Chapter 45 You Call This Herbal Tea?

Feeling a bit puzzled, Xiao Qin Master decided to stop slacking off and go take a look at the cafeteria, and also ask around to figure out what was going on. He didn’t believe a task about “someone wanting herbal tea” would appear out of nowhere for no reason.

Before heading to the cafeteria, Qin Huai stopped by the convenience store outside the residential complex to buy a sausage. Noticing the store owner’s odd expression, he even kindly asked if he was having stomach trouble. After the owner repeatedly denied it and firmly stated that he was in excellent health and would absolutely not take leave to close the shop, Qin Huai finished his sausage and left.

Inside the cafeteria, the two cooks had already gone upstairs to find a cool place to lie down and nap. Huang Xi was browsing her phone, while An Youyou and two servers were wiping down menu boards spread across the table.

Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong were not around—presumably they had gone home to rest. Qin Luo was holding a phone she had somehow obtained, happily hiding in the “grass” in a game.

“Where did you get that phone?” Qin Huai silently appeared behind Qin Luo, startling her so much that she threw the phone.

“Brother, why are you scaring me on purpose? I was camping in the bushes!” Qin Luo hurriedly picked up the phone without looking up and complained, “So many people asked if you were sick this morning. Dad was worried people wouldn’t be used to not having pastries at noon, so he made a lot of extra buns.”

“I mixed fillings all morning—I made at least 600 buns! My hands are about to fall off. Mom said I worked hard today and rewarded me with unlimited phone time this afternoon. Don’t disturb me. If you talk to me, I’ll get distracted!” Even though her hands felt like they were falling apart, Qin Luo insisted on using them to hold the phone. Her spirit was truly admirable.

Qin Huai: …

So that’s why you were yawning and even tearing up from sleepiness at noon?

“If you’re really tired, go back and sleep. If Mom finds out you stayed up playing games, she’ll definitely beat you tomorrow,” Qin Huai kindly reminded her before heading to Table 3 to find Huang Xi.

The moment Huang Xi saw Qin Huai enter, she put down her phone. When he walked toward her, she immediately stood up.

“Sister Xi, sit down,” Qin Huai waved. “I just want to ask—do we have gynostemma in the warehouse?”

“Gynostemma?” Huang Xi paused, then shook her head uncertainly. “I don’t think so. Let me check the procurement list. Is this needed for tomorrow’s pastries?”

“No rush,” Qin Huai said. “It’s been hot these days. I’m planning to make some herbal tea.”

After thinking for a moment, Qin Huai decided that simply making basic tangerine peel tea felt too insincere, so he chose to raise the difficulty level.

“When you do inventory later, also check if we have honeysuckle, Hangzhou chrysanthemum, flat bean flower, egg flower, kapok flower, fresh tuckahoe, coix seed, barley, goji berries, Huai chrysanthemum, poria, gardenia, and gorgon fruit. We may need more of those.”

Huang Xi was overwhelmed by the long list of names and blurted out without thinking, “Xiao Qin Master, did you read the group chat for bulk orders?”

“Group chat?” Qin Huai asked.

He had never joined the group—he only checked the daily orders in the morning to see if he needed to make extra batches of five-filling or three-filling buns.

Huang Xi handed him her phone.

Qin Huai spent seven or eight minutes skimming through the 999+ messages in the group.

Case solved.

This mysterious Luo Jun must be in this group.

Let’s see who’s in it!

Qin Huai looked closely—Group 1 was full at 500 members. Group 2 had 227 members.

Out of 727 people (719 excluding staff), finding Luo Jun among them was like—

Searching for a needle in the ocean.

Qin Huai began considering the possibility of requiring customers to place orders using their real names.

“Do we have any regular customers named Luo Jun?” Qin Huai asked after thinking for a moment.

Huang Xi was even more confused. Thinking that Xiao Qin Master had been a bit unusual these past couple of days—and today’s behavior, while odd, was still within expectations—she replied, “As far as I remember… no.”

“Then keep an eye out over the next couple of days,” Qin Huai said. He then sat at the adjacent table and started searching online for tangerine peel tea recipes.

Who knows, maybe there are more interesting or advanced recipes online?

Huang Xi was completely bewildered now. As a cafeteria manager, how was she supposed to observe customers’ names? Was she supposed to stare at their ID badges? But many customers didn’t even wear them visibly—they kept them in their pockets.

Meanwhile, Qin Huai was browsing a recipe that was so full of ingredients it barely resembled tangerine peel tea.

At that moment, Qin Luo’s game ended. She ran over to Qin Huai, holding her phone and bouncing excitedly.

“Brother, are you going to sell Five-Flavor Tea and Seven-Ingredient Herbal Dampness Tea?”

Just from hearing the names, Qin Luo could tell what Qin Huai was planning.

“Who’s going to make the herbal tea—Mom or you? Don’t let Mom make the Five-Flavor Tea. She doesn’t add any sugar—it’s awful!”

“Then is Mom’s Seven-Ingredient Dampness Tea any better?” Qin Huai asked, hitting the nail on the head.

Qin Luo: …

“Mom’s version without sugar is really terrible… she does add a little though.”

If Five-Flavor Tea is a well-known summer herbal drink for clearing heat and reducing dampness, then Seven-Ingredient Dampness Tea is Zhao Rong’s own creation—or more accurately, a local specialty from her hometown.

There’s no fixed formula for dampness tea; every household makes it differently. Their family’s version is named after its seven ingredients, but since Zhao Rong’s version tastes… not great, neighbors rarely buy it, and sales at Qin Ji Breakfast Shop have always been poor.

Yes, their breakfast shop occasionally sells herbal drinks as a side business.

Although not very tasty, Zhao Rong has long believed that “bitter medicine is good for illness,” and that the worse it tastes, the more effective it must be. So every so often, she insists on making a batch, letting Qin Huai and Qin Luo “experience a mother’s love.”

Qin Huai was still browsing recipes when Qin Luo stopped playing games and looked at him with a silly grin.

“If you have something to say, just say it,” Qin Huai said, closing an unreliable recipe.

“Brother, since you’re making herbal tea… make some today too?”

Qin Huai: …

“You want to drink—”

“You know what I mean.”

At that moment, An Youyou chimed in at the wrong time while wiping the menu boards: “Xiao Qin Master, are you making herbal tea? Can I have a cup? I’ve never had herbal tea before.”

“Of course,” Qin Huai nodded, glancing around the room. “Anyone who wants some can have it.”

Twenty minutes later, everyone in the shop was drinking—

Handcrafted lemon tea.

Qin Luo took a big sip, ice still in her mouth, and mumbled, “Finally found a time when Mom and Dad aren’t around and you’re willing to make lemon tea. As expected, summer is best with lemon tea!”

Huang Xi: …

Although she wasn’t from Guangdong and didn’t really understand herbal tea, she wondered what exactly “handcrafted lemon tea” was…

Well, it was quite tasty—better than the lemon tea from that mall chain.

“Sister Xi, ask the supplier to send more lemons tomorrow,” Qin Huai said while drinking.

If Luo Jun couldn’t be found tomorrow and the sales of Five-Flavor Tea, Tangerine Peel Tea, and Seven-Ingredient Dampness Tea were poor, at least lemon tea could serve as a fallback.

As for who would make it if demand was high…

Qin Huai glanced at Qin Luo.

Although his sister had never excelled academically, wasn’t good at kneading dough, mixing fillings, or wrapping buns, she had one undeniable advantage.

She had a huge appetite and great strength since childhood.

Very strong.

It was time to let Qin Luo shine in her own lane.