Genshin Impact: Villain Life Sim

"Understood!"

Xiangling nodded firmly, quickly retrieving a fresh fish from the freezer. Despite her young age, her knife skills were impressive. With just a few precise movements, she transformed the entire fish into thin slices of sashimi.

Sashimi, though simple in preparation, demands exceptional knife work. If the slices are too thick, the texture and taste are compromised. It's said that a true master chef can lay sashimi over a page of a book and still clearly read the text beneath.

"I'm done!" Xiangling exclaimed, admiring her handiwork. The thin, translucent slices glistened under the kitchen light, and she felt a swell of satisfaction. Grabbing one, she approached Lucas, who was still busy cooking.

"Try it quickly!" she urged, holding the piece out to him.

"Alright"

Lucas, with a spatula in each hand, had no free time to grab the sashimi himself. Trusting Xiangling, he opened his mouth to let her feed him.

But as fate would have it, the chopsticks in Xiangling's hand suddenly slipped. The delicate slice of sashimi slipped free with a soft plop—landing squarely on her chest.

Although Xiangling was still developing, her figure wasn't entirely flat. Unlike Hu Tao's famously "iron board" physique, Xiangling's budding form provided just enough of a curve for the sashimi to stick directly to her skin.

Xiangling's knife skills, though not yet at the level of a master chef, were impressive. The slice of raw fish was so thin that the texture of the skin and even the pores beneath were faintly visible.

"Oops, my hand slipped!" Xiangling's eyes sparkled mischievously as she said, "I… I'll go prepare another piece right away."

"No need," Lucas said seriously, swallowing hard. "For a chef, wasting food is a terrible habit. I'll just eat this piece."

"Then… please enjoy." Xiangling seemed a little shy. "Would you like me to pick it up for you?"

"No, this will do."

Lucas lowered his head and rolled the fish slice into his mouth with his tongue, causing the "plate" carrying this delicious food to tremble slightly.

"How does it taste?"

Xiangling felt her heart pounding like a drum. Perhaps this method would jog Lucas' memory.

After all, for a seasoned chef, dropping food from chopsticks was an amateurish mistake. Even someone as straightforward as Xiangling had resorted to this crafty little trick to create the moment.

"Taste?" Lucas smiled faintly. "A little salty."

"Eh?" Xiangling blushed deeply. "That's… that's because of the sweat! But really, could such a tiny bit of sweat even have a flavor…"

The slice of fish had been so thin that when it briefly clung to Xiangling's skin, it had absorbed a faint trace of sweat.

"Actually, that tiny hint of sweat adds a unique touch," Lucas said, smiling. "Xiangling, your body has a certain magic to it."

"Th-thank you for the compliment!"

Xiangling's face lit up with a bashful smile, radiating happiness.

Just then, the kitchen curtain was pushed aside, and Yanfei hurried in. "Three more orders of sweet-and-sour—eh? What… what are you two doing?"

Yanfei froze in the doorway, staring at Lucas and Xiangling, who were standing close, with Lucas' head slightly lowered.

"Yanfei?" Xiangling stammered, startled. "We were just—"

"You're doing this in the kitchen?!" Yanfei whipped out a notebook, scribbling furiously. "Once this competition is over, expect a formal legal warning!"

"You've got it wrong!" Xiangling hurriedly snatched the notebook away. "Lucas was just… just tasting the food!"

"Tasting? Do you take me for a fool?" Yanfei glared at them. "I've heard the saying, 'Chefs steal a little while they cook,' but this is on another level! Do you really need to taste in that way?"

"It's because the kitchen is so hot!" Xiangling waved her hands in denial. "I volunteered to help—Lucas had nothing to do with it!"

"He'd better not." Yanfei gave Lucas one more sharp look, then said, "Four orders of stir-fried cucumber and pork."

Once Yanfei left, Lucas and Xiangling quickly got back to work.

"Xiangling, slice four servings of cucumber," Lucas said, exhaling in relief as he resumed his tasks. "When you're done, let me check the taste."

"Right… got it!"

Xiangling seemed to catch on to Lucas' intention immediately, slicing the cucumbers with precision. From that point on, every dish she prepared was personally handed to Lucas using her own utensils.

This odd rhythm became a silent understanding between the two.

Lucas tasted each dish Xiangling served him, offering his feedback. Each time, Xiangling waited with bated breath, eager to meet his expectations.

Time flew by in the midst of their bustling activity. Before they realized it, it was already four or five in the afternoon.

With the rush over, Yanfei finally found a moment to tally their earnings so far.

"Ten, hundred, thousand… million…" She stared at the figures, her eyes wide. "1.372 million Mora?! That's… more than I make!"

Even after deducting costs and rent, there were still over a million Mora left—a figure Yanfei could only dream of earning on her big cases.

"So this guy… is this capable?"

"Xiangling!"

A hearty voice suddenly rang out from the entrance. "Bring out the best food and drink! We've hit the jackpot today!"

Two tall women strode in, one with a cheerful demeanor and black hair, the other silver-haired and expressionless. They had an air of opposites—one carefree, the other solemn.

Both bore noticeable traces of blood, evidence of a recent and violent encounter. Yet it was clear that the blood didn't belong to them.

"Beidou?" Yanfei frowned. "Why are you here instead of out making money?"

Indeed, the newcomers were Beidou and Shenhe.

"We just cleared out a pirate crew," Beidou declared, dropping a bloodstained sack onto the table with a grin. "Guess how much we scored."

"Probably just a few hundred thousand Mora?" Yanfei guessed. "If two people could take them out easily, they couldn't have been too wealthy."

"It's 50 million," Beidou said, holding up five fingers with a smirk. "That pirate gang was from Inazuma—two or three hundred men, including three or four Vision bearers. But against us, they didn't stand a chance."

Beidou's tone was lighthearted, but Yanfei knew how much bloodshed such a claim entailed.

"Why are you standing there gawking?" Beidou slapped the table, laughing. "Bring out the best food and drink. Even if we feast for hundreds of thousands of Mora, we'll still come out ahead."

"Fine, fine," Yanfei said with a resigned sigh, grabbing the menu. "What do you want to eat?"

Beidou wasted no time, declaring heartily, "Fry the whole thing!"

"Fry the whole thing?" Yanfei raised an eyebrow. "I know fried meat, fried eggs, and fried tomatoes—but what exactly is 'fry the whole thing' supposed to mean?"

"I mean, everything on the menu! Bring us one of each!" Beidou chuckled. "It's been ages since I had such an exhilarating fight—it really worked up my appetite. Shenhe, eat to your heart's content. It'll come out of my share."

Yanfei entered the kitchen to find Lucas tasting a freshly cut slice of meat prepared by Xiangling.

"You two still have time to fool around?" Yanfei, by now accustomed to their odd interactions, frowned and said, "We've got a serious problem!"

"What is it?" Lucas asked, surprised. "Did you miscalculate the earnings?"

"Miscalculate? Are you underestimating me?" Yanfei huffed. "Two other competitors just came in and had meals. Their earnings are both over 25 million Mora—more than twice what you've made today."

Lucas was genuinely taken aback.

He had assumed his pace of earning was impressive, but clearly, there was always someone better out there.

After all, the first-round results were determined by total Mora earned. Facing such formidable competition, it was hard not to feel a bit uneasy.

"Well, nothing to be done about it now," Lucas said, quickly regaining his composure. "Worrying won't change anything."

"Can't you show a bit of urgency?" Yanfei frowned. "I'm running the floor for you—the top legal expert in all of Liyue—and if you get eliminated in the first round, I'll never let you hear the end of it!"

Initially, Yanfei had only seen herself as a neutral observer. But as the day progressed, she couldn't help becoming personally invested. She didn't want to see Lucas fail.

"Don't worry." Lucas rolled up his sleeves with a confident grin. "If I lose, you won't be the only one coming after me."

Soon, a feast of dishes was laid out on Beidou and Shenhe's table, drawing the astonished gazes of surrounding diners.

It wasn't just the quantity of food—enough to overwhelm even ten ravenous eaters—that caught their attention, but the sight of two slender women preparing to devour it all.

True to her word, Beidou ate with gusto. But Shenhe's appetite was even more astonishing.

Their recent fight had taken a toll, particularly on Shenhe, who had ended up carrying most of the burden.

Beidou had intended to lead the charge against the pirates, with Shenhe merely providing backup. But once they stormed the hideout, Shenhe turned into a one-woman army, eliminating hundreds of pirates in the blink of an eye, leaving Beidou with little more than cleanup duty.

These weren't mere treasure hoarders—they were a group of seasoned Inazuman pirates, including several Vision bearers. Their leader alone had a bounty of 8 million Mora and dozens of kills to his name.

Moments before their demise, these pirates had been jeering at Shenhe, making lewd remarks about her figure. Moments later, they were nothing but dismembered corpses.

Even Beidou, who had once slain the sea beast Haishan single-handedly, couldn't help but wonder how she would fare against Shenhe if a combat round were to come up later in the competition.

"This food is incredible!" Beidou said with a hearty laugh, turning to Shenhe. "Eat as much as you like!"

But as Shenhe took her first bite, a peculiar expression crossed her face.

"What's wrong?" Beidou asked, noticing Shenhe's hesitation. "Is it not to your liking?"

"No," Shenhe shook her head. "It's just… this flavor feels familiar."

"Smack!"

The kitchen curtain was suddenly flung open. Lucas, assuming it was Yanfei, turned around and said, "Yanfei, the dishes aren't ready yet—wait, what?"

It wasn't Yanfei. It was Shenhe.

"Shenhe?" Lucas was stunned. "What are you doing here? Wait… don't tell me you're the one Yanfei mentioned?"

"Ah!"

Startled by the unexpected guest, Xiangling let out a small yelp and instinctively covered her chest.

Shenhe's gaze swept over the two of them, pausing briefly on Xiangling before she said flatly, "I recognized your flavor. I didn't expect you to be here cooking… but is cooking something that requires taking off clothes?"

"This… I'll explain later," Lucas said with an awkward laugh. "But with your results, you should be guaranteed to advance, right?"

"It doesn't matter to me. What about you?" Shenhe asked, her expression unreadable. "Have you earned enough?"

"I'm probably still far behind you," Lucas admitted, embarrassed. "I thought this round would be tough for you, but I didn't expect you to surpass me."

"I can give you what I've earned," Shenhe said. "10 million Mora should be enough for you to qualify."

Lucas was taken aback but quickly composed himself. "I appreciate the offer, but no thanks."

"Why not?" Shenhe frowned. "If you lose, what will happen to my sister? Don't you care about her at all?"

"It's because I care that I want to win this fairly," Lucas said with a smile. "I want to show everyone who doubts me that I can become Tianshu on my own merit."

Shenhe was silent for a moment before finally nodding, "Do as you like. But if you ever make my sister cry... I won't forgive you."

"You know…" Lucas chuckled helplessly. "Couldn't you at least come up with a different line?"

"And…" Shenhe shot a sharp look at Xiangling. "Put on some clothes."

"Ugh…"

As Shenhe left, Xiangling looked visibly upset.

"She didn't mean anything bad by it," Lucas said with a wry smile. "Don't take it to heart."

"So…" Xiangling mumbled, her tone tinged with insecurity. "Do men like her type more?"

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