Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 945 - 464: No Need to Eat So Fast

Xia Mubing doesn't understand, but he doesn't say anything.

After all, he is the boss, and Fen Garden is his restaurant. As long as he stands there expressionless watching Qin Huai knead the dough without saying a word, no one dares to ask him anything.

Xia Mubing watched by Qin Huai's side for five or six minutes, then turned his gaze to Zhao Cheng'an, frowning slightly.

It was because Zhao Cheng'an's level wasn't as high as Qin Huai's; to be precise, their skills were about the same, each having their own strengths. However, Qin Huai is like a prodigy who is constantly improving (increasing his skill level), and his performance is much more consistent than Zhao Cheng'an's. As a result, the snacks he makes always slightly surpass Zhao Cheng'an's.

If Zhao Cheng'an excels in making his specialty puff pastry snacks, he can also produce A-minus level ones.

Xia Mubing frowned because he noticed Zhao Cheng'an was clearly slacking off. He was doing very basic assistant tasks, which implied no difficulty. For Zhao Cheng'an, as the direct disciple of the top pastry chef in white-case cooking, having no difficulty meant slacking.

Seeing someone slacking off, Xia Mubing instinctively frowned.

"You're not making snacks?" Xia Mubing asked. Although his tone wasn't harsh, it was enough to make Zhao Cheng'an's hand tremble.

"I... I... What... What snacks was I supposed to make, Qin Huai?" Zhao Cheng'an was so scared his voice was shaking.

Qin Huai quickly came to his rescue: "Weren't you going to make brown sugar steamed buns? Brother Cheng'an, thanks for helping me handle these things. I'll take care of the rest. You can make whatever snacks you want to eat."

"Right, right, brown sugar steamed buns." Zhao Cheng'an slipped away, quickly finding a packet of brown sugar from the cabinet, showing that he had memorized where every ingredient was when he was pretending to work earlier.

Xia Mubing didn't say anything, he just stood by silently watching Zhao Cheng'an knead the dough for over ten minutes before speaking in a hoarse, low voice, "I just wanted to see your skills."

There was nothing special in his tone, but Qin Huai detected a hint of grievance and apology.

After saying that, Xia Mubing quietly left and went to the cooking table some distance away from them to prepare ingredients for the dinner.

Qin Huai instinctively looked at Zhao Cheng'an again, noticing that Zhao Cheng'an seemed not to have heard what Xia Mubing said, releasing a long breath as if relieved.

"Scared me to death," Zhao Cheng'an said softly to Qin Huai. "I felt a tension like a principal standing next to me while I was taking a test."

"Master Xia means no harm; I think he just genuinely wants to see our skills," Qin Huai defended Xia Mubing.

"I know, what harm could Master Xia want to do to us? We're not even meat chefs. Master Xia only ever scolds the meat chefs," Zhao Cheng'an said, showing an expectant expression. "What do you think we'll eat tonight?"

"If the dishes are better than yesterday's, I might be reluctant to eat the steamed buns."

Qin Huai: ...

You'd better eat them. If you don't eat the steamed buns, how am I supposed to complete my side quest?

"Don't overthink it, just make the snacks you're good at now. It's not often you get a chance to showcase in front of Master Xia; miss this chance and it's gone."

.

When Zhang Guanghang entered the kitchen, Qin Huai had already started making yam cake.

The sudden presence of two pastry chefs in the Fen Garden kitchen threw Zhang Guanghang off a bit, instinctively making him think he had walked into the wrong place. He stood there in a daze for a moment before realizing he was in the right place and walked over to Xia Mubing to help with some complex and delicate ingredients.

Zhang Guanghang noticed his master seemed a bit distracted.

Though his actions in handling ingredients seemed flawless, his demeanor seemed off, giving off a rather low air pressure, not quite angry, more like a guilty feeling after having done something wrong. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Zhang Guanghang observed this and noticed Xia Mubing occasionally raising his head to stare at Zhao Cheng'an's back.

Over by Zhao Cheng'an, after a bit of work, he would turn to say something to Qin Huai, unable to keep his mouth shut. It was the first time Zhang Guanghang had seen a chef in the kitchen who talked so much, as if he couldn't make snacks without talking.

Zhang Guanghang couldn't quite figure out what was going on but felt that this peculiar situation seemed oddly normal since his master had been acting strange since the previous night.

Qin Huai also noticed Xia Mubing's quiet glances at Zhao Cheng'an, not just Zhang Guanghang.

Having developed the skills to observe all around while selling buns at the Qin Family Breakfast Shop, Qin Huai could sweep any corner with his peripheral vision because the business was so busy that any negligence could cause problems.

Had it not been that Zhao Cheng'an wasn't awake, and Xia Mubing was 100% human, Qin Huai would have suspected Xia Mubing was actually a spirit, recognizing Zhao Cheng'an's desire to reconnect with a junior brother.

Qin Huai almost couldn't restrain his urge to ask Xia Mubing quietly: Master Xia, do you think Zhao Cheng'an resembles an old acquaintance of yours?

Of course, Qin Huai managed to keep that impulse in check.

Xia Mubing was getting on in years, and no matter how accepting he was, he wouldn't take it this well. If he got too agitated and collapsed, Qin Huai would be historically guilty in the most literal sense.

Zhang Guanghang, standing at 1.88 meters with the stature of a meat chef, might not be someone Qin Huai could take on.

But Qin Huai still wanted to do something. The chance to be this close to Xia Mubing might only happen today, and once Zhao Cheng'an's last segment of memory returns and he awakens, there should be some memories for the Mayfly to share with his brother.