Chapter 19 Healthy Salad

After claiming the quest, Qin Huai checked the progress:

6.1% / 25% (23 / 94).

A quick calculation told him that to reach 25%, he needed to surpass 94 restaurants, which meant there were about 375 restaurants in the surrounding area.

At that moment, Qin Huai wasn’t sure whether to marvel at the sheer number of restaurants nearby—or complain about how bad the reputation of those 23 defeated ones must be. After all, Yunzhong Canteen hadn’t even been open for a full day. It wasn’t listed on review sites yet, and there had been no paid promotion, yet it had already surpassed them in reputation.

Clearly, this wasn’t a short-term task.

Reputation was intangible, fluctuating, and something that required time to build.

Looking at the reward—[A Dream of Chen Huihong]—Qin Huai felt he wouldn’t be seeing that dream anytime soon.

He set an alarm for 4 p.m. and lay down for a nap.

By the time Qin Huai returned to Yunzhong Canteen, the two kitchen chefs were already prepping ingredients, while the rest of the staff sat chatting in the dining hall.

At noon, the canteen mainly sold boxed meals, so preparation was simple—just cooking the listed dishes. Dinner service included stir-fries, which required more effort.

When Qin Huai arrived, everyone greeted him. Even the chefs stretched their necks to nod in respect.

After the morning rush, it was obvious to everyone who the backbone of the restaurant was.

A hands-off boss who didn’t interfere might be relaxing—but a hardworking boss who could drive revenue and keep everyone’s jobs secure was far more respectable.

Qin Huai didn’t even recognize everyone yet or remember their names, but he still smiled and nodded as if he did.

The elm bark was in the storage room.

He hadn’t bought much—just a small packet. Before purchasing, he had even asked customer service whether it was “natural enough,” whether it had been processed, and whether it could be eaten directly.

At first, the customer service agent thought he was joking. When they realized he was serious, they replied:

“It’s edible… but times have changed. Even when teaching kids about hardship, no one forces them to eat tree bark anymore.”

Edible was good enough.

Qin Huai took the bark into the kitchen.

The two chefs were busy chopping vegetables. He chose a workstation far away from them, carefully picked a piece of bark that looked easiest to chew, cut off a small section, and weighed it.

3 grams. Perfect.

The next second, a prompt appeared:

[Tree Bark — F Grade]

Success!

Qin Huai stared at it, thought for a moment, then cut off another piece and put it in his mouth to test the taste.

He had searched online—technically, the proper way to eat bark was to dry it and grind it into flour.

But the way Chen Huihong and Huiniang ate it in the dream…

That was too primitive.

Still, he wanted to try the primitive method.

Why think when you can act?

He bit down.

Hard to chew. Like gnawing on soft wood.

It wasn’t exactly unpleasant. If he kept chewing, there was even a faint sweetness—but it was still strange, not a normal flavor.

Swallow?

Impossible.

It scratched his throat.

After chewing for two or three minutes, Qin Huai realized Huiniang from the dream must have been trained—she swallowed a much bigger piece in just a few bites.

Since the raw method failed, Qin Huai switched tactics.

He grabbed some salad vegetables from the chefs, chopped them casually, and mixed them with dressing. Then he ground the bark into tiny fragments, sprinkled it over the salad, mixed again, and finally added mango and cherry tomatoes as garnish.

And just like that—

A healthy diet salad was born.

Carrying the bowl outside, Qin Huai asked, “Anyone hungry?”

Silence.

No one quite understood what he meant. After all, the canteen already provided meals.

Seeing the awkward silence, a round-faced girl—who looked almost like a high school student—hesitantly raised her hand.

“I… think I’m a bit hungry.”

Qin Huai vaguely remembered her—cheap and hardworking helper, middle school education, from Guizhou, just turned adult.

“An…”

“An Youyou,” she quickly said.

Qin Huai placed the salad in front of her and thoughtfully handed her chopsticks.

“New dish I’m experimenting with. If you’re hungry, give it a try.”

Even though it was just a vegetable-and-fruit salad with no meat, An Youyou was delighted to see mango and cherry tomatoes.

“Mango! It’s so expensive here compared to back home—I rarely get to eat it. Thank you, boss!”

Then she started eating enthusiastically.

In less than two minutes, she wiped out the entire bowl.

Qin Huai watched her. “How does it taste?”

An Youyou answered honestly:

“Not good.”

“It’s all leaves—no flavor except the dressing. And the dressing tastes kind of weird too. But the mango is good.”

Not good was expected.

Qin Huai hadn’t expected it to taste good anyway.

“Still hungry?” he asked directly.

An Youyou froze, then tried to feel her stomach.

“Um… maybe not?”

Qin Huai nodded, satisfied, and left—leaving her confused, along with the nearby staff who were curious but didn’t dare ask what he was doing.

Since grinding the bark into the salad activated the buff, it meant the bark could indeed function as a special ingredient.

Although the “fullness” effect was a bit underwhelming, it was still useful—potentially a diet-friendly component.

Maybe in the future, he could pair elm bark with certain dishes or pastries to create weight-loss meals.

Not bad. A small success.

Qin Huai decided to make two more portions and bring them to Ou Yang and Chen Huihong—maybe he could trigger another dream.

After he left, the staff beside An Youyou couldn’t hold back.

“Are you really not hungry? Every time I eat this kind of thing, I feel like I could eat a whole cow afterward.”

An Youyou wasn’t sure either.

“I don’t know… I didn’t want to say earlier, but the salad tasted really strange. I rushed to finish it before I couldn’t stand it anymore. I don’t know what the boss added—even the dressing tasted worse. But now… I don’t really feel like eating anything.”

The staff member gasped.

“It’s that bad?”

“Good thing I didn’t ask for some.”

“Who would’ve thought—the boss is amazing at making pastries, but can’t even mix a salad properly.”