After Swapping Bodies with the Movie Queen, She Ended Up with Me (GL) - Chapter 14

Though called a mini-game, it was essentially a card-drawing task session.

“Since it’s the first day, we’ve prepared a little gift for everyone,” the assistant director announced through a megaphone to the six guests gathered in the living room. “Please look this way!”

As the dining room curtain was drawn back, the previously concealed area was revealed—a lavish spread of fine food and drinks.

Xu Qing whistled in appreciation. “Is the production team treating us to a feast?”

The assistant director’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “That’s right, but before the feast, we have tasks to complete. I have three cards here—each couple should send one representative to draw one. Only after finishing the task can you enjoy the meal.”

The group exchanged uncertain glances.

Mu Lingwan, having already drawn for the room earlier, declined this time and nudged Rong Qing. “You go this time.”

Without hesitation, Rong Qing stepped forward and drew a card. Opening it, she found an illustration of a cartoon cake alongside the task title—Bake a Cake.

“Bake a cake?” Rong Qing frowned at the assignment. “What kind of cake?”

“The pastry chef is already waiting for you in the kitchen,” the assistant director told Rong Qing and Mu Lingwan. “Head over there—an instructor will guide you through the process.”

Though puzzled, the task didn’t sound particularly difficult. The two turned toward the kitchen, only to overhear Xu Qing’s baffled remark from behind: “Blow up balloons? What kind of task is that?”

Before Rong Qing could react, their assigned cake instructor and cameraman appeared.

The instructor, a young woman in a pristine apron and chef’s hat, greeted the celebrities with a smile. “Hello! I’ll be teaching you how to bake an 8-inch cake today. Please change into your aprons here.”

Mu Lingwan eyed the table laden with flour, eggs, cream cheese, and other ingredients, her brow furrowing slightly. As Rong Qing tied her apron, Mu Lingwan approached her. “I can’t cook. Can you?”

Rong Qing blinked, fastening her apron with a bright grin. “It’s just a cake—how hard can it be?”

After ruining their third attempt, Mu Lingwan and Rong Qing stood silently beside the table, deep in thought.

“Turns out it’s actually pretty difficult,” Mu Lingwan muttered, frowning. “Are there any tools to help? Do we really have to frost it by hand?”

Neither had steady hands—their cakes were lumpy and uneven. Rong Qing’s was slightly better, though still lopsided, resembling the surface of the moon.

Rong Qing sighed at the wasted effort. “What a shame. I wish we could just eat them.”

Mu Lingwan shot her a glare, wordlessly warning her against touching the calorie-laden disaster.

Of course, Rong Qing knew better—actresses couldn’t indulge in cake. It was just wishful thinking.

The pastry chef, having witnessed the trio of culinary catastrophes, finally selected Rong Qing’s lopsided cake as the base. “Let me show you how to pipe the frosting properly,” she said, stepping in to salvage the situation.

“The piping is a bit more complex. These are different types of piping nozzles.” The pastry chef took out about twenty to thirty nozzles of various sizes and said to the two of them, “Next, we’ll start by coloring the cream. We’ll use red food coloring to create three different shades of red—light pink, pink, and pale red.”

Rong Qing and Mu Lingwan watched the pastry chef’s demonstration like two elementary school students, then added varying amounts of coloring to the cream, eventually producing three different shades of red. Although there were slight discrepancies in the hues, it wasn’t a major issue.

The piping also took quite a bit of effort. A single cake rose took a full half-hour to perfect. Fortunately, they managed to create a few decent ones in the end. The pastry chef selected two small flowers made by Rong Qing and one large flower by Mu Lingwan, decorating the cake with them. They then sprinkled some chocolate pearls and added a few larger ones as accents, finishing with a couple of real roses placed on top.

After nearly an hour of work, the floral cake was finally complete!

“Finally done,” Mu Lingwan said, looking at the somewhat presentable cake before her with satisfaction. She glanced at Rong Qing and noticed cream smeared on her face—no idea how it got there during the piping process.

“Does your hair like eating cake too?” Mu Lingwan scooped a bit of cream from the side with her finger and casually dabbed it onto Rong Qing’s cheek, laughing first herself. “Haha, you should go wash up. You smell like cream all over.”

It smelled sweet.

Rong Qing hadn’t expected Mu Lingwan to suddenly make such an intimate gesture. As she wiped the cream off her face, her ears turned red. The surrounding cameras immediately zoomed in on her, making her feel even more embarrassed.

Was this… just for the show?

Rong Qing thought. After all, it was a dating variety show—it wouldn’t make sense if there were no interactions at all. Who would’ve thought that despite Mu Lingwan’s usual aloof demeanor, she was actually quite professional when it came to work.

For the sake of the show, she could even pretend to be flirtatious with her.

Poor Teacher Mu, working so hard!

As Rong Qing wiped the cream off her face, she glanced at Mu Lingwan and scooped up a bit of cream from the cake herself. But Mu Lingwan had already anticipated her move, swiftly pulling out a tissue and wrapping it around Rong Qing’s fingers. Leaning in close, she smiled and said, “Don’t mess around. We should take the cake out now.”

Rong Qing froze for a moment before managing a soft, “Oh.”

Teacher Mu sure was petty.

As soon as the two stepped out with the cake, they were startled by the restaurant’s decorations. The entire place was draped with colorful ribbons and balloons, and the wall even had balloon arrangements spelling out two lines—”Shen Nian, Happy Birthday!”

It was Shen Nian’s birthday today?!

Rong Qing exchanged a surprised look with Mu Lingwan, both seeing the same realization in each other’s eyes. But neither said anything, simply placing the cake in the center as instructed by the assistant.

Just as they set it down, Xu Qing walked in carrying a bouquet of flowers, followed by Jiang Jiang holding a bunch of balloons.

Spotting familiar faces, Xu Qing immediately called out, “Come help! Where should we put these flowers? And there are way too many balloons—we can’t finish blowing them all up by ourselves!”

Rong Qing and Mu Lingwan quickly stepped forward to assist, joining Xu Qing and the others to put the final touches on the decorations.

Mu Lingwan was tying balloons while wondering aloud, “Where are those two?”

“Their assigned tasks are different from ours,” Xu Qing explained, crouching on the floor as she inserted plastic sticks into balloons. She looked up at Mu Lingwan and said, “Shen Nian’s the birthday girl—she’s preparing a performance. Ming Qiao’s in charge of picking out clothes for her girlfriend, doing her makeup and hair. They should be coming out any minute now.”

No sooner had she spoken than a commotion arose from the second-floor staircase. All four turned their heads to see Shen Nian standing on the steps in a grand white rose-adorned gown, looking every bit like a fairy-tale princess.

Beside her stood Ming Qiao, dressed simply. After exchanging a glance, the two clasped hands and descended the staircase together.

Shen Nian, just in her early twenties, radiated vitality—her fair skin glowing with a rosy hue, her shoulders perfectly squared, and her pronounced collarbones framing skin as smooth as cream. She seemed to shine effortlessly wherever she stood.

“Happy birthday~” Jiang Jiang deadpanned as she twisted open a party popper, its loud ‘bang’ startling everyone. But they quickly recovered, grabbing more poppers from the production assistants nearby and setting them off together.

“Happy birthday!” Rong Qing cheered after pulling her popper, her smile genuine as she wished Shen Nian well. Yet to her surprise, Shen Nian’s gaze locked onto her, eyes brimming with delight.

Releasing Ming Qiao’s hand, Shen Nian lifted her skirt and approached Rong Qing. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled and said, “Thank you, Sister Mu.”