N-A-A 026 Pork Floss Biscuits
026 Pork Floss Biscuits
The baking room on the basement floor of the teaching building is the activity base of the food club. Usually, not many people come here. Only around three or four o'clock in the afternoon will a few students appear sporadically to make pastries.
Zero stood in front of the kitchen counter, with a row of neatly arranged ingredients in front of her.
Cake flour, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, pork floss
She picked up the butter, cut off a piece with a knife, and placed it on the electronic scale.
Then she put the butter into the mixing bowl and started whipping it.
Her movements were neither too fast nor too slow, like a machine programmed to run smoothly. The whisk drew even circles in the bowl, the butter transforming from a solid to a creamy consistency, its color changing from pale yellow to milky white. She stopped at just the right moment, added sugar, and continued whisking. Then she added eggs, and continued whisking.
Several upperclassmen girls were gathered around the control panel next door, their eyes constantly drifting this way. They whispered among themselves, discussing the exquisite features on the other side, criticizing the unapproachable attitude, and speculating about how this transfer student had managed to climb the social ladder to S-class status.
"She can actually make cookies!" a round-faced girl said in a low voice.
"It was made for Lu Mingfei, right? It definitely was!"
"I never would have guessed that someone as cold as her would do something so girly."
"That's the charm of unexpected cuteness! Do you think Lu Mingfei's heart would melt after eating these cookies?"
"And it's done perfectly... Look at the color of the dough, the sheen..."
"Can you stop praising her cookies? I'm gossiping with you guys." The round-faced girl tapped the table. "So, is Zero really Lu Mingfei's girlfriend?"
"Look at her, does she look like she has a boyfriend?"
"What does it look like?"
"It's like...that kind of person." The round-faced girl struggled to find the right words. "She doesn't talk to anyone, she's not interested in anything, and she comes and goes alone every day. How could someone like that possibly be in a relationship?"
"That's not necessarily true." Another girl shook her head. "The more icy and aloof a girl is, the easier it is for an S-class character to win her over. Haven't you read any romance novels?"
"That's a novel!"
"Lu Mingfei's life is dramatic enough to be a novel. The only S-level student since the school's founding, he secured a day of freedom on his first day of school, and now two beautiful women are swooning over him. Don't you think this isn't a novel?"
The girls fell silent at the same time, and then nodded in unison.
"Too."
Zero's entire attention was focused on the dough in her hands, the butter and flour melting together in her palms, forming a smooth ball. She put it in the refrigerator to chill and wait for it to harden.
Then she took out the dough and rolled it into a thin sheet. She used a cookie cutter to cut out shapes, each one a perfect circle with smooth edges and no cracks. She arranged the cookie dough neatly on a baking sheet, evenly spaced and arranged in an orderly fashion.
Place the baking tray in the oven. Set the temperature and time.
Then she stood in front of the oven and watched the cookies inside the glass window slowly puff up and turn golden brown.
The gossip among the girls nearby had reached a new level.
"I heard that on the day of the 3E exam, Ling and Lu Mingfei were the only two people in the entire room to hand in their papers early."
"Yes, yes, and Professor Manstein personally made them hand in their papers early."
"Don't you guys think Zero's attitude towards Lu Mingfei is different from his attitude towards others?"
"What's the difference? Doesn't she have this expressionless face with everyone?"
"The fact that she sits next to Lu Mingfei speaks volumes because she's expressionless to everyone. Would she sit next to you? Would she sit next to me? No. She only sits next to Lu Mingfei."
"bite--"
The oven timer went off.
Ling put on oven mitts and opened the oven door. A wave of heat hit her, carrying the aroma of butter and pork floss. She took the baking tray out and placed it on the cooling rack.
The cookies were baked perfectly.
The savory aroma of pork floss and the sweet fragrance of butter intertwined and filled the baking room.
Once the cookies have cooled to room temperature, take a small pair of tongs and clip them one by one into a brown paper bag.
She folded the paper bag shut, making sure the creases were straight and the edges were aligned.
Then she started cleaning the kitchen counter.
Wipe away flour residue from the work surface with a damp cloth, then dry with a dry cloth. Disassemble the whisk, place it in the sink, wash it thoroughly with dish soap, rinse it with clean water, dry it with kitchen paper towels, reassemble it, and put it back in its place. Repeat the same process for the mixing bowl, electronic scale, molds, and tongs: wash, dry, and put away each tool.
The entire kitchen countertop was restored to its pre-use condition, and even cleaner than before.
The girls around them stopped talking without realizing it, and even dared not breathe loudly.
Ling picked up the paper bag, turned around, and walked towards the door.
"Did she hear what we said?" the round-faced girl asked softly.
"have no idea……"
"I think she heard it, but she didn't seem to care at all."
Another girl sighed, "These kinds of people are the scariest. You never know what she's thinking, and you never know how much attention she's given you."
So, is she actually Lu Mingfei's girlfriend?
I don't think so.
Why?
"Because if she were Lu Mingfei's girlfriend, she wouldn't be making cookies here alone." The girl glanced in the direction Zero had disappeared. "She would be with Lu Mingfei."
The baking room quieted down, leaving only the warmth of the oven's residual heat and the lingering aroma of butter.
The door was suddenly pushed open.
Nono was wearing a red hoodie and holding an empty food storage container. The food club produces a lot of snacks, and the refrigerator is always full, so everyone can grab snacks without asking.
She pushed the door open and came in just as Zero was about to leave.
The two stopped. Nono looked down and saw Zero, then looked down again, her gaze falling on the paper bag in Zero's hand.
Zero's gaze also fell on the empty food container in Nono's hand.
Before the atmosphere could even become tense, the two started walking again.
Nono walked into the baking room, and Zero walked out. The door wobbled for a moment, then slowly closed.
In the baking room, Nono opened the storage box and found a box of tiramisu that no one had touched. She put it in a food storage container and closed the lid. Then she glanced thoughtfully at the counter where Zero had just stood; the surface was spotless, without a single drop of water.
She looked away, picked up the food storage container, and walked out of the baking room.
Zero was no longer visible in the corridor.
-----------------
"Long legs! Come see this amazing sight!"
In the luxury suite, Su Enxi pointed at the computer screen and laughed so hard she slapped the table.
Mai walked over and leaned down to glance at the screen.
[The battle for S-rank status begins! The first clash between the red-haired shrine maiden and the ice queen!]
The content is a photo taken with a mobile phone. In the picture, Nono and Zero are standing face to face at the door. Zero's gaze is on Nono's food container, while Nono's gaze is fixed on Zero's paper bag.
"These students are really good at making things up." Su Enxi swiped the mouse. "The poster wrote a long article, insisting that the paper bag contained love cookies for Lu Mingfei, while Nuonuo was holding a challenge to sever their relationship. They even set up betting odds."
"Heart-shaped cookies?" Mai Shude asked as if she'd heard a joke. "Does she even have that concept in her head?"
"Who knows!" Su Enxi said. "What instructions did the boss give her in private? Why would he send someone with no talent or connections to a campus drama?"
Mai Shutoku said, "Zero never does anything unnecessary. If she decides to make a bag of cookies and then walk around campus with it—"
"Then she did it on purpose," Su Enxi added.
"The boss just told her to go and meet up; he didn't teach her any of this," Mai Shude said. "This is probably her own way of solving the problem."
"You've completely gone off-topic!" Su Enxi pointed at Ling's face in the photo. "Even a homebody like me knows that when you're pursuing a guy, you should at least smile. Look at her expression, it's freezing!"
"She probably flipped through some dating guide," Mai Shude said, "thinking that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."