"What?! Isn't this ridiculous? Wang Sensei is still waiting at the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Go—arrange for someone to call Keqing back. At a time like this!"
Hearing Baiwen's report, Ningguang's expression darkened.
Wang wasn't some ordinary craftsman. He was originally from Liyue, but later went to the Sumeru Akademiya to study for nearly two years. After graduating, word was that a merchant invited him to stay and oversee the construction of a palace, offering an absurd amount of Mora as payment. Even the Akademiya wanted to keep him in Sumeru.
When Ningguang got wind of it, she honestly didn't have much confidence. She hesitated for a long time, but in the end, she still sent people to invite Wang back to Liyue.
She hadn't expected anything from it at first—she just wanted to try. Talent like that was hard to keep, after all. Sumeru was the nation of wisdom; staying there would've let him climb even higher. On top of that, Sumeru had thrown out plenty of benefits. Other factions barely had a chance. In front of knowledge and research, Mora didn't always mean much.
Yet Ningguang never imagined that Wang would actually be willing to give up every opportunity and return to Liyue.
Now he was in charge of construction and engineering projects, a true veteran in the trade. Both she and Keqing held him in great respect—because he'd given up a brighter road to come back and help Liyue.
So when Ningguang learned he'd been waiting for quite a while, she was furious.
Wang had contributed so much to Liyue, and Keqing was still out shopping?
Ningguang turned to him. "Wang sensei, Keqing only got married yesterday. She may not have thought everything through. I'll apologize to you on her behalf."
"Ningguang-sama, please, you can't do that!"
Wang shook his head quickly.
"I didn't come today to blame anyone. I came because I wanted to see Keqing-sama. The ideas she brought up were simply too good."
He spoke with growing energy.
"For example, when most houses are built, a lot of space ends up wasted. Because of the structure, you can't just 'fix' it after the fact."
"Recently, the aging of housing in Liyue Harbor has become serious. And there's also the Millelith housing problem. I've been trying to find a way to improve things, so I asked Keqing for her thoughts."
"I've heard a little about that," Ningguang said. "So what was the outcome…?"
Thinking of recent affairs, she did have some impression of it.
A lot of homes in Liyue Harbor mattered greatly. If those houses developed issues, it would affect everything that followed—especially any plans to push outward. But repairs and improvements always came with complications, and those were exactly the sort of problems that required professionals like Wang Sensei.
The trouble was, these matters had been stalled for a long time. No one had come up with a real solution.
But from Wang's tone, it sounded like he'd found one.
Wang smiled and pointed at the Ministry of Civil Affairs building before them.
"I sat in my office thinking about it for a long time. In the end, I realized that if we followed Keqing-sama's method exactly, we'd have to tear apart the entire structure, and it would be a huge hassle."
"But if we rebuild instead, not only can we make the building far more presentable, we can also house many more people."
"Take the Millelith accommodations we've been arranging. Before, one room could barely squeeze in two people. Now, we can fit eight!"
"And I found a way to keep the original living layout intact, so the Millelith are more comfortable. A small two-story building can hold a hundred and fifty people, and it doesn't take up much land!"
"This efficiency is at least four times higher than before. If we promote this across Liyue, it'll have an enormous impact on Liyue!"
"Th—"
Ningguang was so stunned she couldn't finish the sentence.
The Millelith weren't few in number. Lately, they'd even been reducing manpower. Even if Ningguang wanted to recruit more, it would be extremely troublesome—because there simply wasn't enough living space.
Stationing people outside could solve it in one sense, but then the question became: where exactly?
If a room that didn't take much land could hold eight people, then all she needed was to set aside a planned area within Liyue Harbor. Build housing there, and it could accommodate a massive number of Millelith—while also easing the housing pressure for countless others.
That kind of change would reshape Liyue.
But in the middle of her excitement, Ningguang immediately caught something else.
Why hadn't Keqing come up with these methods earlier?
Wait.
Today was Ryou's first day joining the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The proposal she'd received—wasn't that written by Ryou?
If that was the case, then wouldn't Wang's "Keqing" ideas… also be Ryou's work?
Livelihood, architecture, engineering—covered from every angle.
Ryou was seriously that capable?
For a moment, Ningguang couldn't help feeling envious of Keqing.
She'd really found herself a good man.
[End of chapter]
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