Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 850 - 423: Dream

"What’s the point of practicing something you can’t do?" Zhao Cheng’an retorted, "I never do things I can’t do, just like when I was studying—I didn’t understand it, so I didn’t learn it. Even if my parents beat me, I wouldn’t learn it."

Qin Huai: ...?

What kind of spirit is this? To have developed such a personality, buddy, you’re way too carefree.

In this light, Master Zhou really has a good temper, to be Zhao Cheng’an’s master for so many years and still resist the urge to beat him. Sure, Zhao Cheng’an has talent, but Master Zhou’s tolerance is another matter.

Qin Huai couldn’t help himself and turned to ask Tan Wei’an, who was eager to join the conversation but didn’t dare to speak openly, only eavesdropping while pretending to be kneading dough but making a mess of it: "Does he always talk like this?"

Qin Huai vaguely remembered that Zhao Cheng’an didn’t speak like this a few days ago. When the four of them chatted, Zhao Cheng’an was a bit jumpy but not this unrestrained.

It seems that the seniors do have a slight suppressing effect, temporarily holding back Zhao Cheng’an from saying whatever comes to mind.

Tan Wei’an was touched and, in a finally-someone-understands-my-feelings tone, said loudly, "He’s always like this when he’s with us. I’ve wanted to punch him for ages!"

Tan Wei’an’s heartfelt revelation didn’t get the response he wanted. Qin Huai just nodded and then focused on Tan Wei’an’s dough: "If you’re making Four Happiness Flower Rolls, the dough can’t be this hard, you’ll need to roll it both ways."

"But there’s no saving this dough, if it doesn’t work out, just knead it a few more times and use it for pancakes. Add more oil, sprinkle some onions and sesame seeds, it’ll taste pretty good."

Tan Wei’an: (༎ຶ-༎ຶ)

Qin, you’re not a good guy either, why have you suddenly become such a jerk?

.

Qin Huai spent an entire day chatting intermittently with Zhao Cheng’an, during which Tan Wei’an tried several times to join in but was ruthlessly pushed out by Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng’an. At this point, Xiao Tan really couldn’t afford to slack off anymore; his dough was already a mess.

Though, to be fair, his dough was already kind of a mess.

For a moment, Qin Huai even thought that Tan Wei’an should be downgraded from a direct disciple to an ordinary apprentice, to get him to focus again. The guy was just too laid-back.

"Tan Wei’an is always like this. I wonder if it’s because I was initially taught by Master Tan. I interacted with Tan Wei’an a lot when I was young, and he loved to imitate me, but never the good parts. He learned all the bad habits—being too lazy to work, preferring easy tasks, avoiding challenging ones, leaving right at closing time without staying a minute more for practice—he learned it all."

"He never picked up any of the good traits despite me having so many."

At a dumpling restaurant strongly recommended by Tan Wei’an, Qin Huai, Zhao Cheng’an, and Shi Dadan occupied a six-seat table, loaded with 14 plates of dumplings.

The reason there were 14 plates of dumplings was that this small restaurant only offered 14 flavors. If the owner were a bit more innovative, willing to offer fillings like chocolate strawberry, chocolate durian, mango strawberry, or chilled mango sago cream with pomelo, Qin Huai believed Shi Dadan would defiantly order one of each.

As for why Qin Huai knew about these dumpling flavors.

He once ate at a creative dumpling shop near his university. That shop closed down three months after opening.

Zhao Cheng’an crunched on pickled radish and exclaimed, "I have to say, the pickles at this dumpling restaurant are pretty good. Where did you find this place, Qin Huai? I didn’t know there was such a dumpling shop near Zhiwei Restaurant."

"Tan Wei’an recommended it to me earlier," Qin Huai said while eating pickles. "I wanted to invite Tan Wei’an to join us after work, but his Four Happiness Flower Rolls were so bad today that Master Zhou kept him for three extra hours of practice. Old Shi had already snagged a table and eaten a round, so I couldn’t make him wait too long. We’ll invite him next time."

Hearing Qin Huai mention him, Shi Dadan, who had been quietly eating dumplings, looked up and gave Qin Huai a "is it finally my time to shine as the star assistant?" look but got a headshake response from Qin Huai and continued eating.

After eating two dumplings, Shi Dadan felt he should say something and started, "This restaurant’s beef and green onion dumplings are quite good."

Zhao Cheng’an, a person quite open to suggestions, heard this and immediately reached out with chopsticks to grab a beef and green onion dumpling, popped it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed.

"Do you like this flavor of dumplings, Old Shi? I can make beef and green onion ones too. Tomorrow, when I’m slacking off at work, I’ll wrap some for you to take home after."

After that, Zhao Cheng’an didn’t forget to remind Qin Huai, "Today I saw Master scold Tan Wei’an’s status at the end. I’m guessing Su Qian’s egg tarts weren’t great today, so Master will have to watch over him all day tomorrow and won’t have time for us."

"Master instructed me this morning to ensure you don’t attempt making Lucky Cloud Pattern Cake within three days—watch first for three days before trying. The more eager you are, the more I won’t let you, which will make you focus more and learn faster while you’re observing."

"When I learned to make snacks, Master always used this method on me. But I think you don’t necessarily have to do it this way. Tomorrow, I’ll take some time to slack off and wrap some dumplings for Old Shi, and you, Qin Huai, can seize the chance to make some Lucky Cloud Pattern Cake. Guli and Tan Wei’an won’t tell on you."

Hearing this, Shi Dadan was immediately touched. Although he didn’t understand why making dumplings at work was slacking off, it didn’t stop him from being moved.

Moved, Shi Dadan looked Zhao Cheng’an straight in the eye, without waiting for Qin Huai to give him a cue, and stepped in as the assistant.

"Xiao Zhao, I heard from Xiao Qin that you like to travel all over the world." Shi Dadan boldly spoke up.

Zhao Cheng’an shot a puzzled look at Qin Huai, his eyes saying why have you become like Tan Wei’an, always saying you heard from Xiao Qin first.

"You could say I have an interest, but not much time. I only get to travel once a year. At the beginning of this year, I went to Southeast Asia. If nothing unexpected happens next year, I might go to the Middle East."

"In previous years, I also traveled abroad a lot—to East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and across the ocean. How about we exchange WeChat IDs—I’m really someone with no other interests aside from food. If you ask me what scenic spots are fun, I might not remember, but if you ask me about good snacks, I still remember quite a few."

Qin Huai was surprised to hear Shi Dadan say this. Tonight, he had invited Zhao Cheng’an for dinner mainly to introduce him to Shi Dadan, to have Shi Dadan help in extracting information from Zhao Cheng’an in the future.

He didn’t expect to learn so much about Shi Dadan’s extensive experiences, things he had never mentioned before.

"Old Shi, you’ve visited so many countries in the past?" Qin Huai asked.

Shi Dadan chuckled sheepishly, "It was for business. Back then, I didn’t know what business to pursue, so I thought of traveling to more places. After touring around the country, I went abroad. I kept going but eventually found that none of those businesses suited me—seafood farming is much simpler."

Qin Huai nodded in understanding.

"Is seafood farming simple? My dad’s friend was in that business, and I heard if the temperature drops 0.5 degrees or there’s insufficient oxygen, the entire batch of seafood could die, losing hundreds of thousands in one go."

"He switched to poultry farming, but due to inadequate disinfection or overcrowding, half the chickens died, losing another huge sum."

"I thought farming was tough."

Shi Dadan waved his hand dismissively, "It’s not difficult; once you grasp the techniques, it’s easy. If you don’t believe it, ask Xiao Qin—I never manage operations at my farm. Even when I’m in Guangdong Province, I often go fishing at sea or dine with friends."

"I’ve been away for a month or two, and there hasn’t been any issue at the farm. We even shipped out a batch recently."

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