CFSMS -Chapter 279 A Tribute to All the Unlucky Souls Scammed by Cut Cake

Several customers had arrived early. They were eager to eat, but none of them dared wake Lu Wu.

So they waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

By the time the sun was nearly shining directly on their backsides, there was still no movement from the tent.

“Don’t tell me Boss Lu slept herself to death?”

One customer voiced his suspicion and finally gathered the courage to knock on the tent flap.

Knock knock knock.

“Boss Lu, time to get up.”

He was extremely polite, but there was still no response.

The group exchanged glances.

These were people brave enough to charge at demons with weapons in hand, yet none of them dared get rough with Lu Wu.

“Should we… keep waiting?”

Someone made the suggestion.

The others silently nodded.

“Do you guys smell something?”

One customer with a particularly keen sense of smell suddenly began twitching his nose and sniffing the air.

Truthfully, he had noticed a fragrance nearly half an hour ago.

It was the aroma of cooked rice.

Not strong—faint and elusive.

Several times he had thought he was imagining it.

But as they continued waiting in agony, the scent kept reminding him of its existence, making it impossible to focus.

Could another chef have appeared on the battlefield?

“Now that you mention it, I do smell something.”

“Me too, but I can’t figure out where it’s coming from.”

As they compared notes and recalled that Boss Lu still hadn’t gotten up, a terrible suspicion emerged.

“What are you standing around for? Move!”

They shoved the sharp-nosed customer forward and had him lead the way.

The group sprinted off at full speed toward the source of the aroma.

When they finally found it, they nearly turned to stone.

“How could this happen?!”

One customer dropped to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.

Heavens above, this is unfair!

They had spent the entire morning waiting patiently for the rabbit to emerge from its burrow.

Only to discover that the rabbit had already moved to a different burrow.

Then what exactly had all their waiting been for?!

Not far outside humanity’s territory, Lu Wu’s stall had already been set up.

Quite a few customers were lining up in front of it.

Compared to yesterday’s frantic chaos, Lu Wu now looked completely at ease.

“Stop crying. If you don’t get in line now, there won’t be any left.”

In the short time they had wasted, dozens more customers had already joined the queue.

Word had spread throughout the camp.

People rushed over from every direction.

Some hadn’t even finished putting on their clothes.

Others still had sleep crust clinging to the corners of their eyes.

It was obvious many had been jolted awake from their dreams.

The few latecomers immediately stopped mourning their fate, wiped away their tears, and ran to secure spots in line.

Many stood on tiptoe, craning their necks to see what was ahead.

“Looks like today’s item is some kind of pastry.”

“A pastry? Then I’m not really interested—hey! Hey! Why are you pushing me? Let go!”

The moment those words left his mouth, someone grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out of the queue.

“You don’t like it, but I do. Since that’s the case, why not give me your spot?”

The man sounded completely justified.

The customer who had spoken felt the veins bulge in his neck.

“I was joking!”

Wasn’t he just trying to act a little reserved?

Yesterday, he’d almost gotten into a fight with the girl he liked over barbecue skewers.

He’d spent ages apologizing before she finally gave him a glance.

A white-eyed glare, to be precise.

To avoid being thrown out of line, he hurriedly revealed his true feelings.

“Tsk. Then why were you talking nonsense?”

Someone snorted and punched him.

The customer covered his newly acquired panda eye and pouted.

He wanted to cry.

But he’d promised the girl he liked that he’d buy Boss Lu’s food today as an apology.

A man couldn’t break his word.

The customers who arrived late desperately searched for opportunities to cut in line.

Unfortunately, the queue was guarded with iron discipline.

After witnessing what had happened to Panda-Eye Customer, nobody dared joke around anymore.

They were afraid someone would seize the excuse to throw them out.

“There’s enough for everyone, don’t rush.”

Lu Wu called out.

Today’s food required no additional preparation, so many of the cooking tools had been put away.

The stall looked spacious.

At the center sat a huge mass resembling rice cake.

The back half was covered with damp cloths to keep it moist.

This was the star of today’s show—

Cut Cake.

“Cut cake for sale! One slice, 999!”

Surely there were at least a few unfortunate souls who had once been victimized by the legendary assassin known as cut cake.

You ask the vendor how much it costs.

The vendor says twenty yuan.

Cheap!

Delighted, you tell him to cut you a large piece.

Then, once it’s in your hands, he asks for two hundred yuan.

You demand an explanation.

The vendor calmly replies:

“Twenty yuan per liang.”

How many people had swallowed the loss in silence, handing over two hundred yuan with tears in their eyes?

A little rap dedicated to all those unfortunate victims of cut-cake scams.

The more one talked about it, the more painful it became.

As someone who had absolutely, definitely, never been scammed herself—and would never admit it if she had—Lu Wu decided it was time to make the ancestors shed a few tears as well.

Thus, cut cake made its grand debut.

Of course, Lu Wu was different.

As a businesswoman committed to honesty and integrity, she clearly displayed her prices.

Two top-grade spirit stones per liang.

What?

You think that’s expensive?

Then why don’t you ask yourself why everyone else can afford it while you can’t?

Doesn’t that simply mean you’re not working hard enough?

Smiley face.

Lu Wu banished those internet memes from her mind and spun the knife in her hand.

Cut cake required no additional processing before serving, but making it was far from simple.

She had gotten up early that morning just to prepare it.

Today’s flavor was a mixture of nuts and red dates.

The ingredients were simple:

Glutinous rice, sugar, red dates, and a variety of nuts.

No unnecessary additives.

The resulting steamed cut cake was wonderfully fragrant.

The cake on display was still steaming hot.

“Boss Lu, give me one liang.”

A customer placed an order.

Lu Wu nodded and brought down her knife.

Her movements were practiced and swift.

After so many days of running a food stall, she had developed a special ability:

“My eyes are the scale.”

One cut.

Exactly one liang.

Because it was made from glutinous rice, the cake was highly sticky.

The entire block carried a faint golden hue from the brown sugar.

Its finished color resembled amber—beautiful and translucent.

As the blade sliced downward, the interior was revealed.

The cut surface was smooth and neat.

Layers of glutinous rice and red dates were clearly visible.

The plump dates glowed a rich crimson, embedded within crystal-clear rice.

Melted brown sugar bound everything together into a single harmonious whole.

Large nuts—some round, some oval—decorated the top layer.

The fragrance wasn’t as aggressively tempting as yesterday’s barbecue.

Instead, the fully steamed glutinous rice released a gentle grain aroma.

Natural.

Pure.

And tinged with sweetness.

That sweetness came from the rich fragrance of red dates.

The nuts had been roasted beforehand, their oils producing an irresistible aroma.

Lu Wu had also sprinkled osmanthus blossoms over the top.

The delicate floral scent blended in perfectly.

The cut cake was beautiful to look at.

After receiving his portion, the customer took a deep breath and inhaled the fragrance.

Then he closed his eyes and savored it for a moment.

Not wanting to wait too long, he took a bite while it was still hot.

The texture was exactly as expected.

Soft.

Sticky.

Dense.

His teeth sank into it with a slight bounce and stretch.

Chewy.

Fragrant.

Sweet.

Those were his most immediate impressions.

“You can save a little and eat it after it cools down.”

Lu Wu offered a reminder.

Once cooled, the cut cake would become firmer and develop an entirely different kind of deliciousness.