The moment the three, including Yun, returned from the Fishing World, Peppers quickly jumped onto a bar stool and sat readily at the bar counter. “Seriously, go wash your hands or something. I still notice some vomit on your shirt and denim dress.” Yun said as she walked behind the bar counter.
“But I want to at least see the dessert first!” Peppers complained like a little kid waiting for their candy. Yun shook her head and passed Peppers two small, warm, white towels. Milk proceeded to help Peppers wipe her face and clean off some of the colourful vomit she had on her shirt and used the other towel to wipe Peppers’ hands.
Yun then provided warm towels for Milk and Zeru and they used them to clean themselves a little. It was then that she finally proceeded to take something out of the cabinet.
“What do you have in store for us?” Peppers perked up as Yun seemed to carry a well designed rectangular cake box. The box had a panda playing in a pile of yellowish aspen leaves printed on it.
“Just give me a minute, don’t open it yet!” Yun took out yet another cake box with an exquisite design of red pandas frolicking in the snow. The bellators, even Zeru, were getting curious about what was inside these boxes.
“Are we waiting for Jin to come back? Because if we are, I can’t say I will be able to resist the urge rip open this beautiful box!” Peppers could not wait any longer as she leaned her body closer to the boxes when she suddenly felt pain coursing through her ears.
Both Zeru and Milk were pulling each of her ears, which caused her to stop at her tracks. Yun added into the fun by squeezing both of her cheeks. “Nuuuuuuu, thiz izzzz BooooLLllyyyyiiinnnggg!!” Peppers could not pronounce her words well with Yun pulling her cheeks and they all had fun except for Peppers.
“Are the desserts all gone?!!” Jin hurried through the portal and saw two elegant boxes in front of him. “Yes, they have been eaten. Cleanly too. I can let you keep the boxes since that’s all we’ve left.”
“Yes! ALL GONE!” Peppers caught on with the lie and tapped on her stomach…until a loud growling lion reverberated through the entire empty store. Milk could not help but snigger and even Zeru diverted his attention away from Peppers. Jin could only silently stare at Peppers’ embarrassed face as she turned around to face Yun and whispered, “Pretty please?”
Yun smiled as she lifted the high-quality cake box lid with the design of a red panda playing in the snow. Within an instant, cold, white smoke slowly seeped out of the box and Yun slowly took out the contents of the box for them.
It was a slice of simple looking cheesecake.
Peppers wanted to rush in and devour the whole thing but Milk placed her hand on Pepper’s face and pushed her away. “Whyyyyy? I am hungry Sister Mil- Hmmmmm this ..hmmm…This! uwaaaaa” Peppers could not talk after Milk stuffed a fairly large piece of the cheesecake into her mouth. With just that mouthful, Peppers felt like the cheesecake was better than any other sweet food she had ever tasted. It was not too sweet and it had the perfect balance of cream cheese and sugar.
“Hmmm…The cheese. It’s not thick nor is it too cheesy. It feels extremely light and pleasing, something like chiffon cake…no…maybe like a souffle. In any case, it’s especially good as afternoon high tea or even after a meal. There’s enough tanginess, but not overly so, and I can taste a hint of lemon too. Really well done.” Zeru commented as he chewed slowly.
The other four people around the bar counter had stopped eating just to listen to Zeru’s comment before Yun asked: “…cheesecake lover?”
Zeru nodded innocently and said “I travelled around the world with Master during his diplomatic trips and managed to try as many cheesecakes as possible. Tried America’s, Japan’s, Italy’s and even Germany’s. The system’s cheesecake tastes most like the Japanese variant yet has the base of America’s, which in my opinion is quite a good blend of ingredients and flavours.”
After listening to Zeru’s remarks, Jin took another bite and began to appreciate the moist cheesecake. Peppers, on the other hand, moved her hands closer towards the unopened cake box and Yun quickly took the box away.
“Did I say you can open it?” Yun glared at Peppers and all she did was give a series of cute puppy eyes to Yun. Yun sighed as she placed the box down and opened it.
This time round, there was steam coming out from the box and they waited for the steam to dissipate, revealing to them a pie. In comparison to the plain looking cheesecake, the dessert pie had more decorations on it. In fact, there were white sprinkles and biscuits at the side of the crust. Yun took it out and showed it to them, which caused them to drool just at the sight of it.
She cut the pie into five pieces and served on a piece to each of them. Obviously, Peppers was the first to be served and she quickly picked it up to eat. The moment she munched on it, her eyes went wide and later she squinted from bliss.
“There are oreo biscuits in it! This….this! Why does it taste so sinful?! The feeling of the Oreos being fried inside the baked pie! The chocolate layer on the top of the pie with the white sugar sprinkles…mmmm. I love it!” Peppers kept giving her praise to Yun even though she knew it was created by the system.
“It’s an Oreo Pie with Fried Oreo stuffing. I do not think any human being or any well-reputed chef cultivator will be able to copy this.” Yun chuckled as she enjoyed her pie. The Fried Oreo Pie, as Yun dubbed it, was baked by the system using kitchen technology unknown to Jin’s current world. It transposed cheesy battered fried Oreos into the chocolate pie while it was still being baked. Not only has the pie retained its shape and taste, but the fried oreo inside it also enhanced the ‘munchability’ of the pie.
“Ohhhhh I can feel my fats in me stirring but this is so delicious, I cannot get enough of it.” Milk complained as both Peppers and Yun stared at her. As a matter of fact, Milk had the best waistline among the three of them.
“I do not know much about fried Oreos or pies, but the cookie inside the fried stuffing of the pie is soft and does not feel too oily. Instead, the cookie gave the pie a chocolatey taste as well as a light crunch. The stuffing of the pie, which I believe is made up of cake batter, is spongy yet slightly crispy at the same time. To me, it feels like the fried Oreos inside the pie epitomised the beauty of frying since it creates layers of enjoyment just by having a bite of the pie.” Zeru gave his review but Milk and Peppers were completely ignoring him and instead were just humming in the background while relishing every bite of the pie.
“The box is really nice. Will the customers be able to reuse this box after they enjoy the dessert?” Instead of simply staying blissful with the current food, Jin wondered if the aesthetics of the packaging could be put to better use. The bellators and Yun ignored him as they continued to savour the sweetness of the cheesecake and the impactful flavour of the Fried Oreo Pie. Jin then realised that there was a layer of plastic which could be removed and that the box could be reused.
Unfortunately, no one was listening to him and he decided to…slowly rejoin the conversation of food as Yun brought out another serving of both desserts for them to partake in.
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