AGN -Chapter 417 Respecting Teachers

The morning meeting at Zhiwei Ju looked lively and full of content, but in reality it only lasted about 15 minutes. Including the time when Boss Su arrived late and the small talk after everyone was about to disperse, Qin Huai left the lounge at 11:20.

Then he was stopped by Boss Su, who had just finished dealing with all the issues.

“Chef Qin, I’d like to talk to you privately about something,” Su Qi said with a smile. It sounded like he was about to ask something trivial like what he wanted to eat tomorrow.

Qin Huai nodded and followed Su Qi back to the staff lounge. Once inside and confirming no one else was around, Su Qi quietly closed the door. His expression turned serious as he motioned for Qin Huai to sit down.

“Chef Qin, you’ve been at Zhiwei Ju for two days now. What are your thoughts and impressions of us?” Su Qi asked.

Qin Huai hadn’t expected this question. He had just arrived—what opinions could he possibly have? He didn’t even know everyone yet.

He shook his head in confusion. “I don’t really have any opinions. Boss Su, if you have something to say, just say it directly.”

Su Qi liked talking to straightforward people like him, so he got straight to the point.

“It’s like this. I’m sure you’ve noticed that many of our senior chefs are very interested in you. Aside from Chef Zhou and Chef Hua, there are several others who haven’t openly shown it but are also quite interested in you.”

“Considering some of our past incidents—like fighting over apprentices at the lakeside, at the neighborhood gate, in the kitchen, even on WeChat… to prevent similar situations this time, I’d like to ask you a favor.”

Qin Huai: …?

Is Zhiwei Ju a restaurant or a martial arts dojo? Why are senior chefs always fighting over nothing?

Seeing Qin Huai’s shocked expression, Su Qi immediately realized the misunderstanding.

“When I say fighting, I don’t just mean physical fights. At Zhiwei Ju, we distinguish between ‘civil contests’ and ‘martial contests.’ Civil contests are about pastry skills. Martial contests… well, white-case pastry chefs tend to be physically strong. It’s normal for them to know a bit of boxing or fighting.”

Qin Huai forced a smile. “I understand.”

“So what do you want me to do, Boss Su?”

“You are here as an exchange chef. Technically, you’re not our apprentice. But our senior chefs are… very eager to recruit talent.”

“To get the apprentice they want, they can sometimes go to extreme lengths. I hope that when you can refuse directly, you do so without being too polite. You don’t need to be overly tactful. I heard from Xiao Tan that you tend to be quite diplomatic, but here at Zhiwei Ju, that’s not necessary.”

“Here, we prefer direct communication. If that doesn’t work, people might even go settle things by fighting. So being straightforward is usually better than being subtle.”

“Of course, if you clearly refuse and someone still harasses you, report it to me immediately. I will handle it.”

“I already mentioned this in the meeting today, but I doubt most of them were listening—they usually only pay attention to the entertaining parts.”

“Lastly, I hope you enjoy your time here. Whether or not you gain what you came for, I at least hope Zhiwei Ju leaves you with a good impression.”

After speaking, Su Qi smiled and personally escorted Qin Huai out of the lounge.

When Qin Huai walked out slightly dazed, he saw Zhao Cheng’an waiting at the door. Seeing him come out, Zhao Cheng’an first gave Su Qi an “OK” gesture, then said: “I already talked to Master about it. I got your cooking station moved next to ours.”

“But Master said you don’t need to cook for the next few days—you just watch. For now, just stand with us and chat. Once you’re familiar, you can chat while making pastries.”

“You look spaced out. What did Boss Su say? Is he trying to recruit you as a senior chef?”

Qin Huai shook his head. “No. I think your Boss Su is trying to recruit me as an apprentice.”

Zhao Cheng’an: ?

“But that’s not the point. I suddenly had a question. Before he took over Zhiwei Ju, was your Boss Su a customer service rep? Why does he sound so professional, like he works in customer support?”

Zhao Cheng’an: ???

“Hahahaha! Xiao Qin, you think Boss Su sounds like customer service? That’s hilarious. This is the first time I’ve ever heard someone say that!”

At the cooking station, Zhou Yan burst into laughter after hearing Zhao Cheng’an’s retelling. She laughed so hard she almost couldn’t stand straight, taking a full minute before she could continue kneading dough.

“I always thought Boss Su just treated the masters like children. I never thought he sounded like customer service—but now that you say it, it does kind of fit,” she laughed again.

Wang Jiayi, more serious, analyzed it:

“Boss Su didn’t used to talk like this. Maybe over the years he’s been exploring new business models, traveling across factories nationwide, interacting with many people, and picked up a customer service style of speaking.”

Qin Huai, watching Zhou Yan knead dough, added: “I heard from Chef Zheng that Boss Su wanted to cooperate with him to modify some pastry recipes and mass-produce them in factories.”

“Yes, but it didn’t go smoothly,” Zhao Cheng’an said. “We’re pastry chefs—we don’t understand industrial production. At first it seemed simple, but once they got serious, they realized Chef Zheng was actually quite capable in that area.”

“If not for that, Master wouldn’t have changed his opinion of Chef Zheng. He used to really dislike him—thought he was money-obsessed, had no culinary integrity, wasting his talent. He even said…”

“Oh right, he said if I ever became like Chef Zheng and abandoned cooking for business, he’d break my legs.”

Qin Huai: …

Yeah, it’s clear Chef Zhou really hated Chef Zheng.

“So what about now?” Qin Huai asked curiously.

“Now Master often says he wishes I could be like Chef Zheng—still make something worthwhile in pastries even while being ‘unfocused.’ He just tells me not to think about traveling all the time and to pay more attention to pastry even while traveling.”

Qin Huai: 6

Zhou Yan shot Zhao Cheng’an an annoyed look.

“Master isn’t wrong. If you put half your attention into pastries, your level wouldn’t be like this. You’re always thinking about travel—Central Asia last year, Southeast Asia the year before, East Asia the year before that. Where next year? The Americas?”

Zhao Cheng’an grinned. “Exactly.”

“Senior Sister, you don’t get it. I travel to make better pastries. There’s a saying—read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles. I make pastries across ten thousand styles, so I must travel ten thousand miles too. Chef Xu Cheng used to travel and eat all over the world at my age. I do the same. He’s a food critic, I’m a pastry chef. Pretty similar.”

Zhou Yan was completely speechless.

Then she turned to Qin Huai.

“Xiao Qin, my White Jade Shrimp Roll will be ready in about two or three minutes. I heard from Xiao Tan that your palate is quite good. Could you help taste it and tell me what’s wrong with it?”

“This dish is inspired by the savory version. I took the filling and wrapped it in pastry dough, then steamed it and added sauce. I’ve adjusted the recipe many times, but something still feels off.”

“To be honest, I’ve already asked everyone in Zhiwei Ju to taste it—including many senior chefs. Everyone gave feedback, but I still feel like something is missing.”

“You’re new here, so I think you might give a different perspective.”

Qin Huai understood immediately. This was normal. Creating a new dish is always a long and painful process—once you’ve exhausted everyone around you, you start looking for fresh opinions.

“Of course,” he agreed readily.

Before the apprentice could even bring over the White Jade Shrimp Rolls that Zhou Yan had prepared, Chef Zhou returned—bringing with him Su Qian, who clearly looked like he had just been scolded again.

While Qin Huai had been talking with Su Qi, Chef Zhou had gone to the low-temperature zone to guide Su Qian in making laminated pastries. Laminated dough pastries require a low-temperature environment during kneading, so in a sense, the cold zone existed specifically for Chef Zhou’s use—this was the prestige of the number one white-case chef.

Su Qian was carrying a plate of egg tarts. They looked decent, but it was obvious they were not made by Chef Zhou.

Qin Huai had eaten two egg tarts made by Chef Zhou the day before, and they left a deep impression on him. Setting aside the flawless puff pastry and perfectly caramelized filling, Chef Zhou’s egg tarts had one defining feature: aroma.

It was an overwhelming, domineering fragrance that flooded your senses the moment they came out of the oven—so strong it felt unreasonable. It filled your mind until there was nothing but egg tart, every cell in your body screaming I want to eat it.

The egg tarts Su Qian was holding clearly did not have that level of dominance.

Seeing Su Qian’s dejected expression, Qin Huai actually felt a bit sorry for him. In terms of talent and effort, Su Qian wasn’t bad—but there were always people better than him. Chef Zhou, in particular, had no shortage of highly talented and hardworking disciples. Compared to Zhou’s three direct apprentices, Su Qian really did fall short.

Being “not good enough” was a sin in itself—who else would get scolded if not him?

“Xiao Qin, try Su Qian’s egg tarts,” Chef Zhou said expressionlessly.

Even speaking to Qin Huai with such a neutral tone showed just how bad his mood was.

Qin Huai obediently picked up one egg tart and took a bite. The crust immediately shattered and fell everywhere. Nearby, sharp-eyed apprentices who had been waiting stepped forward quickly with brooms and cleaned up the fallen flakes.

The moment he bit into it, Qin Huai understood why Su Qian had been scolded.

The pastry crust really wasn’t done well. Su Qian was likely skilled in laminated pastries, but applying that technique to egg tarts clearly didn’t translate smoothly.

The amount of crust that fell apart from one bite alone already showed the problem. Laminated pastries do flake, but not to this exaggerated extent. With Su Qian’s skill, he shouldn’t have made something like this—he was probably too nervous and messed up.

As for the taste…

It was average. Better than most egg tarts on the market, but nothing special.

Qin Huai slowly finished the whole tart and said, “I’m not very familiar with laminated dough, but the crust feels a bit too loose and dry. Especially when paired with the filling, it just scatters in the mouth. The texture isn’t very good.”

Chef Zhou’s expression eased slightly. He glanced at Su Qian.

“Did you hear that? You’re still making such basic mistakes. Yesterday I thought you had improved a lot at Yunzhong Canteen after practicing steamed pastries like San Ding Bao—you were making rapid progress. And today you tell me you forget everything as soon as you learn something new? Your dough this morning was already a mess. What are you, a fish from the river? You can’t adapt to new environments?”

Su Qian didn’t even dare to lift his head.

“Did you remember what I just told you?”

“I did, Chef Zhou.”

“Good. Go back and practice. Don’t make apple crisps, lotus crisps, or hollow crisps today. In your current state, it’ll all be wasted. Just make egg tarts. I want to see if you can at least get egg tarts right.”

“Yes, Chef Zhou.”

Hearing this, Qin Huai already knew the egg tart lovers would be in for a treat today. Even if Su Qian was in a poor state, his baseline skill level meant that…

Egg tart lovers would be in for a treat.

After finishing with Su Qian, Chef Zhou finally turned his attention to Qin Huai.

He forced a gentle smile, switching instantly into a kind-teacher mode.

“Xiao Qin, how was it just now?”

Qin Huai wanted to say he hadn’t really been watching—he had mostly been listening to gossip.

Of course, with his EQ, he wouldn’t say that. Instead, he replied somewhat cautiously, “I gained a lot. Chef Wang has a very distinctive style, Chef Zhou is very… aggressive, and Chef Zhao is quite steady.”

Chef Zhou chuckled. “No need to call them ‘Chef.’ Just call them by name. You’re all peers—no need for formalities.”

“Come on, I’ll take you to see something else.”

He turned to leave, then paused as if remembering something.

“Oh right. Old Third, you come too.”

Zhao Cheng’an nearly cheered and hurried to follow, walking beside Qin Huai. He whispered excitedly:

“Xiao Qin, you’re lucky today. Master is in a really good mood. These kinds of teaching rounds only happen once a month, if that.”

“What kind of thing?” Qin Huai didn’t quite understand, but he was already getting curious. Zhao Cheng’an’s excitement meant there was definitely something interesting going on.

“Guiding apprentices,” Zhao Cheng’an said.

“Guiding apprentices?” Qin Huai was puzzled. “Isn’t that a good thing? Everyone should be happy if Chef Zhou is willing to teach.”

“It’s a mix of pain and happiness,” Zhao Cheng’an said with a mysterious smile. “Master only does this when he’s in a good mood—because after he finishes guiding everyone, his mood usually turns bad.”

“I sometimes really want to secretly record everything Master says and publish a book called Zhou Yu.”

“It would definitely sell extremely well.”

Qin Huai: …

Your sect really does respect its teachers… in its own way.