Chapter 11

Chapter 11

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After Ye Chengxing spoke these words, she withdrew her gaze and fell silent, fearing that further emphasis might make Li Jia feel even more uncomfortable.

Li Jia looked at the chair that Xiao Bai had brought in, her gaze slowly falling onto Ye Chengxing.

The mocking smile at the corner of her mouth gradually faded as Ye Chengxing handled the ingredients without any hesitation.

The Alpha skillfully processed the ingredients, as if she had done it countless times before.

The longer Li Jia watched, the more focused her eyes became.

In the final moments before her rebirth, she had invested all her assets into an orphanage and hired a gourmet chef, whom she had seen cook.

The gourmet chef she had hired for the orphanage was among the best, but she was certain that this chef could not match Ye Chengxing's proficiency in this life.

A faint sense of dissonance suddenly arose in her heart.

Did the past-life Ye Chengxing know how to cook?

She was sure that the past-life Ye Chengxing absolutely did not.

Even if the other party really knew how to cook, this level of skill would require daily dedication to achieve.

Li Jia did not sit on the chair that Ye Chengxing had Xiao Bai bring for her. She stood behind Ye Chengxing, watching the Alpha's figure, her mind filled with thoughts.

Was she hiding her abilities from the start or...

Could it be that the other party had also been reborn?

However, these speculations were immediately dismissed by Li Jia.

If Ye Chengxing really knew how to cook, given her character, she would have announced it to the world; there was no way she would hide such a talent.

Rebirth seemed unlikely too. Considering how much Ye Chengxing valued her life, having died once at Li Jia’s hands, if she were reborn, she would likely choose to have Li Jia killed right away rather than do all these things.

Just what was the problem here?

...

Thanks to the ultra-efficient kitchen equipment, Ye Chengxing finished cooking in less than twenty minutes.

This time included her unfamiliarity with the equipment, so next time, she would be even faster.

The freshly cooked dishes emitted steam and their aroma lingered in the air. Smelling the familiar scent of food, Ye Chengxing finally felt some appetite.

Although people in this world weren't skilled at cooking, the raw ingredients were top-notch, of high quality, and fragrant.

Xiao Bai served each dish onto the dining table.

With the dishes already out, Ye Chengxing asked Li Jia to wait by the table while she served the rice, but Li Jia didn’t move. Instead, she looked at Ye Chengxing with an inexplicable gaze that Ye Chengxing couldn’t quite understand.

Ever since Ye Chengxing started cooking, she had noticed Li Jia's gaze following her wherever she went.

She assumed that Li Jia found it novel to see someone cook, as cooking was indeed a rare thing in this world.

Li Jia confirmed Ye Chengxing's assumption with her words, though her tone carried a deeper meaning: "Sis, you can actually cook. That's impressive."

Ye Chengxing didn’t pick up on the deeper meaning and felt a bit embarrassed by the compliment.

To her, it was just cooking.

She waved her hand subconsciously. "It's nothing. I don’t even know if you'll like it."

As she spoke, she opened the device she used as a rice cooker to take a look.

The rice was perfectly steamed.

A smile appeared on Ye Chengxing’s face. "It's not early anymore. Let's start lunch after serving the rice."

Li Jia watched as Ye Chengxing took out a flat spoon-like utensil to serve the rice into bowls.

After serving two bowls of rice, she reached out to carry them, but Ye Chengxing beat her to it. "I’ll carry them, but we still need to get the chopsticks..."

At this point, she looked at Li Jia, her eyes twinkling brightly. "Could you please fetch the chopsticks?"

The chopsticks and other utensils were within reach. After Li Jia fetched them, she discovered that Ye Chengxing was still standing there, waiting until Li Jia approached with the chopsticks before moving again, as if waiting for her.

A subtle feeling of home suddenly arose in Li Jia's heart.

She tightened her grip on the chopsticks and quickened her pace slightly.

At the same time, she suppressed those subtle feelings without showing it.

Li Jia tried to tell herself that everything before her was merely a ploy and tactic from the woman in front of her, but the sense of dissonance lingered.

She couldn’t help but wonder —

Was it really like that? Were all the actions of Ye Chengxing in front of her merely tricks and tactics to capture and toy with her?

If she hadn’t been so firmly convinced that Ye Chengxing was that scum before, based solely on their interactions over the past few days, the other party seemed genuinely kind to her.

That night at the banquet, Ye Chengxing not only refrained from doing anything disgusting but also carried her to the hospital. During her stay, Ye Chengxing cared for her attentively, and upon discharge, she even gave her flowers and bought her a phone.

She asked if Li Jia wanted to return to school, and upon receiving a positive response, helped find a school and hired a tutor for her. Despite it being her own villa, Ye Chengxing granted Li Jia full access as the owner, allowing her to do whatever she wished without hindrance. Today, she even bought ingredients and cooking utensils to personally cook, and she actually managed to prepare the meal.

Li Jia knew that Ye Chengxing had some peculiar preferences, so she hadn’t thought much about these matters before. However, the more she reflected now, the more dissonant it felt, especially regarding the cooking aspect.

Not only that, she clearly remembered that Ye Chengxing always wore a string of Buddhist prayer beads around her wrist, rarely taking them off. But now, the Alpha’s wrist was bare. Her preferences seemed to have changed, and the villa’s interior design was vastly different from the previous life, almost completely opposite.

What circumstances could drastically change one's personality?

Or perhaps... this life's Ye Chengxing and the previous life's Ye Chengxing are fundamentally not the same person? If so, which world did she actually reincarnate into?

Li Jia furrowed her brows slightly at the sudden flood of thoughts.

It was just too incongruous.

This sense of dissonance reached its peak when she tasted the dish prepared by Ye Chengxing.

Ye Chengxing noticed Li Jia's sudden stillness and assumed there was something wrong with the taste of the food, so she quickly took a bite herself.

She had no idea that Li Jia had already picked up on something unusual, nor did she feel any need to hide her actions. The timing and juncture of her transmigration were perfect—precisely when the original self first interacted with Li Jia. Even if Li Jia noticed differences from what she had heard, it wouldn't raise suspicion since Li Jia had never met the original self before, let alone known her well.

After taking a bite, Ye Chengxing found that the flavor was fine—the saltiness and texture were spot-on. In fact, due to the advanced equipment and high-quality ingredients in this world, the dish tasted even better than anything she had cooked before transmigrating.

But while she thought so, Li Jia might find it inferior to nutrient fluid.

Having sampled it, Ye Chengxing looked at Li Jia. "Do you think it doesn’t taste good? It’s okay, don’t hesitate to tell me your honest opinion. I can improve based on your feedback."

Hearing Ye Chengxing's question, Li Jia raised her eyes to meet hers, her gaze somewhat complex and peculiar.

"No," after a long moment, Li Jia softly spoke but didn’t look away, as if trying to see through the surface and into the soul within, "it’s... too delicious."

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