Chapter 54: Strawberry… Cake, Now Yue Yiyue’s Lifelong Enemy

Yue Yiyue stared at Wu Zhen, watching every expression on her face.

She didn’t look like she was lying.

Regret, disappointment, and a hint of self-blame showed on her face.

After a long pause, Yue Yiyue neither refused nor agreed.

She looked toward the Cake Shop behind Wu Zhen, where a few more dejected people walked out, apparently having failed to buy the cake they wanted.

“Do you know about the Wishing Cake?”

Wu Zhen shook her head and asked Yue Yiyue curiously, “What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Does this thing have anything to do with my cousin?”

Yue Yiyue quickly explained everything.

By the end, she frowned. “Your cousin… well… he might already be dead.”

“It’s not about whether I forgive him or not. I’ve never been close to him from the start, so you don’t need to say these things to me.”

Just a few hours earlier, she had watched He Wu take his own head off. No one could survive that.

Yue Yiyue didn’t want to get saddled with the blame for no reason when she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“If you’re coming to help me for his sake, then forget it.”

“I’m not anyone powerful. I can’t save him.”

Her direct words made Wu Zhen’s face pale.

“No, that’s impossible. This is a peaceful era. How could something like that happen?”

“Yue Yiyue, don’t joke… I promise you, I’ll never go near Gu Nanqiu again… My father only has this one nephew. If he finds out something happened to him… he’ll beat me to death.”

Wu Zhen forced a smile, with a hint of flattery in it. “I’ll agree to whatever you say. Don’t make this kind of joke. Please.”

It wasn’t peak hour yet, but the two of them standing by the roadside talking drew plenty of strange looks.

Seeing the strange looks from passing pedestrians, Yue Yiyue sighed. “I’m not close to him. If blaming me makes you feel better, then put it on me.”

“As for your dad, that’s a family matter. If you need anything, go through legal channels or call the police.”

“I have things to do. Don’t delay me.”

With that, Yue Yiyue walked toward her target Cake Shop, giving Wu Zhen no more glances.

They were unimportant.

————

After checking several shops in a row, Yue Yiyue still had not found the so-called Matcha Strawberry Cake.

Several passersby searching with her had no luck after a few shops and wisely chose to give up.

As they left, they saw Yue Yiyue hurrying like a diligent old ox to another shop.

They huddled together, thinking this person must have some special hardship; otherwise, she would not be so obsessed with one cake.

The group muttered for a bit, then quickly caught up to Yue Yiyue. “Strange friend, keep it up!”

They handed her tips they’d copied about the Wishing Cake.

Bold handwriting on it read: Chance of refresh increases after 6 PM.

It also marked the probabilities of Matcha Strawberry Cake appearing in several Cake Shops.

Some had big crosses with ghost faces beside them: “Nothing here at all! Whoever comes regrets it.”

Watching the giggling backs of those girls, Yue Yiyue thought for a moment, then chased after them two steps at a time. “That cake comes at a cost if you eat it, like turning into a soulless puppet or a mindless follower. If you don’t have some wish you really want to make, it’s best not to touch it.”

The girls had not expected Yue Yiyue to chase them to say this. They were stunned for a moment.

The shortest one, who had given her the paper note, reacted first. “If that’s really true, why are you working so hard to find it?”

“Because a very important friend of mine was taken by this thing.” Yue Yiyue looked at the paper note in her hand. She gathered her thoughts. “Someone made a wish to be together with her.”

“So the cake kidnapped her. Most likely to brainwash my friend, or maybe turn her into a soulless puppet. That would also fulfill the ‘together’ condition.”

The girls stared wide-eyed at each other, full of incomprehension about the matter.

They looked at one another, seemingly doubting its truth.

The tallest girl in the group thought of something and spoke up. “Speaking of which, isn’t there a bizarre couple in our class? That guy inexplicably got together with our class’s richest girl after eating cake.”

“That guy eats and drinks off her every day and often belittles her…”

They all fell silent at once.

Seeing that the girls now had their own thoughts and seemed unlikely to seek the so-called Wishing Cake anymore, Yue Yiyue turned and headed to her next destination. Time waited for no one.

She had not gone far when they caught up again and patted her shoulder.

It was still the shortest girl. She looked up, patting her chest. “Hey—we’ll help too! Let’s form a group. We’ll split up the shops. You checking the shops one by one alone is too tiring.”

Yue Yiyue stopped and turned in confusion to look at these unfamiliar girls, not quite understanding why a few words from her had them helping.

They were helping, right? From their words, Yue Yiyue worried she might have misunderstood.

Seeing Yue Yiyue’s dazed frown, the short girl explained further. “No other meaning. Based on what you said, we figured that rich girl in class probably isn’t willing either. I only have some beef with her because we’re classmates, but we’re all girls. If someone else uses this creepy thing for messed-up wishes later, more victims will appear. We might be next.”

“Let me confirm once more: what you just said isn’t made up, right?”

At this, the short girl glanced at her friends and sighed. “Forget it. No need to lie to us anyway. Don’t say more. Quick, add friends. I’ll pull a group chat.”

Five minutes later, Yue Yiyue dazedly received her assigned store range and was led by one sturdy girl to borrow an electric scooter.

The sturdy girl looked at Yue Yiyue’s appearance. “Not bad at all. Alright, let’s go! Remember to send info on shops you’ve checked to the group. And I’m off to write an article! Message friends, wait for more sisters to join and help us!”

————

After running to two places in a row, Yue Yiyue saw the group had grown from five to twenty people.

They all sent messages like: “XX Cake Shop—bought and tasted, no flavor you described.”

As if by unspoken agreement.

Yue Yiyue stared at the screen, puzzled why they bought and tasted, when a message @’d her: “Friend, we forgot to tell you—these cakes look just like normal ones. You have to eat them to know!”

The latest message popped up: “!!! Emergency! Not enough pocket money. Who can lend me some? I’ve got one I suspect is the flavor.”

Soon the group chat filled with red envelope notifications.

“Got it. Note it down—I’ll reimburse later.” After that, Yue Yiyue sent a 20,000-yuan red envelope for them to grab.

“Am I miscounting zeros? I got 1000 here?”

“Wait, I’ll return the extra. Spent all on albums lately. Thanks, boss!”

While the shop staff cut a small piece from every Strawberry Cake on display—leaving the rest for later customers—Yue Yiyue thanked them in the group, promising a meal afterward plus extra red envelopes.

The cashier watching Yue Yiyue’s tycoon style thought to herself: Another rich person wasting money on some story.

But the tip was generous, so she naturally said nothing against the boss.

She carefully instructed the staff to cut just a corner, without ruining the little cakes’ shapes for gifting later.

She picked up her phone to check the group messages. Different shops were reporting: “Why are so many people buying Strawberry Cakes today? Some event?”

Moments later, a public account article link was tossed into the group, with several classmates recounting what happened to people around them after eating cake.

After reading it carefully, the waitress’s gaze fell on the person at the table meticulously tasting the cakes—her expression focused, with no love for them in her eyes…

“Hello, excuse me, are you one of the people in this?” After calling the Boss from the kitchen, the Waitress approached Yue Yiyue. “These cakes will take you a while to distinguish. Need us to help?”

————

Thirty minutes later, in a remote corner shop, someone finally tasted a Matcha-flavored little cake.

Yue Yiyue hurriedly grabbed her phone, thanked the staff, and rushed outside.

Her phone buzzed nonstop. The “lucky one” who ate it frantically sought help in the group.

“Come quick! I feel something weird heading my way.”

Five minutes later: “Aaaah! Someone sent me weird messages asking my wish! I’m done for! What wish could I have? World peace?”

“On the way?”

“It thinks my reply’s too slow. It’s here!!!”

“I’m chatting with It now. I’m already asking why life is so meaningless!!! Family, save me. Got more nonsense philosophy? I said I’ll wish later, It said that won’t count!!!”

When Yue Yiyue burst into that Cake Shop, she saw the girl in the corner frantically typing, looking embarrassed enough to dig a three-bedroom apartment with her toes, head nearly under the table.

Sitting across from her was the Waitress who had delivered cake to Gu Nanqiu before. She still wore gold-rimmed glasses, her clothes impeccably ironed without a wrinkle. She sat on the sofa with legs crossed, squinting and smiling at the girl. “This is the real wisher?”

Without sparing her a glance, Yue Yiyue strode over in two quick strides, reached the cake, and grabbed a clean fork from the side to cut off a small piece.

As she expected, the taste in her mouth signified the cost—Mango Flavor.