Chapter 611
A Sudden Realization
Chapter 611 A Sudden Realization
After confirming that the group of friends who had come were Chen Huihong and her companions, Qin Huai called Qin Luo out of the car and asked her to help unload the groceries from the vehicle. He then asked Grandpa Qin to take Qin Luo to a clean, empty room where she could catch up on some sleep for a few hours while he went to work in the kitchen.
When Grandpa Qin offered to help, Qin Huai asked him to wash and chop the vegetables, doing the simplest tasks. After all, Qin Huai knew Grandpa Qin's culinary skills were comparable to those of Dean Qin. To write a resume using culinary skills, one could only say that he was proficient in using rice cookers and microwave ovens; even steaming pots wouldn't qualify as proficient.
Dean Qin and Grandpa Qin have both done things like putting things in a steamer, getting busy with other things in the middle, forgetting about the steamer and letting the water evaporate. When they found out, the kitchen was already filled with thick smoke and almost exploded.
It can only be said that Dean Qin and Grandpa Qin are indeed relatives; they share the same talent in cooking.
Breakfast doesn't need to be too complicated. Since Qin Huai chose to come to the welfare home on the eve of the Lunar New Year, he was determined to make enough snacks for all the staff and children in the welfare home for three meals a day within these few days, so there's no need to rush.
In Qin Huai's plan, all he needed to do this morning was make fermented rice buns and soy sauce noodles. The S-grade fermented rice buns were the highest-level dessert he could currently make independently, and they even had a buff, showcasing his strength.
Soy sauce noodles are a simple, easy-to-make, and piping hot dish that Dean Qin loves.
Dean Qin loved to eat vegetarian noodles. When Qin Huai was very young, Dean Qin would often go to the small supermarket to buy cheap dried noodles and stock up on them, eating them as a main meal every few days. At that time, Qin Huai only thought that Dean Qin was trying to save money and that her cooking skills were too bad, since she only cooked noodles with plain water, without even adding an egg.
Later, when Qin Huai grew up, he was adopted by Qin Congwen and his wife, and life at the orphanage became a little better. Director Qin's daily meals changed from plain noodles to noodles with eggs, and Qin Huai realized that Director Qin really loved noodles.
Qin Huai wasn't very good at stretching noodles, and he only started making hand-kneaded noodles more often after he found the recipe for longevity noodles. In addition, noodles don't keep as well as steamed buns or mantou for a long time, so Qin Huai actually never made noodles at the orphanage.
Now that Qin Huai has the ability and the family has the means, Dean Qin certainly can't eat S-level longevity noodles, but he can still provide delicious soy sauce noodles to outstanding graduates in abundance.
Qin Huai was quietly kneading dough in the kitchen.
While washing vegetables, Grandpa Qin chatted with Qin Huai and exclaimed in a loud voice, "When you went to Shanshi last year, your mother and I were worried that you wouldn't have any friends in a strange place. You've always been a loner since you were little. Yesterday, when your friends came to the welfare home, your mother was so happy. If we hadn't known you were coming back today, we would have taken them to the office yesterday to see the paintings you made when you were a child."
Qin Huai: ...
Qin Huai began to consider how likely it was that he could break into Dean Qin's office now and destroy the painting.
0.
Qin Huai could only sigh deeply.
Although he was raised by Dean Qin and still calls her "Mama Qin" even after so many years since graduation, Qin Huai really doesn't understand why Dean Qin is so obsessed with collecting those ugly drawings he made when he was a child, keeping every single one of them.
Dean Qin doesn't collect paintings by other graduates much.
Did Dean Qin have high hopes for me 20 years ago, thinking that I would inherit billions of dollars in the future, so he prepared a handle in advance to prevent me from not donating money to the welfare home after graduation?
Qin Huai could only change the subject: "Uncle Qin, I've always been popular with people since I was a child, okay? When did I become a loner?"
Grandpa Qin laughed heartily: "You're quite popular, kid. You've never had any friends since you were little."
Qin Huai was about to retort, wanting to name one or two friends he had played with well in the orphanage to prove that he had been popular since childhood, but after opening his mouth, he found that he couldn't even say their names.
Qin Huai was stunned.
He suddenly realized that he couldn't even recall the name of one of his childhood friends from the orphanage, and he barely remembered the names of the healthy children who had stayed with him in the orphanage but were subsequently adopted by other families.
It seems they were only connected by having lived in the same orphanage for a while, and hadn't had much contact in recent years. A few years ago, they would go back to the orphanage together around the Lunar New Year's Eve, and would greet each other if they met. After not seeing each other for the past few years, Qin Huai not only didn't remember what they looked like, but he didn't even remember their names.
Hey, what was the name of the last outstanding graduate who went in?
Qin Huai discovered that he didn't even remember his friend's last name.
Qin Huai began to reminisce about his classmates over the years.
My elementary school classmate.
I don't remember, we haven't been in contact.
My junior high school classmate.
I don't remember, and we haven't been in contact.
My high school classmate.
I don't quite remember, and we haven't been in contact since.
My college classmate.
Holy crap, he only has contact with Ouyang, and Ouyang isn't even Qin Huai's classmate; Ouyang is a senior.
At that moment, Qin Huai suddenly realized that he was not the cheerful, sweet-talking, sociable, perceptive, master of lies, and popular sunny boy he had imagined.
He's a deadbeat liar who only maintains a polite social distance from everyone, has no childhood friends, no best friends, no friends he's known since childhood, and only a younger sister he's been lying to since he was a child.
His relationship with Ouyang was only good during their university years and after they moved to Shanshi. During the two years that Qin Huai returned to Qiuxian to sell breakfast after graduating from university, Qin Huai and Ouyang had little contact and were merely acquaintances who liked each other's posts on social media.
If Qin Huai hadn't inherited the estate and moved to Shanshi, and if Ouyang hadn't happened to live in Yunzhong Community and their paths hadn't crossed again, they might not even have remained strangers a few years later.
Qin Huai suddenly realized that he had never had any friends since he was a child. He always thought that he was popular because he was good at making breakfast. His classmates loved to eat breakfast from Qin's breakfast shop and relied on him to bring breakfast every day.
His true friends are actually Chen Huihong and her group of mischievous spirits.
Although it's a bit outrageous, Qin Luo has always been with him since his childhood, playing the role of his best friend and close confidant.
Qin Huai has never felt that he is lonely or has no friends over the years because he has a younger sister.
Is this the fate of male protagonists in system novels?
Qin Huai was still in shock when Grandpa Qin began to mutter to himself, "You child, you weren't affectionate even when we held you. You were only close to a few people, and you wouldn't let anyone else touch you. You never liked playing with the other children at the orphanage, and you always farmed by yourself. You didn't make any friends at school either, and every time someone wanted to adopt you, you would cry and throw a tantrum, and sometimes you would act strangely like a fool. If it weren't for your father's breakfast shop right across from our orphanage, where we've watched you grow up and know you inside and out, your mother and I would never have imagined that you would be adopted by any family." "I'm not as exaggerated as you say," Qin Huai weakly protested.
“You have no idea how difficult you were to take care of when you were little. Besides your mother, Qin, there was also a young man who often volunteered at the orphanage. You would cry if anyone touched you, and you would cry even if you were left alone. Your mother had to hold you when she fed the other children, otherwise your crying would have deafened everyone. I am hard of hearing now because of your crying when you were little.”
Qin Huai: ...Uncle Qin, if you say these things now, you can't say them again when Chen Huihong and the others wake up.
"Your mother Qin has spent her whole life taking care of children in the orphanage. Back then, we all thought you were the most difficult child to take care of, but later, when Huaihuai, you grew up, we realized that you were the easiest child to take care of."
"Obedience, sensible, and observant."
"The conditions in the welfare home are not good. To put it bluntly, even if a child is able-bodied, it is difficult for them to go to college without someone sponsoring them. It is understandable that well-off families want to adopt young children who don't remember things. Children who do remember things know that they are not the biological children of their adoptive parents, and adoptive parents are also afraid that they will not be able to raise the children properly."
"Back then, your mother, Qin, was so worried that she couldn't sleep at night. She wanted to find you a good family so that you could leave the orphanage and have a better environment and a better future. But she was also afraid that she wouldn't find a good family and would be deceived by those fake good families who adopted you just so that you would drop out of school and work to earn money after you graduated from junior high school."
"It's not like this hasn't happened before."
"Actually, the reason your parents wanted to adopt you was because your mother, Qin, went to their door to ask. She investigated and researched all the families in our county that she knew well, and finally felt that your parents were good people and the most suitable, and that you were also suitable. At that time, your mother, Qin, had already thought that if your parents did not want to adopt you, she would make sure that you got along well with them, so that if you did not get into university after graduating from high school, you could go directly to work at their breakfast shop selling steamed buns."
Qin Huai never expected that Dean Qin actually had a Plan B back then.
Qin Huai didn't know what to say for a moment. He kneaded the dough silently for a while, then looked at Grandpa Qin, who was still squinting as he washed the vegetables, and asked, "Grandpa Qin, why didn't I know about these things before?"
"What's the point of you knowing this? There's a lot you don't know. When you first started elementary school, some of the parents in your class heard from somewhere that you were mentally challenged, and they went to the school to make a scene, demanding that you transfer to another class because they didn't want their child to be in the same class as a mentally challenged person from an orphanage. Your mother, Qin, even went to the school and got into a fight with that parent."
Qin Huai felt a mix of emotions.
He had always thought he was quite smart, but just now, he felt like an unenlightened Yuanmou Man who had only just gained his intelligence.
"Then why are you suddenly telling me all this now?"
"Because Huaihuai has grown up," Grandpa Qin said with a smile. "She's grown up, gone to school, moved to a different environment, and made all sorts of friends who genuinely care about her."
“Your mother and your friends had a great time chatting yesterday.”
Qin Huai could only continue kneading the dough, lost in thought.
Just as Qin Huai was kneading the dough for the fermented rice buns and was about to start making hand-kneaded noodles while the dough was fermenting, he heard some voices coming from outside the kitchen.
The voice was very low, and it was hard to hear what was being said. The closer the voice got, the clearer it became.
"Jingjing, is there something wrong with the shampoo you're using? I feel like your hair wasn't this bad before. How come it's all frizzy like this after you woke up today? I bought a batch of conditioner last year and I still have several boxes at home. I'll get you two bottles when I get back."
"Sister Hong, I don't think my hair is bad, I just haven't combed it. There's no comb in my room."
"Why didn't you tell me you didn't have a comb? I have one in my bag, I'll get it for you when we get back."
“The children are still sleeping, so I don’t dare to talk much over there. I also grew up in an orphanage, and I know that these old houses have very poor sound insulation. You can hear even the slightest footstep in the room. It’s not good to wake the children up so early.”
Chen Huihong and Qu Jing, whose hair was frizzy from not combing it, walked at the front.
Qu Jing not only didn't comb her hair, but she also didn't sleep well. She looked somewhat haggard and pale. In addition, the kitchen light was not bright, and the light shining on Qu Jing's already pale face made her look bloodless, giving Qin Huai a kind of hallucination of Qu Jing before she successfully transcended the tribulation.
"Sister Hong, didn't you say in the group chat that you would arrive on the 29th of the lunar year? Why are you here so early? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Qin Huai said with a smile, without any hint of blame.
“Hey, this wasn’t my idea. I came early because I have something important to do. Didn’t Luo Jun donate some money to the orphanage last year and the year before? Before he died, he specifically told me to go to the orphanage before the new year to check the accounts and see if the money he donated had been misused. I also went to check the accounts of the orphanage where Jingjing is staying before the new year. Right, Jingjing?”
Qu Jing nodded in agreement.
Qin Huai believed that Chen Huihong was not lying, because this was indeed Luo Jun's style. Even if he went to the underworld to be reincarnated, the money he had donated before could not be squandered.
“I originally planned to come alone early and go to your hometown after checking the accounts. But when Jingjing’s department head heard that she was going to take her annual leave to go out of town this year, he thought that Jingjing had something to do, so he specially arranged for her to have many more days off, so I brought Jingjing with me.”
"Chen Gong heard about it and wanted to come earlier to see what the orphanage where you spent your childhood was like."
"Old Wang saw Chen Gong mention it in the group and wanted to come too. Gong Liang couldn't come, and Xiao Zhao wanted to come but he hadn't taken his annual leave yet. Old Shi... I asked him, and he said he was going out to sea to fish and couldn't come today."
"Originally, Lao Wang and Youyou were going to Shanghai to pick up Factory Director Xu together, but Lao Wang wanted to come earlier, so he asked Factory Director Xu. Since Factory Director Xu was willing to come earlier, Youyou was naturally willing too. Well, actually, she wasn't too willing. She wanted to work at the Cloud Cafeteria for a couple more days to earn more money, but she didn't want to come last."
“We made a special trip to Shanghai for a layover the day before yesterday, stayed there for a day, and brought Director Xu with us.”
"Since everyone is here... I found another excuse to call Zhou Hu over early."
Qin Huai: ??? How many of you actually came? Why is even Factory Director Xu here?
Is the Sanmalu Children's Welfare Home really worth visiting and checking in on?
Are Dean Qin and Grandpa Qin still keeping their mouths shut? What exactly did you talk about that afternoon and evening?
For some reason, Qin Huai suddenly felt that although Luo Jun was already queuing up to be reincarnated, Luo Jun had actually participated in this team building activity. The one who really didn't participate was Zhao Cheng'an, who couldn't get leave from Zhiweiju.
Qin Huai was full of questions, but he still managed to grasp the most crucial information in Chen Huihong's words.
"Was it mentioned in the group chat? I didn't see Chen Gong say he was coming early in the group chat. Sister Hong, do you have other groups?"
Chen Huihong was taken aback, then nodded: "Of course, Chen Gong, Gong Liang, and I have a small group for group buying."
"They have wider channels and can get group-buying prices that are lower than mine."
(End of this chapter)