Chapter 37: The Cake That Can’t Be Shown Off

Chapter 37: The Cake That Can't Be Shown Off

Although Ji Mingxiu asked for quite a few things, the butler was very efficient.

It wasn’t long before the doorbell of Ji Mingxiu’s house rang.

There were indeed quite a lot of things. Besides the essential cake ingredients that Shi Ling had requested earlier, there were also several large bags of fruit.

Looking at those bags, Shi Ling couldn’t help but turn to Ji Mingxiu, “You bought too much fruit, didn’t you?”

After all, fruit doesn’t stay fresh for long, and if it can’t be finished in a short time, it would go to waste.

Ji Mingxiu, while organizing the items, explained to Shi Ling, “I was afraid you might need more when the time comes, so I bought extra. Don’t worry, if you can’t finish it, just bring it back to your dorm. A few young college students can’t finish these bags of fruit? It won’t go to waste.”

Shi Ling shifted his gaze back to the bags, “There’s not even a fridge in our place. It’s probably better to keep it here!”

“Not necessarily, you’ve got more people, you’ll finish it faster,” Ji Mingxiu said as he placed a box of strawberries in Shi Ling’s hands, “When the time comes, just say it’s from the boss.”

Shi Ling thought about it and agreed.

So, he took the box of strawberries and the materials delivered by the butler into the kitchen.

Although Ji Mingxiu’s kitchen was spotless, with everything in its place and looking as if it hadn’t been used for a long time, upon closer inspection, it was actually quite well-equipped.

There was even a new oven.

Shi Ling tilted his head and glanced in the direction of the kitchen.

If he remembered correctly, he had just seen an oven in the kitchen, and it was quite clean, “Why did you get another oven?”

Ji Mingxiu rummaged through the items and found a pair of slippers. As he unwrapped the packaging, he explained to Shi Ling, “I wasn’t sure if there was an oven at home, so I had the butler bring one over, just in case. It would be troublesome to make a second trip if there wasn’t one.”

After finishing, he placed the slippers in front of Shi Ling, “Never mind that for now, try these slippers first, see if they fit.”

Shi Ling hadn’t noticed the slippers before, “Huh? Prepared these specially for me?”

Ji Mingxiu nodded with a smile, “I saw that your shoes didn’t seem to fit well. The floor tiles are slippery, so it’s better to have another pair prepared.”

Shi Ling blinked and changed into the slippers, “These are good. How did you know my shoe size?”

Ji Mingxiu said, “I guessed.”

He stood up, picked up the things placed on the coffee table, and followed Shi Ling into the kitchen, one after the other, “Is there anything I can help with? Although my skills are average, I can still do some things.”

Shi Ling laid out the necessary materials one by one on the counter and then said to him, “Can you help me crack the eggs?”

Shi Ling wasn’t a professional cake maker after all. He could learn most of the process through observation, but when it came to the final step of decorating with cream, he became helpless.

What he had once seen as a simple and smooth decorating technique by the pastry chef in the back kitchen became a mess in his hands.

Looking at his final “masterpiece,” Shi Ling felt a little embarrassed, “This doesn’t really look like a birthday cake…”

He turned to Ji Mingxiu and asked, “When is your birthday?”

If it wasn’t close, he should still have time to practice again.

Ji Mingxiu didn’t seem to mind. He carried the not-so-beautiful six-inch cake to the living room, “My birthday is on December 16th, still a long way off!”

As he sliced the cake, he said, “Actually, this kind of cake is fine too. It’s edible, after all.”

Shi Ling sat down next to him, “But it can’t be shown off.”

However, Ji Mingxiu didn’t care.

To be honest, he wasn’t concerned about whether the cake looked good. As long as it was made by Shi Ling, it was enough to make him happy.

Ji Mingxiu said, “You can secretly give it to me, without letting others see.”

——

Shi Ling spent a large part of the afternoon at Ji Mingxiu’s house and returned to school with two large bags.

It was, without a doubt, one of his rare moments of rest recently.

The game project had reached a critical stage, and no matter how good he was at time management, he couldn’t find any time to relax. This half-afternoon was the first time in over half a month that he had truly relaxed.

Even so, he still discussed some work-related matters with Ji Mingxiu during this time.

After all, he was dealing with an investor, and it was necessary to report the progress to the boss.

But fortunately, the boss didn’t give him a hard time and even personally sent him back to school!

Shi Ling got out of the car at the entrance of Jingda University and waved to Ji Mingxiu, “See you later, Boss Ji!”

Ji Mingxiu waved back with a smile, “See you.”

As Ji Mingxiu watched the car leave, Shi Ling returned to his dormitory with two large bags of fruit.

As soon as he opened the door to dorm 412, he heard Fang Lingyun seemingly discussing some gossip he had heard.

Shi Ling placed the bags on the table, “What’s the gossip? Come and pick something to eat!”

Shao Qin exclaimed, “Did you buy these?”

Shi Ling shook his head, “Today’s fruit is on Boss Ji.”

Fang Lingyun rushed over, picking what he wanted from the bags and asked Shi Ling, “By the way, Ling, have you checked the trending topics?”

Shi Ling was taken aback, “No, is there a policy change?”

Fang Lingyun's movement paused for a moment. "No, I just saw Zhou Su's name trending on the hot search."

Hearing this, Shi Ling didn't seem particularly concerned. "Isn't that normal? Zhou Su should be considered officially part of the entertainment industry now. Those in the entertainment business buying hot searches is quite common. I remember celebrities would buy a hot search for even the smallest things, probably to maintain their presence."

He suddenly remembered, "It seems we haven't prepared a public opinion monitoring team yet."

Although the gaming industry and the entertainment industry aren't exactly the same, in some aspects they are similar, and having a public opinion monitoring team is quite necessary.

Fang Lingyun, holding a slice of orange in his mouth, blinked. "Isn't public opinion monitoring related to publicity?"

Shi Ling nodded. "In the early stages, the publicity team might handle it. Later on, we might set up a separate team to focus on monitoring public opinion across various platforms. If you can handle it, you'll be in charge of it. If not, we'll hire someone else."

Sitting cross-legged on his chair, he peeled an orange for himself. "We're not short of money right now. Boss Ji is very generous."

Fang Lingyun grinned and leaned closer to Shi Ling. "Shi Xiaoling, do you know what the hot search was about?"

Shi Ling glanced up. "Zhou Su's? It should be about the dating reality show announcement, using his connections for publicity. The dating show drama is quite attractive, after all."

If he were the show's publicity team, he'd use it as a selling point too.

Fang Lingyun looked at Shi Ling suspiciously. "You really didn't see it? How do you know so much?"

Shi Ling: "I guessed."

He had previously analyzed the dating reality show and the intricacies of the Zhou family with Ji Mingxiu, so when Fang Lingyun mentioned it, he immediately remembered.

He casually asked, "Is Zhou Su's hot search very high in trending?"

Fang Lingyun shook his head. "Not particularly high. Zhou Su has only just entered the entertainment industry. Although his debut was a big-budget film, he was just a supporting role and hadn't received any training. In that big-budget film, he seemed... well, not very harmonious."

"Actually, his online reputation is quite polarized now."

On one hand, the reputation of Zhou Su as a rich young master spread, and there are indeed many in the entertainment industry who like that. Additionally, his status as a current student at the prestigious Beijing Media University means he's likely to be a future professionally trained actor. Although his current level isn't great, his high starting point and good resources make his future prospects visible, so after the National Day film was released, he did attract a wave of fans and helped the Zhou family gain more fame.

But on the other hand, Zhou Su hadn't received professional acting training before filming this movie, and his performance was indeed lacking, making some feel he was a flaw in the film.

Now that the film has been taken off the shelves and discussions about Zhou Su have decreased, arguments still flare up whenever he's mentioned.

With the announcement of the dating reality show featuring Zhou Su, the arguments naturally resumed.

Shi Ling, following Fang Lingyun's direction, checked Weibo and clicked his tongue twice. "It seems the drama isn't just inside the show but outside too!"

Fang Lingyun nodded. "Exactly!"

Mo Jin cut a sweet melon and joined them. "By the way, Shi Xiaoling, is this the dating reality show that contacted you before?"

Shi Ling looked at the hot search content and nodded. "Yes, that's the one. Their team just ambushed me at the school gate."

"They were pretty fast. At noon, the guests weren't confirmed yet, and now they've already announced it. But it's good this way."

At least after the announcement, it's finalized, and the preparations for the dating reality show are complete. They won't come looking for him anymore.

Just as Shi Ling relaxed, he noticed everyone else looking at him.

They all knew about the dating reality show contacting Shi Ling. The invitation was delivered when they were all in the studio, and they had watched it together, but they only knew that Shi Ling had it returned. They didn't expect there to be more to the story.

Mo Jin, happily munching on his melon, asked, "You left early in the morning, when did this happen?"

"This morning, I was stopped as soon as I reached the school gate." Shi Ling scrolled down the page. "Their actions were faster than Boss Ji's. But speaking of which, I didn't know Zhou Su's online reputation was so bad."

He wasn't very clear about Zhou Su's career line in the original plot and couldn't recall much even if he tried, but subconsciously, he thought that as the protagonist, Zhou Su's career should be relatively smooth, right?

But...

Thinking about the current situation of the Zhou family and Zhou Su, he felt that the original plot might not be entirely reliable.

The protagonist's success wasn't even due to love, so if there were any more changes, it wouldn't be impossible.

And Fang Lingyun, with his background in the influential Fang family, knew more about the entertainment industry than most. He said, "Actually, it's not that bad. Nowadays, celebrities have polarized fans. What he's experiencing is quite normal."

Shi Ling, looking at the comments under the hot search, was speechless.

Was it really normal for it to escalate into such a flame war?

He thought only game planners got flamed like this.

After scrolling for a while longer, Shi Ling checked the time and felt he had rested enough to call the others back to work when Fang Lingyun suddenly exclaimed, "What did Ji Mingxiu post?"

Shi Ling, who had just put down his phone, paused and silently picked it up again, opening Ji Mingxiu's Moments.

About two minutes ago, Ji Mingxiu had posted a photo without any words.

Shi Ling: ...

The photo looked strangely familiar, like the cake he had baked at Ji Mingxiu's house that afternoon, which had been decorated and somehow ended up looking like this.

But what did Ji Mingxiu mean by posting this photo in his Moments?