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"Xio, I got today's limited-edition cake!"
Fors struggled out of the crowded cake shop, holding the cake box high in one hand, afraid that the other impatient customers would crush the delicacy she had worked so hard to obtain.
Xio looked at her, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "You complain when I ask you to go out at three in the afternoon, but you'll line up at six thirty in the morning for a limited-edition cake... What flavor did you get this time?"
"Because I finished talking with the editorial department at eight this morning, I reserved one as soon as the shop opened. Good thing I came early."
Fors handed the cake box to Xio, reached up to smooth down the hair that had begun flying everywhere from static, and said happily:
"I got Cream Chestnut Cake. It's this week's new flavor."
A warm aroma drifted from the cardboard box, mingling with the sweetness inside the cake shop and making the customers' mouths water.
"The Orange Ice Cream Cake I ordered for your birthday was a winter exclusive. They don't have it anymore." She sounded somewhat regretful.
Xio said earnestly, "I really liked that cake, but it was a little sour."
"There weren't nearly this many people buying cakes in March. Fitus Food Factory has grown so fast."
Fors pulled Xio along on their way back, occasionally glancing over her shoulder at the cake shop, which was still packed so tightly that no one could get through. She sighed in admiration. "They only sold grain at first, but they opened a Trier-style cake shop and a chocolate processing factory so quickly, and now they've even opened a canning factory. I hear the canned food is made to military ration standards, nutritionally balanced and cheap. The factory's owner,