I will never give in to Miss Death

There are quite a few bakery shops around Minami Nagi District. Some sell mung bean cakes, pumpkin cakes, chicken biscuits, etc., while others specialize in cakes, sandwiches, and whole wheat toast.

When I rode my bike with Xiaomo to Jiang Wei's house, I saw a very large cake shop on both sides of the road, called "Xingxing Cake House" or something...

Yes, this is the one.

In less than ten minutes, I ran to a small shop near the community with a sign that read "Star Bakery".

This shop looks a bit small, but it does make cakes. You can see many small cakes displayed in the window at the door without entering the store, and there is a sign saying "Customized Birthday Cake".

Humph, even though I’m a little girl now, I can run no slower than an uncle.

These are the results of the training in the past month, and they come in handy at the critical moment!

"Hello."

As soon as I pushed open the glass door of this small "Star Bakery", a young lady in work clothes and glasses came up to me and asked, "What can I do for you?"

“Do you make custom cakes here?”

I got straight to the point: "We're running out of time. It would be best if it could be done in half an hour. Do you have any?"

The young lady thought for a moment and said, "Is it a birthday cake? How big should it be?"

“About this big?”

I stretched out my hands to gesture, and then the pair of weapons on the chest of a black dragon girl appeared in my mind again. I unconsciously pulled my hands apart a little: "No, it's about this size."

"Puch..."

Maybe she was amused by my silly look, the little sister laughed out loud: "You are so cute!"

"I was serious!"

I puffed up my cheeks and kept my hands at arm's length: "It's a cake this big, can it be made in half an hour?"

"Do you have any specific requirements? For example, what kind of pattern do you need, what kind of decorations do you want, etc."

“There are certain requirements.”

"If it's a whole, it won't work, because it takes half an hour from the raw materials to the baking, and then to coat it with buttercream and make the design. If it's simple, it's fine, but if you have requirements for the appearance, the whole process will take at least an hour and a half, unless it's spliced... or you use ready-made ones."

The young lady suppressed her laughter and said: "It's just putting together the already baked cakes, and then wrapping them with buttercream, and you can make something this big in half an hour."

“Are there any freshly made cakes here?”

"Yes, there are some without the cream. I am just about to cut them up and sell them as small cakes."

“When was it baked?”

"Less than an hour. It's still a little hot."

The young lady pointed to the baking room at the back and said, "You can come in and take a look."

"Ah... no need, let's just use what's ready."

I took a quick look at this warmly decorated shop: "Just make it like a normal birthday cake, add some roses or lilies around it, no need for fruits, and make it more forest-like. Then I want to write some words in the middle, is that okay?"

"No problem, but today we only have ice cream flavored cream, is that okay?"

"OK."

"Okay, please wait ten minutes."

After saying that, the young lady walked into the baking room at the back and popped her head out again after a while: "If anyone comes to the store, call me."

I nodded: "Okay."

I looked at the tiger skin cakes and some mango cheese desserts displayed in the window of the store, and took out my phone to check the approximate price of custom cakes in Kamihama City. Ten minutes later, the young lady poked her head out of the baking room and said, "It's decorated. If you want to write something, come in."

"Thank you."

I followed him in.

"use this."

The young lady gave me something like toothpaste and pointed to a big cake on the table: "Don't squeeze it too hard, or it will all come out at once."

"Ok."

I took the "toothpaste tube" and wrote "Happy Birthday, Xiaomo!" in the middle of this beautiful big cake with two roses and three lilies made of cream. Then I squeezed the last bit of cream out of the "toothpaste tube" and wrote the note "—— Nuoer".

“Your handwriting is so cute.”

After taking the empty "toothpaste tube", the young lady used several props next to her to spray out red cream, circled the words I wrote, and drew several lines as if she was doing art design.

"That's it."

Putting the props aside, the young lady asked curiously, "Is this for your girlfriend?"

"Eh?"

I asked curiously, "Why can you...see it at a glance..."

"You had a sweet expression on your face when you were writing this line just now?"

The young lady said as an experienced person: "I have been making cakes with my parents since I was very young. When someone comes to our shop to order a cream cake, I can tell who they are giving it to and what their relationship is just by looking at the expression on their face when they receive the cake."

"what……"

I was a little embarrassed: "How much is this cake?"

"Generally, the price of custom cakes in our store starts from 158 yuan. Since you are in a hurry, you can get a discount."

The young lady showed a mysterious smile and said, "Plus I can see that you like this young lady very much, so I'll give it 88 yuan!"

88 yuan?

This is already half the price!

"Ok."

After hearing the price, I didn't plan to bargain anymore and took out my phone: "Where to scan?"

"There's a payment code outside."

The young lady took the packaging and helped me wrap the cake carefully, while pointing to the door: "Next to the cupboard."

"..."

I went outside and scanned the code to pay. When I turned around, I saw that the lady had already packed the cake: "Oh, and this too."

As she spoke, the young lady opened a cupboard and took out a box of puffs: "This is a gift."

I originally thought that the puffs were a small gift for buying a cake, but I didn’t expect that after the lady saw me accept the box, she added: “Tomorrow is Children’s Day, happy holiday!”

"..."

……

I carefully carried the cake, which was much bigger than my body, back to the community and took the elevator to the second floor. When I returned to the house, it was already 7:40.

Unlike when he went out, the dining table was now full of people - Filo, who was wearing Yin Xiamo's hot pants and T-shirt, which stretched her chest so much that half of her belly button was exposed; Lan Jiajia, who had changed into a home dress and looked like a mother waiting for her daughter to come home; Xia Mo, who had her long hair down and looked full of elven air; and Zhou Xiaofei, who was wearing a school uniform and sitting obediently on a chair.

Seeing me coming back, the girls around the table all turned their heads towards me at the same time.

"I'm home!"

Lan Jiajia knew what I was doing outside, and was the first to react. She stood up immediately and said, "You bought such a big one, Nuoer, let me help you get it."

“Well, it’s…”

Perhaps because Yin Xiamo had closed the legendary "language adaptability barrier", Filo spoke incoherently and his accent was very unstandard: "What is it, a thing?"

“Birthday cake.”

I took off my shoes and explained, "Isn't today Xiaomo's birthday?"

"what?"

Yin Xiamo also seemed very surprised: "Besides the birthday present, there is also a birthday cake?"

"Of course, Xiaomo's annual birthday..."

Because I was busy almost the entire afternoon, busy buying groceries, busy carrying things, busy cooking, and then busy running up and down to move the cake, I really didn't have any strength at this time: "The birthday that comes once a year... we have to have it too if others have it."

"Birthday cakes are usually only for children. My family stopped celebrating birthdays after I entered middle school and high school. We just had a meal together or went out to play."

Lan Jiajia explained: "This is the first time I've seen Nuoer celebrate a friend's birthday so seriously. Maybe this is love."

"Eh?"

I was a little dumbfounded: "Is there no more cake after entering junior high school and high school?"

So...what about my roommates in college?

"Yes, at least the people around me stopped celebrating their birthdays in such a big way after they entered middle school, unless they were very good friends or lovers in the passionate period of love."

Lan Jiajia took my cake with an "I understand" look on her face and said, "Okay, I'll put this in the kitchen first. Go wash your hands and eat. Nuoer, you've been busy all afternoon."

"Ah good."

Under Yin Xiamo's happy gaze, I ran to the kitchen, turned on the faucet, and poured some hand sanitizer on my hands.

Oh no, I didn’t expect my college roommates were exceptions. Is it normal not to have birthday cakes after entering middle school?

Then I... my act of giving Xiaomo a big cake is not...

After washing my hands, when I returned to the restaurant, I found that these "women" had reserved a seat for me.

In between Yin Xiaomo and Filo.

"I can't drink. Xiaofei and Nuo'er are underage and can't drink either. Xia Mo, Fei Luo, do you want to drink?"

After putting the cake in the kitchen, Lan Jiajia returned to the dining table and picked up a bottle of wine: "The alcohol content is quite low."

"Wine, wine."

Yin Xiamo turned to Filo and said a few words in an explanatory tone, then said something else in a word I couldn't understand, and paused: "It's a holiday drink, do you want some?"

"want!"

Philo Alliance raised his hand: "Wine, I can...I can drink it!"

"Ok?"

Lan Jiajia was a little surprised, but she still poured a glass of wine for Filo: "Xia Mo, do you want some too?"

Yin Xiamo raised her glass: "Okay."

"Then what kind of drink would Xiaofei like?"

After pouring wine for Filo and Xiaomo, Lan Jiajia took the juice and cola on the ground.

"I'll just have some soup."

Zhou Xiaofei looked at the fish head soup on the table eagerly: "Is it okay?"

"Of course you can. This is just for celebration before dinner. It doesn't mean you can't eat it after you choose it."

Lan Jiajia poured the soup for Zhou Xiaofei while smiling, and then handed the spoon to me.

I thought about it, took the full glass of wine from Yin Xiamo beside me, and poured half of the wine into my own cup.

"What are you doing?"

Yin Xiamo asked curiously, "Nuo'er, if you want to drink this, there's a big bottle over there..."

"Alcohol is bad for your health, and how can I know what you will do to me when I get drunk."

He returned the half-empty cup: "That's it, we each have half."

"Nuo'er said, I'm going to marry Xia Mo in the future, and I'm not allowed to ruin my health because of drinking."

Lan Jiajia said to Yin Xiamo: "Nuo'er is worried about you."

"What the hell!"

I subconsciously retorted: "I'm just worried about myself..."

"Nuo'er is just tsundere, similar to Xiao Ai. She often uses this tone towards me."

Lan Jiajia continued: "Translated, Xia Mo, you are mine, so please take care of your health."

I felt the hair on my head stand up again: "I didn't say that!"

"I didn't say it, but I probably thought so in my heart."

"Sister Lan Jiajia!"