Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1224 587: Recent Plans

Although the game system forcibly erased Zhou Hu's memory, Qin Huai still has the achievement of [Zhou Hu's Approval], and having a reward is better than none. After calming his emotions slightly, Qin Huai clicked on Zhou Hu's Approval to see its effects.

[Zhou Hu's Approval]: An endorsement from the fortune-teller master Zhou Hu; with this, you will more easily obtain free, possibly useless, talisman papers gifted by Zhou Hu, and receive various services like feng shui consultations, examining burial sites, matching birthdates, free funeral planning, free investigations, and free online chats to win back an ex.

Qin Huai: ?

Does Zhou Hu offer such comprehensive services?

Truly worthy of a master; his skill set is impressive, even including online chats to win back an ex.

After reviewing [Zhou Hu's Approval], Qin Huai glanced at the illustration panel, noticing that Luo Jun hadn't reincarnated yet, and briefly browsed Wang Gen Sheng and Zhou Hu's status, finding no changes compared to before, so he closed the game panel.

Currently, among the spirits Qin Huai knows, only Zhou Hu and Wang Gen Sheng haven't awoken.

Based on the status and viewed memories, Qin Huai feels Wang Gen Sheng should awaken soon; if all goes well, he has at most two more memories. Shi Dadan might trigger some side quests, perhaps dropping memories related to Xu Nuo. As for Zhou Hu...

The lousy game doesn't provide memories.

Considering Zhou Hu's current status and residence, Qin Huai thinks it's reliable to focus on boosting Wang Gen Sheng's favorability before the year ends, to see if other side quests can be triggered through him.

After Luo Jun's funeral ended, Cheng Gong and Zhao Cheng'an returned home.

Cheng Gong played mahjong at the funeral parlor for six days with Chen Huihong and others, staying up all night playing mahjong and sleeping during the day, severely impacting his dedication to President Han. Once Luo Jun's funeral concluded, Cheng Gong booked the earliest flight back to A City.

Zhao Cheng'an actually didn't want to return; he wanted to stay in Shan City for a few more days, but the circumstances didn't allow it. Master Zhou ordered him to return immediately, forbidding slacking off; he had already spent enough time away this year, and with some newly acquired skills, he shouldn't let his mind wander again.

Qin Huai feels Zhao Cheng'an is like a kid studying; during school, teachers and the school manage him well, but as soon as vacation starts, he lets loose. Normally, this would be fine if Zhao Cheng'an was in a regular job, but being a chef requires continuous learning, as stagnating leads to regress, and it's quite surprising someone like Mayfly chose to be a pastry master.

Gong Liang also left Shan City and returned to Gusu five days after Luo Jun's funeral, as his daughter's competition concluded.

Sometimes, Chen Huihong laments how the previous liveliness felt like a dream. When Luo Jun was alive, Chen Huihong could visit Luo Jun's house daily for free fruit, and they would gather for tea parties from time to time; now that Luo Jun is waiting in line for reincarnation, Chen Huihong can't get free fruit, and the tea parties have ceased.

Feeling overly bored, Chen Huihong began urging Qin Huai to push this side quest forward to wake up Zhou Hu and Wang Gen Sheng quickly, allowing new members to join the [Loving Family] group chat so that everyone has topics to discuss.

Chen Huihong loves sharing various news and messages in group chats; when she shared random things, Luo Jun would scold her, creating discussions in the chat. Now that Luo Jun is absent, Chen Huihong feels the chat has become much more boring.

Qin Huai acknowledges that Chen Huihong makes a valid point.

According to the progression of a novel, Wang Gen Sheng and Zhou Hu should awaken by now. Considering the game's system erased Zhou Hu's memory, Zhou Hu waking up might be more difficult, so Wang Gen Sheng, who appeared earlier and had a major role, is likely to awaken first.

Because Zhou Hu lives too far away, he has to sign off temporarily, leaving Qin Huai to focus all his energy on Wang Gen Sheng.

Now the question arises: when Qin Huai wants to boost someone's favorability to trigger tasks, what method does he usually use?

There's only one answer.

Feeding.

Feeding like crazy.

As a pastry master, Qin Huai's way of boosting someone's favorability is extremely straightforward: making the snacks the person loves. If he doesn't know what they love, he makes what he excels at.

This method works wonders for normal people and even better on Wang Gen Sheng.

Uncle Wang is a man of high moral standards who firmly believes in reciprocity.

Dining in the kitchen made Uncle Wang feel immensely grateful, especially after Cheng Gong and Gong Liang left and only Ouyang and Shi Dadan remained to dine with him. Uncle Wang felt even more undeserving.

He often pondered late at night about how he could dine in the kitchen, being the first to eat Master Qin's freshly made treats—even though he didn't have much appetite.

Compared to Ouyang and Shi Dadan, his appetite barely qualifies for tasting duty.

Indeed, Wang Gen Sheng wanted to challenge his appetite, but given his age, he didn't dare, as it could easily lead to hospitalization.

Wang Gen Sheng believes the biggest appetite among his peers belongs to Xu Tuqiang. However, for some unknown reason, Xu Tuqiang dined in the kitchen for a few days before leaving, causing Wang Gen Sheng to find it difficult to face him for some time, unsure of how to explain dining in the kitchen.

This anxiety worsened as Qin Huai's feeding grew more diligent.

Finally, on the first day of December, Uncle Wang couldn't hold it anymore.

Wang Gen Sheng directly asked Qin Huai: "Master Qin, does Huang Ji's account need someone to sort it out?"

Wang Gen Sheng thinks his only skill as someone with forty years of accounting experience is sorting accounts.

Recently, Wang Gen Sheng even suspected Qin Huai wanted him to help with fraudulent accounts, but this suspicion lasted only a moment before he sharply dismissed it and slapped his own face twice to condemn himself for doubting the kind Master Qin.

Given how messed up Huang Ji's account is, Master Qin tasked him with sorting it; such a person could never commit fraud! He wouldn't even know how!

Once Wang Gen Sheng asked this, Qin Huai knew his long-awaited opportunity had arrived.

Qin Huai had been waiting for Wang Gen Sheng to take initiative.

After so much interaction, Qin Huai had some understanding of Wang Gen Sheng's personality; Uncle Wang was a typical character who needs external motivation to act.

Once he moves, gains follow.

In essence, Uncle Wang is a very passionate person like Gong Liang. However, Gong Liang is extroverted while Wang Gen Sheng is more introverted. When Qin Huai couldn't find a way to trigger Wang Gen Sheng's emotions and initiate side quests, he could only make Wang Gen Sheng take the initiative.

Now, the timing has come.

Qin Huai subtly displayed a slightly troubled expression.

Wang Gen Sheng immediately took the bait, anxiously asking: "Master Qin, tell me anything I can help with. Given our relationship, as long as you speak up, I'll help as much as I can!"

Sitting by the small table, munching Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns, Ouyang raised his head, watching intently while munching.

"Here's the thing, Uncle Wang; you know my personality. I'm the kind of person who, without requests, struggles to initiative making snacks actively."

Wang Gen Sheng: ?

Ouyang: ? My friend, are you speaking coherent words? I understand each word, but can't make sense of them together.

"Luoluo has been quite busy with studies lately."

"Previously, when making new snacks, I used to make whatever Luoluo wanted to eat; but Uncle Wang, you might have noticed I haven't made new snacks recently because I'm uncertain about what to make."

"Do you have any particular snacks you wish to eat?"

"In other words, do you have snacks of special importance, symbolic meaning, or deep impressions from past experiences? Something you've tasted before, unavailable now, but know its nature and can describe roughly how it tasted, so I could recreate it."

"I'm really in need of such a snack."

"It's been a long time since I made new snacks, and my game system hasn't assigned any side quests for ages. I genuinely need a new side quest to learn making new snacks."

Wang Gen Sheng was stunned.

Ouyang was also stunned.

Ouyang thought his good friend Qin Huai hadn't displayed symptoms for a long time; he assumed Qin Huai's condition had improved, but it turned out he was holding something big back.

Ouyang whispered to Shi Dadan: "Doesn't Qin Huai need to see a doctor for this... condition?"

Shi Dadan calmly ate buns without reacting. "Condition? What condition? Is Master Qin feeling unwell lately?"

Ouyang: ...

Wang Gen Sheng fell into a prolonged silence; Qin Huai hoped this would immediately trigger a new side quest, but it didn't.

After about three minutes, Wang Gen Sheng slowly spoke: "Master Qin, give me some time to think."

"I should be able to come up with a good snack."

Qin Huai kindly reassured him: "Uncle Wang, don't stress too much; I was just speaking casually."

"If you think of something, just let me know. If you don't, there's no need to force it."

Wang Gen Sheng nodded firmly: "Rest assured, Master Qin. Although my memory isn't the best nowadays, I'll definitely recollect something!"