Following the corridor for a short while, Lin Feng soon arrived at a room that looked like a dining area.
"Lin Feng, you're here so early! I thought you'd come later."
Seeing Lin Feng arrive, Jingxiang's face lit up with delight.
However, both of her hands were currently gloved in plastic, kneading dough in front of her, so she hadn't been able to spare a moment to open the door earlier.
It was true that the time was still a bit early. Originally, Jingxiang had planned to make some preparations at home first, so that when Lin Feng came, they could immediately start baking the cake.
Now it seemed Lin Feng had even arrived in time to help with the early stages of making it.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep this morning, so I just came over."
Lin Feng smiled helplessly at the thought.
He hadn't actually planned to come this early. Normally, he'd have slept in a bit—after all, there were no classes today, and no worries about being late.
But what could he do? With that curious little creature Fūko around, getting a peaceful sleep was basically impossible.
"Well, that's perfect then! I'll find you a pair of gloves later, and we can have a little competition. Let's see whose cake tastes better. You do know how to make a cake, right?"
Jingxiang's eyes sparkled with mischief at the idea of a friendly challenge.
But then she suddenly remembered—Lin Feng had never mentioned knowing how to bake—so she quickly added the question at the end.
"Uh… making cakes? I don't think I've ever done that before."
Lin Feng thought carefully, then answered honestly.
He could cook, of course. Growing up alone, he'd had to figure that much out himself.
But baking cakes—that was a much more leisurely, delicate thing. Back when he was scraping by just to eat, he could barely manage a full meal, let alone experiment with pastries.
"Haha, it's fine! I'll teach you later. Don't worry—it's super easy."
Hearing that Lin Feng had never baked before, Jingxiang couldn't help but smile.
Finally, she had a chance to teach him something.
Ever since she'd known Lin Feng, he'd been good at everything—studies, cooking, even drawing manga.
Being able to instruct him in something he wasn't already amazing at gave her a small but satisfying sense of accomplishment.
"Alright," Lin Feng nodded, unable to refuse her when she looked so excited.
Besides, trying to bake a cake himself might actually be pretty fun.
"Shu~! Shu~!"
Just then, hearing Jingxiang's familiar voice, Fūko—who had been tucked in Lin Feng's backpack—started getting restless.
She chirped twice, rustling around inside the bag.
"Was that Fūko? Lin Feng, did you bring Fūko along too?"
Hearing the sound, Jingxiang looked curiously at Lin Feng's wriggling backpack.
"Yeah. I was worried she'd cause trouble if I left her home alone, so I brought her with me."
Lin Feng gave a helpless smile, unzipping the bag to let Fūko out.
"Shu~! Shu~!"
But maybe because she was too excited, Fūko burst out too fast—shooting straight out of the doll body she'd been using.
In her true form—a tiny orange whirlwind—Fūko lost control of the wind swirling around her.
A sudden gust swept through the kitchen-dining area, sending everything into chaos.
Worst of all, the bag of flour Jingxiang had been using for dough was still sitting open on the counter.
With a single blast, the flour went flying everywhere.
Especially poor Jingxiang—she was standing closest, and instantly got covered head to toe, her face completely white like a flour-dusted kitten.
Tsk, tsk, tsk…
The scene instantly turned awkward.
"Fūko! Get back into the doll, now!"
Seeing the mess, Lin Feng quickly shouted, his expression stiff with embarrassment.
He hadn't expected the little troublemaker to stir up this kind of disaster.
He hurriedly urged Fūko back into the doll to stop her swirling wind from making things even worse.
"What happened? Jingxiang, why are you all covered like that?"
Hearing the commotion, Jingxiang's mother hurried over from the other room—she hadn't even finished preparing tea and snacks yet.
When she arrived, she saw her daughter's face completely coated in flour, looking rather disheveled.
Lin Feng, standing a bit farther from the flour bag, had somehow escaped unscathed.
"It's fine, Mom! I just… sneezed by accident."
"You can go back, I'll clean everything up here in a bit, don't worry!"
Caught off guard by her mother's question, Jingxiang quickly made up a hasty excuse.
"Really? Maybe I should help you clean up a little…"
Her mother looked skeptical. If that was caused by a sneeze, then that must've been quite the sneeze.
"Really, it's fine, Mom! I'll handle it myself!"
Flustered, Jingxiang peeled off her gloves, wiped the flour from her face, and smiled awkwardly to reassure her.
"Well, alright then—but be careful, okay?"
Turning to Lin Feng, she added apologetically, "Sorry about that, Lin Feng. Jingxiang can be a bit clumsy sometimes. Please take care of her at school too."
After hearing Jingxiang's promise, her mother could only sigh and nod before speaking to Lin Feng with a polite smile.
After all, this was Lin Feng's first time visiting their home, and this sort of incident was hardly the best first impression. Even Jingxiang's mother felt embarrassed.
"It's really okay, Auntie. Jingxiang's great at school, and she's very smart—definitely not clumsy. I'll help her clean up here in a bit, so please don't worry about it."
Hearing her words, Lin Feng felt a pang of guilt in his heart.
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