CHAPTER 576: CHAPTER 307: THE POOREST SPIRIT (PART 2)

Qin Huai was deep in thought, wondering if Zheng Da’s lack of words was because he was too insightful, too perceptive, thus unable to articulate anything. Maybe he’s not tongue-tied but simply too brilliant. Just as Qin Huai was pondering this, Cao Guixiang’s gentle tone suddenly turned stern, like a principal discovering you’d altered your uniform after warmly asking about your lunch and comfort just moments ago.

"Daydreaming again, aren’t you listening to me? Your ears can hear me, but your mind shouldn’t be wandering. Your attention isn’t fully on the cutting board. If your hand hadn’t paused just now, you would have cut your hand twice."

"It seems this business trip affected you. You should find a strict mentor to watch over you every day."

Qin Huai: ...

Qin Huai said helplessly, "Master Cao, you’re fishing for enforcement again!"

Cao Guixiang smiled and said, "All’s fair in war, right?"

"Since your hand stopped, come take a look at how I’m kneading the dough. By the way, does my phone’s camera have poor resolution? I think your phone’s camera is quite good. What’s the brand of your phone? Send over the brand; I’ll have my son replace mine in a couple of days."

Qin Huai quickly went over to look at the dough that Cao Guixiang had just kneaded.

At a distance from Qin Huai, on other culinary stations, Zheng Siyuan was diligently working as Master Xiao Zheng, ensuring everything went well for this afternoon’s and evening’s snacks.

If all goes well, Master Xiao Zheng’s name will spread through all of Yunzhong Restaurant’s foodie circle again tonight.

Pei Xing and Li Hua were secretly watching Zheng Siyuan make the snacks.

Neither of them was blind nor foolish; they could instantly see Zheng Siyuan’s high skill level, clearly well-trained, with standard movements, process regulation, and meticulous details.

At times like these, taking advantage of the moment to sneak a peek and learn a bit was a must.

"I have a question." Zheng Siyuan gently pinched the newly fermented dough and looked at Qin Huai, who was having an online class, somewhat puzzled. "Is Qin Huai always doing online classes like this recently?"

When Qin Huai was in a class, the kitchen crew wouldn’t disturb him and deliberately stayed far away, creating a vacuum zone around him.

This was done not only to avoid disturbing Qin Huai but also to prevent overhearing the details from his online class with the teacher, thus avoiding unintentional learning.

Pei Xing and Li Hua understood the general boundaries. They were aware that the skills of Cao Guixiang, who taught Qin Huai, were highly impressive, and just because Cao Guixiang was teaching Qin Huai didn’t mean she’d teach others.

In the kitchen, sneaking some skills by watching others’ movements was acceptable, but brazenly eavesdropping when a master taught their apprentice was unscrupulous and frowned upon several decades ago.

"Seems like it." Pei Xing was puzzled as to why Zheng Siyuan asked this, "We’ve heard from Master Qin that the one teaching him, Master Cao, is a retired master from his hometown. Master Qin met her during the New Year, and she felt his knife skills were lacking, so she’s taken some time to guide him."

In the end, Pei Xing didn’t forget to add, "Master Cao is really a passionate person."

Zheng Siyuan nodded and continued to ask, "Has Qin Huai’s knife skills improved greatly?"

Pei Xing and Li Hua were challenged to answer this question. Though Qin Huai practiced his knife skills daily, he rarely took on cutting duties during official work hours.

Judging by Pei Xing and Li Hua’s skills, they recognized some improvement in Qin Huai’s knife skills—noticeable progress, yet still at a beginner’s level of improvement. Grasping the nuances, like correct methodologies or accuracy in knife-gripping stance, or assessing if this improvement was notable for Qin Huai’s age, was beyond them.

Pei Xing stammered for quite a while and eventually, the more knife-skilled Li Hua said, "Master Qin’s knife-holding technique is completely different now."

This implied Qin Huai had discarded old habits and started from scratch.

Zheng Siyuan was somewhat shocked.

But he didn’t say much, just nodded and continued making snacks, finishing up the batches he had before washing his hands and heading to the changing room to text his dad, Zheng Da.

Zheng Siyuan: Found out that Qin Huai’s knife skills mentor is an elderly female retiree. They met during New Year’s. She treasures talent and has time to guide Qin Huai daily.

Zheng Siyuan: Very professional, correcting Qin Huai’s knife grip, training him from basics. Dad, you don’t need to worry about him encountering an unreliable mentor.

Zheng Siyuan: I think this Master Cao is way more reliable than you, at least willing to spend hours supervising Qin Huai’s knife practice in online classes.

Zheng Siyuan: You don’t have to fret or worry constantly. With Master Cao, Qin Huai’s knife skills are in good hands.

Zheng Da, still vacationing in Sanya, replied instantly.

Zheng Da: How could anyone be more reliable than me? Is there another better-suited master for Xiao Qin? No matter how reliable this Master Cao is, she’s a meat cooking master, but Xiao Qin’s a pastry chef; he needs professional guidance from a pastry master like me.

Zheng Da: Although Xiao Qin likely won’t apprentice under me, I’ll forever be Xiao Qin’s Master Zheng and the original Master Zheng.

Zheng Da: Investigate further and report back.

Zheng Siyuan: Busy, no search, no report.

After sending the last message, Zheng Siyuan put his phone back into the locker and returned to the kitchen to continue working.

Having sent three more messages yet receiving no response from his son, Zheng Da: ...

The unfilial child!

Fine to slack on the blind date effort, and even as a war reporter doesn’t work properly, just stops after some intel gathering.

Unable to find anyone to vent to, Zheng Da could only phone his beloved senior brother, Huang Shengli, to complain.

While sipping tea, Huang Shengli listened indifferently to his junior brother’s complaints and then soulfully asked, "Didn’t you say you aren’t eager to be Xiao Qin’s mentor anymore?"

Zheng Da: "... Is it because Qin Huai is going to be on ’Taste’ again?"

"Though he refused, Xu Cheng gave him a permanent slot on ’Taste,’ something even I... don’t have such a privilege!"

In his words, Huang Shengli only heard deep jealousy, pure jealousy, ultimate jealousy.

Huang Shengli laughed heartily, "Doesn’t that clearly show you’re out of the game? Xiao Qin’s surpassed you."

Zheng Da: ...

Zheng Da angrily hung up.

Meanwhile, still chopping radish, Qin Huai wasn’t aware that Zheng Siyuan had finished being a war reporter and stopped. He continued chatting and casually chopping radish.

A gaming notification suddenly rang in his mind.

"Ding, congratulations player for completing the main quest [King of Signature Dishes], earning task rewards of popularity boost +1000, [An Youyou’s Dream]."

Qin Huai was dumbfounded.

?

??

???

Whose dream?

An Youyou?!

Qin Huai instinctively glanced back, seeing An Youyou happily frying radish cake, feeling that whether looking left or right, truly thinking or calmly analyzing, she didn’t seem like a spirit.

Are there spirits this normal?

Compared to An Youyou, Cheng Gong is definitely a spirit.

Not like this.

As a spirit, An Youyou’s struggles were too real, even working for herself.

Compared to An Youyou, Qu Jing seemed like a wealthy and successful spirit.

Cao Guixiang saw Qin Huai suddenly pause and asked, "What’s wrong, Xiao Qin?"

Qin Huai snapped back to reality, "Um... Master Cao, I’m sorry, I need to go to the restroom first."

After saying that, Qin Huai dashed off, leaving Cao Guixiang smiling helplessly.

Qin Huai sprinted to the restroom, opened the cubicle, shut the door, locked it swiftly, and opened the game panel to check the dictionary.

He unlocked a new dictionary entry.

The current dictionary column was now (7/12).

Surname: An Youyou

Species: Unknown

Status: Awakening

Memory: 1/?

Dish: None

Gift: None

The status was still awakening.

Qin Huai thought the restroom was safe, decided to check An Youyou’s memory here.

It had been a while since he’d looked at memory.

Cheng Gong’s memory was pigeonholed by the author.

Qin Huai clicked on [An Youyou’s Dream], choosing to proceed.

[Loading Dream—]