Yukinoshita's Correction Method Chapter 450

"It's a specialty dessert from Hamamatsu. The crust is folded repeatedly, and it's said to have about nine thousand layers." Yukino Yukinoshita paused. "It's a little complicated, but the simplified version isn't too difficult. Would you like to try making it?"

"No... no need, she was just saying that, all kids are like that." Saki Kawasaki shook her head, her face flushed. "You two... you'll understand when you have kids."

Yukino Yukinoshita: "... Hmm?"

Saki Kawasaki sighed, holding her younger sister, "Teaching this child things she can do is fine."

"Then truffle Choco should be good." Yukino Yukinoshita nodded. "Let's all try them."

First, you need to chop the Choco into small pieces, then heat it in a double boiler.

The desserts we're making today all basically require this step.

"That's it?" Yumiko Miura seemed a little disappointed, clearly expecting it to be more difficult.

"This is just the first step; the real work is yet to come," Yukino Yukinoshita replied while demonstrating, neatly and efficiently chopping the Choco.

"Wow~" Yui Yuigahama's eyes lit up. "Amazing~"

Yumiko Miura followed suit and started working, but she was completely lacking her usual composure, nervously chopping the Choco with a kitchen knife... well, like chopping wood.

After haphazardly chopping for a while, and then focusing on making extra cuts on the larger pieces, Yumiko Miura finally stopped with a satisfied look on her face, wiping away non-existent sweat. "Hmph... very simple."

"You're too naive, Yumiko!" Yui Yuigahama without hesitation.

Yumiko Miura tilted her head. "Huh? What's so difficult about that?"

"Peeling it off is the real challenge!" Yui Yuigahama, who had made Choco cookies before, puffed out her chest proudly. "That double boiler method doesn't mean putting the Choco in water to boil; it means... um... like this and that!"

It's amazing she can be so confident even if she doesn't understand.

"When Choco comes into contact with water, the sugar and cocoa will clump together, becoming rough, which is called oil-water separation," Yukino Yukinoshita added. "All tools must be dry, and you must also be careful of condensation."

"Huh?" Yumiko Miura asked, puzzled. "Then why don't we just use a water bath to heat it?"

"Choco is extremely sensitive to temperature; excessively high temperatures can cause oil separation, loss of flavor, and dullness," Yukino Yukinoshita explained. "When heating in a water bath, temperature control is relatively simpler, and it's less likely to burn."

"I see..." Yumiko Miura put away her previous casual attitude. "So, what should we do next?"

"Prepare a water bath first." Yukino Yukinoshita gave clear instructions. "Add water to a pot, heat it to a simmer, then immediately turn off the heat or turn it to the lowest setting, keeping the water temperature around 80 to 90 degrees Celsius—that is, small bubbles appearing at the bottom of the pot, but not boiling vigorously..."

Under Yukino Yukinoshita's guidance, everyone began to try making the desserts they wanted to make.

Iroha Isshiki was clearly experienced and quickly completed the double boiler heating step. The Choco in the bowl looked silky and shiny, and the meringue in the other bowl was already whipped until soft and fluffy.

While assisting Yukino Yukinoshita, Dong Yunshan kept an eye on Yui Yuigahama to prevent her from suddenly coming up with some whimsical ideas and putting them into practice.

"Yunshan," Hayama Hayato greeted, "Let's go buy some drinks together."

"Wait a moment." Dong Yunshan wiped her hands and picked up her coat.

Having found the vending machine and bought everyone's drinks, Hayama Hayato looked at Dong Yunshan with his drinks in hand and said, "Wow, you actually came up with such a great idea!"

"Um?"

"A way to make everyone happy." Hayama Hayato paused, glancing towards the home economics classroom, "Tobe got to eat Choco and was incredibly happy."

"This idea wasn't mine, it was Iroha and Yumiko's." Dong Yunshan glanced at him. "Besides... Saika is happy too—he shouldn't have any worries about the Choco."

Hayama Hayato paused, then said, "... Indeed."

Dong Yunshan raised one eyebrow. "I don't have to worry about the acting."

"...Indeed." Hayama Hayato smiled wryly. "He just needs to be himself."

"He's not satisfied with himself either." Dong Yunshan paused, "And he doesn't run away from it."

Chapter 774 Growing Up

Yumiko Miura stared intently at the kitchen scale, carefully adjusting the dosage.

On the other side, Iroha Isshiki was whistling casually as she operated the oven, speeding up the process considerably.

Dong Yunshan had only been gone a short while Yui Yuigahama somehow got her face covered in flour, leaving Yukino Yukinoshita looking on with exasperation.

Saki Kawasaki has to take care of her younger sister while learning to make desserts, which inevitably makes her a bit overwhelmed, but luckily Komachi Hikigaya is there to help her.

While Tobe Kakeru was busy with his hands, his eyes kept glancing in the direction of Hina Ebina. If it weren't for Saika Totsuka's help, he probably would have already messed things up.

"If I could do it all over again..." Hayama Hayato gazed in Saika Totsuka's direction, "Perhaps I would choose to do the same thing as him."

Saika Totsuka didn't do a good job, but he accepted his shortcomings and discussed things with Tobe Kakeru, trying to do as little as possible.

Dong Yunshan glared at Hayama Hayato: "Stop talking nonsense, you'd make the same choice again if you had to choose again."

"Probably not..." Hayama Hayato said without much conviction.

"People who truly want to change don't think about starting over when there's no chance; they make changes that are possible," Dong Yunshan stated bluntly. "You've already developed a path dependency. Even if there's an opportunity to change, you'll still follow the old path."

"That's true," Hayama Hayato said with a weary smile. "But..."

"You've already given it your all, haven't you?"

"I'm sorry." Hayama Hayato took a deep breath. "I wish I could have done better."

You could have done better.

"..." Hayama Hayato paused slightly, looked into Dong Yunshan's eyes, and then looked away.

If it were someone else, he would probably smile, thank them for their trust, respond to their expectations, and say something like he would continue to work hard.

But when facing Dong Yunshan... he no longer needed to lie.

Dong Yunshan elbowed him. "What I'm saying isn't that people have unlimited potential, that you can do anything if you want to."

Hayama Hayato somewhat surprised. "So that's not how it is?"

"Of course not." Dong Yunshan twitched the corner of his mouth. "What I'm talking about is the more realistic situation: you're in a cycle of extreme exhaustion, constantly on the verge of emergency response."

"A loop...?" Hayama Hayato repeated thoughtfully.

"Human thinking is divided into emergency response and long-term planning, both of which consume energy." Dong Yunshan placed the drinks on the windowsill, dividing them into two groups. "Ideally, energy is allocated reasonably between emergency thinking and long-term planning, allowing us to handle the present situation well and plan for the future."

Hayama Hayato nodded slightly; so far, it had been relatively easy for him to understand.

"However, when emergencies arise, some energy needs to be allocated to emergency thinking, to get through the immediate crisis first, and then consider what comes next." Dong Yunshan moved the drink from the left to the right. "If the problem is relatively simple, then there is still room for long-term planning, but if the problem is relatively difficult..."

"They'll then focus all their energy on solving immediate problems," Hayama Hayato, seemingly realizing something, "And won't have the energy to make long-term plans."

"He who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present; if one does not make long-term plans..."

"This means we'll have to deal with more emergencies, leaving us with even less energy for long-term planning." Hayama Hayato frowned. "In the end, there will always be emergencies that we can't handle, which means... we'll be stuck in a perpetual cycle of exhaustion from constantly dealing with emergencies."

"When you first started pretending to be a good person, it probably wasn't this tiring, right?" Dong Yunshan raised one eyebrow. "You probably even felt quite relaxed, like you'd found a really useful method."

"Yes." Hayama Hayato nodded heavily, "And then, in this cycle of pushing limits, exhaustion gradually accumulates..."

"So what I'm trying to say is that your current fatigue and weakness are normal; human energy isn't limitless." Dong Yunshan moved his drink. "But even with limited energy, there are still better ways to allocate it so you can do better—you are capable of doing better."

"Theoretically, that's correct," Hayama Hayato sighed. "But compared to the hope you've described, the current situation you've recounted seems even more hopeless, this vicious cycle."

"Despair? That's because you want to handle everything in front of you perfectly." Dong Yunshan picked up the drink again. "But in reality, the sky won't fall if you don't deal with many things. In fact, not dealing with many things properly is a better way to deal with them."

To handle emergencies effectively, you need to focus the energy you would normally dedicate to long-term planning on the present.

If you don't handle, or even ignore, some trivial emergencies, you can focus your energy on long-term planning and break the cycle of extremes.

Doing it well is bad, and doing it poorly is good.

Good people don't need to do everything.

There's even less need for people to play the good guy.

"You can do that...?" Hayama Hayato looked at Dong Yunshan in disbelief. "Isn't this... an excuse?"

"It's an excuse," Dong Yunshan readily admitted. "Isn't playing the good guy an excuse?"

"...Yes." Hayama Hayato paused for a moment, then his smile relaxed slightly. "Yes."

"Let's go then." Dong Yunshan, carrying her drink, was the first to walk into the classroom.

Hayama Hayato watched his retreating figure, his smile now tinged with envy and wistfulness.

Then, upon seeing Hina Ebina's smile, the smile on his face instantly froze.

The dessert-making skills in the home economics class are getting better and better.

While distributing the drinks, Dong Yunshan noticed that many quick-moving people had already put the semi-finished products into the oven or into the refrigerator to cool, which meant they had entered the final stage.

Although Haruno Yukinoshita was chatting the whole time, she made good progress and even guided Meguri Shiromeguri and the previous Student Council members through most of the process, leaving only the final shaping and decoration steps.

Then...

"Yukino, what did you do?" Haruno Yukinoshita leaned closer. "Let my older sister try it—"

Yukino Yukinoshita ignored her nagging and continued watching Yui Yuigahama and Yumiko Miura make desserts.

Under Yukino Yukinoshita's almost stern and wary gaze, Yumiko Miura focused intently on pouring the Choco into the mold, trying hard to control the trembling of her arms, Yui Yuigahama was busy unmolding the Choco.

Ignored, Haruno Yukinoshita's displeasure was obvious, and she raised her voice. "Hey~ Yukino, can you hear me?"

"I heard you." Dong Yunshan handed the drink to Haruno Yukinoshita. "Wait until she's done with her work."

"Wow, there are drinks too!" Haruno Yukinoshita took the drink, her eyes darting around. "Yunshan, you're so kind~"

Yukino Yukinoshita and glared at her.

"Everyone gets one." Dong Yunshan inserted a straw into the strawberry yogurt and held it to Yukino Yukinoshita's lips.

Yukino Yukinoshita opened her mouth, bit the straw, and took the drink.

puffed up with anger.

Haruno Yukinoshita inserted a straw into her drink, puffed out her rosy cheeks, and took a sip. "I heard that drinking with puffed-out cheeks makes you cuter, right, Yunshan?"

Yukino Yukinoshita was taken aback. Suddenly remembering the little trick that Komachi Hikigaya had mentioned before, she stopped glaring at her sister and started biting her straw to vent her anger.

Dong Yunshan Yukino Yukinoshita blinked. "Cute people are cute no matter what they do."

"You're quite the talker." Haruno Yukinoshita parted her cherry lips slightly, shook the drink in her hand to show off the intact straw, and leaned close to Dong Yunshan's ear, "By the way..."

Yukino Yukinoshita reached out and pulled Dong Yunshan behind her.

"Huh?" Haruno Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to Yukino Yukinoshita's ear.

Yukino Yukinoshita wanted to avoid it, but she was afraid that her older sister would move closer to Dong Yunshan, so she could only bite her straw and stare at her.

"I heard," Haruno Yukinoshita's voice tinged with amusement, "That people who like to bite straws..."

Yukino Yukinoshita's cherry lips parted slightly as she stared at the straw she had bitten out of shape, her face turning red at a visible speed. "Sister!"

Haruno Yukinoshita's smile widened, "Didn't you hear me? Well..."

Creak.

The strange noise caught Haruno Yukinoshita's attention. She turned around and saw Dong Yunshan, who was drinking cola, had actually bitten the can out of shape.

"Hmm?" Meeting Haruno Yukinoshita's gaze, Dong Yunshan shook the can. "What's wrong?"

"Your ears are so sharp..." Haruno Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat disappointed, and turned to chat with someone else.

"Why are you paying attention to her..." Yukino Yukinoshita pinched Dong Yunshan's chin and carefully examined his mouth. "People who like to bite straws... that kind of strong desire is a completely illogical and unproven claim."

"Let's make a statement." Dong Yunshan's lips curled up. "If she keeps causing trouble like this, I don't know what else she might do... That's roughly the feeling."

"Learn something good from her." Yukino Yukinoshita gently bumped her head against his chest, then, as if remembering something, looked up and stared at Dong Yunshan: "Talk to the teacher."

"Huh?" Dong Yunshan's eyes lit up. "That's right."

Seeing that everything was going smoothly in the home economics class, Shizuka Hiratsuka took a break to go out for a smoke.

Dong Yunshan found her with a drink and helped her open the can.

"Hmm~" Shizuka Hiratsuka took the drink and took a sip. "This event was well organized."

"It's mainly thanks to Iroha," Dong Yunshan said, sitting down next to Shizuka Hiratsuka. "And they're all acquaintances."

Shizuka Hiratsuka looked over. "Aren't you friends?"

"Well... let's first define what a friend is."

"You brat," Shizuka Hiratsuka ruffled his hair, "Now you dare to have deeper interactions with others?"

"So you adults all know about this little thing about me?"

"Finally, you've admitted you're still a child." Shizuka Hiratsuka draped her elbow over Dong Yunshan's shoulder, pointing at Dong Yunshan with her cigarette-holding finger. "There's nothing wrong with thinking of yourself as an adult; many children go through that phase. But you've never been an adult, so you're defining adulthood too rigidly. Actually, there are many adults who haven't grown up yet."