Chapter Text
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All purpose flour
Baking soda
Ginger
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Unsalted butter
Eggs
Unsulphured molasses
Frosting
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"Is that all?" asked Song Xiao half-jokingly.
Never had he imagined gingerbread would require so many ingredients.
"What's that last thing? It sounds suspicious." Li Yuan peered over his shoulder and scrunched up his nose.
"Unsulphured molasses... Is that even edible?!" Shaotian looked at Yu Wenzhou who just shrugged in response.
"Hey! Zheng Xuan! Are you sure this is right?!" Shaotian turned to Zheng Xuan who was already sitting down at the counter with a tired expression.
"I got it from the internet. I don't know."
"Song Xiao, Li Yuan. Get the ingredients you can find. The money's on the counter. The big supermarkets might get crowded soon as it's Christmas eve so I suggest you be quick! " said Yu Wenzhou handing over the list to them.
"Yes, Captain!"
The duo left the kitchen determined to make their captain proud with a successful shopping expedition.
"I have never made gingerbread before!" said Lu Hanwen peering at the picture on the phone.
"Neither have we! This will be fun!"
Shaotian ruffled Lu Hanwen's hair with a smile. "Get out of that chair, Zheng Xuan! We haven't even started yet!!"
Yu Wenzhou chuckled as Shaotian went off to bully Zheng Xuan.
"Let's get the utensils ready, Lu Hanwen." he said "We can make Shaotian do all the actual work later."
Lu Hanwen laughed.
It was true he was the one who had mentioned that he missed the gingerbread his mother makes for Christmas, but it had never crossed his mind that his seniors would do it.
It's nice of them. I was feeling sad I couldn't go home this time. But this makes me feel better!
"What's up, Li Yuan? You seem gloomy."
"Um, no! I'm fine, senior!"
Song Xiao and Li Yuan had managed to get most of the ingredients but they were still missing the molasses and frosting.
"We should probably try the hypermarket at the mall. They ought to have these fancy stuff."
Li Yuan nodded quietly and followed him. It wasn't surprising that Song Xiao's wisdom would extend to even mundane things like shopping.
Li Yuan himself was feeling a bit depressed at not having gone home.
There had been some rumours going around last month that Glory was going to launch a major update for Christmas. Along with the regular events there would also be an important patch to upgrade existing weapon stats and some new skill re-works.
Blue Rain had been asked to stay behind this Christmas to accommodate these changes.
But at the last minute there were some discussions between the Alliance and the Glory developers which resulted in the entire Christmas patch being cancelled. This was done to let the pro players take a break but the decision had come too late.
With the exception of a few players who had already made travel reservations in advance, most of the others were left stranded at their clubs.
"Did you have plans?" asked Song Xiao.
The hypermarket was bustling with activity and the two were trying to locate the section they wanted.
"Not really. But I wanted to go home."
"Don't worry! Captain had asked the management to allow us a few days of leave for New Year."
Li Yuan looked at his teammate in surprise. He always thought of Yu Wenzhou as a perceptive and friendly captain but he hadn't expected something like this.
"Don't be so surprised!" Song Xiao laughed "He's even doing this cooking adventure for Little Lu! If you are feeling down since you couldn't go home, how do you think that kid is feeling?"
Li Yuan thought over this question. It dawned on him that it wasn't right of him to think only he was homesick. Everyone was just trying to make the best of it.
"I didn't really think of that." he confessed sheepishly.
"That's ok! Cheer up and have fun! I don't think we have spent our time together like this before! Consider it an experience! Wait! Is that Li Xuan? And Wu Yuce? "
Li Yuan blinked in confusion for a second before realising Song Xiao had said "Xuan" and not his own name. He followed his seniors gaze and saw the Captain of Team Void crouched on the floor, rummaging through a shelf. Wu Yuce was standing next to him.
"Hello! Christmas shopping?" asked Wu Yuce as he noticed the Blue Rain duo and waved at them.
"Need some baking stuff." replied Song Xiao "But what are you doing here, senior?"
"Got it!" cried Li Xuan as he stood up shaking a large bag of Cheetos.
Wu Yuce smiled, "I came here to visit a relative. Since Li Xuan couldn't go home he joined me too."
"And I was craving Cheetos so.... You mentioned baking right? What are you making?"
"Ginger-" started Li Yuan but stopped seeing Song Xiao shaking his head.
"Oh what is it? Tell us too!" Li Xuan eyes glimmered with hope at the chance of tasting free food but Song Xiao shook his head again.
"We are just experimenting now. If it works out we will treat everyone next time."
"Oh okay! Wish you success! If it works out Yu Wenzhou better treat us all to homemade desserts!"
Song Xiao and Li Yuan smiled weakly as Li Xuan grabbed another bag of Cheetos front the rack and started walking to the counter.
"Merry Christmas!" shouted out Li Xuan "Wu Yuce, go get the drinks! And don't forget to get the orange juice for yourself!! I do not want you to pass out on the floor this time!"
Wu Yuce turned red as half the shoppers in the vicinity looked at him.
"I'm regretting bringing him along" he muttered under his breath before shooting a quick smile at Song Xiao and Li Yuan.
"If you are looking for baking items it's down there. Aisle four I think. Bye!"
"Captain once mentioned Li Xuan is a big foodie and especially loves to eat other people's home-cooked food." explained Song Xiao as he and Li Yuan headed to aisle four.
"It would have been fine to feed just him but then he would probably go and tell everyone else and the next second the pro chat would be filled with people demanding that Captain feed them too."
"You sound like it has happened before."
Song Xiao sighed. It was understandable that newer players thought the pro chat was a dignified forum where the champions of Glory discussed tactics.
Only the members who had been around for a while knew it was mostly memes, selfies, jokes, gossip and news with an occasional talk about Glory.
Their hunt for the mysterious molasses finally ended with Li Yuan finding an entire row with different brands of molasses.
"Which one do we want?" asked Li Yuan as the two checked tin after tin.
But neither of them had any idea about cooking and were confused on what to buy.
"Should we ask an attendant?" asked Li Yuan.
Song Xiao looked at his watch.
"We've been an hour already! Captain would be so annoyed! At this rate we will be baking into the night! Just pick the most fancy sounding one!"
Li Yuan grabbed one jar blindly and read out the label.
"Blackstrap molasses"
"Ok that sounds fancy enough! Let's go!"
Dumping everything into a basket they rushed to fight for their place at the billing counter.
Song Xiao shot off a quick message to the others.
We are coming! Get everything ready!
"Okay. They are on their way. Maybe we should preheat the oven."
Yu Wenzhou looked at the oven quietly. He was used to the basic features and had an idea what preheating was but it was better to get a second opinion.
"Shaotian, do you know how to preheat the oven?"
Shaotian ran over and started fiddling with the buttons.
"We just need to set a temperature and start the oven right? Without putting anything inside?"
"I think that's what my mother does." said Lu Hanwen.
"Ok then!"
Shaotian set the temperature and was about to turn it on when Zheng Xuan spoke up.
"Isn't it advised not to turn on an empty oven? Won't it explode or something?"
Shaotian's hand froze and he glared at Zheng Xuan.
"What?!! What do you mean explode?! Who told you that?"
"I think I saw it on the internet." came the calm reply.
"But the internet says preheating means heating an empty oven." said Yu Wenzhou as he scrolled through an article on his phone.
"Oh. Then I must have been mistaken. Go ahead."
There was a moment of silence as Shaotian and Yu Wenzhou exchanged glances. There was no conviction in Zheng Xuan's voice and as if to make them even more nervous, he shifted far away from the counter.
"This guy! If I knew he was going to be like this, I would have personally booked a flight ticket for him!"
Zheng Xuan gazed back with zen-like peace. It was too much stress to get worked up over everything Shaotian said.
Shaotian suddenly snapped his fingers.
"Wait! Zhang Xinjie might know! He's so precise about his food preparation and stuff right?"
He quickly called Zhang Xinjie on his phone.
"Hey! Zhang Xinjie! It's Shaotian! I need your help! Are you free?"
" Is it important? "
"It's nothing much-"
Shaotian stopped as a blood curling scream came from the other side. Then he heard Han Wenqing's voice on the other side, shouting out some colorful words.
"Um... Is this a bad time?" asked Shaotian.
"No. We are at a movie." came Zhang Xinjie's reply followed by another curse in the background.
"Trash more like!!"
"Ooh! Is that Han Wenqing with you? What's the movie?"
Shaotian was intrigued as to what movie it was that annoyed Han Wenqing so much.
"It's a horror movie. A serial killer movie to be precise but it is close enough to horror."
"Oh! Is Han Wenqing scared of horror movies?!"
"No... he just finds the whole thing absurd."
"Oh! Are you all there? I can't hear anyone else screaming!"
"No... just the two of us. Zhang Jiale and Ling Jingyan have gone for karoke with Fang Rui and Sun Zheping."
"Oh nice! Why didn't you go to karaoke? Han Wenqing might have enjoyed that more! Also, I bet you have a nice voice!"
"Huang Shaotian, I take it you did not call me to discuss how I'm spending my evening."
"Um.. No. Do you know how to preheat a oven?"
Under Zhang Xinjie's instructions Shaotian and Yu Wenzhou finished the job.
"Thanks! It was as simple as I thought" said Shaotian.
"Well obv-"
Zhang Xinjie stopped speaking abruptly as another loud scream penetrated the air followed by some ominous music.
"Goodbye Shaotian. I have to go. The killer is at the house."
Zhang Xinjie hung up the phone before Shaotian could even respond.
Just before the call ended he could hear Han Wenqing muttering in the background "Stupid. Every one of those idiots deserve it."
There was silence for a while as the group watched the oven do it's work.
"I never thought that Zhang Xinjie was into horror movies. " said Shaotian as he leaned against the table next to Yu Wenzhou.
"Me neither. I suppose they are stuck at the club too and couldn't find any other movie."
"Yeah makes sense... But somehow the idea of that Cleric being into serial-killer movies gives me chills."
Shaotian rubbed his hands together and then suddenly he let out a laugh.
"Wait! Why don't we-"
"No."
"Oh come on! What will we do tomorrow? Let's watch a horror movie tomorrow! Zheng Xuan! Make yourself useful and find a good movie on tomorrow!"
"No. Come on Shaotian! We can't! Not with Lu Hanwen here!" said Yu Wenzhou trying to stop him.
"I love horror movies!" shouted Lu Hanwen in excitement.
"See! It's fine! Wait! Are you scared of horror movies, Yu Wenzhou?" asked Shaotian with a sly smile.
Yu Wenzhou did not respond for it was a loaded question. He made a note to memory to get Shaotian extremely drunk at the Christmas dinner the next day so that he wouldn't even remember this plan.
"It's done!" said Lu Hanwen as the oven finished pre-heating.
"Good!" said Yu Wenzhou quickly diverting everyone's attention from movie plans. "I think I heard the door open. Song Xiao and Li Yuan must be back. Zheng Xuan help them. Shaotian get over here! We will all need to pitch in if we want to finish this any time today!"
"Zhou, do you need any help?" asked Jiang Botao.
"Ngh" came the muffled reply.
"Ok"
Jiang Botao picked up a balloon from the packet and stared at it. The last thing he expected he would be doing this Christmas was blowing balloons with his team. But it was better than nothing.
Normally on Christmas Eve he would have been with family, but this time with the last minute announcements by the Alliance he had to stay back at the club.
The management were planning to host a Christmas party the next day and had arranged a hall for the event. But they couldn't get any decorators and Jiang Botao had offered to help out of courtesy and boredom.
It hadn't struck him then that he would be taken up on the offer so quickly. But that was how he found himself at the hall with his other stranded teammates- Zhou Zekai, Sun Xiang and Du Ming- tasked with the great feat of decorating the place with balloons.
Zhou Zekai was evidently struggling with it but his pride made him refuse any help and so Jiang Botao left him alone.
"Tch! That Fang Minghua! Look at how he is goading us with pictures of homemade Roast chicken!!"
Du Ming glanced at the Samsara chat in annoyance and closed his phone.
"Don't worry Du Ming! We will take plenty of pictures of the party tomorrow and post them!" said Jiang Botao with a smile.
"Yeah!" Du Ming pumped his fist in the air. He finished tying another balloon and tossed it to the side gently.
"Hey Sun Xiang! I thought you would be good at blowing balloons! With all the air and everything"
Sun Xiang didn't respond immediately as he was still blowing a balloon but after finishing it he gave Du Ming a dirty look.
"Trust you to come up with such a tasteless joke!"
"Ha! Let's see who can blow a bigger balloon!"
"You are on!"
Jiang Botao chuckled to himself. He was happy that they were enjoying the work.
After a few minutes of competing the two got tired and started to blow normal sized balloons again.
"Wow! Look how many I've done!" said Du Ming with a smug smile pointing to his pile.
"Good. Take a picture and send it to Fang Minghua." said Sun Xiang smiling back brightly.
"Ugh! No way! Then he will show me his dessert! Are you jealous of my balloon blowing abilities Sun Xiang?"
"No. I have my own talents."
"Oh! Like what?"
Sun Xiang rummaged through the packets and finding a particular kind of balloons he ripped the pack open.
Jiang Botao stopped his work too and watched curiously as Sun Xiang began to stretch the balloon and blow it a bit before twisting it again and repeating his actions.
"What are you doing?" asked Du Ming suddenly feeling inferior because he had no clue what Sun Xiang was doing.
Even Zhou Zekai stopped his futile attempts at blowing his balloon to watch Sun Xiang.
"Oh wow.... Sun Xiang... You never... " Jiang Botao was dumbstruck seeing the final product. It was a balloon animal which Sun Xiang proceeded to place triumphantly in front of Du Ming.
"Can you do that?" asked Sun Xiang with an an innocent smile.
Du Ming gaped at it in surprise. It was true that Sun Xiang had won here, but no way was he backing down.
"No! But I bet if I knew how to, I could make hundreds of these!"
"Ha! In your dreams!"
"Then teach me! Or are you too scared?"
"Of course not! But it's hard!"
"Oh please! Show me how!"
Du Ming tried to copy Sun Xiang but it really was difficult and many balloons got popped or ripped in the process.
"Guys! Be careful! They want us to decorate the whole room! If you keep at this, we won't have any left!" Jiang Botao started counting the remaining packets.
"Sorry." said Du Ming "We can just buy more right?"
"Well I suppose. But then we will have to use them all up too. We don't want to waste anything."
"That's alright! Sun Xiang will make a balloon animal farm with them!" Du Ming pointed at the various creations Sun Xiang had finished in that short time.
Sun Xiang laughed in embarrassment "It's not easy and I can't do it for too long!"
"We might still need a few more balloons." said Jiang Botao finishing his calculations.
"I'll go." said Zhou Zekai suddenly and got up.
"Ok. Thanks Zhou. Check the shop across the road."
Jiang Botao watched Zhou Zekai leave and smiled seeing his hands clenched tightly around a deflated balloon.
He could understand his partner was determined to blow atleast one balloon by himself. Obviously watching the work of the other talented balloonist in the team, would have lowered his confidence.
For the next few minutes, the remaining three chatted about random stuff and finished the remaining balloons.
"What's taking captain so long?" said Du Ming as he lay down on the floor surrounded by balloons.
"Ah it's probably crowded. Du Ming, be careful not to burst-"
Jiang Botao had barely finished speaking when Du Ming rolled over onto a balloon and it burst with a bang.
Du Ming sat up straight with a scream while the other two started laughing seeing his expression.
"Oh shut up!" Du Ming turned red and was about to say more when the door opened and Zhou Zekai appeared.
"Zhou, you finally managed to blow one!" said Jiang Botao with a smile, seeing a perfectly round, white balloon in Zhou Zekai's hand.
Zhou Zekai wondered if he should tell Jiang Botao that it wasn't as he thought but his proud expression convinced him to enjoy the appreciation for some more time. He nodded triumphantly and held up the balloon.
"What about balloons for us?!" asked Du Ming "Did you forget in your exci-"
Du Ming broke off abruptly as Zhou Zekai dropped his balloon and disappeared. After a moment he returned dragging two huge plastic bags with difficulty.
"Zhou.... What is that?" asked Jiang Botao, his initial worry being Zhou Zekai had got scammed.
"I was the 1000th customer. So they said I won this."
Sun Xiang and Du Ming opened the bags and saw packet after packet of balloons. There were a few bags with party poppers and streamers but mostly balloons.
"Damn! What are we going to do with all this?!" A terrible image of blowing balloons all night flashed into Sun Xiang's mind.
The four of them looked at it solemnly. The idea of throwing away all these balloons was much too wasteful.
"Alright!!" shouted out Du Ming energetically "Now we've got something to show that Fang Minghua!! Let's see who can blow the most balloons!!!"
Du Ming ripped open a packet and immediately got down to work. Sun Xiang looked at him as if he was crazy for a few minutes.
"Ha! I'm already ahead of you guys!" shouted Du Ming with a smile.
"No way!" Sun Xiang realised he was wasting precious time and grabbed another packet. No way would he be outdone by Du Ming!
Jiang Botao watched his two insane teammates blowing balloons as if their life depended on it. They could have just explained to the management about the excess but Jiang Botao didn't have the heart to stop their enthusiasm.
"Kids.... " he muttered under his breath though they really weren't that younger than him.
"Let's go, Zhou! We shouldn't let them beat us!" Jiang Botao generously handed over five packets to Zhou Zekai.
"Ah..... "
Zhou Zekai looked at the packets in silence.
He shouldn't have lied about the first balloon. That was a balloon they gave at the shop for being their 1000th customer.
He hadn't blown a single balloon his whole life..... Not even when he was a kid.
Zhou Zekai watched the other three blowing balloon after balloon vigorously.
"I'll hang the streamers around" he said softly and ran off before anyone protested.
Glory's Number One Gunner had exited from the competition in a very undignified manner indeed.