The Black Lotus Villainess Only Wants To Possess Me - Chapter 11

After saying that, Ye Chengxing withdrew her gaze and remained silent. She worried that repeating her words would only make Li Jia feel more awkward.

Li Jia glanced at the chair Xiao Bai had brought in, then slowly shifted her gaze to Ye Chengxing.

The mocking smile that had lingered on her lips gradually faded as she watched Ye Chengxing handle the ingredients with effortless skill.

The Alpha moved with practiced ease, as if she had performed this task countless times before.

The more Li Jia watched, the more her gaze sharpened.

In the final days before her rebirth, she had invested all her assets in an orphanage and hired a gourmet chef. She had often observed the chef at work.

The chef she had hired for the orphanage was considered among the best in the field, yet Li Jia was certain that even that culinary master couldn’t match Ye Chengxing’s effortless proficiency.

A faint sense of unease suddenly surfaced in Li Jia’s heart.

Could Ye Chengxing cook in her previous life?

She was certain that the Ye Chengxing of her past life absolutely could not.

Even if she could, this level of skill would require daily practice and dedication.

Li Jia didn’t sit in the chair Ye Chengxing had Xiao Bai fetch for her. Instead, she stood behind the Alpha, watching her silhouette as her mind raced with conflicting thoughts.

Had Ye Chengxing been hiding her skills all along, or…?

Could she have been reborn too?

But Li Jia immediately dismissed both possibilities.

If Ye Chengxing truly possessed such culinary talent, she would have boasted about it to the world, not kept it hidden.

Rebirth seemed equally unlikely. Given Ye Chengxing’s extreme self-preservation instincts, having already died at Li Jia’s hands once, she would have surely chosen to eliminate Li Jia immediately upon being reborn, rather than engaging in all these elaborate schemes.

What exactly went wrong?

Thanks to the ultra-efficient kitchen equipment, Ye Chengxing finished preparing everything in under twenty minutes.

This included the time she spent familiarizing herself with the unfamiliar appliances. Next time, she’d definitely be even faster.

The freshly cooked dishes still steamed, their fragrant aromas lingering in the air. Ye Chengxing finally felt a flicker of appetite as the familiar scents filled her senses.

Although people in this world rarely cooked, the raw ingredients were of exceptional quality, radiating an irresistible fragrance.

Xiao Bai carried the dishes to the dining table one by one.

With the food served, Ye Chengxing asked Li Jia to wait at the table while she dished out the rice. But Li Jia remained motionless, gazing at her with an inscrutable expression Ye Chengxing couldn’t quite decipher.

Ever since she started cooking, Ye Chengxing had noticed Li Jia’s gaze following her every move. She assumed Li Jia was simply fascinated by watching someone cook—after all, in this world, knowing how to cook was indeed a rare and novel skill.

Li Jia confirmed her assumption, though her tone carried a deeper meaning: “Sister, I never knew you could cook! You’re amazing.”

Ye Chengxing, oblivious to the hidden implications, felt a little embarrassed by the compliment.

To Ye Chengxing, it was just cooking a meal.

She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s nothing, really. I’m not even sure if it’s to your taste.”

As she spoke, she opened the device she used as a rice cooker to check on the rice.

The rice was perfectly steamed.

A faint smile crept onto Ye Chengxing’s face. “It’s getting late. Let’s serve the rice and start lunch.”

Li Jia watched as Ye Chengxing used a flat, spoon-like utensil to scoop the rice into bowls.

Once both bowls were filled, Li Jia reached out to take one, but Ye Chengxing had already picked them up. “I’ll carry these. But I haven’t gotten the chopsticks yet…”

She glanced at Li Jia, her eyes sparkling with a starry smile. “Could you grab the chopsticks for me?”

The chopsticks were within easy reach. Li Jia retrieved them and noticed Ye Chengxing was still standing there, waiting. Only after Li Jia approached with the chopsticks did Ye Chengxing resume walking, as if she had been waiting for her.

A subtle feeling, something akin to home, suddenly stirred within Li Jia’s heart.

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

At the same time, she subtly suppressed those delicate emotions, burying them deep within her heart.

Li Jia tried to convince herself that everything was just part of the woman’s manipulative tactics, but the nagging sense of unease refused to dissipate.

She couldn’t help but wonder inwardly:

Is that really all it is? Are all of Ye Chengxing’s actions merely calculated moves to capture and toy with me?

If she hadn’t been so firmly convinced that Ye Chengxing was a degenerate monster, based solely on their interactions over the past few days, the woman seemed genuinely kind and caring.

On the night of the banquet, Ye Chengxing hadn’t done anything repulsive. Instead, she had carried Li Jia to the hospital and meticulously cared for her during her stay. On the day of her discharge, she even brought flowers and bought her a new phone.

When Li Jia expressed her desire to return to school, Ye Chengxing immediately helped her find a school and hired a private tutor. Despite it being her own villa, she granted Li Jia full owner privileges, allowing her to do whatever she pleased without restriction. Today, she had even bought groceries and kitchenware to personally cook a meal—and actually managed to pull it off.

Li Jia knew Ye Chengxing had some peculiar habits, so she hadn’t given these actions much thought at first. After all, just looking at the woman made her feel disgusted and insincere. But the more she pondered, the more unsettling it became, especially the fact that Ye Chengxing could cook.

It wasn’t just these things. Li Jia clearly remembered that Ye Chengxing always wore a string of Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist, rarely taking them off. But now, the Alpha’s wrist was completely bare. Her preferences seemed to have changed as well; the villa’s decor was strikingly different from what Li Jia remembered, almost the complete opposite.

What circumstances could cause such a drastic change in someone’s personality?

Or… could it be that the Ye Chengxing of this life was an entirely different person from the Ye Chengxing of her previous life? If so, to which world had she been reborn?

Li Jia frowned slightly at the sudden surge of chaotic thoughts.

This was all too incongruous.

And this sense of incongruity reached its peak when she tasted the dishes Ye Chengxing had prepared.

Seeing Li Jia’s sudden stillness, Ye Chengxing assumed there was something wrong with the food and quickly took a bite herself.

She had no idea that Li Jia had already noticed something amiss, nor did she feel any need to conceal her actions. The timing of her arrival was perfect, coinciding with the original body’s first encounter with Li Jia. Even if Li Jia noticed differences between her and the rumors, she wouldn’t suspect anything deeper, since Li Jia had never met the original body before, let alone gotten to know her.

Ye Chengxing took a bite and found the flavor perfect—the saltiness and texture were just right. In fact, thanks to the advanced equipment and high-quality ingredients of this world, the dish tasted even better than the ones she used to make herself before transmigrating.

But that was just her opinion. Li Jia might still prefer nutrient solution.

After tasting it, Ye Chengxing turned to Li Jia. “Do you think it’s not very good? It’s okay, don’t be shy to tell me. Let me know what you think, and I’ll improve it.”

Hearing Ye Chengxing’s question, Li Jia looked up at her, her gaze carrying an indescribable complexity and strangeness.

“No,” Li Jia said softly after a long pause, still not breaking eye contact, as if trying to pierce through her surface and see her soul. “It’s… too delicious.”