Chapter 16.5: The charms of making moon cakes by hand

Editor's note coming before chapter:

Gather round everyone.

This chapter was updated on the Mid-Autum Festival, when it was releasing it is an extra chapter, a filler one to be precise, after the last chapter.

Since it was funny, I merely corrected the wordings and didn't really adjust it because I found this chapter extremely funny.

And I think I'll be posting it like this every often, if the chapter is as funny as this.

So, with that said...

"Cue it in!"

——

Chapter 16.5: The charms of making moon cakes by hand.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, Fu Xuan watched as Shiki played nearby, unsure how to celebrate this special occasion.

"Shiki, the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up. Don't you want to spend it with Big Sis?"

"Is it that time already? I guess I should find Big Sis... ahem, I mean the old fossil, for the festival."

Shiki muttered tossing away the Red Kite Small Chops in her mouth out the window. She then paused before turning to Xuan.

"But how.....? You know she wants to skin you alive, right?"

"..." Fu Xuan fell silent, recalling the fear of being beaten by Fu Hua.

Back when he took Shiki to reunite with Fu Hua.

Shiki—the damned Herrscher in front of him—betrayed him and stole the a fruit called elixir of immortality, resulting in Fu Hua giving him a severe beating after the damned Herrscher lied at him.

Just thinking about it made his head hurt.

When Fu Hua let her guard down, Fu Xuan grabbed Shiki and disappeared, leaving Fu Hua almost exploding with rage.

Their first meeting ended on such a sour note.

Since then, every time Fu Xuan sees Fu Hua, his first instinct is to run away.

But because of this, he regards Fu Hua as his elder sister, though the woman would deny any connections to him.

"How about we make some mooncakes with the elixir of immortality as filling and give them to Big Sis? Maybe she'll forgive us." Fu Xuan thought this might be a feasible idea.

"Can you cook?"

"I learned a little bit from Mei." (Nah I'd Cook.)

Fu Xuan said, gesturing to a tiny bubble universe that appeared at his fingertips before it disappeared from his fingetips.

He then got up to get the ingredients for mooncakes, hoping to finish before evening.

[Editor's Note: Imagine being capable of holding a bubble universe on your fingertips, and you're losing to your big sis?]

"What ingredients do mooncakes need? Never mind, I'll just look it up online."

"Alright, we need low-fat flour, peanut oil, golden syrup, and lye water." Fu Xuan looked at the list, grabbed a canvas bag, and headed out.

After overcoming numerous obstacles, he finally gathered all the ingredients and prepared to make unique mooncakes.

"Alright! Everything is ready. Welcome to Fu Xuan's Malevolent Kitchen." Fu Xuan turned on his phone, searched for mooncake recipes, and began the process.

Step one: Pour 7 grams of lye water into a bowl.

"Too much! What do I do now?" Fu Xuan stared at the half-empty bottle of lye water in thought but quickly found a solution. "I'll just add more flour. I'm such a genius~"

Step two: Add 270 grams of golden syrup.

"Emm, let's add a bit more. Sweeter is better (๑＞؂＜๑)."

Fu Xuan squeezed all the syrup out of the bottle, determined to make it extra sweet.

Step three: Add 80 grams of peanut oil and mix the ingredients until fully emulsified.

"80 grams, just right. Now it's time to show off my muscles."

Fu Xuan flexed his arm, muscles bulging, before vigorously mixing the ingredients.

Step four: Add 300 grams of flour and knead into a dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour.

"Since I added too much lye water earlier, I'll add more flour. Teehee~"

Fu Xuan incorporated the extra flour and continued with the process.

The dough was thoroughly kneaded, covered with plastic wrap, and left to rest for an hour.

Finally, out of the four steps, only one was executed correctly.

Suddenly, the bowl containing the dough cracked and shattered.

"I got a bit too enthusiastic, no big deal, just need a new bowl," Fu Xuan muttered, transferring the kneaded dough into a new bowl and sealing it.

Fu Xuan then took out a juicer, blended the elixir of immortality into a smooth paste, portioned it, and placed it in the freezer.

One hour later.

Step five: Divide the dough into appropriate sizes and wrap the filling.

"Easy."

Fu Xuan wrapped the frozen elixir of immortality paste into the divided dough pieces and neatly arranged them on the table.

...

(Skipping detailed steps for brevity)

"OK," Fu Xuan clapped his hands, looking at the nearly finished mooncakes, ready to be baked.

"Time to make a big mooncake, let's keep the design simple."

"Shiki, come over here." Fu Xuan gestured to the lounging Shiki (Herrscher of Sentience) on the sofa, calling her to the kitchen.

Without a moment to react, Shiki found herself pressed into the large dough, imprinting her face onto it. Confused, she was then tossed out of the kitchen.

Placing the mooncakes into the oven, Fu Xuan patiently waited for them to bake.

...…

As time passed, the oven dinged. Fu Xuan, with dark circles under his eyes, went to the kitchen, retrieving the golden-brown mooncakes with a satisfied smile.

A/N: (The origin of the dark circles is irrelevant.)

E/N: (Senti beat him up, lol.)

"Looks good, but how does it taste?" Fu Xuan picked up a piece and took it to the stern-faced Shiki. "Eat this mooncake, and don't be mad anymore, dear."

Seeing the appealing mooncake, Shiki took a bite, but soon foamed at the mouth and collapsed.

"What the—? These were normal ingredients, at worst it should just taste bad, how did this happen? This doesn't make sense!"

Relieved he hadn't tasted it himself; Fu Xuan quickly packed the mooncakes into a gift box for Fu Hua.

The large mooncake with Shiki's face was kept as a decoration—it turned out rock-hard.

After tidying up, Fu Xuan placed the incapacitated Shiki in a pre-prepared wheelchair and headed towards St. Freya Academy.

"Hey, Paramecium, Rice Cooker, Duck, Shenzhou's Flat Board?!" Fu Xuan greeted the four as he reached the gate, seeing them in discussion.

"Watch your mouth!" Fu Hua clenched her fist, glaring at Fu Xuan with hostility.

"This is a mooncake I made myself. Please accept it. If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way." Fu Xuan left Shiki behind and attempted to escape, but Fu Hua firmly held him in place.

"Uhm.... Big Sis?"

"Since you're here, stay and celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with us. I'll let you off this time, but don't expect such luck next time."

Fu Hua took the bag and started pushing the wheelchair-bound Shiki toward Kiana and the others.

"So, I can celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with you all too?" Fu Xuan, surprised by Fu Hua's words, nodded before following her.

"By the way, what happened to Shiki?"

Fu Hua asked, adjusting her glasses as she looked at the unconscious Shiki on the wheel chair.

"She... uh, got too excited at the thought of seeing you and fainted from oxygen deprivation." Fu Xuan scratched his head, nervously avoiding eye contact with Fu Hua.

"That seems a bit excessive just to see me."

"You don't understand. She's been so eager to see her mom that she couldn't sleep or eat properly, leading to this."

"Really?"

"Absolutely!"

To avoid further questioning from Fu Hua, Fu Xuan hurried over to Mei and took the groceries she had bought, joining the group as they headed to Himeko's apartment.

The moon gradually rose.

Theresa and Himeko arrived, and Otto and Rita sent their Mid-Autumn Festival greetings via screen.

Bronya and Kiana played video games, with Kiana losing every time but refusing to give up, showing her persistent yet poor gaming skills.

Shiki, thanks to her strong constitution, eventually woke up and glared at Fu Xuan.

The aroma of food wafted from the kitchen, drawing everyone to the dining table to start the meal.

As dish after dish was placed on the table, Kiana could barely contain her drooling.

Once the final dish was served, everyone, including Theresa, Himeko, Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Fu Hua, Shiki, and Fu Xuan, exclaimed in unison:

"Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!!"

...…

"After we finish the mooncakes, we can go moon-gazing."

"Yay! Moon-gazing!"

Fu Xuan bit into a mooncake, but soon felt something was wrong.

He looked at Fu Hua with horror, his hand trembling as he asked, "Where did these mooncakes come from?"

"You brought them. They look pretty good," Fu Hua said, opening the packaging and admiring the mooncakes.

"We're doomed," Fu Xuan muttered before foaming at the mouth and collapsing.

One by one, everyone else followed suit.

Fu Hua, too, succumbed, falling unconscious.

Thus, the moon-gazing part of the celebration was spent in a collective faint.

Naturally, when everyone woke up the next day, Fu Xuan faced the consequences.