I Am A Prodigy

‘You’re sick. Your entire family is sick[1]!’

Zhao Liangying was aggravated, almost to the point of getting internal injuries.

Like Xiao Feifei, she was a goddess on the silver screen. Moreover, due to Xiao Feifei fading out of the scene, she was considered the number one goddess of the silver screen and the unrequited love interest of many.

However, as much as she felt wronged, she dared not let it out. She could only glare at Ye Lingchen and huffed, “I’m not sick!”

“No, you’re sick!” Ye Lingchen corrected.

“You’re sick!” Zhao Liangying could not hold back any longer and retorted.

“Ying’er, aren’t you suffering from Anorexia? Lingchen is probably talking about that.” Xiao Feifei immediately tried to diffuse the situation. At the same time, she threw a look at Ye Lingchen, signaling him not to bully her best friend.

“She’s not only suffering from Anorexia.” Ye Lingchen looked at Zhao Liangying, continuing, “You’ve been having difficulty sleeping right? Loss of sleep and disturbing dreams. Furthermore, your limbs feel weak and you constantly have headaches.”

“How did you know?” Zhao Liangying no longer made a fuss, but instead looked at Ye Lingchen in shock.

She did not tell anyone about her issues. Even with Xiao Feifei, she had only told her about her Anorexia.

The condition was not considered serious, but it did torment her greatly. Her overall condition was deteriorating quickly, having a fatigued body. Over time, it was almost to the point of breaking her.

“Lingchen, what sickness does Ying’er have?” Xiao Feifei asked.

“Hehe, overactive imagination.” Ye Lingchen smiled faintly. “She’s just overthinking things. I think it stems from her constantly imagining being taken advantage of.”

Although Xiao Feifei and the rest were chatting quite far from him, with Qi Refinement, his hearing and eyesight were greatly increased. He could jest as he had picked up on their conversation.

His words immediately caused Zhao Liangying’s face to turn scarlet. Embarrassed, she opened her mouth, trying to come up with some retort, yet words failed her. She could only angrily turn her head away.

“Alright, let’s get to work and prepare dinner.” Ye Lingchen clapped, losing interest in toying with Zhao Liangying.

Everyone immediately got up. Just the thought of the delicacies they could be tasting brought a look of excitement to their faces, volunteering themselves. “Young Master Ye, what can I do for you?”

“First, go get me a stove.”

“Quick, stove!”

“Who can wash these vegetables?”

“Me, I’ll do it!”

“Where’s the pot? Get me a pot.”

“I’ll go get it right now!”

…

Ye Lingchen sat comfortably where he was as he gave the orders. The others quickly followed them excitedly.

If that scene were to be uploaded to the internet, it would definitely cause quite a stir. The director and celebrities all turned into servants.

Zhao Liangying was staring wide-eyed at the crowd. She was secretly looking down on them. These people were being toady. ‘Isn’t it just a meal? If not for Sister Feifei dragging me here, I won’t even bother coming over.’

“What are you doing sitting there?” Ye Lingchen’s gaze fell upon Zhao Liangying’s disdainful expression.

“I, I…”

“This meal is something your Sister Feifei fought for you,” Ye Lingchen stated calmly. “Go pick up some leaves and sticks by the road. We’re starting a fire!”

‘Starting a fire with sticks?’

‘This is too embarrassing. I, Zhao Liangying, will never do this!’

“Okay.” Zhao Liangying got up, then quietly walked along the path.

Very soon, everything was neatly arranged and prepared in front of Ye Lingchen. Everyone stood around him and observed him attentively.

“Chen Chichi, you’re in charge of fanning the flames,” Ye Lingchen said while nodding lightly after taking a look at the materials and ingredients.

“Aite!” Chen Chichi happily followed his orders. Right then, he gave a condescending look to those around him, filled with pride as he subtly showed off to the crowd.

‘See? I’m the first one Young Master Ye thought of when he needed something. I’m the most helpful person in Young Master Ye’s mind!’

After that, Ye Lingchen ignored the crowd and placed the pot on the stove. He poured in the water and then added some rice into it.

‘This is for cooking porridge?’

The crowd was not totally clueless about cooking and had their own guesses. That unwittingly brought a trace of disappointment into their hearts. What was so good about porridge? Could it make something remarkable like stir fry? Its taste should be quite ordinary as well, right?

Zhao Liangying stared at Ye Lingchen as well with a disgusted look in her eyes. She knew how to cook porridge this way as well. When she felt too lazy to cook, she would make a simple porridge and considered it a meal. Just this simple thing and he had to put up such a show? That was just making a mountain out of a molehill.

With that, Ye Lingchen took the fish out and took a quick measure in his hand. The next instant, with a flash from the knife, a slice of fish flew and floated quietly in the pot!

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat. They only saw a blur, and the fish’s meat was in the pot, just like sliced noodles.

Following that, “swish swish swish”. The crowd felt their eyes blur as the meat on the fish quickly disappeared, leaving only the bones behind. Meanwhile, in the pot, countless fish meat was floating on top of the pot. It covered the entire surface of the water like snowflakes.

Gasp!

Everyone took a deep breath; their eyes filled with shock.

Even Zhao Liangying could not help but feel impressed by Ye Lingchen’s skill.

They all noticed that each slice of fish was just the right size. Furthermore, they were all equally sized! Most importantly, Ye Lingchen managed to accurately remove all the fish bones. Such knife skills could be considered godly and were leagues above slicing noodles.

With that, the doubt in their hearts was washed away, and they grew excited.

With such a grand display, it should taste quite delicious.

“Sister Feifei, is his cooking really as good as you guys claim it to be?” Zhao Liangying could not help but ask, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

“You’ll know soon enough. If the supply is not limited, I believe many would die from overeating. Even if you’re Anorexic, you won’t be able to resist the charms of this type of delicacy!” Xiao Feifei stated confidently.

“Really?”

Zhao Liangying grew a little excited at this. Those that did not suffer from Anorexia would never understand how horrible it was.

Although the food was right in front of them, they had to withstand hunger. That pain was torturous. All the while, she had to force herself to eat in order to survive.

Right then, Ye Lingchen was quickly arranging some seasonings by the side with an assortment of spices. Apart from the vegetables, he had also added some herbs into the mix. After processing them, he poured them all into the pot in one go.

Following that, he joined the crowd and stared at the pot. For a moment, everyone was speechless as they were confused.

“That’s it?” Zhao Liangying looked cluelessly at Ye Lingchen. Apart from his impressive display while filleting the fish, everything else seemed mundane.

“It’s done. We just need to wait half an hour before lifting the cover,” Ye Lingchen stated casually. Faced with the crowd’s suspicions, he could not just let them look down on him. He then explained with a smile, “Everything goes back to the basics in the end. As I’ve reached the level of a master chef, you guys might think that it looks easy. However, this porridge…is special!”

…

[1] Similar to the previous chapter on 你有病 (Ni You Bing), Zhao Liangying most likely misunderstood the part of “you’re sick” as “you’re crazy”. This format of retort is commonly used in Chinese where a person would throw the insult back and also involve the other party’s family.