Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1264 606: Road_2

"Oh, oh, I'll just have two." Zhang Chu quickly put down the oranges and poured himself a cup of tea as a tactical move.

"Master, do you think what I said is wrong?" Qin Huai asked.

Cao Guixiang put away her smile and looked at Qin Huai seriously, "Very right."

"A genius must have this confidence. It's not arrogance, it's confidence. I wasn't as talented as you when I was young, but I was even more confident. I believed I could learn every dish, that difficult skills were just a matter of time for me. There's nothing I can't do, and nothing I can't learn."

"Your Grandpa Zhang was the same. Ask him if you don't believe me. His master was the most famous carpenter in Beiping City back then. Even as an apprentice, he thought he could surpass him. When he was dating me, he often talked big, saying one day he'd become the most famous carpenter in Beiping City and how much he'd charge for crafting a piece of furniture. Surely, with his skills, he'd charge more than his master."

Zhang Chu blushed, "Those were things from my youth, youthful arrogance and ignorance."

"Was it true that you thought I wasn't confident enough before?" Qin Huai asked.

"Not really." Cao Guixiang continued knitting a sweater, "I just think you're not reckless enough. Young people should be a bit arrogant. Being arrogant means you can stumble and suffer. How can you stumble if you're not arrogant? How can you learn from falling? How can reality hit you hard if you're not taught a lesson? How can you be driven if reality doesn't hit you?"

Qin Huai: …

It sounds like Cao Guixiang has read quite a few feel-good novels over the years.

"So, have you determined your style now?" Cao Guixiang returned to the first question.

"I have."

"What is it?" Cao Guixiang was really curious. Qin Huai had mentioned his confirmed textbook style in a video call before, but Cao Guixiang didn't quite understand what this style actually entailed.

How should I put it, it's a bit too abstract.

As a chef with distinctive personal traits and style, Cao Guixiang believes a chef's style lies in creating something unique, but Qin Huai's so-called textbook style is precisely without any style or characteristics.

"Have you heard people say I'm not quite normal mentally?" Qin Huai asked.

"I can tell. Sometimes you mumble words like skill level, tasks, etc. When you were practicing knife skills at my place, you often seemed to be tapping something invisible, but it's not really abnormal."

"When practice amounts are high, mental stress can be severe. The fact that you didn't cry while practicing shows your mental resilience is already quite good."

"When my disciples and I were young, practicing basics often made us cry. Sometimes we'd dream while asleep, dreaming of practicing basics, and crying in those dreams."

"Your pillow never got wet."

Qin Huai: "…I've always imagined I have a system. This system is roughly like this, it has an attribute panel, it issues tasks, and…"

Previously, when Qin Huai introduced his system to others, he explained in very general terms, a brief mention was enough to make others aware he might occasionally "have episodes" and open the game panel. However, since last time in the Gusu nursing home detailing his system to Mr. Xu, Qin Huai felt his previous introductions were disrespectful to the system.

The introduction had to be detailed.

Qin Huai talked for three minutes, leaving Cao Guixiang and Zhang Chu bewildered. Zhang Chu threw a bewildered look at Cao Guixiang, his eyes filled with, "Are you sure this kid isn't under too much stress? I feel this pressure is much greater than crying while practicing."

Cao Guixiang took a full two minutes to accept the fact that Qin Huai had fantasized such a detailed system.

"So… the style you found is because of this imagined system?" Cao Guixiang asked.

"Yes." Qin Huai nodded heavily, "This system shows specific numerical values and level definitions for all my foundational skills. For example, my yeast and filling skills are both at the Master Level, and the experience points for filling are much higher than for yeast."

"Fire Control is Advanced level, Finger Skill is also Advance level. Although upgrading Fire Control to Advanced took longer than Finger Skill, since I haven't been building up Fire Control experience points much in the past half-year, Finger Skill's experience points have surpassed Fire Control."

"Knife Skills are Intermediate, not much experience gain. According to my current mode, my Knife Skills might still be Intermediate five or six years later."

Cao Guixiang nodded with confusion, "This rating is quite fair, but what's the connection between your style and these ratings?"

"I believe the style that suits me the best isn't about making snacks in a particular way, nor is it about giving certain snacks special meanings or intense personal touches. I've never had much of a personal trait from a young age; my main trait is making snacks that taste good."

"Master Zhou from Zhiwei Restaurant said my snacks are made very standardly, textbook-standard. The elders in Yunzhong District also deemed my snacks as fitting their perception of snacks. The most iconic and delicious snacks they can imagine, that's what my snacks are like. Of course, possibly even better than they imagine."

"Master Zheng previously felt my snacks always had traces of others but couldn't pinpoint whose traces. Because I indeed didn't have a master before, my skills were self-taught through recipes."

"Later, I discovered that perhaps I wasn't carrying traces of others, but rather always mimicking recipes. I didn't have a mentor with a strong personal style guiding me; I learned snacks according to textbooks, so my style was always textbook-style."

"This isn't a bad style either; making snacks that align with common perceptions and expectations, and even better than they imagine, isn't this my style?"

"Some snack masters aim for innovation, some for uniqueness, some have intense snacks, some have light and elegant snacks. Everyone has their own strengths. I do too, though my strengths are broad. I excel in all breakfast-type buns and steamed buns, am proficient in rice cake, yam cake, green bean cake, hand-pulled noodles—those relatively undefined categories. But if expressed numerically, what I excel in are the snacks I have high numeric value in."

"My style is about maxing out fundamental values to the extreme I can achieve and making the snacks I'm most proficient at based on those values."

Cao Guixiang understood.

Although Qin Huai was using something she couldn't quite comprehend to describe, she indeed understood.

"How did I ever think you're not arrogant at all?" Cao Guixiang looked at Qin Huai, "You're more reckless than any genius I know, including myself."

"Back when I was young, I didn't dare say such things about perfecting my basic skills."

Qin Huai emulated Shi Dadan's modest smile, smiling shyly.

To be honest, Qin Huai found Shi Dadan's kind of smile to be quite well-hidden.

Cao Guixiang lowered her head and knitted a few more stitches, wasn't satisfied, pulled them apart, and started again.

Zhang Chu quietly ate another sugar tangerine.

Qin Huai picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Cao Guixiang suddenly sighed, and both Qin Huai and Zhang Chu looked at her.

"I suddenly regret not steaming a couple of the steamed buns that Xiao Qin brought tonight to taste and see how your fermented rice with steamed buns measures up now."

"Old Zhang, call Chi Yuan, ask him if Xiao Qin's fermented rice with steamed buns is delicious."

"Call now? It's just 8:40. They finished dinner not long ago, couldn't have sneaked more already, right?" Zhang Chu asked.

"Don't I know what kind of person my son is? Surely, he steamed them the moment he got home. No surprise if Si Yu and the others are at Chi Yuan's place now."

Zhang Chu dialed Zhang Chiyuan's number, and it took eight rings before the call was answered.

"Hey, Dad, what's up?" Zhang Chiyuan said inconclusively.

"Nothing much, just your mom wants me to ask you, are the steamed buns Xiao Qin brought tasty?"

"Tasty, really tasty, better than last time… Dad, what steamed buns? I wouldn't eat the buns Xiao Qin brought, right? Aren't the buns meant to be kept in my refrigerator to enjoy together in a few days?"

"Stop pretending, is it tasty? Is Si Yu at your place?"

"...Dad." Zhang Siyu's voice came from the other end, "They're really tasty."

"How many did you eat?" Cao Guixiang asked.

"Just... one."

"Nonsense! Mom, Si Yu is now eating her third one!"

"Mom, brother ate three too!"

"Even Yunyun ate three, Qingqing just had one, really just one!"

"That's because Qingqing's really full now!"

Cao Guixiang signaled Zhang Chu to hang up the call with her eyes.

"Si Yu and Chi Yuan can still eat three after dinner…" Cao Guixiang mused, "Xiao Qin, you've really found your path."

Qin Huai: ...

Master, is your method of determining if I've found my path based on how many steamed buns your two hungry kids can eat after dinner?