Birthday Surprise Underway (Six): Chisa, Morning

Chisa: Senior.

Chisa: Are you free?

Xiao Ling: Yes, what's wrong?

Chisa: I tried making desserts myself and would like to ask my seniors to taste them and give their feedback. It would be even better if they could give me some suggestions for improvement.

Xiao Ling: Desserts made by Chisa herself?

Xiao Ling: Then I'd better enjoy it.

Chisa:... Hmm.

Chisa: I'm in the cooking club's activity room right now.

Xiao Ling: Then I'll go over there now.

Chisa: Okay.

Fifteen minutes later.

"The cooking club activity room... um... this should be it."

After confirming that she hadn't gone to the wrong place, Xiao Ling knocked on the door of the activity room.

"Please come in, the door is unlocked." Little Sister Qian's voice rang out from inside the activity room.

Xiao Ling turned the doorknob, and the door opened with a click.

The cooking club's activity room—well... it's more like a kitchen fully equipped with all sorts of cooking equipment than an activity room. I don't know where the school got so much money to furnish it so nicely.

At that moment, Chisa was the only one in the activity room, so Xiao Ling spotted her immediately.

Today, she was dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt with a black pleated skirt, which made her already fair skin look even more radiant. She wore a pure black apron in front of her, and her long, straight black hair was tied into a bun. Her hands were covered in flour dust, giving her the perfect image of a virtuous little cook.

"Senior, you've arrived." Chisa smiled gently when she saw Xiao Ling arrive as promised.

"Hmm, so let me try the finished product. I've saved room for it!" Xiao Ling looked left and right, seemingly eager to taste the dessert made by Little Sister Qian.

Seeing Chisa Xiao Ling's impatient manner, Chisaki chuckled twice before saying, "Wait a moment, senior, I'll go get it for you."

After saying that, Chisa left the spot and returned a moment later with a plate of macarons.

"This is it, senpai." Chisa placed the macarons on the table. "Please enjoy."

"Matcha macarons, they look really good," Xiao Ling affirmed, then picked up a macaron with anticipation. "Let's dig in!"

Xiao Ling swallowed it in one gulp with a "whoosh." Chisa nervously observed Xiao Ling's reaction, her fingers unconsciously gripping the corner of her apron.

Nothing happened.

Chisa looked at Xiao Ling's expression, which was as calm as a still pond, and her heart was in her throat.

"Chisa." After a long silence, Xiao Ling spoke calmly, "Could you get me a glass of water?"

"Hmm? Oh, okay, please wait a moment, senior."

Chisa obediently walked to the water dispenser, filled a glass with water, and then returned to Xiao Ling to hand him the water.

Xiao Ling took the water glass and gulped it down in one go.

"Let me get to the conclusion first," Xiao Ling cleared her throat before speaking in a more tactful way, "The appearance and taste are fine, it's just... it might not be good for your dental health."

While desserts should indeed be sweeter, Chisa's were far too sweet, to the point that Xiao Ling wondered if he was eating macarons or swallowing raw sugar.

"Ha..." Chisa sighed, with an expression that said, "I knew it."

She found it a bit too sweet, but still within her acceptable range. However, being a meticulous person, she never made subjective judgments, which is why she came to Xiao Ling to taste it and seek an objective evaluation.

"It seems we should adjust the sugar ratio again..." Chisa concluded.

"Chisa, are you planning to give Dania the macarons you made yourself?"

"That's right. I don't know much about Senior Dania, but I've heard from other students that she really likes sweets," Chisa nodded.

"So I learned how to make macarons online, intending to make some for my senior, Dania. But I wasn't sure how sweet it should be to suit her taste, so I increased the sugar content of the original recipe."

"Hmm... I think slightly reducing the sugar content of this recipe would suit Dania's taste better," Xiao Ling suggested.

Xiao Ling was a chef after all, and having spent so much time with Dania, he had figured out the girl's tastes and preferences.

"Thank you for your advice, senior. It's been very helpful!" Chisa smiled and thanked Xiao Ling.

"No problem, as payment, I'll take these macarons with me." Xiao Ling packed up the macarons Chisa made and took them with him. "Bye-bye, little Chisa, no need to see me off."

"Yes, please be careful on the road, senior."

Not long after leaving the activity room, Xiao Ling's phone rang again.

He opened it and saw that it was from Morning this time.

Morning: Senior?

Morning: Interested in seeing my new invention?

Xiao Ling: Look! Why won't you look?

Morning: Okay.

Morning: Senior, come find me here.

Morning: [Location sharing initiated]

Xiao Ling: Okay, I'm coming over now!

Twenty minutes later, Xiao Ling arrived at an empty activity room following the location.

The door was ajar, Xiao Ling pushed it open, finding Morning already waiting in the activity room.

"Senior, you've arrived." Morning smiled and nodded in greeting.

Morning wore a white shirt and a black pleated skirt, the hem of which just covered her knees, revealing a small section of her legs shimmering with colorful lights.

"You've been waiting here since early morning?"

I just arrived not long ago either.

"Alright," Xiao Ling chuckled, "Before we formally demonstrate your new invention, how about a macaron first?"

Macarons?

"This is it." Xiao Ling handed the matcha macarons that she had taken from Chisa to Morning.

"I see, so this is a macaron." Morning picked up a macaron and examined it closely. "It looks very nice, hmm... I can even smell the aroma of matcha, it should be delicious."

"Don't just look at it, you have to taste it to know if it's good or not." Xiao Ling gave a meaningful smile. "Want to try it?"

"Okay! I'll start eating then!"

Morning took a small bite of the macaron, savored it, then her expression suddenly changed, and she coughed violently twice.

"Cough cough!"

Ah, I knew it would happen.

(Planned. jpg)

"Alright, Morning, here, have some water." Xiao Ling handed Morning the warm water she had prepared earlier.

Morning took the water and gulped down more than half of it, then let out a helpless sigh.

"It's too sweet... Did you put in too much sugar, senior? Too much sugar isn't good for your health."

"This was made by Chisa; it's a way of gathering some objective feedback for her."

Xiao Ling told Morning about how Chisa had made macarons by hand and given them to Dania as a birthday present.

"I see..." Morning nodded, then smiled and said, "Speaking of which, this new invention of mine was also prepared for Dania's birthday."

"Oh? What goodies has our Professor Morning prepared for his students?"

"It's a secret for now," Morning said, keeping everyone in suspense. "Could you please turn off all the lights in the room, and the curtains too?"

Xiao Ling nodded and, following Morning's instructions, turned off all the lights and curtains, instantly darkening the activity room.

Then, Morning took a spherical device out of his handbag and pressed the switch.

The dimly lit activity room instantly transformed into a paradise of stars, and the two of them found themselves there in a truly romantic setting.

"A very Morning- esque gift," Xiao Ling praised.

"I love stars," Morning's gentle voice came from the other side, "Not just because of their beauty and mystery, but also because they represent the unspoken secret between you and me."

"Of course I remember. Back when you were still in college, I even went to see the stars with you without your knowledge."

"Mmm," Morning nodded, "But after arriving in this world, I heard a different story from the people here."

They say that after a person dies, they become the brightest star in the sky, and even when all the stars have faded away, it will continue to shine for the one it loves.

"This gave me inspiration, so I wanted to use this method to tell Dania that no matter how long the darkness may be, her guiding star will still shine eternally in the dark night sky."

"And, senior, look."

Morning led Xiao Ling to a different direction. After observing for a while, Xiao Ling discovered that the stars above had actually formed a star map, and it looked... like Little Ai dumpling?

"Dumpling Aemeath?" Xiao Ling confirmed.

"Hmm, senior should still remember the star map event I organized before, right?" Morning chuckled. "The principle of this device is largely the same as that star map event, just simplified a bit."

"That's amazing..." Xiao Ling exclaimed, "It feels like a very meaningful gift."

"This is just the first version. I plan to add more star charts later, and if possible, I'd also like to add a loop playback function—that is, to make the star charts change into different shapes."

"Hmm... wouldn't Dania be blinded by the light if she used it as a nightlight?"

"I've also considered that, so--"

Morning pressed another button, and the starry sky suddenly fell silent, while the star map device emitted a soft glow in the dimly lit activity room.

"Wow, there's even a basic form."

"So, what do you think of this gift, senior?" Morning asked Xiao Ling for her opinion after showing it to her.

"I think it's great," Xiao Ling nodded with a smile. "She'll definitely like it."

"I hope so too." Morning smiled gently and nodded slightly.