Bai Jinyan saw the text message and realized the surprise was a dinner preparation. He decided to let this known surprise exist and prepare something unexpected in addition. There were still many strawberries in the fridge. Decorating a strawberry cake was much easier than piping cream flowers. As long as the cake base was baked well, half the job was done. Following the instructions, Qiao Huaiyao poured the prepared cake batter into the greased and lined mold. The oven was already preheated, so he placed the mold inside and set the timer, waiting for it to finish.
Qiao Huaiyao wiped a bit of flour from his hands and sent a message to Bai Jinyan:
Qiao Huaiyao: [Cat poking out.jpg]
Bai Jinyan: [Patting head. After eating, check if the milk is still warm; don’t drink it if it’s cold.]
Qiao Huaiyao: [Okay. How’s it going on your side?]
As Bai Jinyan sent messages, he added hot water to his noodles: [Everything is going smoothly.]
[You’ve worked hard! Shoulder pat for the kitty.jpg] Qiao Huaiyao smirked.
His choice of dishes was simple, and Bai Jinyan should have no trouble making them.
This was just practice, to get used to the feel of cooking and the oven. He didn’t want to make mistakes when it came to the actual cooking. The quantities used were minimal, and he had reduced them according to the proportions. The resulting cakes were small, similar in size to cupcakes, and none of them overflowed from their molds.
Qiao Huaiyao didn’t frost them; instead, he tore off a piece while they were still hot, then flipped the mold over to let the cake shrink back. The cake itself was not too sweet, as he had reduced the sugar compared to a regular cake. However, Qiao Huaiyao felt that the taste could be even less sweet. The impromptu live broadcast only captured Qiao Huaiyao’s back.
Live Stream comments filled the screen:
[“Is Brother Qiao making a cake? Looks so professional, he’s even using an electronic scale!”]
[“So precise, it doesn’t look like he’s making a cake, it’s more like a science experiment!”]
[“In previous news, Brother Qiao was invited by a top professor to attend courses during high school. You can look up what the professor specializes in, and you can probably guess what Brother Qiao does in the lab.”]
[“I’m so jealous! I saw Brother Qiao signing up for a live course yesterday. I was so excited and signed up for two days. But when I heard Bai Jinyan’s voice in class today, sob… my gorgeous husband is gone.”]
[“Spill the tea, my wife! Did you sweet talk Bai Jinyan into helping you with the class?”]
…
Qiao Huaiyao had his homemade cake for breakfast with lukewarm milk. During practice, everything he baked was made with real ingredients, so he couldn’t afford to waste them. As he ate the cake, he occasionally made adjustments to the ingredient quantities on his notes. After making the changes, he put down the cake he had in hiss hand and started his second attempt.
Cleaned strawberries were set aside as they wouldn’t be used for decorating the cakes yet. However, Qiao Huaiyao squeezed some cream onto the strawberries and arranged them on a plate. After finishing, the second batch of cakes was ready.
He spent the morning practicing, repeatedly making adjustments several times. He finally managed to create a cake that was more to Bai Jinyan’s taste. It wasn’t overly sweet but retained the natural sweetness of the cake itself. The cake base’s ingredients were more or less finalized, but he wasn’t in a hurry to perfect the flavor of the cream.
Qiao Huaiyao had been baking with the window open, and the smell of cakes had already dissipated. After a quick cleanup of the kitchen, he threw all the trash in the bin. The plate of cream-covered strawberries was left on the table.
Qiao Huaiyao took off the necklace from his neck. He hadn’t been very close to his parents; he had spent a lot of time with his grandmother and nanny when he was younger. Later, when he was brought to his parents, they were too busy to take care of him, so he spent more time with Bai Jinyan. This necklace had been given to him by his grandmother, and he had worn it for many years. If everything had a spirit, he hoped…
He placed the necklace into a box. The original box had always been kept elsewhere. When he had the idea yesterday, he had the butler send it by express delivery. Qiao Huaiyao gently traced the still clear logo on the box, exhaling a soft sigh.
Holding the necklace box, Qiao Huaiyao sat on the sofa for a while. He faintly heard the sound of rain outside. The kitchen window was open, and the rain sounded particularly clear. He remembered that it had been sunny when Bai Jinyan left, and he probably hadn’t taken an umbrella.
Qiao Huaiyao put the necklace into her suitcase, grabbed two umbrellas, and walked out—the live broadcast had already ended.
Bai Jinyan finished the last dish, put it in a thermos, and intended to take it back for Qiao Huaiyao to taste. He had undoubtedly chosen dishes he wanted to eat. After reviewing them, he took the time to prepare all the dishes and set them aside together.
Zhao Jiamo walked in, seemingly leisurely, and asked, “Are you done?”
Bai Jinyan replied indifferently, “Discussing things.”
Zhao Jiamo raised an eyebrow. “You weren’t this polite when talking to Qiao Huaiyao.”
Bai Jinyan cast him a casual glance. Zhao Jiamo coughed and didn’t continue to tease. Instead, he said, “It’s raining outside. Don’t rush to go back. I’ll have the staff bring us umbrellas. It might take ten to twenty minutes, and we still have time to cook another dish.”
It was raining unexpectedly. The weather forecast hadn’t mentioned rain at this time. Therefore, there were no umbrellas in the kitchen. Bai Jinyan had already sealed the thermos and wasn’t planning to continue cooking as Zhao Jiamo suggested. Looking out the window, he saw it was just a light drizzle. He didn’t need an umbrella to walk back in this kind of rain.
“What do you mean, it’s just a light drizzle. I’m talking about getting caught in a rainstorm, not a light drizzle,” Zhao Jiamo said while following Bai Jinyan, who was heading out. “Don’t be reckless. We’re recording the program now. If you really get drenched in the rain and catch a cold, my manager will tear me apart.”
It wasn’t just his manager; even his mother would scold him if she saw him getting caught in the rain. Bai Jinyan didn’t care and said, “It’s just a little rain.”
“Come on, it’s not just light rain. When my mom sees me soaked in the rain, she’ll think I’m mistreating you. I’ll get scolded,” Zhao Jiamo sighed and turned back, saying, “I’ll go check on the other guests.”
Qiao Huaiyao, holding an umbrella, approached and lifted the umbrella over Bai Jinyan’s head. He smiled and said, “Big brother!”
Bai Jinyan couldn’t help but smile. “Why are you here?”
“It’s raining, so I came to bring you an umbrella,” Qiao Huaiyao said, opening the new umbrella and holding it over Bai Jinyan’s head. “And to take you back home.”