"So then, everyone's clear on one of today's main tasks, right?"
Standing in the cottage's open kitchen with both hands braced on the counter, Lin Xiaolu put on what she thought was an imposing stance. "Before Larkspur gets back, we're going to spend the entire day finishing all the desserts we need to make! Do you have confidence?!"
"...Y-Yeah, I guess?" Xia Liang forced a weak grin.
"Yes!" Bai Jingxuan, on the other hand, was quite enthusiastic in backing her up.
It was already the next day. After buying chocolate ingredients and magical tools the previous evening, then hiding everything they had bought from Larkspur overnight, the three of them could finally discuss the matter openly again.
Larkspur had left later than the day before. She spent the morning urging her three juniors to review for the written assessment, then sat at her desk poking at her phone for quite a while before leaving behind the words, "I'll be back late tonight, so you should head to the restaurant early," and departing Rainbow Cloud Wetlands.
Although this arrangement meant the three of them only had one afternoon and one evening to prepare, it clearly did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.
They dragged out the things they had bought in advance from beneath the bed—Xia Liang had secretly hidden them away while Lin Xiaolu had been fooling around after they returned. There was the magical tool that the dessert restaurant called an "all-purpose dessert machine," along with several tightly sealed ingredient packs.
"Fruity flavor, royal flavor, classic flavor..."
Lin Xiaolu examined the words on the sealed packages and lined them up on the kitchen counter one by one. Only at the end did she drag out a package from the deepest part beneath the bed that differed from all the other