I Became the Villain's Master [Book Transmigration]

[The next story is "The House's Little Cook Boy." Please, please add it to your favorites~] Rong Liuwei transmigrated into a book, becoming the doomed master in an immortal-hero fantasy, with Mu Chao, the future great villain, as his disciple. According to the plot, he would die suddenly on the very night he took the boy as his disciple, becoming evidence for those who claimed the villain was cursed from birth, as well as a stepping stone on the villain's path to darkness. A bona fide cannon-fodder character! But by the time he arrived, the plot had already gone off the rails. Mu Chao, the villain who should have died at the male lead's hands, was arrogantly holding a divine weapon and on the verge of destroying the world. And his mission was to return to the past and eliminate the villain. Rong Liuwei: So I just have to kill him? Easy. He saw a boy sprawled on the ground, covered in wounds and mud. Rong Liuwei raised his sword... and cut the ropes binding the boy. Poor thing. I'll take him home, clean him up, and raise him first. * From then on, Rong Liuwei settled into a life of eating, sleeping, and raising his disciple. And so three years went by. Mu Chao changed from the gloomy, arrogant boy he had once been. He trained and fought monsters every day, becoming an obedient, well-behaved disciple. Rong Liuwei: Doesn't that count as eliminating the villain? Who could have known that, even after being raised so well, his obedient disciple would still turn evil? The mission failed. With the System's execution only a hair's breadth away, Rong Liuwei cut open his own core to save Mu Chao, then fell into a deep, unending slumber. When he woke again, Mu Chao had become a peerless demon lord whose very name struck terror into people's hearts. Not only that, Rong Liuwei discovered he had become Mu Chao's inner demon. Rong Liuwei was deeply shaken. I treated you like a good disciple, and you want to sleep with me?! So he ran away. But before he could get very far, Rong Liuwei was caught and dragged back by the good disciple of his past. The great demon lord who made the entire cultivation world tremble wrapped his arms around him from behind and said pitifully, "Master, all these years, didn't you miss me at all?" Rong Liuwei: "..." Not one bit! A carefree, laid-back, beautiful master on the receiving end x a disciple who is a sweet little flower in the beginning and a great demon king later, on the pursuing end. Younger man, one-on-one romance, happy ending. Reader's Guide: 1. The plot is melodramatic, made up, and full of personal worldbuilding. 2. The System has very little screen time. 3. The characters' values do not represent the author's. 4. Everyone except the pursuing and receiving leads is straight. "The House's Little Cook Boy" After transmigrating, Lin Shuangjiang became a seven-year-old fire-tender in the kitchen of a Song Dynasty official's household. As a hereditary servant, his everyday meals consisted of sour porridge, bean rice, fermented fish, salted pickled vegetables, and scorched rice. In other words, porridge cooked with fermented vegetable brine; hard beans and brown rice boiled together; salted fish eaten straight from the jar; bitter, salt-cured greens and radishes; and rice cooked by the head chef, specifically the layer of scorched rice left at the bottom of the pot. Everyone else: What a lavish meal! Lin Shuangjiang: ...Could you stop abusing children? For the sake of his own appetite, Lin Shuangjiang had no choice but to fend for himself. Soon, delicious aromas began wafting out of the kitchen: steaming soup dumplings, Dongpo pork simmered until tender, Longjing shrimp as translucent as jade, savory bamboo shoot and cured pork soup, as well as sweet fermented rice balls and osmanthus-scented lotus root drizzled with honey... Before he knew it, Lin Shuangjiang had become the youngest head chef in the history of the Marquis's residence, and had even picked up a husband along the way. * Li Xiuran was the notoriously demanding second son of the Li family. He had been spoiled since childhood and feared nothing, until he met Lin Shuangjiang at the age of nine. The new fire-tender was fair and soft, with big eyes like grapes, even more adorable than the lucky children in the storybooks. The first time they met, Li Xiuran couldn't resist teasing him. "You look clumsy just by looking at you." The seven-year-old fire-tender said nothing, but quietly clenched his little fists. Li Xiuran thought: Tsk, he's like a glutinous rice ball that jumps when you poke it. One night, he caught Lin Shuangjiang sneaking a bite of a dumpling. The boy was so startled that he held one out to him. "Second Young Master, I used my monthly allowance to buy ingredients and make these myself. I'll share one with you, so please don't tell anyone, okay?" As if in a trance, Li Xiuran took it and bit down. ...It's so good! From then on, Li Xiuran became the loyal little tail following Lin Shuangjiang around. Lin Shuangjiang took him to taste every delicacy under heaven, and Li Xiuran showed him the vastness of the world. For more than a decade, they grew up together, always at each other's side. Later, everyone in Bianjing knew that the proud, unruly young master of the Li family had one untouchable weakness: Lin Shuangjiang. Touch him and Li Xiuran would fly into a rage. He guarded him like a priceless treasure. Theme: Hard work can change your fate