Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 897 - 443: Exchange Conference (Part 2)

Where do you get the nerve to monopolize Xiao Qin? Xiao Qin hasn't formally become your apprentice. Just because he sometimes casually drops the 'Zhou' and calls you Master doesn't mean anything; normally, he calls you Master Zhou.

It's good that Zhou Guanghai has a little shame and hasn't coaxed Xiao Qin into becoming his apprentice officially.

Being the number one in Bai'an World isn't much; when it comes to xx type of snacks, I'm the real expert. You've taught him long enough, now it's my turn to teach!

Some masters think this way, some quietly act this way.

Every day, Qin Huai makes so many basic breakfast items that he's bound to hit on something that falls into the masters' specialty areas. While he's making snacks, it's naturally not good to disturb him, but during the morning meetings when he's not making snacks, some masters use the chance to stuff their booklets into Qin Huai's hands and then babble away.

Boss Su's main job during morning meetings now is mediating the conflicts caused by the masters randomly stuffing Qin Huai with booklets.

Some masters do it every three to four days, while others might do it once a day. Masters who do it every three to four days naturally find the daily ones annoying, thinking they're just showing off and wasting Qin Huai's time, questioning what valuable experience they could possibly have to pass on.

Then it leads to past grudges and new arguments, escalating from booklets to questioning each other's competence, challenging each other to snack contests, neither willing to back down, and continuing to argue.

The meetings originally lasted 20 minutes, but now they take 40 minutes due to the sheer number of conflicts that can't be resolved.

Of course, these are insignificant episodes.

At least for Master Zhou, things are like this; as the master officially guiding Qin Huai now, he doesn't need to stuff Qin Huai with booklets every day like the other masters. He can guide him however he wants, and if Qin Huai is willing, Master Zhou can even demonstrate things on-site.

Of course, Master Zhou does this rarely.

When a master teaches an apprentice hand by hand, it is typical in the initial stages of learning when imitation is the best teacher. Now, Qin Huai doesn't need to learn new things; he is merely honing his Skill Level, though Master Zhou isn't entirely sure what the actual system of proficiency Qin Huai pictured means, he can see that Qin Huai is at the final stage of gradual accumulation and sudden outburst.

He doesn't need to learn anything new or any new techniques; he just needs to continually consolidate what he has learned before, building an even more sophisticated foundation.

This is also why Master Zhou has been smiling at Qin Huai recently, impressed by his insightfulness, his understanding of what he needs to do, his diligence, and his incredible perseverance and willpower.

As he thinks of Lao San.

Master Zhou can't help but sigh.

"Master Zhou, what's up?" Qin Huai asks, looking towards the Four Happiness Flower Rolls next door as he follows Master Zhou's gaze.

Since Master Zhou never manages what Zhao Cheng'an does with snacks, Cheng'an has always been free to do what he wants. Previously, it was doing whatever was simple, but now...

Doing whatever Qin Huai excels at.

The day before yesterday he made Three Meat Buns all day, yesterday he made Four Happiness glutinous rice all day, and today all day Four Happiness Flower Rolls.

It's just that Zhao Cheng'an still doesn't know how to make Double Crab Bun, otherwise when crabs are in season two months later, Zhiwei Restaurant would likely be filled with the aroma of Double Crab Buns.

Even Qin Huai, who is daily lost in honing his skills, faintly senses that Zhao Cheng'an is becoming a bit abnormal.

Upon thinking about it, it makes sense; being a Mayfly, naturally lazy, likes continually trying new things, experiencing life as a spirit. Zhao Cheng'an, as a Mayfly not short of money, is already admirable by being willing to go to work; asking him to start work at seven every morning is almost like asking him to reincarnate.

Qin Huai feels he should say something for Zhao Cheng'an.

"Brother Cheng'an's Four Happiness Flower Rolls look quite beautiful. I only saw him make Cloud Pattern pastry before and knew he could make Cloud Pattern. To see the patterns made so well is unexpected; his Cloud Pattern is much better than mine." Qin Huai says.

Master Zhou replies, "Lao San followed Master Tan and learned skills for a few years back then, otherwise how could he and Xiao Tan be good friends? Cloud Pattern is Master Tan's specialty, so naturally, Lao San learned it."

"But this pastry... why is it still so heavy with craftsmanship?" Master Zhou looks at the Four Happiness Flower Rolls, puzzled.

Qin Huai has no rebuttal to Master Zhou's words.

Zhao Cheng'an's snacks are indeed heavy with craftsmanship. His direction, thinking, and preferences are similar to Qin Huai's, but he lacks one crucial thing—he hasn't seen Jiang Chengde's snacks.

In his first lifetime, he certainly saw them, but now Zhao Cheng'an doesn't remember.

Because Qin Huai has seen the real version answer, his textbook-like snacks are the real deal. Zhao Cheng'an hasn't seen the version answer, and his subconscious from his first lifetime leads him in this direction, but he hasn't seen the real textbook, making his snacks like a knock-off edition.

A reproduction.

At first glance, it seems okay, but on closer inspection, something feels off.

Qin Huai can only express helpless support unless Zhao Cheng'an wakes up and recalls the memories of the first lifetime, or the Bai'an World births a stunning genius to create a batch of guaranteed S-level snacks for Zhao Cheng'an to see; otherwise, the likelihood of Zhao Cheng'an having a flash of insight is truly low.

"He's been pondering going abroad to play these days, really can't settle his heart." Master Zhou can only sigh, "Going abroad certainly isn't possible; it's only been a short while since he returned. However, next month there's an exchange event on that side of Beiping; maybe he can go."

"Xiao Qin, are you going to go with Lao San?" Master Zhou asks.