AGN -Chapter 409 The Highest Praise

Qin Huai’s first instinct was to make Four Happiness Tangyuan, after all, it was the pastry he was most skilled at right now. But as soon as he started preparing the ingredients, he suddenly realized he couldn’t actually make it today.

Four Happiness Tangyuan looked simple and quick, but that was only because the red bean paste and sesame sugar fillings had to be prepared in advance.

Just these two fillings alone needed at least a full day of preparation.

The apprentices from the Yunzhong Canteen exchange program had not yet arrived at Zhiwei Ju. Qin Huai, however, had come over very quickly because Su Qian had helped him bring his luggage, so he didn’t need to unpack anything. That left him free to wander straight to Zhiwei Ju.

Sticking to the principle of “familiar things are easier to use,” Qin Huai picked two apprentices—he didn’t remember their names, but remembered their faces from his last exchange at Huang Ji—and had them help him with prep work.

But just as he finished chopping the meat filling, Qin Huai realized something was wrong.

This wasn’t Huang Ji, nor was it Yunzhong Canteen. Before coming to Zhiwei Ju, he had never thought about sending over the red bean paste or sesame sugar fillings in advance.

“Chef… Chef Zhou.” Qin Huai looked slightly embarrassed at Chef Zhou, who had been standing beside him watching him chop meat. “I subconsciously thought I was in my own shop and forgot that the sesame sugar filling and red bean paste need to be prepared in advance. Four Happiness Tangyuan has very specific sweetness requirements for these fillings, so I can’t use any ready-made ones. Today I probably won’t be able to make the complete version.”

“If it’s okay, I can just make the meat filling and the mixed fruit filling. The taste might be slightly lacking since there’ll only be one sweet and one savory filling. I’ll prepare the other two fillings this afternoon or tomorrow, and make the full version for you the day after.”

Chef Zhou nodded slightly. There was no sign of dissatisfaction on his face. Although Qin Huai had only interacted with him for a little over ten minutes, he could tell Chef Zhou wasn’t the type to hide his emotions or preferences.

When he was being sarcastic, it was the kind where he might as well have written “I’m mocking you” on his face.

Seeing no objection, Qin Huai continued working, then turned to instruct the helper beside him:

“Chop the preserved fruits and nuts finer. Today we’re only making two types of tangyuan. The mixed fruit filling will be a bit sweeter than before, and there must be absolutely no grainy texture.”

The helper didn’t even dare lift his head, nodding repeatedly while chopping harder and harder, as if he wanted to crush the nuts directly with the knife.

Chef Zhou frowned slightly at just one glance and said in a low voice: “Fine, fine means fine. Not pulverized. If you want it powdered, a blender would be cheaper—commercial electricity is only one yuan per unit, far more cost-effective than your knife work.”

Qin Huai: “……”

Chef Zhou probably didn’t have the habit of licking his lips. Otherwise, Qin Huai seriously feared he might accidentally lick his lips one day and poison himself.

Qin Huai continued chopping meat filling.

He believed there should be someone in Zhiwei Ju whose knife skills were better than his—either an apprentice or a future direct disciple-in-training. Although his knife skills were already intermediate, that level was barely considered entry-level in the culinary world.

In red-cooking restaurants, advanced knife skills were common among promising apprentices. Qin Huai’s level wouldn’t stand out at all in a white-dish-focused place like Zhiwei Ju. According to Su Qian, there were even a few white-dish chefs who were exceptionally good with knives—like their talent points had been assigned in the wrong direction.

Qin Huai still chose to chop the meat himself mainly because Four Happiness Tangyuan required very specific handling of the filling. He had noticed this while watching Cao Guixiang chop meat. He couldn’t replicate Cao Guixiang’s technique, but he could imitate the general form—getting whatever insight he could.

He firmly believed in a traditionalist idea: a pastry only counts as complete if it is made entirely by the chef from start to finish. If assistants or other skilled chefs were involved, the pastry would lose some of its completeness and personal character.

Of course, he only believed this in theory. In practice, he was very fond of his helpers—because without them, he simply wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Chef Qin displayed his mediocre knife skills in front of Chef Zhou. Meanwhile, an unnamed apprentice beside him displayed knife skills that were originally not that bad—but due to nervousness, became even worse.

Under these conditions, Chef Zhou’s double standards were fully on display.

The apprentice’s poor knife work was seen as a waste less cost-effective than a blender.

Qin Huai’s poor knife work was excused as: “His foundation isn’t great, but this is already impressive.”

“Your knife skills are better than I expected,” Chef Zhou said directly. “I heard from Xiao Tan that you helped out in your family’s breakfast shop growing up, so you barely handled knives. When you were at Huang Ji earlier this year, you couldn’t even cut radish properly. Your skills improved rapidly only after you acknowledged a master recently.”

“That master of yours is quite skilled.”

Qin Huai thought: Tan Weian, you still dared to deny being gossipy on the train?!

Speak of the devil.

Just as Chef Zhou finished mentioning “Xiao Tan,” Tan Weian appeared at the kitchen entrance.

And as a side note, Tan Weian seemed to have overindulged and relaxed a bit too much during his time at Yunzhong Canteen and Huang Ji—his uniform looked slightly tight on him now.

“Qin Huai, I heard you came to Zhiwei Ju but didn’t believe it. Su Qian told me 20 minutes ago that you had motion sickness and asked me to buy you medicine, but he thought I was too slow and went to buy it himself. You came here even though you were sick? And now you’re making pastries?”

“Bro, did you catch something after arriving in Hangzhou? The last time I had motion sickness I was throwing up like crazy—almost brought up bile. Don’t end up like me, getting sick one day and hospitalized the next after overeating. Our Zhiwei Ju pastries are deadly—you can eat from 10 a.m. and still get full from just one bite of each. You like shrimp dumplings, right? Chef Zhang’s are amazing, and also—”

“C-Chef Zhou… you’re here too?”

Tan Weian finally noticed Chef Zhou standing beside them.

Chef Zhou glanced at him and said in a tone that wasn’t sarcastic, but somehow was:

“So you can see me after all. I thought my clothes were too white today and I had blended into the floor tiles like a chameleon.”

Tan Weian panicked instantly, stammering as he raised a bag in his hand:

“I-I-I came to find Qin Huai urgently! I was just saying Su Qian bought medicine, but he had no experience and got something useless. So I went to buy the one I took last time—it worked pretty well. I couldn’t reach Qin Huai’s phone, and I heard he was in the kitchen, so I ran over.”

“I-I’m just here to deliver medicine.”

Chef Zhou said calmly:

“Xiao Qin’s motion sickness isn’t serious. No need for medicine. It’s not good to take too much of that. Just drink some hot water.”

As soon as he said that, one of the apprentices who had been chopping immediately flashed into action, rushed to a corner, poured a cup of hot water, and brought it to Qin Huai.

Chef Zhou was clearly satisfied with such quick thinking and gave him an approving glance.

Then he looked disdainfully at the apprentice who had failed to properly understand “fine chopping” and instead went at the ingredients with excessive force.

“Xiao Tan, you understand Xiao Qin better since you interact with him more. Help him with prep work.”

With just one look from Chef Zhou, Tan Weian immediately understood. He patted the chopping apprentice and gestured for him to leave quickly—otherwise Chef Zhou might personally “deal with him.”

Tan Weian began assisting Qin Huai.

With Tan Weian’s arrival, Chef Zhou also became slightly more talkative.

“Since you’re here, why hasn’t Su Qian arrived yet?”

“Everyone else hasn’t arrived either. I came straight after dropping my luggage and buying medicine for Qin Huai. My junior brother is still cleaning at home—it hasn’t been lived in for a while and everything’s dusty.”

“Su Qian still has to go from Qin Huai’s place back home, then stop by the pharmacy. He’ll probably take another 20 minutes.”

“And how was Gu Li’s harvest this time?” Chef Zhou asked.

At that question, Qin Huai looked up slightly in surprise.

He hadn’t expected Chef Zhou to care about Gu Li this much.

Since the moment he began interacting with Chef Zhou, the only person Chef Zhou had ever mentioned was Su Qian. Now that Tan Weian had arrived, Chef Zhou still didn’t ask about him first—instead, he directly asked how Gu Li was doing.

Tan Weian wasn’t surprised. In fact, he seemed to have already prepared his answer and replied smoothly: “I feel like my junior apprentice has changed a lot this time.”

“Hm?” Chef Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly, signaling him to continue.

“As for skill… there hasn’t really been much improvement. Chef Zhou, you know this—my junior brother just doesn’t have much talent. Expecting him to improve rapidly in a few months is even less realistic than expecting someone to suddenly get enlightened after being hit on the back of the head.”

“But I do feel he’s different from before. When my grandfather was still around, he often told my junior brother to think more before making pastries. He did try to think more, but I don’t know exactly what he was thinking—maybe just mentally replaying the steps, or spacing out.”

“But recently, especially during the time Chef Zheng from Huang Ji taught us cloud pattern techniques, I clearly felt that my junior brother was truly thinking. Before making pastries, especially before making Ruyi rolls, he would fall into silence. I could feel that he was genuinely thinking about something—but I don’t know what exactly.”

Tan Weian paused for a moment.

“Maybe… he’s finally starting to get it.”

Chef Zhou didn’t comment on Tan Weian’s words. He simply smiled faintly and said: “So Zheng Da is actually quite good at teaching people.”

Qin Huai: !!!

Oh my god—he really should have recorded this and played it for Zheng Da. That would perfectly show what it means when the person who dislikes you the most is also the one who appreciates you the most.

Qin Huai never expected that such a milestone-level compliment for Zheng Da would come from the legendary Chef Zhou himself.

After asking about Gu Li, Chef Zhou didn’t inquire about anyone else. Perhaps to him, Su Qian was his confirmed direct disciple—there was no need to ask others about him. As for the rest, Chef Zhou simply wasn’t interested.

Chef Zhou stood there watching Qin Huai make pastries for a while. Maybe he got bored, or maybe as the busy head of Zhiwei Ju, he simply didn’t have much time to spend here. After observing long enough to understand Qin Huai’s basic skills, he left.

As soon as Chef Zhou left, Tan Weian let out a long breath, like a mediocre student finally escaping a teacher’s supervision without being scolded.

“Wow, Qin Huai, you did that on purpose today, didn’t you? You came to Zhiwei Ju even though you had motion sickness. Su Qian told me you might not come today and would rest at home—how did you know Chef Zhou likes pastry chefs like this? Did I say it on the train? Or did Su Qian secretly tell you? You’re way too good at flattering him!”

“This was just an accident,” Qin Huai said sincerely. “If I told you I didn’t expect to be making tangyuan at Zhiwei Ju after eating that egg tart earlier, would you believe me?”

Tan Weian: ?

Qin Huai briefly explained what had just happened. By the end, Tan Weian looked stunned, then impressed.

“Damn,” he said softly, “I never would’ve thought you could flatter Chef Zhou like this.”

“…I really didn’t mean it that way,” Qin Huai replied.

“That’s exactly why it’s impressive!” Tan Weian lowered his voice. “Do you know how gentle Chef Zhou’s expression was just now? He wasn’t sarcastic at all when talking to you.”

“If it were normal times, seeing someone chop meat like that in front of him, he would’ve already suggested they go work as an extra in a film crew just to chop meat on set.”

“Huh? Why an extra?”

“Because a lot of film props use spoiled ingredients that can’t be eaten. Using fresh meat for that kind of skill would be a waste—might as well chop something that’s going straight into the trash.”

Before Qin Huai could even react to how strangely sarcastic that was, Tan Weian continued:

“Chef Zhou hates people who act fake in front of him. Every year when Zhiwei Ju recruits new apprentices, some of them think they’re clever and try to show off.”

“Like pretending to be sick but still insisting on working—dragging themselves into the kitchen with a 38 or 39-degree fever just to prove they’re ‘dedicated.’ Chef Zhou despises that kind of behavior.”

“But at the same time, he really likes people like you. You’re not pretending. You didn’t come here deliberately to show off—you just ended up here instinctively. Like you were drawn to it. It’s real liking for pastries. Even while feeling motion sick, you still came to Zhiwei Ju just to taste them.”

As he spoke, Tan Weian suddenly sighed in frustration.

“Damn it… why didn’t I think of that angle.”

Qin Huai: …

That sounded like Tan Weian was actually very experienced at “scheming.”

Tan Weian continued:

“Chef Zhou only likes two kinds of people: those with extreme talent and those with extreme diligence. Right now, in his eyes, you’re both. That’s basically maxed-out favorability.”

“Honestly, even if Su Qian were here, he’d be shocked. I haven’t seen Chef Zhou this gentle in years.”

“And Chef Zhou really cares about first impressions. Do you know why he doesn’t like Chef Zheng? Because his first impression of Chef Zheng was bad. Even though Zheng later proved himself, Chef Zhou still has some bias.”

“You’re different. You’re basically the opposite of Chef Zheng!”

“If I had known first impressions mattered this much, I should’ve started kneading dough the first time I met Chef Zhou instead of asking my grandfather for ten yuan to buy snacks.”

Qin Huai nodded thoughtfully.

So… he had accidentally maxed out Chef Zhou’s favorability?

“By the way,” Qin Huai asked, “what is Chef Zhou best at making?”

“Definitely all kinds of laminated pastries. Although he’s most famous for ship pastries, those are too complicated and extremely expensive. They’re usually only made for major occasions when clients pay a high price.”

“The thing he makes most often now is probably lion-shaped puff pastries.”

“Why?”

“Nothing,” Qin Huai said. “I just didn’t really taste Chef Zhou’s skill in that egg tart earlier. I kind of want to try his real specialty.”

Tan Weian: 6

So this is what a genius at raising favorability looks like?

He thought Qin Huai would immediately ask about techniques or try to learn some secret skill. Instead, his first thought was just—

Can I eat Chef Zhou’s signature pastry?

Damn it. That’s exactly the type of pastry chef Chef Zhou likes most.

No matter how many schemes you plan or tricks you use, you still can’t beat natural talent types like this.