Chapter 46 Going All Out Just for a Bite to Eat (Seeking Monthly Votes!)

Qin Luo heard Qin Huai ask Huang Xi to notify suppliers to deliver more ingredients needed for hand-shaken lemon tea the next day. She grinned foolishly, thinking that she would get to drink hand-shaken lemon tea every day from now on, completely unaware of what she was about to face.

The next day, when Qin Huai arrived at the cafeteria, he found that Huang Xi had already arrived.

“Sister Xi, why are you here so early?” Qin Huai was extremely surprised.

It wasn’t 6 a.m.—it was 4 a.m. The sky wasn’t even bright yet. Huang Xi’s home was quite far from the Yunzhong Cafeteria; arriving this early meant she must have woken up around 3 a.m. Anyone who didn’t know better might think she was a newly hired pastry chef at the shop.

“There was an issue with the supplier. We were out of egg flower and Hangzhou white chrysanthemum. Last night I had to urgently contact the supplier from the restaurant I used to work at to get these two items. The quality should be good, but I had to go pick them up myself. Their warehouse ships at 3:30 a.m., so I picked them up and came straight here.” Huang Xi said, looking somewhat exhausted.

Zhao Rong poked her head out and shouted, “Xiao Xi, I think you should go back and rest. You don’t need to work today—we’ll give you the day off.”

“Exactly,” Qin Congwen chimed in. “You’ve only slept for a few hours. Even an iron body can’t handle that.”

Qin Huai didn’t expect that casually choosing two ingredients for herbal tea would cause Huang Xi to run around all night. He quickly nodded, “Yes, Sister Xi, go back and rest. I’ll have my sister and An Youyou handle the morning meal deliveries, and my parents can temporarily help out with the suppliers.”

Huang Xi had worked for many years in the catering industry, moving from a regular employee to a manager and back again. She had seen demanding bosses before, but ones who actively told her to rest were rare.

Huang Xi blinked her slightly red, sleep-deprived eyes, yawned, and tears welled up again. She didn’t refuse and nodded readily, “Then thank you, bosses.”

“Oh right, Xiao Qin chef,” she continued, “Grandma Ding came by yesterday evening and brought two jars of locust flower honey. She said she got the best quality from her in-laws, good for the body, and asked you to keep it for honey water.”

“I put the locust honey on the second shelf of the first rack on the left side of the warehouse. Xiao Qin chef, Qin chef, Sister Rong, I’ll head back now. You’ve all worked hard.” Huang Xi smiled, then left with light steps, finishing her shift.

Her words reminded Qin Huai that he had seemingly stood Grandma Ding up.

On that day, Qin Huai had happily accepted the honey, planning to make locust flower steamed buns the next day.

Admittedly, he absolutely couldn’t make S-grade locust flower buns.

A-grade was also out of the question.

Even B-grade—he wasn’t very sure.

After all, Jiang Chengde’s video tutorials were too fast and too advanced, like a top student solving a problem mentally and only writing down the simplest steps on paper.

But Qin Huai wasn’t that kind of top student—he couldn’t quite follow Jiang Chengde’s steps.

And he couldn’t message Jiang Chengde on WeChat to ask for detailed instructions either.

If fermented rice buns depended on temperature, then locust flower buns depended on many factors: dough mixing, kneading, rolling, honey fermentation, degassing, kneading again, secondary fermentation, and steaming—all were critical.

In simple terms, every step where the dough appeared in the video mattered.

The hardest part was undoubtedly the honey fermentation.

Qin Huai had originally planned well: first successfully make fermented rice buns, then practice the steps for locust flower buns piece by piece, starting with mastering honey fermentation, then tackling the other steps one by one.

Then combine everything to see if he could produce a B-grade locust flower bun.

But unexpectedly, the first step already failed.

The fermented rice buns didn’t succeed on the first try—they failed repeatedly over two days, nearly breaking his mentality.

Over the past few days, Qin Huai went from failure, to self-doubt, to renewed effort, to sudden realization, to overperformance, and finally rewarding himself. His experience had been quite dramatic—so dramatic that he completely forgot about the locust honey and locust flower buns.

He didn’t know how Grandma Ding had been doing these past few days.

Her family included a little grandson who loved locust honey buns, a second granddaughter who loved buckwheat buns with milk, and a granddaughter who loved buckwheat buns with honey goat milk.

During this time, Qin Huai hadn’t made locust honey buns—he hadn’t even made buckwheat buns.

If the three children cried together…

Hopefully Grandma Ding’s hearing wasn’t too good.

Qin Huai found the locust honey Huang Xi mentioned in the warehouse. The quality was indeed excellent—possibly even better than the jar Grandma Ding had brought a few days ago.

It was clear that even a former kindergarten principal couldn’t handle three children making a fuss.

Qin Huai began kneading dough.

Locust flower buns would be made—but not now. Breakfast time was for triple-stuffed buns and five-ingredient buns. Now that fermented rice buns had been mastered, Qin Huai decided they could also become part of the fixed breakfast “buff” lineup, since their effects were quite good.

Starting the day with the warm feeling of care from others should help improve one’s mood at work.

The only drawback was that the quantity was limited—only three steamers per day, 24 buns per steamer. Only the first 72 lucky customers each day could get the buff. If someone had a big appetite and ate three or four…

Qin Huai could only say that luck is an important part of happiness.

“Mom, help wash the ingredients for the five-flower tea and seven-herb dampness-removing tea. Dad, help cut the poria. Make sure to check and discard any that aren’t fresh.”

“Let me know when Luo Luo arrives.”

“Don’t worry, Huaihuai. I’ll have your dad keep an eye on it,” Zhao Rong replied, putting down the bun wrappers and going to wash and sort ingredients.

While Zhao Rong might not be a professional in making buns or pastries, she was very experienced in brewing herbal teas. Ignoring the taste, she was quite precise with ingredient quantities.

She quickly sorted the materials and asked, “Huaihuai, how much are we making?”

“Max pot,” Qin Huai replied without looking up.

Zhao Rong hesitated. The largest pot in the shop was quite big—big enough to cook soup for several people.

“Huaihuai,” she asked, “will we really be able to sell that much herbal tea?”

Not that she didn’t trust Qin Huai’s skills—she simply didn’t trust herbal tea very much.

Well… she admitted she didn’t fully trust his herbal tea either.

Herbal tea, after all… as the saying goes, “bitter medicine is good for the body.” This was something she often used to persuade Qin Huai and Qin Luo to drink more in summer, which showed it wasn’t exactly pleasant to drink.

“We’re not selling it—we’re giving it away,” Qin Huai said. “Free with purchases over 25 yuan. Tell customers it helps clear heat, relieve summer heat, and reduce dampness and phlegm.”

“Whether dine-in or takeaway, it’s free. When Youyou and the others start work, tell them to prepare and package some in advance to avoid being rushed later.”

“Mom, just handle washing the ingredients. I’ll take care of the brewing.”

Although Zhao Rong felt giving it away was a bit of a loss, she agreed that Qin Huai had a point.

Summer is indeed the season for herbal tea.

Later, when Luo Luo arrives, let her drink two bowls first—they had been busy recently and had almost forgotten to make herbal tea.

Because he had promised Uncle Wang yesterday morning that the crab-shell pastries would be ready at 6 a.m. today, Qin Huai had a busy morning ahead: triple-stuffed buns, five-ingredient buns, crab-shell pastries, fermented rice buns, and herbal tea—all running simultaneously. He had to juggle the cooking station, pots, and oven.

So busy that he even considered messaging Chen Huihong to say that the resumes he had reviewed yesterday were acceptable and that the chefs could start work.

Recruiting pastry chefs had been far less smooth than before. Perhaps skilled pastry chefs were hard to find these days, or perhaps they simply didn’t consider a community cafeteria appealing. The resumes screened by HR that Chen Huihong sent over didn’t seem promising.

Either they had little experience and were clearly beginners, or their salary expectations were very high. No wonder Chen Huihong hadn’t followed up—she only sent resumes after Qin Huai asked.

Thinking about how many things were lined up—sweet cakes, lotus pastries, fried dough rolls, sticky rice cakes in the afternoon, experimenting with locust flower buns later, and possibly restocking fermented rice buns, five-ingredient buns, and triple-stuffed buns, while also producing more crab-shell pastries in the morning—Qin Huai let out a deep sigh.

Was this the cost of slacking off?

He glanced at the first-floor dining hall.

Packed.

Elderly patrons, office workers, even the convenience store owner across the street wearing a mask—all gathered at 5:55 a.m., waiting eagerly.

So…

Why are office workers buying breakfast at this hour?!

Do nearby office buildings have companies that start work at 6 a.m.? Had the world become this intense?

At 5:59 a.m., Uncle Wang and Chen Juan walked into the cafeteria together.

“Wow, so many people today?” Uncle Wang was surprised and went straight to table 9, where Uncle Cao and Xu Tuiqiang had saved him a seat.

“What’s going on today?” Uncle Wang asked after sitting down.

“Because of you,” Uncle Cao replied.

“Yeah, because you’ve got face,” Xu Tuiqiang added somewhat sarcastically. “Didn’t Xiao Qin chef promise yesterday at the kitchen door that crab-shell pastries would be ready at 6 a.m. today? Everyone’s here riding your coattails to get fresh ones.”

Xu Tuiqiang gritted his teeth slightly. He couldn’t understand why Xiao Qin chef seemed to cater specifically to Uncle Wang.

Why Wang Laogen? What’s so special about him? He wouldn’t even say nice things—still insisting Xiao Qin chef’s buns weren’t as good as those in Suzhou.

Xu Tuiqiang was frustrated.

He loved this cafeteria, ate here for all three meals a day, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have favorites. Wang’s favorite shrimp-flavored crab-shell pastries had only appeared twice in 21 days, while the sticky rice cakes he liked had only appeared once since opening.

Once!

Qin Huai’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“The crab-shell pastries are ready!”

He called out from the window, asking everyone to line up and pay via scan since the shop hadn’t officially opened and staff weren’t on duty yet.

Everyone quickly formed an orderly line.

At the front was a young office worker with a company ID.

Qin Luo was watching the herbal tea by the stove. Qin Huai glanced at the ID: Luo Zijun.

Surname Luo—unfortunately not Luo Jun.

Noticing his surname, Qin Huai decided to say a bit more: “Your company starts work so early?”

Luo Zijun smiled weakly, “We start at 9. Yesterday I overheard your conversation and heard you promised Uncle Wang fresh pastries at 6 a.m. today.”

“My department is working on a project, so I volunteered to take today off. I finished work at 4 a.m., slept for just over an hour, and came here to buy breakfast.”

Qin Huai: “……”

Just to eat fresh crab-shell pastries—this guy went all out.

Qin Huai quietly gave him one extra portion and said, “We’re running a promotion: free herbal tea with purchases over 25 yuan. People with the surname Luo also qualify—just show your ID.”

Luo Zijun was delighted and quickly raised his badge, “I’m Luo! I’m Luo!”

“The herbal tea will take a few more minutes to brew and cool down. Please wait a bit,” Qin Huai said, glancing at the pot. Qin Luo was secretly adding large amounts of rock sugar.

Qin Huai had to cough heavily to remind her not to overdo it—too little sugar makes it bitter, but too much isn’t good either.

As he continued serving, Qin Huai thought this surname-Luo promotion was quite good. After all, he was the boss—he could decide any promotion he wanted.

Once the print shop nearby opened, he’d have Qin Luo make a poster and put it outside.

He didn’t believe he still couldn’t find Luo Jun.

If that still didn’t work, he’d have to post a missing-person notice.

As Qin Huai thought this, he plated the next order.

It was Xu Tuiqiang’s turn.

“Xiao Qin chef, four crab-shell pastries please. Let me know when the buns are ready. By the way, what desserts are you selling today?” Xu Tuiqiang asked.

“Sweet cakes, lotus pastries, fried dough rolls, sticky rice cakes. If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll try making new buns in the afternoon—possibly buckwheat buns,” Qin Huai replied.

Xu Tuiqiang nearly teared up.

“Good, good,” he muttered, deciding to stay at the cafeteria all day.

He had time—he wasn’t working!

Next was Uncle Wang.

“Good morning, Uncle Wang,” Qin Huai greeted with a smile. “Fermented rice buns will likely be ready around 8 a.m. They take time, so in the future they’ll usually come out around this time. You might miss them after your morning run—sorry about that.”

“No problem, I’ll just run another round,” Uncle Wang waved it off.

“Xiao Qin chef, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Go ahead.”

“I mentioned before that the buns I had in Suzhou were better. I wasn’t lying. I have old colleagues there and called them last night to help find contact information for Master Jing.”

“Master Jing is a very good person who supports younger generations. Once I get the contact, I’ll share it with you. If you run into problems making buns, you can ask him—he’ll definitely be willing to give you some guidance.”

Then Uncle Wang added with some guilt, “What I said yesterday wasn’t very nice. I apologize. I truly like your craftsmanship. If you ever need help with calculations, come to me—I’ve been an accountant for over 40 years and have never made a mistake.”

Qin Huai hadn’t expected Uncle Wang to still care about this. He gave him an extra portion and said, “I really didn’t take it to heart. As long as you all support our cafeteria, that’s enough.”

“I’ll have Luo Luo bring you two bowls of herbal tea later. Which do you prefer? Five-flower tea, seven-herb dampness tea, dried tangerine peel tea, or hand-shaken lemon tea?”

Uncle Wang: “?”

Hand-shaken lemon tea?