Fu Chen was humming while stirring cubes of melting butter around in a large saucepan. Fu Lian sat on a metal stool and watched him. As the butter started to foam and sizzle around the edges of the pan, Fu Chen started to talk to Fu Lian. “Why don’t you tell me about your story? Don’t worry about me focusing on the saucepan, I can still see your words as long as they appear within the building.” 

Fu Lian stared down and looked as if she was deeply thinking about something. Several minutes had passed and the foaming butter had turned golden brown. As the foam subsided, the milk solids at the bottom of the pan started to toast. A buttery, nutty, and rich smell started permeating through the air. Fu Lian finally looked back at Fu Chen who was still stirring the butter. She pursed her lips in thought and seemed to have finally made up her mind. Grey words started appearing around her. 

[My old name was Lang Yue and I was part of the Lang Clan. The Lang Clan holds a large amount of power within the Azula Galactic Empire.]

Fu Chen nodded and was pouring the brown butter into a clear bowl while scraping the bottom of the saucepan.

[The Lang Clan is led by a matriarch and a council of elders]

As Fu Lian continued her story, Fu Chen was warming milk in the same saucepan used to brown the butter. 

[The matriarch is usually chosen every 300 years and I belonged in the generation eligible to be a matriarch candidate.]

The milk was starting to warm up in the sauce pan.

[All of the females in my generation were trained by the council of elders and sometimes by the matriarch.]

Fu Chen took the saucepan off the heat and set it aside. He took out a large metal bowl and sifted in flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and a small amount of salt. Fu Chen started whisking the dry ingredients together while Fu Lian was forming more words.

[My parents pushed me to cultivate and become the next matriarch because they wanted to gain more power within the clan. I mindlessly trained everyday to become the heir.] 

The dry ingredients were well incorporated so Fu Chen started cracking in eggs that he had brought out earlier that had reached room temp. 

[I managed to reach stage 5 at the age of 18 and the matriarch had chosen me to become the next matriarch. As I received more responsibilities, power, and influence, I realized that I didn’t enjoy being the heir.]

Fu Chen whisked in the eggs one by one into the well incorporated dry ingredients. 

[I learned about the hidden power struggles within the clan. Different factions tried to curry favor with me and my parents because I was destined to be the next heir. My parents used my title of heir to expand their influence. They grew more and more powerful and demanded me to use my influence for them.]

After the eggs were whisked in, Fu Chen gradually mixed in the brown butter and warm milk. 

Fu Lian looked downwards and the conjured words started turning red. 

[I felt disgusted and hated my role. I wanted to become free and not live to be used by other people so I started planning my escape several months ago. The matriarch had assigned guards to monitor me most of the time, but I managed to escape one week ago when another spirit beast clan visited the Lang Clan.] 

Fu Chen poured the chocolate batter into large energy crystal jars and covered them with lids.  The dirty dishes were placed into the sink where they disappeared. He put the chocolate batter into a fridge for them to chill. From the same fridge, he took out bright red strawberries and heavy cream. Fu Chen took out powdered sugar, vanilla extract and a metal bowl from a random cabinet. Fu Lian watched Fu Chen and waited for him to talk. He started slicing strawberries on a cutting board. 

“I have two options for you. You can be my employee as long as you work hard and I’ll protect you. The first option will allow you more freedom since you won’t be tied down by your clan. The second option is if you accept your position as heir and use your power to change the clan. You will need to fight for your freedom and may struggle against the factions within the clan. In exchange for working at my restaurant, I will provide you my support if you choose the second option.”

Fu Lian began debating between the two options.

He finished slicing the strawberries and poured the heavy cream into the metal bowl. Fu Chen grabbed a balloon whisk (whisk that is specially used for increasing the amount of air brought into foods being whipped) from a utensil holder from the middle table counter. He used the whisk to beat the cream back and forth. Bubbles started to appear and soft peaks were forming. Once the whipped cream reached soft peaks, he whisked in the vanilla extract. After that, Fu Chen sifted in powdered sugar and folded it into the whipped cream with a spatula from the utensil holder. The powdered sugar dissolved into the whipped cream. 

After that, Fu Chen started to gently fold in pieces of strawberry into the light and fluffy cream. While doing that, Fu Chen talked to Fu Lian. 

“You can always choose the first option first and then the second option if you want to still be part of your clan. I won’t force you to choose. I just hope that you’ll be able to decide what you want to do with your life.

Setting the strawberry whipped cream aside, Fu Chen pulled out a circular skillet from a cabinet and placed it on the stove top. The pan started to heat up over medium heat. He opened the fridge that had the chocolate batter and took it out. Once the skillet had warmed up, Fu Chen ladled in some chocolate batter. It started to bubble and slightly brown. He picked up the skillet and flipped the crepe. While the crepe cooked on its other side, Fu Chen opened a cabinet in the island (free-standing counter space that is usually located near the center of the kitchen) and took out a white plate. 

The crepe had finished cooking so he placed the hot crepe onto the plate. After the crepe cooled down a little, Fu Chen spooned in some of the strawberry whipped cream on one side of the crepe. He folded the crepe in half into a semicircle. Then, he folded the upper third of the crepe over the bottom part to form a triangle. Wrapping it with a napkin, he handed it to Fu Lian. 

“Here, try this.”

She held it with both of her hands and stared curiously at it. Then, she took a bite and let out a sound of satisfaction. The thin crispy chocolate crepe paired with light whipped cream and sweet strawberries was very refreshing. The filling wasn’t too sweet and the chocolate crepe had a nice chocolatey flavor that wasn’t too rich. Fu Lian quickly took more bites and her tail started to wag. 

Feeling very happy at the sight of a loli wolf girl munching on a crepe with her tail wagging. He couldn’t resist and started to pet Fu Lian’s head. After she finished her crepe, Fu Chen talked again. 

“Alright I hope that you enjoyed the new dessert. Anyway, you need to go to sleep now since tomorrow will be your first day of work.”

Fu Lian nodded and headed out of the kitchen. Fu Chen managed to make a slightly normal smile and started prepping his other dishes for tomorrow. While whisking the waffle batter, Fu Chen had an epiphany.

‘Maybe I should serve a crepe cake tomorrow.’