AGN -Chapter 365 Xu Nuo (Part 3)

Xu Nuo accompanied Shi Dadan all the way back to his residence before leaving.

Shi Dadan lived in the textile mill’s staff dormitory as well, but in a single room. The room was only about ten square meters—a plain little unit. The furniture was very simple, and there wasn’t anything that could even be called an appliance. There was no private bathroom either. At first glance, it looked even worse than Xu Nuo’s room.

But Shi Dadan clearly didn’t care about any of that. As long as he could have enough carbs every meal—even if it meant sleeping under bridges—he would be fine. Compared to that, having a single room already felt like luxury. What more could he possibly be dissatisfied about?

After returning, Shi Dadan’s first task was washing his lunchbox. Only then did he wash his face, change clothes (into another set of work uniform), and climb onto the bed to sit cross-legged and read an elementary school textbook.

With the setting sun, Shi Dadan managed to read a few pages before quickly drifting into drowsiness. His eyelids began to fight each other. Without much hesitation, he turned on the radio, lowered the volume to the minimum, lay down, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

Less than a minute later, he was already snoring.

Qin Huai: …

Impressive. No complaints there. This was genuinely impressive.

Shi Dadan was just lucky. In his first lifetime tribulation, he happened to meet Xu Nuo, a reincarnated spirit. Not only did Xu Nuo arrange him a job, he also provided him food and drink.

Otherwise, with this level of “relaxation,” there was no way he would make it into the city. At best, he’d end up living like a wild man in the mountains. If he lived long enough, maybe decades later he’d be discovered by villagers and reporters and end up on some “Journey Into Science”-style documentary.

With excellent sleep quality, Shi Dadan slept soundly until morning.

Qin Huai’s range of movement this time was very limited. He stayed in Shi Dadan’s single room the whole night, even counting how many times he turned over in his sleep.

After waking up, Shi Dadan first washed the clothes he had changed out of and hung them up to dry. Then he packed his lunchbox into his shoulder bag and happily went to work.

He left very early. Although there was no clock in his room, Qin Huai estimated that he left before 7 a.m. The dormitory and family housing area were close to the factory, only about a 20-minute walk. Leaving at this time was definitely early.

Qin Huai followed behind Shi Dadan as he entered the textile factory with practiced ease. The security guard at the gate didn’t seem surprised at all to see him arrive so early.

Shi Dadan didn’t go to the transport team. Instead, he went straight to the canteen warehouse—and even had the key.

Qin Huai: ???

Then Qin Huai watched as Shi Dadan fetched a bucket and a ladle, filled the bucket with water, and carried it to a vegetable patch nearby. He began diligently watering and tending the field.

At this point, Qin Huai couldn’t help but sigh.

Truly a perfect job match.

As someone who had grown up doing farming work in an orphanage on Sanma Road, Qin Huai could tell from experience that Shi Dadan didn’t really know how to farm.

The water was basically splashed randomly—here a bit, there a bit, completely based on mood. Weeding was also casual. But Qin Huai had to admit that every plant Shi Dadan watered grew exceptionally well, as if they were desperately trying to outgrow each other. Lush and vibrant.

The blessing buff of a taotie truly was a bit overpowered.

While Shi Dadan was watering, people gradually arrived at work in the canteen. By the time he finished, breakfast aroma was already filling the air. He timed it perfectly, finished the field work, and went into the canteen with his small bag.

He ate a simple breakfast: two portions—two meal tickets’ worth—of thick grain bean porridge and steamed buns, plus two large meat buns given by the canteen staff.

Qin Huai watched him devour everything quickly, wash his lunchbox, and head off happily to work again.

Xu Nuo was right—Shi Dadan was extremely cautious when driving. Even when there were no pedestrians, he drove slowly. Before departure, he carefully inspected the vehicle, checked the destination and delivery documents, and stayed alert while driving.

No wonder the team leader valued him.

Today, Shi Dadan was delivering meat from the meat processing plant to a production team. Qin Huai overheard that there was a temporary shortage of drivers and the textile factory had loaned one out. This seemed quite common.

The route was simple: go to the meat plant, load goods, deliver them to the production team, then return empty.

Shi Dadan didn’t waste time and set off early. At noon, he didn’t stay to eat with the production team. Instead, he grabbed a few white flour steamed buns and headed back early, leaving himself plenty of time to catch crabs.

Anyone with crab-catching experience knew that unless crabs were so abundant they overflowed the river, they usually had to be trapped with baskets or baited cages.

But Shi Dadan clearly wasn’t in a normal situation. And neither was his early-stage taotie tribulation form.

He brought two bamboo baskets, taken from the canteen warehouse that morning.

Then Qin Huai watched as he found a secluded, clear-water stream where no crabs were visible, placed the baskets into the water, and returned to sit in the truck.

He ate his steamed buns while waiting.

Qin Huai wanted to go check, but the distance was too far. He could only stand by the truck and wait.

After finishing his meal, Shi Dadan leaned back and took a nap.

Qin Huai: …

Seriously? That’s how you catch crabs?

Half an hour later, Shi Dadan proved that it was indeed reasonable.

He woke up from his nap, stretched lazily, and walked to the stream.

Qin Huai rushed ahead—and froze the moment he saw it.

The two bamboo baskets that had been empty half an hour ago were now completely packed with fish, shrimp, and crabs.

Qin Huai: ???

Damn. Suddenly he really wanted to go sea fishing with Shi Dadan.

Now he understood why Shi Dadan liked sea fishing so much—going out every now and then just to fish.

If he were Shi Dadan, he would probably like it too. This was practically a gift from nature.

Shi Dadan casually sorted through the catch:

Fish—no. Shrimp—no. Small crabs—no. Crabs that didn’t look fatty—also no.

Even while he was sorting, none of the fish or crabs tried to escape. They just stayed obediently inside the basket, like they were waiting to be chosen.

At that moment, Qin Huai finally understood why Shi Dadan once said his predecessor told him to cherish his tribulation in the mortal world and eat more good food.

According to the distinction between “emotionless path” and “sentient path,” a beast like the taotie, not very intelligent and not fond of thinking, was clearly suited for the emotionless path.

As long as it didn’t enter human society, everything would be simple. It never wanted to become human, never integrated, so tribulation would naturally be easy.

And the survival issue that was difficult for most weak spirits simply didn’t exist for it.

With such a buff, starvation was impossible. Even if picky eating was abandoned, living in the mountains for decades would make tribulation effortless.

By that logic, Shi Dadan’s tribulation was actually quite difficult.

He could have followed predecessors into the emotionless path, wandering through the mortal world and passing tribulation unknowingly. But his luck—good and bad—was meeting Xu Nuo, another spirit, who brought him into human society without fully integrating him.

As the saying goes, tribulation difficulty is relative.

Shi Dadan selected a large basket of plump crabs and returned to the truck, heading back.

After returning to the transport team, Shi Dadan did something slightly “dishonest.” He made an excuse about the meat processing plant needing a signed receipt, slipped away early, and ran straight to Xu Nuo’s house with the basket of crabs.

He ran like a wild boar charging forward.

When he reached the building, several middle-aged women washing clothes noticed him and casually commented:

“Look, Xu Nuo tricked another fool again.”

Qin Huai: …

Well… in a sense, Xu Nuo’s reputation really was getting unfairly ruined.

When Shi Dadan arrived, Xu Nuo was kneading dough.

Seeing him, Xu Nuo asked, “Off work so early today?”

Shi Dadan grinned. “I made an excuse to slip away. Brother Liu didn’t notice.”

Qin Huai: …Brother Liu noticed. He just didn’t bother calling him out.

Xu Nuo didn’t say much and pointed to the kitchen. “Good timing. I’ve already chopped the meat filling once. You chop it again. Just go hard—make it as fine as possible.”

Sometimes brute force really could create miracles.

Shi Dadan nodded and went into the kitchen, where he began chopping meat with heavy force. The chopping board rang loudly with each strike. Qin Huai even worried he might break Xu Nuo’s board today.

With that kind of strength, he really should be making hand-pounded beef balls.

Qin Huai stayed in the living room and watched Xu Nuo knead dough.

Frankly speaking, Xu Nuo’s kneading skills weren’t bad at all. In fact, Qin Huai felt they were slightly better than his own—a mature, experienced pastry chef level.

His movements were smooth and aesthetically pleasing.

Qin Huai watched closely, even unconsciously mimicking the motion with his hands.

Honestly, Xu Nuo wasn’t the best pastry chef Qin Huai had ever seen. Both Master Jing and Jiang Chengde were better. But Xu Nuo might be the closest in level to Qin Huai himself—slightly above him—so Qin Huai could fully understand his process and thinking, which made him watch most attentively.

“Xu Nuo, do you really want to become a chef at a state-run restaurant that badly?” Shi Dadan asked while chopping meat, apparently bored.

“Kind of,” Xu Nuo replied. “But that’s just an excuse. Mostly I just don’t want to listen to my dad and go study for university again, and I don’t want to work in the textile factory either.”

“If you go work as a chef at a state-owned restaurant, you’ll be making pastries and dishes regularly anyway. That’ll let you practice and solidify your skills. In the human world now, having a trade is very important. Just like you learning to drive and me making pastries—if you have a skill, you won’t starve.”

“Then what do you want to do? Do business? Or open a restaurant? I heard some people have started secretly opening restaurants. Why don’t you secretly open one too?”

Xu Nuo thought seriously for a moment.

“I probably won’t. I’m not really sure what I want to do. I don’t have a direction. And I think there’s a high chance I won’t succeed in this tribulation in this lifetime. Honestly, I’m not hiding anything from you, and it’s not that I’m ashamed to tell you what my obsession is—I just sometimes really can’t figure out what it even is.”

“I don’t know whether I hate my own helplessness or if I’m just unwilling to accept things. You know how tribulations work for us auspicious beasts—either you succeed very easily, or if you fail, you need the right opportunity. I don’t know where my opportunity is.”

This kind of high-level philosophical problem clearly exceeded Shi Dadan’s knowledge range. He chopped meat for a long time while thinking, but couldn’t come up with any answer at all. He had no clue—and might not even fully understand the question.

“I don’t know. But you’re way smarter than me—you’ll definitely succeed your tribulation!”

Faced with Shi Dadan’s blind confidence, Xu Nuo could only smile and continue kneading dough.

After finishing the dough, Xu Nuo went into the kitchen and stood beside Shi Dadan to watch him chop meat for a while. After confirming that Shi Dadan’s “brute force miracle” technique was working fine, he began handling the crabs—extracting fresh crab roe.

His technique was very skilled and mature. At a glance, it was obvious he had plenty of experience.

Next came seasoning.

His movements were fast and decisive. He didn’t hesitate at all when adding ingredients, and his control over quantities was extremely precise—clearly confident.

After finishing the crab roe, he called Shi Dadan to stop, then mixed the crab roe with pork, cracked in two eggs, and seasoned and stirred again.

At this point, the filling was basically done—only the wrapper and shaping remained.

Then Xu Nuo did something Qin Huai hadn’t expected: he lit the coal stove and started heating oil.

Qin Huai: ?

Does pork and crab roe bun filling need to be stir-fried?

Qin Huai watched Xu Nuo cooking the filling.

It didn’t look like he was making pastry filling—it looked more like he was cooking a dish. A dish called pork stir-fried with crab roe.

At the end, Xu Nuo even thickened the sauce with starch.

It smelled amazing—like stir-fried food.

Shi Dadan stood nearby, swallowing saliva.

“Xu Nuo, is this still bun filling? Why does it smell even better than the canteen’s stir-fried pork!”

“This is the same idea as the bun I ate in Hangzhou,” Xu Nuo said. “You can’t treat this as ordinary filling. You have to treat it like a dish first, then put it inside a bun.”

Shi Dadan clearly didn’t understand.

Xu Nuo was already used to that and rephrased it in a way he could understand.

“It’s like how you can’t just learn driving in the transport team—you also have to learn how to repair cars. Otherwise, if the truck breaks down on the road and you can’t fix it, the delivery fails.”

“But actually, you can just learn to drive—if the car is reliable enough that it doesn’t break. Your team doesn’t have that condition, so you must learn repair too.”

“This bun is the same. If you treat it as a normal bun, it will only be a normal bun. It’s because the filling is like a dish—like stir-fried pork—that it tastes extraordinary.”

Shi Dadan still didn’t understand.

Xu Nuo continued: “When you’re driving, do you think about what happens if the car breaks down and you can’t fix it?”

Shi Dadan shook his head. “I make sure I can repair it before I go. I always check everything before departure.”

Xu Nuo nodded.

“This bun is the same. You must first have the skill to put stir-fried dishes into bun filling before you can make it. Its approach is different from normal buns, so you can’t use normal thinking.”

“Normal people making this bun would think about how to merge red-cooking and white-dough techniques, how to balance flavors. That’s not wrong—but if you think too much like that, you’ll get stuck.”

“Fusion is fine—but only if the pastry chef is skilled enough.”

“In my opinion, the most innovative part of this bun is that the chef is openly showing off. He’s telling you: my cooking skills are good, my pastry skills are even better. I turned a great dish into bun filling and still made a delicious bun—impressive, right?”

“Then should we fuse or not?” Shi Dadan still didn’t get it.

“Either is fine,” Xu Nuo said. “That’s how I see it.”

“If the chef is strong in both cooking and pastry, fusion is good. But if they’re only a pastry chef and not that strong in cooking, they shouldn’t overthink it.”

“Because this bun is correct no matter how you make it. It’s inherently unconventional.”

“I’ve made pastries for so many years, and this is the first time I’ve eaten such a non-traditional bun. It feels like: I just put a good dish inside a bun—what can you do about it? It’s just delicious, just a bun, just unique.”

“It’s like Yuan Mei said crab roe shouldn’t be eaten with shark fin—but crab roe with shark fin is still a famous dish. Some good dishes don’t follow logic.”

“Who is Yuan Mei? From our factory?” Shi Dadan asked.

Xu Nuo: …

“That’s not important. Actually, I have an idea.”

“What idea?”

“When I was in Hangzhou, I heard the pastry chef who made this bun likes to sell recipes. I want to pay a high price to buy it.”

“Then give the recipe to Master Jing.”

“The original bun uses sea cucumber and crab roe, but I don’t have that level. I can only make a simplified pork-and-crab-roe version based on the same idea. But I really like this pastry. I think if it’s Master Jing, he could definitely make it—and even improve it.”

“I think he would be very happy seeing the recipe.”

Shi Dadan, after listening for a while, suddenly focused on something completely unexpected:

“Xu Nuo, you’re amazing!”

“You haven’t even bought the recipe yet, but you understand it so well.”

Xu Nuo: …

He awkwardly looked away and said softly: “Actually, I did want to buy it. But the exclusive rights were too expensive, I didn’t bring enough money. So I paid 160 yuan just to have the chef explain it to me.”

“He saw I was young and didn’t think I was a serious chef, so he figured I wouldn’t learn it just from hearing it, and agreed.”

Shi Dadan: ???

“You spent 160 yuan just to hear a few sentences? How much would it cost to buy the full recipe?”

“1000. But I think I can bargain.”

Shi Dadan sucked in a breath.

“That’s too expensive. I’m still hesitating. So while hesitating, I figured I’d try making pork-crab filling using that idea first, to see if it’s worth spending 1000 yuan.”

Shi Dadan’s eyes immediately changed when he looked at the pan of filling.

This was no longer ordinary pork and crab filling.

This was 1000-yuan pork and crab filling.

He swallowed.

“I want to try it first.”

Xu Nuo handed him a spoon. Shi Dadan scooped a full spoon, ate it in one bite, chewed, and nodded firmly.

“Good!”

“Meat stir-fry—good!”

Xu Nuo: “What meat stir-fry? This is bun filling!”

“When it’s wrapped into a bun, it’ll definitely be even better!”

Qin Huai left the memory.