Rhodes Island's Psychologist

Ch 129: Making The Pineapple Bun

*Clang*

Nightingale stares at Lin Yie's hands.
Lin Yie coughs awkwardly and says, "We can move onto the next stage."

"What's the next step?" Nightingale asks, too excited to ask about what just happened.

"Liz, go watch the door for me."

Nightingale tilts her head, clearly confused.

"Just see if someone is coming here."

"Oh."

Nightingale walks away reluctantly.

When Nightingale is out of sight, Lin Yie flips open the booklet again.

This and that...

When Nightingale returns, Lin Yie hides the booklet quickly, but then, he realizes he didn't memorize everything.

Crap... Why didn't I just admit I don't know anything?

"I didn't see anyone."

"Um."

Lin Yie waves his hand in response.

"Eggs, salt..." Under Nightingale's watchful eye, Lin Yie adds the ingredients slowly.

Then, he suddenly freezes.

"Pineapple Bun?"

How much sugar do I need to add again?

"What?"
"It's nothing," Lin Yie shakes his head quickly. He stares at the can briefly. Then, he clenches his teeth and grabs a fistful of sugar from the can.

Desserts have to be sweet anyway.

Nightingale seems confused, but the white sugar crystals manage to get her full attention.

...

Twenty minutes later, Lin Yie takes the dough out of the mixing bowl.

He wipes the sweat off his forehead and gestures, "Give it a try."

Nightingale tilts her head in confusion.

"You can make the shape you want to eat."

"I don't wanna," Nightingale says, "I just want to eat."

Lin Yie sighs.

And so, he begins making whatever shapes he has in mind.

"Look, this is a lake."

"This is a zongzi."

"This is a cloud."

Nightingale just watches Lin Yie play with the dough and mold it into different shapes.

Lin Yie pauses. He has been trying to make the dough in his hand look like a cloud, but... this shape seems a bit revolting.

How is this so different from what I saw in the booklet?

Lin Yie coughs a few times to shift Nightingale's attention from the "cloud." He puts the dough on a tray and pushes the tray into the oven.

"Now we wait."

...

There are no chairs in the kitchen, but going back to the cafeteria is too much work, so Lin Yie just sits on the ground and waits for the timer to end, with Nightingale sitting next to him.

"Pineapple Bun is so great!"

"I'm not," Lin Yie says in a quiet voice.

"You are. You know everything," Nightingale says, "You can do whatever you want."