NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: Extra - Fu Lin Making Mooncakes by Hand!
Note - An extra, not part of the main story.
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It was the day of the annual Mid-Autumn Festival. Fu Lin looks at Fu Shi, who is playing nearby, and wonders how to spend the festival.
"Fu Shi, the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up. Aren't you going to find a way to celebrate it with old antique?"
"It's already the Mid-Autumn Festival? I really should find my mom... Ugh! That old fossil!"
Fu Shi tossed aside the cold-sweating red kite she was holding, which jumps out the window in a flash.
"But how should we find that old fossil? She's probably itching to tear you apart."
"..." Fu Lin falls silent, recalling the fear of being dominated by Fu Hua.
Initially, he had brought Fu Shi to meet the old fossil, only to be betrayed by Fu Shi for the incident, leading to a severe scolding from Fu Hua. Just thinking about it makes his head hurt.
Taking advantage of Fu Hua's moment of relaxation, Fu Lin pulled Fu Shi away, disappearing without a trace, leaving Fu Hua nearly exploding in anger as their first meeting ended on a sour note.
From then on, every time he saw Fu Hua, Fu Lin instinctively thought of fleeing.
"How about we make some mooncakes to give to that old fossil? Maybe she'll forgive us."
After pondering, Fu Lin felt this plan was feasible.
"Can you cook? I learned a little from Mei."
Fu Lin gestured (system-sub space) and then set out to buy the ingredients for making mooncakes, aiming to complete them before night.
"What ingredients do we need for mooncakes? Forget it, I'll just search online."
"Mm, we need low-fat flour, peanut oil, invert syrup, and lye water."
Looking at the list, Fu Lin grabbed a bag and headed out. After overcoming numerous challenges, he finally gathered all the ingredients, ready to make unique mooncakes.
"Great! Everything is ready. Welcome to Fu Lin's kitchen!" He opened his phone, searched for mooncake recipes, and began the process.
Step One: Pour seven grams of lye water (lime water and not lemon water) into a bowl.
"Did I pour too much?!" Fu Lin looked at the nearly empty bottle of lye water, deep in thought, but quickly devised a solution: "I'll just add more flour. I'm such a genius!"
Step Two: 270 grams of invert syrup.
"Emmm, let's add more. The sweeter, the better!" Fu Lin squeezed the entire bottle of syrup, proving to be quite bold.
Step Three: 80 grams of peanut oil. Mix all the above ingredients evenly and emulsify thoroughly.
"Okay, 80 grams is just right. Time to show off my strength." Fu Lin flexed his muscles and got to work.
Step Four: Pour in 300 grams of flour, knead into a dough, cover with plastic wrap, and wait for an hour.
"Since I added too much lye water, I'll just add more flour." Fu Lin kneaded the mixed ingredients, covered the bowl with plastic wrap, and waited quietly for an hour.
Good, four steps down, finally one was correct with some mistake here and there.
The bowl containing the dough cracked once in between, tragically sacrificing itself.
"I got too excited and lost control. No big deal, I'll just switch bowls." Fu Lin took a new bowl, sealed the dough inside, and pulled out a juicer, turning the elixir of youth into a paste, making sure it was evenly sized, then placed it in the freezer.
One hour later
Step Five: Divide the dough into appropriate sizes and wrap the filling.
"Easy." Fu Lin wrapped the frozen filling into the divided dough, neatly arranging them on the table.
... (omitted for the sake of your conscience)
"OK." Fu Lin clapped his hands, looking at a completed mooncake, just needing to go into the oven.
"Now, let's make a big mooncake. As for the appearance, simple."
"Fu Shi, come over here."
Fu Lin looked at the dough the size of a human head and waved to Fu Shi, who was lounging on the sofa watching TV.
Seeing Fu Lin call, Fu Shi dropped the remote and walked to the kitchen, but before she could react, Fu Lin pressed her down onto the dough.
Thus, a mooncake resembling Fu Shi was created, while Fu Shi was thrown out of the kitchen still in a daze.
He placed the finished mooncakes into the oven and waited for them to bake.
...
As time passed, the oven beeped, and Fu Lin, sporting dark eye bags, entered the kitchen. He pulled out the mooncakes and, seeing them golden and plump, smiled with satisfaction. (As for the dark eye bags, don't mind them, my sister did not like my way of asking her for help.)
"Looks good! Just hope the taste is okay." Fu Lin picked one up and left the kitchen to face the stern-looking Fu Shi.
"Eat this mooncake, and don't be mad anymore." Seeing the mooncake looked decent, Fu Shi picked one up and stuffed it into her mouth, but quickly began foaming at the mouth and collapsed.
"Hiss, it should just be unappetizing at worst, but why is she foaming at the mouth? This isn't scientific!" Seeing Fu Shi like this, Fu Lin was secretly glad he hadn't eaten any. He hurriedly found a gift box to pack the remaining mooncakes to take to Fu Hua.
As for the limited edition giant mooncake, it was obviously just a decoration since it ended up as hard as a brick after baking.
After tidying up, Fu Lin picked Fu Shi up from the floor and placed her in the wheelchair he had prepared, pushing it towards St. Freya Academy.
"Hey, paramecium, Herrscher of Rice, Little duck, Shenzhou tablet?!!!" Upon reaching the school gate, Fu Lin happened to see four people discussing something and cheerfully greeted them.
"Watch your words!" Fu Hua clenched her fist, glaring unfriendly at Fu Lin.
"I made these mooncakes myself, please accept them. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now." Fu Lin tossed the wheelchair to the side and turned to flee, but Fu Hua firmly held him back.
"Since you're here, stay for the Mid-Autumn Festival. I'll let you off this time, but you won't be so lucky next time." Fu Hua took the bag and turned to push Fu Shi's wheelchair towards Kiana and the others.
"Then I can celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with you all!" Hearing Fu Hua's words, Fu Lin joyfully chased after her.
"By the way, what happened to Fu Shi?" Fu Hua looked at the fainted Fu Shi, adjusting her glasses and asking curiously.
"Just got a little too excited about meeting you, caused some brain oxygen deprivation and fainted." Fu Lin touched the back of his head, glancing nervously at Fu Hua.
"Uh, she shouldn't need to be that excited about meeting me."
"You wouldn't understand. The kid misses her mom, of course she can't sleep or eat properly, and that's what happens."
"Is that so?"
"Absolutely!"
To avoid further entanglement with Fu Hua, Fu Lin moved towards the three ahead, taking the ingredients Mei had bought from her hands, and headed towards Kiana's dormitory.
The moon gradually rose.
Theresa and Himeko also appeared one after another, while Otto and Rita sent their Mid-Autumn greetings via the screen online.
Bronya and Kiana were playing games, and even though Kiana lost every time, she still wouldn't give up, being both bad and playful with Bronya.
Thanks to her superior constitution, Fu Shi woke up from her fainting and shot Fu Lin a glare.
The aroma of food wafted from the kitchen, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and gather at the dining table, ready to eat.
As dish after dish was placed on the table, Kiana's mouth watered.
Once the final dish was set.
Delisa, Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Fu Hua, Fu Shi, and Fu Lin all exclaimed in unison:
"Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!!"
...…
"After finishing the mooncakes, we can go moon-gazing."
"Yay! Moon-gazing!"
As Fu Lin was eating the mooncake, he suddenly felt something was off. He looked horrified at Fu Hua and, with trembling arms, asked, "Where did these mooncakes come from?"
"You brought them, they look pretty good." Fu Hua opened the packaging and complimented the mooncakes without holding back.
"Barbecue." After Fu Lin said this for the last time, he collapsed on the ground, foaming at the mouth, followed by others dropping one after another.
Fu Hua looked at the fallen crowd and didn't last long before fainting on the ground, unconscious.
Thus, the moon-gazing segment passed with everyone fainting.
Of course, when everyone woke up the next day, Fu Lin was in trouble.