The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 421 [Delicious Egg Tarts]

"What? Xiao Qin, you didn't practice any pastries at Zhiweiju the other day, and now you're making egg tarts?"

Is it delicious?

"Not bad. Tan Wei'an ate three in a row, drank a bowl of tea, came back but was chased away, came back and ate four more. I understand, I'll book the tickets now. How did you know I love egg tarts the most?"

“My favorite food isn’t steamed buns, mantou, or shumai… they’re all the same. I also love egg tarts. I’ve had enough of them in Suzhou lately. By the way, what you said last time was absolutely right. It’s impossible for Zheng Da to work at Huang’s for more than three consecutive days. After you left, Zheng Da worked for two days and then took a break, so it became one day on and one day off. He came today, but he probably won’t come tomorrow.”

How is Zheng Da feeling?

"I can't tell the difference. His four-happiness flower rolls are quite delicious, almost exactly the same as yours. Many customers didn't notice the difference and didn't know you were gone."

"Oh, and also, when I was chatting with Qu Jing these past few days, Qu Jing said that Luo Jun is a bit bored. I guess he's finished watching TV dramas and goes to the hospital every day to cause trouble for people, scaring other patients who are making trouble at the hospital so much that they don't dare to do so anymore."

"He also mentioned An Youyou a couple of times, but I'm not very familiar with that girl, so I don't remember exactly what he said. When do you have time? Let's have a video call and a meeting. I haven't seen Luo Jun in a long time and I miss him. He never answers my video calls, and he doesn't reply to my messages either."

"I didn't have much time left to live, and every meeting is one less. Sometimes I even think about buying a plane ticket to go back and see Lao Luo. But I think he probably doesn't want to see me. Sigh, Xiao Qin, you know I really care about him. It's not easy for those ferocious beasts to overcome their tribulations."

The above statements are all from the conversation between Shi Dadan and Qin Huai, which ended with Shi Dadan's sigh and swallowing.

Yes, Shi Dadan was eating while on the phone.

Kang's happiness is so simple and unpretentious.

That evening, Shi Dadan rushed to Hangzhou with three suitcases and arrived at his house in Qinhuai at 8:37 p.m.

To welcome Shi Dadan's arrival, Qin Huai specially packed four of Master Zhou's egg tarts and four of his own.

Considering Shi Dadan's appetite, Qin Huai, who had only ordered takeout on the first day and didn't know what good restaurants or takeout options were nearby, randomly ordered eight takeout meals from the takeout app to welcome Shi Dadan.

Eight takeout orders spread across the table—that's the highest level of hospitality one can expect.

Shi Dadan, quite willingly, chose to eat the cold egg tarts instead of the hot takeout after putting down his suitcase.

Shi Dadan ate one of Master Zhou's egg tarts, then one of Qin Huai's egg tarts. After a not-so-difficult decision, Shi Dadan pointed to Qin Huai's egg tart and said, "Little Qin, I think your egg tarts are delicious too!"

Qin Huai was almost in tears. Although even someone as supportive as Shi Dadan couldn't honestly say that his egg tarts were better than Master Zhou's, he could say that when the two egg tarts were placed side by side...

Qin Luo and Ouyang couldn't say that even with their eyes closed; all they could do was eat egg tarts with their eyes closed.

“These egg tarts were baked around 5 p.m., and they’ve cooled down after sitting for so long, so they don’t taste as good as when they were fresh out of the oven. I’m currently an exchange chef at Zhiweiju, so it’s not appropriate for me to openly give you special treatment, Lao Shi.”

"Here's what we'll do: tomorrow afternoon around 3 PM, go to the takeout window of Zhiweiju early and line up. Lately, all the customers at Zhiweiju have been saying that Chef Zhou releases a small batch of egg tarts he bakes himself every afternoon, and there are a lot of customers lining up to buy egg tarts and open blind boxes during the afternoon. Just line up as usual."

"I'll say hello to the person at the window and save a few for you. When it's your turn, I'll move Master Zhou's egg tarts to you."

"Okay, okay, okay." Shi Dadan nodded frantically while eating egg tarts, his face beaming with happiness.

"By the way, Xiao Qin, I forgot to ask when I called this afternoon, weren't you supposed to come to Zhiweiju to learn cloud pattern making? How come you're learning how to make egg tarts now? Are you still learning cloud pattern making?"

"Was my side quest too difficult? You couldn't make the Four Happiness Roll. Sigh, I'm really sorry, I didn't expect to come up with such a difficult dessert. Actually, I thought of many desserts, but your game system just chose the Four Happiness Roll."

"Can I change it now? Would it make a difference if I said I wanted egg tarts, not four-happiness rolls?"

Qin Huai hadn't expected that Shi Dadan's focus would be on this. To be honest, as the true owner of the game system, Qin Huai was a male protagonist in a system novel who owed a ton of unfinished tasks, and he himself didn't really care about these tasks.

The main reason is that the current tasks are not as urgent as before.

Qin Huai was really eager to do Qu Jing's side quest. At that time, Qu Jing was in a bad mental state, and Luo Jun and Chen Huihong often mentioned it to Qin Huai, saying that in a few years, the grass on Qu Jing's grave would be taller than Qin Huai's.

That was probably when Qin Huai was most eager to complete the mission. He was afraid that if he finished the side quest too late, Qu Jing would not be able to hold on until the day she woke up and would pass away first.

Qin Huai is now taking these tasks in stride because the spirits are all in good condition. Whether it's Gong Liang, Wang Gensheng, or An Youyou, none of them are in their last life, and their status bars all show a positive and uplifting attitude, indicating that they can awaken on their own.

Needless to say, Shi Dadan woke up immediately. His side quest was practically a freebie, like a character the author had just thrown in because they couldn't continue writing the plot.

Therefore, although Qin Huai had been practicing the snacks required for side quests and main quests during this period, he was actually quite relaxed. He was in the state of practicing whenever he could, and if he couldn't practice, he would just let it go.

Whether it's practicing thickening sauces and knife skills, or learning cloud patterns only to end up making egg tarts, it's all acceptable. What's the difference between learning something and learning something else? What if a side quest later comes up that requires him to make egg tarts? Wouldn't that be a bonus?

But Qin Huai didn't expect Shi Dadan to care so much about his side quest, even more than he did about it.

Qin Huai thought for a moment and said, "I think you can give it a try."

Shi Dadan put down the egg tart and said very seriously, "The dessert I really want to eat is not the Four Happiness Roll at all. I have no memory of the Four Happiness Roll and no impression of it. I don't want to eat it at all. The dessert I want to eat is the egg tart. After eating this egg tart today, I realized that egg tarts are actually so delicious!"

"The dessert I, Shi Dadan, crave right now is delicious egg tarts!"

As soon as Shi Dadan finished speaking, a game notification sounded in Qin Huai's mind.

"Ding! Congratulations on discovering a side quest. Please check it in the game panel."

Qin Huai: ? ? ?
What the heck? This works? He's never used this trick before, so why does Shi Dadan say it's okay? Just because he's an auspicious beast? Is Dang Kang really that capricious?

Qin Huai was stunned, remaining frozen for a good seven or eight seconds before reaching out to open the game panel and check the newly acquired side quests.

[Delicious Egg Tarts]: As an awakened Dang Kang, Shi Dadan has eaten countless delicious pastries in his two lifetimes. There aren't many pastries that he truly craves, but today's egg tarts are one of them. As for what makes a delicious egg tart, that depends on Shi Dadan's definition. Players are asked to make egg tarts that Shi Dadan finds delicious, thus fulfilling his wish.

Task Reward: [A Dream of Zhao Cheng'an]

Qin Huai: ?
? ?
???

Whose dream is this?

Zhao Cheng'an?
Qin Huai just felt that Zhao Cheng'an was a free spirit, but rigid when making pastries. He was very witty and humorous, not someone who liked to be confined to a small kitchen, but he was genuinely passionate about pastries and was exceptionally serious and responsible during work hours. He was a relatively contradictory person.

But he never imagined that Zhao Cheng'an was a spirit.

Dude, you really don't look like a spirit. Every single one of those spirits, except for An Youyou who is relatively more human-like, you can really tell that they're not normal.

But Zhao Cheng'an...

Dude, you're really normal.

When observing gossip, they are incredibly perceptive, with keen judgment, a deep understanding of human nature, and a keen knowledge of interpersonal relationships. Based on Qin Huai's understanding of these spirits, the reason they mostly fail in their tribulations is that they have entered the world, but not fully. They are trying to learn how to be human, but they never understand what a truly human being is, which is why they fail.

Zhao Cheng'an's performance didn't seem like a failure at all; it seemed like a great success.

Seeing Qin Huai clicking around in the air, Shi Dadan knew Qin Huai was looking at the game panel. Seeing Qin Huai remain silent for a while, he didn't ask, but instead opened all eight takeout orders and started eating. After several bites, noticing Qin Huai had clearly finished looking at the screen but had fallen into a long silence again, he finally asked:
"What's wrong?"

Has my side quest been changed?

Qin Huai scratched his head.

"Nothing has been changed, but you've given me a new side quest, and my mind is a bit of a mess right now."

"It's okay, Lao Shi, you eat first. I'll make a video call in the group."
.
"Oh, who is this? Isn't this our rare guest, Chef Qin, from our 'We Are a Loving Family' group? We heard a little bit about him when he went to Suzhou, but after he arrived in Hangzhou, we've completely disappeared. I don't know what's going on in Hangzhou. He's stopped making pastries, stopped brewing tangerine peel tea, and even stopped participating in the group chat. I almost thought you'd forgotten about this group."

The first person to join the video call was Luo Jun, who was full of sarcastic remarks. Qin Huai hadn't seen Luo Jun for a while, and when he saw his face, he didn't know if it was because he hadn't seen him for so long and felt a little unfamiliar, or if Luo Jun had really aged. Qin Huai clearly felt that Luo Jun seemed to have aged a bit more than before.

His voice seemed a bit hoarse, and even his sarcastic tone wasn't particularly sharp, but his voice wasn't as strong as before.

You know, when Luo Junfa got angry and yelled at Chen Huihong, asking if she was sick, his voice was so strong that it didn't sound like a 90-year-old at all. If you didn't know better, you would have thought he was a young man in his 60s.

Chen Huihong was the second to join the video call, followed closely by Qu Jing. Chen Gong was probably working and couldn't join the group chat in time.

"Xiao Qin, how are you doing in Hangzhou? When do you plan to come back? Xu Tuqiang and the others have asked me this indirectly many times. If it weren't for Xiao Zheng suddenly coming back to make some pastries a couple of days ago, I suspect they would have gone to Hangzhou to buy another house."

Qin Huai: ...

The elderly folks at the Cloud Cafeteria are still as enthusiastic as ever.

"How has Zheng Siyuan been doing at the Yunzhong Cafeteria these past few days?" Qin Huai asked.

He's been mostly listening to gossip at Zhiweiju these past few days and hasn't been chatting with Zheng Siyuan much on WeChat. Zheng Siyuan isn't one to initiate conversations either, so the two haven't had much interaction.

"She's incredibly enthusiastic about her work. She arrives at the canteen around 7 a.m. every day and makes pastries until 7 p.m. before leaving. A couple of days ago, someone spread a rumor that Xiao Zheng likes durian, and the durians in several nearby specialty fruit shops were almost sold out. Xiao Zheng received more than 60 durians that day and had to bake several batches of durian pastries."

"To be honest, Xiao Zheng was inexperienced. How could you make this kind of snack at this stall? The next day, he received more than 80 durians."

Qin Huai: ...

It must have been tough on Zheng Siyuan.

"Sister Hong, didn't you remind Zheng Siyuan?" Qin Huai asked.

He knew Zheng Siyuan's temperament well, and he knew even better how well the elderly people at the Yunzhong Canteen could coax him. Zheng Siyuan was indeed the kind of pastry chef who could be coaxed by the elderly people and make pastries for 12 hours a day.

"I plan to have Xiao Zheng make durian pastries for a few days first, and then remind him in a couple of days," Chen Huihong said. "His durian pastries are quite delicious."

Qu Jing nodded emphatically in agreement.

Qin Huai: ...Fine, Chen Huihong and Qu Jing didn't let Zheng Siyuan off the hook either.

"By the way, Xiao Qin, what brings you here today?" Chen Huihong asked.

After being silent for a while, Luo Jun finally found an opportunity to interject, saying sarcastically, "Oh, so Chen Huihong, you did know that Qin Huai initiated this video call today. I almost thought you were the one who initiated it to chat in the group."

Since arriving at Zhiweiju, Qin Huai has been listening to Master Zhou's sarcastic remarks about others every day. He has become completely immune to Luo Jun's direct and aggressive sarcastic remarks, and even occasionally thinks that Luo Jun should cultivate his sarcastic remarks and not be so straightforward.

"Here's the thing, Lao Shi just gave me another side quest." Qin Huai turned the phone camera towards Shi Dadan, letting everyone see Shi Dadan still eating takeout, indicating that he was with Shi Dadan.

Then Qin Huai recounted everything that had happened at Zhiweiju during this time, how he met Zhao Cheng'an, Zhao Cheng'an's personality traits, and the details of the side quests.

This was absolutely serious business. While Qin Huai was saying the above, Luo Jun looked serious, Chen Huihong didn't interrupt, Qu Jing listened attentively, and Shi Dadan even slowed down his eating to listen intently.

After speaking for about half an hour, Qin Huai finally finished and then raised his own question.

“Mr. Luo, I think Zhao Cheng’an’s situation is a bit different from that of Grandpa Wang and the others. Moreover, he probably doesn’t have much, or even any, memories related to spirits. I’m not sure if this is his last life.”

"Don't you have the game panel? If you're unsure, just open it and take a look," Luo Jun said.

Qin Huai looked helpless: "That's what I find the strangest thing."

"After I finished reading the side quest, I checked the encyclopedia, but no new entries were unlocked. Zhao Cheng'an wasn't even in the encyclopedia."

Luo Jun frowned: "What kind of crappy game system is that? It always fails at crucial moments."

Qin Huai thought Luo Jun's scolding was very good, so he remained silent.

"I just think it's a bit too strange, and in my opinion, Zhao Cheng'an really doesn't seem like a spirit. I just wanted to ask in the group today to see if he is a special spirit like Lao Shi, or if he is in a special state."

Under normal circumstances, as long as a mission is announced and the mission contains relevant memories and dreams of the corresponding spirit, the encyclopedia will definitely be unlocked.

However, in the Qin Huai illustration section, there is one spirit that is special.

Chen Huihui.

Chen Huihui is a vanished phoenix. In a sense, this Chen Huihui in this life is not a spirit but a real person. Qin Huai only unlocked Chen Huihui's profile after reading all of Chen Huihong's memories.

Therefore, Qin Huai suspected that Zhao Cheng'an might also be in this situation, but he didn't dare to say it directly.

Luo Jun frowned: "How would I know? I'm just a dying Bifang, not an encyclopedia."

"There are so many spirits and monsters, and there are some species I might not even recognize. You should hurry up and complete Shi Dadan's task, make the egg tarts, and then you'll know once you see the dream."

"You gathered us all together just for this? Qin Huai, do you think I have too much time to waste? I just discovered this afternoon that I haven't finished watching a TV series yet, and I'm going to visit a cemetery with Chen Huihong tomorrow."

“The graves she chose for me before were really bad. It would have been better to bury me in the green belt of our community. If I were buried in those places, I wouldn’t be happy to see the tombstone when I come back to sweep my own grave in my next life.”

Qin Huai: ...What a strange yet reasonable statement.

“Well… um…” Qu Jing raised her hand weakly, “If we’ve finished talking about Qin Huai, there’s something I actually want to say, which is about An Youyou.”

“I’ve been chatting with An Youyou a lot lately, and I feel that she might be able to accelerate her awakening through some unorthodox methods.”

(End of this chapter)