Chapter 53: The Dessert Shop Encounter

At 10 PM, inside the Dream Delights dessert shop, Chen Xueyu, weary from a day of work, was preparing to close up. As was his custom, he had come to help his cousin after his own shift ended.

Her shop had only recently opened, and a constant stream of issues demanded her attention. He had kindly offered to alleviate some of her burdens.

His cousin, needing to care for her child, had already returned home around 8 PM, leaving Chen Xueyu solely responsible for the shop.

Though he was ostensibly in charge, there wasn’t much actual work to be done. His duties simply involved retrieving, packaging, and delivering finished desserts after a customer placed an order. It was a rather monotonous and uninspired process.

More importantly, there were hardly any customers. It wasn’t that the desserts or cakes weren’t delicious; rather, the shop hadn’t yet established its reputation, and not many people knew about it.

Chen Xueyu, when he honestly considered it, quite liked his cousin’s cakes. Their flavor could easily rival those made by top chefs.

Today, however, was just like any other day.

After locking the shop door, Chen Xueyu began cleaning and tidying the interior. He also had to dispose of the unsold cakes. Gazing at the exquisite pastries still neatly arranged and dazzling in the display case, Chen Xueyu couldn’t help but sigh.

Business was truly difficult. He hadn’t sold much even today.

His thoughts drifted to his cousin, a single mother, and her struggling business. He couldn’t help but worry about her future. Perhaps he should just buy all the remaining cakes himself.

‘No, that won’t work,’ Chen Xueyu immediately dismissed the idea. ‘My cousin definitely checks the surveillance footage. If she, a woman of such pride, found out I was doing that, she would surely fly into a rage.’

As Chen Xueyu wrestled with his cousin’s and niece’s living situation while tidying the shop, a golden figure outside the window caught his eye. At first, he thought it was just another child mesmerized by the cake poster outside.

However, upon closer inspection, he realized it was indeed a child, but not an ordinary one.

It was a little girl, as delicate and lovely as a doll, with golden hair and blue eyes, seemingly a foreigner. The child was staring intently at the shop’s poster, biting her finger in thought—a truly endearing sight. Yet, she appeared to be alone. Where were her parents?

Leaving such a beautiful child alone on the street so late was incredibly dangerous!

As an outstanding young man of excellent character and talent, Chen Xueyu naturally couldn’t ignore the child. He promptly paused his work and opened the shop door.

****

The little girl outside the door was, of course, Bisika.

Her mood was far from good, a cloud of frustration evident on her face. Though the human traffickers she had dealt with earlier had solved her financial problems, she had almost immediately encountered another issue: she had no identification.

She discovered that without an ID, many things were impossible in Huaguo. Just moments ago, she had been refused a hotel room and scanned with strange looks by the staff.

‘It’s a shame I made a promise to Lin Ling not to cause trouble actively,’ she mused. ‘Otherwise, I wouldn’t have these worries.’

‘Is this why I’m now forced to sleep rough? I, the esteemed Battle Sovereign of the Tianyu Tribe, reduced to such a plight! I should have brought that little white cat with me. At least with it, I wouldn’t have to fret over such matters.’

Now, seeing a cake shop and the exquisite cakes on its poster, Bisika’s stomach growled with desire. Yet…

The shop was closing.

‘I can’t even get a cake? I’ve been the Battle Sovereign for so long, and I’ve never felt so aggrieved!’

The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. ‘Wuwuwu, (ಥ _ ಥ)’

Just as Bisika vented her inner frustrations, the cake shop door opened, and a man with distinct, handsome features poked his head out.

Chen Xueyu closed the door behind him and walked straight towards Bisika. He crouched down, speaking in the gentlest tone he could manage. “Little sister, why aren’t you home so late? Where are your parents?”

However, he noticed that Bisika didn’t acknowledge him; she hadn’t even seemed to notice him at all.

What Chen Xueyu didn’t realize was that a faint azure energy had silently seeped into his body.

Seeing no reaction after a moment, Chen Xueyu surmised the reason. It was likely a language barrier, as the girl appeared to be a foreigner. He continued to inquire in his broken English, “Hello, do you need help?”

Upon hearing this, Bisika’s body involuntarily trembled.

Seeing the little girl react, Chen Xueyu inwardly exclaimed, ‘Yeah!’

Unexpectedly, the girl turned her head, rolled her eyes, seemingly disdainful, and then spoke, “I can speak Chinese…”

Her Chinese pronunciation was remarkably standard. This instantly rendered Chen Xueyu utterly awkward.

‘Oh, how embarrassing!’

Yet, he couldn’t show it. He continued to ask the little girl before him as if nothing had happened, “Do your parents know you’re here?”

Bisika shook her head.

“Did you come alone?”

Bisika nodded.

“Then why don’t you come inside and sit for a bit? I can help you contact your parents.”

Bisika walked into the shop without hesitation, found a seat, and sat down.

Chen Xueyu: ‘…??? Are children nowadays so unguarded?’

****

Inside the shop, Bisika calmly watched Chen Xueyu prepare cakes and milk for her. The man before her had piqued her interest slightly.

When she had read his thoughts earlier, she found that he harbored no ill will towards her, only genuine concern for her safety. Moreover, he wasn’t like others who focused on her appearance. It had been a long time since she’d encountered someone so oblivious to her own adorable and captivating charm. He was quite interesting.

Since Bisika hadn’t read all of Chen Xueyu’s memories, she naturally didn’t know that the man before her had seen Lin Ling’s photograph. He possessed a certain resistance to external beauty, and Lin Ling’s appearance had been crafted with human preferences in mind, making his charm even greater than Bisika’s.

(Reading all memories requires soul-searching, which damages the soul. It’s generally not used.)

Another thing that particularly intrigued Bisika was the silver-white spiritual energy within Chen Xueyu. If her suspicions were correct, it was a protective barrier set up by Lin Ling. ‘It seems this kid has a good relationship with Lin Ling.’

She also wanted to know what kind of people Little Seven’s former friends were. ‘I wonder if Little Seven will have any special feelings for them after becoming a girl? Hehe.’

However…

‘This cake is really delicious!’

The sweetness of the cake eventually freed Bisika from her mental wanderings. Devouring the cakes on the table became her most pressing goal.

As one cake after another disappeared into her stomach, her previously gloomy mood began to improve.

‘Hmm, I like this cake shop. I’ll protect it from now on!’

Under Bisika’s control, a faint azure spiritual energy enveloped the entire cake shop, unfurling an unknown barrier. Unaware of these subtle changes, Chen Xueyu’s attention was entirely focused on the little girl’s stomach.

Over the past few minutes, almost all the remaining cakes in the shop had vanished into the body of this loli, who was barely a meter tall. Yet, the girl’s abdomen remained completely unchanged, as if she possessed an interdimensional stomach.

Such a monstrous appetite, coupled with her rapid consumption and her previously age-inappropriate behavior…

‘Oh my god, could this be some kind of humanoid tyrannosaurus, or a super-powered individual, just like the news has been reporting recently?’

Chen Xueyu’s ability to accept the extraordinary was truly astounding. In a matter of seconds, he categorized Bisika as a supernatural being, all while remaining remarkably calm as he continued to feed the creature before him.

Only after all the cakes had been devoured by Bisika’s ravenous consumption did Chen Xueyu speak. “Um, there are no more cakes left, and the shop is about to close. See?”

Observing Chen Xueyu’s forced composure, an amusing idea sparked in Bisika’s mind.

Finding the little girl still staring blankly at him, Chen Xueyu felt a touch of bewilderment. ‘Did the cakes make her silly?’

However, at that moment, numerous azure light particles appeared out of thin air around the little girl.

Under Chen Xueyu’s ‘just as I expected’ gaze, the light enveloped the little girl’s body, seemingly enacting a ‘magical girl transformation’ sequence.

Finally, the one-meter-tall loli, after the light faded, transformed directly into a roughly 1.4-meter-tall… big loli.

Still flat-chested, though.

What was most striking, however, were the three pairs of wings on her back, radiating an azure glow.

‘Is this an angel?’ Chen Xueyu thought, preparing to pull out his phone to record this unbelievable sight.

“Do you have a spare room at your house?”

The golden-haired loli’s sudden and inexplicable question caused Chen Xueyu’s mind to momentarily short-circuit. As if possessed, he blurted out, “Yes…”

Chen Xueyu: ‘?????’