Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 455 - 254: If You’re Not Good, Practice More

No one knew if the fresh meat dumplings were delicious, but the testers, both elderly men and women, were certainly energized.

Previously, being a taste tester was actually hard work.

Qin Huai’s mixed fruit filling dumplings were highly unstable, starting off as simply terrible and eventually becoming half terrible, half delicious. Just when you thought Master Qin’s mixed fruit filling dumplings were on the right track, Qin Huai would prove that you were overthinking it.

But back then, the dumplings were like a blind box, and there was only a certain chance you would win and get the mixed fruit filling dumplings. The joy of opening a blind box while eating dumplings somewhat offset the difficulty of the task.

Later, as Qin Huai’s skill in making dumplings improved and victory seemed imminent, he stopped making them.

The taste testing paused, and Master Qin went on strike.

During that time, the elderly folks were quite disoriented. They bought houses but now had no snacks.

Huang Ji’s business was still booming. To have snacks, you had to line up at six in the morning, and hoping for a meal there was simply wishful thinking. Not to mention, with the New Year approaching, their children were asking when the holiday would end and when they would return to Huishan City. Those few days without snacks made the elderly feel ten years younger—

They felt they were encountering a mid-life crisis.

Fortunately, this confusion was temporary, and soon everyone saw the dawn of victory.

Master Qin’s taste testing activity resumed! Not only were the dumplings tastier, but there was no limit, and you could have refills even after finishing a portion. Plus, there was no need to laboriously recite vocabulary every day because Master Qin now handed out questionnaires.

You just needed to answer the questionnaire honestly each day to enjoy unlimited access to dumplings. It was truly joyous!

If the questionnaire didn’t always ask questions like what kind of meat-filled snacks you preferred, what criteria you thought made a good meat-filled snack, and which of the following meat-filled snacks you liked most, it would be even better.

After filling out so many questionnaires, many elderly men and women became unsure of their answers.

When they picked up the questionnaire and saw the questions, the first thing that popped into their minds was: Do I really like this snack?

Is Master Qin handing out almost the same questionnaire every day because I made a mistake?

Should I be liking this kind instead?

The elderly were confused, and so was Qin Huai.

It had been seven days, a whole seven days, and Qin Huai had been practicing the Four Happiness glutinous rice balls every day. Qin Huai wasn’t sure if the dumplings had improved, but his skill in making the filling had increased significantly.

Indeed, his skill level in making the filling skyrocketed.

Qin Huai glanced at the game panel and found that his skill level in making the filling was now startlingly at: (65943/100000).

It was practically unbeatable.

Qin Huai’s fire control, which he had been diligently practicing (or at least it seemed that way), was still struggling at an Intermediate level. A skill level of 10,000 appeared easy to achieve, but in the case of fire control, it was as difficult as reaching the heavens.

The last time Qin Huai’s Finger Skill leveled up, his fire control skill level was over six thousand; now it was barely at seven thousand, an increase of less than a thousand.

Meanwhile, his skill level in making the filling shot up by eight thousand.

Seeing this disparity made Qin Huai want to have a word with the filling, asking it to slow down and wait for other skills, as advancing too quickly would make fire control look awkward.

He also wanted to become a hexagonal warrior.

Being a specialist in making complex snacks was too painful.

At this pace, Qin Huai feared that before his fire control reached Advanced level, his filling skill would reach Master Level.

Why is it that whenever he practiced making snacks, his seasoning skill leveled up?

Crab Dumplings are specialized in filling, so the skill increased quickly—which is understandable—but how did the Four Happiness glutinous rice balls also increase so rapidly?

Is the filling that important when making glutinous rice balls?

Baffled, Master Qin confusedly mixed the filling.

In the kitchen, while Qin Huai was mixing the filling, Ouyang was counting the number of questionnaires. Two elderly testers couldn’t withstand the call of their children and grandchildren and bought tickets to return in the morning. With a change in the number of taste testers, Ouyang needed to repeatedly verify the number of questionnaires.

Now, someone might ask, does it matter if there are a few more copies?

No, actually Ouyang just wanted to find something to do—if he stayed idle in the kitchen, he would come off as an idle first-rate moocher waiting to eat the dumplings.

Ouyang had counted them six times.

He didn’t want to count them a seventh time.

Ouyang decided he needed to find something else to do. He looked at Qin Huai, who had started assembling the dumplings, peered outside at the dining room filled with people, and glanced at the small stool Chen Huihong left in the kitchen (after she took Huihui to bed), and Ouyang knew what he could do now.

"Qin Huai, when are you planning to go back home?" Ouyang asked.

He decided to chat!

"The 6th," Qin Huai said.

Ouyang counted on his fingers, shocked: "Isn’t that the 29th of the month already?"

"Yes indeed," Qin Huai nodded, "I’ll head back with Luoluo on the 29th, prepare snacks for the New Year’s Eve dinner on the 30th, then stay at home making snacks until the 15th of the first lunar month before returning to Yunzhong Restaurant."

Ouyang was conflicted: "If I stayed in Gusu until the 29th and then returned, my grandpa would break my legs."

Hearing Ouyang say this, Qin Huai couldn’t help but look at him. You lost 6.6 million running the shop and almost got beaten to death by your own father, yet going home on the 29th would result in having your legs broken? Your family’s rules are quite puzzling.

"Then you’d better go back early," said Qin Huai.

"Going back early means missing several days of soup dumplings," Ouyang blurted out.

Qin Huai: ...

Do you love soup dumplings that much?

Risking having your leg broken just to eat them?

Seeing how much Ouyang loves soup dumplings, Qin Huai stopped wrapping them, stared at him, and asked, "Ouyang, what do you think makes Four Happiness dumplings tastier than regular ones?"

Ouyang was stumped by Qin Huai’s question, pondered for quite a while, then answered softly, "Four Happiness dumplings..."

"Have four flavors?"

Qin Huai: ...

Tired, just destroy it.

Better buy a ticket early, so you won’t get your leg broken by your grandpa.

That night, Qin Huai received yet another batch of questionnaires similar to before.

Everyone’s favorite filling was still red bean, but the ratio had changed. After this period of intense practice, the preference for red bean filling dropped to 50%, sesame brittle increased to 25%, mixed fruit filling 20%, fresh meat accounted for 5%, basically negligible.

Well, actually only one person voted for fresh meat.

That person was Gong Liang, who precisely noticed over days of surveys that Qin Huai was actually focusing on practicing the fresh meat filling, so he continuously chose fresh meat starting from the third day to make Qin Huai happy.

Qin Huai was deeply touched by his heartfelt gesture.

If Gong Liang had not only eaten red bean and mixed fruit dumplings in the afternoon while sitting with Gong Baozhu at the back kitchen entrance, Qin Huai would have been even more moved.

Qin Huai looked at the newly issued batch of questionnaires and sighed deeply.

He understood that at his current skill level, he couldn’t make snacks of grade A yet, and the Four Happiness dumplings were normal.

But on the other hand, he knew exactly where the Four Happiness dumplings were lacking.

They were missing pure meat filling.

Once he mastered pure meat filling, Four Happiness dumplings could definitely achieve grade A.

Qin Huai would have made his first snack relying on his own skills.

While aware that his skill level was insufficient, he still thought, what if? What if his skills were actually enough? What if he was just a little bit away from it? What if it only required hard practice to achieve?

Four Happiness dumplings were like a carrot dangling in front of Qin Huai, making him, the donkey trotting around the grinding wheel, circle in place just to chew off this difficult carrot.

"Bro, I finished the quiz!"

Just as Qin Huai was questioning his life with the questionnaire, Qin Luo returned from next door carrying snacks stuffed by Gong Baozhu, and Qin Huai glanced at it, realizing they were honey butter flavored chips he loved.

Half a bag of chips remained, and Qin Huai casually took them from his sister and started eating, saying, "Finished? Then play with your phone for a bit."

Qin Luo didn’t play with her phone, but sat opposite Qin Huai and asked, "Bro, while I was doing homework next door today, I overheard Mr. Xu and them discussing whether to falsely answer on the survey."

"What false answer?" Qin Huai kept munching on chips.

Qin Luo tried to snatch the chips back, but failed, so she grabbed a big handful, ate them first, and then said, "It’s about whether to pick fresh meat filling for the last question."

"Everyone noticed you’re surveying this to practice fresh meat dumplings, but fresh meat dumplings are really average, not as delicious as red bean filling."

"Mr. Xu and them wanted to pick fresh meat to make you happy, but worried false answers might affect your dumpling practice. Uncle Gong said, this kind of fake promotion could have him alone to show you their goodwill, otherwise too many would just appear fake."

Qin Huai was taken aback, asked, "Did Mr. Xu and them discuss why fresh meat dumplings don’t work?"

Qin Luo thought for a moment, Qin Huai returned the chips to her, which made Qin Luo think faster: "Mentioned a few times, but everyone wasn’t sure exactly what’s wrong, simply thought fresh meat dumplings were not as tasty as other dumplings."

"No one wanted to be the first to eat fresh meat dumplings, usually placed them third or last, eating them to counterbalance after getting tired of sweet fillings."

"I think you shouldn’t worry too much, brother. Fresh meat dumplings not being as good as other dumplings is purely your skill issue. Your Dream Come True buns are the same, but I think fresh meat dumplings taste at least better than those buns," Qin Luo comforted.

Qin Huai: ?

Did you learn to console people from Ouyang and Chen Huihong?

Qin Huai silently took away the chips, "Stop eating, go to sleep early."

"Go to the opposite side for dumplings tomorrow morning."

Qin Luo: ???

Qin Luo: QAQ

Qin Luo: My chips!!!

Bro, give me back my chips, I only ate half a bag!