AGN -Chapter 326 Competition

When Qin Huai arrived early at the cafeteria, he was surprised to find that the two dim sum chefs had already been there for quite a while.

The dough was kneaded, the fillings were chopped, and even two pots of tea had already been brewed. As soon as they saw Qin Huai, Pei Xing holding the dough and Li Hua holding the filling both gathered around him, looking at him with eager, knowledge-seeking eyes, hoping for guidance from Master Qin.

After giving them instructions one by one, Qin Huai walked over to the cooking station and was surprised to find that, besides the cutting board, kitchen tools, seasonings, ingredients, and his usual phone stand, there were also two fruit platters.

One platter was abundant, the other exquisite.

The fruits in the abundant platter were all large and plump, their quality comparable to those at Luo Jun’s house.

In the exquisite platter, every fruit that could be cut had been sliced into small pieces, and those that could be shaped were crafted into decorative forms—apple rabbits, sunflower oranges. It looked like a premium fruit platter you’d find in a KTV, the kind that would sell for at least 298 yuan per serving.

Qin Huai glanced at Pei Xing and Li Hua in confusion.

What was going on with his two dim sum chefs today?

He had already sensed something off between them earlier. These past few days, Pei Xing had been silently grinding his teeth, constantly competing—whether with Li Hua, An Youyou, or even thin air—and Qin Huai had noticed it all.

He felt it was simply Pei Xing’s personality: not very capable yet loves to compete, eager to win but unable to, fond of comparisons but unable to keep up. So he could only grit his teeth silently every day, thinking no one noticed, when in fact everyone did.

Compared to Pei Xing’s more impulsive personality, Li Hua was much steadier. He rarely fussed over things and just quietly pushed himself, outworking others. In that regard, Qin Huai felt Li Hua resembled a chef trained at Zhiweiju more than Pei Xing did.

The two had always gotten along well.

Pei Xing liked to compete but rarely won. Li Hua liked to grind and could outwork others—and usually did.

Since they often had to assist Qin Huai and coordinate with each other, they communicated frequently. As colleagues, they had no real conflicts and got along harmoniously.

But today…

Qin Huai casually reached out, took a cherry from the abundant fruit platter, and glanced sideways. Sure enough, he saw the uncontrollable delight on Pei Xing’s face.

Then Qin Huai picked up a small apple rabbit from the exquisite platter, took a bite, and casually glanced at Li Hua. As expected, beneath Li Hua’s composed expression, he could see the unique pride and sense of victory belonging to a true “grind king.”

So… these two were competing now?

Qin Huai pushed the fruit platters aside. He didn’t like eating fruit early in the morning; he usually ate it in the afternoon or evening when he went to Luo Jun’s place for tea, where there was plenty of fruit.

“Is either of you free today? Do you have time to help me prepare the ingredients for Four-Joy Tangyuan? I’ll handle the seasoning, but I’ll need help with the rest of the steps. This morning, I want to focus on practicing cold sea cucumber.” Though he spoke casually, his gaze fell on both of them.

Pei Xing was good at kneading dough, while Li Hua excelled at knife skills. Without either of them, Qin Huai couldn’t fully delegate all the prep work for the tangyuan.

“I—I’m free!”

Both spoke in unison. They glanced at each other, each seeing in the other’s eyes a firm determination to outdo the other at all costs.

“Master Qin, I’m really free! I couldn’t sleep today and came early—the preliminary prep work is already done!”

Once again, they spoke in perfect unison.

Qin Huai couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—chefs trained at Zhiweiju really were different. They could deliver such a long line word for word in sync, with almost identical tone, expression, and pauses.

Professional. Truly professional.

Qin Huai smiled like a master chef. “Then today… I’ll have to trouble you both.”

…

Although he didn’t understand why Pei Xing and Li Hua had suddenly started competing, Qin Huai adapted quickly—it was a habit he had developed back when he worked at Huang Ji.

With the miscellaneous tasks handed off, Qin Huai could focus seriously on studying sea cucumber.

Yesterday’s cold sea cucumber dish hadn’t been very satisfactory. Cao Guixiang had mentioned that the recipe she gave Qin Huai was a secret one, more difficult than ordinary versions. So today, Qin Huai planned to try a standard recipe he could find online and see how difficult the usual version was.

And then he understood why a secret recipe was a secret.

It might be harder—but it tasted better.

“So… am I going to have to eat this stuff every day from now on?” Ou Yang looked at the table full of cold sea cucumber and felt a deep worry about his future.

Sea cucumber… counts as a tonic, right?
If he eats it like this… will he still be able to lose weight?

“Of course not.” Qin Huai waved his hand, as if to say there was no way he’d mess with his brother like that. Drinking some duck soup or beef soup and eating some not-so-great Four-Joy tangyuan was one thing—but this was different. “I mainly asked you to come today to help me taste it.”

“Do you think it’s not very good?” Qin Huai asked.

Ou Yang nodded honestly and pointed at the cold sea cucumber in front of him. “It just tastes like mustard and soy sauce. And it’s a bit fishy.”

“But I wouldn’t say it’s completely bad,” Ou Yang smacked his lips. “I just don’t really like mustard. Sea cucumber having a bit of a fishy taste is normal—when my mom makes sea cucumber porridge, it has that flavor too. Yours is actually okay.”

Qin Huai: …

Alright, now he understood why Ou Yang had such a tolerant palate—his mom deserved a lot of credit for that.

If even Ou Yang said it wasn’t great, then it really wasn’t great.

Qin Huai cleared all the cold sea cucumber off the table and started over. Sure enough, making ordinary cold sea cucumber wouldn’t help him improve his handling techniques. He still needed to practice using Cao Guixiang’s recipe.

Seeing he was no longer needed, Ou Yang got up to head back to Xiao Ou’s Fresh Lemon Tea shop to continue making fruit tea. But before he could take more than a couple of steps, Xu Tuqiang suddenly popped out and blocked his way.

As a well-known resident of Yunzong Community, Ou Yang naturally recognized him. Thinking he wanted to cut the line to buy fruit tea, Ou Yang spoke first before Xu could even open his mouth:

“Uncle Xu, our Xiao Ou Fresh Lemon Tea shop has very strict rules. Normally, cutting in line isn’t allowed. But since we all live in the same community and have known each other for years—and you’ve always supported the neighborhood committee when I worked there—how about this: what would you like? I’ll prioritize your order. Are you in a hurry to visit your daughter?”

Xu Tuqiang: ?

When did he say he wanted to cut in line for milk tea?

“Mango No. 1 and Coconut No. 1.” Xu Tuqiang ordered first—cutting in line anyway—then got to the point. “Xiao Ou, Uncle Xu wants to ask you something.”

“Old Wang—uh, Uncle Wang—has he been eating crab roe noodles with you guys a lot lately?” Xu Tuqiang stared intently at Ou Yang.

Ou Yang didn’t understand why he was asking but nodded naturally. “Yeah, Uncle Wang has been having crab roe noodles with us these past few evenings.”

“Why?!” Xu Tuqiang’s voice was filled with confusion and jealousy. “Does he even understand crab roe noodles? How did he end up eating at the same table as you guys?!”

Ou Yang answered honestly, “Uncle Wang actually knows quite a lot.”

“I heard from Qin Huai that when Uncle Wang was young, he once ate an incredible type of bun called ‘Double Crab Bun.’ The version he had is already lost—no one can make it anymore. What he ate was a one-of-a-kind original, and only he knows what it’s supposed to taste like.”

“So right now, Qin Huai is basically making crab roe noodles specifically for Uncle Wang. Once Uncle Wang tastes it and says the crab roe sauce matches that flavor, Qin Huai will continue with the next steps.”

Xu Tuqiang sucked in a sharp breath.

First came shock. Then jealousy—intense, overwhelming jealousy. Then a brief moment of distortion. After that, he reined it in, suppressed the jealousy, gradually calmed down, fell into thought… and finally, his eyes lit up.

Xu Tuqiang looked at Ou Yang. “Xiao Ou, you said it’s called ‘Double Crab Bun,’ right?”

“If it’s ‘double,’ then besides crab, what else is in it?”

Just from the name, Xu Tuqiang had already guessed it used two main ingredients.

“I think it’s sea cucumber. Qin Huai has been studying sea cucumber these past few days—he just had me taste his cold sea cucumber.”

“Sea cucumber, huh…” Xu Tuqiang muttered. “Got it.”

Ou Yang: …

Was it just his imagination? Why did it feel like Uncle Xu was about to compete with Uncle Wang to the death?

The competition between these old men… was really intense.

Too sleepy, posting a short update for now. The rest will be added tomorrow during the day.