No Time 84 "Desserts"

That day, Shui Bing didn't come back.

I was angry at her, for not mentioning this herself, even pus.h.i.+ng it onto Xiao Lai, as if wanting him to take the blame.

I could understand her point of view, but she shouldn't have been so scared of my reprimanding.

...Well, maybe me running away all the way to the Americas did scare her.

But I've learned, and I've matured.

Although I didn't approve of Jack Larson, I had heard from Shane and Andrei that he had "repented" and turned over a new leaf.

I couldn't judge myself, but seeing that it was Shane who said it, I believed in the information. Shane was good at getting information and checking its authenticity. He had a knack for gossip. I trusted his sense for such things and judging people.

So, I just thought, 'Good for him. I hope he does feel real remorse and know what he's done."

But, I was not at all planning to meet Jack. I didn't have a clue that my sister was interested in him.

Who could have guessed that out of everyone that Xiao Bing taught, she'd like Jack?

What did she even see in him?

It wasn't my place to judge, but I was the head of this household. Jing Ge had his own family with Lu Han and Shui Bao, I was the oldest now.

I've decided.

Until Xiao Bing came to see me personally, I wouldn't see her.

But, I would go to see Jack once. With my secretary, whose random ability would turn out very useful in any meetings that were held.

I couldn't do that soon though. I'd have to hold it back for at least 2 days.

I had Di Li Feng's Matchmaking show to attend after all.

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Film Day.

Last time, for of the 27 that had initially survived plus me, the zombie-infested hospital was the big mission.

I was in Team C, and we pa.s.sed through things after thinking then giving up then using my strength to open locks and doors.

I thought we'd be first, but Team D was actually in front of us. I can't say I wasn't impressed. Xia Jiayi had given a smile that did make me a bit annoyed but proud. Annoyed, because he was flaunting his victory over me, but proud since I was the one who found this talent.

Team A and Team B escaped at about the same time, but because Team A had dawdled for too long at the first stage, they regrettably lost. But Team B really shouldn't have pushed and pulled all the switches or ropes that said u003cDo Not Pressu003e or u003cDo Not Pullu003e. They wasted a lot of time doing so and didn't gain anything but flour clouds, falling bugs, and so many more terrible mishaps.

The end result was that the contestant numbers had gone down from 27 to 21.

And although the purpose of the Matchmaking games was to have the contestants in my team or closest to me "seduce" me, I couldn't help but think of them as anything more than regular people, just with better looking faces.

Since I knew who I wasn't attracted to, when Di Li Feng asked interview questions after setting me aside, I knew what to say.

DLF: So, do you have anyone you like from the show?

SY: No, but I now know people I won't like.

DLF: What contestants have impressed you?

SY: The contestants in Team D have quite impressed me.

DLF: What about in the other teams or your team?

SY: There aren't people that line up with my ideal type. Of course, I won't base the contestants on just my ideal type.

DLF: Then next week, we'll come up with another mission that will bring you to know more about each contestant!

SY: But there are so many contestants...

DLF: We'll have another round of elimination to make the number even.

SY: I believe in your judgment. How will it be conducted?

DLF: Public poll system! We'll have only the top 16 partic.i.p.ate in the next mission, sound fair?

SY: Alright, I'll be looking forward to it.

The interview wouldn't be released as Di Li Feng hadn't gotten any juicy bits from the conversation.

Anyways, back in the present time, the 16 contestants had been selected.

I did recognize them by their faces now, not all by names, unfortunately.

Before filming started, I drank the coffee that an a.s.sistant had gotten in bulk of, and thought it was perfect for such a chilly morning.

I was wearing a beige trench coat, scarf, a grey s.h.i.+rt, and black jeans.

Simple and casual. It also kept me warm.

One by one, contestants began to arrive at the scene.

It was 6 AM and everyone looked tired.

But with a cup of coffee, energy shot right up! At least for the majority.

Di Li Feng looked dead tired, but with 3 large size coffee and a dab of makeup, he made it work.

That is, when he was in front of the camera, he gave a bright smile and talked brilliantly. But once off, he collapsed onto his personal chair and tiredly looked over what to edit with his crew.

"Today's mission is a little different. It's not something that requires using your strength or physical abilities. Nor is it one that requires you to think heavily."

I was curious about the mission too, I hadn't been briefed yet.

"Today, we'll have a contest, and only 8 will survive."

Contest? But they wouldn't be fighting, so what would it be?

But before he even explained, we were put in vans and transported somewhere.

I felt like I could recognize the scenery, but I didn't. I wish I wasn't so bad with directions. Being directionally challenged is a horrible thing. You could get lost even standing still.

We arrived at a fancy looking hotel.

Di Li Feng finally announced his goal.

"Shui Yu here likes eating sweets a lot. So, I invited the best patissiers of the base, which means the best patissiers in the world!"

True, I spared no effort into recruiting them into the base. Their works looked almost too delicate and beautiful to eat, but the taste was too wonderful to not eat.

"All of you will be making a dish with a patissier you choose and each dish will be graded by Shui Yu with the factors of completion, appearance, and flavor. You've got a time limit of only 4 hours! Go!"

...I just hope that no one bakes as badly as Xiao Bing used to cook.

Di Li Feng had me move to another part of the hotel and asked me to hang out at the kids' corner.

...

It'll have to do.

There was bound to be work in the office, so I had carried some equipment in my s.p.a.ce.

A single Laser Projection Keyboard.

The core device was upgraded almost every year, and now it had a lot of useful functions on it.

So to type up doc.u.ments and contracts, I only needed to have on my core device and a laser projection keyboard.

I had a brief catch up with Secretary Jing and received doc.u.ments that were approved and needed my signature. Then I read the reports for the situation regarding building a community for outsiders.

But there had been arguments that because humans always consider social standing, the outsiders would come to hate us and want to rebel even while being considerably weaker.

I understood that. It was human nature to dislike a superior unless they made a favorable impression or impressed you.

So it had been rearranged into: If an outsider shows a talent for a certain field that is in need of improvement in the base, after strict consideration, the individual will be given a chance to be brought in and live as a citizen of the base.

We could make friends with outsiders, but weren't allowed to tell them of our real ident.i.ties and couldn't let anyone follow us back to the base.

This might all change later on. Depending on the outsiders we meet, we may become allies, enemies, or still be like the present, us knowing about them, but them not knowing about us.

My stomach grumbled and I was ready to have a light snack. 4 hours were soon to be over and I looked forward to what the contestants would bring.

What I didn't expect was huge sugar statues, 8-tier cakes, cakes with chocolate spirals and caramel drops all over...

The few contestants who had small sweets and cakes trailed pitifully behind the ones who had impressively huge ones.

...I don't know if I'd be able to finish them all.

With the help of world famous patissiers, they couldn't possibly mess up too terribly in the appearance category. They all seemed complete, but I would have to make sure with a taste to see if it was in the oven for not enough time or there too long.

Then I proceeded to taste test all 16 of the "desserts". I don't think you could call some of them desserts anymore...

Many tasted overbearingly sweet. I couldn't stomach it.

I liked sweet stuff, but I didn't enjoy tons of sugar, I liked having a tangy, spicy, sour, or deep taste with the sweetness. Like lemon candy, coffee candy, etc.

There were only a few I could agree with the taste on. Only 5. 

So the 5 that I approved and the 3 that earned the highest appearance scores were moved forward.

I still thought all of them were better than Xiao Bing at cooking or baking.