Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 853 - 425: Group Dinner (Part 2)

When Qin Huai encountered An Youyou with a fruit basket at the gate of Zhao Cheng’an’s residential area, he knew that An Youyou definitely hadn’t read the workplace tips he sent her.

Shi Dadan was carrying a large fruit basket, An Youyou was carrying a small one, and Qin Huai was holding an air purifier. Anyone who saw this trio would exclaim what an impressive gathering it was.

Unlike most direct disciples and masters who live near Zhiwei Restaurant for convenience, Zhao Cheng’an probably lives the farthest from Zhiwei Restaurant among this group of people.

His home is a full 20 kilometers from Zhiwei Restaurant, in a high-end residential area where the housing prices are only slightly lower than in Yunzhong District. The surrounding facilities and environment are excellent, and it’s a school district home. When the three of them tried to enter the residential area with their items, the security directly asked them to register, saying that food deliveries could be left at the security booth and a property manager would deliver them, not allowing delivery people into the area.

After Qin Huai and the others explained that they were visitors, the security, unable to find any reservation information, very cautiously questioned them for a full five minutes before letting them in.

During those five minutes, Zhao Cheng’an’s call kept going unanswered, no idea what he was busy with. When he finally picked up, he said just a couple of words before hanging up hurriedly.

"Youyou, where did you buy this fruit basket?" Qin Huai examined An Youyou’s fruit basket, finding it quite unique, different from the ones sold on the market with its rich fruit combination.

It contained bananas, pears, apples, peaches, kiwis, grapes, and mangoes, and even a cucumber and two tomatoes, as if the sole intention was to stuff it with fruits, completely ignoring the aesthetic of shape and color harmony.

"Master Xiao Qin, I made this fruit basket myself," An Youyou said proudly, "Fruit shop baskets are too expensive. I got this basket on a second-hand trading platform in town, picked it up myself, and it only cost me five bucks. I bought the fruits at the fruit shop at our community gate, picked a few of each. When I was piling them up this morning, I found two apples and a banana with too many spots and didn’t look good, so I temporarily stuffed a cucumber and some tomatoes from home to make up for it."

"How is it? Looks good, right!"

Shi Dadan was dazzled, examining An Youyou’s fruit basket with wide eyes, exclaiming, "You can actually DIY a fruit basket, what a blunder, had I known, I would have bought a bigger basket and made a larger one."

An Youyou beamed happily, turning her gaze to Qin Huai who was holding the air purifier, asking, "Master Xiao Qin, why did you bring the air purifier Sister Hong asked me to give you?"

"My current place already has an air purifier, and Zhao Cheng’an’s place still needs one, so I brought it over," Qin Huai explained. "Zhao Cheng’an lives on the 6th floor; he said he would come down to get us, let’s wait."

Just as Qin Huai finished speaking, the unit door opened. Zhao Cheng’an rushed out in an apron, looking a bit disheveled and even a bit weary, repeatedly apologizing.

"Sorry, sorry, I was busy just now and didn’t notice the call. Something unexpected happened last night, and I forgot to inform the property about your visit today. Didn’t keep you waiting too long, did I? Hey, Old Shi, you’re here, and you’ve even brought such a big fruit basket, why bother."

"Youyou, you brought a fruit basket too? You’ve just arrived at Zhiwei Restaurant two days ago, this meal is meant as a welcome party from us at Zhiwei Restaurant, no need to bring anything. Huh, there’s even a cucumber in the fruit basket now, this fruit shop is quite creative."

"And you’re holding... an air purifier? That’s fine, that’s fine."

Once Zhao Cheng’an came down, he went on a talking spree, chattering nonstop from beginning to end, and he talked without caring whether anyone would respond or even giving them a chance to respond.

Qin Huai glanced at Zhao Cheng’an with suspicion. From what he’s known over these days, Zhao Cheng’an is a talkative guy, but not one who would disregard others while speaking. For him to act this eager today, Qin Huai felt there was something uneasy about the guy.

"Come, come, the elevator’s over here." Zhao Cheng’an led the way in, swiping the elevator card and pressing the floor button first.

"Xiao Zhao, isn’t it inconvenient for you to go to work, living so far from Zhiwei Restaurant?" Shi Dadan asked.

"Driving is alright; Boss Su reimburses fuel expenses anyway." Zhao Cheng’an stared at the floor buttons, seemingly a bit distracted. As the elevator was about to reach the 6th floor, and the elevator door was about to open, he hesitated for two seconds and then said, "Uhm, Qin Huai... I need to tell you something."

The elevator doors opened, Qin Huai stepped out first, turned back, and asked, "What is it?"

Zhao Cheng’an slowed his steps, seemingly wanting more time to think, but the elevator was too close to the door; just a few steps and they were there.

Zhao Cheng’an unlocked the door with his fingerprint.

"Well, there might be one more person joining us for the meal today, you don’t mind, right?"

The door opened.

The smell of various snacks filled the air—a mix of salty, sweet, buttery aroma from the baked goods, and the steaming fragrance unique to steamed snacks overflowed all at once, so enticing it made one forget what they just heard.

Having spent years in the kitchen, Qin Huai managed to hold onto some sanity: "Of course I don’t mind, you’re the one cooking and inviting us; you decide how many come. Who else is coming today? Who has time off? Su Qian? I heard Su Qian also took a day off today. He’s been getting scolded quite a bit lately, and Boss Su gave him two days off to let him adjust his mood."

Zhao Cheng’an left the door open, walked in first without looking back at them, just leaving a view of his back, avoiding facing Qin Huai.

"Not Su Qian."

Qin Huai followed closely, looking down for slippers, asking, "Then who else? I remember Boss Su mentioned during the morning meeting that it’s best not to have too many on leave at once, or it would severely impact the normal operations of Zhiwei Restaurant. We’ve all taken leave today; if someone else is on leave, Boss Su likely wouldn’t approve it. Is the other person your friend?"

"Actually, it’d be approved," Zhao Cheng’an said slowly.

Qin Huai: ?

Qin Huai looked up blankly, realizing there seemed to be someone in the kitchen.

Though Zhao Cheng’an’s place is a two-bedroom apartment, it’s spacious, with about 200 square meters. To facilitate making snacks, he expanded the kitchen area during renovation, making it larger than the living room, with the kitchen door directly facing the main door.

If someone is moving around in the kitchen, one can easily see through the frosted glass door upon entering the home.

Just as Qin Huai was in a daze, the kitchen door opened, and someone Qin Huai was familiar with but didn’t expect to see walked out, wearing an apron and sleeve guards.

Master Zhou, while removing the sleeve guards and speaking downwards, said, "The dumplings are in the pot; Lao San, go keep an eye on the kitchen. The Qianhua Gongdeng Buns and Four Happiness Rolls will be ready in two to three minutes; watch the fire carefully."

Qin Huai stared dumbfounded as Master Zhou slowly removed the sleeve guards and untied the apron, unable to utter a word for a while.

If the one taking leave was Master Zhou, indeed Boss Su would approve.

"Master... Master Zhou, good afternoon," Qin Huai stammered, "Are you... taking a break today?"

For the past few days, Master Zhou had been focused on berating Su Qian so thoroughly that Su Qian nearly shut down, prompting Boss Su to give him two days off. Qin Huai hadn’t seen much of Master Zhou.

Qin Huai saw Master Zhou for an hour a day on average, with most of that during the morning meeting at lunchtime.

"I heard Lao San was planning a welcome meal for you, so I came to have a look," Master Zhou said calmly. "It’s a good way to stay occupied, and I ended up making some snacks for practice."

Qin Huai: ...

The Qianhua Gongdeng Buns and Four Happiness Rolls aren’t exactly practice snacks.

"Master, I told you today’s meal wasn’t meant to welcome Qin Huai; I wanted to invite Old Shi for dumplings, and then Old Shi called Qin Huai, and coincidentally Youyou could take a break today so I called her over too."

"I started preparing since last night!"

Master Zhou glanced speechlessly toward the kitchen: "Mind your timing."

"You’ve been preparing since last night, and all you have are four types of dumplings, spring rolls, shrimp dumplings, wontons, pumpkin cakes, and French fries."

"Even the pumpkin cakes are frozen, and you still managed to prepare; why didn’t you just order takeout to spare yourself from frying it all?"

"What on earth did you prepare?"

"Had I not come over last night to take a look, you wouldn’t even have any decent snacks to serve today."