A wave of crushing frustration washed over Fang Yu. He had truly believed his culinary skills would win him the favor of the two young mistresses, or at the very least, convince them to torment him a little less frequently.
Yet when he stepped into the kitchen, he was met with nothing but bare, empty cupboards and barren countertops. There was not a single grain of rice to be found, let alone any seasonings or spices.
What kind of cruel joke was this? Fang Yu's face darkened thunderously. With the kitchen stripped completely bare, how on earth was he supposed to work his magic?
As the old saying goes, even the most skilled housewife cannot cook a meal without rice. What in the world was he supposed to do now?
Upstairs, in the bedroom, the sound of the two girls' stifled, mischievous giggles drifted through the air.
"What? You mean there's absolutely nothing in the kitchen at all?" When Lin Ruofei heard Yan Ting's scheming, snickering grin, she snort-laughed in spite of herself. That poor man was being run ragged by their pranks.
"Yep. I had Uncle Li clear the whole thing out a while back. I was never going to set foot in there anyway, so I figured I might as well leave it unused." Yan Ting laughed so hard her sides ached, doubled over with mirth.
"You're brutal!" Lin Ruofei stared at Yan Ting, giving her an emphatic thumbs up. For a girl so young, she was truly diabolical when it came to pulling pranks.
Though I do feel a little bad for the poor guy. He's definitely getting the short end of the stick here.
For all her faint sympathy for Fang Yu, she was far more amused at the thought of watching him flounder and make a fool of himself.
What happened next, however, caught both girls completely off guard.
"Young mistresses, come downstairs for some noodles!" Fang Yu's voice suddenly rang out from the first floor.
"Hm? What's this?" Yan Ting's delicate brows furrowed at the unexpected call. Could the man have actually found ingredients to cook with after all?
"We'll find out when we go down." Lin Ruofei shared the exact same thought, but at the mention of food, she had no patience for further speculation. She slipped on her shoes and sprinted down the stairs in a flash.
Watching Lin Ruofei bolt faster than a startled rabbit, Yan Ting did not hesitate for a second, hurrying down the stairs right on her heels.
When the two girls stepped into the living room, they found a pot and a small bowl half-filled with noodles sitting on the dining table, a rich, mouthwatering aroma wafting up from it, making their stomachs growl with ravenous hunger.
"It smells amazing." Overwhelmed by the scent, Yan Ting hurried straight to the table, paying no mind to whether the small bowl was clean or not. She snatched up the chopsticks at once and took a big, greedy bite.
Lin Ruofei, standing beside her, frowned the moment she saw the small bowl Yan Ting was using. She opened her mouth to stop her, but when she saw how ravenously Yan Ting was eating, she let out a soft sigh and said nothing at all.
"Alright, young mistresses, I've got your bowls and chopsticks right here!" Just as Yan Ting was shoveling mouthful after mouthful of noodles into her mouth, Fang Yu's voice drifted out from the kitchen.
Yet when Fang Yu stepped out and saw Yan Ting eating noodles with the very bowl and chopsticks he had used earlier, the corner of his mouth twitched violently.
Those are my bowl and chopsticks. How could you use them without asking? A bitter sense of injustice welled up in Fang Yu's chest. Could his luck get any worse? First, Lin Ruofei had seen every inch of his naked body, and now he'd just shared an indirect kiss with the headstrong young Miss Yan Ting.
The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt, yet he knew full well that if the young miss found out the bowl and chopsticks were his, she would fly into another unhinged rage in an instant.
And so, for the sake of his own safety, he decided some things were better left unsaid.