Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

The crisp "ding" in his mind made Zhang Huaimin stop chewing.

He swallowed the last bite of the steamed bun and patted the crumbs off his hands.

"The characteristics of a divine white steamed bun? A mouthwatering aroma?"

Zhang Huaimin silently recited the name in his mind, a smile of interest appearing on his lips.

The traits provided by the system have never disappointed him.

The phrase "a hundred fragrances overflowing the brain" sounds domineering and incredible.

In this day and age, everyone is short of oil and fat in their stomachs.

Refined grains were even more precious.

If you can make a splash with the staple food, you can definitely rack up a huge reputation boost.

Moreover, Sha Zhu just established his authority in the cafeteria today, so now is the perfect time to strike while the iron is hot.

After lunch.

The workers in the canteen gradually dispersed, and the kitchen staff also got a short break.

Sha Zhu and Ma Hua were outside cleaning up the dishes and washing up.

The pastry shop was empty.

This is a spacious room with two large iron pots and a tall steamer placed against the wall.

In the very center is a huge rectangular cutting board.

Next to the cutting board, there were several bags of high-gluten flour that had just been brought back from the grain depot.

Although it was considered good quality flour in this era, in Zhang Huaimin's eyes, this flour was still coarse and lacked that soulful wheat aroma.

Zhang Huaimin, with his hands behind his back, strolled into the pastry shop.

He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention.

She walked over to the bags of high-gluten flour, stretched out her delicate white hand, and gently pressed it against the flour bag.

"System, extract and fuse the 'Divine White Steamed Bun Specialty (Fragrance Overload)'!"

Zhang Huaimin gave the order in his mind.

[Ding! Extracting traits...]

[Target selected: High-gluten flour. Initiating fusion!]

hum-

The faint blue light, visible only to Zhang Huaimin, instantly seeped into the several huge flour bags from his palm.

There were no earth-shattering phenomena or dazzling special effects.

Everything is changing silently at the micro level.

Those ordinary carbohydrate molecules and protein structures.

Under the energy wash of "god-level traits", it was completely reorganized and optimized.

The tiny impurities and stale smell in the flour are instantly stripped away and dissipate into the air.

Instead, it has an extremely pure, even slightly vibrant, wheat aroma.

The fusion was completed in just a few seconds.

Zhang Huaimin withdrew his hand, nodded in satisfaction, and turned to leave the pastry shop.

It was a little after 3 p.m.

It's time to prepare the main course for dinner.

Wearing a white apron, Ma Hua walked to the cutting board and untied a bag of flour.

"what?"

As soon as he untied the bag, Ma Hua was stunned.

He sniffed hard, muttering with some doubt, "Master, did the supply and marketing cooperative send the wrong batch of flour?"

Sha Zhu was drinking water from his teacup when he heard this and came over.

"What's wrong? Did you mix in sand?"

"No." Ma Hua grabbed a handful of flour, rubbed it, and looked surprised.

"Master, look! This flour is as white as snow, and... it smells so good!"

Sha Zhu leaned closer and took a sniff.

Immediately, a rich, pure aroma of wheat filled the air, carrying a hint of the scent of fields baked in the sun.

It went straight into his nasal cavity.

The aroma is so clean, without a trace of the musty smell of stale grain.

"Holy crap, this isn't just regular flour, it's finer than regular noodles!"

Sha Zhu has been flipping the wok for years, so he can tell the quality of ingredients just by smelling them.

He rubbed his hands together excitedly, his big eyes shining.

"Great stuff! This is definitely top-quality flour that was specially approved by the higher-ups!"

"MCA, hurry up and knead the dough! Tonight we're steaming big buns, so the workers can have a real eye-opener!"

The master and apprentice were full of energy and immediately began adding water and kneading the dough.

however.

The moment the water comes into contact with that special flour.

Miracles began to happen.

It doesn't require much effort; flour and water seem to have a natural affinity, blending together quickly.

The kneaded dough was not only shiny white, but also incredibly elastic.

Its surface is as smooth as a piece of fine mutton fat jade, and even has a faint, lustrous sheen.

"Master... this noodle dish feels like I'm kneading clouds."

Ma Hua kneaded the dough, feeling an unprecedentedly wonderful sensation.

Sha Zhu was increasingly alarmed as he kneaded the dough; the elasticity and texture of the noodles completely exceeded his understanding of the world in his more than twenty years as a chef.

He even had the illusion that some kind of life force was gestating within the dough.

Half an hour later, the dough had finished fermenting.

One by one, plump, round steamed buns were shaped and neatly stacked in the tall steamer baskets.

"Fire! Shang-Chi!"

Sha Zhu shouted loudly and personally added several handfuls of coal to the stove, making the fire burn brightly.

The water in the iron pot quickly boiled.

"Glug glug..."

As the water vapor evaporated, wisps of white steam began to emerge from the gaps in the steamer.

At first, there was only a little bit of heat.

But then...

When the steam thoroughly penetrates those steamed buns that have acquired the quality of "fragrant aroma filling the brain".

"boom!"

It was as if an invisible aroma bomb had suddenly exploded in the pastry shop of the first canteen!

It was an ultimate fragrance that defied description with the limited vocabulary of humankind.

It contains the purest malty sweetness.

It has a rich, milky aroma, as if it were freshly squeezed, steaming hot milk.

There's even a hint of refreshing herbal fragrance!

These fragrances blend together perfectly.

It created an extremely domineering yet terrifying aroma that made one's soul tremble!

"My goodness..."

Ma Hua was standing in front of the stove, immediately enveloped by the aroma.

The fire poker in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

He froze for a moment, and his eyes involuntarily reddened.

He felt as if his soul had been cleansed by the fragrance, and an unprecedented sense of happiness and satisfaction rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Sha Zhu is even more exaggerated.

He lunged directly at the steamer, like an addict, eyes closed, nostrils flared, greedily inhaling deeply.

"It smells...it smells so good..."

Sha Zhu muttered to himself, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"This isn't just a steamed bun...it's practically a magic pill!"

This overpowering aroma is not content to be confined to the small kitchen.

It was like a wild horse that had broken free, flowing along the exhaust fan and through the cracks in the doors and windows.

It spread wildly across the entire sky above the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill!

Workshop 1, Workshop 2, Foundry Workshop...

Administration building, security department, boiler room...

In just ten minutes.

The irresistible aroma of steamed buns, so enticing that it seemed to fill the air, swept through every corner of the steel rolling mill like an invisible storm!

"What's that smell? What does this taste like?"

In the second workshop, an old worker who was welding parts suddenly stopped what he was doing.

He took two sharp sniffs, and his eyes instantly lit up like light bulbs.

"This...this smells like steamed buns? Impossible! How could steamed buns smell like milk!"

A young man next to him threw down the wrench he was holding, clutched his stomach, and looked completely ecstatic.

"This smells amazing! Just smelling it makes me feel like I could eat three steamed buns straight away!"

At that moment, the entire steel rolling mill seemed to be under the influence of some kind of hallucinogen.

Tens of thousands of workers, no matter what important things they were doing, couldn't help but stop.

Everyone looked up in unison, like a pack of hungry wolves, following the direction from which the aroma was coming.

That direction leads directly to the first canteen!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Just then, the steel rolling mill's closing bell finally rang amidst everyone's anticipation.

The sound of the bell was like a starting pistol.

"Boom—!"

The entire factory area was in an uproar.

Thousands of workers, without even having time to change their work clothes, threw their tools on the ground.

They rushed out of the workshops and office buildings like madmen, at the speed of a 100-meter sprint.

"Run! Get to the cafeteria! They'll be sold out if you're late!"

"This aroma...it must be some really good stuff on top! I'll fight tooth and nail to get a bite today!"

Normally, people go out for dinner in small groups and walk slowly.

But today, everyone rushed towards the cafeteria like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey, a massive army with deafening footsteps.

This is ten times more terrifying than the factory giving out holiday bonuses!

The dining hall of the No. 1 canteen.

The door had just opened.

The surging crowd instantly packed the hall to the brim.

Countless lunchboxes waved in the air, colliding with a deafening clang.

"Silly Zhu! Quick! Give me two steamed buns!"

"I want five! I'll give you all my family's food stamps!"

The workers at the front of the line looked at the enormous steamed buns that had just been unsteamed, their white surfaces gleaming and steaming with an ethereal aura.

Her eyes were red, and her saliva had soaked the front of her clothes.

Sha Zhu and Ma Hua were covered in sweat, their movements so fast they were blurry, as they frantically distributed steamed buns to everyone.

An old fitter who had done heavy physical labor for twenty years received a hot steamed bun with trembling hands.

The steamed bun was extremely soft to the touch, even a little hot, but its aroma was incredibly enticing.

He couldn't wait and took a bite.

"Buzz—"

The old fitter felt his mind go blank for a moment.

That chewy texture, that ultimate wheat and milk flavor that explodes in your mouth.

It instantly won over every discerning taste bud in his body.

Tears.

Two streams of murky tears uncontrollably slid down the old fitter's greasy face.

"Delicious...it's so delicious..."

The old fitter cried as he wolfed down his food, as if he were eating the most precious delicacies in the world.

"These steamed buns...they're magical! My relative who's eaten at state banquets says even the plain steamed buns there aren't this good!"

The workers around them, as long as they took the first bite...

Without exception, they all wore expressions of extreme happiness, even a touch of fervor.

Some people closed their eyes and were lost in ecstasy.

Some people were so excited that they slapped their thighs.

Some people didn't even bother with the side dishes, just munched on steamed buns, enjoying the delicious taste.

"Silly Zhu! These steamed buns you made today are divine! You're practically a reincarnation of the God of Cookery!"

"Thank goodness, Consultant Zhang! This is truly a blessing he brought us!"

The workers frantically grabbed the steamed buns while cheering and praising them loudly.

The situation even got a little out of control at one point.

Those who couldn't get in line were so impatient they started cursing, while those who got to eat were moved to tears of happiness.

The frenzied influx of tens of thousands of people nearly shattered the glass windows of the cafeteria.

Just when the cafeteria was in complete chaos, and people almost started fighting over a single steamed bun.

On the main road not far from the cafeteria.

Director Yang of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

He was accompanied by several high-ranking officials, dressed in military overcoats, who had just arrived from the Ministry of Industry and the military region.

They hurried towards the first canteen, looking anxious and walking with extremely fast steps.