There was no time to waste; Tong Yan decided to retreat and run. By this time, Chairman Han had started the initial investigation on what’s happening. She couldn’t let anyone find a trace that would lead to her. She was sure as hell that Sun Feiyan wouldn’t extend a hand to help her. She choked out a sob and tried not to breakdown as she took the hallway outside and to find the nearest exit.

While Tong Yan was busy trying to figure out how she could save herself, her unwilling victim was waiting for the judges to take notice of her cake. Lu Xinyi’s frazzled nerves jumped all together and in different directions—her fingers flexing, curling, and uncurling.

This time, instead of the examinees taking turns to present their dishes, the five judges stood up from their seats, had a folder in their hands, and made way to the examinees’ counters to taste each cake. They took a bite from each one and recorded the scores without revealing them.

When they came to Ye Xieren’s counter, the devil’s food cake that greeted them was disappointing. Han Zhiling and Qu Shaowei eyed his cake. They shared a knowing look before Han Zhiling took a piece of Ye Xieren’s devil’s food cake and tasted it.

‘The texture is surely different from the rest. The plain flour was enough to give his cake stability it needed, but the taste…’ Han Zhiling mused.

Ye Xieren looked away, feeling that he hadn’t overcome an obstacle for this round. He was deeply disappointed with the quality of ingredients he received from Silver Leaf, but he couldn’t find it on himself to blame the institution for his weaknesses. His eyes turned to Lu Xinyi, the woman he had yet to defeat. He wasn’t satisfied with his victory from the last round because he knew Lu Xinyi hadn’t done her best.

Again, the judges moved from his counter to Surya Rathore’s. The only foreign applicant from the rest of the examinees was also nervous. His hands were tucked behind him, but they kept on shaking. The laugh he let out when the judges scrutinized his cake went on longer than normal.

“I tried my best on this cake—” he started, “but I think I received some wrong items in my box so I have to alter my recipe.” His speech sounded weird for some, but it was understandable since he was a foreigner and hadn’t spent enough time with the locals.

“What is he talking about? Aren’t they supposed to receive same ingredients?”

“Do you think he’s lying?”

“Perhaps, but you know I’ve been thinking maybe that’s the reason why the Shen family’s representative broke one of the rules.”

“Impossible. Silver Leaf wouldn’t state that rule if they didn’t mean it.”

The arguments on the audience resumed. Each had something to say about the sudden changes for the last round. The judges ignored them and tasted Surya Rathore’s cake. Surprisingly, it tasted better than Ye Xieren’s. Jun Simin mentally gave Surya Rathore a compliment for figuring out how to improve his cake in spite of him being in a disadvantage.

Though the flavor was yummy—and the crumb was moist and soft, his cake had vertical lines in it when sliced. It had vertical lines all across the crumb like cylindrical holes.

“I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t look presentable,” Surya Rathore apologized, “I’m not sure why it has holes in it. Perhaps, it was caused by the flour I used for the cake.”

“The flour is partially responsible on it.” Lu Xinyi, who was waiting at the counter next to him, commented, “Those holes appeared because your batter had produced large air pockets from having it overmixed.. In baking, we call it ‘tunneling’. Over-mixing causes tunneling because it develops more gluten than what you really need.”

“Oh,” Surya Rathore blinked and then recalled what he did earlier. Shit, he overmixed his batter because of his anxiety. “Thank you, Sister Lu. I didn’t realize my mistake, but what do you mean that the flour is partially responsible?”

“The flour we used for our cakes are the same kind, and it’s rather vulnerable to overmixing. You also used a stand mixer which is more likely to overmix for mixing more in a short time, compared to stirring by hand.”

Jun Simin was amused that Lu Xinyi was able to point out the mistakes on her colleague’s cake. She decided to join their small conversation.

“Miss Lu, I see you’re quite knowledgeable with the basics of baking. You claim that both of you had used a different kind of flour from the rest. Are you confident that your devil’s food cake can compete and bring you to the top?”

Her eyes then glanced to Lu Xinyi’s devil’s food cake. It stuck like an eyesore because of its different frosting from the other devil’s food cakes. Her white buttercream frosting was white as snow, fluffy, and light but also firm that one wouldn’t suspect that it was a devil’s food cake. It also had the stark visual contrast of a chocolate cake.

“Why don’t you try it for yourself?” Lu Xinyi clasped her arms behind her body, giving Jun Simin a confident smile. “Let my cake show you a piece of heaven and a glimpse of hell.” One hand left stretching, presenting her luscious devil’s food cake to the judges.