Chapter 88 Have a Bite Quickly

Qin Huai wrapped a piece of glutinous rice cake on the spot for Xu Tuqiang.

After being set aside for 12 hours, it had just the right level of softness and stickiness. The off-white rice cake, slightly translucent in appearance, was cut into strips about half a finger wide. It was coated with red bean paste that had been thawed, heated, and then cooled to a moderate sweetness, and then rolled in fine white sugar.

Two words: delicious!

Unfortunately, Qin Huai wasn’t skilled enough with his hands to shape the rice cake beautifully; otherwise, Xu Tuqiang could have experienced a meal fit for a palace lady.

Xu Tuqiang looked at the small plate of rice cake in front of him with great care.

This was not ordinary rice cake—this was the beginning of his happiness.

“Isn’t it just eating a piece of rice cake? Look at you—anyone who didn’t know better would think you’d found gold,” Elder Cao complained coldly while expressionlessly eating his bun.

Heh, he didn’t like rice cake anyway.

Soft and sticky, and it clung to the teeth. Most importantly, at his age, eating glutinous rice-based desserts was hard to digest and could leave him feeling uncomfortably full.

Xu Tuqiang took a big bite of the rice cake.

Because of its strong stickiness, the bite created a pulling sensation—he even got a “connected though severed” feeling, like the rice cake was stretching as he pulled it apart.

The fine white sugar was evenly coated on the rice cake and stuck to his mouth. The pure sweetness of the sugar blended with the faint aroma of rice, while the smooth, rich sweetness of the red bean paste added another layer. Three textures, three flavors—mingling, combining, and intertwining as his teeth chewed through them.

Xu Tuqiang felt that today’s rice cake was even better than the ones he had eaten before.

He wanted to make a satisfied sound.

But the piece he had bitten was quite large, and the rice cake today was especially sticky—he couldn’t open his mouth to make a sound.

After a long bout of chewing, Xu Tuqiang finally swallowed his first bite with great satisfaction.

The Elder Qian sitting opposite him: “……”

Wait—was Xu Tuqiang doing this on purpose? He had never eaten with such exaggerated enjoyment before!

Elder Qian swallowed his saliva, and after weighing the discomfort of indigestion that would send him to the hospital against the discomfort of watching Xu Tuqiang eat, he chose the former.

Fine—eating a little less would only make him uncomfortable for a while.

Comforting himself, Elder Qian acted accordingly.

He quietly stood up, walked to the window, and approached Qin Huai, who was pressing dates in a steaming basket. In a low voice, he said, “Chef Qin, could you please wrap a piece of glutinous rice cake for me as well? A small piece—I just want to taste it.”

Qin Huai’s batch of rice cake had been very well received. Perhaps because he rarely made it so carefully, this success made him realize that rice cake had a strong market in this area—there were quite a lot of customers who liked it.

If it weren’t for how troublesome it was to make, the low price, and concerns about affecting texture when mass-produced with machines, he would have considered making glutinous rice cake a regular item.

At 9:40 a.m., Luo Jun strolled into the cafeteria.

Perhaps because he had already gone out several times before, his personal appearance at the cafeteria this time didn’t cause much of a stir among residents. The chatting elders inside simply glanced at him before continuing their conversations.

Luo Jun sat at Table 9 and didn’t order.

Qin Huai knew what he wanted.

At first, Qin Huai had wondered why Zhang Shumei hadn’t come at 9:30 to buy breakfast—now it was clear that Luo Jun had come in person.

Qin Huai personally brought over a basket of five-filled buns, two plates of glutinous rice cake, and a bowl of mung bean soup.

“Where are my three-filled buns?” Luo Jun demanded.

“Please try the rice cake first. It’s filling, and I was worried you wouldn’t have room after eating it,” Qin Huai said considerately.

Luo Jun wanted to ask why he didn’t just cut the rice cake smaller—but didn’t, noticing that it actually looked quite appealing. He was willing to eat more of it.

There were two pieces of rice cake—one with red bean paste, one with date paste—both heavily coated in fine white sugar.

“Doctor Qu prefers sweet foods, so I made the sweetest versions,” Qin Huai explained.

Luo Jun nodded and began tasting.

One bite.

He chewed slowly.

He wanted to speak, but the rice cake was quite sticky, making it hard to open his mouth, so he continued chewing.

He sped up his chewing and finally swallowed.

“Not bad.” This was Luo Jun’s highest evaluation of Qin Huai’s pastries in recent days. “But even if Doctor Qu likes sticky food, this is a bit too sticky, isn’t it?”

“Texture can always be adjusted technically. After a few more deliveries, I should be able to figure out Doctor Qu’s preferred texture,” Qin Huai explained.

Luo Jun nodded without responding, quietly finished the remaining rice cake, then ate the five-filled buns and mung bean soup in turn. Finally, he pointed at the last piece of rice cake on the plate and said to Zhang Shumei, “Pack that one to take home later.”

“Yes, Mr. Luo.”

“Also pack a basket of three-filled buns for me. I didn’t get to eat them this morning—I’ll have them as dinner at noon.”

“Yes, Mr. Luo.”

“Will you be making glutinous rice cake tomorrow?” Luo Jun asked Qin Huai.

“Of course.”

“Tomorrow I want it with sugar powder sprinkled on top. The way you coated it with a thick layer of sugar is too sweet—I’m not a six-year-old who loves candy that much.”

“Understood,” Qin Huai replied, mimicking Zhang Shumei’s tone. “Then, Mr. Luo, your physical therapy at 12:30—no problem, right? If it’s fine, I’ll coordinate the appointment with Doctor Qu.”

Luo Jun: “……”

“No problem.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

Qin Huai returned to the kitchen.

At 12:30 p.m., Qin Huai arrived at the underground parking lot carrying two types of glutinous rice cake for Qu Jing, only to find Luo Jun already waiting by the car. He quickly opened the door.

“You’re 34 seconds late,” Luo Jun said irritably as he sat in the passenger seat.

“This shows you’re very punctual,” Qin Huai replied. He hadn’t expected Luo Jun to arrive early; he had thought Luo Jun would stay at home and make him go knock on the door.

“Why do I feel like you’re actually looking forward to physical therapy?” Qin Huai glanced at him.

Luo Jun’s ears turned red instantly. “Nonsense. Who would like that kind of weird thing—being strapped to that damn bed and zapped with electricity? It’s like paying money to suffer!”

Qin Huai felt Luo Jun might be exaggerating—it was just electrodes; he made it sound like torture.

“Still, it works,” Luo Jun reluctantly admitted. “My lower back used to hurt after watching movies too long, but it’s been better these past couple of days.”

“Then are you still doing your lower back today?” Qin Huai asked.

“Legs,” Luo Jun said, glancing out the window. “Doctor Qu keeps messaging me about it—it’s so annoying. And you’re unreliable too. If I don’t remind you, you don’t trigger the task; if you do, you don’t train properly. You only started making glutinous rice cake today—what if Doctor Qu wanted something else? Then you’d have to learn again.”

“I don’t know how many deliveries this task requires. Since I’ve paid for each item anyway, I might as well do it thoroughly.”

Qin Huai smiled without responding, then drove to the hospital and messaged Qu Jing, informing her that Luo Jun was ready to complete all physical therapy items.

This side quest had not been wasted—it fulfilled Qu Jing’s wish, improved Luo Jun’s health, and even allowed him to observe Luo Jun’s memories.

At the rehabilitation department, Qu Jing was already waiting at the entrance.

“Mr. Luo, we meet again,” she greeted with a smile. “After you left last time, I thought it would take at least two weeks before I saw you again. I didn’t expect you back in just a few days—it seems the therapy worked well.” She was still dressed the same, fully covered, though she had changed her gloves.

It was clear she had quite a collection of gloves.

“About the same,” Luo Jun replied, pushing the door open. “Legs.”

“You two are not allowed to come in,” Luo Jun called out.

“Alright, I’ll stay outside with Chef Qin,” Qu Jing said, then turned to Qin Huai. “Chef Qin, you’re accompanying Mr. Luo again today?”

“Nothing else to do,” Qin Huai replied, handing her the rice cakes. “Last time you mentioned you liked pastries made by Chef Xiao Zheng. Those are not my specialty, but glutinous rice cake is somewhat similar.”

“Today the cafeteria happened to have rice cake for sale, so I packed two portions for you. See if they suit your taste.”

Qu Jing took the bag with surprise, noticing chopsticks inside as well. “What a coincidence—I was delayed this morning and left work late, so I didn’t have time to eat at the cafeteria. I was planning to eat after Mr. Luo’s therapy, but you brought me food.”

“Then why not try it now?”

“That would be rude,” Qu Jing said. “I’m still in a white coat—it’s not appropriate to eat in the hallway.”

“Go to the office to eat!” Luo Jun shouted from inside. “Tell me if it tastes good after you eat it. I already told Qin Huai his rice cake is overly sweet and sticky, but he insists that’s its specialty.”

“Xiao Qu, eat it now! Tell Qin Huai his rice cake is no good!”

Qin Huai silently gave Luo Jun a thumbs-up in his heart for his excellent acting.

With Luo Jun saying so, Qu Jing naturally didn’t hesitate.

She led Qin Huai toward the office, removing her mask along the way, revealing a pale, makeup-free face.

This time, not only was her skin pale, but even her lips lacked color, looking like someone with low blood sugar after skipping breakfast and running 800 meters.

“Doctor Qu, do you have low blood sugar?” Qin Huai asked, startled by her lip color.

The last time he saw her, her paleness was simply due to lack of sunlight—but now even her lips had lost color.

“It seems a bit,” Qu Jing nodded. “Back in school, I used to have irregular meals. I would sometimes faint while writing papers.”

Qin Huai: “……”

How could she say something so extreme so casually? What kind of workaholic was this?

“Then hurry and go to the office to eat the rice cake. Today’s glutinous rice cake has a layer of fine white sugar on the outside.”

“Sweet!”