Chapter 5: Li Chen's Cooking Skills

A moment later, he slowly opened his eyes, muttering to himself: "My current cultivation should be at the Postnatal Perfection Realm. To advance to the Innate level, I must first temper my physique."

Tempering the physique meant he had to purchase medicinal herbs to concoct Body Tempering Pills.

Body Tempering Pills required a hundred-year-old ginseng, Lingzhi, Golden Silver Flowers, and a small amount of morning dew.

Having made up his mind, Li Chen turned on his computer and started searching on Taobao Mall.

The prices that caught his eye once again gave him that gut-wrenching feeling!

Holy moly, a hundred-year-old ginseng costs around 180,000, and Lingzhi even more expensive, 200,000. Golden Silver Flowers are not too bad, they're commonly found in pharmacies. As for the morning dew, there's no need to spend money on that, but I'll have to personally collect it in the suburbs.

Li Chen reached into his pocket and after a long search, he only managed to find two coins.

Seems like I need to come up with a way to make money fast!

While pondering, Li Chen drifted into dreamland.

During his deep dream about Lord Zhou's daughter, a series of urgent knocks, "bang bang bang", jolted him awake.

"Li Chen, you lazybones, your mistress here is almost starved to death, get up and make breakfast!"

No need to guess, Li Chen knew it was Lady Ye pounding on the door.

Ever since his parents' accident, Aunt Tang took Li Chen in, and he's been quiet ever since.

Aunt Tang is the chief surgeon at the city hospital, always busy with outpatient services and surgeries, rarely staying at home.

Lady Ye's father, the general manager of a listed company, is also swamped with work, including frequent business trips.

And Lady Ye, the Little Princess of the house, never touching a drop of spring water with her own hands, could only cook instant noodles and nothing else.

Thus, the heavy responsibility of cooking fell entirely on Li Chen's shoulders.

One could say, Ye Chuxue grew up eating meals cooked by Li Chen.

Moreover, she developed an inexplicable dependency on Li Chen's cooking, never getting enough of it.

Last Tomb-Sweeping Festival, unable to stop missing his parents, Li Chen stayed alone in his hometown for two days.

But Lady Ye, squatting at home, wept while eating instant noodles for those two full days.

When Li Chen returned, she forced him to make a large pot of stir-fried pork with Chinese greens noodles, indulging in its delicious taste.

Seeing this, Li Chen wondered if Lady Ye was reincarnated from a person starved to death.

Ye Chuxue continued to pound on the door vehemently, shouting, "Li Chen, are you dead or what? Your mistress here is about to starve!"

Li Chen curled his lips and with a carp flip, he leaped out of bed.

"Stop knocking, can't you be more ladylike? You're going to break the door!"

Ye Chuxue haughtily snorted and pouted, "Hmph, even if it breaks, it's still the door of my house, what's it to you?"

Li Chen had no comeback, briefly washed up, and started busying himself in the kitchen.

"Hey, you two Misses, what would you like to eat?"

Seeing Li Chen head straight into the kitchen, Ning Qian'er, with her sparkling big eyes, asked in surprise, "Chuxue, your Li Chen can cook?"

Ye Chuxue pouted and feigned disgust, "Eh, it's passable, bearable for eating!"

Although she said that, a smug smile curled up at the corners of her mouth.

Ning Qian'er clasped her hands in front of her heart, looking dreamily at Li Chen, asking, "Li Chen, what can you cook?"

Li Chen casually opened the refrigerator and said, "I'll make noodles for you guys!"

Before Li Chen finished speaking, Ye Chuxue took over the conversation, "Yeah, okay, make noodles for us, hurry up, your mistress is starving!"

About twenty minutes later, a steaming hot pot of tomato and egg noodles was freshly served.

Ye Chuxue and Ning Qian'er pounced like two little gluttonous cats.

Ning Qian'er grabbed a pair of chopsticks and hurriedly sent noodles into her mouth.

"Wow, so delicious, Li Chen, your noodles taste great!"

Ye Chuxue blinked her big eyes, glanced at Ning Qian'er.

Ning Qian'er, realizing her slip-up, blushed furiously. She quickly bowed her head and shoveled noodles into her mouth to hide her embarrassment.

The big pot of noodles was swept clean by two Major Generals of Beauty.

After the meal, Ning Qian'er sneakily glanced at Li Chen and whispered into Ye Chuxue's ear, mysteriously asking, "Chuxue, do you like Li Chen?"

Ye Chuxue's face flushed red and, not waiting for Qian'er to finish, she pouted and said, "This guy is so annoying, I'm not blind, how could I possibly like him?"

Ning Qian'er seemed unconvinced and asked again to confirm, "Really?"

Ye Chuxue nodded vigorously, replying, "Of course it's true, what kind of blind person would fancy him?"

Ning Qian'er giggled and said, "Chuxue, since you don't like Li Chen, then I'm going to pursue him!"

"Ah?" Upon hearing Ning Qian'er's words, Ye Chuxue was so shocked that she opened her mouth wide, looking like someone who saw a ghost in broad daylight.

"Qian'er, you're not joking, are you? What's so good about Li Chen that you'd chase after him?"

Ning Qian'er held her heart like a smitten girl, gazing at Li Chen's busy back, and said, "I think Li Chen is quite nice, funny, humorous, and he can cook, plus he's handsome as well!"

Ye Chuxue deliberately made a disgusted face, pointing at Li Chen's back, and said with disdain, "Him? Handsome? Maybe that of a cricket?"

"Qian'er, when did you become blind?"

Ning Qian'er chuckled and said, "Why do you care which kind of handsome he is, I just think Li Chen's my type!"

"Giggle, Chuxue, let's make it clear, Li Chen is my dish, you're not allowed to fight over him with me from now on!"

"Psh, you're blind, but I can see perfectly fine, I wouldn't dream of competing with you!"

Despite saying this, a shadow of sadness and loss flickered in Ye Chuxue's bright eyes.

That feeling, it was like when she was a child, giving away her favorite toy to someone else, a little downcast and a bit distressed.

...

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