Chapter 24 Chen Huihui’s Wish

Huang Xi’s plan was written very clearly and concisely.

She divided meal vouchers into four categories: breakfast vouchers, xiaolongbao vouchers, snack vouchers, and meat-and-vegetable meal vouchers.

Breakfast vouchers came in two types:

5 yuan: includes 1 bun, 1 tea egg, and 1 soy milk

6 yuan: includes the above plus one extra bun (flavor chosen randomly)

Xiaolongbao vouchers also had two types:

30 yuan for one basket of any choice

55 yuan for two baskets of any choice

Snack vouchers had three types:

150g snack voucher

250g snack voucher

500g snack voucher
Snacks could be mixed.

Meat-and-vegetable vouchers were for lunch and dinner, with options such as:
one meat + one vegetable, two meat + one vegetable, one meat + two vegetables, and three meat + two vegetables.

The above four types of vouchers could be combined daily. Each day, a customer could choose either:

1 breakfast/xiaolongbao voucher + 1 meat-and-vegetable voucher + 1 snack voucher, or

1 breakfast/xiaolongbao voucher + 2 meat-and-vegetable vouchers

Purchasing bundled plans came with bonuses:

15-day plan: 5 snack vouchers (150g)

30-day plan: 15 snack vouchers (150g) + 3 xiaolongbao vouchers

90-day plan: 45 snack vouchers (150g) + 15 xiaolongbao vouchers

180-day plan: 100 snack vouchers (150g) + 40 xiaolongbao vouchers

365-day plan: 230 snack vouchers (150g) + 100 xiaolongbao vouchers

The sales strategy was simple: the more you buy, the more you get free—and bundled plans are cheaper than single purchases.

Alongside the voucher plans, there was also a “continuous check-in” promotion: customers who checked in for 7, 15, 30, 45, 90, 180, or 365 consecutive days would receive snack vouchers and xiaolongbao vouchers as rewards.

In addition to the voucher system, Huang Xi also proposed a membership collection feature.

Vouchers could be either physical or digital, depending on customer preference. Anyone purchasing a bundle would automatically become a member. Members could earn points through consumption, which could be exchanged for snacks.

At the same time, the membership system included a “collection album” feature: each time a member purchased a type of snack, they would unlock that item in their album. Each snack had its own ranking list, and the member who purchased the most of a specific item in a month would receive a title of honor along with a random small gift.

Since Qin Huai couldn’t hold and read the plan himself in the kitchen, Qin Luo stood outside and read it aloud.

“This collection feature is great! Unlocks, rankings, monthly awards, and even random gifts!” Qin Luo praised enthusiastically. “It’s so fun! If our school cafeteria had this, I’d definitely be the ‘Tomato Egg Stir-Fry Star’ every month!”

“What ‘Tomato Egg Stir-Fry Star’?” Chen Huihong arrived holding Chen Huihui by the hand. They ordered the same as yesterday, and seeing that there were still over a dozen Crab Shell Yellow left on the tray, Chen Huihong considered buying them all to bring to the office as a welfare treat for the neighborhood committee.

Today, Huihui wore a single ponytail, a rabbit-shaped hair clip, a khaki dress paired with color-block leather shoes. Her outfit made her look like a delicious chestnut cake.

“Brother Qin Huai, my mom said the salad you made yesterday wasn’t very good. These are salad dressing, fish roe sauce, and mayonnaise my mom bought last month to prepare for a cooking competition. They’re all unopened.” Huihui placed the items one by one at the counter and made an encouraging gesture.

“Brother Qin Huai, keep it up! We still have more at home. Practice hard—you’ll definitely make delicious salad!” It was clear Huihui had inherited her mother’s enthusiasm.

Qin Luo looked confused. “What salad? Brother, you made salad yesterday?”

Qin Huai: …

Huihui’s kindness was the kind that didn’t care about others’ survival.

“Just something I made casually, nothing important.” Qin Huai stuffed a small steamed bun into Qin Luo’s mouth to stop her from talking, then intercepted Chen Huihong, who had already started counting how many Crab Shell Yellow she wanted to buy.

“Sister Hong, these Crab Shell Yellow have been out of the oven for a while. If you’re not in a hurry, come back later and get them freshly baked—they taste better when they’re hot.”

Chen Huihong hesitated briefly, but still decided to buy them all.

She would give this batch to the neighborhood committee staff, and later buy a fresh batch for herself.

“Sister Hong, your neighborhood committee’s benefits are quite good—snacks included,” Qin Huai joked.

Chen Huihong replied very straightforwardly, without hesitation: “We usually buy fruits and small biscuits. Now that your cafeteria has opened, of course we should support your business. If there’s any difficulty, just say the word—fruit supplies from logistics companies, property management, and supermarkets can also be replaced with snacks.”

Qin Huai almost wanted to kneel down and hug her legs while shouting: Sister Hong, I don’t want to work hard anymore!

Of course, he didn’t actually do that. He simply maintained his usual smile, now with a deeper sincerity in his tone: “Sister Hong, do you and Huihui have any particular snacks you’d like?”

“The Crab Shell Yellow today were what Ou Yang specifically wanted. What would you two like? I can make it for you tomorrow.”

Chen Huihong thought carefully. She had tried many good things, but there weren’t many well-known pastry shops in this area. Qin Huai’s skills were already considered top-tier in her mind.

Being able to casually buy a few things on the way to and from work was already great. If she could order specifically…

She felt she needed to choose carefully.

“Buns,” Huihui said crisply. “Brother Qin Huai, I want gray buns!”

“Gray buns? Buckwheat buns?” Qin Huai asked. He didn’t expect Ou Yang to be right—Huihui really did prefer buns.

Chen Huihong quickly nodded to explain: “Yes, buckwheat buns. My mom makes them, and Huihui loves them. Every time we go back for New Year’s, she practically hugs them and eats them every day. My brother and I don’t like them—the texture is too rough.”

“Sister Hong, what are the characteristics of your mother’s buckwheat buns?” Qin Huai asked seriously.

Chen Huihong recalled: “My mom buys freshly milled buckwheat flour from the village each year, but I think the quality isn’t very good—it’s a bit coarse.”

“As for the buns, they’re just made in the typical rural style. When I was young, conditions weren’t good. We only had buns during New Year’s, and not even pure white flour ones. My mom didn’t make many, so her skills are just average.”

“But she adds sugar—brown sugar—to the buckwheat buns. She likes sweet food, and even dips the buns in white sugar when eating.”

“If there’s anything good about them, maybe it’s the chewiness? They’re a bit hard and require quite a bit of chewing.”

Qin Huai: …

That didn’t sound like a benefit at all.

Was Huihui’s preference a bit too simple and unadorned? Or perhaps she ate too many delicacies at home, so eating coarse grains during New Year’s in the countryside felt especially enjoyable?

Qin Huai could only nod and promise he would try his best to recreate it.

Seeing Huihui choose buns, Chen Huihong simply agreed and went along with her daughter’s preference.

Since Huihui needed to go to school and they were worried about traffic during peak hours, the mother and daughter decided not to eat in the shop and instead take everything to go.

Before leaving, Huihui politely waved at Qin Huai three times in a standard gesture before happily bouncing away.

The next second, a system prompt echoed in Qin Huai’s mind:

“Congratulations, you have discovered a new side quest. Please check your quest log.”

Qin Huai glanced at the steamer baskets and called out, “Luoluo, come help watch the xiaolongbao and use the molds to make two batches of red bean buns.”

“I’m coming!” Qin Luo ran over. “Brother, are you going to the bathroom?”

“I triggered a new quest. I’m going to check it.”

Qin Luo glanced at him with disdain. “One batch rabbit buns and one batch lion buns?”

“The lion buns take too much time to decorate properly. Yesterday they sold out late. No lion buns today—make little elephant buns instead.”

After saying that, Qin Huai walked to the shelf, pretending to look for something, and mentally accessed the quest interface.

Qin Luo shrugged and began kneading flour.

Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong exchanged a look and shook their heads helplessly. “These two kids…”

The newly triggered side quest read:

1. [Chen Huihui’s Wish]: As a devoted believer of the “Flying Bun Sect,” Huihui’s favorite food is not fancy pastries like double-colored horse-hoof cake or the popular five-spice buns, but plain, simple steamed buns. Unfortunately, no matter what kind of bun she eats, she always feels something is missing. Even the buckwheat buns made by her grandmother during New Year—though chewy, a bit hard, and not particularly tasty—still hold a special charm for her, yet they are not her true favorite. Even Huihui herself cannot clearly describe what kind of bun she truly wants.

Player objective: Create Huihui’s “dream bun” so she can finally eat the bun she truly desires.

Reward: A dream fragment from Chen Huihong, and [Chen Huihui’s Approval] (Choice: Yes/No)

Looking at this long quest description, Qin Huai felt like scratching his head.

Huihui’s wish was even harder to understand than a child answering “whatever” when asked what to eat for dinner.

What kind of taste is this, kid?

Her sense of taste is normal—she knows her grandmother’s buns aren’t delicious, yet she still likes them.

But when asked what she truly wants, she simply doesn’t know.

No wonder people say pediatricians have the hardest job—this level of questioning makes even reading comprehension answer keys useless.

So…

Does Huihui actually want a delicious bun? Or an unpalatable bun?

Or a bun that is delicious, yet subtly unpalatable—and unpalatable, yet still delicious?