AGN -Chapter 426 Group Dinner

After being warned by Master Zhou and firmly disciplined, Zhao Cheng’an no longer dared to let Qin Huai make pastries over the next few days. In fact, he even kept a close eye on Qin Huai to make sure he didn’t make any.

The moment Qin Huai showed even the slightest intention of touching pastry dough—even if it wasn’t the Auspicious Cloud Pattern Pastry—Zhao Cheng’an would desperately stop him, absolutely refusing to let Qin Huai’s hands touch dough at all.

This unique teaching method nearly moved Tan Wei’an to tears. He only wished he could switch places with Qin Huai.

As a result of this highly unusual training style, Qin Huai became completely idle every day. Aside from watching Zhao Cheng’an make pastries, supervising Tan Wei’an to stop him from slacking off too much, guiding Gu Li from time to time, and wandering around looking for snacks, he had practically nothing to do.

For a brief moment, Qin Huai even felt he wasn’t here for an exchange program at all—he was here as a construction supervisor, whose main responsibility was keeping an eye on the two greatest chatterboxes: Zhao Cheng’an and Tan Wei’an.

Of course, Qin Huai was far from a competent supervisor. During his “watch,” Tan Wei’an was caught slacking off multiple times by Master Zhou, Master Hua, Master Zhao, Master Zhang, and Master Wang. Master Hua, being especially upright and uncompromising, directly reported the matter to Boss Su.

As punishment, Tan Wei’an lost all of his vacation days for the month and tragically missed the upcoming dinner gathering.

But that was fine.

Someone else could eat in his place.

An Youyou.

With Huang Xi’s help, An Youyou managed to sublet her apartment—which still had six months remaining on the lease—in just a few days. She also sold her already secondhand electric scooter as a thirdhand vehicle.

Unlike Qin Huai, who traveled lightly with just a small suitcase containing a few changes of clothes, An Youyou arrived in Hangzhou with four enormous suitcases. Three of them had even been borrowed from coworkers.

To avoid paying extra air freight fees, she deliberately bought a high-speed rail ticket. When Qin Huai went to the station to pick her up, seeing her somehow drag all four suitcases out of the station alone, his first reaction wasn’t wondering how she got them onto the train.

It was wondering how she even had that much stuff to pack.

The answer became clear the moment they arrived at her apartment and she opened the suitcases.

As Qin Huai’s employee, her accommodation naturally had to be arranged by him. If convenience were the priority, he could simply have left the matter to Boss Su, who owned several apartments near Zhiwei Ju.

But considering how expensive the nearby apartments were, letting an exchange apprentice stay in such a nice place would make favoritism far too obvious.

After consulting Tan Wei’an, Qin Huai hired an agent to rent An Youyou a relatively affordable one-bedroom apartment about three kilometers from Zhiwei Ju. It had an elevator, was on the first floor, and the surrounding area was well equipped with convenience stores, fruit shops, small restaurants, and general stores. There was also a bus stop nearby, making commuting by either bus or electric scooter very convenient.

When Qin Huai rented the apartment, he felt he was being an incredibly thoughtful boss, having considered even such tiny details.

But the moment An Youyou opened her suitcases, Qin Huai realized he had overthought things.

His employee was even more thoughtful than he was.

She had brought everything—from bedding sets to toothbrushes, toothpaste, cups, lunch boxes, bowls, chopsticks, dish soap, even leftover tissues and laundry detergent stockpiled before the New Year, plus the air purifier Chen Huihong had gifted her.

She had even brought two air purifiers.

Recently, Chen Huihong had been buying too many things, and the air purifiers piled up at home were taking up too much space. After hearing that An Youyou still had room in her luggage, she asked her to bring another one over for Qin Huai.

Qin Huai truly never expected to encounter Chen Huihong’s habit of giving away air purifiers even in Hangzhou.

An Youyou’s four suitcases shocked Qin Huai so deeply that the next day, while “supervising” at work, he became distracted and started questioning whether he had ever truly worked a normal job before.

Was An Youyou the strange one?

Or was he?

Or were both of them strange?

As for An Youyou herself, she adapted extremely well. More accurately, Zhiwei Ju was very accepting of apprentices.

Over the past two years, Zhiwei Ju had lowered its recruitment standards for apprentices. If An Youyou were viewed as a brand-new apprentice there, her skill level actually wasn’t bad. She could even be described as hardworking, efficient, and physically strong—the type of apprentice some master chefs preferred.

Combined with Tan Wei’an’s enthusiastic publicity campaign, every apprentice at Zhiwei Ju knew that An Youyou had come from Yunzhong Canteen for advanced training.

She wasn’t competing with anyone, wasn’t planning to stay long-term at Zhiwei Ju, didn’t cause trouble, and had a pleasant personality. Naturally, the apprentices welcomed her warmly.

Most importantly, many apprentices hoped to train at Yunzhong Canteen in the future, so maintaining a good relationship with the assistant leader who was close to Chef Xiao Qin was extremely important.

An Youyou thrived at Zhiwei Ju, and not a single one of Shi Dadan’s carefully written workplace survival tips ended up being useful.

But that was okay.

They finally came in handy on the day of the dinner gathering.

Since Tan Wei’an couldn’t come, Qin Huai casually asked Zhao Cheng’an whether An Youyou could join instead. After all, if it was going to be a dinner for four people anyway, who those four people were didn’t really matter.

Zhao Cheng’an readily agreed, An Youyou successfully got leave approval, and under Tan Wei’an’s envious gaze, she entered as the substitute player.

The moment Qin Huai met An Youyou at the entrance of Zhao Cheng’an’s residential complex and saw her carrying a fruit basket, he immediately knew she definitely hadn’t read the workplace etiquette guide he’d sent her.

Shi Dadan carried a huge fruit basket.

An Youyou carried a smaller fruit basket.

Qin Huai carried an air purifier.

Anyone seeing the three of them together would probably sigh and say it was truly a gathering of extraordinary talents.

Unlike most direct disciples and master chefs who lived near Zhiwei Ju for convenience, Zhao Cheng’an was probably the one living farthest away.

His home was a full twenty kilometers from Zhiwei Ju, located in an upscale residential complex where housing prices were only slightly lower than Yunzhong Residential Area. The surrounding environment and facilities were excellent, and it was also in a prestigious school district.

When the three arrived carrying their gifts, the security guard immediately told them to register and said that delivery personnel weren’t allowed into the complex—takeout was normally left at the guard station for property staff to deliver inside.

After Qin Huai and the others explained they were guests, the guards still couldn’t find any visitor reservation information. Extremely cautious, they questioned the trio for a full five minutes before finally letting them in.

During those five minutes, Zhao Cheng’an’s phone couldn’t be reached no matter how many times they called. No one knew what he was busy with. When he finally answered, he only exchanged a few hurried words before hanging up again.

“Youyou, where did you buy this fruit basket?” Qin Huai asked while examining it carefully.

It was surprisingly unique compared to the ones sold in stores, with a very rich variety of fruit.

Bananas, pears, apples, peaches, kiwis, grapes, and mangoes were all included. There was even a cucumber and two tomatoes inside. It gave off the feeling that someone had simply stuffed in as much produce as possible without caring about visual aesthetics or color coordination.

“Chef Xiao Qin, I assembled this fruit basket myself,” An Youyou said proudly. “The ones at fruit stores are way too expensive. I bought this basket from a local secondhand trading platform and picked it up myself—it only cost five yuan.”

“The fruit was bought from the fruit shop near my apartment complex. I selected a few of each kind. But when I arranged everything this morning, I noticed two apples and a banana had too many spots and didn’t look nice, so I temporarily stuffed in cucumbers and tomatoes from home to fill the gaps.”

“So? Doesn’t it look great?”

Shi Dadan’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. He stared closely at the basket and sighed emotionally.

“You can actually DIY fruit baskets? What a mistake on my part. If I’d known earlier, I would’ve bought a bigger basket and made an even larger one.”

An Youyou laughed happily before turning to look at the air purifier in Qin Huai’s arms.

“Chef Xiao Qin, why did you bring the air purifier Sister Hong asked me to deliver to you?”

“The apartment I’m staying in already has one,” Qin Huai explained. “Zhao Cheng’an’s place happens to need one, so I brought it over. He lives on the sixth floor and said he’d come down to pick us up. Let’s wait here for a bit.”

Just as Qin Huai finished speaking, the apartment building door opened.

Still wearing an apron and looking somewhat disheveled—even slightly haggard—Zhao Cheng’an hurried out while repeatedly apologizing.

“Sorry, sorry. I was busy just now and didn’t notice the calls. Something unexpected happened last night, and I forgot to notify property management that you were coming today. You guys didn’t wait too long, right? And Old Shi, you came all this way and still brought such a huge fruit basket.”

“Youyou, why did you bring a fruit basket too? You’ve only been at Zhiwei Ju for two days. This meal is basically a welcome banquet from Zhiwei Ju—why bring gifts? Huh, there’s even a cucumber in this fruit basket. That fruit shop is pretty creative.”

“And Qin Huai, what are you carrying… an air purifier? Very nice, very nice.”

The moment Zhao Cheng’an came downstairs, he launched into nonstop small talk. His mouth never stopped moving from beginning to end. And when he chatted, he only cared about talking himself—he neither cared whether the others answered nor gave them any chance to respond.

Qin Huai looked at him suspiciously.

Based on what he had learned about Zhao Cheng’an over the past few days, he was someone who talked a lot, but he wasn’t the type to completely ignore other people while speaking. Yet today he seemed unusually anxious.

Why did Qin Huai suddenly feel like this guy was acting guilty?

“Come on, come on, the elevator’s this way.” Zhao Cheng’an led the way, entering the elevator first to swipe his card and press the floor button.

“Xiao Zhao, your place is so far from Zhiwei Ju. Isn’t commuting inconvenient?” Shi Dadan asked.

“It’s alright if I drive. Anyway, Boss Su reimburses the gas money.” Zhao Cheng’an stared at the floor display absentmindedly.

As the elevator was about to reach the sixth floor and the doors were nearly open, he hesitated for two seconds before finally speaking.

“Um… Qin Huai, there’s something I need to tell you.”

The elevator doors opened. Qin Huai stepped out first and turned around.

“What is it?”

Zhao Cheng’an deliberately slowed his pace, seemingly trying to buy himself more time to think. Unfortunately, the elevator was extremely close to the apartment door, and they arrived after only a few steps.

Zhao Cheng’an unlocked the door with his fingerprint.

“So… there might be one extra person joining us for lunch today. You don’t mind, right?”

The door opened.

An overwhelming aroma burst out instantly.

The scents of all kinds of pastries mixed together—savory, sweet, the rich fragrance of butter after baking, and the warm wheaty aroma unique to steamed pastries carrying traces of steam.

The smell was so incredible that people completely forgot to think about anything else, including what Zhao Cheng’an had just said.

Having spent years in kitchens, Qin Huai still retained a shred of rationality.

“Of course I don’t mind. You’re the one cooking and hosting, so naturally you decide how many people come. Who else is coming today? Who managed to get leave? Su Qian? I heard he took leave today too. He’s been getting scolded pretty badly lately, so Boss Su approved two days off for him to recover emotionally.”

Zhao Cheng’an pushed the door fully open and entered first, intentionally keeping his back toward the three of them so he wouldn’t have to face Qin Huai.

“Not Su Qian.”

Qin Huai followed him inside, lowering his head to look for slippers.

“Then who else? I remember Boss Su saying during the morning meeting that too many people shouldn’t take leave at the same time because it would seriously affect Zhiwei Ju’s normal operations. We already took leave today. If someone else also asked for leave, Boss Su probably wouldn’t approve it. Is the other person your friend?”

“Actually… he would approve it,” Zhao Cheng’an said faintly.

Qin Huai: ?

He looked up in confusion and realized there seemed to be someone in the kitchen.

Although Zhao Cheng’an’s apartment was technically a two-bedroom layout, it was enormous—over two hundred square meters. Because he wanted more convenience when making pastries, he had expanded the kitchen during renovation, resulting in a kitchen even larger than the living room. The kitchen door directly faced the apartment entrance.

If someone was moving around inside, newcomers could easily tell through the frosted glass door.

Just as Qin Huai stood there blankly, the kitchen door was pushed open.

A person Qin Huai knew fairly well—but absolutely never expected to see here—walked out wearing an apron and sleeve protectors.

Master Zhou removed his sleeve covers while lowering his head and saying:

“The dumplings are already in the pot. Old Third, go keep an eye on the kitchen. The Flower-Clamp Palace Lantern Buns and Four Happiness Rolls will be ready in another two or three minutes. Watch the heat carefully.”

Qin Huai stared dumbfounded as Master Zhou slowly removed his sleeve covers and untied his apron, unable to speak for a long while.

If the person asking for leave was Master Zhou…

Then Boss Su really would approve it.

“M-Master Zhou, good afternoon,” Qin Huai stammered awkwardly. “Y-you’re off work today?”

Over the past few days, Master Zhou had been entirely focused on scolding Su Qian so harshly that Su Qian practically shut down emotionally, to the point Boss Su had given him two days off. Because of that, Qin Huai barely saw Master Zhou at all.

On average, Qin Huai only saw him for about an hour a day, and more than half of that time was during the morning meeting lunch.

“I heard Old Third was preparing a welcome banquet for you, so I specifically came over to take a look,” Master Zhou said calmly. “I happened to be free anyway, so I made a few pastries to practice my skills.”

Qin Huai: …

Flower-Clamp Palace Lantern Buns and Four Happiness Rolls did not sound like “practice” pastries.

“Master, I already told you today wasn’t a welcome banquet for Qin Huai. I just wanted to invite Old Shi over for dumplings, and asked him to bring Qin Huai along. Since Youyou also happened to be free today, I invited her too.”

“I started preparing since last night!”

Master Zhou glanced toward the kitchen with some speechless irritation.

“Watch your timing properly.”

“You started preparing last night, and after an entire night of preparation, you only came up with four kinds of dumplings, spring rolls, shrimp dumplings, wontons, pumpkin cakes, and french fries.”

“And the pumpkin cakes are frozen premade ones. You actually had the nerve to prepare that? Why didn’t you just order takeout directly? Would’ve even saved you the trouble of frying them yourself.”

“What exactly were you preparing?”

“If I hadn’t come by last night to take a look, you wouldn’t even have had any presentable pastries for today.”