The Young Miss Deliberately Throws the Match, Prophecy Comes True, and the Scheming Head Maid Makes Her Move

Kitchen.

Boom—

Flames surged high as Ye Cheng flipped the wok, while a pot beside him simmered with seafood soup.

Cooking was supposed to be the Head Maid's job, but Ye Cheng's phone had been snatched by the young miss who was obsessed with farm work. He'd originally planned to borrow her phone to scroll through some brain-numbing short videos.

Who knew—the young miss hadn't even downloaded any apps.

A smartphone, reduced to a basic old-person phone by her. Quite the waste, really.

In modern society, a young person's best purchase is always their phone—nothing else even comes close. Ye Cheng was a prime example, once setting a terrifying record of 72 hours without sleep.

That wasn't Ye Cheng's limit—that was the phone battery giving out.

Only Ye Cheng's phones deserved to be called "burned to the ground." The young miss's phones had all been pampered, never once overworked.

She was living too comfortably. Time to crank up the battery usage, and play hard!

After installing a few decent apps on Shen Qinghan's phone—just a hundred gigs or so—Ye Cheng scurried into the kitchen to take refuge. Once they finished downloading, it'd be just about dinner time. Genius!

Flames burned steadily as all sorts of premium, fresh ingredients transformed into one delicious dish after another, their aroma filling the air.

The Head Maid had little to do—just a dessert and a papaya soup. Ye Cheng was handling two woks and a clay pot stew on his own, a picture of authority.

His cooking style was bold and unrestrained, like something from a roadside food stall, yet the final product looked like it belonged in a high-end Western restaurant.

The contrast was so surreal that the Head Maid just stared, dumbfounded. This was... rough yet refined?

Ye Cheng knew more than he let on.

The Head Maid knew Ye Cheng had a grab bag of skills, but not to this extent. She'd thought he could just make edible food, but now... it wasn't just edible—it was delicious. Exquisite, even.

She gently picked up a piece of stir-fried squid tentacle with her chopsticks.

The moment it touched her lips, the taste of the ocean hit her—charred aroma, red wine notes, and the natural sweetness of the squid itself... All these distinct flavors perfectly fused together.

The Head Maid's eyes lit up, sparkling.

Delicious!

"Wait... isn't squid only sweet when it's fresh sashimi? Why is this stir-fried version sweet too?" the Head Maid asked, staring at Ye Cheng in confusion.

She was a nutritionist and a chef herself, in full command of ingredient characteristics. She knew them by heart.

What shocked and bewildered her was that the ingredient seemed to defy common sense. That crunch and sweetness felt more like sashimi than stir-fried fish.

But it was definitely cooked, along with all the aromas of the seasonings...

It was strange. Very strange.

"No clue. I just stir-fried it a couple times and it turned out this way."

Ye Cheng blinked, putting on his most "innocent" face.

No clue, my ass—he knew exactly why. His system had just flexed.

After all, his cooking skill had already reached master level at this point. If he had to convert it... it'd be the peak of humanity, right?

Random handy life skills.

[Cooking: Grandmaster! (Human Limit)]

Yeah... You know what? Gotta hand it to the system—at least it was considerate enough to tell him this was the human limit. Good to know it still saw him as somewhat human.

Because Ye Cheng was a natural talent, he had "a bit" of a diverse range of weird life hacks—the kind normal folks would never think of.

By his calculation: beginner, proficient, master—each stage took him about a week. For daily stuff like cooking, that familiarity meter had maxed out who-knows-how-long ago.

Later, his system powered up, granting him the grand "Heavenly Blessing" power, and Ye Cheng easily breezed past the master-level threshold.

The moment he touched the pan, twisted black text flashed in front of his face—congrats, master level reached...

He'd been expecting something grand. Turns out... this was it?

Ye Cheng picked up a squid tentacle with his finger, tossed it in his mouth, and chewed: "Mm, not bad."

The Head Maid: "..."

"How did you manage this? I want to learn—can you teach me?" For the first time ever, the Head Maid voiced such active enthusiasm. She stepped half a step closer and wrapped her arms around Ye Cheng's.

Her eyes were burning with a desire to learn and improve.

Cooking was too important. Most people only reach an average level. Going further required stricter ingredient selection—in other words, deep pockets.

Everyone seemed to hit a wall at the same point. Everyone was stuck on the same level, merely tinkering with variations and garnishes.

Breakthroughs in quality seemed impossible.

But Ye Cheng took one look at that wall and just stepped right over it. The Head Maid was green with envy!

Ye Cheng's eyes widened. He looked down, swallowed hard, and said, "Xiaxia, don't think bribing me like this will make me teach you!"

"Won't it work?" The Head Maid didn't release his arm. Her eyes were still full of anticipation, practically begging with an unspoken "Pleeeease?"

The Head Maid was remarkably flexible when it came to swallowing her pride!

Of course... only when it came to Ye Cheng.

Because the Head Maid was a lovesick romantic. In the privacy of an enclosed space like this, she easily slipped into her softer, girlish side. And when she deployed her charms... she was quite the expert.

"Cough, cough—we're bros! I'm not that kind of person!" Ye Cheng stated seriously, trying to hold his ground.

The Head Maid blinked, as if a faint understanding crossed her mind. She took another small step closer, the corner of her lips curling up...

"It's okay, the young miss won't—YOUNG MISS!!!"

The Head Maid was brewing the mood, her gaze softening, about to whisper some flirtatious line when she suddenly spotted the young miss at the doorway, pitifully crouched there.

Terror filled her eyes as she pounded on the door.

"Help, Xiaxia! Xiaxia, waaaah..." Xia Tongxin was on the verge of tears.

The Head Maid: "???"

Just like that, the romantic tension shattered. The lovesick persona logged off, and Ice-Queen Xiaxia took the stage!

Shwoosh.

The Head Maid quickly slid open the glass partition door. Xia Tongxin rushed in, hiding behind the Head Maid as if something terrifying were outside.

The Head Maid's heart sank. She knew their young miss could end up in trouble, but she hadn't expected it this fast.

Ugh...

The Head Maid took a deep breath, composed herself, and stepped out, ready to back her miss up—even if it meant facing down an unbeatable mafia heiress!

She walked out of the kitchen into the main hall...

Huh?

Where was everyone?

A question mark popped over the Head Maid's head. She scanned the room, found no one, then walked toward the sofa in the living room. Faintly, she heard the kill effects from a video game.

She just happened to walk over, and just then, the screen on the young lady's phone went black again—it had died on her once more.

Head Maid: “...”

For some reason, she felt the temperature around her drop even further. Shen Qinghan seemed to sense something and glanced back at the Head Maid.

“Is there something?” Shen Qinghan's tone was cold and distant.

Head Maid: “...”

“Uh... nothing, it's almost time to eat, don't forget to wash your hands.” The Head Maid forced herself to say.

With that much resentment radiating off her, if someone had actually bullied their young lady, she'd probably be sobbing by now—so most likely, nothing like that had happened yet.

However, their young lady had probably said something pretty harsh, and then got glared at by the yakuza princess in front of her.

In an instant, the Head Maid pieced together what had happened outside—because their young lady had a rebellious streak... and it was very possible she'd mocked the girl when her game screen went black.

Head Maid: “...”

Within a few dozen seconds, the young lady revived again and went back to laning. Less than half a minute later, her screen went black again, and she continued typing furiously on her phone.

Tap, tap, tap...

She kept going at it, nonstop, extremely busy.

Head Maid: “...”

No wonder she was so full of resentment—turns out she'd been trash-talked.

And so, the Head Maid also learned the fact that the young lady seemed to be a total disaster at games. She quietly slipped back into the kitchen, planning to turn off the stove and wait until Ye Cheng was done before serving the meal.

Back in the kitchen.

The Head Maid stood outside, staring in silence at her own young lady, who was leaning over the stove, grabbing food with her hands and eating—having already polished off a whole plate.

“Cheng, this tastes so good!”

She said that while continuing to scoop up the freshly stir-fried squid strips with her hands—they were... almost gone. Xia Tongxin was eating with oil dripping down her chin, looking a little messy.

Ye Cheng turned around.

“What the hell, where's my food?!”

His gaze locked onto the “big black rat” that had somehow slipped in—no wait, “big golden rat.”

Damn golden retriever, I gave you an inch and you take a mile! I just finished cooking that dish, and you've already torn through it all!

“Cheng, why are you staring at me? Chew chew chew...” Xia Tongxin looked at Ye Cheng with innocent eyes, then... chew chew chew.

Ye Cheng: “...”

For a moment, all the wrinkles in Ye Cheng's brain smoothed out, as if he were strolling through the Norwegian forest.

Facing this “big golden rat” before him, Ye Cheng let it go. Seriously, why bother arguing with a rat?

It gave him the same helpless feeling he had with the little secretary.

Ye Cheng sighed, handed the plate of squid strips—which was still being picked at—to Xia Tongxin: “Here, go play somewhere else. Eat any more on the sly and I'll smack you.”

After that, he started making a new batch. The Head Maid, quick on her feet, slipped in through that gap.

She began secretly learning from him.

As for Xia Tongxin... chew chew chew.

Pair her up with the little secretary, and they could debut as the “Dumb Duo”—one hamster, one rat, one big, one small...

Head Maid: Learning +1 +1 +1...

Out in the living room, the young lady was still in high-intensity trash-talk mode. Her typing speed was getting faster—she could already trash-talk all four teammates at once. Now that's talent!

A moment later.

“Boom!”

“Defeat!”

With the crystal exploding, the game ended once again. It wasn't just the phone screen that was red—the young lady's face was, too.

Just then, it was time to eat. The Head Maid had already finished preparing the dishes and placed them on the table. Xia Tongxin was still in the kitchen snacking on the side, chewing endlessly, while trying to see if she could sneak a few bites of the fresh dishes being made.

Unfortunately, all attempts failed. Ye Cheng's anti-theft system was way too strong—before her hand even got close, she got smacked twice with the chopsticks.

“Ugh... I don't even want it!” Xia Tongxin whimpered, covering her hand pitifully, insisting with stubbornness.

“Shoo, shoo, go play somewhere else.”

Ye Cheng finished the last dish—plated it, turned off the stove, and headed toward the living room.

Living room.

“Hey, young lady, why aren't you playing anymore?” Ye Cheng asked.

“Time to eat.” Shen Qinghan sat in her seat, expression calm.

“Oh, right...” Ye Cheng didn't think much of it and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

Hmm?

Was it his imagination, or did his phone feel a little... bent? Yeah, probably just his imagination.

He opened his phone.

Ye Cheng: “???”

“Young lady, why did my account get banned?” Ye Cheng's eyes went wide as he stared at the flood of credit-deduction notifications and the ban message in his backend.

Intentional feeding, suspected match-fixing, malicious rank dropping.

Ye Cheng: “???”

“No idea.” Shen Qinghan said flatly.

Ye Cheng: “???”