Chapter 56: Preparing Surprise!!!

It was just that... Victoria Sterling had been overwhelmed with corporate work over the past few days and simply couldn’t get away immediately.

"I’ll head over to conduct the campus inspection on Monday," Victoria said coolly into her phone.

"Understood, President Sterling!" The chancellor’s voice was thoroughly satisfied with Victoria’s affirmative answer.

It was actually better that she was coming in a few days. Having those extra days meant the university administration could do a thorough job of cleaning up the grounds, maintaining pristine hygiene, and ensuring the campus made an flawless impression on President Sterling.

Meanwhile, at Capital University.

Julian closed another heavy textbook. Thanks to his granted photographic memory, exceptional mental comprehension, and top-notch focus, he had finished reading nearly all the advanced reference books in the university library in just a few days. There were only one or two books left now, which he could easily finish reading later.

Julian glanced at the time on his phone.

He knew he still needed to fully secure Victoria Sterling’s heart as soon as possible. Right now, Victoria only had eyes for him, but Ethan Mercer was, after all, the original male lead of the web novel. Julian was genuinely worried about the uncanny, innate chemistry that male and female leads often shared in these stories.

He worried that if he didn’t completely win Victoria’s heart, she might somehow be captivated by Ethan again after they eventually met. He absolutely could not afford to lose his chance to be a wealthy, spoiled kept man and live a life of total luxury off a rich woman!

With that goal in mind, Julian packed up his notebook and bag right after his ten o’clock class ended, preparing to return to Rose Manor.

Natasha watched Julian’s departing figure from across the room and bit her lower lip in frustration. She had assumed that if she ignored Julian for the past few days, he wouldn’t be able to handle it and would come running back to her.

Instead!

It had been four whole days, and Julian hadn’t come to apologize to her even once! This filled Natasha with intense rage. Apologizing was a simple thing that would take him less than a minute, yet he was dragging it out for so long. Did Julian honestly think she had endless free time to play hard to get with him?

"Julian Vance!" Natasha couldn’t help but march straight up and intercept him.

Julian looked up, his expression blank. "Is something up?"

Natasha took a deep breath, raising her chin haughtily. "I’m giving you one final chance to apologize to me. If you don’t apologize to me right now, don’t expect me to ever give you another second glance! I advise you to stop this childish act right now."

Natasha’s voice carried a sharp, commanding tone. She had already thrown Julian a lifeline; she was certain he would eagerly jump at this opportunity to reconcile.

Julian frowned in annoyance. "Are you sick in the head?"

Natasha :"..."

Natasha’s eyes widened in disbelief at those words.

Julian continued coldly, "Natasha, didn’t you say last time that if I didn’t apologize, you would never speak to me again? I haven’t apologized, so shouldn’t you just keep ignoring me? Why are you so eager to jump in front of me? It’s not that you’re reluctant to let me go—you just desperately want me to apologize so you can keep hanging around me, don’t you?"

"I... I do not!" Natasha’s face flushed a deep, embarrassed red. "Julian Vance! How could I possibly want to spend time with you? Don’t even dream about it!"

"If that’s the case, then that’s for the best," Julian said indifferently. "I’m leaving. Don’t block my way."

Julian brushed past Natasha’s shoulder, forcing her aside, and swaggered right past her.

"Ah—!" Natasha stomped her foot in sheer frustration. How dare Julian treat her like this! Just he wait!

____________________

Julian returned directly to Rose Manor.

When he walked through the doors, Butler Chen looked thoroughly surprised. "Young Master Julian, why are you back so early today?"

Julian smiled. "I want to cook a nice meal for Victoria and bring it over to her office."

Butler Chen’s eyes lit up instantly. This was wonderful!

However...

"Young Master Julian, you... know how to cook?" Butler Chen looked at Julian with a hint of skepticism.

"Butler Chen, you’re underestimating me," Julian said, rolling up his sleeves. "I’ll show you a thing or two right now."

Before transmigrating into this web novel world, Julian had been cooking for himself ever since he was teenager. Cooking was second nature to him.

Julian walked directly into the grand kitchen.

Still somewhat worried, Butler Chen instructed the head chef, "Keep a close eye on Young Master Julian’s movements. Don’t let him cut himself or get burned, or Miss Sterling will be heartbroken."

"Understood," the head chef nodded.

He followed Julian into the kitchen. "Young Master Julian," the chef offered politely, "would you like me to chop the vegetables and prep the ingredients for you?"

"No need," Julian replied smoothly. "I can do it all myself."

Julian picked up the chef’s knife, his hands moving in a swift, practiced blur as he quickly carved a fresh radish into intricate decorative flower shapes.

The head chef stood there, completely dumbfounded. Young Master Julian’s knife skills were noticeably faster and more precise than his own!

Julian quickly chopped the remaining vegetables and meats with effortless rhythm. After watching in awe for a while, the chef couldn’t help but ask, "Young Master Julian... did you formally study culinary arts somewhere?"

"No," Julian replied cheerfully, "I learned all of this on my own."

"Self-taught? That’s incredible!" The chef was utterly astonished.

"Mm," Julian nodded lightly. "Back then, I didn’t have much time to cook and I needed to save every penny. I couldn’t afford to buy food outside, so I had to learn to prep and cook as fast as possible."

In his previous life, he had been an orphan initially, growing up in an orphanage before being taken in by his uncle. He had foolishly thought he finally had a real home, only to be met with endless beatings, scoldings, and non-stop household chores.

When his aunt and uncle later died in a car accident, he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. He was fifteen years old at the time. The local government had offered to find another family to adopt him, but terrified of ending up with guardians like his aunt and uncle, he had flatly refused.

From then on, he lived entirely on his own. In addition to attending school, he worked multiple part-time jobs every single day, so busy he barely had time to breathe. After graduating from university, he became a corporate workaholic, grinding crazy overtime every day. With virtually no time to waste during lunch breaks, he had naturally developed blistering cooking speed over the years.

After prepping all the ingredients, Julian began cooking with expert mastery.

At one point, the head chef frowned in confusion and noted, "Young Master Julian, adding that specific seasoning to the king prawns won’t taste very good."

Julian raised an eyebrow playfully. "Just wait a moment and see."

Moments later, the dish of king prawns was ready, filling the entire kitchen with a mouthwatering, intoxicating aroma.

Huh?

The head chef was genuinely surprised. The dish looked incredible, and the scent was remarkably enticing.

Julian smirked. "Want to give it a try? See how it tastes?"

"Alright," the chef nodded eagerly. He picked up a fresh pair of chopsticks, sampled a prawn, and popped it into his mouth.

The chef’s eyes lit up instantly. The taste... was mind-blowingly delicious! It tasted far better than any gourmet prawn dish he had ever prepared or eaten in his entire culinary career!

"How is it?" Julian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Delicious! Absolutely incredible!"

The chef’s eyes eagerly darted to the other freshly cooked dishes on the counter, and he swallowed hard. "Young Master Julian... could I please try a bite of the other dishes as well?"

"Sure," Julian nodded generously.

The chef immediately took a clean plate and picked up a portion of each dish—the tender bok choy, the carved radish stew, the roasted oysters, and the braised chicken—tasting them one after another.

"Delicious! So delicious!"

"The radish is incredible!"

"The bok choy is so crisp!"

"And these oysters and chicken taste absolutely divine!"

It was mind-bogglingly good!

"Young Master Julian, it is a complete tragedy that you aren’t a professional master chef!" the head chef praised sincerely.

Julian let out a light, humorous sigh. "I actually planned to open my own restaurant eventually, but things didn’t go as planned."

In his past life, he had worked so much overtime that he almost died of sudden exhaustion, landing in the hospital. He had planned to open a small food shop after being discharged, only to get struck by lightning and thrust straight into this web novel.

However, being transmigrated into this novel was actually pretty amazing. Thanks to the System, he had already earned over 100 million yuan, not to mention the endless black cards and gifts Victoria Sterling showered him with.

It felt ridiculously good to be a pampered, wealthy kept man!

It would be 100% perfect if the System would just stop forcing him to complete random tasks all the time.