As soon as Zang Liang finished speaking, Qin Huai moved.

Actually, Qin Huai didn't know when the best time was either, but as Zang Liang said, it's about feeling. The timing of thickening depends on the chef's intuition; if you feel that it's the right moment, then that's the best moment.

When Zang Liang was saying the last few words, Qin Huai couldn't hear his voice anymore.

He was staring into the pot, watching as the shiny Crab Yellow Sauce gradually boiled due to the high heat. As a small bubble rose and then popped, the feeling came to him.

The feeling told Qin Huai, it was now—quickly, pour your starch water.

Every time Cao Guixiang cooked and needed to thicken, Qin Huai watched her pour the starch water attentively.

Qin Huai knew what Zang Liang meant by pouring.

Quick, flamboyant, and graceful.

Every time Cao Guixiang thickened, her movements were large and somewhat flamboyant, but the overall status appeared quite casual, as if an old lady casually picked up a bowl of starch water, circled it around, and the starch water smoothly flowed down along the bowl into the pot. In the blink of an eye, she had beautifully thickened the dish.

Indeed, it was all in the blink of an eye.

Imitating Cao Guixiang, Qin Huai circled the starch water over the pot, letting it pour down onto the Crab Yellow Sauce.

It happened almost instantaneously.

From the moment he felt it, acted on it, to pouring the starch water, Qin Huai originally thought he would hesitate, struggle, probe, make mistakes, and then mess up.

But none of that happened; once he felt it, everything else flowed seamlessly. He didn't even have time to reflect if his actions were flamboyant enough, or if he imitated well; he felt it was just right, it was just this feeling.

Watching the starch water pour into the pot, Qin Huai felt something was missing. He turned his head in confusion and saw Zang Liang, who was staring in disbelief, mouthing an inaudible wow.

"Is the thickening... why do I feel... am I...?"

Qin Huai's voice brought Zang Liang, who was in a daze, back to his senses.

"Wow!"

"Stir it, stir after thickening!" Zang Liang's scream almost pierced through the kitchen, "Wow, why haven't you stirred it yet?"

"Take the spatula, stir, stir!"

Qin Huai hurriedly picked up the spatula, stirring haphazardly, fully demonstrating the embarrassment of a first-time thickener, remembering the first step but forgetting the second.

Though he was a step slow in stirring, it wasn't a big deal, just a minor slip-up. It was edible; this Crab Yellow Sauce would be left for Ouyang, to mix with noodles or rice as he liked.

Qin Huai thought he had performed quite well.

Although there was a minor slip-up, it wasn't a big issue. The most crucial part was Qin Huai could tell from the expressions of Zang Liang, Tan Wei'an, and Zheng Siyuan that his actions just now should have been flamboyant enough.

Qin Huai turned off the heat, and the Crab Yellow Sauce was ready to be served.

Zheng Siyuan didn't even rush to deal with the Crab Yellow Sauce but instead looked at Qin Huai with a look of disbelief, his tone filled with, I know this might make sense to you, but this is also quite unreasonable.

"Did you find the feeling for thickening?"

Qin Huai nodded uncertainly, "I think I found a bit of the feeling. How was my thickening just now? Wasn't my action like I described to you all—big and flamboyant, yet not truly flamboyant?"

Saying this, Qin Huai repeated the action of pouring the starch water: "Anyway, it was roughly like this, this was the status; I can't clearly explain what it involves, but if necessary, I'll ask Master Cao tomorrow."

Zheng Siyuan continued to stare at Qin Huai: "How did you find that feeling?"

"What feeling?" Qin Huai was somewhat unclear about what Zheng Siyuan meant.

"When you were thickening just now." Zheng Siyuan paused, seemingly searching for an adjective, "Decisive and calm."

"It was clear you were listening to Zang Liang one moment, but the next, you completely ignored him."

"I could tell, your hands moved faster than your mind. Even though it was your first time thickening and your movements were unfamiliar and seemed clumsy, obviously there must be issues if we looked for them, but your timing was impeccable, and your pouring was beautiful."

"The thickening sauce truly flowed down."

Zheng Siyuan pursed his lips, seemingly in search of more adjectives: "Like a waterfall cascading down."

"No, not a waterfall, but it was a very smooth, tactile pour."

"How did you know it was the right moment to thicken, when Zang Liang hadn't even prompted you?"

"I think the timing he had in mind might have been one or two seconds later than yours."

For a moment, Qin Huai didn't know how to respond. He could weave a beautiful lie easily, but when it came to telling the truth, expressing himself was more challenging. Honesty was harder than lies for Qin Huai to articulate.

"It's just... I felt it."

"Do you understand that feeling?"

"When I watched the Crab Yellow Sauce in the pot, I felt like it needed thickening at that very second."

"I wasn't actually conscious of the exact method, perhaps subconsciously mimicking Master Cao's style. After all, I've really seen her thicken many times; she thickens almost every time she makes a large dish."

"You mentioned the starch water pouring down like a waterfall... isn't that normal? Master Cao always thickens like this, and when I saw you, I thought maybe your thickening method was different. I feel I just poured a little bit, Master Cao's pour is much more beautiful than mine."

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