Chapter 55 Crepe-Wrapped Wontons

Zheng Siyuan was a man of action.

He arrived at 6 p.m. that same afternoon.

Seeing Zheng Siyuan wearing a full Dior outfit, Qin Huai silently swallowed the tomato fried rice in his mouth and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly that the father and son really had completely different styles.

Zheng Da ate together with Qin Huai in the cafeteria. Although Zheng Da felt that the hot-food kitchen staff at Yunzhong Cafeteria weren’t very skilled, he couldn’t say it outright—after all, this was his future disciple’s business, and he couldn’t belittle it.

Zheng Da took the initiative to stand up and served Zheng Siyuan a plate of food. Zheng Siyuan sat across from Qin Huai.

“Zheng Siyuan. We added each other on WeChat yesterday,” Zheng Siyuan said, sizing Qin Huai up and down.

“Qin Huai,” Qin Huai introduced himself as well.

“When are you making the locust flower buns?” On his way here, Zheng Siyuan had already roughly understood the problem Qin Huai was facing. “Like my dad, I need to see you make them once.”

“Probably tomorrow,” Qin Huai said, yawning. “It’s almost time—I should go back and sleep.”

Because of Zheng Da’s surprise visit to the cafeteria, Qin Huai hadn’t gone back to sleep at noon and was now extremely drowsy.

However, Zheng Da’s sudden visit hadn’t been without effect. Although he hadn’t solved the various issues Qin Huai encountered with the locust flower buns, he had proven himself.

Throughout the afternoon, in order to prove he was qualified to be Qin Huai’s master, Zheng Da showcased his skills to the fullest. As long as there were ingredients available and something that could be freshly made, he made it all in one go.

Crispy pastries, Ding Sheng cakes, fresh meat mooncakes, plum blossom cakes, rose square cakes, crab-shell yellow pastries, begonia cakes, fermented rice cakes…

His motto: big quantity, satisfying portions.

The elderly customers who were used to rushing for buns in the afternoon had never seen such a scene before—they went crazy trying to grab them.

Normally, they would estimate the time and wait in the cafeteria, leaving once they bought something. Today, even after buying, they stayed—if they didn’t stick around, how would they know if more pastries would appear later?

Ou Yang, unable to keep skipping work to grab pastries, even spent a fortune hiring two errand runners to help him buy.

While the elderly were scrambling outside, Qin Luo stayed inside eating. Trying one after another, she not only dispelled the suspicion that Zheng Da might be a scammer, but also urged Qin Huai to consider taking him as a master.

No one could criticize the taste—it was genuinely excellent.

“What time do you usually start making pastries?” Zheng Siyuan asked.

“Around 4 a.m. I arrive at the shop. I’m responsible for breakfast. There are fixed items in the morning. Our breakfast peak is from 8 to 9 a.m. If we’re making locust flower buns, we have to wait until at least 10 a.m.,” Qin Huai explained.

Zheng Siyuan nodded. “Are there any restrictions on your breakfast items?”

“Huh?” Qin Huai didn’t quite understand. “It’s mostly buns and steamed items. There aren’t many dine-in customers in the morning.”

Zheng Siyuan nodded again. “Got it.”

“I usually don’t wake up that early in the morning, so I might arrive around 6 a.m.,” he added.

“Huh?” Qin Huai was genuinely confused now.

“I have the habit of making pastries every day,” Zheng Siyuan said. “I can make buns and steamed items too, just that I don’t do them often.”

“I’ll send you my pastry list. You can review it tonight or tomorrow morning and pick a few suitable items for your cafeteria that I can make.”

With that, Zheng Siyuan took out his phone and began typing. After a few lines, he asked, “Do your customers eat both sweet and savory?”

Qin Huai: “…They do.”

Wait—why did it feel like he was interviewing a new pastry chef?

After quickly finishing the meal, Qin Huai, too sleepy to socialize, left before Zheng Siyuan had even finished eating and went back to sleep.

After Qin Huai left, Zheng Da eagerly said, “Siyuan, show your full skills tomorrow—make fresh meat mooncakes! Let Xiao Qin see what our family is capable of.”

Zheng Siyuan looked at his father with a speechless expression.

On the way here, he had considered many possibilities.

He had wondered if his father had tricked him into another blind date, or if his father himself had been deceived—but he never expected his father might be the one trying to deceive someone else.

When he first saw Qin Huai in the cafeteria, he even suspected Qin Huai was a scammer. Now, he only wanted to apologize to him.

“Dad, didn’t you say you don’t take disciples?” Zheng Siyuan complained bluntly. “Didn’t you say taking disciples is troublesome, that if the student lacks talent they can’t be taught properly and people might even question the teacher’s ability? As long as the craft isn’t lost, it’s fine, and we just need not to let down our ancestors.”

“That’s different!” Zheng Da said solemnly. “I have a feeling—whether I can be remembered in history depends on whether Xiao Qin becomes my disciple!”

Zheng Siyuan suddenly felt even more inclined to apologize to Qin Huai.

Sorry… my dad isn’t very normal.

The next day, the early joggers were surprised to find that what Xu Tuqiang had been saying didn’t seem like nonsense after all—Yunzhong Cafeteria really had a new pastry chef.

However, this new pastry chef wasn’t the middle-aged man dressed in mismatched luxury brands that Xu Tuqiang had described, but a young man who looked steady and slightly older than Qin Huai.

“Wife, what’s going on here?” Not only the joggers were confused—Qin Congwen was also puzzled.

He hadn’t expected that after taking a break the previous day, everything in the cafeteria had changed.

First, a mysterious Zheng master had come yesterday and spent the entire afternoon making pastries. Then today, another mysterious “Young Zheng Master” arrived and immediately started making wontons.

Young in age, but with extraordinary skill.

The handmade wonton wrappers were thin as rice paper, delicate enough to tear with a breath, and translucent enough to let light pass through.

Not only were the wrappers impressive, but his knife skills were excellent too—chopping scallions with the flair of a culinary show.

His wrapping technique needed no explanation either. With a simple flick of his fingers, a round, bubble-like wonton—resembling a fish blowing bubbles—was formed.

Was breakfast making already this competitive?

Qin Congwen was thankful he had entered the industry early; otherwise, the Qin family breakfast shop might not have lasted this long.

“I don’t know,” Zhao Rong said, watching Zheng Siyuan’s wontons. Her own dough folding was starting to drift off track, as if she wanted to shape buns like wontons. “Didn’t Huaihuai say Master Zheng came to help?”

“And this Young Zheng Master is Master Zheng’s son—also here to help.”

Qin Congwen felt that whether they were helping or not was unclear—but he had a feeling the young man was here to get hired.

“How does he wrap them?” Zhao Rong stretched her neck to look. “Why can’t I make them that round?”

Unlike Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen, who could only watch from afar, Qin Huai’s workstation was right next to Zheng Siyuan’s, allowing him to observe closely and ask questions.

“Your wonton wrappers are very thin,” Qin Huai remarked.

Thin wrappers meant they were easy to break during cooking—not only wrapping but also boiling required skill.

“Crepe-wrapped wontons are supposed to have thin skins,” Zheng Siyuan explained.

Last night, Zheng Da had already briefed Zheng Siyuan in detail about Qin Huai’s situation. While Zheng Siyuan understood why his father wanted to take a disciple, he still felt a bit apologetic toward Qin Huai, and his tone became more patient and detailed when explaining.

“Because the wrappers are thin, after cooking, the surface of the wontons becomes wrinkled. The word ‘zhòu’ (wrinkled) sounds like ‘zhòu’ in ‘zhòu sha,’ hence the name ‘zhòu sha wontons.’”

“When I was young, my dad often made these at home for my sister and me. Nowadays, most crepe-wrapped wontons on the market use machine-made wrappers. Hand-rolled thin wrappers are difficult, and many experienced chefs aren’t willing to put in the effort, so authentic ones are rare.”

“The filling can be pure pork, fresh shrimp, or even mustard greens in season. These small wontons have thin wrappers and little filling—the focus is on freshness. The broth is very important. Today we didn’t have enough time, so my dad will prepare a rich stock in the afternoon. Tomorrow’s wontons will taste even better.”

Hearing this, Qin Huai felt like asking Zheng Siyuan:

Young Master Zheng, are you interested in joining our staff?

We really need talent like you.