Chapter 710: Birthday Cake

He set the greeting card down. Chen Ge picked up the keys from the table and studied them in silence for a moment.

After his parents disappeared, fewer and fewer visitors came to the haunted house. It had been on the verge of bankruptcy, and under those incredibly dire circumstances, Xu Wan still hadn't left. She was the only employee who had been hired by Chen Ge's parents and ultimately chose to stay on with Chen Ge.

"Did this girl sense something?" Chen Ge put the keys away and opened the cake box.

Compared to the beautifully packaged box, the cake inside could only be described as a disaster.

The center had collapsed, the outer skin bore black scorch marks, and the whole structure was so loose it looked like it would crumble at the slightest touch.

You could tell the maker had put her heart into it. She had spread cream evenly across the cake's surface, trying to cover up the flaws. During the process, the cake had apparently already broken apart once — the cream served as both decoration and glue, seeping into the interior.

Just looking at this cake, Chen Ge could picture exactly what Xu Wan had looked like while making it.

"As expected of my employee, Chen Ge — even baking a cake, she manages to make it terrifying."

He picked up the cake knife from the box, cut off a piece, and took a small bite.

"Mm. Texture is a mess — hard on the outside, soft on the inside, and it sticks to your teeth. Way too much oil, not baked through. Did this girl use high-gluten flour? Cakes are supposed to be made with low-gluten flour!"

Even as he kept grumbling, Chen Ge still ate more than half of the slice.

Seeing him enjoy it so much, the white cat grew curious, but the moment it stretched its head toward the box, Chen Ge stuffed it back into the backpack.

"A fresh cream cake isn't good for you. When your birthday comes around, I'll make you a cat food cake."

Ignoring the white cat's protests, Chen Ge wiped his mouth, picked up the backpack, and walked out of the employee break room.

The birthday party had eaten up some time, but it didn't affect tonight's plans.

He had already compiled the information about the Left Eye film crew online, and tonight he planned to go check them out.

After leaving New Century Park, Chen Ge waited by the road for a long time without seeing a single taxi. It was as if every cab driver in Hanjiang City had reached an unspoken agreement: don't go anywhere near New Century Park after midnight, and absolutely don't pick up passengers from that area.

"Too bad my bus drove into the world behind the Liwan Town gate, or this wouldn't be such a hassle."

After walking through two more streets, Chen Ge finally found a cab. He climbed in and only then gave the address: "Driver, I'd like to go to Yongling Mountain Villa."

"Yongling Mountain?" The driver was visibly taken aback. "Are there villas on Yongling Mountain?"

"Check the navigation." Chen Ge wasn't entirely sure either, but that was what the internet said.

"What's the full name?" The driver voice-inputted the three characters for Yongling Mountain, but the navigation system didn't show any result for Yongling Mountain Villa.

"The full name…" Chen Ge's pupils contracted slightly as he looked at the place names displayed on the GPS — Yongling Mountain Gas Station, Yongling Mountain Flower Market, Yongling Mountain Resort. "Let's just go to Yongling Mountain Resort for now."

"Like that?" The driver glanced at Chen Ge through the rearview mirror. The guy looked vaguely familiar, and he dimly recalled some late-night rumor about a mysterious passenger.