Zongman, gain super powers after helping others

"Hiki~ Can you help me tie the knot on my back?" Lin Qianshu asked in a high-pitched voice, exposing her back to Hikigaya.

Hachiman felt a chill run down his spine and looked at Lin Qianshu with a horrified expression, asking, "What's going on? Possessed by a ghost?"

Lin Qianshu sighed and said meaningfully, "So you're completely inhuman."

"I just don't want you to say that to me."

Even so, Hikigaya still dutifully helped Hayashi Chiki tie the knot on his back.

Incidentally, Yui Yuigahama's apron was still not fully on by the end of this chapter.

Chapter 18 The Murder in the Home Economics Classroom

"Yuigahama-san, the eggshell! Take out the eggshell!"

"Yuigahama-san, flour! There's too much flour!"

"Yuihama-san, milk! The milk is overflowing!!!"

Yuihama's cookie-making did not go smoothly.

Lin Qianshu rarely uses disaster movies to describe the process of making cookies, but Yui Hama really taught him a lesson.

First, she cracked the eggs. I don't know what this pink-haired girl was thinking, but she cracked the eggshells in as well.

Next was the flour. Lin Qianshu always thought that "add water if there's too much flour, add flour if there's too much water" was just an internet joke. In reality, no one would be stupid enough to repeat this process more than three times, but Yui Hama did it.

Then the cream didn't melt, the sugar naturally turned into salt, the flavoring reached a lethal dose, and the milk overflowed.

Hehe, I wonder who these cookies are for!

Oh, it's me. (Hehe)

Lin Qianshu felt that Yuihama didn't seem to want to apologize to him, but rather that she wanted to murder him.

Is he some kind of really bad person? Why would anyone target him like a Japanese person?

Snow's face turned deathly pale; clearly, Yui had also been quite shocked by her. She couldn't understand why anyone could not even make a simple dish like cookies properly.

This isn't a difficult dish. As long as you follow the fixed proportions, even someone who has never been to a kitchen before should be able to make it, right?

"Next..."

"Yuigahama-kun, may I ask you something? You haven't even finished making the cookies, what are you doing with instant coffee? If you want to make a drink, you can wait until the cookies are in the oven." Yukinoshita had a bad feeling.

"Huh? No, it's for flavoring. Aren't all cookies coffee flavored?" Yui replied.

While she was talking, she was already pouring coffee into the bowl, and because she turned her head to talk to Yukinoshita, her gaze was not on the bowl, resulting in another small black mountain appearing in the bowl.

Hmm, together with the food flavoring next to it, they form a black and white duo.

"..."

Yukino didn't know what to say. Looking at the small black hill, she hesitated for a long time before finally speaking, "Isn't this a bit too much?"

"Is that so? Then add some more sugar."

"That's table salt..."

Because Yuihama's actions were not done in front of others, Lin Qianshu and Hikigaya, who were watching from the sidelines, were already sweating profusely just by watching.

Lin Qianshu, in particular, was trembling with fear and almost ran away first.

"Hachiman, I suddenly remembered that I left something in the classroom." Lin Chishu suddenly scratched his head, made a clumsy face, and then turned to leave the home economics classroom.

"Is that so? It's not too late to get it after the event." Hikigaya said with a forced smile, quickly grabbing Lin Qianshu's arm.

"Brother, it's urgent." Lin Qianshu placed his other hand on Hachiman's hand, which was holding his, and his face showed an unprecedented seriousness.

Hachiman could see that it was a desire to live.

But ah...

If you leave, I'll lose my way to live!

Therefore, no matter how eloquently Lin Qianshu spoke, Bi Qigu remained unmoved.

While the two boys were secretly competing, Yuihama's cookie dough had already been put into the oven and the timer had been set.

Lin Qianshu stared at the oven's electronic display, feeling somewhat dazed.

He must have been ill for him to feel that the time displayed on the screen was not the baking time, but the rest of his life.

Lin Qianshu walked with slightly heavy steps to Xue Zhixia's side, his demeanor becoming broken and his tone softer than ever before, even sounding somewhat humble.

"Yukinoshita, can I trust you?"

This is the apprentice you trained. You're so excellent, so... there shouldn't be any problems, right?

Yukinoshita looked away and took a half step back.

Lin Qianshu felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Were you serious about taking half a step back?

"I...I tried my best." Yukinoshita lowered her head. Even she, who had always been strong-willed, had to admit that some people are born strong.

"Ding~"

Lin Qianshu shuddered.

I remember some Western oven advertisements from the last century referring to the 'ding' sound the oven made when it came out of the oven as the 'voice of God'.

In retrospect, it wasn't false advertising after all.

Dear Lao Da, I miss you.

Upon hearing the sound of the oven, Yui immediately put on thick oven mitts, took out the baking tray, and turned around to pile the baked cookies (?) onto the plate.

The pristine white porcelain plate contrasts sharply with the jet-black fragments, a contrast even more striking than that between a Snow White still from the last century and one from this century.

"It may not look very appealing... but you'll have to taste it to know how good it is!"

Yuihama seemed to be encouraging herself, or perhaps whispering death itself.

“That’s true, it’s just a good thing there are people here to help with the tasting.” Lin Qianshu spoke up first, his face beaming with a friendly smile: “Hachigaya, you must be hungry after all this work, right?”

If Lin Chishu had to describe Hikigaya's current expression, he would think of the protagonist of a manga he had recently read called "Fire Fist".

Hachiman, is this for my own good? You should start by trying the food.

Feeling the gazes of the three people, Hikigaya lowered his head.

Lin Qianshu thought he had resigned himself to his fate, but to her surprise, he suddenly looked up and revealed a smile that was hard to describe.

"Yes, but I've had a cold recently, so my taste buds might be a bit off and I can't give a fair evaluation. So let's include Lin Qianshu too."

"Hahaha, Hachiman, what are you saying? You don't look like you have a cold at all."

"Ah chirp!"

"..."

The home economics classroom fell silent.

Hikigaya picked up a suspicious black object, as if checking the itinerary one last time before leaving, and asked Yui, "It shouldn't be poisonous, right?"

"How could it be poisonous! Poisonous? Hmm... Is it really poisonous?" Yui Hama complained, then, even she herself seemed a little unsure of herself, and tilted her head to Yukinoshita for help.

Yukinoshita once again looked away.

Lin Qianshu felt that if he died, Xue Zhixia would have to bear at least half the responsibility.

Hikigaya felt that if he died, Lin Qianshu would bear full responsibility.

Hachiman closed his eyes, stuffed the biscuit (?) into his mouth, and swallowed it after a couple of hasty chews, not daring to savor it.

"Huh? It tastes alright?" Hachiman opened his eyes, looking somewhat incredulous.

Lin Qianshu wasn't so easily fooled. "Really?"

Hachiman picked up another piece, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled, "It's actually not bad, is it?"

Lin Qianshu was a little unsure.

Hachiman took another piece and put it in his mouth; this time he didn't say anything.

Lin Qianshu was starting to believe it. He figured he'd have to eat it eventually anyway, so why not give it a try?

At the entrance, after a long while, Lin Qianshu opened her eyes and met Hikigaya's gaze. It was a very complex look in her eyes, but it quickly became firm.

Noticing that Yukinoshita was also looking at him, Lin Qianshu smiled and said, "It's really good. Yukinoshita, why don't you give it a try?"

"How about a little?" Yukino hesitated for a moment, then picked up a piece and put it in her mouth.

Soon after, the sound of three people coughing came from the home economics classroom.

Chapter 19 Gu Gu Gu Gu Gu Rice, delicious!

"Ugh~~ It's so bitter and awful! o(╥﹏╥)o"

Yuihama, not believing in such superstitions, also tried a piece, and then followed in the footsteps of the three around her, munching on the biscuit while shedding small pearls, occasionally choking and coughing.

Yukino handed over the brewed black tea. This black tea was brewed hastily after the cookies were put into the oven. After all, judging from Yuihama's performance in the early preparations, the cookies were likely to be unsatisfactory. Therefore, it was essential to counteract this with a good cup of black tea.

Lin Qianshu and Hachiman praised it, especially Hachiman, who was used to drinking super sweet coffee but found the bitter and slightly sweet black tea so delicious.

Since Hikigaya had gotten involved himself and Yui had suffered the consequences, there were hardly any cookies left on the plate. The remaining crumbs were thrown into the trash can by Chiki Hayashi.

Looking at the black debris in the trash can, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Then, let’s think about how we can improve the situation.” Yukinoshita did not give up on Yuihama.

"Yuihama will never cook again."

Hachiman felt that giving up was also an option.

"Completely deny me?" Yuihama glared at Hikigaya.

"I'm stuffed."

Lin Qianshu first gave himself a "fullness buff" to avoid the possible tasting session that followed. Even if he couldn't avoid it, he could at least eat less, since he had already said that he was full.

"Don't panic, Hachiman, that's a last resort." Yukinoshita felt there was still a chance to salvage the situation.

"So you had considered it before?" Yuihama was first taken aback, then a little frustrated, and helplessly lowered her head to look at her little hands that had never been used to doing housework.

"I'm definitely not cut out for cooking... Is it all about talent? But I don't have any talent."

Lin Qianshu felt that Yui Hama was overthinking things. Making cookies was not a test of talent yet. Rather, Yui Hama's talent might be better than imagined, referring to poisoning.

"How about making a rice ball? Seaweed and rice, sprinkled with salt. I see you have a particular fondness for salt," Hachiman suggested.

"Sounds good, wait, what do you mean by 'I have a special fondness for salt'?"

"Otherwise, why would you always mistake salt for sugar?"

"Looking for trouble?"

Yuihama thought Hikigaya was very impolite.

"If we're going to make rice balls, there's one thing we need to consider first." Lin Qianshu held up a finger, drawing everyone's attention.

Under everyone's gaze, Lin Qianshu arrived at the food section of the home economics classroom and stood at an empty basket labeled 'rice'.

Even a clever housewife can't cook without rice.

"Huh? Why is there no rice?" Yui Hama was a little surprised, since the rice was full during home economics class.

"It's probably because the price of rice has gone up, so the school has locked up all the rice, right?" Lin Qianshu, who lives alone, seemed to know something about this.

People like Yuihama and Hikigaya, who have family members cooking for them every day, wouldn't understand!

"Even if prices rise, there's no need to lock up the rice, is there?" Yukinoshita asked, puzzled.

Well, even Yukinoshita, who also lives alone, doesn't really know much about the recent market situation.

"Wow, it seems to be true! Rice prices have risen so much." Yui took out her phone and searched, and found that rice prices had been rising for several weeks in a row, and the search volume for rice-related keywords had also skyrocketed.

Even if Yuihama had no common sense, she would know that it was extremely abnormal for 4000 yen to only buy 5 kilograms of rice.

"However, it seems the government has already started releasing grain, so the price should come down soon, right?" Yukinoshita saw the news released by the Japanese official media.

Hachiman discovered the blind spot: "But it seems to be stale rice."