Chapter 232: Chapter 232: Soup Dumplings

In Shen Lu’s mind, Fu Cheng was practically genderless. Especially after taking care of him for so long, was there any part of him she hadn’t seen?

So, a little physical contact while helping him felt completely normal to her.

After helping Fu Cheng sit up on the bed, Shen Lu didn’t need to get involved with the rest; he could handle it himself.

"You should get some rest." With that, Shen Lu turned and left, leaving behind a flustered Fu Cheng with bright red ears.

The cake layers were done baking. Shen Lu put on her oven mitts, took the cake out, and set it aside to cool.

She whipped the cream, filled a piping bag, and took out some fruit to chop, along with some candies and chocolates for decoration.

By then, the cake layers had cooled down enough.

Shen Lu sliced the cake horizontally into three layers. The first layer had crushed almond slivers, the second had a fruit filling. After frosting the cake, she covered the top with the remaining fruit, then decorated it with a few candies and chocolates. And just like that, a cake packed full of filling was complete.

Shen Lu was quite satisfied with the cake. It might not look perfect, but she knew it would taste amazing.

The oven DINGED again. The small cookies Shen Lu had been making were ready.

Shen Lu put on her oven mitts, took out the baking sheet, and placed it on the counter to cool naturally.

By the time she finished, it was ten o’clock at night. Shen Lu yawned, feeling a little sleepy.

Normally, she would have already been in bed by this time.

After putting away the cookies and the cake, Shen Lu checked the water, electricity, and gas in the kitchen. Once she confirmed everything was in order, she went to check on the employee dorms.

Xue Can had been standing on the balcony, but he turned around when he sensed Shen Lu’s presence.

"How is he?" Shen Lu asked.

"He’s doing okay. He should wake up by tomorrow morning."

"That’s good." Shen Lu breathed a sigh of relief.

’Xiao Lang is important to Cai Su, and Cai Su is very important to her.’

’Cai Su is like the head manager of the shop. With her around, Shen Lu always feels at ease.’

"Thank you for your hard work tonight," Shen Lu said to him. "Mr. Xue, what would you like for breakfast tomorrow? I can prepare it."

’She truly wanted to thank Xue Can properly, and it seemed the only way she knew how was to feed him well.’

"I’m not a picky eater," Xue Can said softly. "Anything Boss Shen makes will be fine."

Shen Lu blinked. "Alright, then."

’Since he put it that way, she couldn’t exactly slack off. Looked like she’d have to get up early to make breakfast tomorrow.’

’But with Little Mantis helping, it wouldn’t be too tiring.’

Shen Lu went back to the second floor to wash up. She was too lazy to even tally the day’s revenue, so she just quickly did the lottery draw, gave Little Mantis its instructions, and went to bed.

Today’s draw yielded 1000 popularity value points. Shen Lu just threw in the towel.

’Forget it, forget it. I should just keep my expectations in check. Otherwise, the bigger the hope, the bigger the disappointment. If I’m disappointed once every day, I’m going to lose my mind.’

’Besides, the food from the lunch service no longer has the effect of healing and soothing the Spiritual Sea anyway. Not many Superpower Users know about this yet, and word hasn’t spread for now, so she’s still quite safe.’

’When will those people from the Commerce Association finally stop targeting me?’

Though her mind was racing with thoughts, Shen Lu quickly drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Shen Lu woke up and didn’t linger in bed. She ruffled her messy hair and got up.

While brushing her teeth, she opened her Light Brain to take a look.

Bai Wanwan was arriving in the Imperial City at noon today and had excitedly asked to meet up tomorrow.

Shen Lu replied with an "Okay" and asked for a specific time and place.

Perhaps it was too early; Bai Wanwan hadn’t woken up yet. Several minutes passed after Shen Lu sent the message, but there was no reply.

Shen Lu wasn’t in a hurry. Their meeting was for tomorrow, so as long as Bai Wanwan replied sometime today, it would be fine.

Before heading to the kitchen, Shen Lu went to check on Xiao Lang.

The boy’s complexion had returned to normal, and his breathing was steady and deep, as if he were simply asleep.

Afraid of waking Xiao Lang, Shen Lu whispered to Xue Can, "Did he succeed?"

They were standing very close, and Xue Can could smell the faint, sweet fragrance coming from the young woman.

The man’s throat tightened, and his voice sounded a bit stiff. "He succeeded. He should wake up in about half an hour."

"That’s wonderful!" Hearing the definitive answer, Shen Lu couldn’t help but break into a smile. "Looks like we can eat cake today!"

Cai Su had watched over her son all night. In the early hours of the morning, she couldn’t stay awake any longer and had fallen asleep by the bed, still holding her son’s hand. Shen Lu decided not to wake her and went to the kitchen to get busy with breakfast.

Thinking about how hard everyone had worked last night, she decided to make something light and easy to eat.

Shen Lu made two types of congee, one savory and one sweet, and also prepared a meat filling to make xiaolongbao soup dumplings.

Making xiaolongbao soup dumplings was more painstaking than making regular buns. Shen Lu sometimes had obsessive-compulsive tendencies; for example, when making them, she insisted that each one have a full 18 pleats.

A dumpling without 18 pleats couldn’t be called a true xiaolongbao.

But doing it this way took a lot more effort.

Fortunately, Little Mantis was now Second Level and could perfectly replicate Shen Lu’s dumpling-wrapping technique, and it was both fast and good.

Shen Lu and Little Mantis worked together seamlessly, quickly wrapping over a hundred xiaolongbao. Steam billowed from the stovetop; in another ten minutes, breakfast would be ready.

Shen Lu left Little Mantis to watch the kitchen while she went to the employee dorms again.

By her calculations, an hour had passed. According to Xue Can, Xiao Lang should be awake by now.

Sure enough, as soon as she entered the living room, she heard Cai Su’s voice, crying with joy.

"Oh, thank goodness, Xiao Lang, you’re finally awake! Mommy was so worried..."

"Mommy, don’t cry. I’m okay." Xiao Lang’s voice was a bit weak; it seemed the awakening had taken a significant toll on him.

Shen Lu smiled and said, "Sister Cai, Xiao Lang, congratulations to you both."

"Boss Shen." Cai Su wiped her tears and was about to kneel before Shen Lu. "Your immense kindness... my son and I will never forget it for the rest of our lives."

Without Shen Lu, Xiao Lang would have died long ago. And without her son, she wouldn’t have had the will to live until now.

Shen Lu quickly helped her up. "Sister Cai, please don’t do this. You’re so much older than me. It’s bad luck for an elder to kneel to someone younger—it’ll shorten my life!"

Cai Su knew it was inappropriate, but she truly didn’t know how else to repay Shen Lu’s kindness.

"Helping me manage the shop well is the biggest help you can give me."

Cai Su nodded emphatically. She would definitely do everything in her power to help Shen Lu manage the shop.

Shen Lu then checked in with Xiao Lang, telling him she had made a cake for him and that they could eat it tonight to celebrate.

Xiao Lang’s eyes lit up. "Thank you, Sister Shen!"

’Sister Shen is the best! She even baked a cake especially for him.’

’He’d never had cake before. He wondered what it tasted like. Would it be as delicious as egg waffles?’

Xiao Lang wished it were nighttime already so he could eat the cake Sister Shen had told him about.

Shen Lu brought breakfast to Cai Su and her son, while the others went to the dining area to eat on their own.

After delivering their breakfast, Shen Lu returned to the dining area to eat and heard Ye Fan making a racket.

"Whoa, these buns! The skin is so thin, and they’re full of so much soup... I almost burned myself to death!"

Lin Zhou said with disgust, "You know what a country bumpkin is? It’s you."

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