Keqing had just stomped Bai Hao's foot with righteous fury, and the onlookers were whispering nonstop.
Their bickering didn't sound hostile at all.
If anything… it sounded suspiciously like flirting.
Keqing folded her arms, cheeks still faintly pink.
"So? What are you actually here for?"
"Delivering takeout."
Bai Hao set down two paper bags and, as if nothing had happened, put on a cap identical to the Part-Time Demon King's.
Keqing blinked.
"…Oh. Thanks."
Her eyes drifted toward the food.
The fragrance of freshly fried shrimp balls made her delicate nose twitch.
Her stomach practically betrayed her.
Bai Hao opened a box, skewered a shrimp ball, and took a big bite.
"So, uh… could you move your foot now?"
He hadn't gone elemental on purpose — not because he was pretending to be weak, but because he genuinely wanted to know what it felt like to be stepped on by Master Keqing.
Keqing jolted. "Ah—! S-sorry!"
She snatched her foot back, mortified.
She was the dignified Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing — and here she was stepping on a guy in public?!
From around them came subtle… and not-so-subtle… stares.
Keqing's face grew stiffer by the second.
Bai Hao, the menace, made no effort to help her.
He just ate shrimp balls and watched her fluster around — laughing to himself on the inside.
The awkwardness grew thick enough to slice.
Keqing finally broke.
She scratched her cat-like head and forced a subject change.
"R-Right! Let me introduce you. This is the secretary of Yuheng Pavilion — Miss Ganyu."
Ganyu stepped forward with her usual gentle poise.
Bai Hao immediately reined in the teasing.
He nodded politely.
"Hello, Sister Ganyu. Want a shrimp ball?"
He waved the skewer lightly.
In truth, from the moment he arrived, his eyes were already drifting toward the elegant beauty beside Keqing.
Sure, he was teasing Keqing, but the one who truly caught his eye was—
Ganyu.
Shenhe's martial aunt.
Which, according to the sacred logic of web novels…
She was basically his sister-in-law.
"Hehe, thank you. But I'll just have some Qingxin."
Ganyu smiled softly, her serene beauty shimmering under the moonlit Yujing Terrace.
As a half-Qilin adeptus, she drank sweet dew and ate divine grains. No meat.
Still… something about Bai Hao felt familiar to her.
A faint scent, oddly recognizable.
…Was she imagining it?
She had no idea Bai Hao had chugged a bottle of coconut milk before coming.
He'd been drinking it like an energy drink lately.
Now he only had one case left.
Which was exactly why he was plotting how to trick this gentle Qilin into moving into his Serenitea Pot — where he'd feed her Qingxin, raise her plump and healthy…
…and then enjoy unlimited "coconut milk."
Keqing elbowed him sharply.
"Hey! Why are you staring at her like that?"
"Oh. She's pretty."
He shrugged.
Compared to the flat 2D Ganyu from the game, this real Ganyu was an ethereal, millennia-old celestial being, her immortal aura thick enough to weaponize.
Even Zhao Ling'er couldn't compare.
He wasn't made of stone like Zhongli — admiring beauty was basic biology.
"Tch. Men."
Keqing rolled her eyes and kept eating.
She had to admit, though—
Ganyu's thousand-year maturity and elegance were leagues beyond any tsundere mortal girl.
Plenty of foreign envoys had confessed to Ganyu, even publicly.
Every last one was gently rejected.
Love wasn't in her contract.
Work was.
She had once worked for three thousand years straight — Keqing's attempt to imitate her for one month had nearly killed her.
If Liyue ever introduced a "Model Worker" award, it belonged to Ganyu forever.
The three chatted for a while, discussing Bai Hao's background, Keqing and Ganyu's duties, and the chaos caused by the Teyvat Fan-Creation Livestream.
But gradually, Ganyu's expression dimmed.
"That livestream even dares parody the Seven Archons… I'm worried I'll end up like Lady Ei — completely socially dead."
Bai Hao spread his hands.
"Can't stop fan edits. If someone wants to meme you, they will."
Keqing frowned.
"Aren't YOU worried you'll get edited?"
"Not really. There are hundreds of people in the VIP room alone."
"Even with new Vision holders joining every day, it could take a year or two before they reach me."
"And fan edits come with rewards. Why would I be afraid?"
Keqing blinked.
"…Huh. That… actually makes sense."
Both she and Ganyu relaxed a little.
As long as Rex Lapis himself wasn't fan-edited, everything would be fine—
Because Rex Lapis had no flaws.
At worst, he'd get meme'd into dancing like Ei.
…Harmless.
Of course, both girls severely underestimated the depravity level of fan-edit culture.
As for Bai Hao—
While smiling and chatting politely, he'd already mentally scheduled both of them for future content.
"Beef-Mixed Keqing" and "Chewy Goat Ganyu."
Premium material.
Worth a fortune.
He glanced around Yujing Terrace.
The lantern-lit plaza looked majestic and solemn.
If the hardworking Millelith knew that the hall they decorated today…
…would be the venue for the "Fallen Geo Archon's Funeral" tomorrow…
One could only imagine their expressions.
And when the livestream later revealed that the Geo Archon had only faked his death, shocking all Seven Nations…
Oh, Zhongli's face would be priceless.
A sly grin tugged at Bai Hao's lips.
His Teyvat Fan-Creation Livestream System thrived on emotional fluctuations—
just like Sumeru's Akasha.
And soon…
a tsunami of Primogems would be coming his way.
Tomorrow, the long-awaited Rite of Descension would finally begin.
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