Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 5 Four Happiness Dumplings

The Four Happiness Dumplings, a famous court dish from the Man Han Banquet, ranks among the top in a 108-dumpling feast.

It is the dim sum that left the deepest, unforgettable impression on Qin Luo.

After all, getting beaten three times over a single dumpling meal is rather explosive in the Qin Family.

Those who have watched Master of Chinese Cuisine must remember the golden ratio shumai made by Steel-Rod Master Xie in episode 23.

Back then, Qin Luo was still in kindergarten, and there was a TV station that aired the Master of Chinese Cuisine animation every evening at 6 pm. Qin Luo sat in front of the TV with a bowl every day, regardless of the weather.

Then she set her sights on the golden ratio shumai.

In Qin Luo's understanding of the world at that time, Master Xie made shumai, and so did her dad.

So her dad = Master Xie.

So her dad could make golden ratio shumai.

Then Qin Luo pointed at the TV and clamored for golden ratio shumai, not just clamored, but even bragged in kindergarten, saying her dad could make it. This led her classmates to go home and question their dads about why they couldn't make golden ratio shumai, causing the kindergarten teacher to directly visit their parents, asking what was going on with the Qin Family.

First, her brother had a system, then her dad was Master Xie, could the Qin Family get any better?

As a result, Qin Luo received her first beating.

This matter should have ended here, but Qin Huai felt guilty. In his view, such a trivial matter didn't deserve a beating; the main reason Qin Luo got beaten was because of a prior offense.

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To make it up to his sister, Qin Huai went home and found a Snack Encyclopedia he bought for one yuan from a classmate at a primary school flea market.

He found the Four Happiness Dumplings.

The peripheral product in the same line as the golden ratio shumai.

Following the recipe in the Snack Encyclopedia, Qin Huai tried making it.

It tasted awful.

The combination of ingredients was beyond human taste buds' acceptance.

It made Qin Luo cry.

Not because it tasted bad, but mainly because her fantasy shattered, realizing her idol Master Xie's cooking was actually terrible, she cried sadly.

The sorrowful Qin Luo found her cousin He Cheng, who was also a fan of Master Xie, to share her journey of idol disappointment. The two were sad together, quietly lamenting in a park corner, making their families think they were kidnapped and nearly called the police. When found, they got another beating.

Seeing Qin Luo got beaten twice just for a taste of dumplings, Qin Huai decided to meticulously work on the recipe. After dozens of failures, he finally made delicious and beautiful, albeit completely different from the original, golden ratio... ah no, Four Happiness Dumplings.

Even though fan works don't match the original, Qin Luo didn't care.

Because although her dad wasn't Master Xie, her brother was!

Her brother might not actually have a system, but he must be Master Xie!

Feeling confident once again, Qin Luo bragged in kindergarten, which led to the teacher calling her parents again.

Initially, Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong didn't want to beat their daughter again over this, but since they came already, having beaten her twice already, they thought one more time wouldn't hurt.

So Qin Luo happily received her third beating.

From then on, Four Happiness Dumplings became a staple snack of the Qin Family.

They are a must at every festival and family gathering. Whenever everyone gathers happily to eat dumplings, the elders tease Qin Luo, asking her if her brother is Master Xie.

To this, Qin Luo says: Delicious, love it.

Though the third beating felt somewhat undeserved, without the first two beatings, how could her brother have put in so much hard work and effort?

She's doing this for her family's benefit!

To motivate Qin Huai to make delicious Four Happiness Dumplings, getting beaten three times is nothing for this sister; what's a beating? She's resilient and can take it; she'll dare next time too!

This is why, whenever Qin Huai makes Four Happiness Dumplings, Qin Luo is the most eager helper.

In the kitchen, Qin Huai and Qin Congwen were chopping meat, one loudly, the other quickly, and the dull thuds of the knife hitting the chopping board created a rhythmic note, like musical notes jumping on piano keys.

Qin Luo was seriously washing vegetables, Zhao Rong was preparing the egg skin, and the family worked in harmony in the kitchen, each performing their duties in an orderly manner.

After preparing the minced meat, Qin Huai began kneading the dough.

Kneading dough involves the three shines: dough shine, bowl shine, and hand shine. Qin Huai had mastered this kneading technique by himself in the orphanage when he was young. Qin Congwen always marveled, saying that from Qin Huai's kneading action, it was clear he was made for this line of work. While most people just knead, Qin Huai kneads cleanly, neatly, and beautifully. The final product he produces looks like a work of art, like a master craftsman's beloved apprentice, not like someone who picked up the skills on his own.

In past years, Qin Congwen helped knead the dough, creating a surprise for neighbors buying buns. As Qin Huai graduated from college and returned home to sell breakfast full-time, the most important task in the shop gradually transferred entirely to Qin Huai.

Qin Congwen had a back injury, and his back grew worse with age, so he had to help when needed.

"Dad, chop the mushrooms and carrots, remember to dice them." Qin Huai pointed to the soaked mushrooms in the basin.

For Qin Luo's knife skills, chopping spinach stems was her limit; dicing carrots...

She still needed her left hand to hold a bowl when she ate.

According to the recipe in the Snack Encyclopedia, each of the Four Happiness Dumplings' four pouches must hold four distinct fillings in various colors.

This method doesn't necessarily taste good, but it certainly looks appealing, and when steamed, posting pictures online would garner several rows of likes.

In reality, this method indeed didn't taste good.

After the first attempt made Qin Luo cry, Qin Huai decisively abandoned the pretty method and chose to mix all ingredients to suit general tastes, creating a delicious pork and mushroom carrot mix filling.

As for recreating the appearance, Qin Huai chose to add a layer of purely decorative ingredients on top of the filling to shape it.

As proven, this was indeed a good idea. Traditional dumpling filling topped with diced mushrooms, diced ham, spinach stems, and egg skin for colorful decoration, the pleasant appearance, vibrant colors, juicy filling, chewy dumpling skin, along with Qin Luo's voracious eating, she didn't realize the four pouches of the Four Happiness Dumplings actually contained the same filling on her first bite.

She once thought that Qin Huai painstakingly replicated the four different fillings from the animation's golden ratio shumai, moved to tears, she gave all her saved pocket money to Qin Huai as a hardship fee.

No wonder Qin Huai carefully selected four types of decorative ingredients that, when mixed with the filling, create different textures and flavors.

Fresh Four Happiness Dumplings, once wrapped and placed in the freezer, can maintain their flavor for up to 7 days. To save time, Qin Huai would typically prepare enough for 5-7 days at once, ready to take from the freezer as needed. This time was no exception. It's also nice to prepare extra for Chen Huihong to take home for breakfast. Homemade snacks make perfect gifts for exchanging favors, as they are inexpensive yet thoughtful.

After working for a good part of the afternoon, once all the wrappers and filling were prepared, the Qin Family gathered around the table to wrap buns, dumplings, and wontons.

Zhao Rong wrapped wontons at an astonishing speed, almost without looking, proficient like a skilled line worker with twenty years of experience, doing one per second.

"Huaihuai." Zhao Rong began.

"Your dad and I discussed this at noon, your place is ready to move in, and you've decided to stay here in the future. Leaving the store closed is wasteful. The Pork King messaged me this morning asking if I secretly bought meat from other stalls. Luoluo seems keen to play with classmates too, so how about we head back tomorrow? Call us if you need anything."

Hearing Zhao Rong say this, Qin Luo, who was happily wrapping wontons, widened her eyes unbelievably, wondering: Mom, when did I say I wanted to play with my classmates?

I absolutely love it here!

"Exactly." Qin Congwen chimed in, "Your mom and I can't sit idle; our minds aren't at ease after not working for several days."

"Besides, your place only has two rooms; it's not suitable for us all to stay."

Qin Luo was anxious to speak, but Qin Huai gave her a look suggesting she wait.

He knew Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen didn't want to burden him.

They say love often feels lacking; Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen must be among the parents feeling the most lacking.

Qin Huai was already big when he was adopted, old enough to remember. Not just he and the Qin family knew he was adopted, even the neighbors around the Qin Family knew.

As the saying goes, two bowls of water are hard to balance; even birth parents tend to favor one child over the other, let alone an adopted child.

Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong have always been very cautious in handling issues concerning the two children. When one got new clothes, the other must too; pocket money had to be the same, and even new year bonuses had to be the same. Even the extra classes and tutoring had to be fair and equal. When Qin Huai helped out at the shop, Qin Luo had to help too. When Qin Huai was in high school, taking four classes a week, Qin Luo, even in primary school, had to take four, filling courses with leisure to adjust interest, learning math, reading, English, and Go, to the point that Qin Luo laments while hugging her parents' legs, begging, "Please be partial to my brother!"

Qin Huai had average grades, but his talent in dim sum was recognizable to anyone with taste, acknowledged from a young age as the Qin Family Breakfast Shop's official successor.

Back then, many advised Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong, "Your family has a store, your son has skills, but his studies are average; why not arrange for him to learn from a renowned dim sum shop, it's not worse than studying."

But fearing this would upset Qin Huai, thinking them biased to their biological daughter, sending the adopted son to harshly learn while the bio daughter stayed home to enjoy studying. Coupled with the belief ingrained in their DNA— "Of all trades, scholarship is the most exalted"—Qin Congwen enrolled Qin Huai in a bunch of tutoring classes, pushing him into the top echelon.

Now that Qin Huai has returned after inheriting, Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong likely feel insistent again.

Qin Huai could guess their thoughts, feeling Qin Huai's biological parents were wealthy, leaving him an eight-figure inheritance despite the family decline, thinking he suffered following his adoptive parents. A slight sense of inadequacy made them feel staying with Qin Luo here looked like greedy relatives trying to seize the heir's property, turning the heartwarming family comedy into a melodramatic feud.

Plus, the room really wasn't enough, regardless of who stayed or moved out, it wasn't good, so they concluded to take Qin Luo home to earn money was reasonable.

He had many thoughts but knew how to strike decisively.

"Dad, Mom." Qin Huai set aside his rolling pin, looking slightly hurt, "I just inherited the community canteen, lacking experience and short of staff, are you really not staying to help me?"

Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen: ...

Qin Luo instantly caught on to Qin Huai's meaning, exclaiming, "Exactly, you guys are too much! Brother was just worrying this morning about what to do if the canteen's opening wasn't successful, and you're thinking of leaving everything to brother to deal with. I'm the first to disagree, I must stay to help brother clean his canteen!"

Regarding creating something from nothing, fabricating, making baseless connections, and finally passing the buck, Qin Luo is a pro.

Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong were left perplexed before the sibling duo's combination attack, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt.

"Then...we'll...stay... a while longer?"

Qin Luo slammed the table, stood up decisively, so firm there was almost a pledge with a raised right fist: "For two months! I'll clean for brother till the end of vacation!"

Qin Huai: ...

Alright then, hope you clean the table nicely after wrapping wontons.

Swearing is one thing, but don't slam the table, did you know the flour's flying out of the bowl?