Vol 2 Chapter 122: Bossy Lin Xiaolu
Let’s rewind ti a little.
While Veronica was still battling her way through the endless dessert marathon in the restaurant, three juniors who had stayed back at the inn were still locked in their own “battle” in the kitchen.
Thanks to the help of magical tools, making chocolate was surprisingly easy. The three of them didn’t have to expend much effort fine-tuning the taste and texture. With just a few tweaks to the base recipe to suit their preferences, they could whip up delicious chocolates with distinct flavors.
That’s why, once the flavor was decided, Lin Xiaolu inevitably poured most of her energy into the presentation.
The magical tools provided by the shop helped with basic shaping but didn’t offer any custom design functions—so that part was all on Lin Xiaolu. Yet after a long bout of thinking, she was still stuck at step one:
—What shape should she make it?
The whole chocolate-making idea had been on a whim, so Lin Xiaolu hadn’t done much prep. With the little crash course she gave herself, she could only co up with ideas like flower petals, simple animals, or hearts… but she didn’t really like any of them.
Flower petals suited a Magical Girl the but felt too basic. Animal shapes were cute but felt slightly off for Valentine’s Day—not to ntion kind of childish. And hearts… sure, they were a classic for this kind of occasion, but weren’t they a little too cliché?
In the end, what exactly was the feeling she had that made her want to give Veronica chocolate?
She popped a piece of half-set chocolate into her mouth, stared at the simple molds on the table, and sank into thought.
The overwhelmingly sweet flavor gave her a bit of a ntal jolt, but it still didn’t help her solve the core issue. So, since she was getting nowhere, she shifted her attention to what the other two were doing.
The first to catch her eye was Bai Jingxuan.
Unlike Lin Xiaolu, who was stuck in a loop of overthinking, Bai Jingxuan clearly didn’t fuss much over the shape of the chocolate. Actually, it looked like she never planned on shaping it at all.
The milk chocolate had been simply cut into large brown blocks. Bai Jingxuan was standing on tiptoe, holding a piping pen and carefully writing sothing on the chocolate.
“Hm hm hm—doo doo doo—”
She was in such a good mood she’d even started humming a kids’ cartoon the song. She was a bit off-key, but clearly didn’t care.
Probably because her arm was raised too high, her shirt had ridden up quite a bit. As she moved, the hem tugged and shifted, exposing her waist and part of her back to the air.
Lin Xiaolu glanced over, thought for a second, then coolly reached out and pressed the back of her icy-cold hand against Bai Jingxuan’s bare back. “Hey, you’re flashing people.”
“Yaaahhh!”
Startled by the sneak attack from behind, Bai Jingxuan scread, flung the piping pen from her hand, and practically leapt onto the counter in front of her. Once she cald down a bit, she yanked down her shirt hem and turned back with an indignant look.
“What the heck, Xiaolu!”
“I just wanted to see how your chocolate was coming along,” Lin Xiaolu said innocently, pulling her hand back like nothing happened. “So, you’re writing on it? What are you writing?”
As she spoke, she tried to peek past Bai Jingxuan to see the chocolate. But this ti, she didn’t get her way—Bai Jingxuan imdiately threw herself in front of it.
“No peeking.”
Clearly still salty about the prank, Bai Jingxuan practically threw her whole arm over the chocolate. “Just go back to making your own, Xiaolu!”
“Not even a peek? So mysterious.”
Lin Xiaolu’s curiosity only grew, and she craned her neck this way and that, trying to see past her. But Bai Jingxuan blocked her so well she couldn’t catch even a glimpse.
“Go back already!” Bai Jingxuan grumbled.
“Well, if you won’t let see that one, I’ll just look at the others.”
But Lin Xiaolu wasn’t so easy to shake off. She quickly gave up on the blocked piece and shifted her attention to a few nearby ones. These chocolates hadn’t been fully written on yet, but a few had started—so lines and marks had been piped onto them. When Lin Xiaolu got a closer look, she gasped in surprise:
“Wait, I get one too?!”
She stood next to the piece that had her na neatly written on it—“Xiaolu-jiejie” in perfectly legible letters. The one next to it read “Xia Liang-jiejie,” with colons after both nas, suggesting there were still ssages to be added.
Giving soone chocolate on Valentine’s Day was exciting in its own way, but receiving chocolate? That was a completely different kind of thrill. Realizing one of the chocolates was ant for her, Lin Xiaolu lit up. She threw an arm around Bai Jingxuan’s shoulders and gave her a big happy shake.
“You’re really sothing, girl!”
Just hugging her wasn’t enough to express her joy, so Lin Xiaolu reached out and squished Bai Jingxuan’s cheeks. “You like that much, huh? I can’t with you. Co on, say ‘Jiejie’ again!”
“Stop shaking …”
Bai Jingxuan looked like she’d given up. But not wanting to let go of the chocolate she was shielding, she could only let out a feeble protest, hoping words might stop Lin Xiaolu’s chaos. “If you keep this up, I won’t give you the chocolate…”
“Oh no, that won’t do.”
Surprisingly, this soft little “threat” worked. Lin Xiaolu imdiately let go. “You’ve already made it, no way I’m not taking it. Just make sure mine gets the prettiest wrapping.”
“…They’re all the sa anyway,” Bai Jingxuan muttered while rubbing her neck.
“Huh? What was that?” Lin Xiaolu didn’t catch it and asked directly.
“Huh? Oh—I said okay, I will.”
Bai Jingxuan shrank her neck a little and shuffled to the side. “Anyway, just go back and work on your own chocolate, Xiaolu-jiejie! You can’t peek at the ssages I’m writing for others—if they’re seen, the magic won’t work!”
“The one you’re writing now—is it for Veronica?” Lin Xiaolu tilted her head.
Bai Jingxuan puffed out her cheeks and gave a soft “Mhm,” then looked away, clearly unwilling to say more.
“Got it. I won’t peek then.”
Even though she probably didn’t actually “get” anything, Lin Xiaolu nodded like she completely understood. Then, she turned and headed toward Xia Liang.
Of course, the ruckus over at Bai Jingxuan’s station hadn’t gone unnoticed by Xia Liang, who was only a few ters away. Realizing that Lin Xiaolu was about to co bother her next, she decisively put down her tools and stepped aside.
“If you want to look, go ahead.”
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