3: Chapter 3: The Five Beauties Were Stunned by Peeping

Pushing the door open, the room was over forty square meters.

It was fully equipped with a large bed, wardrobe, and television, and even came with an en-suite bathroom.

It was miles better than the single room Lin Chen had lived in before.

Lin Chen threw his backpack into the wardrobe, grabbed a towel, and ducked into the bathroom for a refreshing shower.

When he came out, the first floor was empty; all five women were gone.

Lin Chen walked to the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor and called out, "Can I use the kitchen?"

A door at the end of the second-floor hallway opened a crack, and Yang Mi poked her head out.

"Feel free to use it, don't stand on ceremony with things in the house," Yang Mi asked, "Are you going to cook?"

Lin Chen replied, "Yes, I haven't had dinner. Are you all eating?"

Yang Mi shook her fair, tender neck and declined, "No thanks, we've already eaten. If you don't want the trouble, I can use my phone to order takeout for you."

"It's fine, I'll handle it myself."

Lin Chen turned and went into the first-floor kitchen.

Less than two minutes later, the five women upstairs all sneaked out of their bedrooms.

They huddled side-by-side against the solid wood railing on the second floor, all peering down at Lin Chen in the kitchen.

Dilraba Dilmurat leaned half her body over the railing, her fair, slender legs pressed tightly together, her plump, firm peach-like buttocks stuck high in the air.

She rested her fair, tender cheek on the back of her hand and said, "This guy doesn't look too bad."

Tong Liya squeezed over from the side, her ample, soft breasts pressing directly against Dilraba Dilmurat's arm.

She teased, "What? Do you have your eye on him? Don't divorce him when the year is up then."

Dilraba Dilmurat rolled her eyes dramatically, "Cut the nonsense, I just think he's efficient. There are plenty of good men, do I have to marry all of them?"

Liu Shishi leaned against the hallway pillar, her smooth, long legs crossed, "Do you think… he's just playing the big bad wolf here?"

Yang Mi glanced at her, "Are you saying he's playing hard to get?"

Liu Shishi nodded, "Pretending to be indifferent on purpose so we lower our guard. We're all top-tier beauties, after all; would any normal man be this calm when seeing us?"

Guli Nazha analyzed, "Three possibilities. First, he's genuinely honest. Second, he likes men. Third, he really just has good character and has no feelings for us."

Yang Mi shrugged, unconcerned, "Whatever kind of person he is, as long as he doesn't go out and cause trouble, we can just safely get through this year and be done with it."

Downstairs, Lin Chen couldn't hear a word of these women's whispers.

Even if he had, he would have treated it like hot air.

At this very moment, his full attention was being drawn to something much more exciting.

"Ding! Skill book 'Delicious and Easy Home-Cooked Dishes' discovered. Do you wish to learn it?"

Lin Chen stood frozen in front of the gas stove, holding a cookbook in his hand.

He had just picked this book up from the counter at random.

There was a stack of a dozen identical cooking books next to it, likely bought by Yang Mi on a whim.

He was just bored and flipped it open, when suddenly, a mechanical voice popped into his head.

A system?

Having died once and transmigrated, Lin Chen's mental fortitude was rock solid.

He didn't make a fuss, he just thought it was quite interesting.

"Learn!" he thought to himself.

The voice in his head immediately followed up.

"Ding! Learned skill book 'Delicious and Easy Home-Cooked Dishes'. Acquired skill: Culinary Arts."

A translucent, light blue light screen popped up right in front of his eyes.

It was the system interface.

[Universal System]

[Host]: Lin Chen

[Skill]: Culinary Arts (Beginner, 0/10). You are a third-rate cook, capable of making some home-cooked meals to fill your stomach.

The interface was very simple.

It only had one Culinary Arts skill.

Lin Chen could cook a little bit, but only enough to keep from starving.

Whether in his past life or now, he had absolutely no talent for stir-frying, and the food he made was completely tasteless.

But now, although the system rated him as a third-rate cook, he felt completely different.

A vast amount of experience in handling ingredients and controlling heat had been stuffed into his mind out of nowhere.

Looking at the cutting board and kitchen knife in front of him again, he inexplicably felt very familiar with them.

Lin Chen closed his eyes to feel it for a few seconds, then opened them wide and stared at the entire stack of colorful cookbooks next to him.

Could it be that as long as it's a book, it can become a skill book in his hands?

Lin Chen reached out and grabbed the one on top.

The system was very efficient; the prompt sound rang out instantly.

"Ding! Skill book 'Four Seasons Home-Cooked Dishes' discovered. Do you wish to learn it?"

"Learn!" Lin Chen thought to himself.

"Ding! Mastered 'Four Seasons Home-Cooked Dishes'. Experience +19."

Lin Chen immediately brought up the system interface.

[Universal System] [Host: Lin Chen] [Skill: Culinary Arts (Intermediate, 9/50). You are a second-rate chef, and your skills can be recognized by some people.]

Culinary Arts leveled up instantly.

Lin Chen felt the joints in his hands become very flexible, and a large amount of experience in tossing the wok and controlling the heat flooded into his mind; he no longer felt the slightest bit of unfamiliarity with the stove.

He casually grabbed a copy of "Sichuan Cuisine Encyclopedia" from the side.

Because the cuisine style was different, this time it gave a lot of experience, adding a full 39 points.

The prompt sounds began to spam his screen like crazy.

"Ding! Mastered 'A Bowl of Good Soup'. Experience +42."

"Ding! Mastered 'Encyclopedia of Braised Dishes'. Experience +40."

"Ding! Mastered '1688 Exquisite Cantonese Dishes'. Experience +49."

"Ding! Mastered 'Four Seasons Health — Encyclopedia of Food Therapy'. Experience +48."

"Ding! Mastered 'Easy Appetizing Cold Dishes'…"

After touching all twelve cookbooks, the system refreshed again.

[Culinary Arts (Top-tier, 23/200). You are already a top-tier chef, and the meals you make are wildly sought after.]

Lin Chen stood by the gas stove with his eyes closed.

After digesting the full brain-load of top-tier culinary experience, he developed a strong sense of affection for the kitchen.

In the past, cooking was purely to fill his stomach.

But now, cutting and stir-frying vegetables had become a supreme enjoyment.

A dozen minutes later, Lin Chen opened his eyes.

He washed the rice and put it in the pot to cook with lightning speed.

He turned, opened the large refrigerator, and took out tomatoes, eggs, cucumbers, wood ear mushrooms, and carrots.

He blanched the tomato skins off with boiling water and tossed them onto the cutting board.

"Clack, clack, clack," a rapid sound of chopping vegetables rang out.

The kitchen knife flew up and down in his hands, the blade glinting.

Every slice of tomato he cut was identical in size.

The entire process was smooth and fluid; there was no sign of impatience, but rather a sense of seamless beauty.

The second floor.

The five stunning beauties were still leaning against the railing.

At first, they were still chattering about Lin Chen spacing out, guessing whether he was deliberately acting deep to attract everyone's attention.

But now, all five women had shut their mouths.

Five pairs of beautiful, large eyes were staring fixedly downstairs.