The Whole Family Are Villains, I’m the Group Pet 157

Chapter 157

The biscuits sold better than expected.

Other kids from the complex also came to support An Zimuo’s little venture.

Within a morning, they had sold out.

Xing Nuo and Lu Qi, crouching down, carefully counted the money in the box, stacking the bills neatly, their faces beaming.

“Yay! We made twenty-five yuan!”

An Zimuo wiped his sweaty, dark face and grinned.

“Let’s go! Xing Nuo, ice cream’s on me!”

Now that they were rich, a little ice cream was nothing!

Xing Nuo’s skin didn’t tan, but his cheeks turned rosy in the sun, his eyes bright and watery, making him look like a sweet, juicy peach.

He hummed happily, his eyes sparkling.

“Okay! I haven’t had ice cweam in a long time!”

He had been too tired after work during his internship, going straight to bed, not even thinking about ice cream.

An Zimuo, feeling generous, led them to a nearby shop and bought them each an ice cream cone.

Six yuan gone from their hard-earned twenty-five.

An Zimuo, still not satisfied, bought another ice cream and a bag of spicy sticks, sharing them with Xing Nuo under the shade of a tree.

Xing Nuo didn’t like the greasy spicy sticks and only ate one, then continued licking his ice cream.

The cool, sweet treat made him close his eyes in contentment.

“Selling things…makes lots of money!”

An Zimuo, having devoured his ice cream, nodded vigorously.

“Yes! Tomorrow, I ask Mommy to buy more biscuits…then we sell again! Make more money!”

Lu Qi, eating his ice cream with an impassive expression, his brow furrowed, his eyes flickering with a hint of exasperation, said:

“You lost 92.5 yuan.”

He stated the number, making An Zimuo freeze, his eyes widening.

“Impossible!”

He had made so much money!

Just then, An Zimuo’s mom emerged from their building, a rolling pin in hand, her face like a thundercloud.

An Zimuo, seeing this, his scalp tingling, ran.

“Get back here, you little rascal! Where are all my biscuits?!”

Xing Nuo, holding his half-eaten ice cream, his face smeared with melted ice cream, stared at An Zimuo’s retreating figure, then, counting on his fingers, his eyes widening in realization, said:

“He weally lost money!”

Their “profitable” business venture, lasting only half a day, had ended abruptly, thanks to An Zimuo’s mom and her rolling pin.

Xing Nuo, carrying the bedsheet, his head down, walked home dejectedly.

An Zimuo, sporting a large bump on his head from his mom’s rolling pin, too scared to go home, walked beside him, also sighing.

“Selling biscuits didn’t work. Zimuo, maybe you should try something else for your internship?”

An Zimuo, touching the bump on his head, nodded.

“What should I do?”

Xing Nuo, thinking about the small oven his dad had recently acquired and the hard, black, burnt cookies he had been producing, his eyes lit up.

“How ’bout…making cakes and biscuits? Then you can take them home…and youw mommy won’t be angry!”

An Zimuo’s eyes also lit up, and he nodded eagerly.

“Great idea! Let’s go!”

Lu Qi, not wanting to face the monsters in Xing Nuo’s home, said goodbye and disappeared into a nearby alley.

Xing Nuo and An Zimuo took the elevator upstairs and, finding only Shen Baizhou at home, asked:

“Big Brother, where’s Daddy?”

Shen Baizhou, sprawled on the sofa, his legs crossed, his voice lazy, said:

“He went out. Won’t be back for a while. What are you two doing?”

Xing Nuo, having already dragged a small cutting board from the kitchen and placed it on the coffee table, standing on a stool, replied:

“An Zimuo making pastries.”

Shen Baizhou, looking at An Zimuo, whose dark skin was even darker from playing outside all summer, raised an eyebrow.

“Do you even know how to bake?”

Xing Nuo scratched his chin and nodded hesitantly.

“Maybe.”

Remembering his dad’s baking attempts, he prepared a small bowl, adding water and flour.

“First step…mix flour and water!”

An Zimuo, putting on disposable gloves, his face filled with confidence, declared:

“I know! Leave the west to me! We’ll succeed!”

A few minutes later—

Xing Nuo: “Too much water?”

An Zimuo nodded. “But why so hard?”

He then exclaimed, “Where’s my glove?!”

Xing Nuo, looking at the glove, now covered in flour and indistinguishable from the dough, shrugged and sighed, imitating Shen Baizhou.

“Zimuo, maybe we should just…give up.”

An Zimuo, refusing to admit defeat, rummaged through the dough and finally found his glove.

“See? I found it!”

Xing Nuo, after a moment of silence, dumped the dough in the trash.

Shen Baizhou, who had been watching them with amusement, his eyes crinkling into a smile, his chin resting on his hand, said:

“This is entertaining.”

Xing Nuo, cupping his cheeks, sighed sadly.

“Maybe…we ask Daddy to teach you…when he comes back.”

He thought it was a good idea and clapped his hands.

“My Daddy makes lots of pastries! They’re black…not like other pastries!”

An Zimuo, intimidated by the thought of facing Xing Nuo’s beautiful and elegant dad, shook his head quickly.

“No! No! We do it ouwselves!”

After much effort, Xing Nuo’s face and hair covered in flour, which rained down from his curls every time he moved his head,

they finally managed to form a rough, round ball of dough.

Xing Nuo, his eyes itchy, rubbed them with the back of his hand, his eyelashes now white with flour.

“Finally! Dough weady!”

He was exhausted, feeling like he was the one doing the internship, not An Zimuo.

He collapsed onto Shen Baizhou, transferring the flour to his clothes.

Shen Baizhou, not wanting to touch the flour-covered little one, poked his forehead with a finger.

“Don’t lie on me. You’re getting flour everywhere.”

Xing Nuo, ignoring him, deliberately rubbed his head against Shen Baizhou’s neck, clinging to him like a little octopus.

“No. Big Brother laughing at us!”

Shen Baizhou chuckled, his usual aloofness fading, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

“I’m not laughing at you.”

Xing Nuo was just too cute, seriously trying to bake, even wearing a little chef’s hat, which was also covered in flour.

Shen Baizhou picked him up, looked at their creation, a lumpy ball of dough with sugar added, and said:

“Let me do it.”

He placed Xing Nuo on a chair, stood at the table, and quickly kneaded the dough into a smooth, round ball.

An Zimuo, watching him, clapped his hands in admiration.

“So amazing!”

Xing Nuo, also clapping, his little legs swinging, said:

“Big Brother so good!”

Shen Baizhou flicked Xing Nuo’s forehead, took off his gloves, and said:

“Now you two do it.”

Xing Nuo nodded, patted the dough, then, after thinking for a moment, tore off a small piece, flattened it with a cookie cutter,

and a simple, round cookie shape was formed.

The two little ones, working diligently, not caring if they were doing it right, made a plate of small, round cookies.

Xing Nuo carefully placed them on a baking tray and put it in the oven.

“Daddy said…bake many…then even.”

He turned the dial to the highest setting and patted the oven door.

“Okay! Soon have cookies!”

Xing Nuo, exhausted, sat down on the sofa and ate an apple.

An Zimuo, anxious about his first baking attempt, paced back and forth, making Xing Nuo dizzy.

Xing Nuo, having finished his apple, his tummy half-full, having barely touched his lunch, kept going to the oven to check on the cookies.

An Zimuo, however, was enjoying his lunch, the light but flavorful dishes prepared by Shen Yan’s private chef making him forget his baking project.

Xing Nuo, hearing the oven timer ding, jumped up and ran to the oven.

“Cookies weady!” he exclaimed.

He looked through the glass door, his heart sinking slightly at the sight of the dark, burnt cookies, but still hopeful.

Shen Baizhou, wearing oven mitts, took out the baking tray.

The cookies were burnt black, darker even than An Zimuo.

Xing Nuo picked one up, almost burning his fingers, and dropped it on the table, chipping a bowl.

He poked the cookie with a chopstick.

“This cookie so hard. Not like Daddy’s.”

Shen Wen’s cookies were always shiny and black, as if coated in a layer of lacquer, while his were dry and hard.

Xing Nuo, refusing to admit defeat, thought he should at least try one.

He picked up a cookie, hesitated, then took a bite.

Not only did the cookie not break, but it also chipped one of his teeth!