When they were back at the villa, the others had already arranged the kitchen supplies in order.
Xia An was in a bit of a bind as she watched Sheng Zhi Yan place the shopping bags down and looked at the snacks in her arms.
She bought it herself, but she found it embarrassing to bring it back to her room.
However, she didn't have a favorable impression of the majority of the guests on the show. She was quite reluctant to give it to those who did not like her.
Her troubled brows knitted together.
Su Wan was keenly aware of Xia An's expression. The corners of her mouth quirked upwards and she deliberately asked, "An An, you can put down the snacks in your arms. How tiring it'll be for you."
When Xia An heard it, she was even more reluctant to put the snacks down.
By putting it down, wouldn't it be for Su Wan and Li Jing Qing to eat them?
Xia An raised her head and looked at Sheng Zhi Yan aggrievedly.
It meant: NPC, quickly think of a way.
Sheng Zhi Yan received the signal in her eyes. The corners of his mouth raised with amusement. His slender hand reached over and picked up her snacks. Without saying a word, he lifted his feet and headed upstairs.
Xia An gave him a huge thumbs up in her heart!
The NPC is just this amazing! He doesn't even need to explain and can directly leave!
Su Wan watched Sheng Zhi Yan's movements. Her face reddened and then paled for a while.
It seemed that she spoke too much just now.
It turned out that the snacks belonged to Sheng Zhi Yan.
All of the groceries were bought and several of the guests were engaged in preparing lunch.
This was what Su Wan was good at, so she immediately took most of the work.
Another female guest, Lin Xue, felt sorry to inconvenience her. Lin Xue said, "How can I let you do it alone? Let's work together, I can do something simple."
Su Wan smiled and looked up to see Xia An sitting on the sofa, struggling to peel the grapefruit.
She appeared to be very unskilled.
There was a faint glint in her eyes. Su Wan said with a smile, "Okay then. By the way, An An, do you want to join us?"
The movements of Xia An's hands abruptly paused.
What? Why cue[1] her? Does she look like she knows how to cook?
The original owner also doesn't know!
Xia An tried to control the corners of her mouth to ensure that it didn't droop. She looked at the camera and could only head to the kitchen.
In the original novel, there was also a big cooking contest.
That was the highlight of the female lead, Su Wan.
The original owner could not bear to see Li Jing Qing helping Su Wan in the kitchen. The original owner took the initiative to ask to cook. In the end, she failed miserably. In contrast, Su Wan fiercely won over many fans. Her image in the male lead's heart also improved.
Ay, she truly just wanted to peel the grapefruit. Why can't she avoid it?
Moreover, if you want to showcase your cooking skills, so be it. What has that got to do with her?
Xia An entered the kitchen with her lips pursed.
The kitchen was very big. Li Jing Qing, Su Wan, Lin Xue and Xia An were inside. It didn't feel crowded at all.
Before Xia An could move, Su Wan handed her a fresh fish—which startled her.
"An An, you can do this. It's easier." Su Wan smiled and stuffed the fish into Xia An's hand.
Xia An held onto the fish and didn't dare to move.
This fish is not completely dead yet!
It's still moving!
Su Wan was very satisfied as she saw Xia An's expression. She said, "An An, I will leave this dish to you. You can do it, right?"
The corners of Xia An's mouth flattened.
What could she say when she was being asked if she could do it in front of the live broadcasting cameras?
If she dared to say "no", she would be in the hot search tonight for being a big shot or too lazy to work.
She knew it too well.
In her current situation, if she dared to refuse to handle this fish, she would definitely be defamed by the whole internet.
Her bad luck value might increase instead of decrease.
In addition, Su Wan is just waiting for her to lose her temper and refuse to do it, right?
She! Will! Stubbornly! Refuse!
On the other side, Li Jing Qing finished the work in hand and turned around. His brow furrowed when he saw Xia An holding a fish.
When has Xia An cooked before?
He spoke in a cold voice, "An An, don't stir up trouble."
Xia An: Hm??? You tell me clearly, who exactly is stirring up trouble? Don't think you can bully her just because you have the female lead's aura!
She also has a NPC!
Xia An immediately straightened her back and slapped the half-dead fish hard on the board.
The fish was 70% dead.
She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Sheng Zhi Yan: [Kitchen. Danger. Come quickly!]
After she sent out the messages, she stared hard at the fish. She held a kitchen knife in her hand, gritted her teeth and swung the knife up high.
Then, her whole body froze.
(Whimper) She doesn't dare.
Su Wan noticed that she did not move. With a smile, she asked, "An An, is there really no problem? If it's really difficult, you can put it there and I can do it when I'm done."
This sentence successfully provoked the netizens' anger.
[I hate this kind of people who don't want to work. Su Wan is already tired from cooking so many dishes alone, but Xia An still wants Su Wan to help her! Damn it!]
""
[Xia An is so incapable. It's so easy to kill a fish, she just doesn't want to do it. ]
[A conspiracy theory would be Xia An is trying to push all the work to Su Wan, while she lies on the sofa and waits for the time to eat. ]
[Xia An is so shameless, I bet she'll throw the chopper and throw a fit! ]
[+1 to the sister before me, Xia An will definitely throw the chopper! ]
Just when the netizens were having a heated discussion, Sheng Zhi Yan slowly descended the stairs.
He was very busy with his work. Other than the time spent to see what trouble Xia An was causing, he had to deal with official business in his room.
With long legs, he strode to the entrance of the kitchen. His eyes were lowered as he looked inside.
The young girl was holding a kitchen knife with a disgusted look towards the fish on the counter.
It seemed that she was at a loss on where to start.
His aura was so strong that even without speaking, the people around him immediately noticed him. Su Wan immediately lowered her head to him and said with a smile, "President Sheng, what brings you here?"
Who dares to let Sheng Zhi Yan into the kitchen?
As soon as Xia An heard that Sheng Zhi Yan had came, she immediately turned her head and walked up to Sheng Zhi Yan while holding the kitchen knife, appearing aggrieved. "Brother Zhi Yan, do you know how to kill a fish?"
Sheng Zhi Yan was amused as he looked at the young girl holding the kitchen knife in front of him.
To point the kitchen knife towards him?
You're quite gutsy.
On the other side, Su Wan also noticed this. She thought it was a good opportunity and immediately said, "An An, quickly put down the knife. Don't hurt anyone!"
Only then did Xia An realized that she was still holding up the knife.
While she somewhat embarrassedly put the knife down, a slender hand from above gently removed the knife from her hands.
Sheng Zhi Yan indifferently said, "I don't know."
Xia An, "Hm?"
"But it shouldn't be difficult."
[Beep—Bad luck value reduced by five. 967 remaining. ]
Xia An let out a sound, "Eh?"
She avoided the storyline again?
The corners of Sheng Zhi Yan's mouth were slightly curved. He took the knife, walked to Xia An's counter and slightly tilted his head sideways. "Come and help."
Xia An ran over to him with a pitter-patter of her shoes.
Under Sheng Zhi Yan's guidance, Xia An searched for recipes on the Internet and read them to Sheng Zhi Yan.
She actually had some doubts about Sheng Zhi Yan's capabilities.
He also has to look at the recipe, so he is probably similar to her.
But the good thing is that her assistive NPC has a high status. No one will dare to say that the food he makes tastes terrible.
She was somewhat relieved.
As expected, it was her useful golden finger.
Su Wan saw that Sheng Zhi Yan really went over to help and was rather shocked.
This is Sheng Zhi Yan, a person who earns tens of millions of dollars per minute through his business. Why is he helping Xia An?
Su Wan was too shocked. Her eyes uncontrollably drifted over to them. It was so much so that her hands had added salt and sugar a few times without her noticing it.
Xia An recited while helping him, "Put in a moderate amount of salt."
Uh… How much is a 'moderate amount'?
Xia An truly felt that cooking was too difficult. She had no confidence in Sheng Zhi Yan.
Forget it. Forget it. Even if it doesn't taste nice, she will pretend it tastes delicious to give him some face.[2]
After all, he is her NPC.
Xia An assisted Sheng Zhi Yan, while Li Jing Qing—on the other side—looked over.
He did not understand why Sheng Zhi Yan came to help.
He had heard of Sheng Zhi Yan.
Although he was of the same generation as them, he never had any contact with them.
He grew up to be the only heir of the Sheng family, entering various business settings. They were never the same.
Although this person has a remarkable appearance and elegant demeanor, he acts very bold and ruthless when dealing with matters.
He is not someone to be messed with.
So he could never figure out why Xia An would choose him as a partner.
Even if she was afraid of him being angry, she should not have chosen this kind of person.
What he could not understand even more, was that Sheng Zhi Yan would agree.
After bustling about, Sheng Zhi Yan's fish was ready to be eaten.
Xia An noticed that throughout the entire process, Sheng Zhi Yan did not taste to see whether it was salty or bland. She could not help but remind him, "Erm, shouldn't you taste it?"
Her tiny head inched towards above the pot, seemingly trying to smell whether it was salty or bland.
Sheng Zhi Yan looked at her head. The corners of his mouth raised. "I won't."
Then, Xia An shrunk her head back.
Forget it. Forget it. The NPC definitely did not have confidence in himself. I shouldn't discourage him. I will just pretend that it is very tasty later.
It was not until Sheng Zhi Yan walked out of the kitchen that Su Wan was able to focus on cooking.
She kept observing them, fearing that Sheng Zhi Yan was interested in Xia An.
Fortunately, that person seems cold and aloof. He should not have any interest in her.
Moreover, Sheng Zhi Yan will definitely not fancy Xia An since her infamous reputation of having a love-addled brain[3] was well-known.
Su Wan was finally relieved.
Only when she came back to her senses, did she suddenly recall whether or not she had added salt just now?
Soon, lunch was prepared.
A group of people brought all the dishes to the table.
Zhao Lu— the female guest beside Sheng Zhi Yan— saw the fish and exclaimed very exaggeratedly, "Wah! Is this fish made by you, President Sheng? It smells so fragrant!"
Right after that, she looked at Xia An and seemingly unintentionally added, "But Xia An, President Sheng is so busy. You shouldn't let him into the kitchen."
The words were all accusations against Xia An.
Xia An gritted her teeth. Endure!
Zhao Lu saw that Xia An did not speak. The corners of her mouth raised. "Xia An, you also stayed in the kitchen for so long, which dish was made by you?"
Xia An gritted her teeth again.
How could Zhao Lu not know that she didn't know how to cook? Why is she talking in such a sarcastic manner?
It's fine. She has a good temper. Bear with it!
She patiently replied, "I didn't make it."
"Ah!" Zhao Lu seemingly appeared surprised. "You were in the kitchen for so long, I thought half of the dishes were made by you."
The corners of Xia An's mouth pulled down.
Heh. Who are you bullying by being so sarcastic?
"Clang!" She placed her chopsticks down.
Xia An spoke innocently, "I originally wanted to do it."
Zhao Lu immediately said, "But you didn't make it."
Xia An turned around and looked at Sheng Zhi Yan beside her, "Yeah, because Brother Zhi Yan didn't let me do it. He said, 'You have such beautiful hands, how can you touch those things?'"
As she said that, she winked at Sheng Zhi Yan.
That meant: Quick! NPC, it's your time to shine!
Sheng Zhi Yan received her gaze and couldn't help but laugh.
Where in the world did this little girl get the nerve to use him as a prop like this?
But that little girl was completely unaware of what was wrong with her behavior, she was still there squinting her eyes.
On the table, the eight pairs of eyes fell on him in unison.
He slowly put down his chopsticks, slowly wiped his hands and said unhurriedly, "Yes. I said that."