AGN -Chapter 293 Radish Cake Sister

Over the next few days, Qin Huai spent his time as usual—working and chopping vegetables.

Since he usually cut radishes in the afternoon, An Youyou adjusted her schedule to match his, starting work mid-morning and finishing after dinner. Accordingly, Chef Xiao Qin’s luxury breakfast was removed from the menu.

Don’t ask why—just know that once Chef Xiao Qin got a taste of being a pastry chef, it became very hard for him to go back to waking up at 4 a.m. every day to make breakfast.

The customers at Yunzhong Canteen took this change quite well. Aside from the elderly men who went jogging in the mornings—who felt like the sky had fallen and lost their motivation—many office workers were actually a bit pleased.

After all, breakfast was great, but waking up early was not. And Chef Xiao Qin’s breakfast was expensive; most regular salaried workers couldn’t afford it every day. Being able to treat themselves to his cooking three times a week already meant they were doing quite well financially.

Previously, many office workers would choose to eat Qin Huai’s buns on Mondays or Fridays—Monday because it was the start of a painful workweek, and Friday because it was meeting day… equally painful.

Life was already hard. You had to eat something good to get through it.

For those who had mentally prepared themselves to wake up half an hour early just to grab a serving of Four-Joy Tangyuan, this change felt like rain after a long drought.

No need to wake up early—and still get to eat something delicious. Perfect.

What? You say lunch and dinner are more competitive and seats are hard to get?

Come on—do you think just because Four-Joy Tangyuan was sold in the morning, you could actually get a seat?

Ask around in the nearby office buildings—who hasn’t squatted outside Yunzhong Canteen eating tangyuan at least once?

Do you even understand the value of Four-Joy Tangyuan?

Not to mention, the canteen had introduced freshly pan-fried radish cakes—available at noon depending on supply, and fully available from afternoon through evening.

In just a few days, children from nearby neighborhoods had developed a healthy new habit: the first thing they did after school was go to Yunzhong Canteen and buy three portions of delicious and affordable radish cakes—one for themselves, one for dad, and one for mom.

Family harmony begins with a radish cake for everyone.

Because of this, An Youyou gained a new nickname: Radish Cake Sister.

The nickname came from Granny Ding’s granddaughter.

One ordinary Saturday afternoon, when Granny Ding brought her granddaughter to wait for radish cakes, the girl spotted An Youyou coming out of the kitchen to fetch something from storage—and pointed at her, shouting, “Radish Cake Sister!”

From then on, the name spread among the children. Now, their favorite pastry chef was no longer Qin Huai (who had been busy cutting radishes in the afternoons), but Radish Cake Sister.

After all, what child could resist a freshly fried, delicious radish cake that only cost 5 yuan?

March 13th, 3:57 p.m.

Qin Huai was nearly done cutting radishes.

Although Cao Guixiang liked to “test” people, she wasn’t a strict traditional master, nor did she encourage excessive blind practice for apprentices.

Knowing that Qin Huai already had a full-time job and was a skilled white-dough chef, she preferred to incorporate knife skills into his daily routine rather than have him spend too much time on it and neglect his main craft.

Qin Huai’s radish slices hadn’t improved much.

At a glance, they looked fine—but upon closer inspection, their thickness was uneven. Achieving translucent slices was still a distant dream.

If someone with no foundation could train for just half a month and produce evenly thin, neat, translucent radish slices, other chefs would probably cry out about the unfairness of the world.

Even though his knife skills hadn’t improved much, Qin Huai had made great progress in another area—listening to gossip.

He could now listen to Cao Guixiang, answer her questions, focus on cutting radishes, and still avoid mistakes.

On a good day, he could even handle unexpected situations.

Like right now.

“Chef Xiao Qin, Granny Ding just called Sister Xi. The kindergarten she used to run has a parent-child event tomorrow afternoon and wants to order 700 radish cakes. Should we take the order?” An Youyou jogged over, smelling faintly like radish cakes from frying them all day.

“Take it,” Qin Huai replied without hesitation. “What time do they need it?”

“Before 2 p.m.”

“Then I’ll start cutting radishes earlier tomorrow. Get a few people to help you fry—you can’t handle it alone,” he said calmly, without even looking up.

An Youyou froze, stunned, flattered, and overjoyed all at once.

After more than ten seconds, she finally asked excitedly, “Me? I get to assign people?!”

Qin Huai stopped cutting and looked up at her helplessly. “Of course. You’re in charge of the radish cake frying now. You’re the project lead—if you don’t assign people, who will?”

“I’m the leader!” An Youyou beamed. “Thank you, Chef Xiao Qin! I’ll definitely complete the task and won’t mess it up!”

Qin Huai had full confidence in her ability. She was Radish Cake Sister—the most authoritative figure in radish cake frying at Yunzhong Canteen.

An Youyou happily ran back to continue frying, not noticing Pei Xing and Li Hua exchanging glances.

Their thoughts were identical:

A strong rival.

Too good at flattering!

No promotion, no raise—yet she’s this excited about extra work?

A formidable opponent!

Qin Huai continued cutting radishes. Meanwhile, at home, Cao Guixiang—kneading dough in preparation for making dumplings later—teased him:

“Looks like Radish Cake Sister has more work tomorrow. Xiao Qin, don’t exploit your employees—assigning tasks without giving a raise isn’t good.”

“How could I? Do I seem like that kind of person?” Qin Huai adjusted his posture and kept cutting. “Our pastry chefs get performance bonuses. Since An Youyou is in charge of frying radish cakes, she gets a share of that bonus.”

“Oh? That sounds like great benefits. I’m tempted to come fry radish cakes at your place,” Cao Guixiang laughed.

Just then, Zhang Chu returned from fishing, carrying an empty bucket. Hearing the last sentence, he asked, “What radish cakes? Weren’t you making dumplings today, Guixiang?”

“I’m supervising Xiao Qin’s knife practice,” Cao Guixiang said, glancing at her husband before briefly observing Qin Huai’s cutting technique and continuing to knead the dough. “Perfect timing—Xiao Qin, Old Zhang is back. He’s finished making the remaining molds. You can talk to him.”

Zhang Chu stepped in front of the camera, showing half his face, and praised him first: “Not bad, Xiao Qin—your radish cutting is looking pretty decent now!”

“The last sets of molds are done. I just painted them this morning—waiting for them to dry. When do you want me to send them? Are you in a hurry?” he asked cheerfully.

“No rush, Grandpa Zhang. I’ll be going to City A for an external catering job in a couple of days, so you can send them later,” Qin Huai said with a smile. Then he suddenly remembered something. “Oh right, Master Cao—I forgot to tell you. I contacted President Han a couple of days ago to ask if anything needed to be prepared in advance.”

“He said he trusts me with the white-dough dishes, so there’s nothing special to prepare. At noon today, Assistant Chen created a group chat with the two red-dough chefs for the birthday banquet.”

Cao Guixiang nodded. “That’s good. Even if you specialize in white-dough and not red-dough dishes, coordination between the main chefs is important. A group chat makes communication easier.”

Qin Huai continued cutting without looking up. “Yes. I also asked around about the two chefs.”

“Chef Tong Deyan is the head chef of Baobaozhai in Beiping. I’ve heard he has a bit of a temper—one of my well-informed friends said he’s not easy to get along with…”

“Chef Zang Mu is a renowned master of Huaiyang cuisine. I’ve heard he has a very gentle personality, but doesn’t talk much—rather quiet and reserved.”

“Ever since the group chat was created, only Assistant Chen has been speaking. The other two chefs haven’t said anything. I’ve been wondering if I should take the initiative to start a conversation.”

After kneading the dough, Cao Guixiang placed it on the board to let it ferment naturally and began preparing the filling.

Chive and egg filling—bright green chives paired with golden scrambled egg pieces—looked especially appealing.

“Either way is fine.”

“Many times, coordination between chefs doesn’t require much verbal communication. Technical understanding can be achieved entirely through craftsmanship.”

“You’ll be going to City A on the 18th in advance, and you’ll definitely need to prepare ahead. You’ll have opportunities to interact then—there’s no rush to communicate now.”

As soon as Cao Guixiang finished speaking, Qin Huai cut the last radish.

His knife practice for the day was complete. What remained was seasoning practice—making radish cakes.

“Master Cao, thanks for your hard work today. I’ll hang up now.”

“Alright.” Cao Guixiang put away her phone and glanced helplessly at Zhang Chu, who was lurking beside the TV cabinet, sneaking around and trying to listen without appearing on camera. “If you want to come over, just come. One more person talking can help train Xiao Qin’s focus.”

Zhang Chu chuckled. “I was just worried about interrupting your conversation.”

“So, has Xiao Qin made any progress these past few days?”

Cao Guixiang rolled her eyes. “It’s only been a few days—how could there be obvious progress? I chat with him like this every day for two reasons. First, to train his concentration, so he doesn’t end up distracted one day and cut his hand while slicing radishes.”

“Second, that kid just likes chatting. It’s quite strange—normally, people get distracted and less efficient when they chat while working. But Xiao Qin is the opposite. When he chats, he actually performs better. He keeps saying he has a friend who’s especially good at gossiping and chatting—just how good must that friend be to cultivate this habit in him?”

Zhang Chu thought about it for a few seconds but couldn’t figure it out.

“When do you think Xiao Qin will come back here again?” Zhang Chu asked.

“At his current pace, probably mid-May,” Cao Guixiang replied. “Once he gets proficient with radishes, he’ll move on to other ingredients.”

“After white radish comes carrots and potatoes. Once he handles those, he’ll move on to cucumbers. After cucumbers, we’ll increase the difficulty with celtuce. And when it comes to tofu, that’ll probably take about a year.”

“After half a year of cutting tofu, if progress is fast, he can start working with meat within two years.”

Zhang Chu clicked his tongue. “That’s a lot of cutting ahead.”

“What kind of pastries can you make with carrots and potatoes?”

“Potato cakes and carrot cakes, of course,” Cao Guixiang said. “Why are you asking?”

Zhang Chu grinned. “Well, Xiao Qin’s pastry skills are pretty good—I’d like to try them too.”

Cao Guixiang: …

Amid Qin Huai’s routine of daily work and radish-cutting practice, time quickly reached March 18.

Chen Gong had booked Qin Huai a morning flight to City A. Qin Huai only needed to bring a change of clothes—everything else had already been arranged.

Since Chef Xiao Qin would be away for three days catering an external event, Four-Joy Tangyuan was temporarily removed from the menu for those three days. The early-stage preparation for radish cakes was handed over to Chen An and Li Hua.

An Youyou had already become the famous “Radish Cake Sister” among the children. If radish cakes were taken off the menu just because Chef Xiao Qin was on a business trip, there would probably be a lot of crying kids around the neighborhood.

Fortunately, making radish cakes was simple—Chen An could handle it alone. Li Hua joined in purely by volunteering, declaring that for the happiness of the children, Chef Li had a duty to step up.

March 18, 11:17 a.m.

Qin Huai arrived in City A.

Chen Gong had said someone would pick him up, and he would see them as soon as he exited the terminal.

What Qin Huai didn’t expect was that the person holding a sign with his name written on it was Chen Gong himself.

Qin Huai: ?

Aren’t you President Han’s personal assistant?

Does a domineering CEO’s assistant really have to handle errands like airport pickups?

Dragging his small suitcase with just a few clothes inside, Qin Huai walked over.

He was greeted by Chen Gong’s bright smile and enthusiastic voice.

“Chef Xiao Qin, you’ve come a long way—thank you for your hard work. You must be hungry, right? President Han has arranged a meal for you at Yushanfang, the most famous restaurant in City A. Your hotel is also nearby. I’ll take you to drop off your luggage first, then we’ll head to Yushanfang together.”

“Tomorrow’s birthday banquet will also be held at Yushanfang. President Han has reserved the entire restaurant. The chefs there will assist you in the kitchen.”

“After the meal, I’ll take you to meet the kitchen staff so you can get familiar with them. If you have the time and energy, it’s best to do a trial run to avoid any issues during tomorrow’s banquet. What do you think of this schedule?”

Looking at Chen Gong, Qin Huai saw only one word: professionalism.

“Sounds perfect,” Qin Huai replied readily. “Will it just be the two of us for lunch?”

“Chef Zang Mu will also join. Chef Tong Deyan’s flight arrives at 2 p.m. I noticed none of you have been chatting much in the group—probably a bit reserved. Don’t worry, I’ll introduce everyone.”

Qin Huai smiled but said nothing, just kept looking at Chen Gong.

Among all the “spirit” profiles he had unlocked, Chen Gong was undoubtedly the most mysterious.

With the others, Qin Huai had at least some direct contact or ways to learn about their past. But with Chen Gong, their interaction was limited to liking each other’s social media posts.

Chen Gong appeared the most normal among the unawakened spirits—but had the most unusual mission.

Qin Huai felt he should make good use of these few days to have a proper chat with him.

Ideally, he could even unlock the second side quest through conversation.

Noticing Qin Huai staring at him, Chen Gong asked curiously, “Chef Qin, do you have any other questions?”

“No,” Qin Huai shook his head. “I just think President Han is very fortunate to have such a capable assistant like you.”

Chen Gong looked delighted. “Not at all—it’s my good fortune to have a boss like President Han.”