Chapter 75: Eating Cherries with Skill

Ever since Lu Yunze got to know Xiaolin, he had been hearing all kinds of strange gossip through him.

Who secretly kept a mistress outside, whose chicken escaped from their yard—Xiaolin and his group’s news coverage was broad enough to shock anyone.

They didn’t even spare cherries.

Today, because of some pressure from Luo Yao, Lu Yunze wasn’t hiding away inside the music room. Instead, he sat in the dining hall.

Yesterday, the chef had gone to the market and brought back several boxes of fresh cherries.

While waiting for Luo Yao, Lu Yunze munched on cherries—and Xiaolin’s absurd words kept appearing in his mind.

“Bro… I still can’t do it.”

After finishing another cherry, and spitting the pit into the waste bowl, Lu Yunze scratched his head and sighed.

Xiaolin had heard some ridiculous rumor somewhere—that if someone could tie cherry stems into a knot using only their tongue, then that person must have excellent “skills.”

Because of this, the three of them had even gone out to buy cherries, spending time after class competing on how many stems they could tie.

In the end, they all nearly choked to death, but not a single one succeeded.

Back then, just watching them made Lu Yunze feel the entire idea was nonsense.
How could this determine a person’s “ability”?

But now that there was a new plate of cherries in front of him, it would be a waste not to experiment.

Yet the difficulty was far greater than expected.

Using hands to tie a cherry stem was easy.
But inside the mouth, with only the tongue? Impossible.

No sight, no feel—only the tongue’s sense of touch.

As the discarded stems in the waste bowl piled higher and higher, Lu Yunze had no choice but to admit:

This really wasn’t easy.

If someone out there could do it, their tongue must be incredibly flexible. In that case, it wouldn’t be surprising why people claimed they had “good skills.”

But—well…

He suddenly remembered why he was here.

Luo Yao had told him to wait for her.
But she was nowhere to be seen.

Judging from how long she was taking, she was probably preparing something. Since they were in the dining hall, chances were it was related to food.

But where was she?

If she didn’t come soon, he was going to overdose on cherries.

Lu Yunze got up, preparing to leave the dining hall, but a servant at the doorway stopped him:

“Master, Young Miss said everything will be ready soon. Please wait a little longer.”

This excuse again.

Lu Yunze rubbed his head. If he didn’t give Luo Yao face, she would definitely explode at him. So he sat back down and used his phone to pass time.

Not long after, he heard hurried footsteps from the hall, along with panicked voices:

“Young Miss, are you alright?!”

…Huh?

Lu Yunze looked up—finally seeing Luo Yao.
But she looked miserable.

Her face and clothes were covered in strange stains, she was drenched in sweat, and she could barely walk straight.

“You… what happened?”
Lu Yunze instinctively leaned away.

“It’s fine… just a tiny accident. No need to worry.”
Luo Yao collapsed onto a chair and let out a long breath.

“The kitchen isn’t on fire, is it?”
Lu Yunze asked carefully.

“Lu Yunze, what kind of person do you take me for?”
She frowned instantly.

Honestly…

He had never seen her enter the kitchen before, so this was clearly her first battle. Could she even lift cooking utensils?

“Why are you suddenly cooking?”

“Well… I saw an interesting recipe online.” Luo Yao pointed to herself.
“So I wanted to make something delicious for you.”

She left again, but this time she returned quickly, wheeling in a food cart—followed by several exhausted servants who looked like they had crawled out of a battlefield.

Like her, they were soaked in sweat and covered in stains.

With a confident smile, Luo Yao placed the covered dish in front of Lu Yunze.

The aroma drifting through the lid was sweet—and also strangely roasted.
Lu Yunze couldn’t identify what it was.

Judging by her expression…
Maybe it wasn’t too bad?

Just to be safe, Lu Yunze asked:

“Luo Yao, you didn’t make anything weird, right?”

“How could I? It’s just roasted cake.”

“…Cake?”

“And I made adjustments. You’ll love it!”

She lifted the lid—and revealed a cake covered in cream and decorated with what looked like yellow cubes.

Cake style—familiar.
The taste? Unknown.

“What’s the yellow stuff?”

“Chicken meat.”

“…Huh?” Lu Yunze froze.

“Chicken–meat cake! I guarantee it’s the most innovative food creation in this world!”
Her eyes sparkled like she already imagined this dish becoming world-famous.

“Why aren’t you moving? Afraid it tastes bad?”

She pointed at the line of servants.

“They were beside me the whole time, and they tasted it first. They all said it was delicious!”

When Lu Yunze looked at the servants, their faces were pale as ghosts—but they still nodded frantically:

“Y-Yes! Young Miss’ cake is world-class!”

“Incredible culinary talent!”

“We are honored to taste such cuisine!”

Excited, Luo Yao pushed the plate closer:

“See? Hurry and try it!”

Lu Yunze’s expression stiffened.
Cake and chicken…

That combination should be illegal.

But faced with Luo Yao’s expectant eyes, he could only stab a piece with his fork.

He lifted it to his mouth.

Chew…
Chew…

Then—

His chewing stopped.
His body stiffened.
His hand trembled violently.

“Lu Yunze?”

After a long silence, Lu Yunze finally raised a shaky thumb.

“…D-Delicious…”

“Really?!”

“Really.”

Luo Yao nearly floated away from joy.

“Eat more!”

Lu Yunze suddenly stood up, took a deep breath, and smiled:

“Good food shouldn’t be eaten alone.”

“Wha—?”

“Everyone!”

He called over the servants.

“This is your reward for helping!”

The servants’ faces turned ghostly white.

But under orders, they had no way to refuse—and each took a piece of chicken cake with a trembling fork.

“It’s… good…”
“It’s delicious… so delicious I could die…”
“We are moved beyond words, Young Miss…”

Lu Yunze pointed at them dramatically:

“See? Sharing makes food meaningful!”

“That was made for you alone.”
Luo Yao’s voice went cold.

“Oh. Oops.”

“But don’t worry.”
Her eyes brightened again.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t have enough, so I prepared a LOT!”

“…What.”

“I bought a whole chicken and used ALL of it! You have to remember this taste forever!”

Lu Yunze felt the world collapsing.

Then he glanced at the cherries.
Suddenly, an idea formed:

“Luo Yao… do you like cherries?”

“Of course.”

“Can you tie the stem like this?”

“HUH?!”

Lu Yunze held up Xiaolin’s message.

Luo Yao stared—her face instantly red.

“…Pervert.”

“I was just asking.”

“No woman can do that! Even if you beg me, I won’t!”

Lu Yunze chuckled:

“I wasn’t forcing you—just eat cherries instead?”

She angrily shoved the cherries away:

“You saved your stomach for my cake!”

…Dead end.

Lu Yunze despaired internally:

Someone save me… I still want to live.

Right at that moment, someone stepped into the dining hall.

Jiang Sui.