Chapter 1631: Birthday Cake
Birthday Cake
When the first ray of morning sunlight spilled into the Jinghong Theater, Kong Baosheng, lying on his sickbed, let out a soft muffled groan.
He seemed to feel pain somewhere on his body, his facial features somewhat twisted. Propping his hands on the surface of the bed, he struggled for a long time before barely managing to sit up from the bed... He picked up the water cup by the head of the bed and took a few sips, finally recovering.
Usually, the severely ill Kong Baosheng wouldn't get up this early, but today was an exception.
Aside from the pain coming earlier than usual, today was a very special day for Kong Baosheng... He didn't lie in bed for long. After feeling he had recovered some physical strength, he shakily stood up and, supporting himself against the wall, fumbled toward the direction of the door.
At this time, voices could already be faintly heard outside the door. As Kong Baosheng opened the door, the conversation outside also came to an abrupt halt.
Chen Ling and Li Qingshan simultaneously looked over. On the table behind them, a massive Two-Tiered Cream Cake sat quietly, and an enticing fragrance drifted through the entire front hall...
Kong Baosheng, who had already been starving for many days, swallowed hard when he caught the scent.
"...Mister?"
"Because..." Kong Baosheng swallowed again, then smiled embarrassedly, "Because I'm hungry."
Chen Ling and Li Qingshan exchanged a glance, both smiling.
"Sit down, Baosheng." Li Qingshan stepped forward to support him, slowly walking toward the table. "Brother Chen prepared a very, very big cake for you. Just now when I came back, even I was startled..."
"Very big? How big?"
"As big as a whole table, with two tiers."
Kong Baosheng sat at the edge of the table, his mouth wide open in shock, as if unable to imagine what such a big cake would look like.
"Since you're hungry, let's start early." Chen Ling pulled out several candles from out of nowhere and stuck them into the cake. "After you blow out the candles and make a wish, you can start eating."
Li Qingshan also got busy. He rummaged out a knife and several plates from the Kitchen and placed them beside the table, then struck a match, lighting all the candles on the surface of the cake.
At this moment, Kong Baosheng appeared somewhat constrained and nervous.
This wasn't his first time celebrating his birthday; in previous years, Grandmother would also celebrate it for him. Although he couldn't eat such a big cake, it was still very happy... However, this was his first time celebrating his birthday with the two Misters, and also his first time celebrating his birthday early in the morning.
Normally, blowing out candles was a segment usually done in the evening, but the current situation was relatively special...
For him, the earlier the better.
"The candles are right in front of you." Chen Ling guided him to find the position of the candles. "Make a wish first, keep it in your heart and don't say it out loud, then blow them out in one breath."
"...Okay!!"
Kong Baosheng immediately clasped his hands together, silently making a wish in his heart.
"Brother Chen, where on earth did you get such a big cake?" Li Qingshan quietly asked Chen Ling on the side.
"I have two friends who are very good at cultivating flowers." Chen Ling paused for a moment. "They used some methods to extract cream from different varieties of flowers, then figured out a way to transfer some materials from elsewhere and made it fresh overnight... However, they probably can only make this one serving."
"I see... no wonder it smells so good. Even in the Red Dust Domain, I've never seen such a fragrant cake."
Li Qingshan also couldn't help but swallow, extremely curious about the taste of this cake.
At the same time, Kong Baosheng had already finished making his wish in his heart, and then forcefully blew out the candles in front of him... As curls of green smoke rose within the Theater House, a brilliant smile appeared on his pale little face.
"Mister, I'm done."
"Mhm, you sit down, I'll cut the cake for you."
Chen Ling directly cut a large piece from the upper tier of the cake and handed it in front of Kong Baosheng. The latter couldn't hold back anymore; he fumbled to pick it up, and then stuffed a large mouthful into his mouth.
Then, his whole person froze in place.
"How is it?" Chen Ling asked.
"...Too delicious." Kong Baosheng seemed to still be savoring the sweetness of that mouthful just now. "I've never eaten such a delicious cake..."
At this time, Li Qingshan also cut a piece for himself. After taking a bite, he nodded repeatedly.
"It is indeed delicious. With this craftsmanship, if they opened a shop anywhere, it could probably become wildly popular across the Realm."
Chen Ling also tried a piece. That rich floral fragrance and the sweetness that melted in his mouth truly made his eyes light up... The deliciousness of this thing was second only to charcoal-grilled centipede among all the food Chen Ling had ever eaten.
Kong Baosheng was no longer speaking, burying his head and frantically stuffing the cake into his mouth. The pure white cream stained half of his face, making him look extremely comical.
"Eat slowly, no one is fighting with you." Chen Ling couldn't help saying.
Ever since falling ill, this was Chen Ling's first time seeing Kong Baosheng have such an appetite. Li Qingshan, who had never really liked eating sweets, also ate several pieces of cake in a row today, even sporting an expression of wanting more.
He didn't know if it was Chen Ling's misconception, but it seemed that while they were eating this cake, faint sounds of swallowing saliva would occasionally drift over from the empty wall next to them...
After an unknown amount of time, Kong Baosheng finally rubbed his belly and put down the plate, saying embarrassedly with a face full of cream:
"Mister... thank you for your cake, I'm full."
Chen Ling glanced at the cake, which had only had a small piece eaten, his gaze somewhat complex.
Although what Kong Baosheng ate today was already much more than usual, it actually only added up to half a meal for an Ordinary Person... He was too heavily ill, and it had been too long since he had eaten normal food.
"There's still so much cake left, what do we do?" Li Qingshan looked at the cake before him, which had had less than a twentieth of it eaten, feeling some heartache. "How many days can it keep?"
"This thing is made from extracted flower cream, it can't keep for long. At most, it can only keep for one day."
Regarding this point, when the 9-series couple arrived, they had already specifically instructed Chen Ling. From the time they finished making it until now, half a day had already passed. This cake probably wouldn't be edible at all in another half day.
"Then that's too much of a waste." Li Qingshan sighed.
"Mister, can we share the remaining cake with other people?" Kong Baosheng asked. "Anyway, we can't finish it either... it would be a pity to waste it. Furthermore, isn't cake something that's meant to be eaten together with everyone?"
Hearing this question, Chen Ling frowned slightly, as if pondering something...
But ultimately, he still nodded his head:
"We can..."
"Then later we'll distribute it to the guests who come to the Theater House to watch the play."
"Watch a play?" Kong Baosheng was still somewhat confused. "Watch what play?"
Li Qingshan smiled without saying a word. Chen Ling patted Kong Baosheng's shoulder, his gaze looking toward the entrance of the Theater House, slowly spitting out three words:
"'Wangchun Pavilion'."
End of Chapter
