Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1272 611: Reminiscing the Past

Chen Huihong finished talking, then rolled up her sleeves like she was ready to dive right into work.

"Xiao Qin, what should Jingjing and I do now? Coming to the orphanage means we're volunteers. I haven't done volunteering in years; the last time was at the orphanage where Jingjing and her friends were."

Considering Chen Huihong's cooking skills and her knack for both destruction and creativity in the kitchen, Qin Huai carefully decided to have Chen Huihong wash the vegetables and Qu Jing cut them.

In the morning, Qin Huai only planned to make soy sauce noodles and fermented rice with steamed buns, but he would usually make buns in the afternoon. These days, the orphanage isn't like it was before. When Qin Huai was little, due to the orphanage's limited funds, everyone couldn't have meat often, and having meat during the New Year was a special occasion. If meat buns had cabbage mixed in, it meant the orphanage was really short on money, and Director Qin would have to go get free cabbages from the countryside.

Now it's different. Even before a large donation was received, the situation wasn't as tight; even during New Year, they ensured a balanced diet of meat and vegetables.

The snacks Qin Huai prepared for the children at the orphanage were Three Meat Buns, Five Fillings Bun, vegetable buns, Shiitake Mushroom Bun, animal shaped red bean paste buns, Four Happiness Glutinous Rice Balls, and Yam Cake.

Red Silk Cake wasn't included because the orphanage doesn't have an oven.

As for why Qin Huai wanted to make so many buns...

Of course, it's because Qin Huai is the Brother Bao Bao of the Sanmalu Children's Welfare Institute, and naturally, Brother Bao Bao has to make buns. Plus, many of the children in the orphanage have physical or intellectual disabilities, and a large number need help feeding, so buns are easier to manage.

The Four Happiness Glutinous Rice Balls are delicious, but not suitable for the kids as they may choke.

Qin Huai continued kneading the dough.

As Qin Huai started making the hand-pulled noodles, others gradually got up. An Youyou was the earliest, and you could tell that the moment she stepped into the kitchen, she wasn't eager to work. Even the Three-legged Golden Toad was on holiday, so why work?

But since the boss was working, employees can't just laze around. Besides, during her stay in Qiu County, An Youyou still gets her salary, just without a commission.

The key point is, today, Qin Huai really needed An Youyou to lend him a hand; in the entire orphanage, the person best at knife skills and cutting meat was An Youyou.

An Youyou started chopping meat.

Not long after An Youyou entered the kitchen, Mr. Xu arrived. Winters in Guangdong Province are warm; only in the slightly cold air before dawn did Mr. Xu, not wearing a cotton jacket but a grayish jacket, saunter into the kitchen looking every bit the simple, rustic elderly left behind in the village.

Seeing that the boss had started working, Mr. Xu also wanted to lend a hand, but Qin Huai immediately stopped him. Just kidding, Mr. Xu was probably the oldest in this old-age home. Sure, Uncle Qin might be a bit hard of hearing, but he's not that old; compared to Mr. Xu, Uncle Qin would be considered a sprightly young chap.

Qin Huai found a small stool for Mr. Xu to sit and watch in the kitchen. Mr. Xu didn't refuse, cheerfully sitting down to watch Qin Huai knead noodles.

The others came together.

Wang Gen Sheng, Cheng Gong, a slightly clueless Zhou Hu, and Director Qin.

Seeing Director Qin, Qin Huai's first thought was that although the orphanage had become wealthier, Mrs. Qin had aged.

Taking care of kids is a burdensome task. Director Qin had been caring for children in the orphanage all her life and was a mother to so many kids, worrying more than any regular mom. When Qin Huai left Qiu County for Shan City, Director Qin only had a few gray hairs. Back then, she'd still pluck out the occasional gray hair, but now they're quite visible; if she pulled out all the gray hairs, she'd go bald in spots.

Everyone intuitively got to work, including Zhou Hu, who hadn't fully woken up or grasped the situation. Only Director Qin received the same treatment as Mr. Xu; Qin Huai brought her a stool to sit and watch.

As soon as Director Qin sat down, she laughed and said to Mr. Xu, "Huaihuai has been like this since he was little. He never lets me get into the kitchen to help. I initially thought the child was being sweet, wanting to shoulder more of the work himself. Later, I realized it's because he thinks I'm a terrible cook and was worried I'd get the urge to whip up a couple of dishes."

Uncle Qin boomed, "You can't blame Huaihuai for that; your cooking is indeed bad. I couldn't swallow it either; you add salt like it's free. If someone didn't know better, they'd think our orphanage had struck it rich."

Director Qin retorted good-naturedly, "Your dishes are tasty, only because you use so much oil. You'd practically fry a plate of greens in a pot of oil."

Mr. Xu, listening in the chair, was taken aback, his face expressing disbelief that the orphanage grew like this and yet the kids thrived to this point.

Director Qin noticed Mr. Xu's expression and quickly explained, "We're talking about years ago when Huaihuai was still in elementary school. Back then, the orphanage wasn't here, it was in the city center. Huaihuai's family breakfast shop was right across from us. His dad used to start steaming buns at 4 am, and the steam would rise several meters high. At that time, the orphanage had no money, and white flour steamed buns were a rarity; we mostly ate cornmeal or other mixed grains."

"Many of the kids' ambitions back then were to grow up, earn money, and go to Huaihuai's family breakfast shop to eat meat buns."

Mr. Xu nodded, "Looks like Xiao Qin's dad had quite the skills. No wonder Xiao Qin's snack-making is so good; it's inherited from the family."

Everyone who knew Qin Congwen's skills: ...

They all maintained a unified silence; how could a family breakfast shop not be considered an inheritance?

Only Zhou Hu was a bit curious and asked Cheng Gong beside him, "Is Master Qin's cooking better, or his dad's? I don't remember seeing his dad when I was at Yunzhong Restaurant."

Cheng Gong thought for a moment and said, "Old Master Qin's cooking was more about satisfying hunger."

Zhou Hu: ?

Director Qin eagerly continued sharing, saying that in her opinion, Qin Congwen's skills were quite decent, certainly compared to hers: "Initially, the orphanage had a cook whose pay was low; the job had a lot of varied tasks, like cooking, cleaning, and occasionally helping with the children. That's how it was; there weren't enough staff, everyone had to multitask."

"Later, the cook had a mishap and got in trouble. It happened so suddenly, and it took a while to get a replacement. Plus, the orphanage's poor conditions meant not many wanted the job, so we had to figure out the meals ourselves."

"Our cooking skills were questionable."

"We could only ensure the food was cooked."

"If the meals hadn't been so bad, we wouldn't have made Huaihuai responsible for all the orphanage's meals. He was just a child then, only slightly taller than the stove. Initially, he just wanted to try it. Then..."

Uncle Qin chimed in, "Then Huaihuai made his first batch of vegetable buns. Little Hong—I think that was her name—back then she was called Qin Hong, then changed to Hong Fei after adoption. A few years ago, she even donated crayons and building blocks to the orphanage. She was such a quiet girl, but she cried eating the vegetable buns, asking through her tears if the orphanage was closing and if they'd all be kicked out to beg because of how bad the food had been before that, while the buns were so good, they must be their last meal."

Director Qin: ...

Director Qin could only change the subject, "Back then, Huaihuai was a bit of a loner. Many thought he was simple-minded. With so many kids and just a few staff, it was hard to keep track of everyone. I worried he'd be bullied or excluded since he didn't really play with the other kids."

"After that, there was no need to worry. Not only was he not excluded, people made sure not to cry around him to avoid disturbing him, lest he got unhappy and decided not to cook the next day, leaving them without food."

Qin Huai: ... Qin Mama, my brief stint of culinary glory at Sanmalu Children's Welfare Institute, how did it become twisted into a tale of tyranny by you?

Mr. Xu listened eagerly, "Master Qin was so talented from a young age."

"This child was always different. Old Xu, you don't know; when Huaihuai was little, he painted..."

"Qin Mama." Qin Huai quickly interrupted loudly, "The soy sauce noodles are ready; have some to fill up first!"