AGN -Chapter 405 The Level of Boss Su

After a rather intense conversation whose exact content Qin Huai did not understand, Zheng Da stormed into the Huang Ji kitchen at 4:18 PM to make pastries.

Yes, you read that right—make pastries.

Since there was no time to knead dough, Zheng Da directly “borrowed” the dough that Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan had already prepared. He didn’t care what the dough was originally intended for—he just used it freely and started making things in a chaotic manner.

The pastries Qin Huai could recognize included: clipped-flower palace lantern buns, crab roe crisps, dragon beard candy, lotus crisps, lychee-shaped dough fruit, apple dough fruit, red date dough fruit, Four Happiness Rolls, goldfish dumplings, several mid-level difficulty flower-shaped steamed buns, and a few other pastries Qin Huai didn’t recognize but that looked extremely beautiful.

All of them required highly refined finger techniques.

From 4 PM until 9 PM, Zheng Da worked continuously for over five hours without stopping. He didn’t speak to anyone or respond to anyone. Even when Huang Shengli asked what was going on, Zheng Da acted as if he hadn’t heard.

He didn’t make many of each item—only one or two of each type—making it impossible for anyone to figure out what he was trying to do.

Even if someone had gone mad, they’d at least need to figure out which “medicine” they’d taken.

Everyone in the Huang Ji kitchen, including Qin Huai, just watched Zheng Da continuously make various beautiful pastries until 9 PM. During this time, Qin Huai briefly left the kitchen to consult Su Qian about the situation at Zhiwei House.

Qin Huai had already scheduled a trip to Zhiwei House for the day after tomorrow and had also arranged his accommodation.

It was a two-bedroom apartment under Boss Su’s name. Qin Huai suspected that he had gotten used to living in two-bedroom places recently—whether at Yunzhong Community or here at Huang Ji. As a result, he now felt two-bedroom apartments were the most comfortable.

One-bedroom places felt too small, while three-bedroom places felt too empty. Two bedrooms were just right. If friends or his younger sister came, they could stay together, which was very convenient.

Boss Su’s efficiency was extremely high. He quickly helped Qin Huai book high-speed rail tickets and even included a travel guide for Hangzhou.

As a famous tourist city, Hangzhou had many places worth visiting. Boss Su suggested that Qin Huai didn’t need to focus only on work when visiting Zhiwei House.

At Zhiwei House, it was mainly the apprentices who were under pressure—the master chefs never really “grinded” themselves. For example, Chef Zhou liked to take walks by the lake during lunch and afternoon breaks. A good mood and relaxed routine helped master chefs make better pastries.

Qin Huai promptly saved the travel guide.

Previously, when he was exchanging skills at Huang Ji, he would also take walks around Suzhou during his breaks, sometimes strolling through gardens with Dong Shi. Although Dong Shi usually deliberately arranged his own break time to overlap with Qin Huai’s, just so he could take him around Suzhou’s famous spots and prevent him from getting lost or confused.

Qin Huai was very moved by this care, but also felt that it would be even better if Dong Shi talked a little less while accompanying him.

Compared to Dong Shi’s attentiveness, Boss Su’s care had more restraint—he only provided a travel guide and did not arrange anyone to accompany Qin Huai.

Just this travel guide alone made Qin Huai feel the difference between Zhiwei House and Huang Ji.

Although Huang Ji was an upscale restaurant, at its core it was still a family-style workshop. Even if the young heir wasn’t very capable, he was still the heir. The restaurant would eventually be passed down to him.

All the chefs in the kitchen—present and future—were disciples of Huang Shengli. In essence, there were almost no outsiders. Even the helpers were long-term workers who were practically half-disciples.

This model gave Huang Ji a strong sense of warmth and personal connection, but it also came with problems. For example, if the head chef Huang Shengli had an accident—such as poor health preventing him from working—and the heir lacked business ability, while there were also no professional management staff or even an accountant, the restaurant would suffer a devastating blow.

Zhiwei House, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

Although it followed the traditional master-apprentice system, it had many master chefs, and these could be further subdivided into multiple factions.

More people and more factions meant competition and complicated relationships. Often, conflicts did not require the cliché “villains” seen in novels or dramas—just mutual dislike or dissatisfaction with each other’s skills was enough.

For example, Chef Zhou disliked Zheng Da.

Was Chef Zhou a villain? Obviously not. Making the number one pastry chef into a villain would be too extravagant.

Had Zheng Da done anything to offend Chef Zhou? Also no. Chef Zhou stayed in Zhiwei House teaching apprentices, while Zheng Da traveled around Suzhou and other places for business. They barely even met, yet Chef Zhou still didn’t like him.

Sometimes at exchange events, Chef Zhou would look down his nose and secretly roll his eyes at Zheng Da, acting like a stereotypical “flat villain.”

Such a complicated kitchen environment was actually not ideal for long-term restaurant stability. Restaurant management is complex, but cooking itself is pure.

The reason Zhiwei House had remained strong for so many years was mainly due to Boss Su’s management skills.

Boss Su was the complete opposite of Huang Anyao. Before taking over Zhiwei House, he had also been the heir. Zhiwei House was a famous old brand in Hangzhou, founded by his great-grandfather.

Over generations, by the time it reached Boss Su, the culinary inheritance was already in decline. Boss Su’s pastry skills were average, but his management ability was extremely strong. He transformed Zhiwei House from a family-style workshop—where almost all chefs were disciples of the same lineage—into a large restaurant with many competing factions.

Su Qian, Boss Su’s nephew, knew this transformation history very well and explained it all to Qin Huai in detail.

When Boss Su was still the heir, he had already realized that his own culinary skills were not enough to support Zhiwei House. But if more skilled senior brothers took over instead, conflicts of interest would inevitably arise over time, making it unsustainable.

History has shown many lessons—many old restaurants don’t collapse because of lack of successors, but due to less visible internal reasons.

So Boss Su made a decision that went against tradition. He poached top chefs with high salaries, offered equity dividends, used family relationships to appeal emotionally, and recruited many master chefs.

He also recruited large numbers of apprentices, encouraging exchanges between Zhiwei House and other well-performing pastry restaurants, greatly boosting both its reputation and strength.

When he was still the heir, Zhiwei House was already the undisputed number one pastry restaurant in Hangzhou. After he fully took over, decades of management made it the undisputed number one pastry restaurant in the entire country.

In fact, many people only knew it as “number one” and couldn’t even think of a second.

This was just the general strategy. There were many subtle operational details that couldn’t be openly discussed.

For example, how to handle conflicts between master chefs, how to manage factional disputes, how to deal with multiple chefs competing for the same apprentice, and how to maintain a stable kitchen atmosphere—all of these were Boss Su’s real expertise.

As Boss Su’s nephew and Chef Zhou’s future direct disciple, Su Qian had learned not only pastry skills from Chef Zhou but also management wisdom from Boss Su.

He was very familiar with the master chefs of Zhiwei House and introduced them one by one to Qin Huai—their specialties, factions, personalities, and interpersonal relationships.

He even explained in detail who disliked whom, which relationships were seemingly good but actually full of private criticism, and how they secretly competed in skills, reputation, and the quality of their apprentices.

This was the first time Su Qian had ever shared gossip with Qin Huai—real gossip.

His speech was smooth and structured.

Qin Huai was so captivated that he no longer even wanted to return to the kitchen to watch Zheng Da make pastries. He just wanted to pull Su Qian into a corner and ask for more gossip about Zhiwei House.

Su Qian was simply too impressive—even his gossiping skills were excellent.

At the end, Su Qian reminded Qin Huai that all of this was just his personal perspective and might not reflect the full reality. The real situation would become clearer once Qin Huai spent a few days at Zhiwei House.

In summary, although Zhiwei House had complex relationships and internal competition, Boss Su’s excellent management ensured that there were no irreconcilable conflicts, and the overall working atmosphere remained harmonious, cooperative, and highly competitive.

After hearing all this, Qin Huai couldn’t wait to head to Zhiwei House the next day to see whether everything was really as Su Qian described—whether chefs truly disliked each other, secretly competed, or had messy interpersonal histories like feuds over apprentices and family ties.

He packed incredibly fast.

Even while watching Zheng Da make pastries in the kitchen, Qin Huai almost couldn’t help asking Tan Weian whether the gossip Su Qian had told him was true—but in the end, he still restrained himself.

Based on Qin Huai’s understanding of Tan Weian, if there were really such exciting gossip in the kitchen, Tan Weian would definitely find an opportunity to tell him. Since he hadn’t mentioned anything, it either meant the gossip wasn’t true—or he simply hadn’t picked up on it. The latter was more likely.

Tan Weian was both an employee and shareholder of Zhiwei House. Before Qin Huai actually went there for exchange and figured out what the situation was, he felt it was better not to casually bring up certain things with a shareholder.

The cost of staying silent was that Qin Huai could only replay these bits of gossip in his mind, so absorbed that he didn’t even notice Zheng Da had stopped making pastries at 9:26 PM.

By the time Qin Huai realized Zheng Da had stopped, Huang Shengli had already gone to ask him what was going on.

The pastries Zheng Da had made earlier were untouched. Since he hadn’t explained how they should be handled, no one dared to move or eat them. After all, they were all beautifully crafted—maybe Zheng Da had made them just to line them up for comparison, or to show off on social media.

No one could guess Zheng Da’s thoughts.

“What’s going on with you today? What kind of mood are you in now?” Huang Shengli, as his senior brother, spoke quite bluntly. As he spoke, he even glanced at Qin Huai, as if silently asking whether Zheng Da had been stimulated by the fact that Qin Huai was going to Zhiwei House in two days.

Zheng Da didn’t even look up at Huang Shengli. He was still somewhat immersed in his own world after finishing his pastries.

He picked up an immortal crane-shaped flower bun—one of the more difficult designs—and asked, “Senior brother, is there something wrong with my crane longevity bun?”

The moment “senior brother” came out, Huang Shengli immediately realized something was off today.

He frowned slightly, examined the bun, and said firmly, “It’s very good.”

Zheng Da then pointed at an exquisitely crafted lotus crisp that could only be described as miraculous: “Is there a problem with my lotus crisp?”

Huang Shengli replied without hesitation, “Of course not.”

“What about the crab roe crisp?”

“Very beautiful.”

“The goldfish dumpling?”

“Flawless in shape.”

“The lychee dough fruit?”

“……”

……

Zheng Da went through nearly every pastry he had made. Finally, he pointed at the Four Happiness Roll and asked, “Then is my reverse roll technique flawed? Is there a problem with my basic finger technique?”

Huang Shengli did not answer.

Zheng Da continued muttering, as if spiraling into self-doubt:

“I admit that Chef Zhou’s pastry skills are better than mine. He ranks highest among white-dish chefs in the Famous Chef List—I can’t compare to him.”

“I also admit his finger techniques are outstanding, and his boat-shaped pastries are so refined they’re practically showmanship.”

“But doesn’t he also not know how to make Ruyi rolls?”

“His cloud patterns aren’t as good as Chef Tan’s. He hasn’t even seen me make a Four Happiness Roll—on what basis does he say my reverse roll technique is flawed because my fundamentals are weak?”

“My fundamentals are weak?” Zheng Da’s voice almost cracked. “Even if Chef Zhou is the number one white-dish chef, he can’t be this arrogant, right?”

“And what do you mean my fundamentals are weak? If Qin Huai’s finger techniques were taught by me, then even his basics would have the same issues—after all, a teacher with weak fundamentals can’t produce students with strong ones. What, does his student have strong fundamentals? Does Su Qian have strong fundamentals? I think his steamed pastries are just average—not even as good as Siyuan. His teaching ability is nothing special at all. Not even as good as my son.”

Zheng Da had completely entered a state of indiscriminate AOE attacks.

After a long silence, Huang Shengli quietly said: “Do you still remember that back when Master said your finger technique fundamentals weren’t very solid?”

Zheng Da: “……”

The moment those words landed, Zheng Da deflated like a punctured balloon. He stopped shouting, stopped getting angry, stopped screaming, and even stopped resisting.

He lifted his head—and finally noticed everyone around him. Not a single person was missing. Qin Huai was standing not far away, silently watching him.

Zheng Da: “……”

I’m tired. Let the world just end already.

What had he just done? What had he just said?

Was it still possible to smash his head against the workbench, pass out, and claim amnesia?

Qin Huai saw through Zheng Da’s thoughts and carefully chose his words before speaking:

“Chef Zheng, I don’t think your finger technique is lacking at all, nor do I think you can’t teach me properly.”

“It’s just that my fundamentals are too weak. I don’t think I can master the Four Happiness Roll in a short time, so I thought it might be better to go to Zhiwei House first, broaden my horizons, exchange ideas with more master chefs, and learn more new things.”

“When I reach a certain level, I’ll come back to you to learn the Four Happiness Roll properly and ask for your guidance so I can improve further.”

“I never meant that your level is not good. If what I said earlier today caused any misunderstanding, I apologize.”

“Later, I’ll tell Boss Su at Zhiwei House that I’ll be studying finger techniques with you for now and may not be able to go there for the time being. After all, my original plan with Boss Su was to go in July or August anyway.”

Zheng Da felt like he was about to cry.

Listen to that—how considerate!

Qin Huai said going to Zhiwei House was just to broaden his horizons and build a foundation, and that once his foundation was solid, he would return to Zheng Da to further study.

What did that imply?

It meant Zhiwei House could only teach basics—the truly advanced techniques still had to come from him, Zheng Da!

Zheng Da immediately straightened up.

“Ah, that’s not the case at all. I was just irritated by that Su guy and Zhou… I mean, Su guy, and spoke nonsense earlier. Don’t take it seriously.”

“I actually came over today to tell you—your Four Happiness Flower Roll design is something I really like. Isn’t it just helping you with Four Happiness Rolls for a month? No problem at all.”

“That was the plan anyway. I hadn’t made pastries all day, saw the dough, got a bit itchy hands, so I made a few on impulse.”

“You know me—if I don’t make pastries for a day, I feel uncomfortable.”

Qin Huai: “……”

Zheng Da was truly desperate enough to start talking nonsense.

Qin Huai smiled and nodded.

“I understand, Chef Zheng.”