"So… is that okay?" Keqing asked.
Heat rushed to her face so fast it was basically burning. She couldn't believe she'd actually said it out loud, but she'd brought this on herself. If she didn't smooth it over now, Ryou would keep bringing it up later.
I, Keqing, am not letting anyone hold this over me. Especially not my husband.
She clung to Ryou's arm and shook it, slipping into a full-on pouty, coaxing tone. With those tiny movements and that voice, even an immortal would crack.
Ryou looked at her, his eyes clearly getting hotter by the second. After a long stare, he finally spoke. "A qipao, then. It's settled."
"You're awful," Keqing muttered. "Can't you think about something decent for once?"
Ryou didn't even try to hide the way he was looking at her. Her already-thin clothes did absolutely nothing to protect her from that gaze—let alone protect her in general.
And once she remembered how fast his hands could move…
If he started undoing her clothes, she'd be naked in an instant.
The images flashed through her head and her face turned even redder. She pinched Ryou hard. "You're the worst! How can you be that fast?!"
Ryou: ???
Fast?
Keqing, what kind of line was that?
Yeah, okay. If I don't deal with you tonight, you're going to get bolder.
Ryou tightened his arms around her and stared her down. "Keqing, let's hurry back to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Once we finish up over there, we go home. Then you'll change into it and let me take a look."
He held up a hand immediately. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just checking whether it suits you."
"Like I'd believe you," Keqing shot back, rolling her eyes.
They headed toward the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Keqing had been gone for hours—she had no idea what things looked like back there now.
When they reached the Feiyun Slope area, before they could even go up, a tall woman came sprinting over with a shriek. She rushed straight to Keqing. "Keqing-sama, please—go back to the Ministry of Civil Affairs right now! Wang-sensei is already there, and he won't leave until he sees you. I've been looking for you for almost two hours… He must be furious by now. Please hurry!"
"Wang-sensei is looking for me?" Keqing frowned. "Did he say what it was about?"
She hadn't read through every single one of Ryou's notes, but she knew his suggestions were solid. Some of them would massively improve the buildings and push the results up by a whole tier. Wang-sensei was a veteran—once he saw them, he should've understood immediately. So why would he rush back to the Ministry of Civil Affairs just to find her?
The tall woman panted as she spoke. "We… we don't know. But you should go back and see. You know Wang-sensei's temper—if you don't show up, he's not leaving."
"Alright," Keqing said, not asking anything else.
She and Ryou hurried back together.
The moment they walked in, Keqing froze.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs was packed. Everyone's eyes snapped toward her at once, like they'd been waiting for that exact second. And it wasn't just random people—Ningguang was here, and even Tabibito… why were they all here?
What was going on?
The staff looked like they were about to cry. They'd been waiting two full hours. Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal, but today Ningguang and Wang-sensei and a whole crowd of important people were sitting right here in the office.
Working under those stares felt like sitting on needles.
Ryou didn't give anyone a chance to speak. He waved once, grabbed Keqing's hand, and started walking out. "Can we talk tomorrow? It's already time to clock out. I'm taking my wife home for dinner."
He paused like he'd just remembered something. "Yeah? See you tomorrow."
And he pulled Keqing away without slowing down.
Behind them, Wang-sensei, Lumine, and the rest all stood there, dumbfounded.
They'd waited two hours, she came back from shopping, and right when they were about to talk business—
He just hit them with, "It's quitting time"?
[End of chapter]
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