"Jhin, could I trouble you to help me make a birthday cake?" Tamaki Mari found Jhin early in the morning and earnestly made her request.
"That's not a problem, but all four of your birthdays have already passed. Are you making up for someone's?"
"? How do you know our birthdays?"
Jhin looked at the shocked Tamaki Mari in amusement and explained, "I'm the sponsor, after all. The documents you all submitted when joining the Antarctic expedition team were all shown to me."
"So that's how it is..."
Tamaki Mari was just about to leave when she suddenly remembered something incredibly important. She nervously asked Jhin, "Um, our weights... you didn't secretly write them down, did you?"
"Don't worry, I've already forgotten them."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then I'll go back to work. I'll leave the cake to you."
Tamaki Mari bowed to Jhin in thanks, then jogged away full of energy.
Nijika happened to be looking for Jhin for something and ran into this scene. Curious, she walked up beside Jhin and asked, "Jhin, what did Tamaki-san want with you?"
"She asked me to make a birthday cake."
"Oh, speaking of which, a few days ago I saw Shiraishi-san holding a friendship contract and asking Tamaki-san and the others to sign it."
"They didn't sign it, right?"
"Yeah. Tamaki-san even hugged Shiraishi-san and started crying."
Jhin wasn't surprised. Even though Tamaki Mari seemed like a carefree girl, her feelings were actually quite delicate and she easily empathized with others.
She had cried because Shiraishi Yuzuki didn't understand what friends were and had been all alone for so long.
"This cake is probably prepared by Tamaki-san for Shiraishi-san. After all, her birthday just passed not too long ago."
"You even remember her birthday."
Jhin smiled slightly at Nijika, revealing his white front teeth. "If I said I remember all of your birthdays, would you believe me?"
"I don't believe you. Tell me mine first."
Nijika remembered that she had never mentioned her birthday to Jhin, so there was no way he could know.
"May 29th, right?"
"Wait, wait, how did you know?"
"Did you forget the pre-employment physical examination you did before signing the contract with the record label? Do you want me to list some other data, like your weight, your weight, your weight, or something?"
Nijika hurriedly stood on her tiptoes and covered Jhin's smirking mouth with her small hand. "You're not allowed to say it! That's one of a maiden's highest-level secrets."
The hot breath from his nose hit the palm of Nijika's hand, making it feel ticklish. Worried that Jhin would blurt out her weight, she didn't dare pull her hand back.
Nijika could only endure her burning cheeks and struggle to stay on her tiptoes, maintaining the seal on his mouth.
Jhin reached out his hands and wiggled his fingers against Nijika's slender waist through her clothes, wanting to make her let go by tickling her.
Who knew she would be so unexpectedly stubborn? Even though she was trembling all over from the tickling, tearing up from holding back her laughter, and unable to stand steady on her tiptoes, she still refused to let go.
Left with no other choice, Jhin could only stick out his tongue and lightly lick the palm of Nijika's hand.
The wet sensation on her palm traveled along her skin to her brain's nerves. Nijika froze for a moment.
Belatedly realizing what Jhin had done, she retracted her hands as if she had been electrocuted. She jumped three feet into the air on the spot, nearly crashing through the ceiling. "Jhin, y-y-y-y-you..."
Jhin spread his hands and explained to Nijika with a face full of innocence, "You can't blame me for this. You kept covering my mouth. Even if I wanted to tell you that I wouldn't say your weight, I couldn't."
"That's only because you wanted to say a maiden's weight in the first place!"
"I just wanted to tease you a bit. I'm going to make the cake now. Can you come over and lend me a hand?"
"You're not allowed to do that ever again."
The blush on Nijika's face still hadn't faded. She glared at him in annoyance, then immediately felt curious about Jhin needing help to make a cake. "Just how luxurious of a cake are you planning to make that you actually need my help?"
"It's not that. Didn't I say before that I'd make you guys a dish you've never had? The ingredients just arrived, so I wanted you to assist me."
"Eh? Has the base received any supply deliveries recently?"
Nijika clearly remembered Kanae Maekawa saying that during the three-month period, supplies would only be delivered to the base once every month and a half.
"Just treat it as my company's special channel..."
"Right, right, I get it. It's mysterious technology again, isn't it?"
Rather than mysterious technology, it was more like Nymph took a trip to Australia, bought the ingredients there, and brought them back.
Using an Electronic Warfare Universal Angeloid as an errand runner was something only Jhin could pull off.
The food he planned to make was called sweet wine, also known as jiuniang. It was a delicacy made by fermenting glutinous rice mixed with sweet wine yeast.
It could be eaten directly, boiled with small glutinous rice balls and osmanthus honey, or eaten after stirring in an egg.
The rich aroma of rice and the sweet taste made one's mouth water just thinking about it.
"Over there is the glutinous rice I've soaked for twelve hours. Could I trouble you to place the glutinous rice into the steamer lined with cheesecloth and steam it until it's cooked?"
While instructing Nijika on what to do, Jhin dug out some eggs from the fridge. He neatly cracked them, separating the egg whites and egg yolks into two large bowls.
He stirred the mixture of water and corn oil until it reached a milky-white emulsified state, then added sifted flour and continued stirring with a whisk. Finally, he poured in the beaten egg yolks.
Nijika put the glutinous rice on the steamer, walked over to Jhin, and picked up the large bowl containing the egg whites. "Jhin, I'll help you whip the egg whites."
"Yeah, thank you."
With Nijika's help, the speed of making the cake batter became much faster. Jhin folded the beaten egg yolks and egg whites together, then poured the mixture into a mold.
Lifting the mold, he tapped it against the table a couple of times to force out the excess air bubbles before placing the cake into the oven.
With the tasks on this side finished, there was still a bit of time before the glutinous rice finished steaming. Nijika looked at the continuously steaming pot and asked Jhin, "What delicious food are you planning to make with this?"
"Sweet wine from my hometown."
"Wine? We aren't of drinking age yet, are we?"
"Even though it has 'wine' in the name, it actually has very little alcohol content. It's just a type of local snack."
The two chatted idly, and the glutinous rice was soon cooked. Jhin let the glutinous rice cool down, placed it into a pre-prepared container, and poured in warm water mixed with sweet wine yeast, stirring it evenly.
Finally, he flattened the glutinous rice and left a large hole in the middle to provide enough space for the fermented liquid, then covered it and sealed it tightly.
"That should do it."
Jhin took the towel Nijika handed him and wiped his hands clean. He glanced at Nijika beside him and sighed with emotion, "Having someone help out really makes a difference. Not to mention that this helper is a beautiful girl—it makes both my body and mind feel refreshed."
"Komine-san and Suou-san have helped you out quite a bit, haven't they? Those words won't fool me."
"Oh my, you saw right through me?"
"You guys coordinate so perfectly when helping out in the kitchen. Anyone could guess."
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