Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 742 - 376: Four Happiness Rolls

The internet was disconnected on the plane, and sitting next to Qin Huai was, unusually, a spirit that he could talk to freely and about anything. After the plane took off, it was extremely rare for Qin Huai not to immediately open the game panel to watch the video tutorial on sticky rice cake, instead starting a conversation mode with Shi Dadan.

After spending several days with Shi Dadan, Qin Huai discovered that chatting with Shi Dadan requires asking questions that get straight to the point.

If you ask him very vague things, he can’t explain clearly. It’s not that Shi Dadan deliberately doesn’t say, nor is it because he’s dumb. The first Shi Dadan was visibly not very smart, but this lifetime’s Shi Dadan is quite normal; often he doesn’t say because he hasn’t realized it’s the point to talk about.

Take for example that time when Qin Huai watched his memories. Shi Dadan can, after knowing which segment of memory Qin Huai watched, narrate everything in detail afterwards, talk about what kind of person Xu Nuo is, describe his mental journey of buying the Double Crab Bun recipe, but he would forget to mention the crucial part where Xu Nuo’s last attempt of the crab and pork bun turned out completely different from the first one.

Because, in Shi Dadan’s mind, his friend Xu Nuo is the most important, he doesn’t have much of a concept regarding how the snacks turned out.

The same rationale applies to other matters.

For the first Shi Dadan, anything besides Xu Nuo didn’t matter. At that time, he was recognized as a friend by Xu Nuo, and Wang Gen Sheng was also Xu Nuo’s friend, but Shi Dadan hadn’t even met Wang Gen Sheng in person (a chance encounter at the cafeteria doesn’t count), and he was not interested in Wang Gen Sheng as a person.

Because Shi Dadan didn’t care.

At that time, Shi Dadan didn’t care about colleagues or passers-by; besides caring about what the cafeteria served daily and Xu Nuo inviting him out for dinner, he only cared about Xu Nuo.

Such behavior is very bizarre when applied to humans, but it’s very reasonable when applied to spirits.

"Old Shi, besides the crab and pork bun, what other snacks did Xu Nuo make that you found particularly delicious?" Qin Huai asked directly.

Talking to Shi Dadan should be like this, straight to the theme, no unnecessary detours—too convoluted, and Shi Dadan won’t understand even now.

Whenever Shi Dadan doesn’t understand, he puts on his signature expression that is both honest and slightly puzzled.

Upon hearing Qin Huai’s question, Shi Dadan swallowed the bun in his mouth and began to think seriously.

"I think whatever Xu Nuo makes is delicious," Shi Dadan said. "If I had to say something particularly tasty... does Four Happiness Rolls count?"

"Four Happiness Rolls?" Qin Huai heard of this snack for the first time. Four Happiness Glutinous Rice, Four Happiness Dumplings—he suspected there might even be a Four Happiness Bun he didn’t know about. He didn’t expect to hear about Four Happiness Rolls first.

"What are Four Happiness Rolls, a type of steamed bun?" Qin Huai asked further.

"Maybe. Zheng Da should know about this snack. Every year, the State owned Restaurant sells them during the New Year. They look sort of like steamed buns, but no, completely different."

"Anyway, they’re like rolls layered one on top of another, only it’s not one big roll but a circle divided into four small rolls. They look like a neatly sliced and flattened steamed bun, and the small rolls inside resemble cloud patterns, yes, cloud patterns. I even asked Xu Nuo what the small rolls are called."

"Ruyi Roll?" Qin Huai asked.

"Possibly. It’s somewhat like the cloud patterns on the Ruyi Roll that Guli makes daily."

"And this steamed bun has filling. The top part is rolled with scallions; the bottom part is rolled with minced meat. Sometimes it’s minced pork, other times it’s minced ham." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Xu Nuo said that in normal circumstances, it should be rolled with minced ham, but ham is expensive. The State owned Restaurant sells these during the New Year for good luck; if it’s priced too high, many families won’t buy them. Generally, it’s more scallion roll with a bit of minced meat, a lot of oil is used to give it a meat flavor."

Listening to Shi Dadan’s explanation, Qin Huai could roughly gauge this snack. It’s a kind of snack that looks simple, like a pretty steamed bun with filling but is actually very difficult to make.

Because it has Ruyi-shaped cloud patterns.

Just the production of these cloud patterns alone is extremely complicated.

The reason why Guli has been practicing the Ruyi Roll for so many years is that he can’t make the cloud patterns on it. During the yeast process of the dough, many uncontrollable factors occur, and it’s easier to manage if it’s frying or baking; steaming is the most challenging to control.

This is why they say flower shaped steamed buns are difficult. Beautiful flower buns are deemed artworks because it’s hard to manage during the steaming process; flower buns are artworks.

The same goes for Four Happiness Rolls.

From a certain perspective, its complexity is higher because it requires controlling both the shape and the flavor.

Four Happiness Rolls have filling; half is scallion and half is ham pairing, along with its highly complex shaping. This seemingly simple filling surely has its intent.

Shi Dadan had eaten a lot of good things in both his lifetimes, and he could remember this snack and its name, shape, and ingredients so clearly, indicating this Four Happiness Roll must be delicious enough to leave a deep impression on Shi Dadan.

"I get it," Qin Huai nodded, pursued, "So Xu Nuo particularly likes this snack and therefore makes it himself. Did he learn how to make Four Happiness Rolls from Master Jing?"

"Seems like it," Shi Dadan wasn’t too sure either. "When I met Xu Nuo, he already knew how to make Four Happiness Rolls. I heard from Brother Liu in our motorcade that the Four Happiness Rolls are particularly troublesome, so Master Jing only makes them during the New Year."