Zongman: Evolution Paradise Chapter 034

“So that’s your trophy?”

Yukino Yukinoshita said with a venomous tongue.

Watching Xu Lun put away the white cloth, she felt her own safety was greatly threatened.

Facing Yukino Yukinoshita, Xu Lun didn’t speak, but merely flexed his muscles.

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at her own flat chest, feeling a sudden blackout. Xu Lun seemed to have said nothing, yet also seemed to have said everything.

“Haha.”

Hachiman Hikigaya quickly covered his mouth, having accidentally laughed out loud.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Yukino Yukinoshita shifted her target of hatred.

“Has Hikigaya-kun not finished clearing his brain yet?”

Hachiman Hikigaya: “…”

Xu Lun sat down at ease and enjoyed his bento. The taste was remarkably good, and the texture was more perfect than anything he had eaten before.

It was probably Mahiru Shiina > Saeko Busujima > Megumi Kato > ordinary home-style restaurants.

—

Afternoon classes ended, Xu Lun originally planned to go home, but Yukino Yukinoshita called him back, saying it was the Service Club’s first club activity.

“Why are Hikigaya and Xu Lun here too!”

The person speaking was Yui Yuigahama, Hachiman Hikigaya’s classmate.

Her pink short hair was tied into a bun on one side, making her look very cute. Her figure was at a level Yukino Yukinoshita would never achieve.

Her request was to personally make cookies to give to someone.

However, due to her poor cooking skills and her reluctance to tell her friends about it, she was introduced to the Service Club by Hiratsuka-sensei.

According to her, Hiratsuka-sensei told her that the Service Club was a place where wishes could come true.

“If I’m not needed, then I’ll leave first.”

Xu Lun yawned, saying indifferently.

If he wasn’t mistaken, her purpose in making cookies was to give them to Hachiman Hikigaya, because Hachiman Hikigaya had once saved her dog and was hit by a car, injuring his leg, as a result.

The crucial point was that the food Yui Yuigahama made was extremely unpalatable.

“Eh, I don’t mean to dislike Xu Lun, it’s just, it’s just…”

Yui Yuigahama fidgeted, worried that Xu Lun would misunderstand, yet also mindful of something, not wanting to state the reason.

Hachiman Hikigaya, with his dead fish eyes, blinked beside them and said to Yukino Yukinoshita, the speaker: “I can’t make cookies, can I leave first?”

“To change a distorted personality, escaping won’t do, Hikigaya-kun. Later, you can do the taste-testing.”

“Xu Lun-kun, you too.”

Yukino Yukinoshita said mercilessly.

She was still a bit resentful of Xu Lun’s actions that morning.

“What a strange relationship…”

Yui Yuigahama observed secretly from the side, thinking to herself.

Ultimately, they all went to the cooking classroom together.

This was where cooking classes were held. Most of the things usually needed were available here; they just needed to be cleaned after use.

Yukino Yukinoshita helped Yui Yuigahama put on an apron.

Yukino Yukinoshita demonstrated first.

She planned to teach Yui Yuigahama a simple method.

Prepare butter, powdered sugar, egg yolk liquid, and low-gluten flour. Soften the butter, then add powdered sugar and mix well, add egg liquid, whisk until fluffy, then add flour. Once formed, it can be put into the oven to bake and wait for it to come out.

Yukino Yukinoshita’s teaching method was flawless, and the cookies she baked were quite appealing.

Logically speaking, as long as one followed the standards normally, even if they weren’t incredibly delicious, they should at least be edible.

But when it was Yui Yuigahama’s turn to get hands-on, problems arose.

As she whimsically added ingredients, the cookies she made successfully turned into charcoal.

This plate of freshly baked cookies changed hands several times, finally reaching Hachiman Hikigaya.

“It’s just like charcoal. Am I supposed to be taste-testing poison?”

Hachiman Hikigaya held the plate, the pitch-black cookies looking utterly unappetizing.

“You have a real talent for being a witch.”

Xu Lun observed Yui Yuigahama’s making process and drew a conclusion.

“How could it be poisonous! Calling me a witch is too much!”

Yui Yuigahama retorted, looking at her own cookies, which increasingly resembled poisonous mushrooms, and said self-doubtfully, “Is it poisonous after all?”

“Why can you make so many mistakes?”

Yukino Yukinoshita picked up a piece of charcoal and asked.

“Think about where you can improve.”

She dumped the plate of charcoal and intended to seriously teach again.

“If you ask me, just don’t let Yui Yuigahama touch anything.”

Hachiman Hikigaya said unceremoniously.

“How can you solve problems like that!”

Yui Yuigahama said discontentedly, but quickly deflated, looking at the charcoal that Xu Lun wouldn’t even touch, and said, “Am I really not suited for cooking? Should I call it talent? Anyway, I don’t have it.”

Yukino Yukinoshita processed the flour while answering her.

“The only solution is effort.”

“Yuigahama, you just said you don’t have talent, right? You need to give up that idea. People who don’t even try the most basic effort aren’t qualified to envy talented people.”

“Those who don’t succeed are precisely because they cannot imagine the effort successful people put in, which is why they cannot succeed.”

“But, these days, everyone doesn’t do things by hand anymore. It feels like doing such things isn’t fitting in.”

Yui Yuigahama twirled her hair as she spoke. This was precisely why she didn’t want to tell her friends and came to the Service Club alone to solve the problem.

These words were particularly grating to Yukino Yukinoshita’s ears. She stopped sifting flour, turned around, and said, “Could you please abandon this desire to conform to your surroundings? It makes me very unhappy. Don’t you feel ashamed blaming your clumsiness and ugliness on others?”

But effort doesn’t necessarily lead to success, and no effort is definitely comfortable. Xu Lun thought to himself, but didn’t say it aloud to provoke Yukino Yukinoshita.

Yukino Yukinoshita had already prepared for the outcome of being disliked by Yui Yuigahama. This was her; even if she knew others wouldn’t like to hear it, she would still say it.

Unfortunately, Yui Yuigahama’s thought process was indeed different from ordinary people.

She looked at Yukino Yukinoshita, her eyes sparkling, and praised, “So cool!”

“Yukinoshita-san, the way you don’t say superficial things, it’s really cool.”

This statement indeed astonished Yukino Yukinoshita and Hachiman Hikigaya.

Xu Lun rested his chin on his hand, feeling that Yui Yuigahama had a somewhat silly cuteness, and this personality was practically Yukino Yukinoshita’s natural enemy.

“I will try my best to make delicious cookies!”

Yui Yuigahama said, cheering herself on.

Unfortunately, Yui Yuigahama was indeed an idiot.

…

“Redo!”

…

“Redo!”

…

“Still redo!”

“Wait a minute, Yukinoshita, you should at least pay attention to others.”

After the fourth attempt at making cookies, Xu Lun reluctantly spoke up, stopping Yukino Yukinoshita, whose expression was growing colder.

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at Yui Yuigahama beside her.

She had recovered from the motivational speech, but after continuously redoing it several times, her hand for pouring powdered sugar was trembling.

Yukino Yukinoshita’s teaching tone became increasingly severe, and Yui Yuigahama shivered, but dared not interrupt Yukino Yukinoshita’s instruction.

Hachiman Hikigaya’s task of taste-testing was equally arduous; he still hadn’t finished the previous batch of cookies.

“Sorry, I was too impatient. Let’s take it slow.”

Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath, regained her composure, and said calmly.

“If it were me, I’d be just as impatient with her.”

Xu Lun grumbled, was it too much that there was still no improvement after the fourth redo? Were your hands spat on by the Kitchen God?

Thankfully, making cookies was relatively quick, and it wasn’t past five yet, otherwise Xu Lun would definitely have gone home.

“Yuigahama-kun, your request is to personally make cookies, not to learn how to make cookies, right?”

“Yes.”

Yui Yuigahama tilted her head, not understanding what Xu Lun meant.

“Since you don’t need to learn, then Yukinoshita can do one step, and you follow one step, couldn’t you? If you don’t understand the problem, can’t you at least copy the homework?”

Xu Lun stated his solution.

Yukino Yukinoshita frowned and retorted, “How is that different from cheating? If she makes it this time, she still won’t know how next time.”

“Don’t be so serious, Yukinoshita. Yuigahama just wants to make one, and ‘next time’ is for later. We are just fulfilling this request.”

Xu Lun gestured for Yukino Yukinoshita to look at Yui Yuigahama, who was smiling foolishly, clearly tempted by Xu Lun’s suggestion.

Yukino Yukinoshita ultimately tacitly agreed to this method.

Under the strict supervision of the three, Yui Yuigahama was not allowed to do anything extra, following Yukino Yukinoshita’s actions one-to-one throughout.

“Success!”

Yui Yuigahama happily distributed the cookies for them to taste.

“It’s indeed edible.”

Hachiman Hikigaya concluded, feeling like he wouldn’t want to eat cookies for the next week.

“Edible is good enough,” Xu Lun tasted a piece. Even though it was made with the same steps, the taste was still inferior to Yukino Yukinoshita’s. How strange.

“Then I declare the first club request successfully completed.”

…