The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 90: Date and Yam Cake

For the following period of time, Qin Huai's life was very regular.

Get up early to make breakfast, make snacks after the morning rush hour. Get off work on time at 12 noon, and work overtime on time at 1 noon.

The overtime work involves doing some physical labor (making rice cakes) first, then starting online teaching (watching Huang Shengli’s videos), interspersed with some fun activities (playing with the stove), and finally tasting the results.

Under the guidance of Huang Shengli, Qin Huai's understanding of ingredients and control of heat have improved to a certain extent.

He has even started cooking duck soup.

It just wasn't cooked well.

Ouyang frowned for the third time, and drank a small bowl of duck soup with sesame seed cake and jujube paste yam cake with difficulty, and protested: "Qin Huai, can we cook beef soup again?"

After starting to drink duck soup, Ouyang missed the days when he used to drink beef soup and pork ribs soup.

"Does it still taste weird?" Qin Huai asked.

Ouyang nodded firmly: "Not only is it weird, it's also unpalatable. It feels like sitting in a duck pen and drinking soup. Do you understand my description?"

"The problem occurred when processing the duck." Qin Huai frowned.

"Qin Huai, you don't have to worry about this. Your knife skills are not good, so there must be problems when you handle the duck. The chef asked you to cook duck soup for a few days just to let you get used to the taste of duck meat. He didn't expect you to cook it well."

"If it doesn't work, don't you have a famous chef in your store? Find someone with good knife skills to help you prepare the duck, and try again tomorrow. The soup he makes will definitely taste better than what you are drinking in the duck pen now." Dong Shi shouted on the other end of the video, "Your friend is pretty amazing. Your duck soup looks so unpalatable, but he can actually drink it."

Qin Huai:......

Dong Shi, your voice is too loud. Our online class volume is played out loud.

Ouyang stared at Qin Huai with accusing eyes, his eyes full of "listen to the voice of the masses".

Qin Huai also felt a little guilty.

He was not very good at preparing ducks, and he did not prepare them properly according to the instruction. He knew in his heart that the soup was hard to describe. It was really difficult for Ouyang to bite the bullet and try the soup these two days. They were indeed good brothers. A friend in need is a friend indeed!

Thinking of this, Qin Huai handed Ouyang another plate of yam cake with jujube paste: "Eat more, I will make you elm bark buns tomorrow."

Ouyang is fine again.

"Qin Huai, why do you make date paste and yam cake every day recently?" Ouyang asked casually.

Qin Huai said that what other reason could there be? It’s because Qu Jing loves to eat.

Qin Huai felt that Qu Jing was much more interested in the jujube and yam cake than the glutinous rice cake.

The last time he sent glutinous rice cake to Qu Jing, Qu Jing ate it very politely. Although she gave high praise to the glutinous rice cake after eating, she did not take the initiative to come to the cafeteria to buy it.

Different from the date paste and yam cake, Qu Jing really loves to eat this.

Qin Huai had only made the jujube paste yam cake twice before, because at that time Qin Luo's Chinese teacher asked students to watch "Dream of Red Mansions" during the summer vacation. As we all know, the dishes in "Dream of Red Mansions" all look delicious, and Qin Luo wanted to eat them after seeing them, but Qin Huai didn't know how to cook them.

Later, they saw that Jia's mother sent a date paste and yam cake to help her daughter-in-law recover her health. Qin Huai found the recipe in the dessert encyclopedia and made it for Qin Luo twice according to the method in the dessert encyclopedia.

Qin Luo didn't like it very much.

The child doesn't like eating yams.

As he hadn't made this dessert for many years, Qin Huai practiced it for a week before bringing it to Qu Jing. He slightly modified some recipes in the dessert encyclopedia, increased the proportion of granulated sugar, and made the date paste and yam cake sweeter.

In the process of making it, Qinhuai discovered the irreplaceable advantages of the jujube paste yam cake.

It can be molded!

The method of making jujube paste yam cake is not complicated, you just need to make sure it is fresh. The requirements for the heat and fingering are not high. The jujube paste filling inside can be the same as the glutinous rice rice cake, and the outer skin is made by steaming yam and mashing it into paste, mixing it with soft white sugar and glutinous rice flour.

The pastries steamed with such ingredients are soft and sticky, sweet and have the fragrance of yam. They are sweet and refreshing, not the greasy sweetness created by syrup.

Moreover, yam paste and date paste are indeed a good match, and even have health-preserving effects. No wonder they have become a gold medal snack that often appears in palace fighting dramas.

The preparation method of jujube paste and yam cake is simple, the taste is good, and it can be produced in large quantities using molds. It is simply the king of cost-effectiveness.

After Qin Huai discovered the delicious snack of jujube paste and yam cake, he also fell in love with it. He makes it every day, steaming one batch in the morning and another batch in the afternoon. They are steamed and sold immediately, and the price is fixed.

After making it more, Qinhuai has developed a new method. The normal jujube paste and yam paste is white, and the one made with purple yam is purple. Mixing the two kinds of yam paste together will produce another color. Even mixing a little sweet potato paste into the yam paste will not only make the color richer, but also make the taste a little different and taste sweeter.

During this period, guests at Yunzhong Canteen can eat as much as they want of date paste and yam cakes.

Seeing Ouyang enjoying his meal, Qin Huai also felt a little hungry. He packed a small dish of rabbit-shaped food and sat opposite Ouyang to eat.

The one Ouyang ate was in the shape of a baby elephant, which was quite big.

While we were eating, Chen Huihong came.

"What kind of soup did you cook today?" Chen Huihong smelled the duck soup that Ouyang drank as she approached, "Duck soup?"

"Sister Hong, you still have the best nose." Ouyang flattered his leader appropriately, then complained with a grin, "Qin Huai's duck soup is really too unpalatable, but he still refuses to believe it and wants to cook it again tomorrow."

"Xiao Qin is also brave enough to try." Chen Huihong defended Qin Huai and cast her eyes on the snacks on the plate, "We are eating jujube paste yam cake again today, do you have glutinous rice cake?"

"We didn't make glutinous rice cake yesterday, but we made it today and will have it tomorrow. Sister Hong, if you want it, can I save half a pound for you?" Qin Huai asked.

"Leave two kilograms. Huihui and I will go to my brother's house for dinner tomorrow, and I will bring some back for him. Last time, he asked his assistant to go to Gusu to buy Master Zheng's pastries, and he brought me 10 kilograms of crispy cakes. I have to give him some back as well." Chen Huihong said.

Qin Huai was surprised. Someone really traveled thousands of miles to Suzhou to buy shortbread. He was indeed a famous victim who was fooled by his sister into donating money to the school to renovate the playground. "Sister Hong, what is your brother's name?" Qin Huai was a little curious. Until now, Chen Huihong's brother still didn't deserve a name.

"Chen Yingjun."

Qin Huai & Ouyang:?

"My mother was very pragmatic when she named him. She thought my brother was too ugly when he was born and was afraid that he would not be able to find a wife in the future. So she named him Yingjun, hoping that he would be more handsome and find a wife."

"What about his current appearance..." Ouyang was also curious.

"It wasn't so good when she was thin before, but now that she's fat, I can praise her for her plumpness." It can be heard that Chen Huihong's evaluation is very pertinent, "She smiles all day long like Maitreya Buddha. Huihui really likes going to her uncle's house to play."

"The last time I went to pick up Huihui, I saw him eating spicy noodles with Huihui. He's such a grown man, almost 40, but he still likes to eat spicy noodles like a kid. It's simply..." Chen Huihong couldn't stop complaining.

Qin Huai was afraid that Chen Huihong was thirsty, so he brought her a cup of herbal tea.

It is a modified tangerine peel tea with added brown sugar and salt.

Chen Huihong drank tea: "This tangerine peel tea is also very good. Xiao Qin, are you free to make some tomorrow afternoon? I'll bring two pots for my brother so he can drink more."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qu Jing came.

Yes, Qu Jing came in person to buy the date paste and yam cake after get off work.

When Qinhuai made glutinous rice cakes before, Qu Jing would not come to buy them after get off work. After delivering jujube and yam cakes, Qu Jing asked Qinhuai Canteen on WeChat the next day whether they sold jujube and yam cakes that day. After receiving a positive reply, she came after work.

Since then, I come here every day after get off work, rain or shine.

Fortunately, she got off work early.

"Doctor Qu is here." Qin Huai stood up immediately. "Today we have white yam, purple yam, and white yam mixed with sweet potato. There are 6 kinds of molds. Which ones do you want?"

"Let's weigh half a pound of each. I'm going to volunteer at a welfare home tomorrow, so it's a good opportunity to bring some for the children." Qu Jing said.

"When will Dr. Qu go to the welfare home to volunteer tomorrow?" Qin Huai asked.

"10 a.m. to 2 p.m." Qu Jing answered honestly, "I usually go during this time. The welfare home is short-staffed, so I go over to help wash and cut vegetables."

Qin Huai thought for a moment and said, "I don't plan to make snacks tomorrow. Do you mind if the welfare home has one more volunteer?"

"When I was in my hometown, I often delivered snacks to the welfare home. I haven't made ordinary buns and steamed buns for a long time, so my hands are not so good. I also want to practice."

Although Qu Jing didn't quite understand why Qin Huai was so unfamiliar with making dim sum when he made it every day, she was happy that someone was willing to volunteer and of course she wouldn't refuse.

"Then I'll go back and tell the director's mom and reply to you on WeChat. You have experience as a volunteer, and the director's mom will definitely be happy to help."

Qu Jing left with the snacks.

Ouyang was chewing on the jujube paste and yam cake, and asked Chen Huihong in a daze: "Sister Hong, did I hear it just now? Qin Huai said that he would not make snacks tomorrow. Didn't he just say that he would make glutinous rice cake tomorrow?"

"The glutinous rice cakes can be finished before 10 o'clock." Qin Huai said calmly, "Just go to work early, and arrive at the store at 3 o'clock. Can't I finish making the basic snacks?"

Ouyang took a breath.

Could it be that what the uncles and aunts are saying is true?

Qin Huai is chasing after Dr. Qu?!

Oh my god, he's willing to get up at 3 o'clock to make snacks!

"Sister Hong." Ouyang looked at Chen Huihong for help.

Chen Huihong was very calm: "Then I will come to get the glutinous rice cake tomorrow morning. By the way, Xiao Qin, I have something to tell you about Luo Luo's school. It's convenient for us to talk alone..."

Qin Huai understood the meaning of the music, nodded, and pointed in the direction of the warehouse: "If you don't mind, let's go to the warehouse to chat. It's quieter over there, and there are chairs to sit on."

The two of them left Ouyang, who was still confused, and went to the warehouse to chat alone.

As soon as the door closed, Chen Huihong asked directly: "Is there something wrong with Qu Jing's mission? Why did she suddenly have to go to the welfare home?"

Qin Huai nodded: "There is a problem. I feel that the snacks I made are very suitable for Qu Jing's taste. She has been eating them for a while. I have been hinting that glutinous rice cakes and jujube and yam cakes will become regular snacks made in the cafeteria every day, but the side quest has not been completed yet."

"Why is that?" Chen Huihong frowned. "Xiao Qu is not picky about food. She eats very simply. She just eats a simple meal three times a day."

"I think the problem lies in the long-term supply." Qin Huai said, "My relationship with Dr. Qu is not good enough, not good enough for her to be willing to come to the cafeteria to buy snacks after get off work for a long time."

"After chatting with her for a while, I found out that Dr. Qu doesn't like to go out. She has no friends, no social life, and no entertainment hobbies."

"Our canteen is a little far from where she lives, so it's a burden for her to go out and buy snacks. She is willing to come here after get off work to buy them now because the jujube and yam cake is still a new snack for her. After a while, she will get tired of it and will not come here to buy it, so my supply will not be long-term."

"But I don't know how to make many jujube paste and rice cake snacks. Even if I change the way I make them, it won't last long."

"So what should we do?" Chen Huihong listened carefully.

"So, we need to make friends with Dr. Qu." Qin Huai said solemnly, "Sister Hong, you, me, and Luo Jun, the three of us are already people Dr. Qu is relatively familiar with."

"I think what we need to do now is to get along better with her, become friends, and make Dr. Qu willing to go out and buy snacks at our friend's store, so that we can achieve our long-term goal."

Chen Huihong suddenly realized: "I understand. I will also volunteer tomorrow."

“To be honest, I’m best at volunteering!”

(End of this chapter)