AGN -Chapter 320 Crab Roe Mixed Noodles

By the time Zheng Siyuan came back from his “self-imposed isolation” in the restroom, Qin Huai was already eating the double crab buns.

The failed double crab buns.

When Qin Huai finally tasted them, he understood why Zheng Da had said that making bun fillings taste like a proper dish was a failure.

Because they just didn’t go together.

The filling was delicious, and the dough was also delicious—but together, something felt off.

It was like chocolate is delicious, and soup dumplings are delicious, but if you insist on stuffing chocolate into soup dumplings… then—

Then it’s no longer just going against culinary tradition. It’s something serious enough to drag you out and make you undergo a full taste-sense inspection with Ou Yang.

There wasn’t much crab roe sauce left—Zheng Siyuan only made 18 buns in total. Of course, these weren’t meant for customers to try. Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan, as the main testers, had to eat a few more. The rest could be shared with trusted people who could give feedback—or at least provide emotional value.

Seeing Zheng Siyuan return, Qin Huai switched into work mode.

“It really can’t be done this way.” Qin Huai said seriously, as if in discussion. “Double crab buns are different from ‘guo’er’ pastries. Guo’er just wraps filling inside dough; both are pastries, fundamentally not that different.”

“What you’re doing is more like stuffing soy-braised quail eggs and red-braised pork into fermented rice buns. Each one is good on its own, but together it just doesn’t work.”

“I know.” Zheng Siyuan clearly hadn’t achieved enlightenment in the restroom either. That was normal—he didn’t have a system like Qin Huai.

Qin Huai actually went to the restroom to check tasks and watch tutorial videos.

Zheng Siyuan just went there to calm down.

“I’ve only learned it, but I can’t actually do it,” Zheng Siyuan said somewhat dejectedly. As a well-known genius, he rarely failed like this—especially in a teaching session. “I was thinking… maybe I added too much richness, and it backfired instead.”

Qin Huai gave An Youyou a look, and she immediately understood.

She swallowed the bun in her mouth and exclaimed in her usual sincere and exaggerated tone:

“But this bun is really delicious!”

Holding a half-eaten bun, her face was full of satisfaction, eyes shining as if glowing, her expression so genuine that even fake words sounded convincing.

“I’ve never tasted anything like this before. I only knew about crab roe noodles, but I’ve never eaten them—they’re too expensive. I was planning to save up and try them someday, but now I feel like this bun must taste even better. It’s exactly the flavor I imagined for crab roe noodles!”

“Chef Xiao Zheng, can I be your taster when you and Chef Qin improve this bun in the future? It’s really amazing!”

She didn’t use any technical terms at all, yet her praise was more effective than any professional review.

Zheng Siyuan instantly felt better, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

“Of course.”

“The buns we make next time will definitely be better than today’s.”

An Youyou secretly made an “OK” gesture behind her back. Qin Huai smiled and continued the topic.

“Try another one. Let’s figure out where the problem is together. Didn’t we agree to study the sauce first, then the bun?”

“So we’ll put the bun aside for now and focus on the sauce.”

Hearing serious work, Zheng Siyuan stopped overthinking, picked up a bun, and began eating while reflecting.

That afternoon, Zheng Siyuan and Qin Huai began studying crab roe sauce.

Their method was simple: brute-force testing.

Zheng Siyuan had basically collected every crab roe sauce available on the market—and even some not available on the market. He brought all of them to Yunzhong Canteen that morning. Eight huge boxes were stacked in the kitchen, making Qin Huai sigh at how competitive the crab roe sauce market had become.

How was this stuff so profitable that so many companies were making it?

Even Zheng Siyuan hadn’t tasted all of them—only part.

His habit was to process each sauce into his own ideal version after tasting it, because he already had a clear direction for what the double crab bun required. He had eaten a successful version before, so he had a reference.

But Qin Huai didn’t have that. He had only eaten a failed version.

A child who had only ever eaten rotten bananas would not know how sweet normal bananas are. Qin Huai was that child—so far, he had only eaten the “rotten banana” version.

Fortunately, Qin Huai was very good at brute-force experimentation.

So he opened every single jar Zheng Siyuan brought.

The entire afternoon was spent tasting sauce.

Crab roe sauces filled the prep tables.

Even without a reference for the perfect version, Qin Huai had an excellent palate. Based on Zheng Siyuan’s description, he divided the sauces into three categories.

The first category was high-end, “you get what you pay for.” These were premium products sourced from Huangji suppliers or expensive online purchases.

The ingredients were solid, the crab roe quality was good, and there were no unnecessary fillers or cost-cutting tricks. Truly top-tier products.

However, considering the final double crab bun might not require such luxury, Qin Huai decided to use some of it for noodles first.

Tonight’s staff meal at Yunzhong Canteen would be crab roe noodles!

These sauces were so good that Qin Huai didn’t even feel tired of tasting them—instead, he got hungrier and hungrier, almost wanting to boil noodles on the spot.

The second category was mid-tier. Ingredients were basically fine, but to cut costs, various fillers like crab meat, fish meat, or chicken meat were added. Strong seasonings were used to mask them, but Qin Huai’s tongue could detect everything.

This category was their favorite. Heavy flavor, strong taste—even if not pure crab roe, it still tasted good.

The third category was pure garbage. One absurd product had less than 5% crab roe. If not completely “chemical craftsmanship,” it was at least 40% starch.

The flavor came entirely from additives. Strong, yes—but absurd. If used for double crab buns, it would probably make even someone who loved them like Xu Nuo rise from the dead in anger.

“So which ones did you pick?” Zheng Siyuan asked.

Qin Huai pointed to four from the second category and one from the first.

Zheng Siyuan followed his gaze, paying little attention to the second category—he had also selected those four.

His focus was on the first category.

This was the best sauce he had brought—highest quality, best ingredients, and most expensive. It came from a Huangji supplier.

The ingredients were extremely clean, only containing what was necessary for crab roe sauce. The flavor was pure, but because it was too clean, it even had a slight fishy crab note.

“You chose this because it’s best for secondary processing?” Zheng Siyuan asked.

“Not really,” Qin Huai said. “I just think this sauce is good. It deserves to be used for double crab buns.”

“More of a feeling. I think this would also make great crab roe noodles after adjustment. Do you have a lot of it? Any left at home? Maybe I’ll just use this for tonight’s noodles.”

“Go ahead,” Zheng Siyuan said. “We’ve got plenty.”

Qin Huai happily went to knead dough. Before that, he checked the time and realized Qin Luo was already off school. While kneading, he didn’t forget to message Qin Luo, Ou Yang, and the “Family Love Group Chat.”

Qin Luo replied instantly—via voice message.

Qin Huai immediately played it.

“Wow, crab roe noodles! Brother, I love you so much—how did you know I’ve been craving this?! I’m on the bus now, about 20 minutes away from the canteen. Wait for me—I want five bowls!”

Qin Huai also replied instantly with a voice message.

“You don’t have your phone with you, do you? Mom confiscated it, and even your smartwatch was taken away. So where did you get the phone from?”

Beside him, Zheng Siyuan, who was stir-frying the crab roe sauce, went silent: …

Zheng Siyuan gave Qin Huai a long look.

“…You really are something.”

Qin Huai smiled faintly. “Just basic brotherly self-cultivation.”

In the end, when everyone gathered in the back kitchen, each holding a bowl of crab roe mixed noodles and eating happily, only Qin Luo looked more and more depressed. As she ate, it looked like she might even drop tears into her bowl.

Her secretly bought phone had been confiscated again, and along with it, the unused New Year red-envelope money was also temporarily taken away—she’d get it back during summer vacation.

Qin Luo sniffed, then shoved a big mouthful of noodles into her mouth as if venting her anger. Her cheeks puffed up.

“Brother, is there more noodles? I’m going to eat seven bowls today!”

Qin Huai & Qin Congwen & Zhao Rong: …

“Whose temperament did this kid inherit?” Zhao Rong said, utterly puzzled.

“Yeah,” Qin Congwen also looked confused. “And this appetite… who did she take after? I wasn’t this good at eating when I was young!”

Zhao Rong: …

Having found her answer, Zhao Rong shot her husband an annoyed glance and lowered her head to continue eating.

At this point, one might wonder: who exactly were the people eating together?

Answer: Luo Jun, Chen Huihong, Chen Huihui, Ou Yang, Wang Gensheng, Zheng Siyuan, and Qin Huai’s family.

Qu Jing was working a late shift today and couldn’t come back for crab roe noodles.

Among the diners, there was one person who seemed out of place, yet was actually the most reasonable of all—Wang Gensheng.

The double crab buns were his side quest.

Even though crab roe noodles had nothing to do with the buns, it didn’t stop Qin Huai from using this opportunity to increase Wang Grandpa’s favorability.

Yes, it was time to farm Wang Grandpa’s goodwill.

The upright Wang Grandpa didn’t falsify accounts or take bribes—but he could enjoy a few “special small portions.”

And he was starting to feel a little guilty about these extras.

He used to get special treats too. When he first introduced Zheng Da to Qin Huai, he often got to taste “Crab Shell Yellow” buns because of that connection. Later, when Qin Huai discovered Wang Grandpa’s unusual identity, his perks increased—he could eat at Huang Ji banquets, and also get a share of Qin Huai’s usual pastries.

In the eyes of Xu Tuqiang, Ding Grandma, and Qian Grandpa, Wang Gensheng had already “defected” from the group and become a high-tier privileged figure—second only to super connections like Chen Huihong and Luo Jun. He had become the kind of person everyone envied.

Even Wang Gensheng himself thought so.

He felt that although he was on good terms with Chef Qin, his relationship wasn’t as deep as Chen Huihong’s or Luo Jun’s. Usually, he just got a little more than others—Qin Huai didn’t especially make things for him or save things for him.

But today’s crab roe noodles…

Wang Grandpa sat on a small stool, carefully eating his noodles while looking around at the people devouring their food. One question filled his mind:

Should he even be here today?

Since when had his “relationship level” become this high? Sitting on the same type of stool as Luo Jun, Chen Huihong, Chen Huihui, and Ou Yang, eating in the Yunzhong Canteen back kitchen…

Even if it was technically a storage-area kitchen, it was still the back kitchen.

People who often receive “special small portions” know this well—once you’re allowed to eat in the back kitchen, your relationship with the chef is already very unusual.

Wang Gensheng began to think carefully: had he done anything special recently to earn Chef Qin’s special attention?

Was it his recent food reviews?

He had written quite a few—Sizhou Tangyuan, vegetable buns, mung bean cakes—but Chef Qin hadn’t even read them. He just posted them directly to Moments.

That habit was learned from Xu Tuqiang. Back when Qin Huai was at Huang Ji, he had asked the elders to write food reviews. They got used to it and wrote a lot. During New Year, they saved up a pile, planning to surprise Qin Huai after the holiday—but he didn’t need them anymore.

So, to avoid waste, Xu Tuqiang posted them on Moments and got likes from Qin Huai.

Then all the elders in Suzhou who had bought houses started copying him, flooding Moments with posts. Who didn’t have ten or eight reviews of “Sizhi Tangyuan” saved up over the holidays?

Wang Gensheng thought harder. Any recent heartfelt review that stood out?

No result—because Qin Huai only ever liked posts, never commented.

He took another bite of noodles and continued thinking.

Had someone spoken well of him in front of Chef Qin recently?

Unlikely. None of his acquaintances were that kind. Everyone was too busy promoting themselves to have spare kindness to praise others.

Wang Gensheng shook his head and kept eating.

These crab roe noodles were really good.

The noodles were hand-made by Chef Qin, cooked and rinsed in cold water to make them more elastic and better at absorbing sauce.

The second-fried crab roe sauce was even more fragrant, the crab oil aroma utterly irresistible to anyone who loved crab-based dishes. On top of that, Zheng Siyuan had lightly thickened the sauce, making it richer, more layered, and completely free of fishy notes.

Slurp.

Wang Gensheng happily took another big bite, feeling that he had been overthinking lately—he couldn’t stop mentally writing food reviews whenever he ate.

Ah well, whatever the reason, today was a win!

He took another satisfied bite, completely unaware that Qin Huai had already walked up beside him.

“Wang Grandpa.”

The sudden voice startled him so much he almost dropped his bowl. He quickly set it down and looked at Qin Huai like a student suddenly called on in class.

“How do you find today’s crab roe noodles?”

Wang Gensheng: !

He knew it—his recent food reviews must have been excellent, full of sincerity unlike Xu Tuqiang’s flattery. That’s why Chef Qin had chosen him today!

“Delicious! Extremely delicious!”

“Only thing is the crab flavor is a bit too strong. If it were slightly lighter with more layered flavors, it would be even better.”