AGN -Chapter 378 Plugging One’s Ears While Stealing a Bell

Just from Zheng Da’s first reaction, Qin Huai could already roughly tell that Zheng Da simply didn’t like the “Four Happiness Rolls” dessert. His reaction was a bit too intense—almost like a conditioned response.

What exactly had the Four Happiness Rolls done to Zheng Da?

On the way to the residential complex, Qin Huai quietly took out his phone and messaged Dong Shi, asking him to make sure to find out the full story within a day.

Perhaps it was already off-duty time at Huang Ji, because Dong Shi replied almost instantly, saying he would complete the mission and ensure Qin Huai would hear the full backstory the moment he arrived at Huang Ji tomorrow.

Then he casually asked if Qin Huai would be making breakfast tomorrow—if so, he’d come early, even if it meant arriving hungry.

It was obvious that since Qin Huai had left Huang Ji, the staff there had lost their precious breakfast.

Zheng Da personally escorted Qin Huai all the way back to the residential complex. Since Old Man Wang had only rented a place in the complex temporarily and hadn’t bought a house, he was currently staying with Qin Huai.

Tan Weian and Zang Liang were living in a house bought by Chen Huirong. Zheng Siyuan was staying in a place purchased by Xu Tuqiang. Normally, Zheng Siyuan should have gone home, but he felt his house was too far from Huang Ji—he would have to spend too much time commuting—so he simply chose to live in the complex opposite Huang Ji for convenience.

As for Shi Dadan, before departure he had already rented a place in the complex through an agent. His room happened to be directly below Qin Huai’s, making things quite convenient.

Qin Huai could tell that Zheng Da very much wanted to use the excuse of “caring for his son” to move in with Zheng Siyuan and had hinted at it several times. But Zheng Siyuan completely ignored his biological father, forcing Zheng Da to leave in disappointment, grumbling inwardly and cursing his “unfilial son” a few more times.

It was Qin Huai’s first time living with Wang Gensheng. It was a rare opportunity to openly chat casually with someone nearby without any pressure.

Qin Huai did want to talk more, but Wang Gensheng had no interest in idle conversation at all. His mind was entirely focused on tomorrow’s accounting audit, full of fighting spirit, wanting nothing more than to rest early and prepare for a tense and intense day of bookkeeping work.

The “forty-year professional accountant soul” within Wang Gensheng was burning brightly.

Seeing that Wang Gensheng wasn’t in the mood to chat, Qin Huai gave up. After all, he had arranged an “important storyline” for him tomorrow, and needed to mentally rehearse everything one last time tonight to ensure nothing would go wrong.

So Qin Huai ended up chatting with Shi Dadan on WeChat until 1 a.m., deeply analyzing and discussing tomorrow’s plan.

Shi Dadan was also an important supporting “extra” in tomorrow’s setup—one of the key people for atmosphere building.

A peaceful night passed.

But when Qin Huai woke up, it was already 8:30 the next morning. Realizing he had overslept again, he hurried out of bed and saw Wang Gensheng and Shi Dadan in the living room.

Wang Gensheng was sitting at the dining table wearing reading glasses, working on a computer.

Yes—he was fully equipped, even bringing his own laptop.

Shi Dadan sat across from him, calmly eating wontons. The wontons were clearly Zheng Siyuan’s “bubble wontons,” as he still loved making them in the mornings.

“Xiao Qin, you’re up,” Shi Dadan said cheerfully. “Old Wang specially went to Huang Ji to pack breakfast for you. You can eat first before going over. Master Huang said it’s normal that you overslept after running around all day yesterday, no need to rush. It doesn’t matter what time the pastries go on sale.”

Qin Huai, who had never been raised by grandparents (his own grandfather and grandmother lived in the countryside year-round), was completely stunned.

So this is what it feels like to be raised by grandparents? Oversleeping in the morning without being scolded or woken up—someone even brings back breakfast and waits for you to eat it.

“Then… are Zheng Siyuan and the others already at Huang Ji?” Qin Huai asked, only realizing after speaking that it was a stupid question.

“They’re already there. Zheng Siyuan and Tan Weian both arrived. As for Zang Liang… when Old Wang and I left Huang Ji at 8, he hadn’t arrived yet. He should be there by now.”

“Right, Old Wang?”

Hearing Shi Dadan call him, Wang Gensheng adjusted his glasses, looked up from his intense work state, and took a couple of seconds to react before nodding.

“Seems so. Is Xiao Zang the young man who talks a lot? I think he hadn’t come yet.”

Qin Huai said he understood and quickly went to wash up. Shi Dadan got up and went to the kitchen, poured Qin Huai’s portion of bubble wontons from a thermos into a bowl, and brought it out to the table.

After Qin Huai finished washing up, he ate breakfast while replying to messages. Shi Dadan sat beside him silently keeping him company, while Wang Gensheng continued staring at his computer with a deeply furrowed brow.

This was the first time Qin Huai had ever seen such an expression on Wang Gensheng’s face. If Uncle Qian and Xu Tuqiang had seen him like this, they probably wouldn’t have been going around saying he likely had dementia.

“Old Wang, what’s wrong?” Qin Huai asked tentatively.

“These accounts are way too unprofessional,” Wang Gensheng frowned. “How do accountants even work like this nowadays? With bookkeeping like this, it would be too easy to manipulate the numbers—casually enough to make a restaurant or factory lose hundreds of thousands.”

“Uh… Huang Ji probably doesn’t have a professional accountant,” Qin Huai said. From what he knew, the situation there was likely similar to Yunzhong Canteen—run by experienced but not necessarily professional staff who were nonetheless very responsible.

“What’s worse is that this morning when I asked Xiao Huang for the accounts, he just handed them over directly.”

“How can accounting records be given out so casually? He even gave me the procurement lists!”

Wang Gensheng sighed deeply.

“I took a quick look—he even gave me the March accounts. Everything here is a mess except the tables being somewhat neat.”

Qin Huai: “……”

As expected of you, Huang Anyao.

“Then Old Wang, just stay here and audit the accounts today. Go back to Huang Ji for dinner tonight. As for lunch—”

“Already agreed with Old Wang,” Shi Dadan said cheerfully. “I’ll deliver his lunch. He said it’ll take five or six days to finish checking everything anyway. If he brings his computer around, there’s also a risk of data leaks, so he’s just not going out for the next few days.”

“It’s not even connected to the internet,” Shi Dadan added.

“Xiao Qin, just focus on making pastries. Leave the rest to us. Call me anytime if anything comes up. And remember to call me when the Double Crab Buns are ready.”

Qin Huai had originally thought Shi Dadan came to Suzhou for a nostalgic trip—but it turned out he was here as full-time support.

He felt a bit moved.

Nodding, he finished his wontons and headed out to work.

Before leaving, Shi Dadan even thoughtfully asked Wang Gensheng, “Old Wang, want some fruit? Staring at a computer too long hurts your eyes, especially looking at numbers. I’ll wash you a couple apples.”

A top-tier support character indeed.

If only he didn’t use his own appetite as a benchmark for Wang Gensheng’s appetite, that would have been even better.

Qin Huai’s home was less than a five-minute walk from Huang Ji. A few months ago, he used to walk this route several times a day—walking from autumn into winter, wearing more and more layers as the weather got colder, and more and more people began recognizing him along the way.

Now it was spring, and walking this familiar path again gave Qin Huai a completely different feeling.

Even though Shi Dadan was the one who had returned to revisit old places, it was Qin Huai who first felt the nostalgia.

Last night it had been too dark to notice, but now under the good light and comfortable temperature, walking on this familiar road filled him with a sense of reflection and anticipation.

After a few months away from Huang Ji’s staff, Qin Huai realized he actually missed them a little.

Although Dong Shi had been flooding him with messages every day on WeChat, constantly sharing gossip and making Qin Huai almost completely aware of Wang Jun’s emotional life (which, after a breakup, consisted of no emotional life at all), chatting online and chatting in person were still different.

Qin Huai even missed Dong Shi’s nonstop chattering beside him.

A five-minute walk was enough for Qin Huai to mentally review his entire past and even imagine his future, as if he were walking the path of life itself.

That’s why people shouldn’t stay up late—staying up makes you wake up late, waking up late makes your brain foggy, and a foggy brain leads to overthinking.

The moment Qin Huai stepped into Huang Ji, a familiar figure rushed toward him—arriving even faster than the person was the loud, chattering voice.

“Qin Huai, you’re finally here! Didn’t you say there’d be chicken noodle soup this morning? I’ve been waiting forever! And that Mr. Shi who came with you—he eats way too much! Do you know how many bowls of wontons he ate this morning at Huang Ji? Twenty bowls! I’ve never seen anyone eat twenty bowls of wontons before. How does he do it? Is he a professional competitive eater?”

Qin Huai: “……”

At that moment, all his sentimental feelings vanished.

Fine—he didn’t miss him at all. Honestly, Dong Shi was just too noisy when he got going.

“Did you find out what I asked you to investigate last night?” Qin Huai asked directly, heading toward the changing room. Dong Shi followed right behind him, talking as he walked.

“Of course I did! After work yesterday, I went straight to the residential complex opposite and asked a few regular customers. I figured it out just by asking around. Then I called my master at home as well—this information is absolutely solid, guaranteed authentic.”

“That Four Happiness Roll you mentioned—when my grand-uncle was still a head chef at a state-run restaurant, they used to sell it every New Year. From New Year’s Eve to the second day of the lunar new year, only three days, and during those days the restaurant sold nothing else.”

“One per person per day, and it was extremely cheap—basically the price of a coarse grain steamed bun, but you got a white-flour meat-filled pastry. The selling price didn’t even cover the cost. My master said my grand-uncle actually lost money every year, just doing it for good luck during the New Year, so families who usually couldn’t afford white-flour pastries could still eat something good.”

“And the Four Happiness Roll—it looks simple, like a stuffed twisted roll, kind of like a lazy dragon bun, but in reality it requires extremely high skill in dough fermentation, hand technique, and filling preparation.”

“After my grand-uncle retired due to illness, Uncle Zheng took over the pastry work. But because his skills weren’t fully developed yet at the time, the first year he made Four Happiness Rolls for the New Year… they were really… not good.”

“Apparently they were bad in every way—from appearance to taste.”

“But since the Four Happiness Roll was already being sold at a loss, everyone in the neighborhood knew the situation, so no one said anything to Uncle Zheng’s face. At most, they just whispered behind his back.”

“Just like how they whispered about his fermented rice buns, his dumplings, and his shumai. Back then, after Uncle Zheng officially became a chef, people didn’t hesitate to criticize him behind his back.”

“Ordinary customers don’t understand the differences in pastry craftsmanship. They only knew the grand-uncle was amazing, but not how amazing. Uncle Zheng was clearly worse, so they assumed he just wasn’t skilled enough.”

“My master said Uncle Zheng didn’t hate the pastry because he couldn’t make it—but because he never got the chance to properly prove himself.”

“My grand-uncle also ate Four Happiness Rolls every New Year. After he retired due to illness, his health wasn’t great. The first year, he was still okay and made the rolls himself. After that, Uncle Zheng made them instead. At that time, he told his master he would one day make Four Happiness Rolls just as good, so that the neighbors would recognize him.”

“But his master never lived to see that day.”

“The difficulty of the Four Happiness Roll was too high. Not long after retirement, the grand-uncle passed away. After that, Uncle Zheng never sold it at the state restaurant again.”

“At the time, everyone thought it was because he was too sad. No one wanted to bring it up in case it triggered his emotions. Later, Uncle Zheng went into business and stopped being a pastry chef altogether, and many old customers gradually forgot about it. If I hadn’t asked last night, they probably wouldn’t even remember this pastry existed.”

Qin Huai nodded in understanding.

So that was it.

The Four Happiness Roll was indeed a pastry with a lot of history. It carried special meaning not only for Zheng Da, but also for the old state-run restaurant. It was understandable that Zheng Da reacted so strongly to it.

It really was a touching story.

“However,” Dong Shi continued, “my master also told me Uncle Zheng isn’t actually afraid of being reminded of the past. If making pastries alone could trigger memories, there would be too many things he’d have to avoid.”

“Back when my grand-uncle was alive, he made Four Happiness Rolls for New Year, rice dumplings for Dragon Boat Festival, mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival, tangyuan and yuanxiao for Lantern Festival, green rice balls for Qingming, and Chongyang cakes for Double Ninth Festival. Uncle Zheng has made all of those over the years too.”

“He just… can’t make Four Happiness Rolls well and feels embarrassed about it.”

“My master said Uncle Zheng actually secretly tries making Four Happiness Rolls every New Year at home. But it’s the one pastry he’s worst at. He always thinks the pork and scallion combination feels a bit off, like the recipe itself is wrong, so he’s never been able to improve.”

“He avoids making it because he makes it badly. And if he doesn’t make it, others won’t know he’s bad at it. Over time, people will forget, and he can escape the fact that he can’t make it well.”

“My master said Uncle Zheng has always loved ‘plugging his ears while stealing a bell.’”

Qin Huai: “……”

As expected of master and disciple.

Give me back my emotions from earlier!