Chapter 318 - 142: Pastries? This is Simply a Work of Art

Chapter 318: Chapter 142: Pastries? This is Simply a Work of Art

’Practicing in secret only to blow everyone away? Was I dragged over here just to be a human backdrop for his showboating?’

A terrible thought suddenly popped into Chen the Eighth’s head.

Fortunately, his wild guesses remained hidden behind a poker face, and Su Chen had no idea that so many absurd thoughts were running through Chen the Eighth’s mind.

After kneading the flour in the bowl into a smooth dough, he rolled it into a long log. He then cut the log into small portions, according to the amount he needed, covered them with plastic wrap, and put them in the refrigerator to chill. This was also to prevent the dough from over-proofing.

"Boss Su, your client this time is quite interesting. How can they only care about looks?" Chen the Eighth said with a smile.

Su Chen sighed. "It’s not convenient to discuss the client’s details. But I actually think this is a good order. Pastries have always been a weakness for Delicious. It would be great if we could shore up that weakness with this order."

This was just what Su Chen said out loud.

In reality, Su Chen had another set of ideas in mind.

But since he hadn’t started putting them into action yet, it wasn’t the right time to say more.

"It is a good thing. I just wonder how they’ll turn out this time."

After Liu Shengnan returned, Su Chen turned the pitted red dates she had bought into a paste. Taking the dough portions out of the refrigerator, he said, "It all comes down to this!"

Making the Imperial Consort Cakes wasn’t overly complicated; once you overcame the few key hurdles, the rest of the process was relatively smooth.

He flattened a portion of dough with his palm, scooped a spoonful of date paste into the center, and folded the dough back over it, pinching off any excess.

He rolled the filled dough between his hands until the surface was perfectly smooth.

When they were buying ingredients, Su Chen had specifically asked Liu Shengnan to buy a fine-tipped brush, which now came in handy.

Dipping the brush in red velvet coloring, Su Chen began to slowly paint a design on the cake, mimicking a picture he had saved on his phone.

"Tsk! Is that an ancient forehead decoration? It’s really starting to look authentic."

Su Chen glanced over. "You know about these?"

Chen the Eighth nodded. "I like to read up on history in my spare time. The one you’re painting looks like a popular style of forehead decoration from the Tang Dynasty."

"Exactly. The ’Song of Everlasting Sorrow’ mentions ’floral ornaments falling to the ground, with no one to pick them up’—that’s referring to Yang Guifei. If she were alive today, the Imperial Consort would have been a top beauty influencer."

Zhang Li had been watching silently from the side. It was the first time she’d ever heard someone compare Yang Guifei to a beauty blogger, and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "You’re so funny, Boss!"

’At the same time, she thought, Boss Su is so cultured, quoting ancient poetry so effortlessly. If I’d known, why would we have bothered asking Wang Rui to come over?’

Su Chen painted with extreme care. He adorned the six Imperial Consort Cakes with different forehead decoration patterns: a peach, a three-leaf clover, a coin, a double-pronged fork, a plum blossom, and a peacock feather. With these designs on their pure white, flawless surfaces, the cakes instantly looked much more high-class.

He set the oven temperature to 140°C for the top element and 160°C for the bottom. This was the optimal temperature Su Chen had determined after numerous experiments in the practice room.

"Alright, now we wait and see if it works this time."

"I don’t see any problem." Chen the Eighth rubbed his hands together, already anticipating Boss Su’s masterpiece. "However, I feel like it’s a real waste for you to have this kind of skill."

"Oh?"

Chen Wenliang said in all seriousness, "Take these pastries, for example. With your skills, you could totally open a high-end Chinese bakery. Gifting these things is all the rage now. People aren’t afraid of high prices; they’re afraid of poor presentation."

It was a tempting idea for Su Chen as well. "I just don’t have the energy for something like that right now," he said. "I’m focusing on learning the skills first. It never hurts to have more tricks up your sleeve. I can always open a shop later when I get the chance."

Chen the Eighth took this to heart.

His current salary in Lu Province was over twenty thousand yuan a month. For a pastry chef, that was basically the ceiling.

At his age, changing careers wasn’t so easy.

In truth, Old Ba had long wanted to open his own shop. The problem was, aside from his pastry skills, he didn’t know how to do anything else. How much could you make running a noodle shop? And whatever you did make would be hard-earned cash from toiling from dawn to dusk.

That was why coming to Jingzhou this time, Old Ba actually had other ideas in mind. Of course, all of this required careful consideration; it wasn’t a decision he could make on a whim.

Twenty minutes can feel both long and short.

DING! The oven timer went off, pulling everyone from their thoughts. As they all watched, Su Chen opened the oven and pulled the baking tray out with his bare hands.

"HISS! Aren’t you afraid of getting burned?!" Chen the Eighth was utterly speechless.

Su Chen laughed. "Not if you’re fast enough."

’He was a little frustrated with himself. He’d gotten used to this in the practice room, grabbing hot and cold things directly with his hands.’

’With the passive Skill of the White Jade Hand, a baking tray over a hundred degrees was nothing to him. Looks like I’ll have to be more careful in the future,’ he thought.

’Acting this brazenly could get him carted off for dissection and research.’

The crowd’s shock at Su Chen’s heat resistance was quickly overshadowed by the six Imperial Consort Cakes on the baking tray.

"They’re so beautiful! Are these the Imperial Consort Cakes?" Zhang Li’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

Girls, in particular, have absolutely no resistance to such beautiful things. Even the usually composed Sister Shengnan had stars in her eyes!

"Beautiful, just gorgeous! Let me take a picture first!"

Chen the Eighth took a sharp breath. "Incredible, Boss Su! If you had this kind of skill, you should have said so earlier! Why drag me all the way out here? Are you trying to make me look bad?"

Now, Chen the Eighth was more certain than ever that Su Chen had been practicing in secret, just so he could be dragged over here to be amazed.