Sly boy Little aunt is in trouble. The sisters are all surrounding little uncle...

"Hey, it's nothing. Let's go, Xiaobao. Go check how your grandma and little aunt are doing with the cooking."

"Grandpa's going to study this a bit more. When the food's ready, come call me for dinner, okay?"

"Mission guaranteed!"

The youngest son snapped to attention, saluted Old Master Tang, and scurried toward the kitchen. Halfway there, he seemed to think of something, changed direction, and headed out the front gate.

Outside.

Under the crooked-neck tree, the Big Brother was still in his funk, squatting on the ground and drawing circles, looking utterly hopeless.

Ugh, that's not how it went in the TV shows at all. Why doesn't anyone play by the script? Sigh... why did he have to be so glib?

"Big Brother, Big Brother, come quick! Little Aunt says she has something delicious for you!"

The youngest son, clever little rascal, winked and started scheming to trick his Big Brother.

Big Brother froze for a moment, a question mark appearing over his head. "Since when does Little Aunt know how to cook?"

No way? Everyone in the younger generation knew exactly who Tang Yuyao was. The youngest son was born late, so he'd missed out on seeing the laziness of an older single woman, but the other nephews and nieces had witnessed it all too clearly.

Back before the youngest son came along, waking her up was a duty passed around among the nephews and nieces, and it never went well. The girls would be a little gentler, coaxing her with sweet talk, saying, "Just a moment, I'll get up soon." But if it was a boy, she'd yell, "Get lost! Get lost or I'll hit you!"

Ugh...

Little Aunt was the most terrifying presence in the family. Older single women were truly frightening.

It wasn't until the youngest son was born that things changed. All the siblings piled the toughest chores on him—including the wake-up calls. The result? Ten strikes, all failures.

"Forget it, huh? Little Brother, Big Brother's not in the mood. I really can't eat anything." Big Brother shook his head, looking mournful. Even if he did go eat, it would feel like chewing wax.

The youngest son panicked. If he couldn't trick his Big Brother into going, he'd end up being the taste-tester again. He was still young—he wanted to live many more years.

His big brother was already an old fossil; he didn't need to live that much longer...

"Oh come on, Big Brother, hurry up. Little Aunt specifically said she wants you to come. If you don't, I'll tell Dad to cut your allowance."

"Really?" Big Brother perked up and tossed the stick in his hand.

"Little Brother, you're not messing with me, are you?" Big Brother raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious. That tiny figure in front of him just didn't seem right.

"How could I, Big Brother? I wouldn't lie to you!" The youngest son blinked, putting on his best honest face.

Big Brother still didn't buy it. Something fishy was definitely going on.

"Fine, don't come then. Little Aunt won't come after me anyway." The youngest son used reverse psychology, muttering as he headed back toward the house.

He left Big Brother outside, hesitating.

After a long pause, Big Brother finally went in. Seeing that his Little Brother hadn't gone far, he called out.

"Little Brother, where are Little Aunt and the others?"

"There, in the kitchen." The youngest son pointed casually.

Big Brother walked over without a second thought. A moment later...

"Little Aunt, did you want to see me?"

"See you? When did I ever call you? Who told you that?"

"Uh... never mind. I must have heard wrong. You and Grandma keep at it. I'm going to do my homework."

"Oh, since you're here, why not taste this tomato and egg dish I made. Eat it before you do your homework. By the way, where are your little brother and sister? I haven't seen them."

"Never mind, eat first. I'll save them a portion."

Big Brother was speechless.

Staring at the lump of black, sticky, goopy stuff his Little Aunt handed him, which gave off a pungent, eye-watering smell, Big Brother took a big step back.

Dawn broke—he'd been tricked by his Little Brother!

Was this even edible?

Especially when he saw his Little Aunt's hopeful expression, Big Brother was caught in a dilemma. In the end, he mustered his courage and took a bite. Instantly, his life flashed before his eyes.

What is this... it feels so nice... I must be dying.

Big Brother was speechless.

"Blegh... cough, cough... Grandma, save me... Aaaah!" Big Brother clutched his throat, thrashed on the ground a few times, and passed out cold.

Tang Yuyao was speechless.

Tang's Mother was speechless.

"Come on, is it really that bad? That's so unfair!" Tang Yuyao pouted, clearly annoyed.

Didn't the TV say that if you put your heart into it, you could make delicious food? She'd put in so much effort, so why was the result still like this?

Was she really just not talented?

Tang's Mother patted her. "It's okay, Eldest daughter. It's much better than last time. At least... this time, you remembered to wash the ingredients."

Tang Yuyao was speechless.

"Mom, that doesn't really sound like a compliment."

"How could it be, Eldest daughter? You're overthinking it. Come on, let's keep going. We'll definitely make something edible by tonight."

"But what about this dish?"

"Save it for your father. That man will eat anything—he's not picky."

"Good point! Let's keep at it!" Tang Yuyao's fighting spirit was rekindled.

Outside, Old Master Tang was still studying his chessboard, completely absorbed, unaware of how much time had passed or what he was about to face in a few hours.

The youngest son crept over and peeked in. He saw his Big Brother lying on the ground, suffering the same fate he had before. He sucked in a cold breath.

"Whew... good thing I didn't go over. Big Brother, rest in peace."

Without a sound, the youngest son slipped out, his head swiveling as he thought hard before heading toward the homework room.

He charged right in.

Perfect timing. Their teacher had left them a couple of math problems. Maybe Uncle-in-law could help with those.

Inside.

"Uncle-in-law, you..."

The little girl who had been pestering Ye Cheng to do her test paper earlier was stunned. In less than five minutes, he'd finished it, and even grabbed time to explain problems to the others.

The reason she hesitated was that Ye Cheng, just like when he played chess outside, didn't seem to think at all. He read the questions once and wrote the answers straight out. It took a bit longer for the big problems only because he had to write out the steps.

Oh, and by the way—the final, supposedly hardest problem from their teacher? Ye Cheng nailed it instantly.

Remembering what had happened with Ye Cheng before, the little girl didn't rush to challenge him. Instead, she pulled out her phone, took a picture, and started checking the answers one by one.

Half a minute later...

"Uncle-in-law, how did you do that? All correct!" The little girl's eyes bugged out as if she'd seen a ghost.

Even their school's teachers weren't this sharp. They were nowhere near Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng leaned over and glanced. "This stuff is super easy. Just one look and you've got it."

The others were speechless.

"Solved it in seconds? I didn't even understand the question, and you, Uncle-in-law, just solved it like that?"

Ye Cheng had once again shown his extraordinary side—a wild genius. The few girls there lost all interest in studying, crowding around Ye Cheng, asking all sorts of questions, enthusiastically clinging to him.

"Uncle-in-law, what score did you get on the college entrance exam? You're amazing!"

"Over seven hundred," Ye Cheng said, choosing a relatively modest answer.

"Wow... over seven hundred exactly how much? Uncle-in-law, are you one of those super-geniuses people talk about online, like those academic gods who intentionally lose one point in each subject just to avoid a perfect score?"

Ye Cheng: "..."

"Kids these days shouldn't read so many novels."

How did everyone become so sharp these days?

If this kept up, even his underwear color would be exposed.

Even though Ye Cheng said that, the girls weren't discouraged. Since he denied that, they could ask about something else!

Nearby, the youngest son had been waiting in line for a long time and found it was never his turn. He grew anxious: "Sis, save me a spot, I need to ask too, sis..."

Call after call of "sis" didn't stir any sisterly affection in them.

They didn't even glance at the youngest son.

The youngest son: "..."

Fine, you forced my hand!

He grabbed his arithmetic workbook and ran straight out the door, heading toward the kitchen. When he got there, he sped up and shouted:

"Something terrible! Little Aunt, something terrible!"

Tang Yuyao: "???"

Tang Yuyao stopped what she was doing: "Little Fatty, what's wrong? Your aunt is just fine. Come on, tell me—oh, and here, eat this dish I just cooked with love."

The youngest son: "..."

Gulp. He swallowed hard, fear showing in his eyes, but he mustered some courage for once.

"Little Aunt, Uncle-in-law can't get away right now."

Tang Yuyao raised an eyebrow: "Can't get away? What do you mean? Isn't he supposed to be tutoring your brothers and sisters?"

"Yeah, I couldn't even get a turn! My sisters wouldn't save me a spot—they're all crammed around Uncle-in-law. Little Aunt, how do you solve this problem?"

The youngest son babbled on, but Tang Yuyao only caught a few key phrases: "all my sisters," "crammed around him," "wouldn't save me a spot."

Tang Yuyao: "???"

As soon as she heard that, a vivid image formed in her mind, and her expression darkened, her panic growing visibly.

Compared to her, her nieces were closer in age to Ye Cheng!

Here she was cooking dinner, while Ye Cheng was crowded in a room with all her nieces...

NO!!!

Tang Yuyao shuddered in fright, frantically pulling off her apron: "Mom, you handle this; I have something to take care of!"

"Ah? What, dear? What did you say..."

When Tang's Mother turned around, the girl was already gone. She was left alone in the kitchen—oh no, wait—along with her little grandson, who was still holding his workbook.

"Xiaobao, where did your Little Aunt go?" Tang's Mother asked.

The youngest son shook his head: "She probably went to help Uncle-in-law tutor my sisters with their homework."

Tang's Mother: "..."

At that, she instantly understood what was going on. It was their eldest daughter worrying about someone from the family stealing a march on her. How could that be? Her granddaughters were so young, how could they possibly...

No, actually, they could!

Tang's Mother suddenly realized that Ye Cheng was barely an adult. When it came to age gaps, her granddaughters actually had the advantage.

No wonder she was panicking!

Tang's Mother took off her apron and followed behind them. The youngest son trailed after her, holding his workbook: "Wait for me, Grandma, Little Aunt..."

In the courtyard,

Old Master Tang was still staring at the unfinished chess game...