"See? Everyone's saying it," Ryou said, looking at Zhongli. "Zhongli-san, you're not going to refuse them, are you?"
"…Fine." Zhongli had no choice. He lifted the cup and downed it in one go.
He had to admit—this wine was incredible. The aroma was rich, and the adeptal energy infused into it made the flavour absurdly smooth. One sip lingered on the tongue like it didn't want to leave.
Zhongli tried to savour the aftertaste… and then his vision swam.
He shook his head hard before the room sharpened back into focus. His expression turned a little stunned.
One cup, and he was already close to drunk?
He'd had more wine than he could count in his life, but he'd never encountered anything like this. And that was exactly why it scared him. If he actually got drunk here, it would be a disaster.
This wasn't Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. This was Wanmin Restaurant.
And worse—there were women all around him watching like hawks. If he passed out, he had a very bad feeling he'd open his eyes to find someone already sitting beside him.
"This really is excellent wine," Zhongli said quickly, "but I'll stop here. I'm not very good with alcohol."
"Liar!" a Ministry staffer blurted. "I've seen you drink with that Fatui guy from Northland Bank. You went through bottle after bottle without even looking tipsy. And now you can't handle one cup? You're just brushing us off!"
"Yeah!" a bunch of women immediately echoed.
Zhongli could only smile helplessly.
I'm not brushing you off. I genuinely can't drink more.
He already felt the buzz after that first cup. Two more and he'd be face-down on the table.
Ryou set the bottle down. "I'm leaving it here. You all decide how to handle it."
"Don't worry, Ryou-sama! We've got it from here!"
"Zhongli-san, I'll be relying on you a lot in the future—please give me more work assignments!"
A tall man raised a cup and chugged it down like it was water.
"I'll do one too!" someone beside him said, following immediately.
Zhongli's head started throbbing. He picked up his own cup, voice strained. "One more. Only one."
He stressed the words. "I mean it. This wine is far too strong."
"Nonsense," the tall man said. "It tastes great, but the proof isn't high. Look, we're totally fine."
"Exactly!" the other guy agreed.
"…Alright." Zhongli forced himself to drink another cup.
The moment it went down, the world tilted. His vision turned into a messy blur, and the warmth of alcohol slowly bled out of him in a thick, obvious haze.
Ryou watched for a second, amused, then turned away and slipped over to Lumine and Hu Tao. "You two shouldn't drink. Come eat at our table."
"Ah, but…" Hu Tao looked at Zhongli swaying and couldn't hide her worry.
"Zhongli-san isn't normal," Lumine said, tugging Paimon along as she followed Ryou. "Don't worry. They're going to start a full-on drinking battle over there. Let's go."
They reached Keqing's table.
Keqing frowned the moment she saw Lumine. Then her eyes flicked back to Zhongli's side, and she tugged Ryou's sleeve. "Zhongli-san… he's alright, right?"
She lowered her voice. "Why does he look drunk after just a few cups? And look—down there. That woman is completely out of line. She's literally touching him."
Ryou coughed. "Ahem."
Keqing immediately realized how that sounded. She glanced at Ganyu and noticed Ganyu, Lumine, and Hu Tao all staring at her. Heat rushed to her face, and she suddenly didn't know what to do with her hands.
"Keqing is just concerned about a colleague," Ryou said smoothly, saving her. "Don't read into it."
He waved at the food. "Stop watching. Eat. Once we're done, we're going home to rest."
"Oh. Right." Lumine and Hu Tao nodded obediently.
They ate for about half an hour.
Ryou glanced back toward Zhongli's table—and noticed Zhongli was gone.
After everyone ate and drank their fill, Ryou said his goodbyes and headed home.
"Keqing, we've been sweating the whole way back," Ryou said, wrapping an arm around her. "Let's soak in the hot spring and relax."
"Am I allowed to say no?" Keqing asked, staring at him.
"No," Ryou said flatly.
"Hmph. I knew you were up to something." Keqing rolled her eyes. "And seriously—who brings a full evening dress to a hot spring? You're not even trying to hide it."
She tried to resist, but it was pointless. In the end, she still got dragged along.
The night grew deeper.
[Ding, Keqing's figure increases by 15%!]
Ryou chuckled at the notification, closed his eyes, and let himself sink into rest.
At the same time, [Eyes], [Hand], and [Ears] all slipped out of him again.
[Ears]: Eyes, Hand, I heard some things earlier… damn. That was stimulating.
[Eyes]: Stimulating my ass. If you hadn't said anything, we wouldn't have heard a thing.
[Hand]: Exactly.
[Ears]: That's the whole point. You get to watch pretty women—do I get to "watch" with my ears?
[Ears]: And you, Hand—Eyes and I can only look and listen. You went straight to grabbing.
[Eyes]: Shut up. What did you hear?
[Ears]: I heard a bunch of women saying they were going to help Zhongli take his clothes off, and that they'd "drain him dry" tonight.
[Eyes]: Where? Let me see!
[Ears]: Don't bother. Someone showed up. And called Zhongli "old man".
[Hand]: He got dragged away, didn't he? Tch. Zhongli's going to wake up ready to murder someone. What a wasted opportunity.
[Ears]: Not everyone's a horny hand like you.
[Hand]: I inherited it from the master. Whatever. I'm going to go learn some massage techniques.
[Eyes]: Fine. Then I'm going to go find something good to watch too.
…
The next morning.
[Ding, you have learned Massage Technique Lv. 1!]
[Ding, you have obtained Laser Eyes. You can fire lasers from your eyes!]
At least if Ryou ran into trouble outside, he'd have another way to protect himself.
As for Massage Technique, it was… fine. Nothing special.
[Ryou]: Hand, didn't I tell you to learn medicine?
[Hand]: Baizhu closed early today, so I went to a shop and "studied" instead.
[Ryou]: …Alright.
[Ryou]: Eyes, what did you watch last night? Why did you come back with laser eyes?
[Eyes]: Master, I almost didn't make it back. A woman chased me for three streets with a book. I saw a flash of white and—
[Ryou]: What did you see?
[Eyes]: Master, you can just look for yourself.
…
Ryou closed his eyes.
Slowly, images surfaced in his mind.
It started at a window—with a small hole in it. Steam drifted out from inside. After a moment, a woman slipped out of her clothes and stepped into a bath.
Then the angle suddenly changed—now it was from the roof, with everything below in clear view.
A second later, a book came flying out.
And in that instant, Ryou finally saw her face.
Yanfei.
Ryou went completely blank.
I gave you a day off, and you used it to peek at a girl bathing?!
And you picked Yanfei of all people?!
Then his scalp went cold—because Yanfei came charging out holding a law book like she was about to kill someone.
If she hadn't been distracted at the last second, [Eyes] probably wouldn't have made it home at all.
"Mm? What are you doing?" Keqing glared at him. "You bullied me for ages last night—why are you getting ideas again first thing in the morning?"
Ryou coughed and hurried to soothe her.
It wasn't his fault. That scene had been way too tempting, and Keqing had immediately sensed his shift.
"Hmph. What are you still standing around for?" Keqing said, pointing. "Out. Aren't you going to work at the Ministry?"
"N-not yet," Ryou said, hugging her lightly. "In a bit."
He genuinely didn't want to run into Yanfei on the way to Yujing Terrace. That would be a nightmare.
"Then get out of bed," Keqing said, pushing him away, turning her face to the window. "Go."
"Alright, alright." Ryou backed off and grabbed his clothes.
But the next second, Keqing suddenly hugged him again. Her voice trembled slightly.
"What's wrong?" Ryou asked softly.
"This is your fault," Keqing muttered, glaring at him while hiding behind the blanket. "When you go to Yujing Terrace, have Ganyu come help me."
"…Okay."
Ryou got dressed and left.
Even if the Ministry of Civil Affairs didn't need him to handle everything personally anymore, there were still things he needed to show his face for.
When Ryou arrived, he didn't run into Yanfei.
And as expected, the Ministry didn't really need him for anything—most tasks were already being handled smoothly without him.
Zhongli didn't show up today either.
Ryou looked around. Everyone else was present. He couldn't help thinking: Did Zhongli actually escape yesterday?
…
"Ningguang-sama, could you help me with these documents?" Ganyu asked.
"Nn." Ningguang nodded, then spoke in a measured tone. "You'll handle them."
She glanced up. "Ryou and Keqing are… special cases. It's not that you can't do what they do."
Her expression tightened. "It's that I need you here to reduce my burden. Yujing Terrace handles far more than the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The staff below are capable, but I don't trust them."
"Thank you for trusting me," Ganyu said quickly. "I'll process everything as fast as I can."
"Good. Then I'll leave it to you."
Ningguang had been about to say more, but Ganyu's earnestness left her no room to push further.
She turned to leave—and saw Ryou walking in.
"Ningguang-sama," Ryou greeted.
Ningguang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Ryou, I don't interfere with how you run the Ministry. You manage it well."
Then her tone cooled. "But next time, don't take Ganyu with you."
She added, clearly remembering yesterday, "Yujing Terrace isn't light work. We need people here."
Ryou shrugged. "If the work's getting done, what's the problem?"
He spread his hands. "And Yujing Terrace has way more people than the Ministry. You can't just keep them around as decorations."
"You're not wrong," Ningguang said, watching him. "But still… be more mindful next time."
"…Understood," Ryou said.
After Ningguang left, Ryou sat down and looked at Ganyu. "Keqing wants you to come to our place and help treat her."
"Ah." Ganyu shot him a look. "So you did that to her, and now I'm the one fixing it."
But if she could use this chance to get closer to Keqing, it was worth it.
"I'll go," she said.
"Don't rush the paperwork," Ryou added, glancing at the documents. "If you can't finish, tell me."
He looked again, puzzled. "Why did Ningguang dump so little on you? Is she slacking?"
Ganyu rolled her eyes. "You think everyone's like you?"
She jabbed the paperwork lightly. "You can clear this in half an hour. Ningguang-sama—and normal people like us—need a lot longer."
She huffed. "Especially with complicated documents like these."
Then she stood. "I'm going to your house."
Meanwhile, Ningguang was heading back to the Jade Chamber.
With Ganyu helping, she could finally breathe a little.
Sometimes she truly envied Keqing.
They used to share the burden—both drowning in work. Now Keqing didn't even need to show up at the Ministry every day.
And Ningguang?
Still stuck grinding through documents with a grim face.
The gap between people was unfair.
Should I find a man to help?
…Ryou would be perfect.
But with Keqing's personality, she'd never give me a window.
And lately, Ganyu and Keqing had been unusually close. They'd always gotten along, but now… something felt different.
"Ningguang-sama!" Baiwen called out.
"What is it?" Ningguang asked, frowning.
"Look—Ganyu-san left," Baiwen said quietly.
"What?!" Ningguang's eyes widened. "She was here for five minutes!"
She snapped, furious. "She didn't process anything and she's already gone?!"
Then realization hit, and her anger spiked even higher.
"Ryou must've said something to her."
She spun on her heel. "Come on. We're going back. I'm finding Ryou."
[End of chapter]
[200 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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