hard to understand. But Cao Guixiang was different—she was right here, tangible, someone he could ask directly and understand step by step.

When Qin Huai asked, he even briefly considered that learning hot-kitchen cooking might not be impossible.

It was just that he would probably never return to Yunzhong Canteen in Shanshi.

He had once asked Dong Shi how he learned cooking, and the answer was relentless practice—summer heat, winter cold, years of knife work and fire control. It was like the martial arts protagonists in TV dramas: constant, grueling training.

Just learning to chop ingredients alone took three or four years before one could even touch the stove. Even now, Dong Shi was still just a prep chef at Huang Ji’s kitchen.

Cao Guixiang smiled, her eyebrows curving gently.

“Of course not. You’re already a very mature pastry chef.”

“If I made you start from scratch like an apprentice and locked you in the kitchen for years learning hot-kitchen skills, while your pastry skills rusted, I’d be a sinner.”

“What I mean is—your knife skills, even as a pastry chef, are really lacking.”

“Pastry and hot-kitchen cooking are not identical, but they share the same fundamentals—especially the basics.”

“You’ve never had systematic training, no master guiding you from childhood. From what you told me during our WeChat chats about your experience at Huang Ji, I believe you’ve already noticed this yourself.”

“When you were just running a breakfast shop, your fundamentals were enough. But when you started learning advanced pastries under Chef Zheng, they became insufficient.”

“That’s why every good master forces their apprentices to spend years on basics. It’s to build a solid foundation.”

“It looks useless, but it’s the most stable base of your entire culinary career—knife work, heat control, seasoning. These long, boring exercises are the most important stepping stones.”

“Your foundation is unstable, but your building is rising too fast.”

“I’m not telling you to switch from pastry to hot-kitchen cooking. Of course, if you’re interested in both, I’m happy to teach you both.”

“I just think it would be a shame if such a talented young chef stumbled because of a weak foundation.”

“Cooking follows the barrel principle—the longest plank doesn’t matter much, but the shortest plank determines how much water you can hold.”

“You may have assistants now who help with knife work, but when your skill level rises further and dishes become more complex, can you still rely on others?”

“When Chef Huang personally prepares a banquet, doesn’t he still handle his own stock and ingredient prep?”

As she spoke, Cao Guixiang never stopped moving.

She chatted while cooking, stir-frying, stewing, controlling heat, flipping the wok, seasoning—then even plating the braised shark fin.

She truly plated it—arranging it beautifully, carving simple decorations from carrots and radish, and pouring seasoned broth over it.

Yes, even the garnish was seasoned.

Cao Guixiang didn’t need Qin Huai’s help at all. She handled everything effortlessly while casually holding a conversation.

Qin Huai finally understood her meaning.

Cao Guixiang was already retired. She had no interest in taking disciples, nor the time or energy to train apprentices.

She was like a hidden elder of a great sect—highly skilled, leisurely, wandering the world. And by chance, she met Qin Huai, a rare talent with strong instincts but rough fundamentals, someone from an unorthodox background who had received only partial guidance from masters.

She had no intention of formally taking him as a disciple, but she couldn’t bear to see such talent wasted—so she decided to offer a helping hand.

And Qin Huai immediately understood.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“If I miss this chance, I’ll regret it forever!”

“Chef Cao, I’m willing!” Qin Huai said excitedly. “It’s my honor to receive your guidance!”

Seeing him agree, Cao Guixiang was also happy. She had been improvising the entire time, even forgetting the lines she had prepared the night before, speaking entirely from instinct.

At first she was a little nervous and incoherent, not even sure what she was saying.

Fortunately, Qin Huai was perceptive enough to understand her.

“Let me ask,” Qin Huai said. “Earlier you mentioned staying here for a few days of guidance, then switching to online lessons—how exactly would that work?”

He truly didn’t understand. After all, he had no master and no formal training in knife skills.

He couldn’t imagine how something that required years of daily practice could be learned through online classes.

Cao Guixiang clarified calmly: “I didn’t explain it clearly before.”

“Your business is in Shanshi. Even while learning, you can’t neglect your livelihood—people still have to live.”

“But your knife skills are indeed very weak and need to be rebuilt from the basics. You’ll need to stay here for a few days first so I can personally correct your grip, cutting method, and force application.”

“After that, you can go back and study online.”

“But don’t rely only on online lessons. Ideally, you should come back once a month. As you probably know from your experience in Suzhou, online teaching and hands-on guidance are completely different.”

“With your talent, you should be able to make noticeable progress each month. You come back once a month, and I adjust your training based on your progress—that’s the best learning cycle.”

“In the past, when transportation was inconvenient and communication was poor, many chefs learned like this too. If they couldn’t become direct disciples, they would be registered students—visiting their masters every few months or even once a year. Their skills still improved rapidly. In modern terms, it’s what you young people call ‘advanced training.’”

Qin Huai also felt this method made a lot of sense.

His business was in Shanshi, and there was also a certain “lonely old bird” in Yunzhong District who refused to leave.

He was willing to stay in Guangdong to study under a master, but whether Yunzhong Canteen’s customers would agree… that was another question entirely.

He would also have to be away from Yunzhong Canteen for too long. If that happened, Chen An and Pei Xing probably wouldn’t be willing to stay long in a community cafeteria either. Over time, the canteen would fall apart—and his main storyline quest would be doomed as well.

Yes, many readers might have already forgotten, but Qin Huai, our protagonist, has always remembered that he has a main quest.

Let’s take a look again at the quest details:

[King of Single Dishes]: As a newly established shop that has already gained a foothold, having a few signature dishes that earn unanimous praise from customers is the foundation for your future fame. Please make Yunzhong Canteen develop 5 daily-selling dishes with a rating of no less than 98% approval, and at least 1000 customers must believe each of them is the best version of that dish they have ever eaten.

Quest reward: +1000 popularity boost, 【??? a fragment of a dream】 (Choice: Yes/No)

Qin Huai felt that, with his current level, completing this main quest would only take minutes.

Before he went to Suzhou for training and exchange, he already had two qualifying products: fermented rice steamed buns and dried tangerine peel tea. Now, as long as he returned to Yunzhong Canteen and rolled out dishes like Four-Happiness Tangyuan, premium Three-Diced Buns, longevity noodles, fruit pastries, and apple pastries—any three of them would be enough. Completing the quest would only be a matter of time.

The exact timing would depend on when those items could be sold to 1,000 customers.

But the prerequisite for completing this main quest was returning to Yunzhong Canteen.

Yunzhong Canteen had already been without its boss and pastry chef “Little Qin Chef” for quite a long time. Long enough that many nearby office workers felt that the days of eating three-diced buns, five-diced buns, and fermented rice steamed buns before work in the morning now felt like a dream.

No matter how many side quests Qin Huai triggered in Suzhou, the main storyline was still at Yunzhong Canteen.

The New Year had already passed—it was time for Little Qin Chef to go back and take a look.

“How many days do you think I should stay here to learn?” Qin Huai asked humbly.

“At least five days,” Cao Guixiang replied.

“Alright, Chef Cao. When can I start learning?”

Sorry, Ou Yang. Your hand-shaken lemon tea shop might have to open a few days later.

Cao Guixiang gestured for Qin Huai to pass her an empty plate. She took it and plated the “two-flavor prawns” from the pot.

Both the two-flavor prawns and the braised shark fin were famous dishes of Tan cuisine. The shrimp head and shrimp body were prepared in two different cooking styles, hence the name “one shrimp, two flavors.”

The shrimp heads were bright red, the shrimp bodies golden yellow. No extra sauce was needed. Lightly seasoned carrot slices were placed to separate the head and body as decoration. A small white radish flower was added, with sauce drizzled over it.

If this were in Huang Ji, selling it for less than 888 yuan a plate would be an insult to its appearance and aroma!

“You can start this afternoon. My grandson and granddaughter are at school—this retired old lady is quite free every day.”

Cao Guixiang handed Qin Huai the plated dishes: the two-flavor prawns and the braised shark fin.

“Xiao Qin, help serve these.”

Qin Huai quickly took them, holding one in each hand, afraid of spilling anything.

The prawns were fine since they had no broth, but the braised shark fin was soaked in stock after plating. If he dropped that, he would truly become today’s sinner.

Cao Guixiang opened the kitchen door for him. Qin Huai carried the dishes out to serve them.

Everyone outside had already arrived.

Cao Guixiang’s children and grandchildren were there. Zhang Zhiyun and Chang Qingqing were wearing school uniforms, sitting on the sofa with Qin Luo, watching TV and whispering to each other. Qin Huai vaguely heard something like: “Your school starts so late, that’s so lucky!”

As soon as the kitchen door opened, the aroma burst out.

It really burst out.

Before, the smell had only seeped through the cracks in the door, just enough to make people salivate uncontrollably while constantly checking the clock, wondering when they could eat.

Now, with the door open, the freshly cooked aromas mixed together and surged through the entire living room like a conquering army, occupying every corner.

Everyone had only one thought left:

Eat!

I want to eat ten bowls!

Cao Guixiang was still plating dishes in the kitchen while Qin Huai carried them one by one to the table.

To be honest, there were dishes he didn’t even know the names of.

But that didn’t matter—someone else did.

Every time Qin Huai brought out a dish, Zhang Zhiyun loudly and excitedly announced its name:

“Braised shark fin!”

“Two-flavor prawns!”

“Straw-rope duck!”

“Oyster abalone!”

“Braised duck liver!”

“Steamed chicken with straw mushrooms!”

“Crab roe tofu!”

“Shrimp with water bamboo shoots!”

“Wow, there’s even old hen soup!”

“Did I get the date wrong? Is today actually New Year’s again?!” Zhang Zhiyun was so excited he looked like he might faint.

Qin Luo had never tasted these dishes before and didn’t understand why Zhang Zhiyun was so excited. She just stared at the food, silently drooling in her mind while desperately controlling it from spilling out.

Cao Guixiang’s daughter, Zhang Siyu, was also shocked at the spread and quietly asked Zhang Chu, “Dad, didn’t you say Mom wasn’t taking apprentices?”

“With this table, is she planning to take a godson instead?”

Chang Qingqing overheard this and was equally shocked, turning to Qin Luo: “Then should I call you god-aunt now?!”

Zhang Chu: “……”

“Stop talking nonsense. Your mother just felt like cooking more dishes today. Everyone, sit down and eat. Xiao Qin, you don’t need to help anymore—you’ve been busy long enough, come sit and eat.”

He said that, but his hand unconsciously scratched his thinning hair.

What’s going on with Guixiang today? Why did she cook such a feast when she usually insists she doesn’t take disciples?

And this wasn’t even all of it—if he had managed to buy high-quality giant sea cucumber and premium bird’s nest yesterday, there would have been two more dishes on the table.

Zhang Chu looked at Qin Huai.

Oh no.

Two days ago, he had tried to save a little money and didn’t order the best quality wood for an order.

He immediately took out his phone and messaged the timber supplier to change it.

Little Qin is family now—he has to use the best of everything.