Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 1086 - 529: Fox

Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an squatted near the security booth at the entrance of the district, putting on a brief spy drama by eavesdropping for five or six minutes on the conversation between Xu Tuqiang and Zhou Hu, discovering that Xu Tuqiang knew about Zhou Hu working at the funeral parlor and that fortune-telling, feng shui consultations, and selling charms seemed to be just Zhou Hu's side gigs.

Zhou Hu didn't seem like a professional scammer; Xu Tuqiang seemed more like he was lining up to be scammed.

Is this what they call too many victims, not enough scammers?

Considering that further eavesdropping probably wouldn't uncover any explosive gossip, and the wind was quite strong at night, risking the dishes getting cold. Feeding Old Bi Fang, who had been hustling all day and was exhausted and starving, with cold food might count as elderly abuse. Let's not consider that for now; once Bi Fang successfully overcomes it, the first ones to get scolded would probably be Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an, not Chen Huihong.

All in one scold, with one fiery breath.

Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an took the food to Luo Jun's house, casually mentioning Zhou Hu's side jobs as a fresh topic, then took their own food home.

As expected, Qin Huai got up late again the next day.

This time, he really got up a bit late. The elderly morning runners who arrived at the canteen at 6 a.m. sharp had been sitting for a full half hour before Qin Huai came. During this half-hour of waiting, many of the elderly were restless, wondering if their beloved Master Qin had encountered an accident or had to leave for something urgent again.

Hey, why use the word "again"?

Sigh, let's not bring it up; it's a tale of woe and hardship.

Suspecting that Qin Huai might have left abruptly again, Xu Tuqiang was almost in tears, sitting at table 9, anxiously looking outside now and then, murmuring, "No way, did the lucky charm only work for one day?"

"No wonder Master Zhou wouldn't sell me another lucky charm. Am I, Xu Tuqiang, destined to lack luck in this area?"

Sitting across from Xu Tuqiang, Grandpa Qian: ...

Grandpa Qian felt that Master Zhou didn't sell Xu Tuqiang a lucky charm because even the scammer couldn't bear to cheat this fool anymore. Having seen numerous scam cases, it was the first time Grandpa Qian saw someone like Xu Tuqiang eager to be scammed to the point where even the scammer was reluctant.

"Did you go to the funeral parlor to find that Master Zhou again?" Grandpa Qian asked, "The property management in our district has recently been posting cases of scams and amounts in the elevator. I wonder if in a few months, I'll see a case from Yunzhong District involving Xu?"

"You don't understand, Master Zhou's skills are ancestral. His grandfather and father were well-known Feng Shui masters, and it was his grandfather who looked at my family's ancestral tomb. If it weren't for his father getting jailed for tomb raiding a few years ago, Master Zhou wouldn't have taken over so early. I'd say he's a bit young and lacking in experience. If it were his father drawing the lucky charms, I'd probably have had good luck by May." Xu Tuqiang defended Zhou Hu. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Grandpa Qian: ... well, scams run in his family, getting scammed runs in yours. Quite fitting.

Grandpa Qian said no more, quietly waiting for Qin Huai.

At 6:35, Qin Huai finally arrived.

Qin Huai knew he was significantly late today and ran into the canteen, even remembering to pause when he saw Xu Tuqiang at table 9 to say, "Uncle Xu, we have sticky rice cake today. I made the first batch; it'll be ready in 20 minutes."

Having said that, Qin Huai dashed into the changing room like a gust of wind, leaving Xu Tuqiang at table 9 overjoyed, excitedly boasting to Grandpa Qian, "See? What did I say? Isn't the lucky charm from Master Zhou working?"

"It's a pity Master Zhou didn't bring his compass last night and only gave my house a quick look without a complete feng shui reading. Today he's busy again. Next time Master Zhou's free, I definitely have to invite him to thoroughly check the feng shui at my house!"

Grandpa Qian: ...

.

After changing clothes, Qin Huai went into the kitchen to start his usual breakfast preparation. For Qin Huai, accompanying Luo Jun to the funeral parlor to view the memorial hall yesterday was just a small episode in life, something he should do as Luo Jun's heir.

Qin Huai had no right to interfere with Luo Jun's funeral; everything had to follow Luo Jun's wishes. Qin Huai had added Zhou Hu's WeChat yesterday too, as he would have to pay the remaining 50% of the final payment, hence the need to establish contact between them.

For Qin Huai, keeping in touch with Zhou Hu was something for much later. His current task was to increase his skill level, quickly elevate his fermentation skill to Master Level, and complete the main task of unlocking An Youyou's memory as soon as possible.

After devouring a piece of sticky rice cake, Qin Huai switched to workaholic mode, frantically making snacks to benefit the old and new diners of Yunzhong District.

Among these diners, who was the most excited? That would naturally be Xu Tuqiang. Eating the sticky rice cake brought him to tears, almost choking him.

Days passed peacefully like this for five days.

During these two days, Qin Huai diligently worked on his yeast skill level, which was showing impressive growth, just nine points away from breaking through to Master Level.

Under Qin Huai's influence, Zhao Cheng'an also reluctantly tried to slack off less. As Zhao Cheng'an put it, with Qin Huai's yeast skill almost at Master Level, if he continued slacking off and didn't change his lifetime bad habits, his master might literally kill him when he goes back.

Master Zhou hanging people up to beat them was never an exaggeration; it was a verb. Of course, Master Zhou never actually hung anyone up to beat them, as it was too cumbersome. A direct smack was sufficient; why bother hanging someone up?

According to Zhao Cheng'an, although Master Zhou never hung him up for a beating, for years a ridiculous rumor circulated in Zhiwei Restaurant that he was so mischievous and lazy as a child that he made Master Zhou so mad he'd hang him up and whip him every night. Zhao Cheng'an never knew who started that rumor, but he now clearly did.