Did Mr. Wen offend Jiang Lan before?

Wen Zhiyan paused. "Are you sure?"

Ye Qiunian nodded.

"I want to observe Teacher Pei up close."

Pei Du had just revealed that he had cast his vote for Ye Qiunian last night.

Hearing Ye Qiunian say that now delighted him, and he hurriedly said, "A warm welcome to Mr. Ye!"

Ye Qiunian glanced at Pei Du, pressed his lips together, and said nothing.

Jiang Lan had previously only known that Ye Qiunian was an exceptionally gifted composer who had written songs for many superstar singers but rarely appeared in public. He hadn't expected him to be so straightforward.

Somewhat surprised, he couldn't help giving Ye Qiunian a couple of extra looks.

Noticing Jiang Lan's gaze, Wen Zhiyan subtly shifted sideways, blocking Jiang Lan's view with his profile, then nodded lightly to Ye Qiunian.

"Thank you."

"No need," Ye Qiunian said flatly.

With the room arrangements settled, breakfast was next.

The production team had stocked the refrigerator with some ingredients, but apart from milk and bread, which could be consumed as they were, everything was fresh produce or partially prepared food that they would have to cook themselves.

"Who can cook?" Lin Ziyou asked, adding frankly, "My cooking is terrible. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

In this age of fast food, these extremely busy people with no shortage of money could have that need met efficiently by restaurants, takeout, and nutritionists.

After all, those willing-or rather, with the time-to roll up their sleeves and cook were in the minority.

On a variety show like this, however, it was a very useful way to earn extra points.

Pei Du thrust his hand high into the air. "Me!"

Qiao Xin glanced at him, refusing to back down in the slightest. "Want to compete?"

Pei Du had no idea why Qiao Xin was even more competitive than a male alpha. He ground his teeth. "I'll wipe the floor with you."

Seeing that the two were about to start squabbling like fighting cocks again, Tan Duoduo hurriedly suggested:

"How about this? We'll split into groups. You alphas handle the cooking today, and Cancan, Ziyou, and the others can take tomorrow. Qiunian and I will help out and wash the dishes."

That was fair enough, and no one objected.

Pei Du and Qiao Xin raced each other to the refrigerator to grab the ingredients they were best at cooking. Wen Zhiyan remained seated. Watching Pei Du and Qiao Xin's enthusiasm, Jiang Lan propped his chin on one hand.

"The kitchen's a little small. Too many people would crowd it and make it hard to work. I've decided to let those two have the chance to show off."

At that, Ye Qiunian looked up at Jiang Lan.

"Are you sure it's not because you can't perform?"

In all his life, no one had ever told Jiang Lan he "couldn't perform." This concerned an alpha's dignity; no alpha could tolerate a question like that.

His gaze settled on Ye Qiunian, and he narrowed his eyes.

"I can't perform?"

Ye Qiunian raised his eyebrows as he watched Jiang Lan. Just as he thought Jiang Lan would join Pei Du and Qiao Xin to prove himself, driven by his competitive streak like most alphas-

Jiang Lan gave a derisive chuckle and said with complete indifference:

"You guessed right."

Ye Qiunian: "..."

Amused, Xu Can kept egging Jiang Lan on. "Lan-ge, can you really not cook, or do you just not want to show us your skills?"

Yu Nan also chimed in with a smile. "I can't even imagine what a happy, proud boy I'd be if I could eat a breakfast Lan-ge made himself."

Jiang Lan had indeed originally intended to slack off, but the situation had changed. Now it really wasn't that he wanted to slack off; he genuinely couldn't cook.

Under siege from these sweet little omegas and betas, even Jiang Lan was struggling to hold out. He begged for mercy:

"Spare me, brothers and sisters. With my cooking, even if I dared to make it, you couldn't dare to eat it. Let's not waste ingredients. Be good."

He looked at Wen Zhiyan, who sat silently beside him, staying out of it, and continued:

"Besides, isn't President Wen sitting here too? How about picking a different target?"

In Jiang Lan's memory, Wen Zhiyan was an otherworldly little celestial. Forget cooking-he couldn't even tell the different vegetables apart when shopping.

He had only done this because being ganged up on alone felt rather lonely, and he wanted Wen Zhiyan to share some of the incoming fire.

Seeing little reaction from Wen Zhiyan, Jiang Lan looked at him with a grin and immediately put what he had just learned to use:

"I can't even imagine what a happy, proud boy I'd be if I could eat a breakfast President Wen made himself."

He had expected to see Wen Zhiyan refuse in embarrassment or dodge the subject by talking about something else. Instead, Wen Zhiyan simply stood and looked down at him.

"What would you like?"

Jiang Lan paused, surprised. "You can cook?"

Wen Zhiyan remained composed. "Won't you find out if I give it a try?"

Seeing Jiang Lan fall silent, he asked again, "Western or Chinese?"

Western food wasn't much of a test of cooking skills. Wen Zhiyan could get away with toasting two slices of bread and frying two slices of ham to fob Jiang Lan off.

Jiang Lan ran his tongue over his canine tooth and deliberately made things difficult for him.

"Chinese. I want sweet-and-sour ribs, steamed grouper, and an oyster and glass noodle casserole."

Tan Duoduo exclaimed, "Lan-ge, it's first thing in the morning!"

Jiang Lan smiled. "A wonderful day starts with a hearty breakfast. What do you think, President Wen?"

Hearing Jiang Lan's words, Wen Zhiyan said without a ripple of emotion, "Lan-ge is right."

Jiang Lan waved a hand. "Off you go, then."

"Does the fridge have all of that?" Xu Can asked worriedly, watching Wen Zhiyan head toward the kitchen.

Jiang Lan gave a hum and casually pulled a magazine from the rack beside the sofa. Flipping through it, he said, "President Wen didn't refuse, so I suppose it does."

In the public chat:

[Honestly, I feel like Lan-ge seems to be targeting President Wen a little.]

[Drop the "seems." It's pretty obvious.]

[Ever since they met yesterday, I've thought the atmosphere between them was a little strange. So tense. I thought I was imagining it.]

[Oh my god, could they really have some kind of bad blood?]

[But whatever the case, isn't Jiang Lan being a little out of line this early in the morning?]

[Get lost, commenter above. President Wen hasn't even said anything. Why are you butting in?]

[I want to know whether a top-tier alpha like President Wen can actually cook.]

[What century is this? Isn't cooking a basic skill for a quality alpha? Surely they can't still expect an omega to cook every single meal?]

[I think Jiang Lan is acting a little differently from how he does on other variety shows. His mouth was always nasty, but he never actually did anything to make things difficult for people like this.]

[Did President Wen offend Lan-ge before?]

[We don't know. Not sure. Let's keep watching.]

Jiang Lan was now the only alpha left in the living room.

He sat on the sofa reading the magazine for a while. Listening to the omegas begin chattering about cosmetics he didn't understand and the latest releases from various luxury brands whose names he couldn't remember, he couldn't help starting to doze off.

He looked up at the three figures in the kitchen, each busy with their own work. After hesitating for a moment, he put down the magazine after all and headed toward the kitchen.