As soon as Xiangling ca back, she saw Yuri cooking, so she asked him for a stove to cook.
Yuri handed Xiangling a pot and taught her how to use the modern stove.
Seeing how convenient Yuri's stove was, Xiangling imdiately wanted to buy one. Since the kitchen's stove wasn't for sale—Yuri still needed it—he instead spent 30 star coins in the system mall to buy her a set of gas tanks.
In return, Xiangling would take on the responsibility of making breakfast for everyone every day.
That was right—Yuri wanted to sleep in. Waking up early to cook was just too much effort as is.
Xiangling agreed without hesitation. Cooking? That was easy!
To make things more convenient for her, Yuri also bought a personal portal for Xiangling, ensuring she could travel easily between Jueyunjian and Liyue Harbor. He even spoke with Zhongli, asking him to help "arrange" things to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Zhongli agreed—it was a benefit for him, too. This way, he could enjoy Xiangling's cooking every day.
Although Yuri was a skilled cook, he had to admit that Xiangling's natural talent and dedication set her apart.
Soon, breakfast was ready.
Yuri kept it simple—one large pot of lean at and vegetable porridge, paired with stead buns, fried dough sticks, and other light dishes.
Xiangling, anwhile, experinted with a new dish: cold-mixed sli.
But this wasn't the sa kind of sli from Teyvat. This one ca from a fantasy world where it was considered a delicacy. It had no strange sll, its at was chewy, and it absorbed seasonings exceptionally well—almost too well, making it tricky to balance flavors.
Xiangling placed a plate of cold-mixed sli on the table, her eyes sparkling with excitent. "Co on! Try my new dish!"
Hu Tao and Zhongli, both of whom had experienced Xiangling's past sli-based experints, hesitated.
To eat or not to eat? That was the question.
Kevin, unaware of their dilemma, casually picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece.
He popped it into his mouth. "Slurp~"
Everyone turned to watch.
Kevin chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed and gave a thumbs-up. "Delicious! You all should try it."
Encouraged, the others started eating—even Hu Tao and Zhongli.
Only March 7th held back, her instincts tingling. She eyed Kevin warily.
Sothing was off.
After spending so much ti with him, March 7th had learned to read Kevin's expressions. And that smile on his face? She'd seen it before.
It was the sa smile he wore when he tricked her into drinking Hiko's "experintal" coffee.
The realization hit her like a lightning bolt.
This sli dish—it wasn't good!
Sure enough—
"Ugh!"
"Xiangling! Give back my life! Did you just poison us?!"
"Xiangling, let's never use sli as an ingredient again, okay?"
"Well... technically, it's edible."
Xiangling looked at their reactions, utterly deflated. She had followed the recipe exactly—so what went wrong?
Yuri took a bite and analyzed the flavors carefully. "Xiangling, you over-seasoned it. This kind of sli absorbs a lot of flavor when cut into small pieces. Next ti, use less seasoning."
Xiangling's eyes lit up with realization. "Oh! The recipe was based on three jin of sli at, but I only used half and kept the seasoning the sa. No wonder!"
She quickly scooped up the failed dish and discarded it before starting again.
This ti, she got it right.
The new dish was a success—chewy, with a satisfying crunch, and a perfect complent to the porridge. Everyone praised it.
Jing Yuan took a sip of his porridge while glancing around Yuri's shop. Only then did it occur to him—Yuri was a shop owner.
"Yuri, what do you sell here? Can I take a look?"
Yuri smiled. "My shop sells goods from across the heavens and worlds. As long as you have enough star coins, you can buy anything you want.
Jing Yuan caught onto Yuri's wording. "Oh? So, other different worlds exist?"
At the table, Zhongli slowly raised his hand. Hu Tao, Xiangling, Amber, and Eula followed suit.
Jing Yuan turned to Zhongli in surprise. He hadn't expected the mysterious Mr. Zhongli to be from another world. No wonder he had never heard of him before—soone as knowledgeable and powerful as Zhongli couldn't have gone unnoticed otherwise.
Zhongli spoke calmly. "We ca from Teyvat through Yuri's portal."
Jing Yuan nodded in understanding. "So, Stellar Jade can be exchanged for star coins?"
Yuri smiled and confird, "Yes. One Stellar Jade is worth 100 star coins."
Jing Yuan nodded. He would have his people collect Stellar Jade when he returned.
However, at the ntion of Stellar Jade, Kevin, March 7th, Hu Tao, Amber, Eula, Ying, and Xiangling all froze. Then, without a word, they scrambled for the door, each making up flimsy excuses.
Kevin's thoughts were clear: If you don't run now, you'll get beaten later!
Breakfast wrapped up soon after.
Jing Yuan joined Welt, Zhongli, and Yuri in the tea room for a relaxing ga of chess.
The previous night, after returning to his estate, Jing Yuan had arranged everything accordingly.
After all, he had fought a massive battle and suffered serious injuries.
He needed to rest.
So...
Fu Xuan, you have my deepest sympathies.
anwhile, in the Divination Commission...
Fu Xuan sat frozen, her normally sharp mind drowning in an overwhelming sea of paperwork.
She had arrived at work in a great mood this morning.
Jing Yuan had recently delegated the entire Luofu reconstruction process to her.
This was it! A sign of trust, a stepping stone toward greater responsibilities! A path to eventually becoming a general!
Or so she had thought.
But after just one hour—
"WHY IS THERE SO MUCH WORK?!"
She stared in horror at the never-ending mountain of official docunts stacked on her desk.
No one had told her being a general was this exhausting!
What she didn't know was that being a general wasn't normally this bad.
But Luofu was in the middle of post-battle reconstruction, aning an absurd workload had piled up.
Fu Xuan sighed in resignation, picked up her brush, and continued reviewing governnt affairs.
anwhile, back at Yuri's shop—
Jing Yuan was leisurely sipping tea and playing chess.
Yuri had also brought out an assortnt of cakes. Chess, tea, sweets—
Life was good.
It was noon.
Kevin and March 7th didn't even dare to return to eat when they heard Jing Yuan was still in Yuri's shop.
Instead, they asked Yuri to open a portal and went to Liyue Harbor to play.
The girls had just finished eating a delicious lunch prepared by Xiangling at Wanmin Hall. On the way, they ran into Keqing and pulled her along to join them.
Keqing was thrilled when she saw the portal to Xiangling's house. Now, she, Ningguang, and Yelan could visit Yuri's shop more often.
Unlike Hu Tao and Zhongli, the three of them held important positions, and traveling to Yuri's shop had always been troubleso. They had to go through Jueyunjian first, which wasted a lot of ti.
Kevin leaned back with a satisfied sigh, rubbing his stomach. "Ah~ Xiangling, your boiled sea bass is amazing!"
Xiangling bead at the complint. "I'm glad you liked it! You guys chat—I'm heading downstairs to test so new recipes. I bought a bunch of ingredients from another world from Yuri."
Xiangling had worked hard treasure-hunting the night before, earning over 6,000 star coins. She spent her earnings wisely—purchasing ten new recipe books, a storage ring, and a variety of exotic ingredients.
Seeing how useful Xiangling's storage ring was, the other girls bought one for themselves as well.
Amber and the others with a Vision had an advantage since they could store weapons using their elental abilities. However, Kevin and the others relied on space-folding bags sold by the Interstellar Peace Company.
These bags were small, barely enough to store weapons, and outrageously expensive.
Keqing looked at the group. "So, have you decided what to do this afternoon?"
Kevin turned to Hu Tao. "Hu Tao, is there anywhere fun to visit in Liyue?"
Hu Tao tapped her chin, thinking hard. "Emmm, let see..."
After a long pause, she shrugged. "Honestly? No clue. I'm a local. Places that might be fun for you are just average to ."
The girls exchanged concerned glances. If Jing Yuan hadn't found out that Stellar Jade could be exchanged for star coins, they could've kept gathering it. But now that he knew, they definitely couldn't risk it again.
Kevin suddenly rembered sothing and pulled out a "high-level essence" he had won in a lottery.
"Ah, I ant to hatch this today, but I was too busy running away to rember."
Just then, Hu Tao's phone rang.
She glanced at the screen. "Why is Zhongli calling ?"
She answered, and Zhongli's calm voice ca through. "I'm sending Klee and the others your way. Please take care of them for the afternoon. Be sure to return to the shop for dinner."
Then he hung up.
Hu Tao stared at her phone in disbelief.
March 7th tilted her head. "Hu Tao, what did Zhongli want?"
Hu Tao blinked. "He just asked us to babysit Klee and the others for the afternoon because Yuri is busy."
The girls exchanged uncertain looks. Babysitting? Us? Were they sure about this?
Their doubts were soon answered when Zhongli stepped out of Xiangling's portal, leading four children.
Behind him, Rios followed, carrying the kids on his back as they happily played and roughhoused.
Zhongli spoke calmly. "Yuri, Welt, and General Jing Yuan are occupied this afternoon. Hiko is taking Clara for an experint.
"Therefore, please take care of Klee and the others."
Without giving them a chance to refuse, Zhongli turned and walked straight back into the portal.
Back at the shop, Zhongli entered the reception room, where Yuri and Jing Yuan sat across from each other, deep in concentration.
That's right—they had decided on a chess tournant for the afternoon, determined to settle the score once and for all.
Back at Wanmin Hall, Hu Tao and the girls sighed in resignation.
Hu Tao ruffled Klee's hair. "Alright, Klee, where do you want to go?"
Klee's eyes sparkled. "I want to go fish blasting!"
Hu Tao gasped excitedly. "Oh, that's a great idea! Guyun Stone Forest has tons of big fish! If we're lucky, we might even run into Captain Beidou and hitch a ride on her ship. What do you think?"
The girls quickly agreed—it was a solid plan.
After tidying up, they said goodbye to Xiangling and set off for Guyun Stone Forest.
On the way out, Keqing parted ways with them, saying she had important business to attend to.
Hu Tao, Kevin, Ying, Amber, Eula, Paimon, and March 7th gathered the children and Rios before boarding a ship to their destination.
anwhile, at the Jade Chamber, Ningguang was sorting through a stockpile of raw jade. These raw stones had been collected by her subordinates over the past few weeks.
She planned to visit Yuri's shop tomorrow or the day after.
As she worked, she heard footsteps approaching. Keqing entered, looking excited.
"Ningguang, good news! There's a portal in Liyue Harbor now."
Ningguang's eyes glead with interest. "Oh? Where is it? How did it get there?"
Keqing explained, "Xiangling is now in charge of breakfast at Yuri's shop, so he gave her a portal to make traveling easier."
Ningguang imdiately thought of Xiangling.
The young chef ca from a respected family, had an impeccable reputation in Liyue, and was beloved for her extraordinary cooking skills.
"I see. It seems we've benefited from Xiangling's good fortune."
Keqing smirked. "Exactly. I was thinking of assigning a squad of the Qianyan Army to guard the portal. What do you think?"
Ningguang shook her head. "No, that would draw too much attention. It's better to keep it low-profile.
"Instead, I'll have Yelan move her office there. What do you think?"
Keqing nodded. "That works. I'll check who owns the property next to Wanmin Hall."
Ningguang chuckled. "No need to check—it's mine."
Keqing exhaled and gave her a knowing look. "Of course, it is. Liyue's Tianquan—wealthy and influential."
Ningguang smiled. "I'll take that as a complint.
"Alright, enough joking. Help finish counting these raw stones. Tomorrow, we'll head to Yuri's shop to make so purchases."
Keqing nodded and got to work.
The Vajra Body Forging Technique they had purchased from Yuri's shop had already been put to use. The first batch of 1,000 elite Qianyan soldiers had completed their training.
To remain discreet, Ningguang had already stationed them.
A secluded location, filled with monsters, perfect for both hiding and combat training.
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