Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1192 570: Matchmaking (Part 2)

Under these circumstances, if Qin Huai directly tells Jiang Weiguo tomorrow: Mr. Jiang, guess what? It's such a coincidence! Do you remember Xia Mubing? The one who was Xia Sheng, Chen Qiusheng's apprentice, who worked for a time at Taifeng Building, I know him too.

He's gotten in touch with your aunt's son, your cousin. He's been looking for your family all these years, wanting to hand Taifeng Building over to you. I've finally found you for him now, you just need to go to Beiping, get the paperwork done, and you can get the family restaurant back.

Qin Huai figured that if he really said that tomorrow, he wouldn't need to finish before Jiang Weiguo's fist, as big as a sandbag, would smack his head, calling him a cheating fraud to get out.

People used to telecommunications fraud saying I'm Emperor, send money, or congratulations on winning five million, no one ever concocted a restaurant as a grand prize.

Thus, Qin Huai thought it might be better for Xia Mubing to speak to Chen about this. After all, An Youyou could be seen as reincarnated, but Xia Mubing is truly Xia Sheng.

But Xia Mubing said there was no rush.

"No rush? What do you mean by no rush? Does Master Xia not get along with Master Jiang? Did they fight when they were kids? It's not like they'd hold a grudge for that long, it's been what, 60 years since they last saw each other?"

"The Li Family isn't selling Taifeng Building, Master Xia can't buy it alone. Let Master Jiang go to Beiping and take over the building, then the two can reopen Taifeng Building together, wouldn't that be great?" Qin Huai was perplexed, "Even though Master Jiang's skills might be lacking, today when eating the braised meat I thought it was better than many chefs, but when compared to Master Huang's, it falls a bit short, much less to Master Xia's."

"If we consider Jiang Chengde's Level S locust flower buns, the skill wouldn't quite measure up, but isn't Master Xia there? I think Master Xia's cooking is Level S too."

"Today I did a little asking around, out of Master Jiang's five sons, only the third son Jiang Jiankang inherited his skills, running a small stir-fry restaurant in Z City. None of the grandchildren have learned cooking, but they're all good in academics, with his eldest grandson being the top scorer in the city's college entrance exam."

"Did you find it troublesome and not say anything, or did you not make yourself clear?" Qin Huai questioned.

"Heaven and earth can attest, I said it, I really did, I didn't alter a single word!" came Zhao Cheng'an's mournful voice from the other end of the phone, "Qin Huai, you're off gallivanting all over Shanghai, Gusu, Z City, wining and dining like it's paradise, do you know what kind of life I'm living?"

"I've been making snacks every day!"

"My master said my skills haven't rusted despite my long stay in Shan City this time, some problems have been addressed, showing progress, so I should strive further. Now I've got to make snacks for 12 hours a day, making snacks when I'm awake, making snacks when I'm asleep, I even gave up my gaming time to call Xia Mubing and you, do you think it's easy for me?"

"Is it really necessary to call for just those two sentences?" asked Qin Huai.

Zhao Cheng'an fell silent for over ten seconds, then said, "What's the harm in speaking some domestic dialogue among us brothers to enhance our bond? If you don't believe me, Qin Huai, I'll start a group voice call, I'll have Xia Mubing tell you himself!"

With that, Zhao Cheng'an hung up the phone.

The next second, a group voice call popped up in their three-person group chat among Qin Huai, Zhao Cheng'an, and Xia Mubing.

From the day it was created, no one ever spoke in that group, Xia Mubing and Zhao Cheng'an both used private messages, Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an too, and Qin Huai seldom talked to Xia Mubing.

Xia Mubing really wasn't into phone usage, didn't even have the habit of liking friends' posts, only liking Zhao Cheng'an's posts.

Qin Huai even suspected that Xia Mubing periodically checked Zhao Cheng'an's posts to see if he had forgotten to like anything.

Thirty-something seconds later, Xia Mubing answered, and Zhao Cheng'an immediately shouted, "Xia Sheng, quickly tell Qin Huai if I told you about him meeting Jiang Weiguo in Z City."

"You did." replied Xia Mubing.

This left Qin Huai truly puzzled, as he casually picked up a banana from the table and started eating, asking while eating: "Mr. Xia, don't you want to see Master Jiang?"

Xia Mubing's voice was a bit stifled: "I don't want to see him now."

"Why not?"

Xia Mubing paused: "I'm not ready."

"I've always wanted to buy Taifeng Building, but that was something from many years ago. At that time, I still had the energy and confidence to reopen Taifeng Building and reopen it well, but now, my physical condition makes even maintaining Fen Garden's daily operations challenging." Xia Mubing calmly spoke a rather harsh truth, "Even if I could buy Taifeng Building now, I wouldn't have the capacity to reopen it."

"I don't know Jiang Weiguo well, but I heard from my junior, you think his cooking is just ordinary."

"... It's not exactly ordinary, just… compared to Master Huang, it feels a bit lacking, but it's certainly something that could make it into the Chef Record, and it wouldn't rank too far behind." Qin Huai said.

"Then it's ordinary." Clearly, Xia Mubing had a different standard for ordinary than most chefs, "And he has no apprentice, only one son who inherited his skills."

"Seems so."

"Running a restaurant is a very complex task." Xia Mubing slowly said, "He needs skilled management personnel, an excellent head chef, a stable team, each with distinct features and standards that are above average chefs and helpers. Not to mention Beiping's mixed status, to run a restaurant, he must handle relationships with peers, new entrants can't blend easily. The Seventh Young Master... Jiang Weiguo currently doesn't have what it takes."

"Even if the Li Family gives him Taifeng Building, he still can't operate it now."

"I can't either right now, a lot of planning is required."

"Is he healthy?" asked Xia Mubing.

"He seems pretty well, private detectives couldn't find Master Jiang's health reports, but he hasn't had any major illnesses in recent years and rarely goes to the hospital. Today when we met, he seemed spirited, even raising pigs."

"There's time then." said Xia Mubing, "I'm not ready, and he's also not ready, when the time is right... I'll see him."

With that, Xia Mubing coughed twice.

"Master Xia, is your throat feeling uncomfortable?" Qin Huai asked with concern, feeling something odd about Xia Mubing's voice since he started speaking.

"Maybe it's the changing seasons." said Xia Mubing, "Xiao Hang will go to study Japanese cuisine next year, he won't be around to help at Fen Garden, so Fen Garden won't be able to entertain too many guests daily, giving me time to research related matters."

"You needn't worry too much about this, Xiao Qin, I have my reasons, Taifeng Building will surely return to the Jiang Family."

"Take care of your health." said Qin Huai.

Whether Taifeng Building would return to the Jiang family and whether it would reopen didn't actually matter much to Qin Huai, he was just playing the role of a bridge to prevent them from missing out.

To Qin Huai, what was more important was what to eat tomorrow.

An Youyou thought so too.

After researching Da yang, An Youyou began fantasizing about the next day's slaughtered pig feast.

"When I was a beggar, I also fantasized about getting rich one day, buying a whole pig for the New Year. Thirteen at the time said he could make the slaughtered pig feast, we discussed it, and I picked which parts I wanted."

"I want the pig head meat braised! I want the pig ears in red-braised!"

"I want whole pig trotters and hog knuckles, ribs I want a whole bone, can't have them separated tastes. Also want pork belly, red-braised pork, four joy meatballs!"

"And pig blood, Thirteen said sauerkraut-braised with pig blood is amazing, but unfortunately there was no sauerkraut back then."

"Boss, do you think we can eat all that tomorrow? Wouldn't Thirteen even make a big knuckle just for me to eat?"

Qin Huai wasn't very sure, considering Jiang Weiguo seemed rather calm today: "Maybe."

"Considering how far we've traveled to visit, getting a knuckle shouldn't be an issue."