The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 53 Randomly Dropped Master Zheng (asking for monthly tickets!)
After the business hours ended at noon, Qin Huai confirmed the time for an afternoon video call with Zheng Da on WeChat. He first made the buckwheat buns that Chen Huihui wanted to eat, and then started making locust flower buns at 2:.

In order to make this video exchange go more smoothly, Qinhuai sent Qin Luo, who has the best video shooting skills, the best photo retouching skills, and the best at magnifying the lens to take close-ups, to serve as the photographer.

"Master Zheng, can you please take a look at this angle?" Qin Huai waved at the camera of his mobile phone, "Is it clear? Can you see everything on the stage?"

"Okay, the camera can be closer." Zheng Da said.

Qin Luo took two more steps forward.

"Okay, okay, this distance is perfect." Zheng Da's voice came from the phone again.

Qin Luo held up his phone and looked at Qin Huai for help: "Brother, your locust flower buns are baking so slowly, I won't have to hold this phone up for two or three hours, right?"

"Come on, believe in yourself. Tomorrow our cafeteria will temporarily take out the hand-made lemon tea for a day, and I will make four-happiness dumplings for you." Qin Huai encouraged.

Qin Luo instantly became energetic and said that a mere two or three hours was nothing to worry about. She had spent more than that amount of time just beating lemons with her hands every day in the past few days.

Why did Qin Luo work so hard to beat lemons these days? It was to exercise his hand muscles and strengthen his hand strength so that he could hold the phone better today!
Qin Luo held up his phone with sharp eyes.

"This is fresh acacia honey produced this year." Qin Huai showed the camera a jar of honey and scooped out a few spoonfuls of honey to dissolve it in warm water. "When using honey to ferment the dough, the amount of honey must be small. After trying it for a while, I think it should be about this amount."

Zheng Da on the other end of the phone nodded involuntarily.

"This noodle is the unsifted gray flour that my grandfather asked someone to grind in the countryside, mixed with a small amount of buckwheat flour."

Qin Luo gave a close-up of gray noodles and buckwheat noodles.

"Now I'm going to start kneading the dough."

Qin Luo quickly turned the camera to Qin Huai's hands, and adjusted the angle from time to time to ensure that Zheng Da on the other end of the phone could see the hand movements from all angles.

Thus began an extraordinary video consultation.

Most of the time, Qin Huai was the one who spoke, and he raised his own questions while he spoke, such as -

"The biggest problem I'm facing now is that honey fermentation can be successful, but I can't get a very ideal result. I think the problem lies not only in the fermentation process, but also in many other aspects. For example, when kneading dough, I use cold water, but I don't know how to control the temperature of the cold water. Should I use cold water at room temperature in summer or add extra ice cubes to lower the water temperature? Master Zheng, have you done any research on this?"

Zheng Da replied: "The temperature of the water generally depends on the room temperature of the day. When it is sunny, the water is cool, and when it is cool, the water is hot. There is no specified range. It mainly depends on your own feeling."

Another example:

"Look at the process of me kneading the dough. Are there any obvious problems?"

Zheng Da replied: "The technique is very good, the speed is fast, the efficiency is high, the dough is smooth and elastic, and the three-light is done very perfectly. But your dough is made of gray flour mixed with buckwheat flour. I feel that you kneaded it a little too soft and hard. It would be better if it was softer. Don't use brute force, use cleverness."

Qin Huai replied: "I have tried softer ones, but they don't make the dough rise very well."

Zheng Da: "Really? What about the harder ones?"

“Worse.”

"This really needs to be studied. In theory, softer ones would be better."

Qin Luo, who was filming with his mobile phone, felt that these two people were talking too much nonsense.

The same old things are repeated over and over again.

Zheng Da asked if this was okay, but Qin Huai said no.

Zheng Da asked again if this was okay, and Qin Huai said it was not okay either.

Zheng Da sighed and said: Oh, it turns out that none of them work. Then I don’t know what to do. Let me think about it. Qin Huai said: OK, thank you for your hard work. I am also thinking about this problem.

After three hours, no solution was given, but there was a lot of chat. Zheng Dalian knew where Yunzhong Canteen was located, what the signature dishes were, which dim sum were the most popular, and that the person holding the phone to take the photo was Qin Huai's sister Qin Luo.

Qinhuai was not bad either, and Zheng Da's family situation was well known. Zheng Da had a son and a daughter. His son Zheng Siyuan inherited his craft and opened a pastry shop. He also had a senior brother named Huang who opened a restaurant in Gusu.

While waiting for the locust flower buns to be steamed, the two chatted happily. Zheng Da even slapped his thigh and immediately thanked Qin Luo for his hard work in holding the phone. Uncle Zheng asked the factory to ship dozens of boxes of different kinds of snacks in the evening and sent them to Qin Luo as snacks.

For the sake of dozens of boxes of snacks, Qin Luo held up his phone conscientiously to ensure that their conversation could go smoothly.

"Xiao Qin, your basic skills in case-solving are very good. You have been learning this since childhood, right? How old were you when you started learning it?" After a few hours, Zheng Da and Qin Huai's tone of voice became much more cordial.

Qin Huai thought for a moment and said, "Second grade of elementary school... around 6 years old. I started school early."

Zheng Da nodded with satisfaction: "It's not too late. It seems that your family takes it very seriously. My son is a few years older than you. He started practicing when he was over 5 years old, but your skills are better than his. Both the kneading movements and the control of time are better than his."

"I'll send you my son's WeChat account later. You two can communicate more on WeChat."

Qin Huai received another WeChat message from a colleague, so he was naturally willing and nodded: "Thank you, Master Zheng, your son too..."

"Like you, I also opened a small shop and worked as a dim sum chef. Yes, Siyuan's shop is also located at the entrance of the community, what a coincidence."

Zheng Da said, feeling that it was fate, he sat up straight and asked about Qin Huai's other situation: "Xiao Qin, are you in love?"

Qin Huai:?
Qin Huai shook his head: "No."

Zheng Da sighed and said, "Why are all of you young people like this now? My son is the same. But you are still young and there is no need to rush. My son is already 29 years old and is approaching his thirties. He still has no interest in finding a partner. It really worries me to death."

Qin Huai comforted him: "Master Zheng, you don't have to worry too much. Finding a partner is a matter of nature. Finding the right one is the most important thing. There is no rush."

Zheng Da suddenly felt relieved and said with emotion: "Why call me Master Zheng? It's so formal. Just call me Uncle Zheng!"

As they were talking, the locust flower buns in the steamer were about to be taken out of the pot.

Qin Huai has already seen it.

【Sophora japonica steamed buns C-grade】

Maybe because I was distracted while talking and making the buns, the locust flower buns didn’t even get a C grade this time, but directly a C-.

Qin Huai opened the lid of the steamer. Amid the rising hot steam, Qin Luo frantically wiped the lens to make sure Zheng Da could see the locust flower buns clearly.

"It really doesn't look good." Zheng Da sighed, and at the same time he was a little confused, "It shouldn't be like this. Xiao Qin, your cooking skills are quite good, and the steamed buns you make shouldn't be like this."

"This is also the reason why I have been confused." Qin Huai said, "Based on the recipe I saw and the description in the recipe, the successful version of Sophora japonica steamed buns should be very amazing."

"The surface is as smooth as pure fine grain steamed bread, without pores, and the taste is slightly sweet with a hint of acacia honey. The texture is soft, and because it is mixed with buckwheat flour, you can taste the toughness of buckwheat."

"At the same time, the buns must be elastic."

“But these are very different from the finished products I made.”

Zheng Da was very silent for a while. "Xiao Qin, I'll be honest with you, I've only heard of the locust flower buns you mentioned, but I've never seen them. But I believe they do exist, and looking at the steps you just did, I can't really fault them."

"How about this, if you don't mind, send me the exact location and I'll go there tomorrow."

"It's still a little bit difficult to watch on the phone, so I'll watch it on site to see if I can find a solution."

Qin Huai was really surprised to hear Zheng Da say that he wanted to come in person. Although the two had just had a good chat, it was the first day they met after all, and they met through an intermediary.

To be honest, Qin Huai and Zheng Da's relationship is not as close as the office workers who come to Yunzhong Canteen to grab buns every day.

Zheng Da made a special trip from afar just because he couldn't find the solution by watching the video. His enthusiasm is no less than Chen Huihong!

"Is it too much trouble for you?" Qin Huai blurted out.

"No trouble." Zheng Da waved his hand. "I don't have much to do anyway. I'm not like Siyuan at home who has a pastry shop and has to make and sell pastries every day. My factory doesn't need my management. I just need to check the accounts regularly."

"I haven't encountered such an interesting thing in a long time. Xiao Qin, send me the address and I will be there tomorrow."

"It's a good opportunity for me to try your locust flower steamed buns, which have some problems, and what they taste like."

The video call ends.

Qin Luo put down his phone, shook his arms which had been sore and numb for a long time, and asked: "Brother, will Zheng Bo really come tomorrow?"

As soon as dozens of boxes of snacks came out, Qin Luo even called Zheng Bo.

"I think so." Qin Huai was not very sure. Maybe it was just as Zheng Da said, he had money, free time and leisure, so it was not strange for him to make a special trip when he came across something interesting.

There are quite a few wealthy and idle elderly people in the Yunzhong community. Just look at Luo Jun and you will know that his hobby is to order takeout with real names and give bad reviews. It’s normal that you can’t understand it.

What Qin Huai didn't expect was that Zheng Da not only came the next day, but also came quite early.

10 a.m. is one of the quietest times of the day in Yunzhong Canteen.

At this time, the three-ding buns, five-ding buns and fermented glutinous rice steamed buns have been sold out. Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong have finished work and went back to take a lunch break. Qinhuai's dim sum is still being made. The chefs have just arrived and started preparing the dishes. The waiters can still slack off and chat.

In the cafeteria, apart from a few bored uncles and aunts who were sitting in the lobby on the first floor chatting while waiting for the snacks to be out of the oven, there were also convenience store owners who had to wear masks and sneak into the cafeteria in the middle of summer to take a look at what random snacks had dropped that day.

Today Qinhuai made honey three-knife cake, Dingsheng cake, jujube paste yam cake, donkey rolls and purple rice cake.

Regular customers who come to buy dim sum often know that donkey rolls are a classic dim sum.

There was no other way. Qin Huai had to make four-happiness dumplings for Qin Luo today, so he could only be lazy and make some donkey rolls to make up the number.

Among all the dim sum made by Qinhuai, Four-Happiness Dumplings is the most complicated.

The diners waiting for dim sum on the first floor didn't know yet that their beloved Chef Qin was secretly cooking for his sister in the back kitchen.

The four-happiness dumplings have started to be steamed.

Qin Luo was chewing on donkey rolls while squatting beside the steamer waiting. Thinking that not only did he not have to make hand-beaten lemon tea today, but he also had a separate stove to eat from, he almost laughed out loud.

At this moment, a middle-aged, slightly overweight man, who was obviously wealthy and exuded the scent of money, pushed the door and walked in.

"Excuse me, is Master Qin Huai here?" the man asked.

Xu Tuqiang, who was sitting at the door chatting and bragging, glanced at the middle-aged man.

Versace jacket, Valentino inner wear, Givenchy pants, Lang Danze shoes, LV socks, Balenciaga sunglasses, not a single thing on the body matches.

Xu Tuqiang took a look at the Givenchy suit he was wearing and felt that he had lost.

"Master Qin is in the kitchen. Do you have something to talk to him about?" Xu Tuqiang asked. As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Huai walked out of the kitchen quickly.

"Uncle Zheng, you came so early. Why didn't you tell me on WeChat?" Qin Huai said with a smile.

Zheng Da said loudly and cheerfully, "Dim sum chefs are always the busiest in the morning. It would be a waste of time if I asked you to pick me up. But your shop is quite big. When we video chatted yesterday, I thought it was just the kitchen. It's much better than my son's pastry shop."

"This is the cafeteria. Brother Zheng runs a special pastry shop. They are different."

"I sent you Siyuan's WeChat yesterday. Did you add him?"

"Added." Qin Huai said.

"Let's go into the kitchen...Are you going into the kitchen to change clothes? Give me one, so I can see what's going on with this locust flower bun." After Zheng Da said that, he started looking for a changing room.

Qin Huai went to find clothes for Zheng Da, and said as he looked: "Zheng Bo, I may not be able to do it now, I haven't finished making the snacks on hand."

"It's no big deal. I'll help you with it!" Zheng Da said confidently, "What snacks are you having today?"

"Honey three-knife, Dingsheng cake, jujube paste yam cake, donkey roll and purple rice cake. Donkey roll is ready."

Zheng Da: ...

Xiao Qin has learned quite a lot.

He hasn't done the Mi Sanda for many years. If he fails, wouldn't he ruin his reputation?
"We have all kinds of ingredients in the kitchen, right?" Zheng Da asked.

"Yes." Qin Huai nodded.

"That's fine. Uncle Zheng will make you a few batches of his specialty so you can have a taste of Uncle Zheng's cooking skills!"

"I'm not bragging to you, my fresh meat mooncakes, crispy cakes, Dingsheng cakes, Yunpian cakes, flower cakes, eight-treasure cakes, Qiaoguo, and lard hibiscus cakes are all unique in Suzhou! When I was working in a state-owned restaurant, they were so hard to come by that people had to queue up to buy them!" Zheng Da began to boast with full energy.

"Come on, I'll show you my skills!"

Zheng Da took the clothes Qin Huai handed over and went to the dressing room to change.

The old man next to Xu Tuqiang stared at Zheng Da's figure entering the locker room, somewhat confused as to what was going on. He tilted his head and asked Xu Tuqiang, "Old Xu, what's going on? Who is this person? Is he from Suzhou... a friend of Wang Laogen?"

Xu Tuqiang was not sure either. After thinking for a while, he said, "Wang Laogen was indeed very mysterious some time ago. He said he was looking for a master craftsman from Gusu. I guess it was Wang Laogen who found him."

"Could it be the new dim sum chef hired by the cafeteria? Isn't Chef Qin recruiting people? He must be here to apply for the job."

Others exclaimed: "You are so rich and yet you come to apply for a job."

"Who knows? Wang Laogen is so rich yet he's still stingy."

This chapter is two in one～

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(End of this chapter)