AGN -Chapter 333 The Person Who Understands Qin Huai the Best

Since the crab roe sauce Zheng Siyuan made afterward wasn’t suitable for mixing with noodles or rice, Qin Huai had to urgently switch plans and use that batch of sauce to make a round of regular crab roe buns instead.

The sudden appearance of crab roe buns made the customers of Yunzong Canteen as happy as if it were New Year.

No—actually, even happier than during New Year. After all, the canteen didn’t open during the holiday, which wasn’t fun at all.

If you had to ask who was the happiest among them, it was naturally Xu Tuqiang.

Not because Qin Huai had made new pastries like crab shell pastries today, nor because of the unexpected crab roe buns in the afternoon, nor even because the canteen had suddenly gained many more pastry chefs, meaning there were endless ordinary snacks available from morning to night.

It was because Qin Huai had specifically told Xu Tuqiang in the afternoon to remember to come to the canteen tomorrow morning around 7—there would be glutinous rice cakes.

Glutinous rice cakes!

Xu Tuqiang took a fierce bite of a crab roe bun, marveling at how delicious it was while feeling ecstatic that he would finally get to eat glutinous rice cakes tomorrow.

He glanced at the neighbors around him, who had clearly changed their loyalties—abandoning crab roe noodles and falling in love with crab roe buns.

Hmph. They’re all the type to fall for whatever’s in front of them. Not like me—my heart belongs only to glutinous rice cakes forever!

Hehe.

During dinner that evening, Tan Wei’an asked Qin Huai with some concern: now that everyone had figured out the correct way to research crab roe sauce and would likely succeed soon, would they stop making crab roe noodles and crab roe rice in the future?

Compared to crab roe buns, Tan Wei’an actually preferred crab roe rice.

Qin Huai reassured him, “We definitely won’t stop completely. The recipes you gave for noodles and rice are also worth studying. Zheng Siyuan will definitely work on them, right Zheng Siyuan?”

Holding his bowl, Zheng Siyuan looked gloomily at the braised pork with preserved vegetables on his tray. When called out, he nodded. “Of course.”

He understood what Qin Huai meant. Tan Wei’an had provided recipes, so naturally they had to take care of his meals. If he wanted crab roe rice, they’d just make it—it didn’t take much effort anyway.

As for Old Man Wang and Ou Yang… for them, there was no difference between tasting crab roe buns or crab roe noodles. They liked both—whatever was served, they’d eat.

Zheng Siyuan continued staring at the braised pork with preserved vegetables in melancholy.

Qin Huai glanced at his tray and noticed he had actually taken some of the dish despite clearly not liking it. “You like braised pork with preserved vegetables?”

Zheng Siyuan shook his head. “I just don’t understand why anyone would like something this salty.”

“Probably because it goes well with rice,” Qin Huai said. “Actually, aside from being a bit inconsistent, our savory chefs aren’t bad. It’s just that this dish always turns out too salty. Overall, their skill is about the level of an average restaurant.”

“It can’t compare to Huang Ji, of course. But the restaurants around here taste about the same. That’s why I eat at our own canteen every day—at least the food safety is guaranteed. Everyone can see how the ingredients are handled. Clean and hygienic, that’s the priority.”

Zheng Siyuan could only continue staring at the dish and sigh about his work meals.

Seeing his expression, Qin Huai naturally understood what he was upset about. He looked up at Tan Wei’an and asked casually, “Last time I was in City A, I ran into Zang Liang. He said you two are pretty close.”

“Of course,” Tan Wei’an replied. “We’re the same age and were in the same class in elementary school. At first, Master Zang also worked in Hangzhou, but later he changed jobs and went to another restaurant, so he transferred schools to another city.”

Qin Huai nodded in realization—they were classmates.

He had already thought Tan Wei’an and Zang Liang were about the same age, but hadn’t expected them to actually be schoolmates.

“How’s his cooking?” Qin Huai asked.

Tan Wei’an thought seriously for a moment.

“That depends on who you compare him to,” he said fairly. “Savory cooking is different from pastry. For pastry chefs, when we’re young, we’re basically beginners—except for you and Zheng Siyuan, you two… anomalies.”

“But in savory cooking, if someone is really talented, they can achieve results in their teens and make a name for themselves in their twenties. Zang Liang is still a bit short of being fully independent, but among the younger generation, he’s quite talented—especially his knife skills, which are top-notch.”

“But if you say he’s a true genius, not quite. There’s an even bigger prodigy in Beiping—Zhang Guanghang. Have you heard of him? And you must know Master Xia Muruo, right? Ranked ninth in the Master Chef Registry.”

Qin Huai nodded—he had heard of him.

“Zhang Guanghang is Master Xia’s only disciple. That guy is… even more ‘Zheng Siyuan’ than you.”

Qin Huai: …

What kind of description is that?

“Zang Liang can’t compare to someone like Zhang Guanghang. Compared to Sun Jikai from Fujian, he might be slightly behind—not necessarily in skill, but Sun is younger, so it’s hard to say.”

“That Sun guy—who knows what he was thinking—went abroad to study business. In our line of work, who studies abroad? No matter how high your degree is, if your cooking is bad, it’s useless. Isn’t that just wasting time?”

“Let me think who else is better than him…”

Seeing Tan Wei’an about to start listing names endlessly, Qin Huai quickly interrupted, “How’s his sauce-thickening (gouqian) skill?”

“Probably pretty good. I’m not too sure, but definitely better than ours—he’s a savory chef,” Tan Wei’an replied. Then he suddenly realized Qin Huai’s intention and widened his eyes in disbelief. “Wait… you’re not thinking…”

Qin Huai nodded.

“I was just thinking—could we invite Zang Liang to come over for an exchange for a while?” Qin Huai said frankly.

Tan Wei’an was so shocked he nearly dropped his food. He hurriedly chewed and swallowed, not even bothering to clean the vegetables stuck in his teeth before exclaiming, “But he’s a savory chef!”

“A pure savory chef! He specializes in Huaiyang cuisine!”

“What would he even exchange here?”

Tan Wei’an had thought it was already outrageous enough for apprentices from Zhiweiju to go out for exchanges. He hadn’t expected something even more absurd.

A savory chef coming to a pastry-focused canteen for exchange—this wasn’t just unconventional, it was practically defying tradition.

Even if savory and pastry chefs were to collaborate, this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen!

“Seasoning, of course,” Qin Huai said matter-of-factly. “When he was in City A, he told me he thought my fillings were excellent.”

“That means he’s definitely interested in exchanging ideas on seasoning with me. And didn’t I make it clear earlier when talking to Zheng Siyuan? The double-crab bun is a savory-style filling wrapped in a pastry shell. In a sense, it’s like Guo’er—you know that best. Guo’er was made jointly by me and Master Huang.”

“If I can collaborate with Master Huang on pastries, why can’t the three of us—plus Zang Liang—work together to develop new ones?”

Qin Huai’s completely matter-of-fact tone and sincere reasoning left Tan Wei’an momentarily speechless.

What should he do? He was starting to think Qin Huai actually made sense.

But… how could savory and pastry chefs just… work together like this…?

Even if these two have something in common, they still can’t just be mixed into one…

Your master must have taught you that back then—oh, right, you don’t have a master.

Zheng Siyuan, say something!

At a time like this, stop staring at that unbearably salty braised pork with preserved vegetables. It’s not even good. Sure, I know Zang Liang’s cooking would definitely be better than the two savory chefs at Yunzong Canteen—but you can’t just help this nonsense along just for a good bite!

Where’s your integrity as a pastry chef?
Where’s the pride of your formal training?
At a moment like this, aren’t you going to speak up?

Zheng Siyuan, say something!

Seeing that the moment had arrived, Zheng Siyuan slowly shifted his gaze away from the braised pork, looked at Tan Wei’an, and nodded calmly. “I think Qin Huai makes a lot of sense.”

“Whether he wants to come for the exchange is Zang Liang’s decision. As long as he’s willing, everything else is easy to arrange.”

Tan Wei’an: ?

Zheng Siyuan even added a comforting note, “Relax. You should look at this with a more open-minded attitude.”

Tan Wei’an: …

“Perfect timing—since you and Zang Liang are childhood friends and classmates, and you’re close, you can ask him tonight if he’s willing to come. If he does, we can arrange accommodation here. Sister Hong has several apartments in the neighborhood—just clear them out a bit and they’ll be ready to move into immediately.”

“I have to be the one to ask?” Tan Wei’an was already in despair—despairing at the world itself.

“You don’t want to?” Qin Huai thought for a moment. “It’s fine, I have his WeChat. If you don’t want to ask, I’ll do it.”

Tan Wei’an raised his hand in a “stop” gesture.

He stood up, his gaze deep, his voice heavy. “I’ll ask.”

He felt that if he didn’t vent properly to Zang Liang tonight about Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan—these two lunatics—he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“Alright then, it’s settled,” Qin Huai said cheerfully. “Why are you standing up, Tan Wei’an? Finished eating?”

“No.” Tan Wei’an sat back down silently and continued eating, while frantically organizing his thoughts for a full-on rant later that night.

But that night, Tan Wei’an was dealt another blow.

As a standard savory chef, Zang Liang finished work very late.

He didn’t get off until 10:30 p.m.

The reason was that he had to help Zang Mu clean up the cooking station. As Zang Mu’s nephew and only disciple, even a “knife-skill prodigy” like Zang Liang still had to do assistant work.

That’s just how the chef industry is—every apprentice goes through it. Those with many fellow apprentices even compete for chores, because there’s only so much work to go around. If others take it, you’ll have nothing to do, and if you’re idle, your master will notice.

One misstep leads to more—this is how “workaholic overachievers” are born.

Tan Wei’an waited for Zang Liang until he was almost asleep, held up only by his desire to complain.

But the moment he finished explaining the situation—before he could even start ranting—Zang Liang immediately agreed.

“What?! You actually agreed?!” Tan Wei’an’s scream nearly pierced the sky. He shot up from his chair, his face full of disbelief—as if Zang Liang had betrayed the revolution.

“Otherwise? Do you want me to agree or not? Isn’t Qin Huai sincerely inviting me? Does he even have another option?” Zang Liang was full of confusion.

Tan Wei’an wore the same confused expression. “He doesn’t have another option… but why would you agree? Do you even know what Yunzong Canteen is like right now?”

“Do you know how average their two savory chefs are? Just typical small-restaurant level. The braised pork is way too salty, tomato and eggs are just okay, the chili pork is too spicy for me, the stir-fried lotus root isn’t crisp enough, and don’t even get me started on the potatoes—greasy as hell.”

“Though it is cheap—really cheap. The price of a two-meat-one-vegetable combo meal is about the same as just one four-happiness dumpling.”

“But that’s not the point! The point is—it’s full of pastry chefs right now. What are you going there to exchange?”

“Didn’t you just say that double-crab buns need sauce thickening? I’ll handle the thickening,” Zang Liang replied. “And Chef Qin’s seasoning skills are genuinely top-tier. I worked as his assistant for a day in City A—I’ve seen it firsthand.”

“When you told me a couple of days ago that you were leading a team to Yunzong Canteen, I was already really envious. I’m telling you—I’ve wanted to go for a long time. That one day assisting Qin Huai in City A felt amazing.”

“Qin Huai might not be able to explain things clearly, but he shows it through action. You don’t need to listen to what he says—just watching him work, you can learn a lot.”

“Learn what?” Tan Wei’an asked, bewildered.

“Approach! Filling preparation is all about approach,” Zang Liang said excitedly. “Ingredients change, and different states of ingredients require different handling methods.”

“I watched him make four-happiness dumplings for two days—his filling adjustments constantly changed based on the condition of the ingredients. Even my master said Qin Huai has an exceptional palate—his tongue helps him quickly find the right direction. But that’s only part of it. The real thing is approach. That’s talent—some people develop it through practice, others are born with it. Qin Huai is the latter.”

The more he spoke, the more excited he became.

“You know my knife skills are excellent. But in Huaiyang cuisine, seasoning matters even more than knife work—and my seasoning has always lagged behind.”

“My master says I lack a sense of direction in seasoning—that I haven’t found that ‘feeling.’ I never understood what he meant by that feeling, how you could rely on it. But after watching Qin Huai prepare fillings in City A, I suddenly got it. Qin Huai has that feeling—he uses it to find his direction. Do you understand what I mean by that feeling?”

Tan Wei’an: Damn, that sounds way too familiar.

“I don’t,” he said honestly. “Seasoning needs an ‘approach’?”

Zang Liang: “…You need more practice.”

Tan Wei’an: …

“So… you really want to come?” Tan Wei’an asked.

“Of course!” Zang Liang’s eyes lit up. “I’ll call my master right now—he’ll definitely agree.”

“Qin Huai said accommodation can be arranged, right? That makes it even easier. If my master agrees, I’ll book a ticket for tomorrow—I’ll definitely arrive by tomorrow night!”

Tan Wei’an hung up the phone, stunned.

For some reason, he suddenly felt that the person who understood Qin Huai the most in this world had finally appeared.

So that whole thing Qin Huai kept saying—‘Do you understand that feeling? Have you found that feeling?’—it wasn’t him being vague or talking nonsense.

That feeling… actually exists.

But what exactly is that feeling?

How do all of you understand it?