"Er..."

The moment he heard the name Angelica, Gray’s expression froze. He forced an ugly smile onto his stubbled, wrinkled face and rushed over to the stroller to soothe the wailing baby.

"Sweetheart, give me a smile, hey!"

But who would have thought that as soon as his face got close, the little one in the stroller seemed to get a fright, and its cries grew even louder.

Gray wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. Just as he was about to try again, the restaurant’s side door was suddenly thrown open.

’It’s over!’

A sense of doom washed over both men.

"I was only gone for a few minutes! What have you two damn bastards done to my poor child?!"

The blond man quickly waved his hands, pointing at Gray. "My dear, this wasn’t my fault. This old geezer suddenly shouted and scared the baby. He even made a scary face just now. You know, his face is so ugly it could give you nightmares!"

"????"

Gray stared at the man in shock. He never would have imagined the guy would sell him out without a moment’s hesitation.

’So many years of friendship, all gone to the dogs!’

The furious woman stormed over, her gait still a bit unsteady, and grabbed Gray’s ear, ready to twist.

"Stop!!"

Gray quickly made a "time out" gesture. "My dear, you know I would never scare her on purpose! I just heard something incredible and lost control for a second."

"Oh?"

Angelica narrowed her eyes and glanced at the image projected on the wall. A thought struck her. "Isn’t the dinner part over? What could possibly be so shocking?"

Her family had been coming to Gray’s restaurant often lately to kill time. Life in the seaside town, while pleasant, was also dreadfully boring. Since an acquaintance had a restaurant here, it naturally became their go-to spot for gatherings.

Today was no different.

Having given birth only a few days ago, she had waited patiently for the dinner segment to finish, planning to get up and stretch her legs. She hadn’t gotten far before she heard her child’s loud cries.

Seeing the look on her face, Gray swallowed hard.

’Don’t be fooled by her delicate, doll-like features. She has a fiery temper. If I can’t give her a good explanation, I’m in for a beating.’

"Dessert!"

The word flew out of his mouth without a second thought. He pointed at Lin Chen on the screen. "That kid just now! He said he’s going to make a dessert for Andre for breakfast in exchange for him taking the night watch!"

"What?!"

As a loyal fan of Lin Chen, Angelica froze, her face a mask of disbelief.

"He’s going to make dessert out there? How is that possible?!"

"Right?!"

Feeling the pressure on his ear lessen considerably, Gray licked his dry lips and continued his explanation in a rapid-fire burst.

"You make desserts at home all the time, right? You should know how tricky they are to make, with all the specific requirements. How could anyone possibly make a dessert in the forest where they have no ingredients?!"

"It does sound hard to believe," Angelica nodded, but then her tone suddenly shifted. She shot him a vicious glare. "But that’s no reason to scare my baby to tears!"

With that, she squeezed her thumb and index finger, viciously twisting the ear she had firmly in her grasp.

"AWOOOO!!!!"

The front-of-house manager and the waiters sympathetically turned their heads, unable to bear the sight of their head chef’s miserable state. In contrast, the idle cooks from the back kitchen all ran out to watch the show when they heard the commotion.

"What are you looking at?! Get out! Get the hell out of here, all of you!!"

Seeing their head chef—who usually barked orders and cursed at them—being publicly disciplined by Angelica, a few of the veteran employees exchanged glances. Their lips twitched as they suppressed their laughter and turned back toward the kitchen.

"That old bastard had this coming, huh?"

"Hahaha, sweet, so sweet. That old geezer chewed me out this morning. Now I feel great~"

"Who is that woman, anyway? She seems to come here a lot lately. Judging by her looks, she’s no ordinary person. Even the head chef can’t handle her."

"Her... she used to be pretty famous. Her husband, too. But now they’re just an ordinary couple. I think she’s known the chef for over a decade."

After finally managing to lull the baby back to sleep, Angelica shot another glare at the two useless men. She carefully placed the baby back in the stroller and covered it with a blanket before returning to her seat.

"Here, your favorite. Iced lemon tea."

Ever observant, Gray presented a drink he had made himself.

Angelica huffed softly, but she picked it up and took a sip. She felt the cool, refreshing sensation spread from her throat all the way to her stomach, and the indescribably pleasant feeling made her instinctively close her eyes.

Just then, Lin Chen moved on the screen, instantly capturing everyone’s attention.

"He’s starting the dessert?!"

Forgetting all about placating her, Gray’s expression changed. He hurried back to his seat and sat down, his eyes glued to the screen as if afraid to miss a single detail.

Angelica also stared intently at Lin Chen. Although she didn’t really believe a decent dessert could be made in a resource-scarce forest, based on her observations over the past two-plus weeks, she had a strange, inexplicable premonition.

’If this young man dares to make such a claim, it means he’s confident he can pull it off!’

"Duck eggs?"

Seeing Lin Chen take two large duck eggs from his basket and place them nearby, her elegant, willow-like eyebrows arched slightly.

"What kind of dessert can you make with eggs?"

"A lot of them," Gray replied without turning his head. "But I have no idea which one he’s trying to make right now. The conditions aren’t right for any of them. Besides, he’s using duck eggs. Unless it’s some kind of Great Xia dessert I’m not familiar with."

Under the watchful eyes of countless viewers, Lin Chen tapped the two duck eggs against each other, then deftly cracked them into a small saucepan. He added a little minced wild apple puree and stirred it evenly.

He selected some plump, relatively sweet, large blueberries and three colors of berries, crushed them together, added a bit of water, and brought the mixture to a boil in a small frying pan, reducing it until it was thick.

He dipped a finger in to taste it. The sweet and sour flavor was a pleasant surprise.

He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d been in the wild for so long, but he felt his taste buds had become less picky than before. Even though the jam had no added sugar, it still tasted pretty good.

The temperature in the forest had now dropped to around zero degrees. The breath he exhaled instantly turned into two puffs of white smoke before disappearing.

He tossed the steaming hot jam into the cave to cool it down faster and grabbed a few pieces of sunchoke starch.

He placed these white blocks of starch in a flat-bottomed pan, crushing them into a fine powder. He dissolved the powder with water, poured it into the beaten eggs, and stirred until smooth. Finally, he added a bit more water and set the pot over the fire to heat.

Unlike regular cooking, Lin Chen stirred the egg mixture continuously and rapidly with his chopsticks. At the same time, he frequently lifted the pot from the fire, only to place it back after ten seconds or so.

With constant stirring, the egg mixture in the pot slowly thickened, developing a smooth, sauce-like consistency.