AGN -Chapter 289 The Four-Joy Tangyuan Is Terrifyingly Good

Xiao Zhang was already completely immersed.

There was no longer any trace of the Three-Diced Buns in his eyes.

Right now, there was only one kind of pastry in his heart—Four-Joy Tangyuan!

After swallowing the last bite of the savory pork-filled tangyuan, Xiao Zhang felt as if his entire being had been sublimated, as though he were walking on clouds.

The rich pork flavor of the savory filling still lingered on the tip of his tongue, while the three sweet fillings he had eaten earlier had already settled deep into his heart. To his surprise, after finishing everything and savoring it carefully, it actually felt even more delicious than when he was eating it.

Each tangyuan tasted great on its own, but when combined, the flavor multiplied to an incredible degree.

At a moment like this, it would be perfect to have something to drink.

Still wanting more, Xiao Zhang smacked his lips, took a sip of the bland tangyuan soup, and glanced at the time—6:20 AM.

He had entered the Yunzong Cafeteria at exactly 6:00, waited in line for three minutes, and sat down at 6:04.

Yet he had spent a full 16 minutes eating just one bowl of tangyuan!

Sure enough, true delicacies must be savored slowly.

Looking around, Xiao Zhang realized he was the slowest eater in the entire hall. The elderly diners had already finished their bowls and were chatting away. A few who felt they could handle more without getting too full had even ordered another bowl and were happily eating.

Sitting by the window, Xiao Zhang glanced across the street.

The first thing he noticed was the bright green sign of Xiao Ou’s freshly hand-shaken lemon tea.

He remembered that yesterday, Chef Xiao Qin had specifically suggested that he could order a non-hand-shaken lemon tea drink from that shop. Xiao Zhang wasn’t familiar with the opening hours of nearby milk tea shops, but he knew the coffee shops near his company well.

Except for the 24-hour ones, the rest all opened at 7:00 AM.

That meant there were still 40 minutes left.

Another bowl of tangyuan!

Xiao Zhang checked his balance and deeply felt that saving money really paid off—it was all for indulging like this on a morning like today.

He stood up immediately and walked briskly to the counter.

“Hello, I’d like another bowl of Four-Joy Tangyuan, please!”

From start to finish, he didn’t spare even a glance at the untouched Three-Diced Bun and tea egg on his table.

While Xiao Zhang waited for his tangyuan, Xu Tuqiang and Old Master Qian at Table 9 both glanced at him at the same time.

As well-known regulars of the Yunzong Cafeteria—the owners of Table 9, founding members of the morning jogging seniors’ group, and people who had Chef Xiao Qin on WeChat and were remembered by him—they immediately recognized that Xiao Zhang was new this morning.

They weren’t bragging—every single customer who came in at 6:00 AM sharp for the first batch of breakfast was someone they recognized.

“Youth is great. He can eat two bowls of tangyuan,” Xu Tuqiang said sourly in a low voice.

He wanted a second bowl too, but he was afraid of overeating and ending up in the emergency room. Four-Joy Tangyuan wasn’t just any pastry—it was a proper glutinous rice dish, and three-quarters of it was sweet filling. Overeating could easily cause trouble.

Not worth the risk.

Now that Qin Huai was back, there would be plenty of chances to eat good pastries in the future. No need to sacrifice the next few days for a small indulgence right now.

“If you’ve got the guts, you eat two bowls,” Old Master Qian shot back, then looked at the manuscript in his hand with some melancholy. “Do you think Chef Xiao Qin even needs my notes anymore?”

He had written 27 articles!

On New Year’s Day alone, inspiration had poured out of him, and he wrote six in a single day—so efficient that even his 11-year-old grandson was stunned and begged him to write a couple of essays for him.

“What do you think?” Xu Tuqiang stirred his soy milk, equally dejected. “Who would’ve thought that after just the New Year, Chef Xiao Qin’s Four-Joy Tangyuan would suddenly become this delicious?”

“It’s even better than the Three-Diced Buns and fermented rice mantou. At this rate, will we still be fighting over those in the future? No—what we’ll be fighting over is the Four-Joy Tangyuan. Look, even young office workers are coming at 6 AM to eat with us now. If this keeps up…”

As he spoke, Xu Tuqiang suddenly froze.

Old Master Qian froze too.

Granny Ding froze as well.

Wang Gensheng was busy writing new notes, but when he noticed the others had gone silent, he looked up in confusion and saw all of them frowning deeply in thought.

“What’s wrong with you all? Ate too much?” he asked, puzzled.

“Old Wang, let me ask you something.”

Granny Ding looked at him very seriously, making him tense up and straighten his back, putting down his pen.

“W-what is it?”

“You’ve eaten the most guo’er among us. Tell us honestly—which is better, guo’er or Chef Xiao Qin’s current Four-Joy Tangyuan?”

Without hesitation, Wang Gensheng replied, “Of course guo’er is better! Didn’t it even make it onto some magazine cover? You’ve seen the lines at Huang Ji—my goodness, people start queuing at two or three in the morning. Before dawn, there’s already a whole line outside.”

“The queue never stops all day long. If Chef Xiao Qin hadn’t pulled some strings for me and my wife, we wouldn’t have stood a chance against those young people.”

“You’ve seen it yourselves, Old Qian, Old Xu—you both queued at 5 AM before.”

After his fair and honest answer, the three frowned even harder.

“Then Old Wang, which is better—Four-Joy Tangyuan or premium Three-Diced Buns?”

“Definitely Four-Joy Tangyuan! What’s wrong with you three? If you’re not feeling well, go to the hospital instead of toughing it out here.”

Old Master Qian kept frowning until Wang Gensheng had already taken out his phone, ready to call their children to drag them to the hospital. Only then did he slowly speak:

“Four-Joy Tangyuan may not beat guo’er, but it’s better than Three-Diced Buns.”

Xu Tuqiang added, “And it’s best eaten here—hard to take away.”

Granny Ding chimed in, “Huang Ji’s Three-Diced Buns already have people lining up at 5 AM.”

Suddenly, Wang Gensheng understood what they were worried about.

He asked weakly, “Are we… going to have to line up at 5 AM in the future just to get in and eat Four-Joy Tangyuan?”

No one answered him.

Wang Gensheng quickly stopped searching for their children’s contact info and instead called his wife.

“Juan’er, yes, they have Four-Joy Tangyuan today. Can you call our son and daughter to come later? Actually, don’t wait—tell them to come now. I’m afraid if they come too late, there won’t be any left.”

Soon, the dine-in customers of Yunzong Cafeteria began calling friends and family. Before 7:00 AM, the entire first floor was already full, and even the second floor was half occupied.

Normally, this was about the level of crowd you’d only see during dinner rush.

And that was after some elderly customers had already left voluntarily to free up space.

Huang Xi quickly sensed that today would be a tough battle. After getting Qin Huai’s approval and settling overtime pay, she began messaging all the staff who had the day off, asking if they could come in to work.

Li Hua felt like the sky had fallen the moment he arrived at the shop.

Hadn’t he already come in half an hour early for his shift? Then what was going on with that guy surnamed Pei kneading dough in the kitchen?

So what if you live close by? What time did you even start work?
Didn’t we agree yesterday that we wouldn’t compete like this today?!

Li Hua hurriedly changed in the locker room and dashed into the back kitchen.

The moment he stepped in, he saw a scene that broke his heart.

Pei Xing, who had just been kneading dough at the workstation, was now standing beside Qin Huai. Qin Huai was kneading dough slowly, even pausing after every motion to explain.

Although the explanation didn’t seem very informative.

“It’s this kind of feeling—can you sense it? It looks like you’re using a lot of force, but when your hands touch the dough, it’s actually very gentle, spreading and kneading it softly.”

“The dough you just made is a bit better than before, but that’s not proper kneading—you just added brute force. Kneading doesn’t require that kind of rigid strength. It’s not about clever tricks either; it’s more about a kind of feeling. You understand what I mean by that feeling, right?”

Pei Xing immediately showed an enlightened expression. Li Hua was all too familiar with that look—every apprentice from Zhiweiju was an expert at making that face.

“I think I understand a little now. Thank you, Chef Xiao Qin. I’ll go back and try to grasp it on my own.”

Li Hua: !!!

That phrasing—that exact phrasing! Every Zhiweiju apprentice who received guidance from a master used this same annoying line!

Pei Xing turned around, noticed Li Hua, and casually said, “Oh, Li Hua, you’re here. Perfect timing—the kitchen’s busy right now, we’re short-handed.”

Li Hua: !!!

That subtle jab—every overachiever from Zhiweiju used tactics like this!
Pei Xing, and you still say you’re not a grind king?!

Qin Huai was also happy to see Li Hua. The helpers hired at Yunzong Cafeteria were fairly average in skill, nowhere near those at Huang Ji. Their knife work was just ordinary—typical for restaurant assistants.

Pei Xing’s knife skills were decent, but Li Hua’s were even better.

“Li Hua, you’re here—great timing! I’ll send you a picture and the requirements for the minced meat. Could you help me chop a batch? You’ve got the best knife skills in the cafeteria—we’ve been waiting for you.” Qin Huai said cheerfully.

Li Hua proudly walked past Pei Xing, giving him a look that clearly said: So what if you came early? My knife skills are still better.

Then he turned to Qin Huai with a humble apprentice’s expression. “Got it, Chef Xiao Qin. I’ll start chopping right away!”

“If you run into any issues while making pastries later, feel free to ask me anytime,” Qin Huai said with a smile. “Anything about dough kneading or filling preparation.”

“Thank you, Chef Xiao Qin!”

The morning’s business was far more explosive than anyone had expected.

Perhaps because Qin Huai had made a surprise appearance at Xiao Ou’s Hand-Shaken Lemon Tea shop the previous afternoon to build hype, many nearby office workers had already caught wind of it. They knew there was a high chance that buns and mantou made by Qin Huai would be available this morning.

Worried that it would be too crowded on his first day back and that group orders wouldn’t be allowed, many deliberately woke up 30 minutes to an hour earlier to rush in and secure their food.

After all, there was precedent—when aged tangerine peel tea was at its peak popularity, forget group orders—even delivery runners couldn’t guarantee they’d get anything after arriving.

And those who came early today all got lucky.

Currently, the Four-Joy Tangyuan at Yunzong Cafeteria was dine-in only, not available for takeaway.

The reason was simple. Unlike buns or mantou, which could be eaten on the go or reheated later with little impact on taste, Four-Joy Tangyuan couldn’t.

At its core, it was just large tangyuan (glutinous rice balls).

Anyone who has eaten tangyuan knows—if freshly boiled tangyuan aren’t finished in one sitting and are reheated later…

The second time, you’ll most likely end up with a bowl of sesame-filled glutinous rice soup.

If overcooked, you might not even see the rice skin anymore—just a thick sesame paste.

Qin Huai could only say that Four-Joy Tangyuan really benefited from its name and appearance. As a Changzhou specialty, many locals in Shanshi didn’t even realize it was essentially just oversized tangyuan—they simply treated it as a brand-new dessert.

Spend 68 yuan on a bowl of tangyuan, and many people would curse it as a rip-off.
Spend 68 yuan on a “new dessert,” and suddenly it becomes acceptable.

Only tangyuan suffers in this world.

Since it was priced at 68 yuan per bowl, Qin Huai made sure that every bite delivered an A-grade taste.

Moreover, Yunzong Cafeteria was fundamentally a community cafeteria, not a high-end restaurant that needed to prioritize décor and spacing for dining experience.

Of course, its decoration was still quite good—but it also embraced the biggest advantage of a community cafeteria: efficient use of space.

Simply put—there were plenty of tables and chairs.

The total seating capacity across the first and second floors was much higher than that of a typical restaurant.

Qin Huai believed that, given the cafeteria’s size, accommodating dine-in customers for a hot bowl of Four-Joy Tangyuan in the morning wouldn’t be a problem.

That was his thinking before 8:00 AM.

More precisely—his thinking at 7:47 AM.

Because starting at 7:48, the first customer appeared holding a bowl and eating tangyuan while standing.

As it got closer to work hours, customers became more pressed for time. At the same time, they were eager to try the new item Chef Xiao Qin had learned during his months away—and everyone had the budget and appetite for it.

The customer eating while standing at 7:48 was just the beginning.

By 8:27, there was no more room inside. People had started standing outside the shop to eat their tangyuan.

This was practically live advertising.

For many customers tasting A-grade pastries for the first time, Four-Joy Tangyuan was a shock—

A complete overturning of their understanding of pastries.

When many had believed that Three-Diced Buns and Five-Diced Buns were already the best pastries in the world, Four-Joy Tangyuan burst onto the scene and metaphorically slapped them across the face four times, grabbing them by the collar and demanding:

“What did you say? Which one is the best pastry in the world?!”

And after those “four slaps,” the customers could only nod repeatedly and say: “Yes—you are. Four-Joy Tangyuan is the best pastry in the world.”

Four-Joy Tangyuan isn’t a particularly fragrant pastry—strictly speaking, it doesn’t smell much while eating.

Unlike freshly steamed buns, whose aroma spreads meters away with a single bite.

But the customers’ expressions became the best advertisement.

When you pass by a shop and see it packed with people—some sitting, some standing, some even forced to stand outside eating—

And those standing outside, braving the cold wind, chewing away in complete bliss, oblivious to everything else—

In moments like that, no words are needed. Anyone who understands will walk right in and order the same bowl of tangyuan they see in others’ hands.

Who could resist not getting a bowl?

68 yuan per bowl?

Buy it!

I’d turn around immediately if shipping cost 6.8 yuan—
but for 68 yuan Four-Joy Tangyuan, I have to taste it!

Eat!