Chapter 11

After saying those words, Ye Chengxing withdrew her gaze and fell silent, worried that repeating herself would only make Li Jia feel more uncomfortable.

Li Jia glanced at the chair Xiao Bai had brought in, her eyes slowly shifting to Ye Chengxing.

The mocking smile tugging at the corner of her mouth gradually faded as she watched Ye Chengxing handle the ingredients without the slightest hesitation.

The Alpha worked with practiced ease, as if she had done this a thousand times before.

The longer Li Jia watched, the narrower her eyes became.

In the final days before her rebirth, she had poured all her assets into an orphanage and hired a master gourmet chef. She had watched that chef cook many times.

The chef she had brought on was among the best in the world, but Li Jia was certain that even he could not match this life’s Ye Chengxing for sheer proficiency.

A faint sense of wrongness suddenly stirred in her heart.

Had the Ye Chengxing of her previous life known how to cook?

She was absolutely sure she had not.

And even if she had, reaching this level of skill would have required relentless daily practice.

Li Jia did not sit in the chair Ye Chengxing had sent Xiao Bai to fetch for her. Instead, she stood behind Ye Chengxing, staring at the Alpha’s figure as a storm of thoughts churned in her mind.

Had she simply been hiding her talents all along, or…

Could it be that she had been reborn too?

Li Jia dismissed both ideas almost immediately.

If Ye Chengxing truly knew how to prepare gourmet meals, someone with her personality would never keep it under wraps—she would have shouted it from the rooftops.

And rebirth? That was even less likely. Ye Chengxing was far too attached to her own life. After dying once at Li Jia’s hands, she would have arranged to kill her outright upon returning, putting an end to everything cleanly. She certainly wouldn’t have gone out of her way to do all these things.

What exactly was going on here?

…

Thanks to the kitchen’s ultra-efficient equipment, Ye Chengxing had everything ready in less than twenty minutes.

Part of that time was lost to her unfamiliarity with the devices on her first try—next time, she would be much faster.

The dishes steamed with mouthwatering heat, their aromas weaving through the air with every breath. Ye Chengxing inhaled the familiar scent of home cooking and felt her appetite stir at last.

People in this world might not know the first thing about cooking, but their raw ingredients were top-quality: fresh, fragrant, and bursting with natural flavor.

Xiao Bai carried the dishes out one by one and set them on the dining table.

With the food served, Ye Chengxing told Li Jia to wait at the table while she dished out the rice. But Li Jia didn’t budge. She simply fixed Ye Chengxing with a strange, inscrutable gaze.

Ever since Ye Chengxing had started cooking, she had felt Li Jia’s eyes tracking her every move.

She chalked it up to novelty—after all, in this world, someone actually cooking a meal from scratch was a rare sight.

And sure enough, Li Jia spoke up just as Ye Chengxing suspected, though her tone carried a weight of unspoken meaning. “Sister, you can actually cook? That’s impressive.”

Ye Chengxing missed the subtext entirely. The praise left her a little embarrassed.

To her, this was just making lunch—nothing special.

She waved it off. “It’s no big deal. I haven’t even checked if it suits your taste yet.”

As she spoke, she opened the device she had been using as a makeshift rice cooker and peered inside.

The rice had steamed to fluffy perfection.

A smile touched Ye Chengxing’s lips. “It’s getting late. Once I’ve served the rice, we can dig in.”

Li Jia watched as Ye Chengxing scooped rice into two bowls using a flat, spoon-like utensil.

When she reached out to carry them, Ye Chengxing beat her to it. “I’ve got them. We just need chopsticks…”

Here, she turned to Li Jia, her eyes sparkling like stars. They seemed to shine with genuine warmth. “Mind grabbing those for us?”

The chopsticks were right there on the counter. Li Jia picked them up and noticed Ye Chengxing hadn’t moved an inch. Only when Li Jia approached did she finally start walking, as if she had been waiting.

In that moment, a subtle warmth—like the feeling of home—stirred unexpectedly in Li Jia’s chest.

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

At the same time, she ruthlessly suppressed the sensation.

She tried to convince herself that it was all just this woman’s cunning ploy, another layer of manipulation. But that nagging sense of dissonance refused to fade.

She couldn’t help wondering:

Was it really? Were all of Ye Chengxing’s actions nothing more than a scheme to lure her in and toy with her?

If she hadn’t been so convinced from the start that Ye Chengxing was that depraved monster, these past few days of interactions would have painted a picture of nothing but sincere kindness.

That night at the banquet, there had been no disgusting advances—just a trip to the hospital. During her hospital stay, Ye Chengxing had cared for her attentively. On the day of discharge, she had brought flowers and even bought her a phone.

She had asked if Li Jia wanted to go back to school and, upon hearing yes, arranged everything: a new school, private tutors. In her own villa, she had granted Li Jia full owner-level access, letting her do as she pleased. Today, she had bought ingredients and cookware, rolled up her sleeves, and actually prepared a proper meal.

Li Jia knew about Ye Chengxing’s bizarre fetishes, so in the early days, she hadn’t dwelled on any of it. A single glance at the woman had filled her with revulsion and suspicion. But now, the more she thought about it, the more dissonant it all felt—especially the cooking.

And it wasn’t just that. Ye Chengxing had always worn a string of Buddhist beads on her wrist in their previous life, rarely taking them off. Yet now, the Alpha’s wrist was bare. Her tastes had shifted dramatically too. The villa’s decor was nothing like before—it was utterly transformed, polar opposites in style.

What could cause such a complete change in personality?

Or… what if this life’s Ye Chengxing wasn’t the same person as the one from before? If that were true, then what world had she actually been reborn into?

Li Jia frowned at the whirlwind of possibilities crowding her mind.

It was just too off.

That sense of wrongness reached its peak the moment she tasted Ye Chengxing’s cooking.

Seeing Li Jia freeze mid-motion, Ye Chengxing assumed something was wrong with the flavor. She quickly took a bite herself.

She had no idea Li Jia was starting to suspect something, nor any intention of hiding her skills. Her transmigration had landed her at the perfect moment: right at the original host’s first encounter with Li Jia. Even if Li Jia noticed differences from the rumors, it shouldn’t raise alarms—she had never actually met the original Ye Chengxing before, let alone gotten to know her.

Ye Chengxing savored her bite. The taste was spot on: perfectly seasoned, with an ideal texture. Thanks to the advanced equipment and premium ingredients, it was even better than what she had made back in her own world.

Of course, that was just her opinion. Li Jia might prefer nutrient liquid.

After tasting it, Ye Chengxing looked at her. “Does it not taste good? It’s fine—be honest with me. Tell me what you think, and I’ll adjust it.”

Li Jia met her eyes after a long moment, her gaze a tangled mix of complexity and bewilderment.

“No,” she said softly, her stare unwavering, as if she were peering straight through flesh and bone to the soul beneath. “It’s… too good.”