[Concert Backstage, Dressing Room]
Under the warm, yellow makeup lights, Jing Liuli emptied her small handbag onto the vanity table. Hair clips, mint-flavored throat lozenges, a half-empty pack of dolphin-shaped strawberry cookies tumbled out, and even the crumpled concert schedule hidden in the inner pocket fluttered to the floor.
But even though she had turned her small bag inside out, she still couldn't find the strawberry cream cake she was longing for.
"How can it be gone..."
Jing Liuli slumped onto the velvet chair, utterly defeated, poking the empty little bag in front of her. The pale purple antennae on her head drooped down with her frustration, and her whole demeanor turned monochrome gray.
It was gone, truly gone. The small cake she had specially saved had disappeared.
Just then, Caroline walked in, carrying two steaming cups of green tea.
Seeing Caroline, Jing Liuli instantly came back to life.
She pounced to hug Caroline's arm, tears welling up in her eyes, and said with a wronged voice, "Caroline, my cake is gone! The one I specially asked the pastry shop to make yesterday, the one with the dolphin chocolate on top!"
Upon hearing this, Caroline's body tensed almost imperceptibly. She subconsciously licked the corner of her lips.
Good, I didn't get any cream on me when I ate the cake just now.
After confirming there were no flaws, Caroline handed one cup of green tea to Jing Liuli and bent down to tidy the items scattered on the table for her.
"Don't panic. Think carefully, who would steal your little cake for no reason?"
"Who..."
Jing Liuli tilted her head, unconsciously wrapping her fingers around a pale purple strand of hair, and murmured softly.
Suddenly, Liuli's eyes lit up fiercely. She slapped her thigh and stood up.
"I knew it, it's Tendo! It must be him! Only he would be so ridiculous!"
The moment her voice fell, the dressing room door was gently pushed open, and Tendo walked in with his hands in his pockets.
"What happened? Tell me about it."
"Tendo! Give me back my little cake!"
Seeing the 'prime suspect' appear, Liuli immediately lunged, like a bristling purple hedgehog.
However, her 'sudden attack' was easily sidestepped by Tendo, like a matador avoiding a bull.
Caroline, watching from the side, silently held up a non-existent scorecard and gave the maneuver a 'perfect score' gesture.
Tendo's evasive movement was so fluid it suggested he was an experienced offender, clearly having done this sort of thing before.
But Liuli clearly wasn't going to let Tendo off the hook and used the 'hungry tiger pounces on its prey' tactic again.
However, the difference in height and physique meant Tendo only needed one hand to press down on her head. No matter how she stood on her tiptoes and swung her little fists, she couldn't touch the hem of his clothes.
Tendo even said cruelly, "Liuli, what cake? I don't know about any cake."
Tendo maintained an 'I'm innocent' expression while speaking, his denial as firm as a steel plate.
Unexpectedly, Caroline, standing next to him, not only failed to back him up.
Instead, after a faint smile flashed in her green eyes, she took a gentle sip of her green tea and said, "Is that so? But earlier in the surveillance room, someone said, 'Liuli's Selection must be a high-quality product' and handed me a strawberry cake."
"!!!"
At these words, Tendo's expression instantly froze.
Oh no, there are bad guys among the masses!
With Caroline's testimony, Jing Liuli finally understood what had happened.
She put her hands on her hips and glared fiercely at Tendo with her big, anime-like eyes.
"How dare you, Tendo! Stealing my cake is one thing, but you used my thing to curry favor with Sister Caroline! You are going too far!"
Caroline nodded silently on the side, wordlessly seconding Liuli.
Seeing this, Tendo rolled his eyes at Caroline in annoyance.
Seriously, Caroline, you ate the cake too, didn't you?
But why are you ganging up on me when Liuli accuses me?
It makes no sense. This really makes no sense now.
Just as Liuli was about to continue her accusations against Tendo, her stomach let out a pathetic gurgle.
Liuli's cheeks instantly flushed crimson. Her momentum from earlier immediately dissipated, and she nervously picked at the corner of her clothes.
Looking at her frustrated and hungry appearance, Tendo couldn't help but chuckle. Then, he pulled a brand-new cake box from behind him and handed it over.
"Just messing with you. I bought this outside just now. It's the dolphin chocolate style you like, and I even asked the owner to add an extra layer of strawberry jam."
Staring at the cake box, Liuli's eyes immediately sparkled.
But she didn't want to let the despicable Tendo off so easily, so she forced herself to endure her craving and turned her head away proudly.
"Hmph! Who wants to eat the cake of a big bad guy like you?"
Seeing Liuli still being stubborn, Tendo quietly opened the cake box in front of him. The sweet scent of cream immediately wafted out, filling the entire dressing room.
Looking at the glistening cream cake sprinkled with sugar, Liuli involuntarily swallowed.
"Sigh, never mind, never mind. Since someone won't eat it, then I'll reluctantly..."
"Wait!"
Before Tendo could finish his sentence, Liuli snatched the cake box, scooped up a large bite with a small spoon, and stuffed it into her mouth. Not caring about the cream on the corner of her lips, she mumbled, "Tendo, since you admitted your mistake, I, the great lady, forgive you!"
Watching Liuli devour the cake with puffed cheeks, Tendo and Caroline couldn't help but smile at each other.
Liuli, she's still too easy to appease.
Rest time always flew by quickly.
After finishing the small cake Tendo bought and quickly drinking the green tea Caroline handed her, Liuli simply wiped her mouth and hurried off to the stage, holding up her skirt.
Tendo and Caroline stood side-by-side at the aisle entrance, watching the lights illuminate the stage once more.
As Liuli's figure reappeared in the spotlight, the fans below instantly erupted in thunderous cheers.
Looking at the lively scene, Caroline suddenly spoke, "Tendo, the matter is pretty much resolved now, right?"
Tendo looked out at the flashing sea of glow sticks outside the aisle, nodded, and said, "There's just one final step, but I believe Liuli can do it."
"Is that so?"
A stream of quantum data flowed through Caroline's eyes, like a phantom traversing the rift between reality and the quantum realm, rapidly analyzing the information transmitted from the backstage monitors.
During this process, Tendo continued with a smile, "Someone wanted to use the Starlight Dream Stone to control Liuli's dreamscape, but they don't realize they're actually helping her."
Caroline raised an eyebrow, "You intentionally let them set up the Starlight Dream Stone?"
"Something like that."
Tendo pulled a silver coin from his pocket and lightly spun it on his fingertip.
"Caroline, someone wants to make Liuli's dream an epic in everyone's dreams, but they don't know that the one who writes the epic has never been a god, but a human."
"Because what a god can achieve isn't considered epic. Only a human achieving a miracle, a divine feat, is."
"Liuli's singing voice already possesses the power to soothe the heart, coupled with the Starlight Dream Stone's characteristic of connecting reality and dreams..."
Pausing there, Tendo pocketed the silver coin and put his blindfold back on. He then walked toward a specific direction outside the passageway.
"Let's go. Let's see if Liuli can do as we expect and use the Divine Gospel to compose her own epic."
Caroline nodded and followed Tendo toward the main hall of the venue.
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