Chapter 616
The Best Sister in the World
Chapter 616 The Best Sister in the World
Normally, when Qin Huai comes to the welfare home, he spends most of his time making snacks.
Chatting is just a side dish; desserts are the main course. Just like the ordinary daily life in Qinhuai, what do dessert chefs do if they don't make desserts? Just gossip?
Even in system novels, the male protagonist has to make desserts. The tasks issued by the game system are all related to desserts, so the male protagonist in system novels also has to do his job.
Qinhuai seems to be neglecting its proper business these days.
After looking at the two paintings in Dean Qin's office—paintings he himself couldn't remember seeing and hadn't seen in years—he fell into a very strange state of mind.
He wanted to tell Director Qin, "Aunt Qin, you're overthinking it. Even if most of the children in our orphanage are like this, I'm different. I'm the male protagonist of a system novel, the well-known Master Qin, the human friend of spirits, and the savior of my classmates who had to carry two big styrofoam boxes of bags to school every day in high school."
I'm a typical sunny and cheerful guy, how could I be a loner with no friends?
Qin Huai felt he could give many examples. For instance, some children in the orphanage would be bullied, but he was never bullied. If he wanted, he could eat all the candy in the pockets of all the children in the orphanage on New Year's Day.
He had a good relationship with his classmates when he was in elementary school. Everyone knew that he came from an orphanage and took good care of him. His teachers also took good care of him, and his homeroom teacher often gave him lollipops.
Although Qin Huai no longer remembers his elementary school homeroom teacher's name or what he looked like.
Qin Huai also mentioned that his popularity improved after entering junior high school, and by high school, there wasn't a single classmate who didn't know him. He maintained good relationships with his classmates in college, actively participating in clubs; otherwise, he wouldn't have known Ouyang.
The reason I didn't bring my friends to the orphanage is because...
because……
because……
Qin Huai is running out of ideas to continue this story.
Qin Huai suddenly realized that he seemed to have romanticized his past memories. He did seem to have no friends from childhood to adulthood. His best friend was his sister (Qin Luo), and his second best friend was his brother (He Cheng).
The truly masterful liar is one who, while deceiving others, ends up deceiving himself as well.
At lunchtime, Qin Huai had a poor appetite.
Qin Huai, who couldn't eat, dragged Qin Luo, who could eat, to a small room to review the situation.
Today at the orphanage, lunch consisted of various kinds of steamed buns, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, stir-fried shredded radish, and stir-fried red mustard greens. Qin Luo wasn't very hungry because she had just eaten a large bowl of noodles around 10 a.m., so she grabbed a couple of steamed buns and went to chat with Qin Huai in a small room.
There are many empty rooms in the orphanage. Some are for volunteers, and some were previously occupied by the children. Now that there are fewer children, the rooms have been vacated and haven't been converted into storage rooms.
Qin Huai randomly found a small room where volunteers lived, moved two small stools, one for him and one for Qin Luo, and the two siblings sat facing each other.
After Qin Luo sat down, he immediately started eating a steamed bun. After taking a bite, he realized that he had made a mistake by picking a vegetarian bun, and immediately put on a mask of pain.
Qin Huai showed no concern for his sister, instead questioning his own existence: "Luo Luo, do you think I'm a withdrawn person who's been introverted since childhood?"
Qin Luo ate his vegetable bun with a touch of sadness, answering every question: "Brother, I didn't even know you when you were little, how would I know what you were like back then?"
"Have I not had any friends since I started junior high school?"
"Brother, I was still crawling on the floor when you were in junior high school, how could I possibly remember anything from that time!"
"I always thought that the reason I didn't keep in touch with my former classmates was because I didn't have time to play with them during the holidays. I had to sell steamed buns at my family's steamed bun shop, and I had to go to bed early and get up early every day so I couldn't hang out with them."
"It's alright, brother. You didn't get up that early before either. You usually sleep until 5 o'clock, right? That's only about an hour earlier than me. I usually get up at 6 o'clock every day. If I get up late, I won't be able to make the first batch of buns you make."
"I think I was quite popular with people in high school."
"Brother, I also think you were very popular in high school. Every winter and summer vacation, a lot of your high school classmates would come to our shop to buy steamed buns. They would also bring me snacks! Just like... just like Uncle Xu and his friends. Even when you went to college, they would still come to our breakfast shop to buy steamed buns. Do you remember, brother?"
Qin Huai shook his head: "I don't remember. I mostly make steamed buns and rarely sell them. It's mostly you and Mom who sell them."
Qin Luo suddenly realized: "Right, when they came to buy steamed buns, you didn't have time to pay attention to them, brother. There was also a girl who liked you back then. She would come over every morning to bring you drinks. She would come to buy steamed buns around 7 o'clock and wait until 8 or 9 o'clock. She would give you the drinks and try to talk to you when you took a break. You didn't pay much attention to her and even had to pay for the drinks for her. Mom secretly called you a blockhead."
Qin Huai: ?
Qin Huai was shocked: "Is that so?"
"Yes, I remember that girl was the class representative for Chinese in your high school class, right? Later she started dating... She and her boyfriend came to our breakfast shop to buy steamed buns once. Her boyfriend was from out of town, I think he was her college classmate. She loved them after just one bite and came every day. One day she didn't come, but her boyfriend did. I remember it all, bro, you didn't know anything about it?"
Qin Huai shook his head: "I don't know."
Not only did he not know, but Qin Huai was too embarrassed to say that he didn't even remember what his high school Chinese class representative's name was.
Qin Luo didn't understand but respected it. After finishing the vegetable bun, she started eating the next one. Her eyes lit up when she found it was a three-ingredient bun.
"Brother, are you still thinking about what Qin's mother said this morning?"
"It's a little...unexpected," Qin Huai said. Qin Huai had never questioned the love that Director Qin had for him. In Qin Huai's view, Director Qin loved every child in the welfare home equally, perhaps with just a little more love for him.
“But you’ve always been like this, brother. I don’t think you’re aloof at all. You just don’t like talking to people and you like making desserts,” Qin Luo said. “That makes perfect sense.”
"Just like Mom said, only those who love reading can read well. I don't like reading, so my grades are not good. Brother, you don't really like reading either, so your grades are just average."
"But you love making pastries, and you hate getting up early. Even when you were in high school, you were willing to get up at 5 a.m. during winter and summer vacations to make steamed buns. That's why your pastries are so delicious."
"And I love eating snacks. No matter how full I am, as long as you made them especially for me, I can eat them all. That's why I can eat so much!" Qin Luo said, puffing out his chest proudly. "I didn't have a big appetite since I was little. I developed my appetite by eating more every day!"
Qin Huai looked at Qin Luo.
"Everyone's time is limited, bro. You spend all your time making desserts and researching the desserts I want to eat, so naturally you don't have time to pay attention to your classmates. Besides, you don't need to pay attention to your classmates. I think you are very popular. It's you who don't want to be friends with them, not the other way around."
“It’s not that you don’t want to be friends with them, I just think you don’t have that kind of interest, you just don’t like making friends.”
“Since I started junior high school, everyone knows I’m your sister. Everyone expects me to bring them breakfast.”
"Besides, brother, you're not much different now than before. It's just that before, your classmates came to our breakfast shop every day to buy snacks, and now it's the elderly folks in the neighborhood who come to our breakfast shop to buy snacks. Everyone likes you. If there's any difference... it might be because you're a bit materialistic, and Aunt Chen and the others are richer, so you prefer to be friends with them?" Qin Luo said, falling into deep thought.
Qin Huai gave Qin Luo a hard flick on the forehead, making Qin Luo almost cover his head and dodge.
"You dare say I'm a snob and a gold digger? When you were at your poorest, you owed me over 1 yuan, and I didn't look down on you then?"
Qin Luo chuckled: "Brother, just tell me if I'm right or not. Of course, it's also possible that you just like making friends with older people."
"Mom has been grumbling at home too, saying you don't play with your peers much, but you get along quite well with Aunt Chen and Mr. Luo. Mom also worried that you were deliberately getting close to Mr. Luo for his inheritance, and even asked me to search online to see if your behavior constituted fraud." "What was the result?" Qin Huai asked curiously.
"For this amount, you could face a sentence of 10 years or more in prison or life imprisonment, along with a fine or confiscation of property."
Qin Huai gave Qin Luo another flick on the forehead, and Qin Luo covered his head and yelled, "Is this really the result of the search? I didn't make it up."
Qin Luo angrily finished the three-ingredient bun and started eating the last bun. He was delighted to find that the last bun was a big meat bun, and his mood instantly brightened.
Qin Huai was still thinking.
"Brother, are you still not in a good mood?"
"I don't think Qin's mother said anything this morning. According to the plot of TV dramas, shouldn't children from orphanages be moved to tears when they hear such words, and then sign a check for 500 million yuan to indicate that they want to rebuild the orphanage?"
Qin Huai: ?
What TV series is this from? Was the script written by Dean Qin?
"I'm not in a bad mood," Qin Huai said calmly. "I'm just a little confused."
"I always thought I knew myself pretty well, but today I suddenly realized that I don't know myself at all."
Speaking of this, Qin Huai looked at Qin Luo and stared straight at her: "Luo Luo, don't you think I'm weird?"
Qin Luo shook his head.
"Brother, you're perfectly normal. What's wrong with you?"
"Although you don't like going out much or traveling, you're willing to take me to the aquarium and the amusement park, and you even took me to the amusement park in the city."
"Although you don't like to play with others much, everyone is willing to play with you. If you want to go out and play, I believe there are plenty of people who will play with you."
"And you're very likable, everyone likes you. Although sometimes I feel that what you say to those grandpas, grandmas, uncles and elders in the village is just a lie that comes out of your mouth, it also shows that you're very good at talking!"
"Not to mention, brother, your pastries are so delicious. You spend so much time making pastries, of course you don't have time to go out and play or make friends. If that counts as being aloof, then I think it's normal. You spend the time I would have spent playing with my friends making pastries, how could you not be aloof?"
"Besides, truly withdrawn people are disliked by everyone. But you're different; everyone likes you. You have such a great personality!"
"Brother, you're definitely a sunny and cheerful guy!"
"Brother, if you make me four-happiness dumplings this afternoon, I'll go tell Aunt Qin later that you're not aloof at all, and that she's misunderstood!"
Qin Huai: ...
Qin Huai wasn't sure if he was truly sunny and cheerful, but he was certain that Qin Luo was genuinely sunny and cheerful, perhaps even a little too cheerful.
In this child's heart, her brother's sudden emo is no match for Four Happiness Dumplings.
Qin Huai rolled her eyes at Qin Luo, then suddenly realized there was nothing to be emo about.
Qin Luo is right. He didn't care about these things for the first 20 years of his life, and there's no need for him to suddenly realize it and then suddenly care a lot, since he wouldn't change even if he did.
He can't possibly stop making snacks and going out to meet friends every day just to prove he's genuinely cheerful, outgoing, and willing to make friends. He works 12 hours a day, from 4 AM to 4 PM; where does he find the time and energy to make friends?
If people cut back on work hours to make friends, it means that the elderly residents of Yunzhong Community and the nearby office workers will have to eat far fewer snacks, making the already mild competition much fiercer.
If at this point someone were to reveal even a hint as to why Chef Qin reduced the time spent making pastries…
Qin Huai suspected that office workers would write their dating declarations as resumes, frantically sending their dating resumes to the Cloud Cafeteria every day, telling themselves that they didn't need to spend time making friends outside, as there were plenty of friends outside who wanted to make friends.
Qin Huai chuckled at his own thoughts as he pondered them.
"Hey bro, you smiled. That means you're in a good mood. Bro, are you making four-happiness dumplings this afternoon?"
"Do."
"How about beef flatbread? Oh wait, we probably can't make flatbread here, how about beef pancakes?"
"Okay, I'll do it."
"Wow, I also want to eat mutton shumai. Bro, can you make mutton shumai?"
"of course can."
"Wow, brother, you're so great! I also want to eat osmanthus cake, hibiscus cake, mung bean cake, donkey roll, and pea flour cake. Can you make all of those?"
"Of course we can, but if we do that we might have to stay at the orphanage tonight, otherwise it would be too much of a waste of time to go back and forth."
"Of course we'll stay! I'll text Dad later and ask him to bring us some clean clothes."
"Brother, you were so nice to me today! You weren't this nice to me even when I improved on my last exam. You're so great! Could you please only be nice to me every three... no, every month... oh no, every six months, if you're ever in a bad mood?"
Qin Huai tossed a look at Qin Luo that said, "If you still want to be my good little sister, then shut your mouth at the right time."
Qin Luo shut his mouth.
But it didn't stay closed for long; it opened again after only a few seconds.
"Hehe, brother, you are the best brother in the world."
"Mm." Qin Huai nodded.
"Brother, shouldn't you be praising me back at a time like this?"
Qin Huai smiled and said, "Our Luo Luo is also the best little sister in the world."
"Hehe." Qin Luo grinned, "You're better off without me."
(End of this chapter)