CHAPTER 810: CHAPTER 407: MASTER ZHOU

Qin Huai Guang quickly changed clothes and found that the size was just right. After tidying up the hem a bit and fixing his hair to look more formal, Qin Huai straightened his back and walked outside.

Master Zhou was still standing at the changing room door waiting for him. When Qin Huai came out, Master Zhou took a good look at him and showed a very satisfied expression, saying, "Follow me."

Qin Huai obediently followed behind Master Zhou, entering the back kitchen all the way.

The back kitchen of Zhiwei Restaurant was very large. As Su Qian had said, the back kitchen was divided into several areas. Baking, steaming snacks, preparing ingredients, and stoves were all in different areas. There were even two areas for preparing ingredients, one of which was relatively smaller and seemed to be dedicated to kneading dough and yeast.

The different areas were separated by transparent glass doors, with corridors connecting them. As Qin Huai Guang walked past the entrance to the smaller preparation area, he could feel that the temperature inside was slightly lower than other places.

Seeing Qin Huai glance several times at the preparation area, Master Zhou explained, "Some dough needs to ferment at a lower temperature. This place is only used to make some special snacks, and few people go inside."

As he spoke, Master Zhou didn’t stop walking, continuing to lead Qin Huai inward, until they reached the innermost door, which he directly pushed open and entered.

This was the largest area in the Zhiwei back kitchen. Qin Huai found it hard to describe what kind of area this was; maybe it was just... the normal back kitchen of a restaurant.

It was the kind that would appear in TV dramas, the normal back kitchen of a restaurant everyone imagines: clean, orderly, well-organized, populous yet not chaotic, with a background noise that was not disruptive.

Whether it was the machines, culinary stations, or shelves, everything was distributed extremely reasonably. Everyone had their own tasks, concentrating on their work—kneading dough, cutting vegetables, preparing materials—all in an orderly manner.

Qin Huai could even instantly recognize who were the apprentices, who were the direct disciples, and who were the master chefs. This area was like a giant hive, with all types and ranks of bees in plain view and clearly distinguishable.

In relatively corner spots, those buried in chores like cutting vegetables, mincing meat, or organizing shelves, working diligently yet silently, and relatively younger in age, were obviously apprentices.

Of course, those not engaged in such chores but kneading dough, yet not positioned too much in corners, were also likely apprentices as Qin Huai could see.

Zhiwei Restaurant’s apprentices had a unique air about them—a daunting urgency of "if I don’t outperform you today, tomorrow I’ll be outperformed." This demeanor was hard to see among direct disciples and disciple reservists. With someone like Tan Wei’an, it went without saying, even Guli, the superstar of competition, just gave off a vibe of enjoying the challenge, and no one was forcing him.

The direct disciples and disciples in reserve were spread throughout the area, each attending to their tasks of making snacks. They were serious, focused, and competitive but relatively calm—not with the urgency of failing today and packing up to leave tomorrow.

As for the master chefs, they were obvious at a glance.

Su Qian was right; the competition at Zhiwei was for apprentices and disciples, definitely not for master chefs. Every master chef visibly exuded relaxation and ease.

Whether making snacks, scouting for potential talents, supervising their disciples’ snack-making, or conducting teaching, the restful demeanor of each master chef was palpable and overflowing.

In a certain sense, Tan Wei’an’s status at Huang Ji and Yunzhong Restaurant was much like that of a master chef, but it was unclear where he learned that.

Master Zhou entered first, and the apprentice near the door, seeing Master Zhou return, didn’t speak but respectfully nodded, which might be the apprentices’ way to show respect to the master chefs at Zhiwei.

Qin Huai followed Master Zhou, naturally attracting considerable attention.

The back kitchen buzzed with curiosity upon seeing the newcomer led by Master Zhou, with some apprentices casting curious glances at Qin Huai.

Some people’s gazes were slightly restrained, pretending they just happened to look up. Others didn’t hide it at all, even stopping their tasks to stare at Qin Huai.

Master Zhou openly displayed his preferences, glancing lightly at the distracted apprentices, casting a disdainful look at the dough they were kneading, then took a few steps forward and remarked lightly and sarcastically:

"Hiring standards are dropping every year; even those working with cement have been recruited."

Qin Huai: ...

That apprentice’s dough was indeed poorly kneaded, but not to the point of deserving this from Master Zhou—is this how you speak normally?

Of course, Master Zhou just glanced this once. His gaze was precious and not to be wasted on apprentices still struggling with basic dough kneading.

Qin Huai closely followed Master Zhou, quickening his pace as Master Zhou walked faster, arriving at an empty culinary station.

"This is your culinary station," Master Zhou said. "You’ve seen the areas we passed by: baking is in area 3, steaming is in area 2. Su Qian told me you usually make snacks without machines. Most machines are concentrated in area 4. If you don’t know how to use the machines, you can directly ask Su Qian."

"Normally, visiting chefs bring their own people. If you feel understaffed, you can choose a few people you’re familiar with to assist you, whether it’s Tan Wei’an or Guli. If you want Su Qian, he can temporarily assist you as well."

"I heard from Su Qian that you like Pu’er, Longjing, Tieguanyin, and Phoenix Dancong. The tea levels of those who went to Huang Ji before weren’t good enough. I’ll pick someone to make tea for you later."

"We don’t have meat chefs in Zhiwei; employee meals are somewhat less compared to Huang Ji, and are generally ordered. Boss Su is responsible for ordering meals. Later, you can contact him to tell him your preferred dishes and tastes, and he will arrange meals to your satisfaction."

"If you have something particular you want to eat, you must tell him at least a day in advance, but it’s best not to eat potent-smelling foods. If you insist on having something like snail noodles or stinky tofu, you might need to eat outside; Zhiwei has regulations against consuming them in the restaurant."

Qin Huai nodded continually, only realizing after Master Zhou finished and looked at him that he was being familiarized with the working environment and being introduced to the basics of Zhiwei.

Wow, am I receiving such high treatment? To actually have the boss of Zhiwei personally take me to my workstation.

This is like being greeted by the chairman of the board on the first day of work for a new employee!

Seeing Master Zhou had no intention of leaving, Qin Huai was momentarily puzzled, opening and closing his mouth unsure whether he should say some flattering words, polite words, or something else.

Right after Qin Huai politely said, "Alright, Master Zhou, I understand, and I apologize for troubling you to tell me these things," Master Zhou spoke again.

"I heard your guo’er is made with Huang Shengli, with him handling the filling and you doing the other processes, and you can’t independently make this snack."

"Yes." Qin Huai confirmed.

"I also heard you made a complicated, unnecessary but tasty mixed fruit filling glutinous rice ball, and the Four Happiness glutinous rice is now your signature snack. Even Xu Cheng praised it and wanted to write a feature about you."

"It’s not that good, but the Four Happiness glutinous rice indeed is my signature snack now."

"I also heard your Green Bean Cake is very distinctive."

"It indeed sells well."

"Any progress on the Three Meat Buns?"

"A little bit, I haven’t practiced them much recently."

"I know, recently you’ve been practicing that Double Crab Bun."

Qin Huai: ...? Where did Master Zhou learn all this from, his information was so accurate—did he have monitoring on him?

Master Zhou just quietly watched Qin Huai.

At this point, Qin Huai understood Master Zhou’s meaning.

"Maybe... I could make some of the snacks I’m good at right now, and you could taste them for me?"

Master Zhou’s mood instantly improved, nodding with a smile, "Sure."