In the kitchen.
Chu Qingqing manipulated the metal, melting the kitchen knife and then reforming it into a spiral blade. Rat-a-tat-tat, she quickly cut the washed kale and cabbage into evenly sized thin strips.
"What a convenient ability," Cheng Jinyang remarked from the side, once again expressing his amazement.
"My metal manipulation can achieve an accuracy of 0.01 mm," Chu Qingqing proudly explained. "Anything that a lathe can process, my ability can also do."
"That's amazing," this time his tone sounded a bit flat.
Miss Qingqing didn't mind. She just brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled:
"Is Sister Xinnan your real sister? You don't look very much alike…"
"She's not my real sister," Cheng Jinyang replied.
"Then, a sworn sister?" Chu Qingqing probed.
"Sort of."
Chu Qingqing: ???
Yes is yes, no is no. What do you mean by 'sort of'?
However, she obviously understood that Cheng Jinyang was deliberately being vague, so she didn't continue to ask futile questions and simply changed the topic:
"Is the oil hot enough?"
"It's hot, it's starting to smoke."
"Then I'll add the vegetables."
She poured the chopped kale and cabbage into the pot. Chu Qingqing manipulated the metal once more, and the surface at the bottom of the pot immediately transformed into flowing molten iron, wrapping around the surface of the vegetables.
Super Uniform Heating Method!
In just one and a half minutes, all the vegetables were fully steamed.
Chu Qingqing turned off the heat at the right moment, picked up a piece of cabbage with chopsticks, brought it to Cheng Jinyang's mouth, and said with a charming smile:
"Ah~"
Cheng Jinyang calmly reached out his fingers, pulled the cabbage shreds from the chopsticks, ignored Miss Qingqing's annoyed expression, and stuffed them into his mouth to chew:
"Mm, crunchy, cooked just right."
In the living room, Princess Nankang stared at the kitchen for a long time, then said with a smile:
"That girl is quite enthusiastic."
Enthusiastic? More like scheming, I bet.
Xing Yuanzhi thought to herself but didn't say it out loud.
No matter how scheming Chu Qingqing was, she was still a member of the four-person team for now, and Xing Yuanzhi wouldn't expose internal conflicts to Princess Nankang.
Wang Wanrou, on the other hand, was completely lost in thought, not reading her book, her gaze idly fixed on random spots, like the ceiling, the walls, or the floor.
Whenever someone spoke to her, she would snap back to reality at lightning speed, respond, and then continue daydreaming.
Daydreaming.
Noticing that Wang Wanrou seemed a bit off, Xing Yuanzhi went over and asked:
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing."
Alright then, Miss Wang has her own little secrets. If she doesn't want to talk about them, so be it.
Under Chu Qingqing's fully automated knife skills and molten iron cooking methods, a whole table of dishes was soon ready. It was an impressive and extremely sumptuous spread.
Cheng Jinyang was in the kitchen washing the pot while the four girls sat at the table, looking at each other without moving their chopsticks, and there were no smiles on their faces.
The atmosphere at the table was extremely cold, and no one seemed willing to break the silence.
Cheng Jinyang finished washing the pot, left the kitchen with chopsticks in hand, and asked curiously:
"Huh, why isn't anyone eating? Go ahead and eat!"
So everyone put their smiles back on, invited Cheng Jinyang to sit down, and started picking up food.
Xing Yuanzhi ate slowly, taking small bites. After eating just half a bowl, she put down her chopsticks, making people wonder if her stomach was smaller than average.
Wang Wanrou, on the other hand, ate in a calm and composed manner. She picked up food, chewed, and swallowed with such grace and fluidity that it was pleasing to watch.
Princess Nankang ate in a more normal fashion, but this time she seemed to have a poor appetite, putting down her chopsticks after eating only half a bowl. She then lowered her head and started playing with her phone.
Only Chu Qingqing had a hearty appetite. While maintaining proper etiquette, she ate quickly, primarily focusing on meat and completely ignoring vegetables, showcasing her extremely unhealthy preference for a heavy meat diet.
As Chu Qingqing picked out the meat, Cheng Jinyang ate the remaining vegetables. In about twenty minutes, they had cleared most of the dishes.
After eating and drinking to their fill, he stood up, gathered the bowls and plates, and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. The atmosphere in the living room once again dropped below freezing point. Everyone looked at each other, but no one intended to speak first.
The four young women present belonged to royal, third-grade, fourth-grade, and fifth-grade noble families, respectively, with completely different social standings.
Without Cheng Jinyang, their relationship would at most be an encounter at some social occasion, where they would exchange a few polite but superficial words, and that would be it.
Of course, pretending to be polite is not impossible either, as social etiquette is essentially about teaching people how to hide their true emotions and engage in insincere interactions with unfamiliar strangers.
However, the reason for the current awkward atmosphere was that a certain man, due to various coincidences, had seen through the true selves hidden behind their masks. With this person present, it felt very strange for everyone to put on their masks and speak hypocritically.
A long silence ensued.
"Heh." Wang Wanrou suddenly laughed.
"Wanrou, what are you laughing at?" Princess Nankang asked coldly.
"I'm laughing at my own peerless beauty, which has left everyone here speechless. It's quite amusing," Wang Wanrou said with contempt, taking out a mirror and admiring herself.
Everyone: ......
Not to mention your beauty, your shamelessness indeed leaves us speechless.
"It's still early. How about we go out for a walk?" Princess Nankang suggested with a smile.
"Sounds good, sounds good," Chu Qingqing responded first.
"We don't have anything planned for tonight anyway..." Xing Yuanzhi thought for a moment and then nodded.
After finishing washing the dishes, Cheng Jinyang came out to see the three girls and Princess Nankang already gathered at the door, putting on their shoes.
"Jinyang, we're going shopping, are you coming along?" Chu Qingqing invited him.
"Oh, um, the synthetic person is coming to clean later, so I'll stay home and let them in," Cheng Jinyang hastily coughed and said.
Accompanying a woman shopping is scarier than battling demons in a nightmare. After all, with demons, you still have a chance to kill them, but with women shopping... it's like trying to hold back eight bulls with your bare hands, truly powerless.
"Hehe~" Chu Qingqing covered her mouth and chuckled.
After the four girls left the house, Cheng Jinyang felt an unusual silence lingering at home, a slight discomfort.
It's strange.
He had lived alone for three years before, and he should have been used to it, but since Miss Ah Zhi came, he almost effortlessly adapted to the new life of living with someone.
Then there was Miss Wang and Miss Qingqing, more and more people moved into the house, but he remained oblivious. It wasn't until everyone left this time that Cheng Jinyang suddenly realized that his life had been completely changed by them.
Entering the bedroom, he saw two beds, one large and one small, and there was even a sleeping bag on the floor of the corridor.
In order to make room for the bedding, the wardrobe, bedside table, mirror, and everything else that occupied space had all been moved to the second bedroom. Despite this, sleeping four people still seemed too cramped.
But if we sleep in separate rooms, there's no way to access the dream realm. When we were in the Cheng clan's territory before, we tested it out. The two girls slept in the adjacent guest room, just 1-2 meters away from Cheng Jinyang, yet they still slept soundly without dreams.
Ah Zhi suspects it's because the signal is blocked by the walls... So, should we demolish the wall between the guest room and the master bedroom? Combining the two bedrooms into one, sleeping eight people should be fine, right?
Of course, I don't mean adding new people, just that squeezing four people into one bedroom is too cramped, and I want it to be more spacious.
With such thoughts, Cheng Jinyang heard the doorbell ringing outside.
Oh, the housekeeping synthetic person is here.