Alice’s face turned red with embarrassment, truly provoked by Zoey.
Especially that disdainful remark, “Your wife?”
This woman is a bit too audacious, isn’t she?
The implication was clear: as long as William wasn’t married, even if he had a girlfriend, she could still come over for meals.
Just like that? Brazenly claiming her place? That audacious?
Feeling that it was about time, William stood up, placed the book he was reading on the stone table, and said to Alice, “Come to the kitchen with me. Didn’t you say you wanted to learn cooking?”
“Alright!” Alice’s face brightened a bit, and in that moment, she had an epiphany.
Why did she assume Evelyn was William’s girlfriend?
Evelyn didn’t even like William.
She could interact with her mentor openly. With such a good opportunity, she should seize it!
While Alice wouldn’t assume the role of the hostess, at least now she was William’s disciple. Even if Zoey came over, she would only be a guest.
“mentor, what’s the deal with Zoey? Are you two close?” Alice whispered as she prepared the vegetables. “She hasn’t figured out how powerful you are, has she?”
William had used his psychic abilities to muffle their conversation, given Zoey’s keen sense of hearing.
“You should know by now, she’s the Director of the 13th Bureau. I’ve joined the 13th Bureau,” William replied, pouring oil as he spoke. “For now, she probably thinks I’m just a novice aiming to become a Soulmancer.”
Alice inquired further, “Why did you join the 13th Bureau? You didn’t fall for Zoey, did you?”
Casting her a sidelong glance, William responded, “Have you been reading too many romance novels lately?”
“All I’ve been reading are stories about domineering CEOs.”
William pondered for a moment, “Oh, do you think I resemble those overbearing CEOs?” 𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝
Alice grinned mischievously, “Just by looks, you definitely don’t resemble one, but knowing your age, you seem more like a creepy old man. How else would you have designs on a girl in her twenties?”
“…” William muttered, “I think you should leave now.”
“I won’t!” Alice squinted her eyes slightly, the corner of her mouth curling into a sly smile. “How about this time I do the cooking and you chat with the young lady outside?”
William asked incredulously, “Are you sure?” He just didn’t believe Alice could cook a decent meal. After all, this girl seemed a bit scatterbrained. She might be a tad smarter than Zoey, but he doubted her cooking skills were any better.
“You can watch from the side. If she comes over in the future, I’ll be the one cooking!” Alice grinned, “Now you can set aside all the cooking tools and just give me directions.”
William wasn’t the kind to deny others a chance. If Alice wanted to cook, he could use the break.
“Do we only have these vegetables at home?” Alice asked. After fishing out some leaves from water, she threw them into the skillet. Almost instantly, thick smoke billowed from the skillet, and hot oil sizzled and splattered everywhere.
Luckily, William was quick to react, waving his hand to block the splashing oil, or it would’ve made a mess.
“I messed up!” Alice exclaimed, frantically holding the spatula in front of her, standing a good distance away from the stove, watching the thick smoke rising from the skillet.
William quickly turned down the flame, and with a sweep of his sleeve, cleared the smoke in the kitchen. “Do you really want to continue makeing?”
“I do!” After Alice firmly responded, some odd train of thought made her think there was a double entendre in William’s question,she suddenly thought about making love. Her face flushed instantly.
She thought of that while cooking veggies?
Alice, what kind of girl have you turned into?
Ugh! This is so embarrassing!
What on earth am I thinking about every day?
William still decided to give Alice a chance and started guiding her.
Alice finally began to cook with the spatula, but no matter how accurately William directed her, the amount of salt and chili she added was lethal.
William raised an eyebrow, remarking, “I suspect you did that on purpose.”
“How could that be? I just have shaky hands, and it’s my first time cooking.” In her regular work, Alice performed surgeries with extreme precision, not even needing auxiliary equipment. How could her hands possibly shake?
William seemed to have deciphered Alice’s thoughts.
It was evident that the girl was jealous of Zoey.
Deliberately adding that much salt and chili was likely an attempt to make the meal unbearable for Zoey, discouraging her from ever eating at his house again.
“You continue cooking, I’ll go chat with her. She must be here for something other than just the meal.” William felt that Zoey hadn’t just come over to freeload on food. Since Alice was up to her little tricks, he’d let her be.
Besides, he wasn’t particularly hungry at the moment.
“Alright, off you go.” Alice, calming down slightly, thought to herself: What advantages did Zoey even have? She dressed plainly, her figure seemed inferior to Alice’s, she wore no makeup, her personality didn’t seem friendly, and considering her previous behavior towards Bryant, she appeared to have a violent streak. She also didn’t seem particularly good at conversation. How could William possibly be interested in a woman like that? She had been worrying for nothing!
Exiting the kitchen, William found Zoey lounging on his wingback chair. In just that short span of time, she had fallen asleep.
It seemed that a chat was off the table.
It wasn’t until Alice came out with the dishes that William woke Zoey up.
“Dinner’s ready!”
Upon hearing those three words, Zoey abruptly opened her eyes, shouting, “Food!”
As Zoey scooped up her first bite of rice, she mumbled, “It’s not cooked properly…”
Although she commented as such, she still swallowed it down and then forked a heap of vegetables into her mouth. After chewing a couple of times, she swallowed again, saying, “It’s too salty and a bit spicy!”
Both William and Alice were flabbergasted. She actually managed to swallow that?
William had witnessed firsthand the amount of salt Alice had added.
Even though salt is relatively cheap these days, the quantity she used was practically inedible, not leaving any room for someone to enjoy their meal.
William wondered if Zoey would instantly spit out her first bite.
Yet, astonishingly, she swallowed it and… she continued eating!
The rice in her bowl – could that even be called rice?
It was merely half-cooked grains!
She managed to devour a whole bowl, and in less than a minute, it was almost empty.
There were three dishes in total, each of them devilishly bad.
William felt sure he wouldn’t eat it, but Zoey just kept forking mouthful after mouthful, looking almost as if she hadn’t eaten in days.
“Aren’t you two eating?” Zoey asked William and Alice as she continued her meal.
Alice’s mouth hung slightly open, staring at Zoey. The only word that came to her mind to describe Zoey at that moment was — downright terrifying!
She managed to eat all that? Was she determined to freeload to the fullest?
Could such a hard-to-swallow meal really not deter her mooching intentions?